Hi all! It’s been a week since I opened so I wanted to do an update on how things are going.
A big thank you to all of those who came the first day, gave feedback and advice. We have had a lot of support from friends and family members in the last week, so much so that our heads are swimming. Also thank you to all the friends and family members who were willing to help test the site to make sure that everything works. We were really excited about their feedback, suggestions and even our first order, from my grandmother.
This week we found out that we weren’t showing up in Google or Bing searches, oops. As soon as we found out, I and my Daddy started researching and working to get it fixed. We went to all kinds of sites and resources to figure out what the problem was. Turns out our SEO (Search Engine Optimization) wasn’t set up correctly. So we had to send a site map of our site to Google and Bing so that they could start crawling our site. But we still need traffic (hint, hint) to show up in Google, Bing, etc.
We have also added a new design service! Yay! This one I am particularly excited about. When I started out using these design applications, the first thing that I made (on my own) was a cartoon character of my favorite stuffed animal, a dog named “Rabbit.” This year I decided to make cartoon characters of my two dogs: Trapper and J.R. in the same style that I had used 3 years prior. They turned out really cute and in fact the Trapper character was the inspiration behind our first T-shirt design, Havanese Pawse. My parents were impressed by these cute cartoon characters that I had created and suggested that I build a service around it. A service where people could email pictures of their dog, cat, etc. and get the cartoon design on a T-shirt. This service is now offered in Custom Orders and is called, “Got a Cute Pet?” I am really excited about this service because it’s in the style that I enjoy doing. I can’t wait until I get my first customer and I’m able to make an adorable caricature of their beloved pet.
It has been a crazy week as we are trying to work out kinks as they come and making sure that our customers have the best service possible. Thanks for reading! Have a blessed day!