FredMcKinnon.Com

Hey Everybody -

FRIDAY - now that things have settled down a bit after our transition into the new building at church, I actually start having my day off again, Fridays. Typically, Fridays aren’t a day off work … just off work @ church. I’ve still got to get up and enter lyrics for ProPresenter this weekend (one of my tasks that didn’t get completed), but for the most part, I’m done until Sunday.

However, as a small business owner - I have a ka-zillion other things that stay on the back burner until Fridays when I catch up. Until I can find a good part-time assistant to return phone calls, take orders, process orders, and manage inventory, I have to neglect most of my incoming sales calls - many don’t leave voicemails … many leave voicemails, only to have shopped elsewhere by the time I call them back. NOT good business … for the folks who did it simple, and order online …. it makes the world so much easier. Speaking of … for all you folks w/ Macs, iPods, iPhones, PDA, BlackBerry, Treo, etc … checkout all the goodies we offer at GetSkinsNow.Com.

Anyway - I love Fridays. For the first couple of hours, I juggle attempts at beginning work, while at the same time listening to the non-stop beckoning calls from the younger two kids through the baby monitor as Joy has a girl’s accountability group for b’fast every Friday AM from around 8:30 - 10:15.

Today:
1. There are currently 753 messages in my email inbox.
2. Only 75 unread blogs in my GoogleReader (unfortunately, those are lower on the priority list)
3. I have multiple cases of product from vendors to check-in, ship out, or manage. (new cases for MacBook and HP 6000 series from Speck, a huge shipment from Canada/Hong Kong arriving today from UNIEA, more from Marware, InvisibleShield, OtterBox, iSkin, and Klear-Screen)
4. I have 3 piles of paperwork on my desk - tax paperwork, invoices to be paid, bank statements
5. I have a stack of returns/exchanges spilling over in a pile on the floor.
6. I have 3 big boxes of NEW PRODUCTS that have arrived from vendors that aren’t listed anywhere for sale yet.
7. I have a few banking errands that are like bugs biting me … need to take care of them, but they are just nuisance errands that I don’t really feel like dealing with yet.
8. We’ve been approved as official dealers for M-Audio, maker of incredible music products, including keyboards, monitors, studio headphones, in-ear monitors (the IE-30’s are awesome), music software, ProTools plugins, USB MIDI controllers, guitar processors, etc. We have full dealership to all the M-Audio product line - so I have a huge bit of products to get added into our listings at Ebay and Amazon … in the meantime, if you want any M-Audio gear, I will make you an awesome price. Contact me directly. And hey - how ’bout spreading the word that you can get M-Audio gear from me!? Thanks.

Think I’m kidding? I’m ashamed to show you just ONE ANGLE of my studio/office (much more an office/warehouse these days as opposed to a studio).

How’d you like to walk in to THIS in the morning? I’ve got my work cut out for me today.
Fred

• Comments (5)

Hey Ya’ll,

Just a quick “hi” to my friends and readers .. I’ve not blogged much, but I’ve been here - just swamped w/ Christmas music preparations for church, meetings, and then lots of early AM time and late PM time doing e-biz (it’s the holiday selling season and discountkidsgames.com, thekidmall.com, getskinsnow.com, and our Ebay, Amazon, and PriceGrabber storefronts are booming) … so I’ve not had any time. I have over 283 unread blogs in my Google Reader. I see another RSS Bankruptcy being filed.

On a separate note - I was checking over Jon Michael’s homework tonight. He’s in 1st grade. He had to write five sentences with each of his first five spelling words. The 4th word on the list was “shine”. Jon Michael’s sentence?

“I want to shine for God”.

Made my day.

Hope to be back to blogging consistently soon … please don’t remove me from your Readers … we’ll be back!

Merry Christmas,
Fred

PS: see all those links up there … still shopping? Check out my stores! Also, as soon as I can catch a breath … and if you’re interested, I’m about to put my Worship Under the Stars CD and DVD online for $5.00 … not each … for both. That’s $2.50/each. Cost. Less than cost. CLEARANCE … so if you’re interested in a deal like that, let me know!

• Comments (4)

Hey Ya’ll -

How ’bout that title … basically, this is a quick update to let you know what’s going on with several things I’ve mentioned (or meant to mention!) ….

1. O Holy Night - the saga continues. I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with the REAL “O Holy Night” singer yesterday. I’ll post the interview here this weekend. Plenty of people “claim” to be the real “O Holy Night” singer … and the fact that more than 15 YouTube vidoes alone have people “claiming” to be the real person and the dozens of “urban legends” surrounding it … well, that fact is what made the real person decide to break his silence and step forward.

As far as the big question - “was the singer for real, or just cutting up” ….

… you’ll have to wait.

2. Highest Praise Worship Podcast:
I released a new Highest Praise Worship Podcast last week but was too busy to announce it here. It features 3 cool songs for corporate worship by Barry and Terri Collecutt, Will and Crystal Yates, and Mark Condon, so check it out:
web | iTunes

3. Amazon.Com Saga:
Thanks to everyone who contributed their input regarding the Amazon.Com situation. For now, I’ve decided to run BOTH accounts simultaneously. You CANNOT list the same products in both accounts, so the products that are automated by my inventory source provider are in the original Marketplace account, and the products that I physically ship and sell are in the new “ProMerchant” area. The “new seller” logo is gone, I have my first official 100% positive feedback (thanks, Chris), and have sold 31 items already - so I think it’s moving along nicely.

4. New Blog Alert:
“Thinking Out Loud“, a new blog by the Technical Director of SSCC, Travis Paulding (known on TheWorshipCommunity.Com as dtpuga). Travis and I share an office and he’s always talking about how he has too much work to do for “blogging”. Well, he’s eating crow. Travis is now Blog Boy #2. And it’s a good thing - he’ll talk about life, his baby girl (eta about 3 mos), technical stuff, ministry, and whatever else he feels like discussing. So go over and leave a comment on his first post, and give him some link love. I’ve added him to my blogroll.

5. Christmas - Be Still
I’m very blessed by the strong encouragement I’ve gotten from everyone about recording the “Be Still” album. After publishing this blog, I hope to finish up the final version of “Away In A Manger” and start on Silent Night.

Speaking of Christmas and music - stay tuned, because we’re about to do a CD/DVD blowout on Worship Under the Stars that you won’t believe. (Can you say Abe Lincoln?). Seriously, watch the blog for a package sale that will be an incredible deal.

OK - so regarding, “Be Still” … It’s your turn to contribute - what peaceful, (slower) Christmas songs would you like to see “make the cut” and get on the album?

Have a great day - I may be back over the weekend, but will be at soccer tomorrow AM and the UGA/FL game tomorrow afternoon!

For the Kingdom,
Fred

• Comments (4)

Hey Ya’ll,

Well, this blog is certainly about much more than just worship and music. As you may recall from a previous post, I had a 911 Emergency with Amazon.Com and my online business. I’m happy to say that was resolved, but now I have a new issue.

You see, I am an Amazon.Com Marketplace Seller - anybody can signup for this and start listing products to sell. For over a year, I’ve been trying to get approved as an Amazon.Com “ProMerchant” seller through their Business Solutions department. There are many advantages to this over the MarketPlace format. Advantages include:

1. ability to upload your company logo, which makes it stand out more in the listings
2. ability to customize your own shipping rates, as opposed to being restricted to the default, flat rate Amazon pays to Marketplace Sellers (which in many cases isn’t enough to cover actual shipping)
3. ability to sell internationally
4. ability to qualify as a “Featured Merchant” to be displayed on the top of the listings
5. and a few more …

The cost for this is the same as for Marketplace - most everything else is the same. To the end-user, the purchasing experience is identical - they can’t really tell who is a “Marketplace Seller” or a “ProMerchant Seller” except for the fact that a ProMerchant Selller may have a logo next to their listing.

You can have a ProMerchant account AND a Marketplace account - but you CANNOT sell the same items in both. Just so you can see what I’m talking about - I’ve got some separate (but similar) products listed at the links below - look and see the differences. FYI - my SellerID is “hppenterprises”.

13″ Aqua MacBook Case (listed as a ProMerchant - note HPP Enterprises logo, and “Just Launched” … no feedback score, which would go away after my first sell where someone leaves feedback).

15″ Aqua MacBook Case (listed in my MarketPlace account, the one I’ve had for a few years … no logo (no big deal really, I don’t think) and the “94% positive over the past 12 months (325 ratings.) 748 lifetime ratings.”

Here’s the dilemma. In order to convert, it’s like starting all over. You lose ALL of your feedback ratings, lifetime ratings, and “star ratings”. I’d go from a very high, positive 4-1/2 star (out of 5) rating with nearly 800 lifetime ratings to a “Just Launched - New Seller” rating.

It’s a tough decision. If my feedback score and previous ratings would migrate to the new “ProMerchant” portal, it would be a no-brainer. I’ve wanted to get accepted into this “more elite” level of sellers, but not that I’ve received approval, I’m having a tough time letting go of that feedback reputation and starting all over - it took me 2+ years to earn that much feedback. Of course, I can always start buiding a new feedback score.

If you’re e-business saavy, please let me know your thoughts … and if you’re not, please pray for God’s wisdom. I really appreciate it. It’s a critical time to make these decisions, just prior to the big Holiday Season.

God bless,
Fred

• Comments (6)