Who loves on-line shopping?

Today I ironed. I almost never iron, but today I did. And I ironed dress shirts for my husband. He has enthusiastically supported my business whim. He has his work and pretty much leaves the onesie business to me but does listen and discuss when things are on my mind. He has been my financial backer (this makes for some good jokes) which took some guts as I was getting started just as the economy was tanking. Anyways, so I am ironing dress shirts and wishing that his shirts came out of the drier looking as great as the dress shirt bodysuits did when my son was wearing them.

Also while ironing I was mentally making my grocery list. I have discovered Safeway.com is a huge time and sanity saver. And when I plan for two weeks worth of meals it is easy to hit their free delivery promotions. I used to enjoy taking my crew to the grocery store and let them munch a bagel or donut while I pushed them around in one of those giant car carts (their favorite one is the green one). But the past two times it got downright crazy. I even had a fireman talking to my two year-old who was sprawled out on the floor having a fit because the bagger bagged something he wanted to hold. The fireman was asking him if he was Okay and offering to help because that's what firemen do. He was helpful in that he freaked my son out enough to make him silently cling to me. It was embarrassing though. So I swore off of grocery store trips with the kids. My options were early morning, evening or weekend to get to the store kid-free. Or I could go on-line grocery shopping. Yes, I now buy my groceries on-line and I can't believe the time it is saving me. I am sure we'll have to hit the store occasionally when we run out of milk but for the most part I am done hauling three kids to the store, the mall, or anywhere I have to make a purchase. It's the city water park, summer movies, play dates etc...for us.

So I know why I shop on-line....why do you?

To blog or not to blog?

I've thought about starting a blog to go with my business since I got started just over a year ago. So why did I wait so long and why am I starting now? Those are hard questions to answer. For the past year I wanted to remain anonymous and let my product speak for itself. I had plenty to do without adding a blog to the mix. (I have a family blog and it is sorely neglected, apologies to long-distance grandparents and great-grands).

I also had a vision that my business could generate lots of sales by word of mouth advertising based on the fact that we have a good product. And while it is true that the product is outstanding (take my customers word for it, not mine), times have changed and we are in the information age. The more information the better, usually. I decided a blog was a better forum than my website to introduce myself and my family as part of my business so that my website could stay dedicated to selling a great product.

I plan to post once a week about running my business while also working as a full-time stay at home mom. Be forewarned that there is sure to be some influence from my full-time job as a mom as I blog about my part-time business pursuits. I'd like to maintain a purely professional blog, but I am not purely a professional. I am a mom, first and foremost. So now you know. The word is out.

I've asked myself, "Will this make me more susceptible to competitors?"  "Since most of my customers are probably moms, will this help spread the word about my business?" "If people know who I am, will they be less worried about buying on-line?" "Is this too unprofessional? or is it smart marketing?" And the questions go on and on...I guess the only way to find out is to start blogging and see what happens. Plus, nap time is over so I gotta go.