Diary of Our First Sale

Monday June 22, 2009

Dear Diary,

Well, another Monday has come and gone.  Mondays, as usual, are a great reminder for me that we are living East of the Garden of Eden.  Funny how quickly weeds can grow. :-(  After a full day of work for both Witni and I, along with all of life’s obligations, it’s always nice to get a few minutes with her, grab a bite for dinner and spend a few minutes of quality time together.  Then, for me, it’s off to my softball game.  It’s a luxury when it comes to my schedule, but well worth it.  We racked up another “W” and then it’s back home to go to work the night shift …. BlanketMyBaby.

It’s been 7 1/2 months since we first penned our signatures on the proposal.  Since then, there have been all kinds of jobs and tasks that I never knew would come our way.  But, we’ve managed to successfully hurdle every obstacle, including registering as an LLC, securing capital, buying accounting software, blogging, blogging, blogging, designing the site, working out bugs, securing vendors, adding products, blogging, blogging, blogging, and now FINALLY, our site is live!  After all this work, there have been so many questions.  “Do we know what we are doing?” “Does this blogging thing really help us rank?” “Can we get the best products?” “Will we be able to market the site effectively?” “Do we even have enough time to work on the site?”  “Is it really worth it???”

With questions lingering but determination stronger, it’s off to work.  Tonight, I think I’ll try to secure some back links by commenting on other baby blogs.  Let me just check my email first…..

…….and then
…….. it happened
…………
As the Hallelujah chorus played in my ears, I raced to my site admin to find the answer to the question, “is this purchase from someone I know?” (the purchase from my Dad a week before doesn’t count).  I was elated to see that Ms.Von Heist (identity kept secret) of San Dimas, CA, a complete stranger, decided that the Marquisette Mod Circle Lime blanket was for her.

Hooray!!!  Our first real sale!!!  After I danced a jig around my room for a few minutes, I ran downstairs with arms pumped in the air to share the news with my wife and friends.  What a night!!!

After all the work we’ve put in, it’s great to know that it works!  I later checked our Analytics and found out that our buyer entered our site through the phrases “super soft lightweight baby blanket”.  So, as our site is being marketed my Marketplace Earth for SEO, I know that we can bring in traffic and convert for long tail phrases.  Can’t wait to rank for the more competitive phrases!

This first sale was extremely encouraging.  We have a vision to build this asset to the point where it will provide enough income for my wife to work from home.  This was just a baby step, but its worth celebrating the first step of a baby!

For those of you familiar with Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”, this scene sums up exactly how I felt.

George Bailey: [the staff celebrates closing the building and loan company with only two dollars remaining, to stay in business] Get a tray for these two great big important simoleans here.

Uncle Billy: We’ll save ‘em for seed.

George Bailey: A toast! A toast! A toast to Mama Dollar and to Papa Dollar, and if you want to keep this old Building and Loan in
business, you better have a family real quick.

Cousin Tilly: I wish they were rabbits.

Yes, rabbit dollars would be nice!!!

test Filed under Cotton Baby Blankets, Funny, Swaddle Blankets, Uncategorized | Tags: diary, entrepreneurship, first sale, hallelujah, it's a wonderful life, niche partners, softball |