Name of your website?Blossom Maternity
Your name?
Barbara Stice
Your Location (city, etc)
Westlake Village, CA
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Blossom Stylish Maternity offers a great selection of hip maternity clothes, accessories, gifts and much more designed to let expecting women feel beautiful and pampered throughout their pregnancies.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
My own pregnancies inspired me to start Blossom. I couldn't find maternity clothes that had great style, fit and quality while letting me feel like myself while pregnant. I was confident there had to be designers out there that were as passionate about making stylish maternity available in the market as I was.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
My first website started in 2002 and is http://blossommaternity.com - Blossom Maternity. I also have a website available for members of the military that offers them great maternity style at a discounted price. The military website has been available since 2005. The website is proprietary for those with a military login and can be accessed through the http://www.aafes.com homepage.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I was trying to envision the amazing transformation a woman's body goes through during pregnancy. I saw it as blossoming into this incredible shape to grow and accomodate a new life. Blossom seemed like the perfect name for a maternity store and website.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
Blossom is unique because we not only hand pick those styles and brands that have great design and quality but also fabrics that feel great against the skin and have good durability. The shape and design of the garment has to flatter the body, not cover it up.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
I would like to see Blossom grow. Once I can look back and say I've accomplished the growth and distribution goals I'll have to evaluate whether I franchise stores, have my children take over or sell it.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
The first few years take a great deal of investment in time and money. As you see the customer base growing and sales increasing there's a great feeling of success. It takes a lot of perseverence to get to that point and countless hours of seemingly fruitless work, but like all things, the success does come. After almost 5 years it requires much less time and financial investment to feel the success.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would hire professionals to target certain parts of the business like IT, Marketing, PR.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes! We would have to move a little quicker and change processes quickly but I have a great team that knows how to adapt.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
As a business owner it's not one or two things that throw you off, it's when you have 20 or 30 things to deal with. There are always unexpected repair costs, IT costs, staffing issues, etc. Being flexible is key and being ready to shift the way you do things to get today's job done is critical.
What has been your biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge has been time. There just never seems to be enough of it when you're running a retail brick and mortar and two e-commerce websites. The updates are constant.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Search Engine Optomization has been by far the most successful method of promotion. It takes a great deal of time but is worth every penny when you see your site come up on the first page of the major engines. Pay Per Click is a great way to get out there too if you don't yet have natural rankings.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I had envisioned having experts in web marketing, html, content, etc. I never thought I would become the expert or that members of my sales team would be so proficient at running a website.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
I've run this site since 2003 and will continue running it as long as I'm feeling the sales revenue from it is a good investment for the time it takes to maintain.
How competitive is your site within your industry?
When I started out I had hoped to get my website ranked right up there with the biggest players in the industry. Through lots of trials, tribulations and an incredible amount of research we are now extremely competitive and rival the rankings of the biggest companies in our industry.
What is your website address?
Blossom Maternity
