Hello! I MUST apologize for being away so long. You know from the name of this blog that I am a 9 to 5 chick and things in Corporate America have gone wild. I have been busier than ever before and by the time I get home (prime Blogging time) I am ready to pass right out. But, writing this blog makes me happy so I was excited to get a few moments today to sit down and fill you in. Last time, I mentioned that we'd hired a Digital Media Consultant (WGC Interactive) and let me tell you, that was one of the BEST decisions we've made. He has been growing our online presence and followers on various social media sites and we are just at the beginning of his action plan. Every time we get notifications of new followers on Twitter or Pinterest, we smile.
We have a few other things cooking too. We met with our business consultants over at The Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence (http://www.entrepreneur.pitt.edu/) and we discussed crafting a sales model that would include having sales reps for NMW. Let me tell you why I am SUPER excited about this and why you should be too. Think about it, you buy a bulk number of Wands (say 110 for $4.75 a piece---$522.50) do you know that by selling the Wands and charging $10 a piece (suggested retail price) you can make $1100!!!! How many other ways can you earn that kind of return on your money? It's a Win Win! You are selling people something that will help them solve a problem, save THEM money, and look beautiful in their bags, while YOU more than double your money. As we were brainstorming, I threw out the name, "Magic Money Maker." What do you think of that name? Seriously, I want to know.
We are also VERY excited about having an intern work with us this summer. There is nothing like fresh ideas and different ways of seeing things. This is how dreams come true. Collaboration and hard work!
One last update before I get into a flashback. Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending an event with my mother-in-law. Every few months, her group, the Grandmothers of Pearls, meet and get together to eat, socialize and have a speaker, movie night, etc. Well, I was honored to be invited to their gathering yesterday and told them all about Nikki's Magic Wand. These dear, kind grandmothers bought 21 Wands in 10 short minutes! I was so thankful for their support but also for the confirmation that this product is for EVERYONE!
Time for a flashback... When we last flashed back, I told you that I'd tell you about tip weights and UV paint. Well, we'd found the overseas manufacturer that we were going to use (Thank Goodness!) and now we were ready to get things rolling. Now, I have to take a moment here to get sappy. Because this whole process was 100% new to the best friend and I, we were so consumed with learning what to do, trusting the experts and funding this venture that we really didn't have the time to sit and reflect. Reflect on what you may ask? (Here comes the sap...) Reflect on how absolutely amazing it was that we were actually working on a dream...a thought that popped into my mind. The best friend asked me one day, "Nikki, why aren't you on the rooftop screaming about how amazing this is?" I replied, "I don't have time to climb onto the rooftop, I have to decide on tips weights and the up charge on UV paint." There was no time to do a happy dance, it was time to WORK! That being said, I want to keep my promise and tell you about our next steps. The final design was done and we were very happy with it. The kind of plastic had been decided upon, the color, the length and width of the Wand, the way the cap would fit and the fact that the logo would be printed right at the spot where the Wand and cap met so that when you pulled the two pieces apart, the "N" would separate into an "M" and "W" (Nikki's Magic Wand)---pure genius on Julie's part.
This portion of the project can only be called "Prototype Land." With the specifications in hand, the overseas manufacturer had everything they needed to make my brain child something you could actually hold in your hand. They went away and started working. We patiently waited, excited for that package to come in the mail. They were working on both the Wand and the packaging so we had an array of goodies coming in the mail. The first prototype came and I feverishly ripped it open. There it was...the Wand. It had a metal shaft, a tip weight that was too high (stiff), and a dull, black finish. The box was too large, the paper was too thin and the color was off. Surprisingly I didn't freak out. I knew this was how the process went....get a prototype, give feedback, tweaks, etc. I will never forget that the inventor of the Dyson vacuum went through more than 5000 prototypes before he got it right so I knew that we would get it JUST the way we wanted it.
I'm going to stop here because this post has gotten lengthy and I don't want you dozing off. :) I will tell you next time about the process to get it right...including a trip that the Wands took all by themselves to Wisconsin! :)
As always, thanks for reading!
Nikki
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