The one thing that I have found since starting the kids belts business is that advertising is expensive and it’s very hard to track the ROI (Return on Investment). I used to do Google Adwords. Really it was a waste of money. We weren’t getting any more sales than without it. The difference came in running blog campaigns.

Did you know that only 27% of searchers will even click on a Pay Per Click ad? The others look at organic searches and don’t pay any attention to the ads. I know. I’m one of them. So then you have to look at how many of that 27% actually translate into sales. Do the math. What are your keywords? How many people are searching for those keywords? What is 27% of that number? Of that number, how many will buy? (Hint: don’t think optimistically. Be realistic.) Word of mouth is still some of the best advertising out there. Blog campaigns work, at least they have for me and Dapper Snappers.

7 Tips for Running a Successful Blog Campaign:

1. Go Where They Go I’m sure there are sites similar, but I have always used Tomoson to run my blog campaigns. I really like it because, well, it’s free. But on top of that it’s a place that brings bloggers and promoters together. You don’t have to spend hours searching out bloggers. You can set up your campaign and the bloggers come to you. Tomoson will even do the initial vetting for you based on your criteria. You then have the opportunity to approve or deny the bloggers who have applied. Once approved, you send them the product.
2. DON’T PAY You should never have to pay for a review. There are tons (literally tons) of bloggers out there who will review your product just for receiving a sample and maybe offering to give them a prize so they can offer a contest for their readers. I remember the first review I ever had done for Dapper Snappers was with 5 Minutes for Mom. That review cost me $50 and while it was a good review, Dapper Snappers was in its infancy and $50 was hard to come by for us. When I told other mompreneurs about it, they all looked at me like I was crazy for paying for a review. But hey, at the time there were no instruction manuals (still aren’t I guess, that’s why we share our stories!)
3. Research Once you have set up a campaign in Tomoson (or whichever site you choose) be sure to research the bloggers who have applied. While it is nice that you have a deluge of bloggers wanting to review your product, some of them may not be a natural fit. We have 3 main criteria that we look at before we research them further; 500,000 Alexia Rating or lower, 500 Facebook Fans, 1,000 Twitter Followers (we even look at the ratio of how many followers they have versus the amount of people they follow). Yes, we look at numbers (gasp!). While we don’t expect immediate sales from blog reviews, we do want viewers (helps with brand awareness) and SEO boosts. There was a recent blog post that asked “Are Corporations Killing Mom Bloggers?” The blog states that when corporations rule out the smaller bloggers because of numbers that they are missing out. While that might be true to a certain extent, as a blogger and a corporation, we not only want SEO with link backs, but we want readers as well. We just want the best for our company.
   Once they have met those criteria, we have then take a closer look at their blog. Are they well spoken? Do they use actual photos of the product in use or the stock photos that were provided? In past reviews, did they write more than 3 lines about the product? Is your product a good fit for their site? Do their readers fit your demographics? All of those questions will lead you to how a review of your product will look on their site.
4. Give the “Key” Word Everyone with a website has certain “key” words that people use to find their product. For example our big one is “kids belts.” To utilize this group of key words, we need them hyper-linked back to our site. Choose words that fit your product and focus on pushing those words to your site (even in your own blog). If your product is baby socks, then use something as generic as “baby socks” as your key words because chances are, that’s how people will find you on a search engine. When you set up the criteria for your blog campaign in Tomoson, require them to use at least one set of key words in their review.
5. Follow Up This is a big one. Just because a blogger has agreed to review your product does not mean that they will hop right to it (some will, mind you, but some won’t). They are people too! Life sometimes gets in the way and some of them may need a gentle reminder. And if their review is lacking, by all means tell them so they can fix it. Make sure they’ve stuck to their end of the bargain.
6. Go for the Gold (Customer Service) Make sure that you are timely in not only sending out the samples to them, but if you have offered a prize for a contest, be sure to get that out quickly as well. Remember, this person is reviewing for a living. You especially want to handle them and their readers with kid gloves. (Customer service should be key regardless, but you know what I mean!)
7. Be Prepared (to NOT be reviewed) I know that sounds crazy. They applied to review or even contacted you to review your product. You sent them the sample and then…. well, nothing. No replies to emails, no returned phone calls. They just fall off the edge of the earth and you “gifted” them your product. Don’t get discouraged. It happens to the best of us. We have been left hanging by a local newspaper (Orlando Sentinel Moms at Work), Daily Candy, and Chesapeake Family. You will also get double dippers. A Blogger who reviewed your product in the past and then they hit you up and want to review them again. We have had more than a few of those, proceed with caution.

There you have it, my tips for running a blog campaign. It may seem a little tedious, but in my opinion, it has the best return on investment. It doesn’t cost much (cost of product and shipping) and it gets your name out there. I read somewhere (I can’t remember where, of course) that it takes the consumer an average of 17 times hearing/reading/seeing a name brand to build enough trust in the brand to purchase it. What can it hurt to get bloggers to help you out with that?

Blessings,

I love new stuff, I really do. Maybe it has something to do with shiny things, or new car smell (haven’t experienced that one in a while!), or checking out all of the new bells and whistles for the first time, I’m not sure, but who doesn’t love new stuff?

Well, here’s what’s new in the world of kids belts; NEW LOGO and NEW SPRING PATTERNS! Yep, you heard it here first (actually, you heard it here back in October when I announced that changes were coming). I know what you are thinking, “New logo and new patterns? All at the same time? But Michelle, that’s just too much greatness to handle all at once!” I know, and believe me, I though about that. I mean, I don’t want to overwhelm you guys, but I just have to share all of this now!

In case you don’t remember what it looks like, here is our new logo…

How great is that? I love it, it’s so clean and crisp. I love how the snaps are incorporated but we aren’t beating  you over the head with them. We will be rolling out our new website soon and you should start seeing our new packaging in a store close you (or an online store in your area) in the very near future.

Next, I bring you our new Spring 2012 Patterns for Dapper Snappers. Da dada da!

Perfectly Pink Paisley

Definitely Denim

Cutesie  Cupcakes

Lively Leather

So, there is our sneak peak of whats new for spring. By the way, this doesn’t even touch on the patterns that will be available in the Big Kids Belts! Wait until you see what we will be offering for them! This is such an exciting time, because, like I said, I LOVE new stuff!

Do you have any suggestions for patterns?? We would love to hear them.

Blessings,

I am many things; mom, wife, friend, kids belts inventor, and so on, but there is one thing I am not, I am not a runner. I don’t understand it. I’d even go as far as to say if I ever had to run for my life, I’d probably die. As I’ve said before, my assistant has gotten into running. She’s even gone as far as to run 3.25 miles straight, without stopping. I know what you are thinking, “What’s wrong with her?” Ha ha! I joke! I think it’s great and she went from barely being able to run in 30 second intervals to running a whole 5K in 6 and 1/2 weeks. How’d she do it? Well, she just happened to let me in on her secret.

Yep, its an app… You should have seen that one coming! My fondness for apps has outweighed my hatred of running. I downloaded the Run Training App and it looks really helpful. I decided to recruit some of the other moms at Bugs school to start this with me. I’m hoping that together we can push and encourage each other to go farther and really do this.

This App has some really great features (Note: this app does cost $2.99, but there is a free version that you can use 6 times prior to deciding if you want to purchase it). The first feature that I really like is the Mode section. That is where you can choose how you want to train. There are 4 main modes (all modes keep track of your time, distance, pace, and calories burned):

1. Free Mode – Allows you to just get out and run.
2. Route Mode – Allows you to set up a routes for different places that you may run.
3. Training Mode – My favorite mode. This is where you can choose what you want to train towards, ie. 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, Marathon (Good night! Why on earth would you want to put yourself through that???) What’s nice is that in training mode it gives you voice cues as to when to run and when to walk.
4. Goal Mode – This mode allows you to set up either a distance goal or a time goal and then announces when you are halfway there.

This app also keeps track of a calendar for you and every time you run it logs it on the calendar without you having to take an extra step.

You can go back and look at your history and see how each run compares to the previous one.

The last thing I’ll mention is a cool sort of techie feature. It keeps a map of where you ran so you can actually see how far you went! I think that’s super cool because I am a visual person. You can select the street view, satellite view or a hybrid view.

Overall, even though I’m not a runner (no matter how many times my assistant says “Oh, you’d be surprised! You’ll love it!”), I really like this app and I think that it will be a great asset on my overall journey to health this year!

Blessings,

So you know how I’m a stickler for customer service? I have a tendency to tweet when I receive bad customer service. I also tweet when I get awesome customer service. Well…this time I got some good and some bad. It all happened the other day when I had to get a different dosage for my prescription. I needed to take 1 1/2 pills a day instead of 1. It wasn’t a huge deal, or so I thought.

I received an automated message from Walgreens that my prescription couldn’t be filled because of something with the insurance. Not a big deal really, I figured I would just call them and find out what was going on. After all, I waited until I only had one pill left to call them. So I guess it was a big deal, but not a I’m-gonna-freak-out-if-I-can’t-get-my-meds kinda deal. I spoke with a pharmacy tech, hoping that she could just tell me what the call was about and if there was anything I could do. It turns out that my crappy, expensive private insurance won’t cover more than 1 pill a day. Go figure. “So what do I do”, I ask. She starts to explain again about the insurance denying coverage. I interrupted her and I tell her I understand that, but what are my options since I am down to 1 pill. Usually, they will give you up to 3 pills until you get authorization so you don’t have to skip any doses. She didn’t offer that. She got really defensive and said there was nothing she could do and I would have to speak with my doctor and the insurance company. Okay, not a problem. Then she says I can purchase a couple pills to hold me over.

This is when things get really wonky. I got the feeling the first time I interrupted her that she was overreacting to whatever she was thinking I was saying, or moreover how I was saying it. I wasn’t mad or sad or crying or upset or distressed. As a matter of fact, I was smiling. I asked her how much a couple pills would be and she asked me how many I would want. Since she already said “a couple”, I assumed she had a number in mind. But we were going around in circles. She kept saying the same thing and I was confused as to why she was being so cranky with me and why “a couple” wasn’t 2. It spiraled out of control quickly. I tried to stop her from freaking out on me but obviously interrupting her repeating herself was some sort of trigger. She accused me saying, “Well YOU are the one getting upset!” I laughed and told her I wasn’t upset. I was about to tell her that she gives horrible customer service and suggest she invests in some training, but instead asked to speak with her supervisor. Without so much as a “Sure. Hang on,” she put me on hold. If it weren’t for the hold music, I would’ve thought she hung up on me.

I was on hold for 30 minutes. That’s right. On. Hold. THIRTY. Minutes.

I hung up, which I assume she was wanting. But what she didn’t count on is that I know Walgreens well enough to know that if I tweet about it, they will respond.

And what do you know? Someone tweeted to me just a few hours later.

A couple emails with Kristen and later that afternoon, the manager at the offending Walgreens called me. That was quick! I wasn’t expecting word for 2 days. The manager asked about the situation and apologized for the misunderstanding and the hold time. He admitted she should have called him to pick up if the pharmacy manager was too busy. I explained to him that it felt as though I was the bill collector and she had no money and was freaking out. It seemed to me that maybe she needed further customer service training. Also, I forgot I live in Florida, not Oregon, which makes a huge difference in expectations of relations.

So with the bad, so comes the good. Walgreens stepped up and provided (almost) immediate customer care. Once again, I applaud Walgreens for excellent customer management.

Blessings,

Here I am, Susie Homemaker, slaving away in the kitchen everyday as soon as I leave the kids belts factory. I’m chopping, mincing, dicing, slicing feverishly to prepare a fancy 5 course gourmet meal for my loving family…. Yea right! Who has time for that? I certainly don’t and I’m pretty sure you don’t either and you know what? That’s ok! I hate spending time on stuff I have to do, when I really want to be playing with my kids and spending time with my hubby. Eating, unfortunately, is sort of a necessity, so I have to prepare something (housework… not so much. I saw a sign that said “Please excuse the mess, my kids are making memories” and I think those are words to live by!).

As I mentioned in an earlier recipe post, my assistant has been sharing healthy (low cal, low fat, whatever) recipes with me. This one sounds really good , although I haven’t tried it, yet. Jen swears it was amazing and she is a self proclaimed Master Chef so I guess I should listen to her. She says it comes together pretty quickly, too.

Anyway, if you are like me, you love Mexican, but you know how horrible it can be for your waist-line. Well, here is a healthy take on enchiladas. It makes 4 huge servings and is less than 400 calories each.

Jen adds a little guacamole to hers and serves it with a side of veggies, you could also top it with some shredded lettuce and a few chopped raw onions, tomatoes and cilantro.

This sounds really good and I can’t wait to try it out. Let me know what you think!

Blessings,

About once a quarter or so, we do a blog campaign for our various kids belts or adult belts. There are a couple of reasons for this; one is to increase brand awareness and the other is to help with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Plus, it is nice to hear what people have to say about our products. We have done about 6 blog campaigns so far and one thing I have noticed is that blog reviews range from one end of the spectrum to the other. There are great reviewers out there that take the time to really use the product and go into detail what they think about it and then there are others who write two lines and then copy and paste text from our website and that’s it.

As a manufacturer, I thought I would share with you what I like to see in a blog review of my product (I’m pretty sure other manufacturers feel similar).

1. First and foremost, mention the brand name and the specific product you are reviewing. I know that sounds like common sense, but you’d be surprised. It doesn’t have to be in the first sentence, but early on in the post would be good.
2. Include at least one (preferably more) picture of the product. Ideally, we would love to see you (or whoever the product is for) actually using the product instead of using our stock photos. Your readers know you and trust you and when they see you using it, it puts more value to your post.
3. Be honest about the product and tell your readers what you think. We want to hear what you thought of the product. Is it user friendly? Are there enough choices? Would you recommend it? Does it do what it’s supposed to do? The more detail you give, the better, and a “how to use” would be fantastic!
4. If we have provided you with keywords to link back to our site, please use them. SEO is very important to us and our website. That is one of the main reasons we do blog campaigns. One link back will do, but 2 or more is great, too.
5. Tell your readers where they can purchase the products (use the coupon codes we provide you with, readers love savings!) with a link to the website. Take the guess work out of it for them and make it as easy as possible for them to find the product.

I know those seem really simple, but it seems like there are some bloggers (not all mind you, I’m not making a sweeping accusation here) out there that do it just for the free product and do the bare minimum for the review. As a business owner, I do go back and read every review that is written for Dapper Snappers. It’s important to me to get the feed back as well as have our brand be represented as professional as possible.

Bloggers and businesses have a symbiotic relationship. We need each other. The blogger wants more followers so they can get big time advertisers (or a few other ways to make money blogging but still follower dependent for best results) to supplement their income. The business needs an affordable way to get their products in front of their target audience and get better SEO.

To achieve success on both parts, the business sends the blogger free product and (usually) allows the blogger to run a contest for more free product. The business absorbs the cost of at least 2 products and the separate shipping for each. If they are like us, they may also offer a coupon code, which sucks up even more of the profits. The blogger gets free product and more followers in exchange for writing the review post.
There is still a lot of debate about who’s using whom and some have even gone as far as to ask Are Corporations Killing Mom Bloggers? But that is a post for next Tuesday: Business when we will be discussing tips on how to vet bloggers for successful product campaigns.

There is no doubt that our success is mostly due to great reviews from mom bloggers (a good product helps too). We wouldn’t be where we are without them. That being said, we get exploited by at least 1/3 of bloggers we employ. This doesn’t even include the bloggers that received free product but never bothered to write the review. That’s not going to keep us from continuing blogger relations. It just makes us more picky.

That’s just my two cents from the perspective of the business owner.

Blessings,

I need to take a minute away from writing about kids belts, recipes, tips, tricks, and iPhone apps to brag about my son, Super Dude.

Super Dude is about to turn 7 and like his other video; Amazing 5 year old drummer does Crazy Train!, his talent shines through. We are working on updating his drum set. He recently got a new throne and we are going to get all new heads on his drums and get them tuned up. We are also getting him a metronome for his birthday, in just 2 1/2 short weeks.

Here he is drumming to “Hard to Handle”, while hubby sings and plays guitar in the back ground. See for yourself…

Pretty amazing, huh? I may be a doting mother, but considering Super Dude has only had 4 half hour technique lessons and doesn’t read music, I think he’s a natural. (PS. the video of him at 5 years old, playing crazy train, was with no lessons ever.)

I could watch and listen to him play for hours. Most moms would probably think I am crazy for letting him have a drum set, but I love it. He loves it and we are making some great memories with them. Super Dude and Hubby like to have little “jam” sessions and I think that is great father son time. It makes me smile to think they are both so talented and actually interested in the same things.

What amazes me is that he can just sit down and play and make it look so easy, like it’s normal and everyone should be able to do it. I can’t wait to see the things he will accomplish and how much better he will get. I’ll be sure to keep all of my faithful readers posted as his talent continues to blossom!

Now… I’m off to buy an old school bus that I can paint with Mondrian inspired patterns and we can travel the land embarking on our music career, I shall call us “The Dapper Snappers Family” (ala The Partrige Family, in case you didn’t catch that reference!). By the way, if you tell me you don’t know who The Partridge Family is, I think I’ll scream.

Blessings,

My assistant is constantly bombarding me with stories about how long she is running (she’s training for a 5K), how great she’s eating, and how wonderful she feels after her boot camp work out (Boot camp? Seriously? Why would you do that to yourself if you aren’t actually in the military?). Blah… Blah… Blah… Don’t get me wrong, I love her dearly and very proud of the progress she is making, but now, she has crossed the line. That’s right, she has motivated me to get up and move and to stay strong with my new healthy lifestyle…. Can you believe her? I mean, who does she think she is to help me?? Ahh, I joke, it is really nice to have someone at the kids belts office to help hold me accountable and she is a pretty good cheerleader.

One of the really nice things is that we can share recipes. Breakfast is a hard one because it seems like we are always rushing to get ready and out the door for school so we grab something quick to shovel into our mouths which is not always the most healthy thing we can do. After talking to my assistant about it, she shared this recipe for these low calorie, super tasty, and very filling breakfast muffins. She makes them up on Sunday and then has them for the rest of the week to grab and go (only takes about 50 seconds in the microwave to reheat).

Breakfast Muffins
1 Can Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls
8 Egg Whites
8 Precooked Tennessee Pride Turkey Sausage Patties
1 Cup Diced Onions
1 Cup Chopped Spinach
1 Cup Chopped Mushrooms
1/2 Cup Skim Milk
3oz 50% Reduced Fat Cabot Cheese (Finely Shredded) Save a little to top each muffin
Black Pepper
Red Pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Line a muffin pan (not a cupcake pan) with one crescent roll per muffin hole. In a bowl, scramble the egg whites, milk, onions, spinach, mushrooms, peppers, and cheese. Once it is mixed well, pour equal amounts of the mixture in each muffin hole. Dice the turkey sausage patties and top each muffin with equal portions. Finish off by topping each muffin with the reserved shredded cheddar and then bake until the cheese on the top begins to brown.

I love the fact that once prepared these are super easy to heat up in the morning. They are great for busy mornings and so much quicker (and healthier) than running through the drive-thru. Plus each muffin is less than 200 calories!

Hope you enjoy!

Blessings,

I can not say enough how much I love and appreciate all of our kids belts retailers out there. We have some pretty amazing stores that love Dapper Snappers!

This month we are taking a moment to spotlight one of our very faithful retailers who also happen to be a franchise. There may even be one near you, you can find out by visiting the store locator.

We love Once Upon A Child Stores!

Once Upon A Child buys and sells gently used kids clothing, toys and baby gear offering you the opportunity to recycle your children’s nearly new items and get paid on the spot.

At Once Upon A Child you’ll find a huge selection of gently used kids clothing, toys, furniture and equipment at up to 70% off retail! They are not your typical secondhand store. The items they buy and sell are next to new, good quality, clean and have been checked for safety standards.

Once Upon A Child was started in 1985 in Perrysburg, OH. In 1992, Winmark Corporation acquired the rights to the franchise. Currently there are 247 stores in the US and Canada. Once Upon A Child is the largest kids resale franchise in North America and all the stores are individually owned and operated. Most of their franchisees are moms or dads who were customers first and have now made a career bringing this unique retail store to their community.

Visit their web site at www.onceuponachild.com for more information or to find a store.

Blessings,

I came across something while watching TV this weekend that I thought was really cool and since it’s new to me, I thought I would share with you!

At home the hubby and I have DirecTv for cable and I was exploring some of the features that we haven’t used (but pay dearly for, I’m sure). What I found was really useful, especially if you have kids in the house. While you are on the guide screen, if you scroll to a TV show or movie and hit info, there is a tab called “Parental Info”. I had never noticed this tab before. Probably because I am surrounded by two kids screaming to each watch something different, but at this blissful moment I was by myself and could actually take in what I was looking at.

I love this parental info thing! I am so busy with my kids belts business that I don’t always have time to prescreen a movie prior to letting the little ones watch it.

It’s hard to read here, but it tells the parent about the movie and who should be allowed to watch. I can’t tell you how many times Super Dude and/or Bug have come to me and asked to watch a movie. Some of these movies I have never heard of before and I don’t want to just let them watch anything. That’s why this info is great. For example, the one above is for Men in Black and it explains that there is a high gross-out factor and that if your child is easily frightened, then this is not an appropriate movie for them. The parental info section also tells you about the language and any other inappropriate material. If you go to DirecTv’s website, you can pull up a movie and see what ages they suggest.

Ok, so this may not be “new” but it is new to me and I am glad I found it! Hopefully there was someone out there that didn’t know already and now it’s new to them too!

Blessings,