Name of your website?SistersIntoScrapbooking.com
Your name?
LeAnne M. Rohrer
Your Location (city, etc)
Howell, MI 48855
Please give us a short summary of your website?
We are an online scrapbooking store that sells the following: Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Harry Potter, Disney and childrens Custom 12 x 12 - 2 page layout kits. We carry Custom Paper Collections with embellishments, Pre-made 6 x 6 scrapbooks,Bare Essential books and various other items.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
My family has a deep appreciation for scrapbooking. It was what got my Mom through my Fathers sudden death and her battle with Breast Cancer. We decided to start a scrapbooking business and online seemed to be the least expensive way to go.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
Our first website was launched in February 2008 and it was for Sisters Into Scrapbooking, LLC.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I chose the company name because my Mom and I are like sisters at heart and because I have a younger sister who is also involved in the company.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
In todays economy, scrapbooking will soon become a luxury as people will not have the extra cash to spend on preserving their precious memories. We at Sisters Into Scrapbooking, LLC decided to keep our prices lower than the suggested MSRP to try and help our customers. Because we are not a traditional brick and mortar store, we do not have the costly overhead, allowing us to keep our prices lower than our competition.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Our goal is to have this business succeed as a second income. We would also like to be able to host large crops and donate the proceeds to local charities.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Right now, we have invested alot of money and time toward this business and have not reached our goals. This is due in part to the fact that we are a new company (October 2007)and we do not have a traditional Brick and Mortar store. Getting our name out there is very important.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I don't think that I would change my site so much as I would purchase more inventory and apply to be a vendor at more events so that our store name and our products would reach more cliental.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Maybe and then maybe not. If not, we would have to find a company that would handle our website for us. That would be a wonderful blessing in our lives. I wish that we would have that problem!
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
We have put all our extra income into this company with high expectations of success. We have toiled all hours of the day and night to produce the highest quality of kits, layouts and collections for our customers. It seems that every venue we go to people love our stuff but there is always some other vendor there that they have seen before and know so therefore they purchase from them instead of us.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting our name out there along with our products so that people will know that we exist and will shop with us.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
The Livingston Parents Journal ad that we placed.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I will let you know in a few months. As of today, we have not had one sale. I am still working hard at completing the website. I am trying to build an e-commerce website on a dial up connection (that is all that I can get where we live). I also have a 3 year old son and a 4 year old daughter who are home with me during the day. Oh yeah not to mention that I have been working hard with my Mom and Sister trying to get products ready for our upcomming events.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
The site has been up and running since February 2008 and I hope to keep it running until I am ready to retire.
Thank You
Thank you for you time and for the opportunity to post our company for free on your website. We really appreciate it. Sincerely, Sisters Into Scrapbooking, LLC
What is your website address?
SistersIntoScrapbooking.com
No trackbacks.
Comments