FlyingPeas Adds Featured Customers as well as Featured Products

The following post contains excerpts of an interview I did with Terra Malcom Carmichael regarding her store, FlyingPeas.com. Terra’s store sells “hip” and high-quality baby products, but more than the funny t-shirts or funny bibs (or even the great custom design), what caught my eye and the subject of this post, is her page that features friends and customers—Yummy Mommies. I contacted Terra and asked her some questions about how Yummy Mommies fits in with her store.

Tell me about FlyingPeas? When and why did you start the business?

I love babies and all the fun products that come with them. I’ve done my share of buying baby gifts (as well as for my own little men), and while shopping, I’ve often found that most of the cool products weren’t very high quality, and the high quality products were boring (baby blue, green or pink). On the rare occasion that I found a product that met my “hip and high quality standards,” I was ecstatic. So I started FlyingPeas in an attempt to make it easier for people to find products that fall at the intersection of “hip” and “high quality.”

Where did you get the idea for Yummy Mommies?

Many first time moms have no clue what to get. We don’t know WHAT to get, HOW MANY to get or WHEN to get baby products when we are pregnant for the first time. And even once we are seasoned moms, we sometimes just want to hear what products others like or have had success with. So, I created Yummy Mommies as a place for people to choose and display their favorite products for all the world to see (and buy!).

Also, the fashion industry has realized that women don’t want to wear “moomoos” just because they are pregnant. So, along with this realization, we have more options – and options that help us wear our bellies with pride. I mean, who would have ever guessed 10 years ago that we’d pay $200 for a pair of jeans we’d fit into for 4 months?! Not me. But it’s happening all over – and it’s because we want to look good… particularly when we have a big ol’ belly and people are going to be looking more often! So… my friends and customers are yummy, especially because they are mommies or mommies-to-be.

The Yummy Mommies section at FlyingPeas.com

What has the response been like so far? Tell me how this helps drive traffic and sales for your site?

I can tell you that it’s the number one viewed page on my site but I don’t know how many sales come from this page…. It’s more of a fun page to give my site more personality.

How are you promoting this idea in your store or offline?

I send out a newsletter each month featuring a yummy mommy of the month as well as other new products and specials. I’m to the point now where people are submitting their friends – and even wives – to be yummy mommies.

How are the products chosen that are displayed? Are these the chosen person’s favorites or things they have bought in the past?

These products can be things they’ve purchased in the past, experienced in the past or even just things they like.

Any chance of a Yummy Daddies category coming soon?

Yummy Daddies doesn’t roll off the tongue as well, but I absolutely think there’s something there! Be on the lookout for this very soon!

My thanks to Terra for sharing those insights with other Yahoo! merchants. So the question to ask yourself is “Would this work for my business?” Pet store owners could have featured pooches. A garden product store could post photos of the “garden of the week/month”. Your customers get a chance to show off their passions or interests. You get to build a sense of community and encourage others to pass along your address as a destination. And all of that traffic can hopefully lead to more inbound links to boost your search rankings or hopefully boost your revenue with new customers or repeat sales.

Paul Boisvert
Yahoo! Small Business