All The Options, Please.

One of Jeanne's favorite things to say is that she and I "have more ideas than Heinz has pickles."  Which, while completely odd phrasing, is probably dead-on accurate.  Jeanne and I are never short of ideas we want to try at PJP.  If we were organized, we would purchase some sort of dry erase board and keep a running list of projects and thoughts.  Or some color coded file folders.  Or at least a list on some Post-it notes to review during while having our businesswoman's lunch special.

And so part of our learning curve since opening our doors in April is to figure out which ideas have merit and momentum and which ideas are just shiny distractions.

For example, earlier today, Jeanne and i were at Hobby Lobby for a few things and plus to look at the annual home decor clearance sale they do at 66% off.  (The only thing I like about crafting is the idea of it.  The rest of it is always a fail.)  We saw a number of cute things, as one always does at The Hobby Lobby.  What I noticed in this visit was the ability to be realistic about what works for us.  We looked at a calendar thing where you turn the blocks to show the correct month and day and discussed how adorable it would be on our front counter.  Then we reminded ourselves that someone would have to change the date each day and neither of us would probably do that, so there was really no point in buying it.  Two cheers for emotional maturity and the inward eye!

But we've had a few ideas on our mental Post-it that seem to linger over time and that tells us that these are the ideas to be focusing on.  The first was the birthday party idea and last week, we sat down and planned our packages, introduced it to the masses, and spent the rest of the time booking parties (and all for adults...not a single kid party yet...which is fine and all, just interesting).  The second idea has been lingering out there since the summer and something we hear from our customers all of the time:  loyalty cards.  We decided this is the week it finally happens.

Because we are continually asked by our customers if we have some sort of "buy 10 baby pies, get the 11th free" program, I had spent some time on the Internet looking at those sort of cards.  But can I tell you that the options are completely overwhelming?  Should we get electronic or hole punch?  Should people register their cards or not?  Should we pay extra for a full color card?  Should it be plastic or card stock?  Do we need terms and conditions?  How much do we want to spend per card?  And true to my nature, I looked at all of that, closed the browser and spent a copious amount of time watching Buzzfeed videos while listening to The National and trying to forget I needed to make some decisions.

And forget I did - for at least five months or so.

Last week, I had no less than five people ask me if we had any sort of loyalty card program.  And each time I answered that we were working on it.  Truth.  Sorta.

And so today, we stopped by to see our friend Josh at Minuteman Press to pick up some box stickers.  We mentioned our loyalty card questions and he had several samples to show us and we were able to pick a card that work for us at a reasonable price in under two minutes.  And so now a PJP Loyalty Card is a thing.

Or it will be in a few days when the cards arrive.

And I buy a fancy hole puncher.

Let's hope Hobby Lobby doesn't offer 8,241,044 hole puncher options.