PRESS RELEASE

June 27, 2007- Trumbell, CT

This March 2007 Kristine Sheehan, Owner of The Merry Bird…pen, ink and design company, delivered Samantha her second child, a welcomed addition to the family business.

The joyous event also marks the "birth" of The Merry Bird's new line of boxed Note and Holiday Cards, which are displayed on her business website located at http://www.themerrybird.com./

With a distinct pen-and-ink stippled style, her note cards offer a unique way of saying thank you, sending invitations or spreading holiday cheer.

Twenty-five holiday cards are beautifully presented in a gold box with Merry Bird ribbon. The holiday variety themes include: Soldiers, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays, Santa’s Bag, and Holiday Bells. The new cards in the holiday line will be displayed on the website by late August 2007.

The Merry Bird…pen, ink and design company is flying in to announce the start of the holiday season this July 19th and 20th at the Women Business Owners (http://www.womenowners.com) very own Christmas in July sale.

Vendors and buyers are welcome to contact The Merry Bird…pen, ink and design company at: info@themerrybird.com to receive a “buyer flyer”. Your buyer flyer will allow you to view the cards and place your holiday orders.

Or, if you prefer to send one card at a time, The Merry Bird…Card Service makes it simple to choose one card and forward it to a friend. You can choose your font and a stippled motif, fill in the card service order form, and submit the order. Voilà! Your card is in the mail. Payment is simple, just click on the appropriate PayPal button and the card is forwarded via postal mail for you.

Contact Information:

The Merry Bird…pen, ink and design

Kristine Sheehan http://www.themerrybird.com/

Company Bio:
The Merry Bird....pen, ink and design company of Trumbell, Connecticut has officially been in business since March 2006. Kristine Sheehan, the owner, began working in the design/art industry because her passion is drawing with pen and ink, painting and photography. Her company offers a line of pen and ink motifs on note cards, holiday cards and invitations. The Merry Bird…pen, ink and design is ever changing and adding more beautiful ideas to choose from, come take a peek, Fly in! http://www.themerrybird.com

Catalogs: Low-Tech Tools for High-Tech Sales

'startupnation' June 2007

Sometimes, the key to promoting high-tech online sales is going low.
Strange as it may seem in a time when billions of dollars of commerce is taking place on the Web, old-fashioned ink-on-paper can be a very potent tool for goosing sales and cementing customer relationships.

“When Web sites started to show themselves, they replaced things like catalogs, stores, telephones, answering centers,” says Eddie Bakhash, president of AmericanPearl.com, a high-end New York-based jewelry company.

Now, Bakhash says, the world of online selling is “reaching maturity. Every site reaches a threshold where you’ve built a great site, you’re in the search engines, you’re spending money on cost-per-click advertising and your business cannot expand on the Internet anymore.”

BRIOprint.com: Catalogs Immediate online pricing for catalog printing and fast turn around. Sheetfed and heat set web printing up to 77 inches wide.
§ Printingforless.com: for catalogues, booklets, and calendars, including standard formats to choose from.

That’s the time to look back, and reconsider another time-tested promotional tool – catalogs.
Catalogs say you’re here to stay
Mario Barth saw a 12 percent increase in sales when he started circulating fliers for his online tattoo supplies business, The Tattoo Superstore.
“With all the Internet sites out there, if there is not some form of printed material supporting what you do, people think it’s not real,” says Barth, who runs four high-end tattoo studios and the online supply company from his Rochelle Park, N.J., headquarters.

A year after Barth sent a catalog to his customer base, online sales had increased by 1,045 percent. No joke.

“They felt very secure that the company is real,” says Barth, who started his site about three years before sending out the first catalog in 2004. “I send catalogs at least twice a year to my customers, and then I support it sometimes with special fliers as an insert in the catalog. People keep the catalog instead of throwing it out. When you make people interact again with your product, they start ordering again.”

When they work, they work
Not everyone shops by catalog – but those who do remember the business a lot longer, industry research has found.

Nearly 30 percent of footwear consumers said catalogs influenced their purchases more than newspaper ads, TV commercials or Internet ads, according to a study by Footwear News/NPD Group. That’s why Kassie Rempel complements her online women’s shoe boutique, SimplySoles, with seasonal catalogs.

“When I started SimplySoles, the business model was always to create dual marketing channels: the catalog and the Web site,” Rempel says. “They complement each other by reinforcing the brand. Business from the catalog is strong – 60 percent phone orders versus 40 percent Web orders. Our catalog keeps SimplySoles in the minds of our customers. We come to them, versus them just coming to us.”

AmericanPearl.com’s catalogs are half magazine, half selling tool ? or, as they’re called in publishing, “magalogs.” It’s a great way to “reinforce a message to an existing customer,” Bakhash says.

In fact, existing clients are the best audience for a catalog. Bakhash cautions fellow e-tailers to stay away from catalogs as a tool to find new buyers. They’re best, he says, for reminding customers you’re there and reawakening their desire to shop at your site.
AmericanPearl.com customers get catalogs before holidays, an anniversary or birthday. It’s a way to send a “meaningful message,” Bakhash says.
How to do it?

If you’re ready to add a catalog to your e-biz, start small, suggests jeweler Bakhash, who launched his online company in 1997 and issued his first catalog in 2001. Don’t commission a high-cost printer; buy desktop publishing software, a really good printer and do it yourself.
“With a little time and some off-the-shelf software, you can create beautiful-looking catalogs,” says Bakhash, whose company sends out 75,000 catalogs a year. “Once you measure your feedback, you can expand on that.”

Consider variable data printing – sending different catalogs to different customers based on their latest purchase (what accessories go with what they’ve already bought?). Not every marketing piece has to be the same.

Bakhash says the key to catalogs is using them as a tool for building ongoing relationships with your customers and keeping them strong – not just selling once, and leaving a pile of potential new sales on the table.

Lynne Meredith Schreiber is a freelance writer for StartupNation.

Humming Birds - Cold Snap

The stage was set by an unusually warm early spring, with no significant cold fronts during the entire month of March. As a result, although the arrival of the first migrants on the Gulf coast was normal, some birds made extraordinary speed northward with no bad weather to slow them down. In my opinion, the spring hummingbird migration is constrained by the availability of active insects, not by the blooming of flowers, and there were plenty of bugs for the earliest birds to eat. Freezing temperatures are not a direct factor in hummingbird mortality; healthy Ruby-throated tolerate nights in the teens easily, but freezing weather limits insect activity. Hummers can do without nectar, but they need bugs at least every few days or their nutrition suffers (including their tolerance for cold).
By the first week of April, a few birds had made remarkable progress, particularly into the midwest, which saw unseasonable highs in the 80s. Everyone knew a cold front was long overdue, and it was a nasty one, bringing thunderstorms, hail, sleet, and snow.
Hummingbirds do not migrate in flocks. Each bird has its own internal clock and migration schedule, probably inherited; the migration starts with just a few individuals in early March, builds over several weeks, then tapers off until it's essentially over by June. The dates on the map reflect the earliest birds, not the vast bulk of the population. Since they are spread out both geopraphically and temporally, the species limits its vulnerability to catastrophic conditions, including bad weather. This is also why you may not see any hummingbirds for weeks after the map shows sightings in your area--if a hummer passed through a yard two houses away, you probably wouldn't notice.
So, a very small percentage of the Ruby-throated population had the misfortune to be caught on the wrong side of the cold front. Will they survive? There's little research or precedent to suggest answers, but I would expect most individuals to find enough shelter and food to manage, while some others will not. There's an advantage to being first to arrive--a chance to claim the best breeding territories--but there's always a risk of outrunning the food supply. If climate change is moving toward earlier springs, these risk-taking hummers will be in the forefront of an evolutionary shift to earlier migration schedules. But climate deals with averages, over long periods of time, while weather has immediate and dramatic effects. Climate affects populations; weather affects individuals.
What can you do to help? Don't wait to hang your feeders until after you see hummingbirds. Let the map guide your timing. The standard 1:4 feeder syrup won't start to freeze unless nights drop below about 27 degrees Fahrenheit, and even a slushy feeder is better than none at all. You don't need to worry about insects or shelter, because hummers are adept at finding both on their own.
It's heartwrenching to think of hummingbirds dying from the cold, but remember only a small portion of the population is affected, and they're tougher and more resourceful than you might think. I'm more concerned about what's happened to the wildflowers on which the rest of the species will depend as they head north. The loss of flower resources might have a much harsher impact overall than the direct effects of cold weather on the leading edge of the migration. Remember that many hummingbirds never use feeders, so try to replace the freeze-damaged flowers in your garden as soon as you can.

Lanny Chambers
www.hummingbirds.net

THINK SPRING!

The Basics of Local Online Advertising

Need to drive more business to your door? Use our practical guide to rev up your local web strategy.

By Amanda C. Kooser Entrepreneur Magazine - March 2007

For a downloadable checklist of the top 15 sites you need to advertise on locally, go to www.entrepreneur.com/checklists/localsites

The promise of the web has been a global one. It connects companies to telecommuters, outsourcers, far-off countries and customers around the world. But a new trend in the web is bringing it closer to home . . . and business. The “local web” is the way the internet helps connect people with places in their hometowns as well as their business and travel destinations. For local entrepreneurs, it’s about using the web to reach customers and vice versa.

We’re not here to preach the value of having a website. You already know about that. This is a look at how to use your site and the many other internet resources available to help customers find you. It’s not so much about e-commerce as it is about getting people to your door. “What we have now is a complicated world where people use many different sources of information to find local businesses. They’re using the traditional mediums that they’ve always used, but now the internet has become a very powerful--and in many cases, [the] primary--resource for people,” says Greg Sterling, founder of Sterling Market Intelligence, an Oakland, California, consulting and research firm with an emphasis on the local search marketplace.

“You need to be where your customers are, and more and more customers are on the web,” says Sheryl Sandberg, vice president of global online sales and operations at Google. Take a look out over the web. There’s no one-stop shop for marketing your local business online. People use search engines, online Yellow Pages, industry-specific directories, referral and review sites and online communities. They follow links from other businesses’ sites and click on ads while browsing. So here’s a primer to help you plan your local web strategy.

Get StartedThe first step is usually the hardest one. This initial stage requires a little patience and a lot of groundwork. Here it is: Get listed. That sounds pretty straightforward, but it actually means you have a roster of websites to visit. The three big search engines--Google, MSN and Yahoo!--should be your first destinations. Submit your site to each engine and then visit their “Local” sections and submit your company information. For example, go to http://listings.local.yahoo.com. The “Local Basic Listings” link takes you to the service. You can fill in information about your business, including hours, services, payment methods and descriptions. Once processed, your business will appear on Yahoo! Local maps and in searches that correlate to your description and category. Google works in a similar manner through its Local Business Center, and MSN partners with Citysearch to generate local information. Basic listings are free.

Ask.com recently launched AskCity for local searches, and AOL also generates its share of search traffic, so be sure to include them in your local web strategy.“You should absolutely get your content into every free directory or listing service you can,” says Sterling. “It’s important to [do this] because you don’t know where your potential customers are coming from.” Don’t overlook vertical sites that serve your particular market and that maintain business directories or listings. Local newspaper websites can be smart and affordable places to post an advertising link. Sites like Craigslist that feature a strong local component can be powerful tools. Not only do local customers browse the ads, but the ads are often indexed by search engines, providing yet another avenue for people to find you.

Look No FurtherIn a recent study by ROI Research Inc. and Performics on the offline impact of internet search, 55 percent to 65 percent of respondents said that search is at least somewhat influential in purchases they make at retail locations. That number is on the way up. Beyond retail products, more consumers are looking for local services online as well. The same goes for other businesses seeking local partners, suppliers and services.

Newspapers and physical Yellow Pages haven’t been abandoned, but they’re now pieces of a larger puzzle. A report by Borrell Associates predicts that local online advertising will grow by 31 percent to $7.7 billion and local paid search will balloon by 86 percent to $1.8 billion in 2007. If you want to be found in your hometown, you need to be found online. But being found isn’t always free.

Many businesses allocate some of their marketing budgets to search engine advertising. First Crush, a restaurant and wine bar in San Francisco, subscribes to the Google AdWords program. “We started with Google because it was such a big name,” says Shahram Bijan, owner of First Crush. “[We] reached a big audience without having to spend a lot of money.” First Crush uses 20 to 30 different keywords to trigger its ads in Google. Bijan’s goal was to drive search traffic to www.firstcrush.com, where visitors could learn more about the restaurant, its extensive wine list and event catering options, and use its online reservation system. “The great thing about the internet is people are looking for specific information,” says Bijan, 29. “You’re not just bombarding them with ads.”

Get AdvancedSearch engines aren’t the be-all and end-all of a local web strategy. Most businesses will benefit from a multi-faceted approach. Outside the top general search engines, a handful of sites have popped up with a specifically local bent.

A big trend is convergence websites, which combine local business listings and directories with search functionality and paid advertising. Citysearch, founded in 1995, is the elder statesman of this type of site. Its focus on city guides with restaurants, services and reviews has made it a must-list place for a lot of businesses, particularly those in larger cities. First Crush uses Citysearch in combination with its own website and Google AdWords. This multipronged approach helped the restaurant reach $3 million in sales in 2006, with an expected 5 percent increase for 2007.

Although Kenai, Alaska, has fewer than 10,000 residents, nearly 50 local businesses have signed up with MerchantCircle.com, a local business listings service. Tina Showalter, 43, opened the Blonde Bear Bed & Breakfast in 2005. “Our first summer, we did great with word-of-mouth advertising, and then we got involved in the internet, and it has pretty much exploded from there,” says Showalter, who runs the Blonde Bear with her husband, George, 46. They expect sales to double in 2007.

The Blonde Bear’s MerchantCircle.com site combines a business description, reviews, a blog, coupons, a map and links to other businesses listed on MerchantCircle.com. All those Kenai businesses on the site got there through word-of-mouth; Showalter estimates she’s brought 30 other businesses onboard to help build up the cross-promotional and networking benefits of the site. Look for more services like MerchantCircle.com to hit the scene as the local web market heats up.

Originally published in the March 2007 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine

With all the avenues available for reaching customers online, it’s important to be able to determine what is working and what isn’t. “This is all about discovery, trial and error, and refinement,” says Sterling. “Be willing to try some stuff and change course if it doesn’t work.” To find out if your strategies are effective, Sterling suggests entrepreneurs simply ask how their customers learned about them. Online coupons can also be an effective way to track how many customers are visiting your website and then visiting your location.

Search engine advertising services come with analytics and reports that show you how many click-throughs and unique visitors you’re getting. These numbers can help you determine which search terms are working, which to spend more money on and which to abandon. It has been a simple equation for First Crush. “When we put up the website, we were getting about 150 to 200 unique visitors a day,” says Bijan. “After we started using Google, we’re seeing 600 to 800 unique visitors a day.”

SMALL BUSINESS: Taking care of business - and kids

JAMIE HERZLICH
jherzlich@aol.com.

May 28, 2007

If you think running a small business is hard enough now, try tossing a couple of kids into the mix - and imagine how much harder it gets.That's the daily reality for millions of home-based female business owners trying to strike a balance between work and family.

In fact, of the 3.6 million home-based businesses owned by women, 2.1 million are run with children at home, according to the Center for Women's Business Research in Washington, D.C., based on the latest 2002 Economic Census data."The mom of today is part entrepreneur, part wife, part mother and part soccer coach," says Linda Shapiro, co-founder and vice president of St. James-based Moms-for-Profit (moms-for-profit.com), an organization that assists entrepreneurial moms. "She's really juggling everything and balancing her family at the same time."

Many entrepreneurial moms start their own businesses out of financial necessity, while others do it to keep a foot in the business world - and maintain their sanity - in between The Wiggles and toddler tantrums."Whenever I'm stressed out about something out of my control, I go to work," says Debra Cohen, president of Home Remedies of NY Inc. (homeownersreferral.com), a Hewlett-based referral service that connects homeowners with contractors. Cohen, who has daughters 7 and 11 years old, started her home-based business in 1997 after leaving a job as vice president of a Spanish-language aviation magazine.

Home Remedies was formed out of "personal necessity," explains Cohen, who was having trouble finding reliable contractors after she and her husband bought a home. Guessing other homeowners might be facing the same problem, she took out a $5,000 loan against her husband's teachers retirement fund to launch the business. Her hunch was right, and she was able to pay it back within six months. The company now boasts sales in excess of $100,000, she says.Being a mom and entrepreneur is truly a "juggling act," notes Cohen, 39. She says it helps if you have some type of support system, be it a spouse, a parent or even another mom you can trade off with."Any help that you can get is great," agrees Shapiro, who started Moms-For-Profit with partner Stacey Smith in September 2005. The two, who had worked at CMP Media in Manhasset together, share the workload and serve as each other's support system."Our kids have become like siblings and they entertain each other," says Shapiro, 37, who has sons ages 4 and 6. Smith has a daughter, 2, and a son, 5. To be sure, technology has helped to make their jobs easier. "One of the best things we did was invest in laptops," Shapiro says. "It definitely made us more mobile." Her BlackBerry is a necessity.

Another great tool for mommy entrepreneurs is a daily planner, notes Amy Platt, owner of Syosset-based LIParent Source.com, which she started in October as an online resource for parents. (Platt also is a member of Moms-for-Profit.)"I write everything down,"says Platt, 32, a big fan of momAgenda planners (momagenda.com). Platt recently cut her hours at her CPA job so she could focus on her developing business. A nanny helps out with her 13-month-old daughter, and her 4-year-old son is in nursery school. Child care can be essential when you're trying to run a business, says Pat Cobe, who with Ellen Parlapiano are known as the Mompreneurs, a name they trademarked. "You don't have to have full-time child care," says Cobe, who co-authored the book "Mompreneurs: A Mother's Practical Step by Step Guide to Work at Home Success." A couple of hours a week may do, she says, and advises that if you're short on cash, try swapping child care with another mom who needs a break."You should have a backup in case you have to meet with a client or go to a meeting," Cobe says. The bottom line is you can only do so much. "You can't make this a 24/7 operation," she says.After all, even moms need time out.

Tips on tackling the motherload:

Use a time management planner with to-do lists to plan your day, prioritize your tasks and keep you on track.

Periodically review how you are spending your time. Make sure each aspect of your life is getting the attention it needs. Don't continually sacrifice time with your spouse or children to work on your business. If you are constantly overextended or overworked, decide where you need help.

Don't allow your business to consume you. You can do only so much in one day.
Don't be afraid to say no to things you don't have time for.

SOURCE: LESLEY SPENCER PYLE, PRESIDENT OF HOME-BASED WORKING MOMS IN SPRING, TEXAS