Name of your website?Make Your Own Baby Stuff
Your name?
Delilah Hatch
Your Location (city, etc)
Abington, South of Boston, MA
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Make-your-own-baby-stuff.com is essentially a money saving resource for parents and family. But it is also a creative resource. You can use the ideas within the website to make really unique baby gifts as well. There are ideas, tips, and instructions for making personalized baby clothes, DIY nursery decorating, homemade baby food, baby toys, and soon to come are baby crafts and DIY baby shower crafts.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I am very into DIY and arts and crafts to begin with. I also have a 13 month old daughter who inspires me every single day. She is what gave me the idea to make a baby related website. I am constantly making her handmade clothes and toys and just about anything I can think of. We tend to live quite frugally as well, so I am always finding ways to save a buck or two when it comes to our baby gear.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
My first website was launched in November or December of 2006. Like I said, I am very arts and crafts oriented. So, of course my first website is incorporated into that. The website is http://www.do-it-yourself-invitations.com. It is a card making website centered around making handmade invitations. There are ideas, tips, and step-by-step instructions to create invitations to birthdays, wedding, baby showers, and even instructions to make handmade baby announcements.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Well I don't really try to come up with clever little titles for my websites. They are very straight forward. The site was about making baby stuff - so that is what I called it. There's no guessing about what you will find on my site.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
I'm not sure how many other sites like mine are out there. I never really checked. I basically put out there whatever I think would be helpful to people. I really do want to help new parents and others to not only save money on their baby stuff, but to let out their creative side.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My goal? To have fun with it. If I make a few dollars here and there that's great! It will buy more materials to make more baby stuff for my little girl. In turn, creating more pages for my visitors to soak up.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
I feel like I am successful. My first website makes enough money that I am able to stay home with my daughter every day. That is how I measure my success. I will never miss a single one of her milestones. I feel blessed every single day because of that.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I wouldn't. I'd still be doing the same thing.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes. I believe I could.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Nothing unexpected yet.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Believing in myself. I constantly have to keep myself from getting in the way of my own success.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Writing articles.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I tend to go into things not expecting much, and end up being pleasantly surprised. I figured it would be months before I had any interest in my site, but I am already seeing a steady increase in traffic.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
This site was launched on January 3rd of this year. I will keep on going with it as long as there are still people visiting it.
What is your website address?
Make Your Own Baby Stuff
