I remember meeting with a graphic artist some 11 years ago when I first started Tiny Bundles.  It had taken a while for me to come up with our name.  My first inclination was to call our company Tiny Bundles of Joy. Way too long.  So I shortened it to be just “Tiny Bundles.”  Sure from time to time people get confused and call me tiny bubbles (a tribute to Don Ho, I suspect), but I think the name works.

“Tiny Bundles,” well what images come to your mind when you hear these words?  A tiny bundle of cash, perhaps. Or something small that needs special attention and protection. I have always intended our company to be associated with love, somehow, someway.  I explained to this young graphic artist that I wanted my image to impart love - the love between a parent and a child.  And this is what she created:  This logo carried us from 1996 until 2005.

Then when we hired Avant Studios to create a wholesale site for us, we found out that they also created corporate identities.  Right then I said to myself, “hmm, maybe it is time for an update, a new look.”

In speaking to Stuart and Spencer Smith of Avant, the image I had for Tiny Bundles remained the same.  

Recently, I visited Avant Studios’ website at: www.avantstudios.com.  I clicked on their “portfolio“ link and that link took me to their “corporate identity“ link.  I selected the icon for my logo and proceeded to read what exactly went into the development and creation of the logo that I love and even more so now that I know what went on in bringing it to life.  I want to share their words with you.

    tinybundles logomark 

LOVE.

Such an ethereal and broad concept is difficult to communicate without using a commonplace or overused icon like a heart.  So our focus turned towards outward demonstrations of love - a hug, an embrace, a gaze.

MEANING

The tiny bundles mark represents the unity (oneness) of parent and child.  the bond of love, a simple embrace, an intimate interaction, a glance. Other interpretations of the form could be a child within the womb, or a rattle.

FORM

The form is one continuous line, but creates two distinct circular forms.  This simple elegant stroke is “loose” and freefrom, which makes it playful. Yet the thickness of the line makes the form strong and stable, keeping the logo from feeling like it will blow away.  Wit and playfulness balanced with strength and stability are two essential qualities in both a logo and the company it represents.

QUALITIES

This form is simple and easily identifiable.  The repetition and interplay of circular forms make the mark both interesting to look at and memorable.  The abstract qualities will let people create their own interpretations, and will keep them guessing. Because of its simplicity, it will be easy to apply to almost anything, including the smallest of clothing tags.  All these contribute to the timelessness and flexibility of the Tiny bundles logo.

For corporate identity, you can’t do any better than these two talented young men at Avant Studios. Our logo - it says it all and for that we are thankful.                                                  
 

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.