Name of your website?Treasured Pet Creations
Your name?
Marsha Blann
Your Location (city, etc)
Easton
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Unique Gifts for Pets and Animal Lovers. Specialize in pet memorial poems, plaques, ornaments and notecards which can be personalized with your pets image. We also carry memorial stones, urns, bandanas and so much more!!!
What inspired you to launch your own website?
Lost my job in May 2003 when a well-known manufacturing company in the power tool industry closed their plant and moved to Mexico. My sister-in-law always wanted to do something that was pet related and I had the time. We became partners and opened up for business in November 2003 by renting out a small booth in a country store.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
Treasured Pet Creations is my first website and we lauched in August 2004.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
My sister-in-law and I brainstormed names. We narrowed it down to 3 choices "Treasured Pet Creations" was our first choice. When I searched and found it had not been used for a website name we went with it.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
Many of the products I make myself such as the Pet Memorial Poems, Christmas ornaments and notecards, all these products can be personalized with your pets image. Items that I retail are choosen because they are unique, such as the breed specific chalkboards, and Katie Bumper Toys which are made from firehose. In addition, you are dealing with one person me... so if you call or email you are not dealing with an employee but the owner/partner.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Keep it for income and eventually sell
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Let's say we are holding our own. We had a 30% increase in revenue this year.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
Would rent/purchase a building so I have more room to develop and manufacturer my own products. And find a person good in marketing - marketing is my downfall.
The image/look the website presents would probably remain the same but content and shopping cart would be updated.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Honestly, if it got really really big quickly it would be a challenge. This is because many of the products we sale I make myself. But I have a few backup plans should the opportunity arise, and feel that we can definity take on a more aggressive workload.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
The cost of insurance. Biggest headache is when customer orders something personalized with their pets image (pay for it) and they do not send me a photo, either as an email attachement or by regular mail.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Biggest challenge has been learning to me my own boss. I have always worked for someone else and now the buck stops with me. Taking on all the hats, boss, purchaser, development and marketing has its challenges as well.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Going to vendor/craft shows and setting up. This allows me to meet and talk with people and distribute business cards.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I thought it would have grown more than it has since I started in 2004.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
Site has been up since August 2004... My sister-in-law and I agreed to give the business 5 years. We will be starting are 5th year in business March 2008. My best guess - we will be around for a while... because I enjoy what I do and any financial gains are a plus.
What is your website address?
Treasured Pet Creations
