Unforgettablog

Picking the Right Hat Each Day

2008-04-09T10:10:00.005-04:00

As the sole owner of my business, I of course do all the different jobs. I do have a webmaster, and an accountant and a lawyer, but I mean the day to day workings of the business.

It is important to spend time each day on the big picture so you can move your business to the next level.

This is a concept that I feel to really achieve and feel on top of, you have to daily access the 'big picture'. At the end of each day analyze 3 questions:
1. what did I do today?
2. what did I want to do today, and did I achieve it?
3. what do I want to do tomorrow?

Every morning to also look at the most important 'little business details' to get done that day, and what big picture things you want to get done that day. It is important part of keeping your business growing

www.unforgettaballs.com

The Problems of Shipping for a Small Web Business

2008-03-28T14:48:00.005-04:00

There are many issues to be considered in this process for a small business:

1. Trying to find a warehouse the right size for how many times a month you ship, you may be very small, or start small, but on some months (like December) have a ton to ship out ...

2. Figuring out the best way to ship!
Look carefully at the differences btwn UPS and the Post Office.

UPS ground: About $8-$9 to ship one ball!! And that does not include how much you pay your warehouse for packing and shipping it.
But its trackable, and usually gets anywhere in about 6 days. It's a fortune for little items...

USPS: The post office is great on the cost side-only about $5 for shipping priority, but there is no tracking, and it could take as long as 10-15 days if the post office isn't in a good mood...

small business advise for the day:
Know your product, check out other sites with similar cost items and see what they charge. Keep checking for changing rates, and adjust as you continue to find better ways to ship. Sometimes better will be cheaper, but don't sacrifice cost completely for quality.

www.unforgettaballs.com

'Differentiate or Die' advice for a small business

2008-03-12T10:04:00.006-04:00

This is the title of a book I read a few years back by Jack Trout, that is often in my mind.

I was the first to create any patterning on baseballs 15 years ago, before my company all baseballs were white and I created the idea of using them as a canvas. Since then, over the years there have been many knock-offs and copycats- this always happens, and in some ways it is a tribute to a good idea. (But I have to add here that although it is a tribute to a good idea, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it still makes me angry every time I see it!)

So although the market place has other printed baseballs now, I focus my attention on showing the difference between my product and the copycat. My balls have always been art that I created by hand, even the lettering is by hand- they are not cut and pasted or computer generated. To me, I have always differentiated in my mind how the art I create for these balls was meant for the baseball alone, not a design that could than be stuck on a coffee mug. I am a baseball artist, and try to stay true to that so my product reflects it. There is more of an artistic feel to my baseballs b/c of this.

My Small business advice for the day:
There are a lot of products out on the market that are similar, and often when someone comes up with a new idea, they don't think about how to differentiate from what else is out there, or it is something thought about in the creation of the business, but never again. Viewing your business from the stand point of how you are different from your competition should be an ongoing pursuit that you look at as your business evolves, and as your competition evolves as well!

www.unfogettaballs.com

The questions of a small business owner: do you promote yourself or the product?

2008-03-03T22:19:00.004-05:00

I have been thinking about this a lot lately b/c it seems as an artist and a business owner that you could spend time promoting yourself as the artist, but maybe you should be spending your time on promoting your product instead. I am not looking to get famous myself, but I am looking for my baseballs to get famous, can one get famous without the other?

I am not sure, I think of Christopher Radko and his ornaments. (I somehow always use him in these sorts of examples b/c he is to ornaments what I want to be to baseballs.) Anyway, which became famous first-he himself or his ornaments? They seem to almost have evolved together. When press write about my baseballs they are writing about the balls, but it is a very artist driven piece. Yet when the balls are in gift guides, catalogs, etc. there is really no mention of the artist, and it seems more product driven. I wonder if you have to decide which path you want to take, or is it best to work both at once? I have read Mrs. Field's Cookies story and I am not sure if this is the same as Christopher Radko b/c hers is more about a franchise story then about being an artist but there are still some similarities I wonder if she chose to promote herself over her product, or both at the same time?
When I was on QVC I think I was definitely selling both myself and my product, so maybe it just involves if I am there or not....

I unfortunately don't have the answers to this one yet, but maybe it is that you have to work both sides, depending on what type of press you are involved with and what kind of coverage it will be.

My Small business advice for the day:
I think it is important to continue to analyze your business from all different angles. Look at how others view your products and your press. Are you selling the product or are you selling yourself, and does it matter which of these you are doing? It may not, but I think it is important to be aware that all these aspects of your business are choices, and to stay contious and aware of all of them!

http://www.unforgettaballs.com/

No Country for Small Businesses

2008-02-25T09:23:00.006-05:00

Here we are, the day after the Academy Awards, not sure whether I think this country helps small businesses or hurts.

It is not very difficult to start your small business, actually, in a lot of ways , it is very easy to start your own business here, once you have the idea, you plot out how it will work, and go buy business cards! Of course to last in a small business it takes much more than that. With so many thousands of small businesses starting in the US every year, you have to distinguish yourself.

When you believe in your product, you have to find a way to get it out to the people so they can believe in it too. This can be very difficult, because even if you do get it out there, you have to find ways to keep it out there, in front of people, so it is current and alive in people's minds.

The biggest misconception of difficulties for a small business is that you need a good idea. But most people would never start such a huge undertaking unless they did have a really good idea. The hard part is what to do with your good idea. I recently did an interview with the Daily News here in Philadelphia, and it struck me how you really need to spend as much of your time promoting your product, as creating it!

I have chosen baseball art because I am passionate about creating a whole little world on a baseball. Even if my business closed tomorrow, I could not stop myself from continuing to capture the world on a baseball. I would still paint them, even if I ran out of space to put them in my office! The ideas for them come very naturally to me, but I have to really focus on the creative side of how to keep them out there.

I started this to create the best collection of artwork painted on baseballs in the world, I have been in business for over 12 years, they are sold all over the country, but I still have to work at it, every day, with the same creativity as that first day.

http://www.unforgettaballs.com/

Our First Hollywood Appearance!

2008-02-06T13:43:00.000-05:00

Here we are, unforgettaballs.com, at the Baseball Scouts Foundation Gala-we donated 2000 Unforgettaball baseballs to be center pieces on all the tables, and a few hundred that when into the VIP lounge. It was a really great event, and I was able to take pictures with lots of clebrities, and people in baseball-

Here I am with Mary Hart who hosted the event with Tim Allen:

(Emily Wolfson & Mary Hart as seen at Scout's Gala)

Only problem with an event like this, is as a small company (like we are), it is a lot of money to do these kind of events. Who knew, but to get into all of the events where you give your product away for free to the media/celebrities, you actually give it for free!! Somehow, (and I think I am the last one to figure this out), but I actually thought, the company running the event bought them, and then they gave them for free!

(Dave Winfield and Emily Wolfson as seen at Scout's Gala)

I have many more photos that I could upload, with Tommy LaSorda, Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew, but to be honest, it takes me so long to upload them, and have them on the page where I want, that I am going to have be done for now! (Just picture the rest, ...they all look good, and I am in the same dress as above)

My building your small business advice for the day: Exposure costs money, so choose carefully and proceed slowly. A big splurge each year is probably what is affordable, and then also gives you time to see what response you receive. (Charities are always great events, b/c then you are involved with helping your business, and helping a good cause at the same time.)

The building of a small business

2008-01-29T15:21:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been a long time since we have blogged! To be honest, been really busy painting new designs...and I am a slow painter...

first let's catch up...

My 2nd ever, QVC appearance,
(really awesome experience to get on live tv- and great exposure for unforgettaballs.com):

This was in November of 07, around the 25th, at 1am.

Spent my first hour waiting to go on QVC, with our baseballs, in the waiting area talking to Chuck Woolery, who might just be one of the most genuine, nicest people I have ever met. He gave me tips for going on air and not being too nervous- which I was anyway, but was nice of him to say...and he was perfectly tanned in the middle of November in his Gucci shoes!

It was a sell out! And we left QVC unable to give some of the backstage people who wanted to order Unforgettaball baseballs, b/c we completely ran out!

We will be back on QVC for Father's Day in '08...

back to blog again soon-off to keep working the business (unforgettaballs)!

Baseball players from the turn of the century

2007-07-27T22:29:00.000-04:00

I have been researching baseball players and the old 'Tobacco cards' of the late 1800's. These baseball cards are so unusual, and have such a distinct style. I am wondering if this is a category people would like to see on a baseball? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T206

I think they could fit in well with our nostalgia baseball series like the Opening Day Baseballs on our site:
http://www.unforgettaballs.com/
these Opening Day baseballs were images form the 1920's when these parks first opened; but there was a whole lot of baseball that went on before that!

Any thoughts?

Girls Baseballs

2007-07-11T22:32:00.000-04:00

It is unusual to have decorative girl's baseballs; but with all of the pink baseball mitts that are out there: http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=pink%20baseball%20mitts&origkw=pink%20baseball%20mitts&sr=1 the world of decorative baseball already exists-- it just hadn't made it to the balls themselves yet. Until now!

Our best selling girl's playable decorative baseball is the frog design:

Available for purchase at:
http://unforgettaballs.com/girls.html

We have 5 different girl's designs on the site, and all are made with baseballs that actually can be hit with a bat! Although all our Unforgettaball baseballs are official size and weight baseballs, these girls balls have more rubber in their core, and are meant to be played with.

The Life Span of a Collectible Baseball

2007-07-05T21:33:00.000-04:00

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the collectiblitiy of baseball art. I am very interested in adding value to the Unforgettaball! line, and now that we have a website for the designs: http://unforgettaballs.com/home.html, I am more committed than ever to focus attention on creating a line of decorative baseballs that interests the baseball sports fan of all ages.

I have been studying other designers who I admire, for instance, Christopher Radko; http://www.christopherradko.com/ who is the famous designer of glass Christmas ornaments. His company has literally thousands of designs, but they are only released for a short period of time, perhaps a year or so, and then never remade. I have read that every year, 1/3 of the gift ornaments designed are retired.

We have added a retired page to the Unforgettaballs! website; http://unforgettaballs.com/retired.html and my plan is to work on creating new designs each year, and retire old baseball designs. This will really increase depth to our line, as well as giving the consumer a more valuable piece by the nature of it's being more rare.

We are also considering the idea of having a few baseball designs in very limited quantities, a few hundred, or 1,000 pcs only.

Stay tuned!

New Packaging for the Collectible Baseballs!

2007-06-27T19:38:00.000-04:00

In the next few days, the Unforgettaballs' website (http://www.unforgettaballs.com/) will have new packaging options!

We originally started the site with all the decorative baseball designs packaged the same way; the baseballs were in a clear PVC plastic container, included was a round black base, which were placed in a printed Unforgettaballs box.

The only exception to this packaging on the site are 2 designs, the Baby's first Baseballs, (pictured below left) and the Opening day Baseballs (pictured below right). These two designs both come in Lucite cubes.

-Baby's 1st ball available in pink or blue.

-Opening day balls available for Yankee stadium, Fenway Park and Wrigley Field

Our newest options for packaging your collectible baseballs are from one of the highest quality, best known source for baseball collectible packaging: Ballqube. This highly acclaimed baseball holder company can be viewed at, http://ballqube.com/index.html.

We are offering two different Baseball holder options:

The first is a Lucite cube, which is UV protected to keep your Unforgettaball design baseball protected, but it is also the same stackable size as most baseball cubes, so if you currently have your baseball collection on display, this will fit right in.

The second option is also from Ballqube, and it is a wood stand with a mirrored top, that comes with the same Lucite cube listed above, that sits perfectly on the wood base. The mirror may sound cheesy, but truly it is a very classy look. If you are buying one of our Unforgettaball designs as a gift, this is a really nice way to dress it up.

This new packaging page will be on our website http://unforgettaballs.com/home.html, by the end of this week (6/29).

Pirate baseballs coming in two weeks

2007-06-15T13:47:00.000-04:00

Two weeks from today the new Pirate Treasure balls will be seen in the gift store of the latest exhibit by Arts and Exhibitions. They're the company that brought the King Tut Exhibit to Philadelphia, and next to London. The pirate exhibit will also tour different cities for a total of 5 years!

http://www.huliq.com/22959/national-geographic-real-pirates-exhibition-at-cincinnati-museum

We have sold over 20 baseballs a day at the Tut exhibit in Philly, so despite Tut never playing ball, (although I think he would have been a big baseball fan if he had the opportunity), it seems to be a natural for the gift store. We are considering ending the run of Tut balls once the Exhibit is over. More on this idea to come.

But the pirate ball will be the new gift for the sports fan who visits the exhibit in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The new decorative ball should be up on our website soon.

More designs coming!

2007-06-05T14:17:00.000-04:00

Many new designs are coming,and will be up on the site in the next few weeks.

New to the site, but already had been in production:
-Cleveland Municipal Stadium
-PNC Park
-New York City ball
-California ball

New designs coming:
-Billiards Eight ball
-Connie Mack stadium (Picture below) - Click Here to purchase this ball

More designs coming in next few months, including some smaller run limited edition pieces only sold here!

Contacting customers!

2007-05-02T21:25:00.000-04:00

Help!!! I am looking for a suggestion on how to contact a few people who have contacted the site, or ordered an out of stock item, but have never received my emails.

There are only a few people this has happened with, but one woman has contacted me 3 times from the contact sheet and every time I email back a response, she must not be receiving it! I also have two people that ordered balls that are on back order until May 16, and my emails to them have never been received to let them know this and advise what they would like to do. Any ideas??!

One customer who this happened to, but who finally received the email, said that our email responses went directly into a spam folder on her computer, not recognizing our email address.

I have made it a policy to return all contact questions within 24-48 hours, and all orders that are not in stock are emailed to client if they want a refund, or if they would like to wait for the inventory, also contacted within 24-48 hours. If you are reading this and you are one of the few waiting for a response, or waiting for a shipment, please call our telephone number on the contact page and leave a way to get in touch with you!

Being new at e-commerce, any suggestions how to prevent this in the future?

Emily

Philadelphia stadiums!

2007-04-14T21:12:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to drop a line to explain why there are no Philadelphia stadiums yet! My wholesale distributors in the past few years were all West Coast based. So except for Fenway and NY, they didn't have a big east coast market.

Anyway, I have lived here for almost 20 years and really have no excuse! Promise that some Philly stadiums will go up on the site in the next couple months. Looking into doing Citizens bank, maybe the Vet...I have to do some research on them, and then I will start painting-promise!

Opening Day series

2007-04-12T20:16:00.000-04:00

Considering redoing all stadiums with their version of the 'opening day' or the day the parks first actually opened their gates. Is this as appealing for lesser ballparks, less noteworthy then Fenway, Wrigley and Yankee? The historical significance of the actual day the parks opened is very appealing to me, but not sure if this would be an interesting point to others. Any thoughts?

An interesting question

2007-03-27T09:43:00.000-04:00

The Unforgettaball website has only been up and fully running for a month now, and although all of the different designs have been ordered, there is one design that gets ordered more then most; Opening Day Fenway Park. Very interesting, I would think being on the East coast, that the orders would be for Yankees over Fenway...any thoughts?

New Ideas for team baseballs

2007-03-19T22:40:00.000-04:00

I am creating a new line of baseballs and looking for feedback. The two different ideas are:

1. Rivalry baseballs: each ball represents a different famous baseball rivalry. For example, I would create one ball with a panel of the Yankees on one side, and a panel of the Boston Red Sox on the other side. I would then include pennant races that each team has won on their side of the ball.
Yankees/Boston Red Sox rivalry
Chicago Cubs/St. Louis Cards rivalry
LA Dodgers/San Fran Giants rivalry

Would an avid fan want a ball with a team they hate on the other side?!

2. The other idea is to create team 'legend' balls that just has stats of one team on a ball, for instance, all of the pennants won, retired players numbers, etc.
Only problem is that this info would become dated with each new year if team won another world series, etc.

Would love feedback-any comments on which would be better?

Thanks for the help!
E. Wolfson

Welcome!

2007-03-12T15:37:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Unforgettaballs! blog. We'll use this space to keep you up to date on the developments and happenings with our decorative baseballs. Better yet, we'll be soliciting your feedback on plans and ideas for new baseball designs. Stay tuned!