Sure The Kids Are Cute, But Have You Seen Our Dog?

Cute puppy, huh? I carry a small clutch made by FeeFiFoto that has a picture of our dog, a Tibetan Terrier
named Violet, on each side. My kids are cute too, but I hesitate to put their photos on a purse, not only for security reasons but also for reasons of practicality. First, the kids will change: teeth are lost and replaced, hair is shorter or longer, fashions evolve. Not that I carry the same handbag year after year, but if I put the kids' picture on a purse it'll obsolesce as soon as I drive it off the parking lot.

The second reason comes from pure public relations. I carry a photo handbag partly to promote FeeFiFoto, and it's astonishing how much attention this puppy purse generates. Especially when Violet's with me, people look at the purse and then at the dog and then back to the
purse and their faces light up. Seems hokey, but the joint appearance of the dog and the purse with a picture of the dog makes people smile. And somehow, no matter how cute your kids are, photos of them never seem to have the same effect. Even if the dog's not with me people still comment on the bag, and charming them is a slam dunk when I say that's not just any dog on my purse -- it's my dog.

I'm Doing A Giveaway!

Drill Sergeant Kristen has ordered -- I mean encouraged me to participate in some giveaways to build traffic to my site, and my first one is:

... which is being run by b5media.com on their Family and Relationships channel.


And here's what I'm giving:

FeeFiFoto.com has donated a Bucket Bag, Single Photo Mia Cameron handbag made from an extremely sturdy microfiber fabric, trimmed in microfiber or leather. They don’t use an iron-on process, which produces high quality colors, image quality and life. This prize will be handmade to order, and takes 3-5 weeks for delivery. Just in time for the holidays! Value: $100.00

In addition to the handbag from my site, prizes include skin treatments, supplies and services for organizing your home and life, toys, gifts, books, craft kits, and coffee.

Please visit the contest, and the donor sites.

Secret Identity

The site I've been operating since last September offers sophisticated technology that can put digital photos on almost anything. The people who created it were among the first to offer personalized photo calendars and those huge mylar balloons you can make up for your bar mitzvah or wedding shower with photos of the honorees on them. They even included this amazing feature that allows you to design some items and then examine a digital prototype in three dimensions and from all angles. So, you can put your photo on a mug, for instance, and then grab an image of the mug with a tool and drag it around to look at the back, side, even inside (although they haven't yet included a feature that lets you put your picture inside the mug, which would be so cool).

As I also may have mentioned, while the technology was definitely futuristic, the site itself looked like it was run by a bunch of twelve-year-old boys in somebody's basement (sorry, guys, if you're reading this, but I know even you'll admit this is true). The color scheme was dull, the graphics were flat and the text was boring. Plus, there was the name: PhotoGiftPlace.com.

Now, PhotoGiftPlace.com certainly is descriptive: "Where are you going?" "Oh, I'm off to PhotoGiftPlace.com to buy some photo gifts!" But, as a probably-much-too-savvy internet shopper, I know that you might find PhotoGiftPlace.com through Google one year and then the next year, when you can't quite recall the name, you might end up at PhotoGifts.com and think it's the same place you visited last holiday season. Just ask me about my attempts to locate the site where I bought my kids a couple of gifts a few years ago: "Let's see -- was it 'Menorah.com', or 'Menorahs.com', or 'BuyMenorah.com', or 'Jewishstuff.com'...?"

So the first thing I needed to do when I started running the site was find a new name, something funky, memorable, easy to say -- something that would take on a life of its own, become part of the vernacular, catch the imagination, make sense in any language or culture. Unfortunately, Google, Amazon, Kodak and Zappos were all taken. So were PhotoSchmoto, PhotoToto, Photopia, Photokomodo (that one was a bit esoteric, I admit), Photophoria, and just about everything I came up with. And some of these names were only reserved and not even being used!

Finally, I hit pay dirt with FeeFiFoto.com, which I reserved under about a dozen different spellings (did you know that you'll get to Google even if you accidentally type "Foofle"?) It's easy to say, easy to remember, and easy to type. Try it -- all those 'f's just roll off your fingers. The name change will be completed in a few weeks, probably right after Mother's Day; I may be impatient but I'm not dumb enough to change the site's name in the middle of a busy season.

And certainly, as soon as I do it, I'll be seized with self-doubt for as long as I run the site.

Visit my web site, FeeFiFoto.com, for personalized photo gifts. We will put your photos on almost anything. Put favorite photos on porcelain Christmas ornaments.

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.

Testing.. Testing .. One, Two, Three.. Is This Thing On?

Thank you! Thank you! You're so kind. Really, thanks so much.

How is everyone tonight? Good? Having a good time? Where you from?

I just flew in from Missouri, and boy are my arms tired!

badumpbump!

But seriously, folks...

Welcome to the forum for my musings, experiences, stories (mostly funny, I hope), and insights, such as they are. I hope you have a splendid time, and visit often.

Sooooo...

Here I am, a forty-seven year old single mother of two kids way too young to drive themselves. We spend a good amount of time together, and as the sole parent I'm in charge of everything. About fifteen years ago I decided that if Mr. Right wasn't going to drop through the ceiling any time soon, I'd best take charge of matters. After buying a new house, lining up better health insurance and generally getting my ducks in a row, I selected Mr. Donor from a long list of candidates, and began the fertility dance. Eighteen months later something finally worked, and after nearly forty weeks of nausea I gave birth to Robespierre (not his real name, but the working title I employed to deflect comments and opinions). Two years later, one more IVF brought Cleopatra-Queen-of-the-Nile.

Robespierre is almost ten now, and I have to say that single parenthood is one of the best-kept secrets around. I'm responsible for everything (although I have extremely supportive and helpful family living nearby), but I'm well compensated by a steady flow of kisses, hugs and pride-generating moments.

A few months ago I bought a web site that produces personalized gifts. It's been a lot more work than I'd anticipated, but contributing to its development and refurbishment satisfies my creative genes. The kids function as independent contractors; I pay them to help me select products or designs, and they have a feeling of ownership.

So that's the beginning of the story. Keep in touch.