I have so much great news to share. It's exciting and scary all at the same time. Check out the video for a quick summary of progress in a number of areas plus you get a sneak peek at some of the new illustrations for Puppy Pickup Day!
Goodbye Corporate World
After more than 30 years in the Corporate world I have decided to take the plunge and focus on my entrepreneurial passions of writing and publishing. While being an author is new to me and I'm learning a lot very quickly, I find that so much that I have taken from my experience in business, management, consulting, IT and leadership is translating well to this new venture. I have formally created Little Labradoodle Publishing, LLC and I hope you will follow and support me on my journey. The new web site is expanding and now includes a store, which will have more items coming soon. My heart is beating with excitement and a bit of angst over the risk I'm taking, but I do believe the rewards will be tremendous both personally and professionally.
Kickstarter Launching Soon
I am working hard to escalate the schedule for Puppy Pickup Day, the first book in The Little Labradoodle series. With holidays coming faster than we would like, I want to make sure we have stock available, which takes time and money. That's where Kickstarter will come in. If you've enjoyed an episode or two of Shark Tank you've probably heard them mention Kickstarter. It is a platform for entrepreneurs to get support for their project and raise money to move forward. It is not like GoFundMe where entrepreneurs are asking for donations. No, backers get rewards - like a first edition signed copy of the book. You can think about it as a preorder that helps us pay for the first print run and final illustrations. We will post more information before we officially launch, but we expect it to happen within the next couple of weeks.
Social Media Growth
I have to admit - I was in the single digits with social media following when I started this venture a few short months ago. Today, The Little Labradoodle fan page on Facebook has hit 400 likes and Instagram followers are now over 500. I'm behind with Twitter and Pinterest, but one can only focus on so many platforms at once, LOL. I did have a head start with LinkedIn because of my long business relationships, so I have more than 2500 contacts on LinkedIn. These platforms will be a good opportunity to reach potential customers and fans. I'm also happy to say that our mailing list has continued to grow and we now have over 300 people who have signed up and received downloads of our Labradoodle Coloring Books.
Coloring Books Available on Amazon
Our kids and adult coloring books are available on Amazon and are selling well. For those of you who have enjoyed the digital copy but would like to purchase a print version for yourself or as a gift, you can follow the links below to purchase directly from Amazon. I am looking to order stock for myself soon and will make them available in my own store at www.thelittlelabradoodle.com.
THANK YOU!
I would like to thank you one last time for your encouragement, emails, words of wisdom and for those of you who have joined my Advisory, followed the FB page and joined the mailing list. Thank you for supporting my new business. Hang on - it's going to be a wild ride!