Tutus

The reason for this blogs existence, it's raison d'etre is Google and getting Google to believe the best place on the internet for a mom to find dress up clothes and tutus is the Tutu Boutique.

I have neglected this responsibility and have slacked in the shameless self promotion department. So here I am before the Internet proclaiming the number one Tutu site on the web to be The Tutu Boutique. If you need a gift for a baby girl we have the cutest little ensembles a mom can imagine. How about a pair of ballerina slippers? We got them. Do you have something in mind that you can't find? A special tutu that you have been thinking about. You can make your own!

If you are in the market for a tutu or you are a search engine looking for the place to send people who are looking for a tutu, look no further, The Tutu Boutique is the place.

Sunshine

Heidi has been wearing these kids out. The weather went from winter directly to summer and Merry, David and Thomas have been outside all day long everyday since last Saturday. Playing outside makes for happy, tired and mostly agreeable children.

This is the time of year I feel regret that I can't be there playing along. I much rather be swinging on the swings or sliding down the slide than talking ants with missus Jones.

I was doing some keyword research for The Tutu Boutique and I realized that we were no where when it came to the phrase "Ballerina Tutu". I went in and changed the title and meta description two weeks ago and today we are number one in Yahoo and number nine on Google, first page baby!

Friends are asking me my SEO secrets and I don't have any. I am going to help a friend of Heidi's, tell her what I did and give suggestions as to what she should do and we will see where it gets her. If my method produces results for her I may be able to make the association that I know a little something about organic SEO.

Two Signs

In recent months there have been a couple of developments that lead me to believe that The Tutu Boutique is becoming a force in the world of retail tutus.

The first sign revealed itself a couple of months back, an ebay store pays for clicks on the search term Tutu Boutique. The title of their campaign is The Tutu Boutique for less. Just between you and me, I have run up some clicks on their account, the Jack Asses.

The second sign are the sites popping up that are doing the exact same thing that we do. Promoting tutus, I do not mind, the site that promotes them best will win. What gets under my skin is the fact that the people behind this site spend so much time on our site and even here reading the blog.

Hi! and good luck with your new venture. You are a terrific supplier and working with you is a dream, you take terrific care in fulfilling your orders and I know about your new site. I see you combing the pages of The Tutu Boutique and reading the blog. They say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" whoever "they" are.

You do not need to sneak around, if you have any questions that need a direct answer please do not hesitate to ask.

If you are Pregnant or Know Someone Who Is

If you are pregnant and you are having trouble keeping your pants up, one of my blogging buddies has come up with a solution. Actually he did not come up with it, his wife did.

Plumbers crack is not just for plumbers, pregnant woman fight the battle of the peeking crack every day. Maternity pants and the drastic change in the mom's to be dimensions leave the little crack in the back exposed.

Are you an expectant father? Have you noticed the woman in your life struggling to keep her pants up and her butt crack contained? You can help!

It is a very exciting time in the history of man! When there is a problem that needs to be addressed no longer do we need to look to corporate America to solve it. With a little determination, elbow grease and the internet even Cheeky's mom can make a difference.

Head over to Bottoms Up and help yourself to a pair of invisible suspenders for the pregnant woman.

Frump

I am in the middle of a blogging frump.

I do not have any particular insight or thoughts of interest to pass along.

If any of you want to know what a man thinks about a certain moisturizer you can read his thoughts here. If you want to try that product let me know. If you want to get started on the road to financial independence, network marketing and direct selling maybe an option. Shoot me an e-mail.

We are all just a bit sick at The Old Blue House. Lots of snot in the morning but as the day proceeds we all begin to feel better. Makes for a tricky morning, the children being grumpy makes the parents feel grumpy. Tough way to start the day but we work through it.

The Tutu Boutique is experiencing its first growth spurt, it is humming along at such a pace that Heidi has started to make some structural changes to the way the business operates. Heidi has three children, young children, she has an Arbonne downline that needs attention and lots of customer service questions to attend to at the Tutu Boutique. It is exciting and scary at the same time. I hope when the dust settles that maybe we can get some part time help. Either with the children or the business or even better with both.

Many evenings when I get home from work I find Heidi at her computer with Thomas on her lap, typing an email response while talking on the phone. There does not seem to be enough time in the day for her to accomplish all of the tasks that she wishes to accomplish. I want her to know that I really appreciate her effort and hard work. I want her to know that I love her and that I am thankful that she is my kids mom.

New Look?

This blog is going to be 1 year old tomorrow. This is the 256th post since its inception. I am tired of looking at the Tutus and Ballet slippers. I am thinking of switching out of the sissy landscape and into something which more closely represents me.

The blog has been successful, it has gotten Googles attention and driven traffic to the store. When I started out our traffic came from Yahoo, only a small number of people found us through Google. Now our traffic is dominated by Google some days 79% of our visitors find us there. This is a good thing, there are many more people searching in Google than there are in Yahoo, I have the numbers to prove it.

Traffic here at this blog is far less than stellar. The number of visitors remains constant, constantly low. There is a group of regulars that webs and flows depending on who continues to blog and who drops out. This number hovers around ten, then there are always fifteen to twenty more who find it looking for tutus or stories about snots. Twenty or thirty people a day, that is it. I will never be a blog super star, sad words, I know. So if I am not blogging for the masses why not change the look and the feel to something that looks and feels more like me?

Throw Away

Who is Inktomi from Sunnyvale CA and what do they want with my blog? Statcounter tells me that they stop by every other day, they read Heidi's blog, which has not been updated in forever, they read the bug blog which has not been updated in forever and they stop by here. I wish Google would swing by half as much.

While I am asking, who is from Simon & Schuster, Pt. Chester N.Y. I see you out there lurking. Can I help you with something?

Just wondering.

Here We Go Again.

I spend a lot of time thinking about my families future. I worry about being able to get away from this desk and traveling, I worry about making enough money to live a lifestyle, that at this point in time, I can not afford.

I would love to know that I had the money to pay for whatever education my children aspired to. On the selfish side, with the snow falling outside my office window, I would love to have the means to provide season passes to a New England ski area for my children. A place to sleep, close to the mountain, would be good too.

Instead of simply wishing, Heidi and I are working towards these dreams. Everyday I work hard at my family business to make it better. Currently we are under going structural change. To handle the increasing work and in hopes of making the men more productive, we are changing the structure of the business. This new system will provide the leadership and direction, the individuals involved, need to reach their goals.

Heidi has the The Tutu Boutique rolling along. The more time the site is up the stronger its presence becomes in the search engines. Traffic at the site today is five times what it was a year ago and sales have tripled. This trend will continue. In the future I see another venture along the same business model.

Then there is Heidi's baby, the business she loves the most because she sees it as having the most potential to earn our family money. It is more than the money for Heidi, the relationships she is building, the products she represents and the opportunity to change people's lives make Arbonne a very fulfilling part of her life.

The most enticing part of Direct Selling is time leveraging. Time leveraging is earning money while other people work. I get a piece of my service technicians efforts in my business. I have the the search engines and tutu makers time working for me in the e-business. With Arbonne, as long as someone that works for you is working, then you are working too.

Yesterday was very hectic for Heidi, she did not get a chance to work her Arbonne business, however members of her down line approached three people about the opportunity, hence, Heidi got some Arbonne work done.

Do not be fooled, it is work. There needs to be a plan and a tried system in place for success to happen. There are no magic wands or fairy God Mothers in this world, "Hope is not a method".

I have witnessed Heidi's success and enthusiasm towards her Arbonne business and I have decided that it would be crazy not get involved. Say hello to the newest Business Builder in Heidi's down line.

I may have contacted you already, I may not have. The first step is to try the products and determine if you like them. There is no obligation, I will send you the products and the postage to return them after a week. If you like it and are interested in altering your future we can talk more. If not, that is fine, I am not interested in being pushy or leading a person down a path they are not interested in traveling.

I plan on showing the path to as many people as I can, if you are interested? Let me know.

Hey Google

Hey Google! Head over to the Tutu Boutique and check out our new title. I went over to inventory.overture today for the first time in a long time and found that the number one search term for tutu was princess tutu. When I get info like that I move and I wanted to let you know.

Been busy with work and family, I will post something a bit more substantial tomorrow.

Thank You Blog

I started this blog to get Googles attention and direct it over to the store. The last month has really proven this strategy to be a sound one. I am not exactly sure how it happens but traffic over there has been increasing steadily and this was the first week that Google was the number one search engine stearing people towards The Tutu Boutique. Yesterday we had 338 unique visitors and over 2,000 page views. Half of that traffic came from Google. That is the biggest day yet. When I first added Statcounter over there the count was 60 visitors and 300 page loads.

Operation lose weight / lower blood pressure has made it through its second week on track. Exercised Monday, Wednesday and Friday with a jog, sit ups and push ups. I added a little bit of distance each day and I am now traveling just shy of three miles. I am feeling a difference, sitting up a little straighter and feeling strong.

I do not really trust the scale at my house but I would approximate a 5lbs weight loss to this point.

Have a great weekend.

Jogging and Dancing

I got out of bed this morning feeling a bit sorry for myself. Who in their right mind wakes up at ten past five in the morning? Then I got out there and low and behold my town was alive. The parking lot at the doughnut shop was bustling, people were headed to work. There is a corner down town where a group of gentleman get their day started, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, must of been eight guys standing there. Turns out, lots of people wake up early. Made me feel like a cry baby.

The first week of operation Loose weight / Lower Blood pressure is under my belt. Went really well, the knee is holding up and I am not pushing to hard. Next week I will add some time on the jog and as long as I "Stay the Course" my mission will be accomplished.

Speaking of Missions, Dad Gone Mad has accepted an honorable one and if you have a minute head over and check it out. As if you haven't already.

The next subject I wish to broach concerns naked children and how naked do you let it go. Last night before the kids bedtime the entire family was sitting in the living room. Heidi and I were chatting away and the kids were dancing, I am not sure how it happened but at some point both Merry and David were naked. Being naked does not concern me, what came next left Heidi in a bit of a conundrum.

David started to slap his penis and stomp his feet. With both hands smacking himself he started singing. "Drumming my penis" over and over. Every now and again he would change the verse to "Starting a band and drumming my penis".

Merry thought this was genius and started drumming her vagina and singing along with David, only instead of the word penis she said "vagina". Thank goodness Thomas had his diaper on, but he joined right in, dancing and singing his little fanny off.

How would you handle this situation? Heidi and I sat there looking at each other wondering, "What the hell?" and "Is This Okay?", "Should we stop it?", "They look like they are having fun."

We let it go for a bit, they wore themselves out after five minutes and we went up stairs for the bed time dance/routine. I do not want my kids to have hang ups about their bodies, I want to avoid shame while at the same time have them respect decency. The line for me is a bit blurry, but I will tell you this, a band made up of your own babies drumming their privates is funny.