Wednesday, September 16, 2009

careful what you wish for...

So I'll bet you're all wondering why my blogging has been so sporadic lately. The Curse of the Old Tyme Train Ticket Invitation, that's why. Remember those train ticket invitations that I mentioned back here? Well, I got sick of producing them so I took them "off the market" for a while, meaning I stopped listing them at my Etsy shop so I could get a breather and work on creating some new designs.

What I didn't realize is that, when you search at Google for train invitations and find my link, the "sold" page for my invites still comes up, which means people can still contact me to ask about them. And boy have they.

It never occurred to me that people would be able to find my products by using a search engine because there are bound to be eleventy-million results when you are looking for such a generic item as "train ticket invitations", and I just figured my stuff would be buried so deep in that metaphoric pile of train-related party stuff that no one would ever get to me.

Well guess what? When you search for "train ticket invitations" in Google, my invites are the number 8 out of about 142,000 results. And if you are a little more specific and type in "old train ticket invitations", I am number 1. Out of about 144,000. NUMBER ONE, BABY. Yeah, I'm so big time.

Thing is, to keep up with production while orders are pouring in is...difficult, to say the least. I'm thinking I need to outsource, but a) I am a completely neurotic control freak and don't trust anyone else to do it right, and b) I'm lazy and don't feel like messing with the whole hiring and delegating process. I suppose I could just tell people no, that I am not interested in making any more right now, but they all seem so excited when they ask about them that I feel bad saying no. I'm kind of hoping that some CEO at some mass merchandiser has a kid who wants a train party, finds my invites online, and offers me big bucks for my design so they can produce them and sell them in their stores. Hey, a girl can dream.

While it may seem like the point of this post is to brag about my popular train ticket design (which it is, a little), the real purpose of this post is to defend my pathetic blogging efforts over the past few weeks because I am SWAMPED. In addition to Etsy stuff, I had 3 Junior League events this week - YES, THREE - and I'm doing MOPS and helping with childcare at MOPS and just signed Alex up for 2 year old choir at church and have about a zillion other things on my plate that I will eventually blog about...oh, and did I mention that I have a two-year old that needs lots of love and attention? We've had a ton of fun over the past few weeks, too, which I promise I will get to...once the train slows down, and I can jump off...

4 comments:

momboe said...

OOOhhhhh, I'm soooo proud!!! You are completely out of control...just like your mother...only a lot better!
How DO you get a big company to look at your Train Invites? It could happen. It SHOULD happen. Congrats!

Emily said...

Can I please have some of your energy? This 2nd kid thing is sucking the life out of me. :) I would give anything just for a good night sleep so I could be half as productive as you. Congrats on your Etsy shop! We need to get you on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.

vicki said...

Oh Sarah, I wish I could put into words what is in my mind but I am soooo proud of you and I have no doubt it is just a matter of time before that CEO calls you but until then, 2 year old choir - I can't wait I can see him now w/the solo part - let me know when the concert is and I can put it on my calendar.Luv ya'll !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Katie Breshears said...

Guess what? Now when you search for old train ticket your blog comes up second! :) I did get a call from your church yesterday, so hopefully that will work out for you. I'm glad your work is so popular!