I was turned on to him by my web masters at Avant Studios. Avant had designed both my wholesale and retail web sites. My wholesale site at www.tinybundles.com was primarily informational whereas my retail site at www.tinytinyclothing.com was created for well, retail purchases.

My retail site had been established for well over a year with next to no activity. I had asked my guys at Avant about referring someone who could optimize the search engines for my retail web site. They were reluctant to give me any, as they were unsure of how they performed. Then back in November, the guys finally gave me the name of a person that they heard I could trust.

This is where Brian McCullough comes into play. I called him and explained my plight. He told me he would visit my web site and then put a proposal together of various options that would be available to me.

True to his word, Brian sent me a proposal that contained four different options. As I read through the categories of each option, some I was familiar with, most I was not, like social networking marketing, Facebook, Pay-Pre-Click management, blog campaign and solidifying external web content, it was like trying to read Greek. Sure, I am bilingual, but Greek isn’t one of the languages I speak.

The last time I had to think about search engine optimization was way back in 1997 with the development of my first “retail only” web site. The competition for businesses selling preemie clothing way back in the day was not like it is today. The only thing I really remember about utilizing a service for search engine optimization was that I paid Yahoo a certain dollar amount to appear in their first few pages.

After trying to make heads or tails of these presented options, I had the good fortune to meet Brian face-to-face at a local Starbucks.

In walked this confident, nice young man. I enjoyed meeting him from the moment I saw him. Enthusiasm and passion is what I saw on his face as he explained his business to me. I thought, “here is a man who is on top of his game and he has got it really going on.” Boy was I impressed. I had many questions to ask him about the categories I knew nothing about. As he started to explain the categories, I think I kind of zoned out for a moment because a lot of what he said was simply flying over my head. I started to feel like an old cassette in a new CD world.

His patience in answering all of my questions, helped me understand the categories that up to this point had only been mere concepts, if that.And he did so with kindness and communicated to me without making me feel like a fool.

That is when he asked me if I would be interested in setting up a blog. I was embarrassed to admit that I didn’t even know what one was. He told me that it was basically a journal where I could write whatever I wanted to about my company. He told me to take a look at other people’s blogs to get a better feel of what blogging is all about.

Brian is a firm believer in the power of the blog. He explained to me that many of his clients had blogs and that he would network all of us together. He mentioned that blogging could also optimize my search engine ratings. I decided to have him set up my blog at www.tinytinyblog.com.  By the way, tinytinyblog is the wonderful name he came up with.

And can I tell you that I just love my blog. I am having the time of my life with it. I hold my blog dear to me as it gives my business a voice, people can see what Tiny Bundles is all about. I think that is cool, very cool.

With the combination of Brian’s optimization program and creation of the blog, I can tell you that I have seen the traffic to my tinytinyclothing double and on its way to tripling its figures. All this happened in a few short months. But even more important than this, the site has started to generate sales. My site had remained dormant for so long, that it was nice to have some orders to make sure everything on my site was working properly. I am so grateful to Brian and the results I have seen that I will always sing his praises.

I had asked him about his company, Interloop Media, yesterday and he explained it to me in a way that made sense. He said that his business does not replace anyone. He optimizes the marketing dollars used by a company on a project, say like a press release that may only be read once and then kind of disappears, maybe even forgotten, and archives it through all sorts of media - hence the name Interloop - looping the media - presenting it to many medias. He is basically helping companies get the best bang for their buck. And who doesn’t want that?

If you are looking for an Internet Consultant, Brian McCullough is whom you want on your team. He is a key player on ours and he should be on yours too.

My wholesale website: www.tinybundles.com had been created by Avant Studios in 2005.  It had not been updated for quite some time.  By 2007, I had created a few new collections and had added many new colors and styles to our tie-dye collection. 

After accessing how much work would be involved in incorporating all of our new colors plus adding new collections, it was suggested by one of my web masters that I might want to consider learning how to create my own web gallery.  If I did this, he would be able to link it to my web site.  This would give us a quick fix and I could continue to add new items along the way so that my web site would always be current.  This made a lot of sense to me.  But would I have the time to learn how to do this?  

Spencer Smith, one of my web site gurus at Avant Studios, said that I would have to set up a .mac account and purchase some software from Apple.  The cost was pretty minimal.After setting up my .mac account and purchasing some software, I decided to take a free class at the Apple store to learn how to use the tools in iPhoto to create good photos for the web gallery.  

So I walk into the Apple Store.  I must admit, it can be quite an intimidating experience if you haven’t been in this store before.  Definitely, not your traditional store, at least not for me.  You walk into this store where there appears to be a million people milling around looking at and trying out all of these state-of-the-art techno gadgets.  And you see all of these blue-shirted people with their head gear on ready to help you. These would be their sales associates.  And they are all very friendly and willing to help you.  But trying to figure out how to navigate the store is quite different.  I wasn’t too sure if that counter located against the back wall of the store was where you pay for things or ask for service or bring in a computer?  Well, I have been there a number of times since then and I am now comfortable with the lay out and I don’t have that “Oh, my gosh, I feel so old like I don’t-know-what-I-am-doing feeling.”   

When you take a free class, you sit with a number of other customers with one trainer.  People ask questions and answers are given.  But one hours worth of time split up between 4 to 5 people can leave little time for each person to get all their answers to all of their questions.  During this one-hour lesson, one of the customers had asked me if I had heard about Apple’s one-on-one personal classes.  She said it was their best kept secret and that I should try to sign up for this service.Well, I did not hesitate.  I signed up right then and there.  

Do you know that for a mere $99.00 a year you can get 52 hours of personal one-on-one training.  That breaks down to about $1.90 a session.  To date, I have utilized at least 15 of those hours.  I schedule weekly one-on-one classes. I have had the good fortune of having one of the same two trainers I have worked with since I started taking classes.

I invite you to take a look at the web gallery that I learned to create with the help of my personal trainers.  My web gallery is located on www.tinybundles.com.  Once you happen upon my home page, click on the red text that reads, “Our 2008 collection gallery is on line.  You can view it by clicking here.”  Once you arrive on our web gallery, at the top of the page you will see the names of our six collections.  Click on any one of those collection names to view the collection.  I am proud to say that not only did I take the photos, I also learned how to cut out the background of the photo with a tool I learned how to use in iPages.  

Last week we placed a counter on each page so that I can track how much traffic is visiting our galleries.How excited I am not to be at the mercy of anyone else to keep my site current.  

Cain and Anna, have also taught me how to create my own postcard.  I use the postcards to send to my wholesale customers.  They showcase our new items.  Right now I am learning how to create a six-panel front and back wholesale price sheet.  Currently, because I have six different collections, I have six separate wholesale price sheets.  Not a very effective way to impart information and a waste of a lot of trees.  

Further down the road, I will learn how to send out an e-mail blast.The control and freedom these personal one-on-one classes have given me is priceless. 

Every business owner needs to know about this service and the effective software available.  You can learn to be the ruler of your own domain. I should say not only every business owner but every body should know about this service. You can take in any Apple product and they will teach you how to use it.  Whether it is your iPod Nano or iPhone or whatever wonderful product they offer, they are there to help you.

Did I mention that since the time I have started taking these classes we have purchased a 20-inch screen 2.4GHz iMac computer.  After I learn all that I need to learn from a business standpoint, I will learn how to customize my new computer and figure out how to use all of the features of my iPod Nano to its fullest.  And I will forever sing Apple’s praises.

Cain told me that the store where he works opened about 5 1/2 years ago and that when they opened their doors they had about 50 employees. They now have 150 employees in the same store.  I was told that Apple makes more money per square inch then some of the big department stores.  With service like theirs, I can see why.  So people, have your Apple a day.  It’s a good thing, a very good thing.    

I had made a decision to attend the Seattle Gift Show to meet my Northwest Reps for the first time and to see what the show was all about. Excited about this decision, I was anxious to find a reasonably-priced package to arrive at my destination point. Sure, I’ve used other dot com travel services in the past with no problems. But I hadn’t used this one. Why did I choose to use an unknown at this point? Was I caught up in the excitement or was it just pure plain stupidity?

I should have internalized those words a little more - “flight times between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. guaranteed same day arrival.” Wow, I was getting such a deal, round trip airfare from San Diego to Seattle, a two-night stay at a reasonable, well-known hotel, plus a two-day car rental all for about $400.00. Boy, oh boy, what a deal! How bad could it be, I thought as I submitted my request knowing that flight time and all pertinent information was not to be given until I had committed to the purchase. With a click of the mouse, I had done it. I had really done it. No turning back now.

The moment I had read the flight information, I could have kicked myself all the way to the airport and then back again. Under normal circumstances, a flight from San Diego to Seattle should have taken about two hours. Not this flight, not this time. Nine hours of travel was my gift for choosing to save money and to get that DEAL!

I started my travels from San Diego at 4:55 p.m. We then flew to Denver. There we had a about a 2-hour layover. After this layover, we were ready to travel to Seattle. We arrived in Seattle at about 11:40 p.m. But it gets worse.

I did not realize at the time that I booked this trip, that the car I had rented was not going to be waiting for me at the airport. Cold and tired and with luggage in hand, I had to wait for a shuttle to take me to the car rental agency. After waiting in line there, I was finally given a little car.

I didn’t even know that cars were manufactured with a crank-up knob (you know what I am talking about, the kind of manual hand crank handle you use to use to raise and lower windows before they became automatic) underneath the seat to adjust the height of the seat. As I tried to figure out this contraption, in the rain, I might add, I tried to adjust the side mirror by moving this knob and as I was making the adjustment, the knob came off in my hand.

Okay. Not real familiar with Seattle. Now, the task of finding my way from the airport to the hotel was at hand. People, I get lost in San Diego. And here I am driving this little hunk without a navigation system. I finally arrived at the hotel. By the time I walked through the threshold of my room, it was 1:45 a.m.

Great, I thought. I have to be up in about 5 hours to attend a trade show. How was I going to be perky and fresh and ready to greet the day and meet my sales reps. My trip home was no picnic either. But this time it only took me 5 hours instead of 9 hours to arrive at my destination point.

So, I basically had Friday as a full travel day and I paid for a hotel room for two nights even though I didn’t arrive to the hotel until 1:45 in the morning not to mention that I was totally exhausted from my travels and not exactly at my best for my day at the Seattle Gift Show. If you decide to use a dot com travel service, make sure you read between the lines.

At the end of my travels, I decided that I would have gladly paid double the price I paid to have arrived early, enjoyed the sights a bit, and gotten a good night’s rest. Sure, I saved a few dollars. But was it really worth it? I think NOT! All I have to say is Buyer Beware!

I am learning leaps and bounds about the whole “blogging” process. It has been explained to me that to get your blog further up in the ratings, it helps to join various blog entities. Technorati.com being one of them. Technorati 

I chose Tehnorati on the suggestion of my web guru Brian McCullough. He turned me on to blogging and is a firm believer in the whole blogging process. I must admit, now that I have a blog, I really, really enjoy it. It brings life to what I do and validates my company’s existence. Not a bad thing at all.

And while I am at it, I get to have my customers know me more than just a company name. I can add my own flair and style and create the kind of image I want to impart and the best thing about it, is that I realize that I really like to write. Which is a good things since I aspire to write at least once a week.

And so the story goes, a blog a day keeps the customers at bay. Thanks for laying your eyes on our words and we hope that we can keep you coming back.Technorati Profile

I  met her at the Los Angeles Textile Show in 2004.  She was a referral from my sister.  

So when I entered her booth, I found a competent and friendly sales rep that willingly listened to my needs and addressed them by patiently pulling out book after book of possible appliques.  Her excellent service did not stop there.  She meticulously noted which appliques I was interested in and had the company send me each applique beautifully presented and encased in plastic, which was used to keep the appliques in place.  Her attention to detail is impressive.  Little did I know then that . . . . 

Fast forward to 2007.  Okay.  I was looking to really beef up our applique collection.  Up to this point, I had been purchasing appliques that everyone else could purchase from several different trim companies.  Time to kick it up a notch and start to create our own look and our own image in the industry. 

I remembered the easy chemistry I shared with Karen Jacobson and I knew that when the time came for me to call her, I would be received with a welcoming voice.  And that is just what happened.  

I told Karen what my plans were.  I learned during our conversation that Karen had earned degrees from Pratt and Otis.  I also learned that Karen has 7 years of experience as a textile designer, showroom assistant and trim specialist and sales rep.  She knows the business well. 

What I really like about Karen is that she knows how to watch the bottom line.  If I want a certain look, she gives me several different options to achieve that look without breaking the bank.  And that’s what every business owner wants. 

Since that time, we have had the good fortune of welcoming Karen Jacobson, sales rep turned designer, to our design staff.  She takes our concepts and turns them into reality, a finished product, and does so with her own special flair.  We get all of this and have fun in the process. 

At the beginning of this New Year, we have had the wonderful pleasure of presenting 3 new exciting and exclusive collections to the Tiny Bundles’ line of quality baby clothing.  We have added a Custom Patch Collection, which features a few of the most popular nursery rhymes, a Double Patch Collection, layering of fun fabrics topped off with a fashion forward, cutting edge applique and an Animal Felties Collection, sweet felt animals and their associated food items.  Think dog, think bone.  Think elephant, think peanut, etc.  Each collection is unique in style and attracts a different audience.  

You can find all of these collections on our brand new web gallery located on our Tiny Bundles’ website at www.tinybundles.com. Come and see what we are talking about and why we are so excited and we invite you to visit often as we will continue to add fun new appliques to our newly established collections.   

With Karen a major player on our design staff, the future couldn’t be brighter.