winners from newsletter and we are BACK!

I missed all of my fabulous Scarlet Lime Ladies!  I came back to over 400 e-mail! LOL.. crazy! But I got them all answered this morning.. SO, if you did send me an e-mail while I was gone and you didn't get a response, PLEASE send it again :), I think it got lost in cyber space! LOL..

anyhow.. so glad to be back! We came home to about 50 boxes in our trailer that the UPS and FedEx guys had dropped off while we were gone! After I spent the morning e-mailing people back, we unpacked all the goodies for April! ALMOST everything was there.. we were missing a few things (and frustrated about that).. but that happens right? LOL

So anyhow, we are back and ready to have some fun!

First we need to announce the winners from last week's newsletter.. thanks again for everyone who pointed me to the random counter thing.. holy cow that sure helps when drawing winners!!!

so our winners from last week's newsletters.. are..

.Posted by: Lisa M | March 20, 2008 at 03:59 PM 

Posted by: Samantha Wales | March 18, 2008 at 03:33 PM

e-mail me ladies, with your address so I can get your gift in the mail! :) christy@scarletlime.com 

So, I just wanted to touch base with you all on a couple of things.. kinda of an update on what's going on here. Things we have been trying to work on over the last couple of weeks and really talked about during Spring Break.

We have been growing more and more each month here at the Scarlet Lime, and we are so excited about the new "family" we have here. With a bigger family comes more time needed for SL and with more times comes some new changes for us! LOL..  Right now the first change we are trying to implement is a new shopping cart system. Right now we only use paypal and we want to be able to not only accept major credit cards but ALSO provide you with auto-bill each month, so you don't have to worry about paying for your main kits each month. That will automatically be done for you. You will still get the opportunity on the 25th to preview the add-on kits (this is for subscribers).. but if you don't want those, you won't have to worry about anything to get your kit each month. So we are trying to get that ready in time for May, so keep your fingers crossed! E-mail links will still go out on the 25th of April as normal, but hopefully that will be the last time we have to do payments for main kits that way! LOL

Our second change is going to be newsletters, we have been trying to do them every week, and  while I LOVE them.. love sending them out, loving putting some "loves" into your in-box.. we aren't going to have "set" dates anymore on when they will go out.. we will still do them throughout the month.. probably at least 3 times.. but they just won't get out every Friday like they have in the past. We will still have fabulous giveaways in each one.. and sneak peeks of upcoming kits.. so still all the fun! Just a little more random throughout the month.

The third thing I wanted to let you know... is that we are also working on hard on getting more kits for May. As you may know, April kits are already sold out (the main, project and mini kit). SO we don't have any kits to sale and debut on the 1st. Because of the unexpected growth over the last couple of months and because we do include exclusive products in our kits each month, we don't have much room each month to "order" more kits, than that we have already planned for  the month before. The last couple of months, we have just had alot of expected interest in the Scarlet Lime and I think alot of it is due to the fact a few of the other kit clubs out there, no longer doing their clubs, also just word of mouth from all of you fabulous people etc. The past few months, we have grown so much more than we expected. We have more than doubled in size from February to April, and are still growing. Because of this unexpected growth and having to purchase our kits at LEAST a month in advance, we have only been able to guess how many New main kits we will need (new meaning more than the number we already have) but also how many add-on kits we would need each month and while we did double the amount of add-on kits we normally do from March to April, we still sold out in just a few hours. I know it's frustrating not only to our scarlet lime subscribers who didn't get in on the ad-on kits, BUT to our non subscribers who don't get them either.

I just want you to know, that we don't intentionally order small amounts of our add-on kits or our main kits, so we can "sell out" each month. Our goal isn't to make our customers unhappy by not being able to  provide enough add-on kits for those who want them, but it is TRULY to make sure we have enough for all who want them. We just haven't figured out that happy medium yet. Some day, " well then just order the same amount of add-on kits as you do main kits, but it just doesn't work that way! LOL.. wish it did.. but not everyone purchase add-on kits and usually in the past (past meaning before January).. we only had about 1/4 of our subscribers who purchased add-on kits. So we try and guess how many we will need and then we go beyond that. Our goal EACH month is to have enough product for not only subscribers who want them, but non subscribers as well. Finding that happy medium is a balance each month. So please know we are working on finding that medium.. :)  That being said, we are also looking into offering subscriptions to our main kits, project kits and even our mini kits each month, but will have to wait until we can get a working shopping cart that will allow us to auto-bill each month. So hopefully by May or JUNE.. we will have something in place to allow everyone to subscribe to the kits they want :)

So! That's it .. those are my updates! I would LOVE to hear any other suggestion you might have.. I know many have asked for a Gallery for Scarlet Lime Gals, a Message board too, and we are working on both of those for this summer (one thing at a time! LOL).. but if you have any other suggestions, we would love to hear them!  I want you to know, YOU are the reason Scarlet Lime is here and doing so well and WE love and value your comments. We enjoy your posts on the blog (I say we, which is me and my husband! LOL).. but we do.

We feel like you are all family here and have big plans to be able to meet  you all someday! We are hoping to provide in the future.. maybe not this year, but next year a scrapbooking event for Scarlet Lime customers (and those who may want to be).. that is not only fun and full of great stuff including classes, projects, crops and more.. but one that is also BUDGET minded. We want it to be one that everyone could come too. We also have alot of international customers and have plans to come visit some of you too! Seriously! LOL.. Did you know that we have over 50 Scarlet Lime Gals just from Singapore!?? Love getting their "morning" e-mails at midnight.. know they are just starting their day! LOL..  And are excited about the possibilities to come see them sometime next year and get to know them better!  Love my Norway gals.. We have over 30 fabulous gals in Norway we would love to be able to come meet and get to know.. Love my UK gals, Canada gals, Mexico, Australia, Japan gals, Columbia, Brazil, Ireland gals, Philippines and more. WE LOVE YOU ALL!   it might be a few years to get to everyone.. but our goal is to come and get to know each of you! LOL.. or as many as we can.. We just consider you all family.

I think more than anything, I just enjoy you all. You make me smile each day. We value you, and we love having you around. So thank you for making this so wonderful for us!

well I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! We will post our next newsletter later next week. Watch for updates on the website next week for April kits! Although we are sold out, we still have plans to update our gallery and also post pictures of the kits as well! :)..

hugs!
Christy

Comments

[Tina]

sounds like you guys have been busy. Can't wait to get all of the April goodies. Thanks.

[kimmie]

Dang girl your really putting it out there! Your kits are awesome!!!!!

[Corey]

I would LOVE a sub to the minikit! it has just enough goodies and the stamps are fun! I'd love the main, but don't when I'd ever useit all! lol

this was a great update, very informative - keep up the great work!

[Pearl]

Singapore loves Scarlet Lime too! :)
We can't wait to see receive your kits!
Cheers! :)

[Elisa]

Wow, 400 emails! one of them was mine, and a got a reply, thanks!!!

Hello to you all, special for the gals in Ireland (where I live) and Brazil (where I come from).

Would love a gallery, I got my first kit this month and loved it. I have done a couple of layouts and hope to get more finished before I receive the April's kit.

[Kelly]

seriously, scarlet lime needs its own MAGAZINE! Can you imagine?? You are growing so fast because there is no other kit club out there like yours! A board and gallery would rock, but I totally understand the work that goes into it. Heck, you have girls here who would love to call themselves your DT and use stuff they PAY for LOL

[Patti]

I personally can't wait to get me some of that Scarlet Lime "sugar" in April - my very first kit... whoooo hooooo!!!

[Brianne]

You rock girl! Keep up the AWESOME work and know we love you!

[amy]

I don't know how you do it all Christy but you rock girl!! I have read nothing but positive and just over the top comments about your kits and awesome c/serv. on serveral websites and blogs as of late. No wonder you are getting sooo popular. I am just happy to have found you when I did!! The only thing I can think of is to maybe reserve or set aside some kits for new subscribers so when you preview the kit to the everyone, there is something in the store. That being said, I know it still doesn't help you with how to guesstimate how many kits to make up. Maybe too, there would be a way to just bill some subbers who want it all every month - like you sign up for the main, or main and project or all three kits - give subbers the option, but they must commit. I would commit - put me on that list for everything!! OK - does blogger run out of characters for posts, because this is getting long!! LOL!! sorry!! Love ya Christy!!

[Jessica Hood]

Wow...You certainly have your hands full! You & your team do a wonderful job at putting together beautifully coordinated kits. It's no wonder so many people want to purchase the kits you assemble. Keep up the great work! We're all here to support you.

Jessica
http://www.funkyfinds.blogspot.com

[Sharie]

Christy, thank you for keeping us updated - so happy to hear of Scarlet Lime's growth. Your enthusiasm and creativity is contagious. Enjoy your weekend!

[Heather W]

You did so well explaining all of that! Your kits have been terrific! Personally, I don't think you need a MB. Love just having the blog!

[Michelle]

Thank you for the update. It's wonderful that SL is so popular, but I can imagine how frustrating it must be to know that every month there are disappointed people who are dying to play with the fabulous kits you create! I love the idea of the shopping cart and the auto pay. Another plus for SL!

The only thing I'd really love to see that SL doesn't have is a gallery where I could see other subscribers work. But that can be cumbersome and I totally understand if it's not something you can do.

Thank you for all that you do...creating fabulous kits, wonderful newsletters and taking care of your subscribers. :)

[megan dvorak]

I don't know you and your families professional background, but would it be possible to higher someone who specializes in setting up internet based businesses. That person could add0on to you website with a message board and shopping cart, etc. It would be one less thing for you to worry about.

[Megan]

I am so excited about the new things! I just want to thank you for sharing your plans with us. I love reading your posts and newsletters. Your writing is so real and friendly, I feel like I get to know you a little each time. I am so happy to be part of the Scarlet Lime 'family'. Keep up the good work!

[Beautifullily (Fay)]

Regarding the Gallery - you could easily set up a Flickr group for now that anyone could add their LOs to - I've just done a search on Scarlet Lime on Flickr, and there are already a few LOs that have been uploaded - they just need collecting together in one place.

[Debra Harvey]

wow also love reading your newsletters, so just let me know when you head down under to sydney so can make up the spare room ;) the flickr group sounds like a great idea :)

thank you for great kits and great service :)

[ShellyJ]

Congrats winners :) and thanks for the update... someday I will get my hands on one of your kits!

[carolyn in Canada]

Sounds like there are some big great plans for SL! Thanks for such a newsy update! Love your blog and I am looking forward to everything you have planned!

[Abby]

Congrats to the Winners! And CHEERS to SL for it's huge success in the last few months! We're 100% behind you, Christy! Love the Kits! Love how you make it so personal with your newsletters! Glad to be a part of your journey in the success for SL!
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!

[Dina K]

Hi Christy!
Great newsletter! Such exciting things coming for Scarlet Lime! Congrats on all your success, you deserve it! Love your kits and I am all aboard for subbing to everything!! I have seen some other kits do a Flckr group - that maybe something to look at. Have a great weekend!!!

[Renae Stephens]

Glad you guys are back and had a good time. I am looking so forward to getting my first kit. Thanks for all your hard work!

[fran heupel]

Christy,
Anything new Scarlet lime has to offer is wonderful. Keep up the great work that you are doing.
Your kits are always so well thought out and put together.
Wishing you and your family continued success with this wonderful kit club.

[Heather]

You forgot to mention loving the Idaho girls!! LOL!

[Melanie]

Thanks for the update and WOW! on the growing pains. I'm not surprised at all. I know you'll get it worked out. Can't wait to get my kit every month. It's always full of fun things. Thanks for putting together such a fun kit.