SantaMails, Storesonline, and Schemes of Becoming Pedro Penduko

August 7, 2008

Startups fascinate me because they evolve around - and are built on - just about anything from luxury items to the dumbest ideas that shouldn’t have made the people who thought of them filthy rich but did. Take SantaMail, for example.

Byron Reese got a postal address at North Pole, Alaska, made believe he is Santa, and charged parents $10 for every letter he sent to their wide-eyed, Santa-crazed kids. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Only, Reese has sent over 200,000 letters since 2001, and that makes him not just one prolific Santa but a couple of hohos and million dollars richer as well.

How does one go about creating a startup these days? I did my research, and found out you could do the way of the ninja and rough it on your own or you could hire professionals to build your store online. One such site, Storesonline Website Builder, offers help to would-be entrepreneurs and small business owners at a price. Unlike most web host providers, they’ve expanded their services to include features like statistical monitoring, e-commerce administration, and product and customer management. What this translates to is easy and convenient shopping experience for online customers. Oh, and they give you regular backups and technical support, too. What a stark contrast to the host I’m currently using for my dotcom! Each time I ask my webhost for help, I receive an email that goes, “We are sorry to say assistance of that nature is not free at this point. Add $____ and…”

What’s a girl to do but clench her teeth and go learn how to use html the trial and error way? If I ever decide to pull a Byron Reese, pretend to be Pedro Penduko and write kids letters, too, you can bet your week’s salary I now know which webhosting to shun and which one to sign up for!

Gone Jelly Bean-Mad

Do you like jelly beans? I do. Jelly beans are the closest I could come to candy sans the cavity. What’s more, they’re the most entertaining nibble this side of the equator. They bounce ever so slightly upon first bite, and they come in such bright colors - popping greens, brilliant blues, feisty reds - I feel like I’m eating rainbows each time I pop one into my mouth. And because I’m pregnant, and only too eager to go whoopity-whoop over a snack, I toyed with the idea of buying jelly beans online. I found this site called ohnuts.com which sells jelly beans in bulk, and by bulk I mean a hulking, not-the-kind-you’d-want-to-be-seen-lugging-around bulk. Think 50 pounds of jelly beans going for $4 a pound, with a 20% discount on top. Thankfully, I came to my senses just before I placed the order. What on earth would I do with 50 pounds of jelly beans? Eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next 10 years?

Still, these look lovely, and they look like they want me to eat them.

On a not entirely unrelated segue, it turns out people have gone gung-ho over jelly beans for years. Ronald Reagen was said to have kept a jar of Jelly Belly jelly beans on his desk. Then, there was William Schrafft who, during the American Civil War, sent jelly beans to the Union Army. This craving and this jelly bean-mad blimp is in good company, I tell you!