Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Lippy packaging problems solved?

I just received my 'final' (I hope) development samples of my lippy packaging this week. It is a beautiful creamy colour 'soft touch' wind up 'slim-stick' - that's the techo description! It is very understated and stylish and just the right size to pop in your pocket or purse for a quick 'foodie fix' but boy has it caused me some grief over the last 18 months.

The soft -to-touch coating that gives you a little sensory delight has been cracking under testing conditions of 40+C  filled or not filled. And testing is not a simple matter, first the packaging has to be hand made and shipped from Asia, then we need to be slotted in for lab time, then production trial time. No mean feat in one of Australia's best colour makeup production houses with an awesome team of cosmetic scientists, production guru's and account service queen.

We think the soft touch is not 'giving' on the cap when it is pushed onto the base, and so the little lugs that keep the cap in place are pushing out and causing pressure, because the soft touch coating is strong it must have taken away the 'give' in the plastic and so there is no where to go but to crack.

And, because the packaging was failing we have had to 'abort' some of our stability & compatibility testing several times hence why my launch date is so wide open. So fingers crossed, these little babies will work. I am giving them a lucky send off kiss as I pop them into the post to my development & production team.

Now all we have to do is wait til my beautiful little babies can move up the lab & production queue for more NPD & testing.......

I'll keep you posted!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Have you got Klout?

www.klout.com  This is an effective and interesting tool for tracking & measuring your overall online influence...known as the Klout score. The scores range from 1 to 100 with higher scores representing a wider and stronger sphere of influence. Klout uses over 35 variables on Facebook and Twitter to measure True Reach, Amplification Probability, and Network Score. You can measure yourself or see  how others operate. 


If it does one thing for you...it will make you think about what you write and what you are doing with your social media strategy.


Taken from their blog:

How can you use Klout as a business or application?
  • Engage with influencers: Businesses can use Klout Perks to connect with top influencers in a given topic and offer them the chance to try your product. Learn more.
  • Know who to connect to: Look at the Klout Scores of the people in your community to find out how to most effectively use your time. Those with high Klout Scores have the ability to impact a large audience. You can use tools like Hootsuite, Cotweet, Seesmic, or even KloutChrome and Firefox Twitter extensions to help you do this. Look not just at Klout Score but at their topics of influence and who influences them to understand what they care about.
  • Use Klout data: If you’re an application looking to integrate Klout data we have an API you can use. Learn more.




Wednesday, June 8, 2011

swamped!

Sorry to bore you but I feel like I am back at the beginning of this start-up biz and it is all to do with kids & my time. Ciara starts Montessori next week so that means she goes 5 days a week 12.30 to 3.30pm. She is only 3 so that is going to knock her & me for a 6. Karl is at pre-school 3 days, 9-3 so that means, i have 6 hrs pw of child free time. BUT then it is school hols soon so I will have them both for 14? days or is it more. Humph. So wish i had parents that lived nearby 24/7.

Hubby keen to do 'daddy day' once per week....woohoo...a FULL day off from being mummy taxi and CHO (Chief Household Officer).