PNK Polling

I figured out the polling!  Quicker than I thought so I wanted to try it out right away.

Part of the Master Plan (at least for the moment!) is to run a pet boutique.  If I call it a"pet store" most people question whether or not I will have livestock.  No, this is not about that puppy in the window.  This is the STUFF for that puppy or kitty you already have at home.  Notice and adoption support are certainly OK but no actual animal sales.  Clear the air on *that* issue right away!

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• Why to Adopt a Pet Rather Than Buying One at The Pet Store (therealowner.com)

I really shouldn't say "for the moment".   This has been something brewing primarily in my head for the better part of the last decade.  I bought a commercial storefront walking distance from my home several years ago.  We transformed the second floor of the building into an apartment that has tenants.  The income from those tenants are helping the cause right now.

Now, I have the time and no more excuses.  Let's do it!  Any rtail establishment in this day and age needs to be connected to it's customers needs and wants.  We're starting that relationship off right now.  I need to start making a lot of decisions and acting on them. 

One fantastic retail site I explored today was this one:


http://www.lucythewonderdog.com

I like the product and category selections.  I'm going to start off going through their inventory and seeing what items I can source for myself.

Another site I spent time with today is this one:

http://wholesalepet.com

I met Bo Nelson at a Pet Product show many years ago.  The products carried on wholesalepet.com are available only to independent boutiques such as PNKPets.  Helps the independent retailer stand up to the big boxes by being able to offer something unique and different.  Unique and different.  Sounds like a tagline for something.

So here's the plan. 

I need to physical work on the store improvements.  I also need to do the electronic preparations for a retail site.  A retail mix of brick and clicks.  When I worked with the Small Business Development group many years ago to develop a business plan, I was encouraged to find a way to start the business online or virtually or at least without the expense of the building.  I was hung up on the building and now I have one.

The building, however, is still secondary to cash flow right now.  I have only a few months to get this off of the ground and get it to a point where it can sustain itself as a viable business.  I'd like to get the building going by fall or winter.  Definitely before the holidays.  Black Friday.  Grand opening on Black Friday and/or First Friday of December.  We'll see how renovations and improvements before putting a solid date down.

Best businesses are always those fueled by the things you are passionate about.  Since I'm most passionate about my own pets, the first steps in product selection will be those that I personally use and endorse.  The animals have shopping lists of their own right now so I'd like to work through a few things together.  I pick my favorites and post them here as a poll.  The items that get the best response from readers will be purchased in wholesale lots as store stock.  I'll keep one for "testing" purposes and write reviews and responses on the PNKpets.blogger.com site.  As the PNKPets site becomes more developed, the conversations here will begin to diminish in favor of other topics.

Let's give this poll a try here:


Survey Results - GlowDay.com

Getting the Ideas Down

Image by nikoretro via Flickr

Things are coming together in my head more and I'm liking this.  I filmed same material tonight and I'm motivated for tomorrow.  I want to open up decisions for commentary, corrections and suggestions.  If one can live vicariously on the web, then let's get moving on this virtual life and embrace 2010 and the choices we have.

I want to spend time on the hill and with the plants.  I want to grow my garden.  There's a concept I learned as a codependent.  I mentioned it to my life counselor once and she liked it.  Keep to your own side of the fence.  Work in your own garden.  If you're busy with your own garden, you don't have time to pay close attention to someone else's.

KMS and I watched a movie last night on NetFlix.  It was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  It was based on the first book of a trilog and it was all in Swedish with English subtitles.  It was a little ways into it when we both realized that it wasn't just the intro, the subtitles were going to carry through the entire film.  This required very close attention to the screen and to read at a rapid pace.  Not something KMS nor I have had much practice with, especially of late.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I'd like to learn how to post a poll here on WordPress.  I'll put it on the To Do list.  I'll figure out how to link the To Do list to here as well.  There are many decisions I've considered where I would love to entertain the opinions of others.  Love a good poll and statistics!  Goes back to my early days in telemarketing.  :)

"America's Got Talent" has been on this week and we've quite enjoyed it.  I caught a video of the auditions prior to the show in Las Vegas which hooked me.  I wanted to see more and have watched every episode live ever since.  Quite odd to find me sitting on the couch enjoying the boob tube on a regular basis.  I've looked at it as an exercise in decision making.  Which act would be most successful, entertaining and widely approved?  All of the acts are entertaining to some extent so the choice is to determine which will have the most widespread appeal of the audience.

This is all do-able.  And we're going to talk the walk together.

How to Make Money Online

If someone's going to buy your stuff, they have to know about it first.  Every business today is in the information business.  There are some businesses that are selling more stuff than other businesses.  Nothing guarantees that the market you pick is where the people are going to be buying products.  There are a few things you can do to help increase your chances of success.

The first thing you can do is to select or adapt your marketing to target one of the three biggest areas that are making money today.  Those three niche areas are:

• Dating and Relationships
• Health
• Making Money

Sex, Drugs and Money?  That's it!  These are the places were the vast majority of people are spending their money.  Everyone wants to know where to get it, how to get more of it and how to keep it.  If you have expertise or information in any of these areas, then there's a good chance that you will be able to succeed in promoting your site or product online.  

 eMarketing eXcellence, Third Edition: Planning and optimising your digital marketing (Emarketing Essentials)

Put yourself in the shoes of a customer who is looking for your type of information or product.  Why would they want to give you their money for what they are selling?  Is it because you are so well educated on the topic?  Is it because of all of the experience you have in the area?  Is it because of your reputation?  Most likely not.  What customers are looking for is a very self-centered reason.  They generally don't care about you.  What they do care about is themselves and whether or not they have a problem that is going to be solved by buying your product.  Ask yourself what kinds of problems would be solved with whatever it is you are promoting.  If you can't answer that question, then you should be able to.  Work that through with some brainstorming sessions.

101 Content Marketing Tips 

As you answer the question of what problem is solved by buying my product, you may find that there are some things that are going to have greater appeal than others.  The third step is to narrow your focus to only those things that have the greatest need.  If the needs of your chosen market are not terrifically needy, it will not be the money maker that you are hoping and, if you are reading this, planning for.

Monday musings

I've been given a name of someone to call.  I have a voice mail from someone asking them to call me back.  I have an email from someone with a web page link.  The suggestions and offers and ideas are coming from all directions.  Things are busy in my head trying to determine the best route.  

As with most things, I'm certain there is no one best route.  There are routes better suited to an individual.  The routes I've taken have never been the anticipated or expected ones.  

I've been given the name of someone who manufactures a technology used in many classrooms today.  I would like to have the conversation but more than that, I would like to develop a working partnership.  If the products are worthy, I would like to be able to earn a commission from my recommendations.  I once read a story in what was likely Readers' Digest about a family who found themselves unemployed.  Mom was a marketer and they packed up their kids and got sponsorships to pay their way across the country in an RV for a year or so.  How cool is that?  Why not take that marketing chutzpah and apply it to something more mundane?  I will use your products and give an open review of what I like and don't like about them on the blog.  I will video myself or others using your products and tell others about it in an interesting, thoughtful and usually somewhat humorous way.  

Of course, the ideas I have are exciting to me.  Whether or not they are exciting to anyone else still remains to be seen.  If you build it they will come.  I feel like these efforts are like drawing a line in the sand.  This is where we begin.  We talk about it.  We draw diagrams.  We make outlines.  We make projections.

Expediate

Expedia was the bomb today.  Using their site, I could see which combination of days would give us the least expensive options.  I could see what the layover options were going to cost in consequences.  We have our flights out to Vegas booked but we still have to book the flights home and I also need to retrace the steps or find the sites I had looked at before that had the cheap Ford Escape rental deals.

Homework has not been addressed.

Fair trade

I am excited about this.  I can see how it will be hard work.  But I am also seeing lots and lots of advantages.  If the end result is a life carved out of doing the things we do in our lives in a purposeful and meaningful way and managing to make a decent living in the process, then I don't see what the problem is. 

I am fully aware that the abilities and talents that I do have are a gift and a gift meant to be used at that.  It will be my pleasure to tithe to the Lord.  My story is creative and unpredictable even for me.  The writing will be of good to better skill.  The characters won't have to be built or developed in the script.  We're all characters in reality.  It's life ad hoc and . As we explore how to go about different endeavors, we will record our steps as we go.  You will learn as we learn.  Except you will have the data gathered from our evaluations with having to go through the data collection.  We will tell you what we did step by step and then afterwards will be able to offer a more effective suggested route.

Interior design, renovations, gardening, Landcruisers, vehicles, traveling, kitchen design, solar power, environmentally responsible choices, product evaluations, business endeavors, consulting and consultation, theater, music.  Brainstorming away ... !!!

Flying Crazy

I've spent the better part of the morning trying to book flights for our westward trip.  Turns out to be less expensive to fly our preferred carrier one-way going out and to fly another carrier home one-way than it would be to fly round trip on any of the lot.  Go figure.  The difference is significant enough to warrant the hassle it has been trying to get anything booked at all.  

The bookings were complicated by the fact that our names as they were registered for the frequent flyer program than they were in our names as were designated on our government issued photo identification.  His was easy enough to change from his middle initial to his middle name spelled out.  Mine we found I was unable to change my last name without calling in to customer service.  As it's the weekend, they aren't available in the frequent flyer office so I can't process my name change with them until Monday.  In the meantime, I was advised and was able to book my flight in my current name and just leave my frequent flyer number off of the entry.

Whew!!  The men have gone off to work and forage food and supplies.  I'm sitting back with my first cup of Chai Latte today.  I cannot get over how delicious this stuff is!  It's so warm and comforting.  Yes I said warm from where I'm sitting in Upstate NY.  Warmmmm!

I have a presentation I need to complete and flights home and a rental car still need to be dealt with.  Tonight is the season ending of Lost.  We need to drive south.  This is the list.