COVID-19

CEO Daily Update – 5.27.2020

May 27, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Sleepless in…Atlanta – Blame it on the Rain | Nitrile Glove update | Today’s COVID Update

Happily Dapily Wednesday! Woah, we’re half way there … Woah, livin’ on a prayer

Would you believe me if I told you I never went to bed last night? Of course you would. There should be a good reason, and I gotta blame it on something … so I’ll blame it on the rain. When I saw that this was titled “(Official Video)” I had to chuckle. For those that don’t know, this was a lip-sync scandal the likes of which music had never (to my knowledge) ever seen. The funny thing is I still like to listen to this song.

I indeed did not go to bed last night. I was working on sourcing Nitrile gloves like a maniac. I know how to source in China like the back of my hand (I often “beat” Chinese sourcing agents, finding things cheaper or faster than they can – muahahahaha.) But, for Nitrile gloves that is not the motherland. The motherland is Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and a couple other places – before you get to China. It’s not that you can’t find them in China, it’s just that it’s not where the best prices are, or availability for that matter. Sourcing in new countries is a whole new skill. Fortunately I am a fairly quick learner, but sometimes at the expense of sleep.

On a positive note, I have some PO’s placed and will have some gloves on the way before you know it! Also, of major note, since I have found the big daddy factories, I have the ability to source any quantity needed. These factories don’t even want to talk to you if you’re not ordering 1, 2, or 5 MILLION gloves. So, for those of you that need 1, 2, or 5 million gloves I am here for ya!

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CEO Daily Update – 5.26.2020

May 26, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Brussel Sprout Recipe | Crohn’s Disease | KN95 Masks Price Drop | Personal Sized Sanitizer

Well well well … Monday Again! Wait, no … Tuesday.

You know we will all be a day off a day the whole week! I hope everyone had a great long weekend though! We got a last minute invite along with a few other couples to a friend’s house to have dinner and hang out around the pool. It was very much needed to have a little social interaction!

A Brussel Sprout Recipe…
They were grilling hamburgers and hotdogs and due to my dietary restrictions (see below), I made my own meal and took it with me. While doing so I accidentally created something I am going to tell you about below. Didn’t you know this was also a cooking show? So, one of the things I can eat right now is brussel sprouts. I like them fine boiled, but I have a funky way of making cabbage that is delicious and make brussel sprouts the same way. Basically, I cut the ends off, and then slice them into about 4-5 pieces. When you do, and stir them, they break apart making ribbons of sorts. So what I do is use some olive oil, put them in the pan, add salt and pepper, and cook them (stirring often) for a little while to sort of get the oil in there. Then, I add some water and stir and cook, tasting until they are as tender as I want them. OH … I forgot it today but I also add just a touch of apple cider vinegar. It’s good, you should try it.

… Accidentally Turned into Cole Slaw
But today, I didn’t feel like slicing till my fingers fell off, so I wondered if I could use the Vitamix to do it faster. I am fairly new to cooking and don’t know what I am doing. I put a handful of the them in there but apparently it was on the DESTROY setting. It made what looked like cole slaw. Hmmm …… I added salt and pepper, a little avocado oil (I would just as quickly use olive oil), and then a little vegan mayo. (I am not vegan, but I have an egg allergy). It was GOOD. I took it to our friend’s house and let several people try it. They all loved it. I shall now work on tweaking this recipe! I feel so fancy!

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CEO Daily Update – 5.22.2020

May 22, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Origins of Memorial Day, New Product: Amazon Echo Silver, Covid-19 Update

Happy Friday! (and Happy Memorial Day Weekend!)

Remember how I talked yesterday about lunacy? Well, our revenue was up 65% over the previous day which was already up over 100% over normal levels. The advertising/marketing is working! It was another crazy day for the shipping crew, but they got it done.

I don’t think I have ever been so glad to see a weekend, especially a long one, in my life. I am flat out running on fumes to the point (and I am not joking) that when I walk I sometimes think I am going to trip over my own feet and fall down. My wife told me that my job this weekend is to sleep. Not only is she right, but how sweet! She must love me …. Or she doesn’t want to have to clean me up if I die in a fall on her floor. Either way, I get to sleep like I’m in a coma and I can’t wait. A few weekends ago I slept 16 straight hours. I wonder if I can beat that record!

I know my staff is wore out too, especially the folks in our warehouse / fulfillment center. I’ve been up there helping them some and I can see the tiredness in some of their faces. More the warehouse manager than anyone – he’s running in 20 directions keeping the show on the road. I am so grateful to the entire team for every part of their contribution to what we have been doing. Our sales and customer service people, web developers and product folks, and even my wife, who have jumped at my every request, many times at 12, 1, 2, 3AM to get things ready to go live for these emails. e-comm/marketing, purchasing, accounting, and Gary who is our Administrative Officer making sure that as fast as I break all the rules we clean up my messes. I’d like to thank the Academy ….. (and my parakeet).

As we head into this holiday weekend you might be wondering, what exactly is Memorial Day? We all probably or hopefully know generally what it is about, but I thought I would do a little research and share the highlights since we are headed into the holiday weekend.

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CEO Daily Update – 5.21.2020

May 21, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Today’s COVID Updates, Marketing Excitement, and Charlie the Unicorn

It’s Thursday … I think.

Let me tell you a little something about marketing …. it’s awesome! Why did it take me 19 years and a pandemic to figure this out? Not that we didn’t do some form of marketing before (mostly SEO and Google Adwords) but what we have jumped into the past several weeks is a whole different world.

First of all, I acknowledge that the health and safety products are in high demand, and unlike some retailers we actually have stock, and … this is a product that applies to a wide audience of both consumer and business customers, so the things we are doing have an amplified effect. But, holy cow. We’ve really stumbled onto something.

We’ve been doing radio ads here in Atlanta for a couple weeks now and that has worked pretty well; so much so that we are about to expand to other stations in other cities. But we also partnered with a company that helps you get your message out to the e-mail lists of other companies that have lots of e-mail subscribers. One of those companies is an “AARP like” company that has a gigantic e-mail list. It’s all opt in and such – their subscribers look for and want these “offers” that come to their inbox. Their list is roughly 800,000 subscribers. We started yesterday with a subsection of the list – about 65,000 of them.

I was at the warehouse QA’ing orders (quality assurance – verifying count and accuracy) for EIGHT hours from 3pm till 11pm. We called people back in to work at 8pm. It was lunacy. We all left good and exhausted.

Even more lunacy? Another email blast is going out tomorrow morning to 170,000 people! We’d better GIRD OUR LOINS (long version) cause tomorrow is going to be rough (I hope!)

I’ll admit that we really don’t know what we are doing when it comes to consumer marketing. (Why would we?). The truth of the matter is that this whole health and safety supplies journey is teaching us a lot … about a lot. I am serious when I say this … if you have any suggestions or referrals to anything or anyone that you think might be helpful to us for marketing, let me know. Since we have a nearly unlimited supply of most of the health and safety items we are selling, we are really trying to strike while the iron is hot. Why wouldn’t we, right?

On the product development front I got more webcam samples in today and tested them. I was hoping to have a “good, better, best” offering fairly quickly but I have got to be honest – most of the samples I have been receiving have been crap! The one I got today literally made me look 10 years older. I am not even joking. Is that a selling feature?? Maybe for underage kids trying to look older online or something …. Hmm maybe it has a market after all! Kidding! I am going to keep at it and get some products launched soon! I am working with a dozen factories to find what I like best. I will not give up!

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CEO Daily Update – 5.20.2020

May 20, 2020 by Craig Haynie

2020 IT budgets being slashed |Thermometers and Alcohol Wipes In stock!

Happy Wednesday!

Gartner Predicts IT Spending Will Plummet By $300 Billion In 2020 As CIOs Slash Budgets. To a large degree this makes a lot of sense to me. The country has been shut down for weeks and weeks, lets just say 3-4 months by the time people are back in the swing of things – maybe. So, If you lose 1/3 of your year it stands to reason that you’d spend less on IT this year. But while logical, that doesn’t mean it’s music to the ears of everyone in the IT supply chain. If product A isn’t getting bought, the components that make up product A aren’t getting bought, and the labor to make them isn’t needed, and so on and so on. I’ve basically just described how an economy works. The wheels on the bus go round and round. Anyway, only time will really tell. I know there are plenty of people ready to GET SOMETHING DONE so if they can advance their projects they will. But, both companies and individuals alike pull back on discretionary spending when things are uncertain or revenue is down. That’s why consumer spending is one of the biggest predictors of economic growth – as they spend, the businesses have to invest to keep up with the demand, and the wheels on the bus go round and round. What do you think?

Today was a big day. After a heck of a lot of waiting, and money spent, we finally got a shipment of 800 thermometers in today. I used UPS CRITICAL to ship this one in, and even though it is about the most expensive shipping you can buy, it still took 6 or 7 days to get here. Customs leaving China plus the capacity on planes is just overrun. But, they showed up and this morning we will start getting orders out. Finally. I still have others on order that should be here shortly.

Here is a video of it!

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CEO Daily Email – 5.19.2020

May 19, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Enjoy the Small Things, 10oz Pump Top Gel Hand Sanitizer, Alcohol Wipes, Cheaper KN95’s, and more!

Happy Tuesday!

The sounds of the birds chirping. The smell of coffee roasting. The endless possibilities that lie ahead of you today. Take a moment to enjoy the day for all the small things!

We have been working like maniacs over here at CK to get and keep the things you need and are asking for in stock. It’s easy to wear slap out so this advice is for me more than anyone!

It rained here Sunday night/Monday morning (and I left my shoes by the pool Sunday night. I NEVER do that, but I did and they were soaked yesterday morning. But I had another pair and I just stopped to be thankful for the rain. Praise God almighty for the many blessings – especially the small ones like wet shoes that come from a relaxing rain, or the sound of a bird chirping, or the pleasures of a cup (or 20) of coffee. Life is short. Enjoy it the best you can!

Here is today’s version of the email update. I keep rearranging it trying to see what I like best. Unless and until I put images in the email sometimes it is hard to describe and get quick attention to the things I would like you to see. If you have any preferences or suggestions please share them with me.

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