I wanted to write this entry awhile ago, but I was hoping to link it to the original source articles where I got my information. Since I can't find them again (darnit!) I'm posting without.
The article talked about the importance of diversifying in online marketing. The old, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" idea.
I'm generally happy with Etys, but the article did make good points. I don't run Etsy. I have little to no control in what changes they may choose to make. It is in my best interest not to connect my entire business future on something I have so little control over. Diversifying helps buffer the risk of changes that may negatively affect my business in any one venue.
So I started several other easy to operate online shops in other venues. I've linked these so that you can see how they look if these are venues you are interested in as well, but bear in mind that I have very little added to my other shops yet. I just don't make things fast enough, I'm afraid.
Mintd.com - http://www.mintd.com/stores/show/1032-Karabu-s-Creations
eCrater - http://karabu.ecrater.com/
Lov.Li - http://lov.li/users/2886
There are more sites out there, but these are more than enough for me to deal with right now.
On all of these sites, there are no listing fees, and the selling commission runs from about 5% to 7.5%. On eCrater there are no fees at all. eCrater also has a neat page with promotion tools that tell you how to add your site into various search engines, and other great tips.
The other thing I did was buy my own domain: Karabu's Pathcwork Creations
It only cost about $18.00 or $19.00 for two years thru GoDaddy.com. I'm a far cry from being ready to start up my own website, but because I have my domain, I will be able to have that option later of if I so choose. Right now all that site does is forward to my Etsy shop, because that's the main place I want to sell right now. The larger benefit, though, is that I can put all my effort into promoting my own site instead of another (like Etsy for example) What that does for me is if and when at some later time I choose to change the focus of where I sell, I don't have to start promoting all over again. I just change where my site forwards to, or actually start my own site. The point is, with my own url, I have a lot more options and control over how my business runs and grows.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Baby Cold Medicine
Sadly, I wasn't surprised to hear this story on the radio this morning:
http://www.kcbs.com/Infant-Cold-Meds-Pulled-From-Shelves/1079962
About a month ago, my baby had a cold. My pediatrician told me years ago with my first born that there were no safe cold medicines for babies, so when I saw "Infant Cold and Cough" medicine in the pharmacy I was happily surprised. It had a picture of an infant in diapers on the package and all. "They must have found a safe baby medicine!" I excitedly told myself.
Now, at the time I was in the unusual, and fortunate circumstance to be shopping alone, so I took the time to read the back of the package. "Not for children under 2 years old".
Sorry. I thought it was for "Infants" as displayed in the title. Since when did 2 year olds qualify as infants?
I'm sure that had I had my two wonderful, yet distracting children, I would have bought the medicine without reading the fine print. Yes, I would have read the dosing instructions before giving it to my baby and then would have seen I couldn't use it, (and been damn mad that I'd been tricked into buying it!) I'm not excusing the parents who didn't bother to read instructions or who changed the dosage they were supposed to give, but I think the drug companies are obviously trying to be deceitful in their marketing.
After I returned the package to the shelf, I saw there were many other brands (probably all part of this recall now) that had similar deceptive labeling. The Bold front packaging implying or outright stating that the medicine was for babies, and only in the fine print in the rear do they admit it really isn't.
Not cool.
http://www.kcbs.com/Infant-Cold-Meds-Pulled-From-Shelves/1079962
About a month ago, my baby had a cold. My pediatrician told me years ago with my first born that there were no safe cold medicines for babies, so when I saw "Infant Cold and Cough" medicine in the pharmacy I was happily surprised. It had a picture of an infant in diapers on the package and all. "They must have found a safe baby medicine!" I excitedly told myself.
Now, at the time I was in the unusual, and fortunate circumstance to be shopping alone, so I took the time to read the back of the package. "Not for children under 2 years old".
Sorry. I thought it was for "Infants" as displayed in the title. Since when did 2 year olds qualify as infants?
I'm sure that had I had my two wonderful, yet distracting children, I would have bought the medicine without reading the fine print. Yes, I would have read the dosing instructions before giving it to my baby and then would have seen I couldn't use it, (and been damn mad that I'd been tricked into buying it!) I'm not excusing the parents who didn't bother to read instructions or who changed the dosage they were supposed to give, but I think the drug companies are obviously trying to be deceitful in their marketing.
After I returned the package to the shelf, I saw there were many other brands (probably all part of this recall now) that had similar deceptive labeling. The Bold front packaging implying or outright stating that the medicine was for babies, and only in the fine print in the rear do they admit it really isn't.
Not cool.
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