Tis the season

Merry (belated) Christmas, Happy New Year, and God Bless Everyone!

Now that the Christmas chaos has concluded, we are ready to start focusing on some serious issues at hand. The CPSIA has a lot of small businesses, retailers and manufacturers alike, up in arms. As a manufacturer, I have to do a lot of research (and by I, I mean Hubby) about these issues and decide what actions we should take. There is a lot of misinformation out there and rumors are spreading like wild fire. So, do we get a lawyer to look at the legalese of the new laws? I don't want to be overly reactionary, but I have to do something. I have potential retailers that will not entertain carrying Dapper Snappers without certification that it meets the new standards whether or not they apply to our product. Our first attempt will be to get certifications from our suppliers and from that create our own certification that we comply fully with the new laws. But what if some of our suppliers aren't required to provide certification because of the nature of the product they sell? Will that mean we have to get it tested independently? 

It really is difficult to make heads or tails of this. The new laws are a source of confusion for all of us. We just have to take a step back away from the confusion, separate fact from freak-out, and do our best to comply. We will have to do something though because I can't not sell the one product that makes life easier for so many moms all over the world. Save the Dapper Snapper, Save the world! (Okay, I'm a Heroes fan)

Here's an FAQ for you and you and you!

Oh now I've done it!

http://www.dappersnappers.com/ttusafaq.html

Black Friday through Cyber Monday SALE!!!

Here's a big announcement!

Use coupon code BlackCyber to get 33.33% off any purchase through ToddlerTechUSA.com from 11/28/08 through 12/1/08. This will be the biggest discount that has ever been (or will ever be) offered. Take advantage now because it doesn't get any better than this!

This coupon code is good on any Dapper Snapper purchase (excluding retailer kits) for as many as you would like to buy. How cool is that? 

Plus, we just had a price change on the Snapcessories™. Now you can get your Snapcessories™ for just $5.95 and Snapcessorized™ are only $12.95. And we are offering even more Snapcessories™ with the addition of a football, basketball, soccer ball, teddy bear, and more to come. 

Dapper Snappers make the perfect stocking stuffer! So go...Now...hurry hurry!

Go Green?

In my last post I wrote about the importance of Made in the USA to my customers. I got some great advice. And I got this suggestion:  you could try adopting some greener practices. So how do I do this? Without going into much detail about our processes, I'm not sure how to go green. We don't have much waste, so aside from recycling the mailing label backs there's not much I can see to do. I don't print out anything I won't use. We turn off the power when we leave. All the material scraps are saved in a basket. 

For a while there I was using 10% recycled paper for my product packaging and biodegradable cellophane but we did away the 3 pack bags and the recycled paper was much more expensive than regular paper. The last thing I want to do is waste money. 

Any suggestions? Can I go green and not break the bank? Why is recycled paper more expensive? Is there a list of standards and practices for going green? Can we get certified? Am I missing something? 

It was bound to happen eventually...

I'm stuck. My elastic supplier is out of pink and my being able to order more depends on a bigger customer of theirs ordering more. It works like this: I can order a smaller wholesale amount of elastic if I buy what they have leftover. If I want a particular color I have to order 10,000 yards, which works out to a minimum of $3,000. Per. Color. 

Using only USA manufacturers to supply us with all of our materials is not only expensive, but it's very hard to do. The little guys (us small businesses) are usually asked to make a huge investment upfront for a business that may or may not make it off the ground. There's only so much we can invest. 

The other day I was a vendor at a baby product show and was asked by a customer if I thought that "Made in the USA" was a big deal to moms who would be buying Dapper Snappers. Honestly, I don't know. I know I'm a mom and it's important to me. Sure part of it is a pride thing. As stated on the label "100% Proudly Made in the USA.". But I'm also supporting the economy (which as of late has been in the crapper) by only using USA manufacturers. And since our lead restrictions (not to worry, there's no lead in what I do anyway) are so much tighter than, let's say China, we don't have to worry about lead in the paint on the snaps. 

So what do you think? Is "Made in the USA" important to you? Enough to forgo a popular color of elastic? 

Naturally

So I took a picture a few weeks ago but couldn't post it until I received my order. And now that I have it, I can make an announcement (I seem to have a lot of those). 

Dapper Snappers are now available in 4 new colors! Here's my favorite:

Jacob sporting Natural; 

one of the newest Dapper Snapper colors available

The other 3 colors are Royal Blue, Kelly Green, and Gray. We opened up our shopping site to custom orders. Customized Dapper Snappers are the same price as Original. So mix and match to your heart's delight!

Goody!!!

Dapper Snappers is being One Goodied again! I should explain that the last time we were scheduled to appear, their server had an unfortunate incident and only one order was able to be placed for the whole weekend. Poor Shane (she's one of the owners). But she's been a great sport about it and even offered to run us again, which happens to be this weekend.

So if you get a chance to head over there make sure to sign up for their daily newsletter. One Goodie every day in your inbox. I'm totally getting the DVD scratch cleaner next time it comes up!

A new season

Good morning! 

I want to make this announcement short and sweet. 10% of Dapper Snapper sales will be donated to a local Food Pantry to feed the hungry. No administrative fees will be deducted. 100% of donated money will go to buy food. 

Now if I could just figure out how to keep a running total on the side of the blog...

Hey Sports Fans!

Boy oh boy have I got something for you!!!

Announcing the Design-Your-Own Dapper Snappers! You can choose your Elastic, Snap, and even Under Component colors all at the same price as the Original Dapper Snappers. Now you can color coordinate with your favorite outfits, sports teams, and schools! How cool is that? 

Here are some we did up for examples

We can't say which famous sports teams colors we are showing here because of licensing issues, but I'm sure if you are knowledgeable about sports or are in Oregon, you know who they are. And all you hockey fans? While we don't have a hockey Snapcessory™ (not for lack of trying but Hubby vetoed the leather puck I made), we can still make these in your favorite team's colors. 

Check out all your options at www.ToddlerTechUSA.com. 

Really I'm not one to break promises...

What I want and what I get are usually 2 different things. I really wanted a new blog look. I even put together a comp of what I wanted. But alas, I do not have the skills to make it happen and I was unsuccessful in getting help with it. Therefore, we will just deal with what we have and move on. I have got too much stuff to tell all of you about to wait any longer.

There is exciting stuff happening here at Dapper Snapper Central! We have had a couple new lines added and are about to add another!!! (I do love my exclamation points) The first new line we added is Snapcessories™. A Snapcessorized™ Dapper Snapper had color coordinating caps and components with an adorable accessory that snaps around the free belt loop not used by the Dapper Snapper. It's the new "must have" accessory for your child's Dapper Snappers! 

The second is Sugared; a classy shimmery pattern added to original Dapper Snappers. 

Both of these additions have given Dapper Snappers the boutique style shoppers have been looking for.  We also now offer customized Dapper Snappers. Currently we carry 11 elastic colors and 22 cap colors, as well as 5 under-component choices. 

I've been busy! Ooooh! And we will have another announcement very soon. It's super cool!

Until then...

There is some exciting stuff coming up soon!

I will tell you all about it as soon as I can get my new blog look!

Coming soon! I promise!

Oh where have I been?

Well...I have been waiting. I wanted to get a new blog up and running off the server we currently use (HostOnce.com) for our DapperSnappers.com website but they are just awful! We need a new server so I can have my new blog before my head explodes. Actually, I will have 2 new blogs; one for business and one for all things mommy. Any suggestions?

Networking

I went to my first PMI (Portland Mamas Inc - name changing to Mamapreneurs Inc) meeting Wednesday night. I had a great time and met some wonderful people, including the woman who started PMI...um...MPI (?), Marlynn (@designmama for all you twitter fans). Got great info about trade shows and really got me thinking. 

Speaking of Twitter...So this is how my networking story started. I joined a message board called mompreneurs. My original intent was to get some information and helpful links to put on my website. I met some great people there who helped me out a lot. And I discovered a monthly conference call they have to address business related questions/concerns. I "attended" the last call and took tons of notes. One of the networking tools they mentioned was Twitter. 

Through Twitter, I met Marlynn and then Lauren and so many other wonderful people. Come to find out that Lauren and my product rep, Thea, are good friends. The more I network, the more connections are made, and yet I discover that it is a small world indeed. 

So my best advice to you who want to get started or grow in any kind of business is to find local and online groups in which to network. It's a lot easier than you would think. And all the other Mom/Mamapreneurs are just wonderful!

A new name deserves a new tagline

We took a survey and the winning tagline for Dapper Snappers is: "Fix Droopy Drawers in a Snap!"

It's great because it says exactly what it does. It's just perfect! Now on to redesigning the Cinchie packaging with the new name and tagline. I already sent in the order for the redesigned labels, but the supplier has to get back to me on feasibility. The new label will be a loop label with more information but shorter so it stays out of the way of the snaps. Not sure why I didn't think of that to begin with...

I'm still sending out orders with Cinchie info until we can get the new stuff. I just put on the packing slips that we've changed the name. Same great product, different name. Pretty cool though that I've sold 3 in 3 days. Business is picking up. Seems like small fries, but it's better that what we had before...nada... Once word gets out I'm gonna be very very very busy!

On the Mama side of the Mama-preneur, I must say that my little babies are doing very well with playing outside while I am in the garage working...and keeping a watchful eye... As soon as DapperSnappers takes off, I am going to make use of my summer babysitter to keep them busy and in line a couple days a week while I work. Won't that be nice?! Even so, Jacob (the 3 yr old) wants to "help mama" every time I go to work in the garage. I have him hand me business cards and put samples in the bin. Very repetitive stuff, but he loves it. What laws about child labor??? I never heard of any...LOL. 

A new name...a new logo...

What do you think?

Bring on the Dapper Snapper!

I am so excited to announce that we have changed the Cinchie name to Dapper Snappers! And really not a moment too soon. I have been a busy little bee and doing tons of social networking. I just heard about Twitter today and I am fully twitterpated now. 

I'm finishing my glass of wine while watching Jay and looking at website templates for the new DapperSnappers.com website. 

Dapper Snappers "A fashionable fit for where you sit"