Spend less on Mom this year – for a MUCH bigger impact

I read today that Americans will spend less on their Mother’s Day gifts this year than they did last year. What gives? It’s mom after all. As a mother of two, should I be offended? Well, here’s some good news. There are plenty of great personalized gifts for mom to be had a a price point EVEN LOWER than the one predicted by the National Retail Federation survey.

That’s right, you can (and should) spend less than the $123.89 on Mother’s Day Gifts predicted by the NRF this year. AND – you will delight your mother beyond words. Give it a try. We guarantee you WILL NOT be disappointed.

A Little Twitter for Mother’s Day

We’re running a contest for all you Twitter fans, and the winner gets a free personalized photo pillow like the one shown below, except with their photo on it of course.

Win a pillow just like this one for mom

Here’s all you have to do:

1. Retweet our contest post on Twitter (we’re trying to accumulate new followers). Copy and paste this exact message when you retweet.  @PhotoFuzz is giving away a personalized photo pillow for Mom this Mother’s Day. See details here: http://bit.ly/44v8rp

2. Become a PhotoFuzz follower on Twitter

3. Send us an e-mail at hello@photofuzz.com with the photo (hi-res please) you’d like to see on your free pillow if you win

4. We’ll select a winner on April 24th, and notify them email – and everyone else via Twitter.

How’s that sound? Good. game on.

This is why we do personalized gifts

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the smile of a child admiring a picture of themselves leaves us utterly speechless. Meet Rosina… our new little friend. Our personalized gifts appeal to everyone, but especially kids, moms, dads, grandparents, and pets. We’re always grateful to hear a story or two about a customer’s reaction to their photo gift, but hey, what’s better than a picture of a picture? Thanks Rosina, and thanks Auntie Quinn.

Meet Rosina

Christmas in February? Yep.

While many a marketer is fully engaged in getting orders out the door for the perfect Valentines Day (us too), we were treated to a little surprise by our Christmas customers. We want to say “thank you”, because they wrote to say “thank you”. In an age where customer service is a dying art, we got some raves from our Fuzz Fans recently. The coolest thing in the world is opening an email 2 months after an order is shipped, and finding a customer has taken the time to share their personal story and appreciation with you. We LOVE those kinds of emails.

It seems Brad’s girlfriend was “blown away by his thoughtful gift” of a photo pillow, and we’re not surprised. Brad went the extra mile to be not only thoughtful, but funny. In this tough market… funny counts… a lot. Despite the snow storms in Massachusetts over the holidays, Dorothy and David’s photo blanket made it, and man were they impressed. Us too.

Don’t let folks tell you that there is no such thing as customer service, and that you can’t get a good value and high quality from the internet anymore. Let us prove it to you. Here’s the 5 things we work really hard to keep top of mind about customer service.

1. Listen to what the customer is asking

2. Confirm what they need

3. Clarify what they want

4. Create an expectation

5. Deliver on that expectation

What matters once again

Our country will undergo a profound change on Tuesday. The inauguration will mark the beginning of the end of this era of cynicism. The people of this great country have great things in store when we can rally around that which delivered this country to such great heights – The Dream. Mine is not a political statement, rather a reminder of what this country used to export… a dream for a better life. In a culture driven by aspiration, there has been a seemingly allergic reaction to perspiration. We’ve become a nation in search of a short cut, consumed with the assignment of blame, and almost wholly unaffected by the larger tragedies in this world.

It’s time to start paying attention. It’s time to recognize each person plays a part. It’s time to lean in, and seek accountability. It’s time to come back together and do what matters. At PhotoFuzz, we’ve started by putting people to work in the USA. It’s where all of our products are manufactured, and it helps get us back on track. Whether you voted for him or not, there is no mistaking President Elect Barack Obama represents a new, and hopefully, much brighter day just ahead.

Fluff isn’t fattening

Nor will it require watering or polishing. Valentine gift ideas are a noble cause. People begin with the best of intentions, and most often fall back on the old standards – dinner, flowers, chocolate, or jewelry (if they are feeling guilty about something). You get the picture. Being thoughtful usually requires some pre-planning. You know when you’ve given a thoughtful and unique gift; it’s typically followed by a remark something like “You were thinking about me!”

A Perfect Valentine!

Our heart-shaped photo pillow is a great way to say – “I planned ahead”, and stay within your financial means. Valentine is the season for Oohs and Ahhs. The shortest distance between Ohh and Ahh is a special photograph. What better way to get there than a personalized photo gift? Your photos might appreciate a photo mousepad… but your memories deserve better.

Do well by doing good

I think is was Ben Franklin, the richest man of his time, was the one who broadly introduced the concept of creating good in the world is an important part of value generation. I think it was Ben who said, “A good conscience is a continual Christmas.” I love Christmas.

As a team, our PhotoFuzz crew is similarly committed to making a positive impact on this word. We’ve recently teamed with Malaria No More to do just that. Every DAY, 3,000 children die from malaria. A $10 bed net could save them. Malaria No More is bent on solving this crisis, and we’re going to help. Here’s what we’ve started, and hope (forgive the term) will catch on and become viral…

The We’ve Got You Covered campaign begins today. For every photo blanket we sell at PhotoFuzz.com, regardless of the size, we invite you to enter the promotion code malarianomore in the discount field at checkout. For every order carrying the malarianomore promotion code, we will donate a bed net to ward off mosquitoes to Malaria No More. It’s that simple.

There are a lot of causes in this world to support. This is one we can solve. With the collective effort of our customer base behind us, we hope to get closer to that solution.

Are you with us? Can you tell a friend? Thanks.

No more shortcuts

The year is only 10 days old… much too young to be out on its own. Everywhere I turn, I hear stories of despair. People are scared. Fear paralyzes. It will not help this situation we’re in. I read in a recent USA Today that the lovely city of Las Vegas is expected to be the top domestic travel destination of 2009. Apparently, fear’s companion is laziness.

It would seem that our society has lost its belief that hard work is accompanied by a sense of fulfillment. That’s a bummer. Our team works extra hard on our products, because our customers work hard for their money and deserve it. Our photo blankets for instance are all hand-finished. The difference in the quality of our polar fleece versus the competitions’ micro-fleece is unmistakable.

When everyone else seems to be cutting corners looking to make a few pennies more, we’d rather be hemming the corners to make a premium quality blanket. When the cloud of economic despair finally lifts, we’re hoping the impression we’ve made with our hard work will pay off.

My Photofuzz Habit

The downside of any retail job is that you wind up spending the entirety of your salary on the goodies you can get with your employee discount. I learned that the summer I spent working at the Gap. In the end, I had to borrow money from my parents to pay for my job! At Photofuzz, things started to look even worse.

As a welcome gift, I received this enormous super-soft fleece blanket with my son’s picture on it. My parents were floored. I ordered a blanket, then a pillow, then a purse for my mom… Which made me want one for myself. (BTW, this is the actual backpack purse that I got; it came out so nice, we decided to use it on the site! And yes, that’s my son Alex.)

To make the long story medium, I did not like my credit card statement that first month..

But I am hooked. Every time I take a photo, I think of how amazing it would look on a… computer bag? Or is this more of a pillow kind of a thing? I know I know! I’ll make a floor pillow for Alex’s room.

Seriously, I need to get a hold of myself. It’s fun though. Perhaps I’ll back away from the computer slowly and go to bed…

Insert your adjective here

The economy is clearly causing suffering. I know this because there was no line at Starbucks this morning. (To think one used to wait in line for the right to pay $4 for coffee still makes me chuckle) This allowed me to enjoy my coffee sitting down, as opposed to being bumped around as harried business people rushed off to their cars. Here’s what I learned during my morning at Starbucks… they categorize their coffee by personality. Familiar and friendly – Extraordinary and enticing – Adventurous and assertive – Sturdy and powerful – Interesting and complex. I thought about that for a minute, and wrote it down. I thought about PhotoFuzz, and wondered what personality fit the best.

We’d love to be sturdy and powerful, but today a customer told us – “It’s a little disconcerting that a website I stumbled upon online is more thorough and conscientious than my bank!” We had to call on that customer’s bank and implore them to do the right thing.  That made me feel both good and bad. I’m proud of our customer service, and at the same time saddened that it’s an expectation that is failing in so many industries. At Starbucks, they know my name when I come in. It’s why I go in. The familiarity and connection they have created with me is worth the price of the coffee.

At PhotoFuzz, your photos are not photos to us – they are your stories. Our team delights at giving them the care and feeding they serve, and we’re grateful for the invitaiton to do so. As I contemplate our personality, we’re working on “Powerful and humble”. What’s your personality?