Imogen: winning smile, Milkooler fan

I love to hear back from happy Milkooler users, and was stoked to get the following email from young Imogen (with a little help from her mum Kate.) Good on you, Imogen!

Hi,

Thanks so much for my super cool 'Milkooler'. Mum bought me one and I love it! It keeps my milk at the right temperature while I have my photo shoot and a break from drinking my milk. Here is a photo of me showing off my 'Milkooler'.

Cheers,

Imogen (aged 3.5 months)

Another Milkooler.com shipment goes out

Another Milkooler.com shipment goes out
Originally uploaded by thatjonesboy

Here I am shipping a Value Size box of 2x Mighty Meal Deals to Kamie in La Jolla, CA. In case you're wondering, Milkooler is a one-person company, and I cycle all the orders up to my local post office, stand in the queue and heft each one over the counter.

Kamie's getting hers in a special box because (a) she and I used to work together years ago; and (b) I've never sent 6 Milkoolers in one shipment overseas before, so this is something of a special occasion!

Thanks for the excuse Kamie!

Community fairs and getting to know people

Last weekend I took a few boxes down to the annual Artarmon Fair to show some support my local community and spread the good word about Milkooler and Littoral Records. In the end, I probably spent more on home-made marmalade, face painting and raffle tickets than I earned in sales of Milkoolers and CDs, but that doesn't really matter.

I realise now that running a stall at your local community fete is a great way to meet a wide variety of local residents, most of whom are very happy to strike up a conversation and tell you a little about themselves. I'm sure communities in ye olden days had many venues for this kind of community building - pubs, markets, stocks, hangings... err, well, not too many hangings these days, which makes the community fair a nice modern way to get to know the people you share a suburb with.

I met a lot of people who liked to try and haggle me down on my standard stall price of $20 per Milkooler. "$20 for a baby's bottle?" They'd exclaim in shock, "I can get a cheap Chinese-made one at the shop for $3-$4 dollars!" Well, sure you can, but think about what sort of chemicals might still be leaching from the plastic in that bottle before you go feeding your young ones from it. I choose nothing but the very best UK-made Avent brand bottles for my Milkoolers, and I pay through-the-nose retail prices for them because I'm not a big enough customer to warrant a wholesale price, apparently.

Anyway, it's a fun game because I really can't afford to be haggled down on my prices. Doesn't stop people trying, and in between new haggling strategies I get to learn more about where people live, where they were born originally (Artarmon is a fascinating polyglot community of recent arrivals) and what they do with their lives.

I did sell a few CDs and Milkoolers, and it's always wonderful to meet someone who 'gets' the Milkooler thing right away and is delighted to buy one, or someone who falls in love with one of my label's artists just by walking past my stall and grooving to the song currently playing. Retail therapy for me as well as for them!

I think next year I'll try to pull together a broader, multi-function stall with the help of my friends and neighbours and try to make it represent a broader range of interests and needs. Got local produce, bric a brac, or even just lemonade? There's a home for it on my stand.