Golden customers

I stumbled upon another blogger who mentioned us - Mongrel Socks - in their blog, it touched our hearts. Even more so when when I read the comments left by others. We hear great mongrel sock stories from customers but when I read the comment that someones mother loved our socks so much she was buried in them, it made hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I've always known I'll head to the other side wearing them but to find that some else has, is incredible.
www.hugoandelsa.blogspot.com/

Exciting times

It's all happening at the home of Mongrel Socks. We are the happy recipients of a TCF grant help to renew our website and improve online business practices. There's a whole raft of new products to get up and out on the new site and much work to be done to make all this happen. We are thrilled to have the help of a business professional, we could never normally afford. It is a real learning curve for us. The going will be hard, but we are pumped! We just can't wait for our new online presence to be reality. Baby steps for for now, until we stride into the brave new world of WEB 2.0. Yee Ha!

Day and night

Every Saturday finds us plying our socks at Hobarts Salamanca Market. We work quietly from our home based workshop every other day, so when Saturday comes around we are well and truely ready to get out amongst it. Saturdays are manic, up at before dawn and do nothing but talk all day. Long before the Market go'ers have arrived we've had a few cups of coffee, caught up with some of our favourite fellow market stall operators, had a few laughs, all the while unpacking and setting up the stall. Then our market day really begins. Most days seems to fly by. By 4.30pm we're heading home, tired, but happy. Last week we stayed late to check out a fantastic mid winter annual event - The Festival of Voices. It gets better and better every year. I've linked here through to some photos of the night, there nothing quite like singing in a crowd around a roaring bonfire. Hard to imagine that only a couple of hours earlier it was a bustling market place, as if by magic it is tranformed in something else again. If you love to sing (and you don't have to be good at it) or listen to live music come on down and join us next year.
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/07/12/84001_todays-news.html

Salamanca Market Sock trials

Well, we are one month in to the first trials of our new product space-dyed mercerised cotton socks, and still smiling. It's always a bit of a gamble when producing a new product line, and though-out it's development it is only when a customer actually buys them that you know you are on the right track. One off purchases are not a true indictation of potential, repeat purchases are the ones that really count. No matter how great the product is. True for socks as it is for, say, shampoo. When customers return to purchase more, you can pretty safely say you've nailed it! And I'm really happy to announce these great cotton socks are here to stay. The trials were successful. So glad because we could easily got it all wrong, as has been known to happen. Anyway, we 1st trialed with 3 styles, and two sizes, narrowed that done to a fine thickness 2 length, knee high and crew in 2 sizes. The colours are fantastic, we're aiming to have them online in the near future. Pure Cotton Socks are a big change to Pure Wool but with similar wild colours and natural properties. I'm seriously considering selling pairs of odd socks too, in this new line - Same, Same but Different. It's a thought.

Good folk

Thank goodness June 30 has come and gone, we've spent days counting socks, all the while having to keep business ticking over. Mid winter and we've lot's of orders coming and going out for our Pure wool Mongrels. I'm constantly delighted at the little notes our customers, the good folk that they are, leave with our orders. It is so nice that people still take the time or even bother to personalise their orders in this, the age of "it's all about me". Here's a few of the notes I received last week, all gratefully accepted.

Thanks Helen,
I get everybody to say hello when they are at Salamanca market! (and to buy socks!!)
Cheers,
Gerald

Hi Helen,
my shoe size is 8. Thankyou - your socks are fantastic! I bought a pair last winter and they are so cosy AND cute! Now i want to get them for my friends, too!
kind regards, Tanya


Hi ther helen

Just letting you know that my socks arrived this morning (they made pretty good time!) and they are gorgeous and very cosy. I am already getting lots of positive commnets - you might have to start selling them in NZ (if you don't already)!

many thanks - I'm looking forward to a warm-footed winter.

Alix