QUESTION:
I would love to be with you all when you are brainstorming about new product:
new paper lines and their fun names, matching stamp sets, embellishments. So my
question is: what is the criteria to make all of those decisions? I know it's a
lot of teamwork, but you are the ultimate decision maker. --submitted by Bren
Yule
ANSWER:
Dear, dear Bren! I love your friendship and appreciate your question,
especially since you have seen many, many products in your two decades at Close
To My Heart. I'm looking forward to getting your e-mail about what paper packet
or stamp set you'd like me to send your way!
The
answer for me on what to choose and what to exclude really ties back to the
question about memorable mistakes that I answered last week: no matter how
"fun" a product may be, if it doesn't fit our strategy, it doesn't
have a home in the idea book. Keeping focused on strategy prevents us from
getting sidetracked.
But
honestly, a key criteria for me in determining new product is the answer to the
question: "Would I use this?" Because really, I'm not just the
founder and CEO of Close To My Heart, I'm also its first customer (and STILL a
loyal customer!). If I'm really excited about a new product idea or a lovely
stamp design, then I believe our Consultants and customers will be, too!
AReyou thinking of adding more punches to your inventory?
ReplyDeleteHi, Joanne! Kristine Widtfeldt here from Close To My Heart. I wanted to answer your question: Currently, we don't have any punches in development, nor do we anticipate beginning development of any. Truly, Jeanette's vision was to introduce our Cricut cartridge and have that single-handedly fill the role of dozens and dozens of individual punches, in a much more space-friendly, economical, and customizable way. (And, as you can see by the many comments on Jeanette's 2/23 post about the cartridge, Art Philosophy has definitely done just that!)
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