The Problems of Shipping for a Small Web Business

There are many issues to be considered in this process for a small business:

1. Trying to find a warehouse the right size for how many times a month you ship, you may be very small, or start small, but on some months (like December) have a ton to ship out ...

2. Figuring out the best way to ship!
Look carefully at the differences btwn UPS and the Post Office.


UPS ground: About $8-$9 to ship one ball!! And that does not include how much you pay your warehouse for packing and shipping it.
But its trackable, and usually gets anywhere in about 6 days. It's a fortune for little items...

USPS: The post office is great on the cost side-only about $5 for shipping priority, but there is no tracking, and it could take as long as 10-15 days if the post office isn't in a good mood...


small business advise for the day:
Know your product, check out other sites with similar cost items and see what they charge. Keep checking for changing rates, and adjust as you continue to find better ways to ship. Sometimes better will be cheaper, but don't sacrifice cost completely for quality.


www.unforgettaballs.com

'Differentiate or Die' advice for a small business

This is the title of a book I read a few years back by Jack Trout, that is often in my mind.

I was the first to create any patterning on baseballs 15 years ago, before my company all baseballs were white and I created the idea of using them as a canvas. Since then, over the years there have been many knock-offs and copycats- this always happens, and in some ways it is a tribute to a good idea. (But I have to add here that although it is a tribute to a good idea, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it still makes me angry every time I see it!)

So although the market place has other printed baseballs now, I focus my attention on showing the difference between my product and the copycat. My balls have always been art that I created by hand, even the lettering is by hand- they are not cut and pasted or computer generated. To me, I have always differentiated in my mind how the art I create for these balls was meant for the baseball alone, not a design that could than be stuck on a coffee mug. I am a baseball artist, and try to stay true to that so my product reflects it. There is more of an artistic feel to my baseballs b/c of this.


My Small business advice for the day:
There are a lot of products out on the market that are similar, and often when someone comes up with a new idea, they don't think about how to differentiate from what else is out there, or it is something thought about in the creation of the business, but never again. Viewing your business from the stand point of how you are different from your competition should be an ongoing pursuit that you look at as your business evolves, and as your competition evolves as well!

www.unfogettaballs.com

The questions of a small business owner: do you promote yourself or the product?

I have been thinking about this a lot lately b/c it seems as an artist and a business owner that you could spend time promoting yourself as the artist, but maybe you should be spending your time on promoting your product instead. I am not looking to get famous myself, but I am looking for my baseballs to get famous, can one get famous without the other?

I am not sure, I think of Christopher Radko and his ornaments. (I somehow always use him in these sorts of examples b/c he is to ornaments what I want to be to baseballs.) Anyway, which became famous first-he himself or his ornaments? They seem to almost have evolved together. When press write about my baseballs they are writing about the balls, but it is a very artist driven piece. Yet when the balls are in gift guides, catalogs, etc. there is really no mention of the artist, and it seems more product driven. I wonder if you have to decide which path you want to take, or is it best to work both at once? I have read Mrs. Field's Cookies story and I am not sure if this is the same as Christopher Radko b/c hers is more about a franchise story then about being an artist but there are still some similarities I wonder if she chose to promote herself over her product, or both at the same time?
When I was on QVC I think I was definitely selling both myself and my product, so maybe it just involves if I am there or not....

I unfortunately don't have the answers to this one yet, but maybe it is that you have to work both sides, depending on what type of press you are involved with and what kind of coverage it will be.

My Small business advice for the day:
I think it is important to continue to analyze your business from all different angles. Look at how others view your products and your press. Are you selling the product or are you selling yourself, and does it matter which of these you are doing? It may not, but I think it is important to be aware that all these aspects of your business are choices, and to stay contious and aware of all of them!

http://www.unforgettaballs.com/