I haven’t posted much about our printer struggles on our website, but it has been an on-going saga for the past two months.  Buying new printers, trying to get them to work, calling tech support and getting them to replace mal-functioning parts.  Argh.  There’s a reason that I haven’t been posting!

In any case we FINALLY have a printer that is working for us – hallelujah!  Hopefully we will soon be able to make our copywork titles available in print format!

I have to say, printers are SO much more complicated now than they ever used to be (bring back the dot matrix!)

Kaelynn has a strong creative urge and has been exploring it by making many, many necklaces.  She was interested in selling them, but after some research it seems that the jewelry market is tricky to get into, and supplies are fairly expensive.  SO, with that in mind, we’re partnering with her in something new!  You can take a peek here.

You are amongst the first to know!  I’ve been wearing minerals since Kaelynn was a baby, and like all little girls she’s fascinated by pink, sparkly makeup.  This is going to be fun!

I’m happy to announce that Bogart Family Resources (our family business) is taking part in Notebookingpages.com’s 4th Birthday Sale-a-Bration! When you spend over $40 at their website before the 14th, you receive a package of free items ($60 value), including our recently released Copying the Poems: The Voice of Spring – GDI 1-A! Everything there is on sale for 50% off for a few days, and then at slightly decreasing discounts for the rest of the month! They even have some neat blank templates for using with your own copywork quotations if you like to design your own copywork lessons.

Read on for details!

Tired of Busywork? Seize the Most from Your Day . . . with Notebooking!

Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be recording a penmanship workshop LIVE for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo online (this is for our business – Bogart Family Resources.)

You can join us live online for free to listen to me talk about the importance of penmanship, penmanship styles, copywork, and more!

I hope to see you there!

TOPIC: What About Penmanship

DATE: Monday, April 12, 2010

TIME: 4PM CT

WHERE:

Join Us Live Online:

http://talk-a-latte.com/chat/

(The room is closed until the chat-the room will be open about 15 minutes before we go live)

OR here are the call-in details:

Phone Number: (724) 444-7444

Call ID: 38181#

PIN: 1# (Or your Talkshoe PIN)

In the past, whenever we’ve owned an online business (okay…one time!) we made up our own business cards on colored cardstock.  We sent them out with orders, gave them out to people we knew who wanted to promote our work, and so on.  We have a new online startup that I’m slowly working on, but we don’t yet have any business cards letterhead, or any of the other accoutrements I had set up for our previous business.

If you don’t need a totally custom look there are dozens of business cards online based on templates that can be personalized, in a wide variety of styles from trendy, to traditional, and everything in between (starting at $3.95/100!)

With our new business venture slowly being born, my thoughts have been turning towards internet marketing.  While I’m no newbie in terms of promoting a business online, I can’t claim to be a pro either.  In the past I’ve relied upon link exchanges, affordable website directory listings, signature lines and promotional emails (no spam!) on topic-related yahoo groups and the like – internet marketing on a shoestring as it were.

Our online enterprises have never needed local search marketing, because our businesses have always shipped internationally, and haven’t been area specific.  The same goes for our new project.  I have to admit though, I am toying with the idea of doing some experimental click-based ad word advertising once we have more products developed and see how it goes .

Before we became Christians, our family owned and operated an online store for several years that catered to parents of a certain educational philosophy that didn’t have roots in Jesus Christ.  It had many pagan influences – fairies, nature spirits, reincarnation – you name it.  So, when we became Christians it wasn’t long until the Lord laid it on our hearts to shut the business down, though it was only just beginning to provide a decent income.  We closed, and since then have been doing piece work in construction, renovation etc.

After praying, and thinking, and praying, we’re working on a new website - Bogart Family Resources – where we can share God-honouring resources with fellow homeschooling families that we create, as well as resources created by other families that we’ve been blessed by.

There’s nothing there yet, but never fear, I’ll keep you updated!  I’m busy working behind the scenes with our faithful (and ever so patient!) designer.  You can also look forward to some giveaways from our new product selections there (we’ll be starting slow and steady), chances to sign up for free downloads and more!

I hope you’ll join us on this new and exciting journey .

This year I’ve spent some time scouring the internet for affordable supplies that our family could use to make some audio recordings, you know, cases, labels, cd-r‘s, and all of the products one would need to set up a little recording studio.  I’m planning to independently record some open domain audio books, but baby-free time to do so has been hard to come by!

In any case, I did find that Shop 4 Tech has a huge variety of CDs, cases, CD printers, and pretty much everything you’d need to get set up.  They have over a million customers, a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction, and low prices.  Too bad they’re in the US, I’m looking for a vendor here in Canada so I don’t get nailed by high shipping costs and border charges.

On a personal note, they also have cheap CD wallets – 328 disc capacity binder for only $20 with free shipping in the U.S.!  Okay, that’s exciting to me, because I’ve been pricing out CD wallets here in Canada (I’m condensing the amount of space I need for DVDs and CDs so I have more room for books!) and they cost $60 or so for the same capacity at a local office supply store.  Too bad I can’t get it on this free shipping offer.  Living in Canada doesn’t have many drawbacks, but it does have some .

Anyone who runs their own business is likely quite familiar with the offers of free business cards that are offered by online printers.  What many web surfers don’t realize upon first glance is that these offers aren’t necessarily free.  Inflated shipping and handling charges apply, and the printing company often advertises on the back of your business card.  With a limited number of ‘free’ designs to choose from, and the amateurish inclusion of another company’s website on the back of your card, it might be best to get your own, minimal cost business cards.

123 Printing is an online printer that offers thousands of business card designs ranging from funky to classical at a modest price.  There are even cards geared for specific professions – think hairstylist, handyman, and more.  Prices start at $1.99 for 100 cards and $3.99 for shipping, with prices adjusted for volume, paper type, shipping method etc.  If you’re investing time and marketing efforts into your business, it doesn’t hurt to invest in professional looking promotional cards as well!

Over the past couple of weeks our family has been thinking of going back into wholesaling our handmade wooden toys.  We’ve been contacted by email, and many of our customers were disappointed when we stopped selling toys.  However, the lack of a workshop pretty much determined the discontinuation of the toy business.  We’re now planning a new workshop.  I had started developing marketing plans.  And then..CPSIA started to loom on the horizon!

ALL products intended for children ages 12 and under will be legally required to undergo lead, and pthalate testing if applicable.  Not only that, but it’s uncertain as to whether each individual component needs to be tested, or if entire items can be.  If you can approve the materials and then manufacture at will or if each ‘lot’ needs to be tested.  Believe me, our lots are VERY small if you count them on a day by day basis.  What exacty would a lot consist of anyway?  Any items found to be uncompliant will not be able to be sold past February 10th, 2009 – yep a month away from now, folks are scrambling.  We’re talking toys, books, clothes, CDs, DVDs – ANYTHING intended for children – yep folks, this includes craft kits and homeschooling materials too.  Small business owners have started closing their doors and dumping inventory already.

Now, we’re in Canada, so we could be looking at a similar resolution being passed here in the future, but for now we are okay.  The thing is several of our customers were in the U.S., all of our retailers sell to the States.  I think it will all work out – our toys are wood with a natural tung oil/carnauba wax finish.  Even if the CPSC won’t accept the finish, it looks as though unfinished wood toys will be exempt from the mandatory lead testing on items for children 12 years of age and under.  Nothing is final yet though, so the past few days I’ve been spending quite a bit of time trying to get a handle on this thing.  Have I been successful?  Far from it.  If only industry had been consulted and CONCISE guidelines of what would be included, what wouldn’t be, and clear guidelines to help business owners through the storm.  But alas – none of that seems to exist.

Look it up online, the blogosphere, email groups etc. are all abuzz.  The Handmade Toy Alliance is a good one to check for implications within the toy industry.  Then pray.  There are so many small business owners – both in the U.S. and elsewhere – who will be desperately impacted by the legislation as it stands.