The Power of Daily Candy

When we first learned that we would be in Daily Candy we were understandable thrilled. As far as we are concerned it is pretty much The Today Show of the Internet with over 2.5 million subscribers to their infamous daily newsletters. Our excitement was only mildly dampened when we learned we would only be a Deal and not featured and said Deal would only be made available to New Yorkers. We pouted and then decided to turn our frown upside down because ITS DAILY FRIGGIN CANDY for chrissakes!

Every time we told someone about the pending placement, our equally excited friends and family said "Oh My God, are you ready for that?? And we realized that we didn't even know what it meant really to be featured on DC. We have all heard the stories of sites being shut down by a mention on Oprah or TTS but what does a DC Deal really mean for traffic and sales?

Well, since DC does not publish local subscriber numbers and we had no idea what the open rate (% of emails that are actually opened by DC subscribers) was, and no idea how receptive their readers would be to Dames and Broads, we were clueless as to how to prepare. Since we wished we knew the impact of the placement and pondered it during many sleepless nights, we decided to share what it meant to Dames& Broads.

According to Google Analytics, in total we received 2100 visits on the first day of the deal with and additional 900 visits over the course of the week the deal was live. However that deal was "StumbledUpon" (A social networking sites that allows uses to share sites with others) and we received an additional 900 Visits from them.

While 4000 visits might be paltry to the big boys, it is fantastic for us small fish. We are delighted and thankful.

The promotion resulted in 400% rise in sales volume (week over week) however DC carts were at least 40% smaller in size. Which makes sense- there was a 25% coupon attached to the promotion and these users were testing us out for the very first time and were probably more apprehensive.

There was also a 25% increase to our newsletter subscriber list so that we can continue to contact potential customers.

Not to mention the countless emails from users asking why we dont carry larger sizes, other press wanting to cover us, and advertisers wanting us to run in their publications.

For a week, we were a "big deal" - PUN INTENDED. And now it's back to work...

Much Love,
D&B

Dont you wear panties????

Ok ladies, you are rebelling and I want to know why. Please explain it to me. I have searched the many corners of the earth to bring to you the best bras AND panties and still you insist on defying me.:) Why are you just buying bras?

This week we are running a promotion with Daily Candy (details to come) and were surprised that many of the orders are just bras. Now, we are not one to complain about orders (THANK YOU DAILY CANDY GODS!!!!), but we were baffled. Ok, sometimes we get it. You love the Else Basic Ultimate Support Bra from Turkey and lord knows you dont need another pair of black panties- even if they are fab. But what are you going to do with just the Miss Showgirl underwire bra??? Its sheer hot pink fabulosity! It will be lonely without the matching high waist brief or low rise knickers.. Just the thought of it by itself with some boring nude thong brings tears to our eyes...

Unless..... you all are channeling your inner Britney circa 2007 and are deciding to parade around in just your brasseire, which the broad in us wholeheartedly supports.

Hugs and kisses,
Dames & Broads

Criticism is appreciated. No, REALLY....

The last few weeks have been crazy with trunk shows and press events and vendor meetings. To summarize, they have been going like this: I stress and then agonize over every little detail. I literally worry myself sick. I call my publicist, friends and family at all hours of the night to pick their brains and then go with my own opinion anyway. At some point there is some sort of breakdown and I question if i am in fact built for this entrepreneurial life. The event takes place, is well received and everything works out well. Everyone else is thrilled, I am outwardly pleased, and inwardly wishing for More, Better, Next....

Afterwards, someone will approach, call or email me and tell me how captivating the concept is, how lovely the lingerie is, how pretty the site looks. I will thank them politely and think to myself "if it's so great, why haven't they bought more or anything at all." (Yes, I have committed to memory almost every sale of every single piece of lingerie- it haunts me in my dreams). Then I go home with my ego stroked but my brain tortured by the fact that something is missing. No, some THINGS are missing. I know I could do it better. But what? When? How?

This excruciating process will be repeated approximately every 2-4 days and does not always included sleep yet frequently includes some ridiculous amount of food.... It must stop.

So I decided to start meeting with people who have no interest in making me feel good. I went in search of impolite, politically incorrect, "keep it real" friends who want me to succeed far more than they want to ease my fears. And when I ran out of those, I looked for people whose livelihood depended on me being wrong and them being right. People who had to draw attention to the broken so that they could be paid to fix it.

I met with former lingerie buyers from major dept. stores, copywriters, graphic designers, and retail ecommerce entrepreneurs. And finally I started to hear the ugly truth.... and it was music to my ears.

Just a few of the things I learned:
1. This is not a date! You cannot be afraid of setting expectations. In an effort to avoid disappointment and failure, I was terrified of defining objectives. In order to ever be pleased or satisfied in business you must set some goals. How will you ever know if you are successful if you don't?

2.My site is pretty but does not convey effectively who/what Dames & Broads is and how we are profoundly different from other lingerie sites. It is functional but not experiential. In order to draw women into a change in purchase behavior especially for something as intimate (pun intended) as lingerie i must offer them a different shopping experience.

3. Mannequins may work for well know retailers and outerwear, but people really do prefer live models for lingerie. Nothing is "pushed up" on a plastic mannequin and you cant always ask your audience to use their imaginations.

4. Social Networking is great but also can be distracting on an ecommerce site. Users should never be directed to leave the site just to see what i am doing on Twitter... They might not ever come back.

5. More is more. Users need and want more product, more product info, more advice, more more...

6. Stop burying the lead. If shipping is free. Say it loudly, above the fold, and over and over again.

There is more but I am tired... and since I received all this constructive criticism a strange thing has happened. I can finally sleep. There seems to be something very calming about untapped possibilities...


Things gon' change 'round here.

Smooches,
Dames & Broads

Dames and Broads - In her Shoes- Fly Female Entrepreneur

We are over the moon that the ladies behind one of our favorite blogs, In her Shoes, chose to interview Dames and Broads founder, Melissa Finney for their "Fly Female Entrepreneur" feature.

Check out the interview here...

Bookmark the site... there are good things here...

From one broad to another,

D&B

With Missed Opportunities Comes A New Homepage

For a lingerie ecommerce site that launched a little over one month ago, Dames and Broads has been very lucky from a press/traffic stand point. We have been mentioned in UrbanDaddy, FabSugar, and will soon be in InStyle among others. And while these mentions have driven traffic and sales, in our new company excitement we really lost out on some low hanging fruit. It simply never occured to us to have some sort of email capture/ newsletter sign up so that we could communicate with potential customers (thousands of contacts down the drain). We never thought to reward our larger customers and encourage bigger orders with Free Shipping (those that spend more deserve more). We offered no additional incentives to sweeten the deal for those customers on the fence....(anyone choosing to give us their hard earned $$$ in these hard times should feel pampered)

Well as of March 19th all that changes. Behold our new homepage and offerings.

-Free Shipping on every order over $100
-Newsletter Sign up for great deals, savings and the newest styles
-Free Soyelle Lingerie wash samples with every order (limited time only)!

Have any other suggestions that would make DamesandBroads.com better from a user or business standpoint? We are pretty sure we have a lot more to learn...

Let us know, we would love the feedback.

Dames & Broads

A picture is worth a thousand words

My publicist suggested I have pics taken to promote myself as a lingerie expert. OK she really just mentioned that it might be a good thing to do at some point in life. Since I am vain as hell and have been secretly dying to have my own photo shoot since Samantha posed for nude pics on Sex and the City, I considered her suggestion a proclamation and I immediately called photographer Hao Zeng and makeup artist Lazarus Jean Baptiste to make it happen. I was super excited and called my former roommate DJ Kiss who has some of the best promotional pictures I have ever seen.

She gave me fab advice which included scouring magazines and online image sites to pick out the images and poses that i wanted so that I would not leave without the shot I wanted.

Foregoing beauty sleep, I stayed up all night, rummaged through my closet and did my best to pick the sexiest, slimming, experty things I could. I arrived at the shoot, ready to give my best Samantha Jones.

And everything was wonderful until I looked at the first proofs- and I saw all my imperfections that good lighting and makeup could not hide. I was devastated. So much so the Laz- the Make Up Man had to booty shake to get me to smile for the rest of the shots.

I almost didn't recover- then there was an outfit change and I got to put on my lucky bra. I know it sounds stupid but this bra really is magic. Whenever I feel less than or unattractive, the pleated silk and eyelash lace assure me otherwise... Ahhh the healing power of good foundations.:)

Did I become an instant supermodel? No. But I got a few really good shots.
And I will post them soon... right after they airbrush out the rest of my flaws...

Melissa
owner, Dames and Broads

Federal (Crime) Express- I guess postal carriers like lingerie too

Every day in business breeds a new set of challenges, a new reason for a nervous breakdown, something else to keep you up at night. On Thursday after a relatively good day in business, I received a call that all of the packages we had shipped on the previous Saturday (thankfully not the busiest of days), had been stolen... Actually the packages had been opened, all of the contents removed, sort of resealed and shipped on their way...

WTF (cover your ears readers for all sort of unholy profanities were exclaimed)!!!!!

I swore, I almost had a heart attack when I realized that we were sold out of many of these items (thanks Urban Daddy) making them irreplaceable or at the very least on backorder, I was extremely loud but polite to our fed ex rep hoping one of the two mannerisms would result in our packages being found... to no avail.

Then I breathed deep yoga like breaths over and over again until I was able to speak at a normal decibel. When I was ready, I began calling and emailing the customers effected, offered replacements and discounts and tried my best to give them the customer service that they deserve. (I still feel incredibly guilty that they trusted us with their valuable orders and this is what happened).

When I finished, I called my bestest gay husband who is the head of sales for a lovely French fashion company. Then I began the rant all over again- "Can you believe this happened??? Who do they think they are??? Isn't this the craziest thing you ever heard???

He listened politely (which is extremely rare for him), and then softly chuckled and said "Welcome to fashion. You're in business now and it aint so glamorous, is it?"

No, it's not. It's is beautiful but tough... just like us.

XOXO
Dames and Broads

P.S. Got a call from one of our lingerie vendors in Canada--- our next shipment will be incomplete because all of their 36Cs were stolen off of a truck... HERE WE GO AGAIN. :)

A bird in the hand..... Is no match for Urbandaddy

Urban Daddy 2.5.09

London 2.2.09

Yes we know we shouldn't have done it. But it was too tempting to resist. With Valentine's day fast approaching and us still missing stock from some of our favorite UK lingerie vendors, we were beginning to freak out. We called, we begged, we pleaded and they said that all was on the way. We relaxed, we breathed easy and we posted merchandise to the site that we did not have yet in our NYC warehouse. What's the worse thing that could happen right? The merchandise after all, is in transit.

famous last words...

London - Something happened this week that was so unexpected, so chaotic, that life in one of the world's busiest and wealthiest cities ground to a halt. Schools and businesses closed, roads emptied of traffic, and London's public transport network of buses and trains was paralyzed.
It snowed.

8 inches of snow, and the entire city came to a screeching halt, including shipments, courier services, and all panty transit.

Add to that that Urban Daddy, a daily email newsletter and website telling of all things hot, cool and up and coming, was featuring us in their upcoming Valentine's day perks program. That lovely email would be going out to 450,000 affluent men all over the country.

Missing Inventory+ Debilitating Storm+ Urban Daddy mailer to half a million =The Perfect Storm.

The UD email was sent out yesterday and like wildfire the orders came in. And what was everyone clamouring for.... the missing merchandise. (Well, actually the men were far more swayed by the Brazilian tangas, but this makes for a far more dramatic story).

What were we to do? We had orders that had to be filled quickly and our merchandise was stuck in the UK!
We had a drink. We went to sleep. We were exhausted. Stress is bad for the skin, my mother says...

And when we awoke, we received word that the merchandise had made it safely to the Dames and Broads warehouse.

As Mae West always says:
A man in the house is worth two in the street.


LESSON LEARNED.

XOXO,
Dames & Broads

Risky Business

I just took an entrepreneurial risk assessment test and failed with flying colors. While there were a few parts in which I excelled (i.e all parts that required you to not play well with others), evidently I am a tad risk adverse. After receiving a score of 25 out of 38, I assumed that quiz was mistaken and I retook the test this time changing my answers to the truth (aka what I now thought they wanted to hear as opposed to the answers that I previously thought would yield the highest results). My score dropped to 23. Clearly I am not even daring enough to chance failing an open notebook test only meant to assess my own shortcomings.

I will admit it. I am terrified of failure and tend to avoid it at all costs. I am the girl who read 100 pages ahead in Choose Your Own Adventure novels to avoid costly mistakes and impeding doom. But I am even more afraid of fear's paralyzing effect on me. For this reason I have an extremely oxymoronic approach to life and risk. I inch my way closer to the edge and then take flying leaps off cliffs.

I researched buying studio apts in Manhattan for years and then bought a dilapidated three bedroom in Harlem 25 minutes after viewing it. My first entree into the stock market wasn't until I was 29 but I only bought one stock and with all of my cash reserves. I only play black jack @ $5 tables but have been know to go all in and lose hundreds in one hand. I spent most of my twenties never dating men more than twice. Four years ago I went out on a third date with one lucky gentlemen and we have been together ever since.

I don't believe in diversification.

Who knows how this will serve me in business. In life I have been right more times than wrong. I have had a ton of fun and cried a bunch of tears. I have lost my life savings at least 3 times and have doubled my net worth. The only thing that I am sure of is that money comes and money goes. And the only regrets I have are the things I did not do...

I already see my duality rearing its ugly head. I alternate daily between cutting back inventory levels in case I am the only one who actually needs functional lingerie and quadrupling orders in anticipation of overwhelming success. The real reason why I wont carry above a D cup is the inventory nightmare it creates. I know that "plus size lingerie" are the #3 most searched for key words in the world of online intimates but what the hell am I going to do with a 44G bra if it doesnt sell?

Maybe there is a middle ground, and I will do my best to remain on it. But I know the day will soon come for me to choose sides. And when others step forward or to the side and I will leap.

FORWARD!!!

"Courage doesn't always shout. Sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day that says, "I will try again tomorrow."--- UNKNOWN


So traveling to Brazil to search for a lingerie manufacturer did not produce the results I thought it would... After scouring the city for 4 long, rainy days, I did not find anyone who was willing to work with me, the US dollar and my size Ds.

I have to admit I felt tired, drained and defeated. I was ready to throw in the towel and return to my normal life and hideous nude bras.

But my girl, Monica, told me that if I am going to make it, I have to be ready to adapt. The point was to bring to market affordable, wearable, but sexy bras and panties and by god, wild horses could not keep me from it... After all, they say evil triumphs when good women do nothing...

The Brazilian trade show showed me that there actually are many high quality yet cost conscious lines that we Americans have been deprived of simply because of our geography. The problem is that only a few pieces can actually be worn underneath clothes. In fact, some of the sets made me wonder if Brazilian women ever put on anything at all over these elaborate devices. No wonder thousands of men endure 10 hours in coach just to lay eyes on these creatures...

But every once in awhile I would stumble across a miracle (like the one pictured). Pretty little things that could actually be worn by mere mortals. I wondered if there were similar products in other parts of the world. Then I wondered, would I would be willing to traipse all over the globe to bring these items to American women? Yes, yes I will.
The saga continues...

Dames and Broads Version 2.0