Life of an Online Business – My Pillow place

We’re starting to see some movement on a line of kids chairs, soft pillows and other modern kid furniture that we added a while back.  A few months ago, we added 5 new products from one of our vendors that were smaller versions of  some of our larger Foam Furniture pieces.  Best thing is, they come in some kid friendly colors and at a much lower price point.  After a few months of selling none of it, we’re starting to move these items.  I’m glad because it really is good stuff.  I didn’t know how to market these products though and I was afraid that we weren’t getting traffic for this type of stuff.  I’m still not 100% sure how to market it, but it seems to be getting some traction on our floor pillows page and foam furniture page. 

In my personal life, I’m starting to see more and more people I know face unemployment.  In spite of the obama mania media telling us the economy is getting better, it really isn’t.  I see it before me.  An architect job that I seek is not available, and many of my friends are either getting laid off, or on the bubble.  So I don’t see improvement.  Many of my friends are worried about their futures too.  They, however, don’t have an online business to fall back on like I do.  But if so many people in the country get laid off that no one has any funds to buy our products, then I may as well not have  a business because we’ll be making no money.  I hope the economy improves soon, I’m just not seeing it.

Ok, we are now into Q4 2009…this is the home stretch for the year.  This is the season where retailers (online and offline) can start to make the numbers that make it worth being in business.  With economists predicting a 1% drop in sales this holiday season over last year, what are we to do.  There is no doubt that we are making less that we did a year ago.  So many more people are out of work than they were a year ago, including myself.  Unless some miracle happens, the great holiday sales rush we saw last year at My Pillow Place will not be matched. 

So here we are.  It is October.  And the first few days of Q4 have been slower than I anticipated…Slower because September was much stronger than I thought it would be.  And I thought that would continue into October.  Only in the last day has our traffic and sales reached an ok level…(and what’s considered Ok right now is less than acceptable). 

So, I am pushing new products.  I will be adding new stuff in the coming days and weeks.  We have a new company coming on board (whose credit application I will be finishing right after I publish this post).  I’ve added a new and probably our most unique product today.  Its not really even furniture.  More like oversized toys.  I’m not sure how to market it, how to optimize for it…I will be doing a little more research to figure out what this thing should be marketed as…check it out Here:  Jaxxs Kids Shapes