It's A Small World, Afterall

This week I had coffee with Meri Zeiff of VeryMeri. She is Erica's cousin and such a delight! We discussed all things entrepreneurial, picked each other's brains and had a great time. And it turns out we are neighbors at Baby Celebration LA! Our booths are right next to each other.

Check out Meri's adorable shirts. I am picking up the "Go Green" shirt for Bubba.

Chic Shop of the Week

I just had to share that we were picked as Chic Shops Baby Shop of the Week!

Woo Hoo!

This was just what I needed after a long week of wrestling with MSPs.

Thanks to everyone at CSB for giving PaperMama such a great shout-out!

Merchant Serivce Providers

*Updated below*

"What is a Merchant Service Provider?", you may ask.

Well don't look at me! I have no idea. I have been on hold for the last 28 minutes with Authorize.net to try and figure it out.

I opened the PaperBride and PaperMama sites last week and have been fulfilling and shipping orders, whistling while I work. Then I noticed that I wasn't getting paid. And I stopped whistling.

I am no expert (obviously) but it seems that Authorize.net only checks to see if the credit card is legit. They don't actually CHARGE the card. Ok, so what good is that? Why wouldn't they just go the extra step (espeically since I am paying them)? Apparently, I need to sign up with ANOTHER service to have them charge the card and deposit the funds into my account. Another service that will charge me another fee for every order.

I must say, this seems like quite a racket! Why isn't there one site/service that does it all? Is there and I just don't know about it?

If you have any answers (or even helpful hints), bring them on!

Updated to add: Well I finally got through! It seems I was mistaken about the whole MSP thing (I told you I wasn't an expert). Authorize.net did hook me up with an MSP (CyberSource) so that wasn't my problem. I am still digging to get to the bottom of this. Right now, I feel like the money is just hanging in the air, like that scene from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, where they send the chocolate bar to the television set.

Mom2B Recap

I survived my first tradeshow!!

I didn't get as many orders as I would have liked but overall, the show was a great learning experience. For example, I learned to ask more questions about the buyers & exhibitors before forking over my booth deposit. This particular show is very apparel-heavy so a lot of the buyers were only interested in clothing. Everyone that stopped by the PaperMama booth loved what they saw, so that was encouraging!

On the bright side, I met so many wonderful ladies, mompreneurs, etc.

Renae Plant of [bump] babies was not only my booth neighbor, but it turns out we live in the same neighborhood in LA. A very cool coincidence. I blame Renae 100% for the severe case of baby fever that I contracted at the show. This mama was working the show with her 2 week old son who was beyond adorable. After 3 days drooling over him, I am ready to start negotiations for Baby #2.

Another neighbor was the super-sweet Heather of Brealyn Bounty Bug. Her and BFF Crissy were the comic relief for our row. Such a fun pair of gals. Heather created the Prego Planner and I have to tell you, for a Type A gal like me, this is just what I need once Baby #2 is confirmed.

I also got to meet a gal from Earth Mama Angel Baby. I LOVE this company! All their products are 100% toxin-free, cruelty-free, vegan and best of all, they smell yummy. During my first pregancy, I lubed up with their Stretch Oil, morning and night. I swear by this stuff - I had a 10+lb baby and not ONE stretch mark. They also have this fantastic Happy Mama spray that cures nausea, post-partum blues and calms down cranky toddlers.

OK, well I am off to finish unpacking my wares and start planning for the next show. I will be exhibiting at Baby Celebration LA in April. After doing more research, this show seems to be a good fit.

If there are any SoCal moms who would like to go to the show, contact me and I will hook you up with some passes.