Shannon:

I just took a look at your site and it is absolutely beautiful.

I am new to marketing my business myself, and so my remarks are certainly not to be taken as a professional opinion, but just some of my thoughts.

I think you need to ramp up the "energy" behind your bear's names, i.e. instead of "Flag Bear" try "The Patriot." Or, "Patriotic Bear," or "American Bear."

The little bear with the camaflouge ought to be FLYING off the shelves right about now; and maybe that's where you should start.

The war is such a heavy subject in the media and on the minds of almost all Americans, and to capitalize on such a strong, important theme should net you some amazing results.

I'd look at organizations such as the Veterans Administration and other organizations that provide "care packages" and "welcome home" committees to our service men and women. See if they can provide you with some suggestions for how to reach military families; maybe you can even ask for the name of the service man or woman and add that name to your bear's uniform via a velcro patch or something along those lines. Same thing for the newborn "Pretty In Pink" bear. Get names of the newborn and find a way to add that to the bear: Stitched into the garment, a "birth certificate" - something to personalize your product. Find out how best to approach the hospital gift shops. Find out of the V.A. has gift shops and approach them the same way about your miliary bear. Same thing with the "Married By Morning" bear....approach wedding planners, caterers, chapels, etc.

Do you have a business plan? There are "Angel Networks" out there that will pump some cash into your business, that can help you to take a marketing course or, expand your current marketing process. Same thing with grant money.

The library is one of the most rich yet often the most under utilized deposit source in America. Since starting my business, I can not tell you the doors that have opened in my mind, my heart and in my spirit concerning my business. I am already able to visualize unlimited income earning potential, and now I am sitting down with myself and formulating a plan of action, a business plan and several marketing plans.

Ask your librarian a question and you may be pleasantly surprised at the answer. If she doesn't already have an answer in her head, she usually has one at her fingertips. (Ask her about the Foundation Directory....hopefully they have it on-line and you won't have to pay to use it, or use the big, bulky print version - if they still have that on their shelves).

Get on the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, www.microenterpriseworks.org/state. Also, your local, Small Business Administration may be an ideal place to begin.

What I'm trying to say is - there is help out there....just get more aggressive in seeking it out. The hard part of your business is done. The product is ready, appealing and something that everyone can relate to. Work on a business plan, a marketing plan and get to networking. Who knows? You may just end up on Oprah!

God speed.....I'm expecting you to succeed!

Mary@: www.Dee2Travel.com
and www.Dee2Travel.info