Running a website is the only exercise I get
In 2006 my father referred me to me a personalized gift web site called PhotoGiftPlace.com that puts your photos on almost anything, like mugs, purses, plates, clothing, mouse pads, balloons. The site was created by a group of web designers to show off software that displayed a mockup of the finished item in three dimensions, but since these guys are technical engineering dudes, the site looked like it was put together by a bunch of twelve-year-old boys in somebody's basement. The web designers wanted to sell PhotoGiftPlace so they could focus on their core business, so my dad suggested he and I buy it and whip it into shape.
I thought: "Yeeha! I get to play online without having to make up some lame and transparent excuse, I can use my valuable shopping background for good instead of evil, and I get to redecorate something!" Write a few customer service emails, add some new products, send marketing email campaigns once in a while, lounge on the couch and snack on bon bons, rake in a few mil by 2009, sell to Google, buy a racehorse, a Porsche and a big honkin' sapphire, and everybody's happy.
Uh huh.
So I learned about Google advertising on the fly (Want to know what I learned? That Google cost more than it generated because there is so much competition.) I researched new products and worked with designers to bring the site a new look and feel. I created marketing and mass email campaigns; what I know about marketing I really don't know, but I guess I'm as qualified as anybody since I do most of my shopping and research online these days. I hired Cleopatra-Queen-Of-The-Nile and Robespierre as subcontractors to help choose graphics, clip art and color schemes. I issued coupons, rewrote product descriptions, flogged the site to all my friends and blogged the site to everyone else. I also learned (as if I hadn't known already) that the laptop has some distinct and not-so-pleasant similarities to a slot machine, as it entices me to press those buttons just one more time because I'm certain to hit the jackpot.
What was supposed to be a no-brainer turned into a very-much-of-a-brainer, and while I'm not exactly complaining (okay, I am complaining), what I thought would be a joyride on the superhighway to riches and stardom has turned into more of a wagon train trip up the Oregon Trail, and I'm still in Independence, Missouri.
Still, I love it and my kids love having a family business, especially since I pay them for their consultations.
Visit my web site, FeeFiFoto.com, for personalized photo gifts. We will put your photos on almost anything. Design personalized photo calendars and holiday cards.
I thought: "Yeeha! I get to play online without having to make up some lame and transparent excuse, I can use my valuable shopping background for good instead of evil, and I get to redecorate something!" Write a few customer service emails, add some new products, send marketing email campaigns once in a while, lounge on the couch and snack on bon bons, rake in a few mil by 2009, sell to Google, buy a racehorse, a Porsche and a big honkin' sapphire, and everybody's happy.
Uh huh.
So I learned about Google advertising on the fly (Want to know what I learned? That Google cost more than it generated because there is so much competition.) I researched new products and worked with designers to bring the site a new look and feel. I created marketing and mass email campaigns; what I know about marketing I really don't know, but I guess I'm as qualified as anybody since I do most of my shopping and research online these days. I hired Cleopatra-Queen-Of-The-Nile and Robespierre as subcontractors to help choose graphics, clip art and color schemes. I issued coupons, rewrote product descriptions, flogged the site to all my friends and blogged the site to everyone else. I also learned (as if I hadn't known already) that the laptop has some distinct and not-so-pleasant similarities to a slot machine, as it entices me to press those buttons just one more time because I'm certain to hit the jackpot.
What was supposed to be a no-brainer turned into a very-much-of-a-brainer, and while I'm not exactly complaining (okay, I am complaining), what I thought would be a joyride on the superhighway to riches and stardom has turned into more of a wagon train trip up the Oregon Trail, and I'm still in Independence, Missouri.
Still, I love it and my kids love having a family business, especially since I pay them for their consultations.
Visit my web site, FeeFiFoto.com, for personalized photo gifts. We will put your photos on almost anything. Design personalized photo calendars and holiday cards.
