Today I am very sick, and can't apply my brain to very little, so I haven't done any research or read today. I have, however, watched a delightful little movie called Julie and Julia. It was just like our blogrimages! It's the story of Julia Child and also the story of a young woman named Julie who takes one year to make all of the recipes in Julia Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she blogs about it everyday. It was inspiring, but also made me disappointed in my lack of dedication to this project. Well, after this 30 days, I'm definitely not going to stop blogging, and I'm definitely not going to stop making the business plan for my business.
Many times in my life, when I set out to do something, if I can't accomplish it exactly the way I plan to, I simply give up. I'm seeing now that is just an excuse to not finish, and in the end hurts me more than just finishing what I set out to do, even if I don't accomplish it the way I thought I would. Can anyone else relate with this?
Peace of Schmidt: Go see Julie and Julia.
The Morning Jog (Joe Blog) Blogrimage 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Quick Update
Considering the name Wiki CD. The domain is taken (www.wikicd.com), so I contacted the owner. Says he will sell it to me for $900. Considering this for the future, but will likely consider a different name. Any ideas?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Day 21?
Just got back from Michigan for my dads birthday and incidentally Easter as well. It was a quick visit, but SO good. I wish I was there still. Ok I'm going to go all the way and just say I wish I lived there. Katelyn and I both know that were supposed to be in CO Springs, and I know the economy is aweful in MI, but its so good to be around family and friends. Anyway, I'll be updating the blog later today, but I wanted to post something since its been so long.
Peace of Schmidt:
I knew I was back in Colorado when the people driving in the fast lane were going 5 under the speed limit. There's no joke here, Colorado drivers are just very frustrating.
Peace of Schmidt:
I knew I was back in Colorado when the people driving in the fast lane were going 5 under the speed limit. There's no joke here, Colorado drivers are just very frustrating.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Day 15: Product Chosen.
Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while. Life has been SO busy! This post is going to be short.
I talked to my friend John Hutton about the website idea, and he really liked it. John works for a website design company, and knows what would go into a website like that. It encouraged me to see him get excited about the different features I was proposing. He said that it would cost some money, but that they are really good with working on whatever budget I have. He also said some companies they do websites for will add more features as the money becomes available. So I could start out basic, then get more complex as I go on. So, since the purpose of this blogrimage is to lay out the plan of a business I would create, and not to actually create it yet (since I don't have the funds) I'm going with this CD duplication/design website as my business. Exciting!
Stay tuned for more exciting developments!
Peace of Schmidt:
"You have only to believe if you wish to achieve. That rhymed, unintentional." - Hot Rod
I talked to my friend John Hutton about the website idea, and he really liked it. John works for a website design company, and knows what would go into a website like that. It encouraged me to see him get excited about the different features I was proposing. He said that it would cost some money, but that they are really good with working on whatever budget I have. He also said some companies they do websites for will add more features as the money becomes available. So I could start out basic, then get more complex as I go on. So, since the purpose of this blogrimage is to lay out the plan of a business I would create, and not to actually create it yet (since I don't have the funds) I'm going with this CD duplication/design website as my business. Exciting!
Stay tuned for more exciting developments!
Peace of Schmidt:
"You have only to believe if you wish to achieve. That rhymed, unintentional." - Hot Rod
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Day 10: First Attempt at Finding the Niche
Today I found a website called www.shopster.com. Check out this video to see what they are all about. Basically it's a network for suppliers to meet sellers. You can use it to set up an online store, and pick the items you want to sell from searching through the suppliers. Very cool site, I may use it.
I thought of a product today. It's a site that makes CD creation and duplication easy for artists. The idea is that an artist or band would get on the site, they would then be able to choose the type of package they want their CD to be in, they could upload their cover art, and any booklet they want to create, and then they would be able to upload their tracks and have it all created and sent to them. If the band doesn't have any album art works, or doesn't know what they want, there would be templates they could work with and an easy to use customization feature so they can get the look they want. There are sites that do similar things to this, such as www.discmakers.com and www.nationwidedisc.com, but after navigating their site I noticed that they were both frustrating to use, and didn't offer a creation feature on the website. If you wanted to create designs from scratch you had to call them, or work on it offline, and then upload it again. There would be some other niche things I could put into the site to make it more user friendly and convenient. As we talked about yesterday, alleviate the pain of CD duplication.
This brings me to a point that I've been considering since my call to my sister Heidi. After telling me the downfalls of the organic baby clothing market, she did offer some wisdom on differentiation. She said that I could do the organic clothing, so long as I differentiated myself enough. She said that JC Penny was late on the scene when he first started, but he differentiated his stores and in essence "found his niche". Now I'm not returning to the organic baby clothing idea, but she does make a valid point that I need to consider. Even if other people are doing things similar, what can I do to differentiate myself and better serve my niche? This also runs me into a blurry line, because in order for me to "set it and forget it" my market can't be too saturated, or I'll be spending all my time on better marketing, and constantly having to "maintain" the business. Well, its food for thought anyway.
Some problems I foresee with this website is that it could have large upfront costs to create the website, and that I'll have to find a drop ship manufacturer that does CD duplication, prints booklets and covers, and produces sleeves and jewell cases. I'm sure such a place exists, I'm just throwing out potential pitfalls. Websites can cost a surprising amount, especially if they are information based (which this one is not) Here is an example of a website you've probably never heard of, but cost $1.9 million to make, and was much less research intensive than a website like imdb. Something like my idea won't cost but a couple thousand I imagine, but still thats a lot.
Peace of Schmidt:
What did one snowman say to the other snowman?...Smells like carrots.
I thought of a product today. It's a site that makes CD creation and duplication easy for artists. The idea is that an artist or band would get on the site, they would then be able to choose the type of package they want their CD to be in, they could upload their cover art, and any booklet they want to create, and then they would be able to upload their tracks and have it all created and sent to them. If the band doesn't have any album art works, or doesn't know what they want, there would be templates they could work with and an easy to use customization feature so they can get the look they want. There are sites that do similar things to this, such as www.discmakers.com and www.nationwidedisc.com, but after navigating their site I noticed that they were both frustrating to use, and didn't offer a creation feature on the website. If you wanted to create designs from scratch you had to call them, or work on it offline, and then upload it again. There would be some other niche things I could put into the site to make it more user friendly and convenient. As we talked about yesterday, alleviate the pain of CD duplication.
This brings me to a point that I've been considering since my call to my sister Heidi. After telling me the downfalls of the organic baby clothing market, she did offer some wisdom on differentiation. She said that I could do the organic clothing, so long as I differentiated myself enough. She said that JC Penny was late on the scene when he first started, but he differentiated his stores and in essence "found his niche". Now I'm not returning to the organic baby clothing idea, but she does make a valid point that I need to consider. Even if other people are doing things similar, what can I do to differentiate myself and better serve my niche? This also runs me into a blurry line, because in order for me to "set it and forget it" my market can't be too saturated, or I'll be spending all my time on better marketing, and constantly having to "maintain" the business. Well, its food for thought anyway.
Some problems I foresee with this website is that it could have large upfront costs to create the website, and that I'll have to find a drop ship manufacturer that does CD duplication, prints booklets and covers, and produces sleeves and jewell cases. I'm sure such a place exists, I'm just throwing out potential pitfalls. Websites can cost a surprising amount, especially if they are information based (which this one is not) Here is an example of a website you've probably never heard of, but cost $1.9 million to make, and was much less research intensive than a website like imdb. Something like my idea won't cost but a couple thousand I imagine, but still thats a lot.
Peace of Schmidt:
What did one snowman say to the other snowman?...Smells like carrots.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Day 9: Take Away Pain, or Fulfill a Dream
Today I spoke with my sister Heidi about the organic baby clothing market. Heidi and her husband Rob own a business that sells baby and toddler clothes from designers to retailers. Heidi told me that they carry one organic line and it doesn't sell well. She also explained to me that right now the organic children's clothing market is really saturated (there are a lot of people doing it) and there are few making any many. Manufacturers and designers are closing down all over the country. She echoed what mothers I've spoke to have said; in this economy they're unwilling to pay extra for organic. So with this information I'm going to let that product go. Also, as far as the imdb for music goes, I don't think that business idea will work for what I'm going for. It's a great idea, but websites like that get all of their income from advertising, which requires much more time that I'm wanting to give, and isn't a product. I could maybe charge for use of the site, but I don't know how useful that would be. Plus there would be huge upstart costs, way more than I have or am willing to pay. It could be good for a second business or one down the road.
I needed inspiration today, so I galloped into a wooded glen, then after dropping off Katelyn at 24 Hour Fitness, and punching a wicked snow storm in the face, I decided to go to Borders bookstore. While there I was looking around for some product ideas when I came across a book called Instant Income. While reading this book I realized that I had missed a critical teaching from Tim Ferris (author of 4-Hour Workweek) that I had brushed by. Tim and the author of Instant Income said not to create a product then try and sell it to a market, but first to find a market then find a product that market needs. This book Instant Income said that everyone is looking for 1 of 2 things from products and services:
1. Something to take away people's problem
2. Something to help people fulfill their dreams
In other words, find a niche, then find a way to either alleviate pain, or fulfill ambition. With this knowledge, I venture forward.
On the other end of this, I read a book called 101 Ideas for At Home Business or something like that. In it, I found an idea for a business that could so easily be automated. A wake up and reminder calling service would be SO easy to set up and automate. All I would have to do is set up the website, market, get customers, then find a VA company that works in teams so that I can have someone working around the clock to give calls and reminders. I wouldn't even hire a VA until I had a client, so I would have almost no start up costs. Clients would likely pay a monthly fee, discounted if they signed up for a yearly fee. Anyway, that would be really easy to do so I may think of doing that in addition to the product business.
Here's where I need your help. There are already wake up calling services that are probably completely automated, how can I differentiate mine? Expanding to be not only a wake up service, but also a reminder service will branch it out. There are some reminder services that also give reminders of birthdays, anniversaries, meetings, etc to clients. They probably do this too, but we could also offer to email, fax, call, or even call a neighbor with reminders. Call centers are easy to automate, and are a primary function that businesses use VA's for. Any ideas on how I could differentiate a business like this? Or do you know a need in a niche I may or may not be a part of that needs filling? If you give me a suggestion for your niche, I can apply it to mine.
Peace of Schmidt:
First of all, check out the new OneRepublic CD, its incredible! Secondly, you can use www.shopify.com for an all in one online store. Shopify integrates with other services so you can use it to take orders and money, plus it has a simple to use website design function like wix or wordpress. I'll probably use it and integrate it with paypal.
I needed inspiration today, so I galloped into a wooded glen, then after dropping off Katelyn at 24 Hour Fitness, and punching a wicked snow storm in the face, I decided to go to Borders bookstore. While there I was looking around for some product ideas when I came across a book called Instant Income. While reading this book I realized that I had missed a critical teaching from Tim Ferris (author of 4-Hour Workweek) that I had brushed by. Tim and the author of Instant Income said not to create a product then try and sell it to a market, but first to find a market then find a product that market needs. This book Instant Income said that everyone is looking for 1 of 2 things from products and services:
1. Something to take away people's problem
2. Something to help people fulfill their dreams
In other words, find a niche, then find a way to either alleviate pain, or fulfill ambition. With this knowledge, I venture forward.
On the other end of this, I read a book called 101 Ideas for At Home Business or something like that. In it, I found an idea for a business that could so easily be automated. A wake up and reminder calling service would be SO easy to set up and automate. All I would have to do is set up the website, market, get customers, then find a VA company that works in teams so that I can have someone working around the clock to give calls and reminders. I wouldn't even hire a VA until I had a client, so I would have almost no start up costs. Clients would likely pay a monthly fee, discounted if they signed up for a yearly fee. Anyway, that would be really easy to do so I may think of doing that in addition to the product business.
Here's where I need your help. There are already wake up calling services that are probably completely automated, how can I differentiate mine? Expanding to be not only a wake up service, but also a reminder service will branch it out. There are some reminder services that also give reminders of birthdays, anniversaries, meetings, etc to clients. They probably do this too, but we could also offer to email, fax, call, or even call a neighbor with reminders. Call centers are easy to automate, and are a primary function that businesses use VA's for. Any ideas on how I could differentiate a business like this? Or do you know a need in a niche I may or may not be a part of that needs filling? If you give me a suggestion for your niche, I can apply it to mine.
Peace of Schmidt:
First of all, check out the new OneRepublic CD, its incredible! Secondly, you can use www.shopify.com for an all in one online store. Shopify integrates with other services so you can use it to take orders and money, plus it has a simple to use website design function like wix or wordpress. I'll probably use it and integrate it with paypal.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Day 7 and 8: The Quest for the Product
I've been having a hard time coming up with a product, and its been making me a little frustrated. When I see that its Day 8 and I don't even have a product chosen, I feel like I'm behind. Plus, without a product chosen, I really can't move forward. However, I know that choosing a product and then testing it is the hardest part of the process, so I need to be patient. Everything else will fall into place.
So here is the product that I've been thinking about, but that I don't fit the market for. Katelyn's mom had this great business that she tried starting, but in the end didn't have the desire or time to continue. She designed, produced, and sold organic clothing, and the name of her business was Can You Dig It. Yes, she is definitely a hippy. She sold clothing for all ages, but I would scrap all of the clothing other than baby clothing, as I see this as the best market. I would also only sell it, but would outsource the producing and shipping.
Many modern parents are very concerned with making sure that their babies eat and wear organic, even if they themselves don't. Especially when you remind them that their skin is the largest organ on their body. Note this Simpsons episode for further explanation of this market. (for those outside the US that can't use Hulu, its Season 21 Episode 6)
I know that there are places that already sell organic baby clothes, but I would be selling clothes with Stephanie's (Katelyn's mommy) designs, which were really cute. You can't resist a little onesie that says "seedling", "sweet pea" or "pea in a pod" with a cute design on it. Impossible. Even so, I may get someone else to make more designs. My sister and her husband own a business that sells baby clothing from designers to retailers, so I'm going to talk to them about this and get their input.
Other products I'm considering: Once Katelyn is finished with her blogrimage we are thinking of somehow making a how to product of her experience and selling that. Also, Amy Ellison gave a great idea of making an imdb for musicians. I'll have to look into that one more.
On the productive side, I registered for www.elance.com today and made a job description for my first Virtual Assistant (VA)! We want to hire a VA to do bookkeeping for Wisdom's House. I researched different accounting VA firms, and found one that I liked and trusted, with great reviews. Then I made an elance account and submitted them the job description. Now I wait to hear back from them. The prospect of it is very exciting, as I plan on using VA's regularly for this business and others that I start.
I've decided that even if there is no progress on my blogrimage, that I will at least post one helpful resource, or cool tidbit every blog and call it Peace of Schmidt (puns intentional). Let me know your thoughts on the organic baby clothing!!
Peace of Schmidt:
You can use www.legalzoom.com to do all sorts of simple legal work online. Register a business with the state, and even file a patent, its easy and cheap. Check it out! Donesky.
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