CG097II Lightweight Running Shoe Production Update

Posted on May 14, 2013 by admin

Ready for the last

Once again, I know it’s slow and while it has been hard to maintain the momentum from February almost 3 months after, this is the reality of small business. The good news though is that the shoes are on the last which means the outsoles are about to be attached. I still have to make tee shirts and get the boxes done since I will send out a tee with the purchase of each pair of shoes. Well, here the cliche is actually appropriate, a picture is worth a thousand words. Please be patient and keep checking back on the progress and the release of the Spring 2013 colorways.

Stay Motivated

Chris B.

May 15th Update: The 150 pair are now finished and will ship next Tuesday! Check out the pics below. Now the hard part comes: QA, making boxes, getting in tee shirts and beginning to sell these.

Dallas Blue/Cowboy Grey

Ready to be packed and shipped

Storm Grey/Power Pink

Shoes on the last

ready to ship

from the factory in China

Spring 2013 CG097II Production Update

Posted on May 2, 2013 by admin

CG097II uppers before the last

I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted. I haven’t had a lot to discuss since I only have two pair of CG097IIs in stock. They were both returns from previous orders. I also only sold a few pair of the Allen casual shoes, so I don’t have a large report to post. Overall it’s been a pretty slow spring as I build up to getting the new colorways of the CG097IIs in stock. The production is going well and my main job is to make sure that there aren’t any blemishes or damage to the shoes. My only means of doing this is to request photos of each step of the manufacturing process.

CG097II Women’s Upper

In other words, enough talk from me. Here are the first photos from China. The shoes are being assembled by the sewers and getting ready to be attached to the uppers. These are not the best pictures, but in them you can see the pink shoes actually have numbers written on them. What I am trying to prevent is the shoes being shipped with those marks. It takes a long time to clean the shoes and QA them which ultimately affects the price point if the shoes look damaged. I am looking to move the cost of the shoes up to a retail price of 59.99 with free shipping. The only way I can accomplish this is if the shoes are shipped in perfect condition. If not the price point will remain low.

CG097II Limited Release Suede & Mesh

I truly appreciate the interest being shown in the brand. It is difficult to remain relevant when there isn’t anything available for those looking for a specific style. I hope that you will check back often and visit the ARCH Online Store to check out current inventory of not only ARCH Branded Footwear, but other brands as well.

Stay Motivated

Chris B.

Grab a pair of The Allen Casual Shoe at Wholesale!

Posted on April 7, 2013 by admin

The Allen – Merlot by ARCH Casual

While you are waiting for a restock of the new colorways of the ARCH CG097II Lightweight Running shoe, take advantage of the closeout deals on Amazon.com and pick up a pair of the cool, casual Allens. The Allen features suede, denim and leather on certain models. They are great for the spring for all of the colors and styles expected during the season. The shoes are a great alternative to more expensive brands and still offer the premium materials. I partner my shoes up with Stance socks and I’ve even changed the look of the shoes by adding Cole Haan shoestrings. Pick up a pair by visiting the trusted source for online shopping Amazon.com.

ARCH Collection on Amazon.com

ARCH Spring 2013 Lineup: CG097II Lightweight Running Shoe

Posted on March 20, 2013 by admin

Special Edition CG097II Earth Tone

Unlike most shoe companies, ARCH can’t simply drop a full lineup during the fall and winter letting you know what will be releasing. When you are small, typically you move faster to the market. It doesn’t work like this for shoe companies. Everything that is done on my end requires a lot of thought and consideration. I went into this year thinking about shutting down ARCH. I gave myself the month of February to go through the inventory of shoes I made over the last year. (You can read about that in all of the reports on the site.)

If you did follow along you know that I did a price drop and ran an ad that enabled me to move through a lot of inventory. As of right now, as I’m writing this article, I only have 7 pair of the CG097II running shoe left in inventory. I only have 75 pair of the Allen casual shoe left in stock. This is a far cry from the 220 pair of CGs in stock and 160 pair of Allens from last year. The Allen casual shoe is still not selling very well even with the price drop, but it’s good that they are moving. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m out of the casual shoe business for a while until I develop a better looking shoe that will move in the same manner as the CGs.

I’ve finally made my decision to keep ARCH alive and I have just coordinated with my manufacturer the creation of 150 pair. My goal is to sell through those shoes in two months with the tactics and strategies I’ve developed over the past 8 months. I do plan on increasing the price of the shoe, but not by much. The price point will be MSRP 75.00 dollars but I will probably list them at 39.00 which would be the wholesale price point. This would also create a situation where the shoes are still at a price range that is enticing and I won’t hinder the flow that has been created. Obviously this month I won’t be writing a sales report for you to read so I am going to end this post pretty fast and give you the mock drawings of the colorways being created in this next order. You will notice a couple of the classics, and you will also notice that I am finally making a women’s version of the CG. I’m pretty excited about this.

Women’s CG097II will be made in Size 6-11

I truly appreciate the support you all have shown to the brand and I’m looking to do bigger and better things this year… with your help of course.

Stay Motivated

Chris B.

Classic Storm Black/White CG097II

Star Grey/Dallas Blue CG097II

Black Steel/Pitt Yellow CG097II

ARCH Sales Report February 2013: What’s the Final Verdict?

Posted on March 1, 2013 by admin

Time to work on the Spring line

Typically I write these posts in a very long and detailed manner. This time just the facts.

1. In January I had 200 pair of shoes remaining in inventory. I started questioning the company.

2. I gave myself an ultimatum on Feb 1st. Half of the inventory had to be sold before I would consider keeping ARCH Footwear in business

3. January, I sold 20 pair of ARCH Branded shoes for a total of 949.24 (18 running shoes/2 casual shoes)

4. February I ran an Amazon Ad and lowered the price of the shoes. 10 pair sold before I began to track the total, that left 170 pair.

5. Today is March 1st.

6. Total inventory remaining in stock: 100 (21 pair of running shoes/79 pair of casual shoes)

7. The initial inventory has been reduced to under 50%.

8. The Amazon System does not allow for me to account for returns and exchanges within the sales window. It automatically adjusts for shoes returned. The actual stats for sales this month ended up: $2,274.65 earned back on ARCH Footwear with 59 pair sold after returns. With the returns, I allowed the customers to keep the shoes and simply returned their purchase price for the shoes. I felt that it would cost the customer almost the same amount they paid and to show my loyalty I asked them to pay it forward and give the shoes to a friend who can wear and use them.

9. 7 Casual shoes sold and 52 running shoes

10. ARCH will launch a new running shoe in the Spring of 2013; along with running apparel (tees, shorts, socks, hats and backpacks).

To those of you who have purchased a pair of ARCH branded shoes, thank you. I’m inspired by your support and belief, and by what the company accomplished this month. I pay very close attention to the market and I research the trends and what is happening. I operate a very strong webstore and carry Puma, New Balance, Adidas and Nike/Jordan. This month ARCH outperformed New Balance, and Puma!

In my world that means a lot.

Stay Motivated and stay tuned… I’m refocused now and clear on my path.

ARCH January 2013 Monthly Update

Posted on February 1, 2013 by admin

The slogan means a lot more now.

I don’t really have any investors in the company anymore. Unlike most startups anyone who loaned me money got every penny back and some of them got more. In other words, ARCH has been a success from the standpoint that it recouped the initial amount of money it took to start the company and that is huge. Think about it, we were in a recession when ARCH entered the game. I say all of this to let everyone know who reads the site, if ARCH (meaning me) doesn’t move through half of the current inventory by February 28th, the company will sell through the last shoes, but I will not go into production on a new Spring line. It simply would not make sense to do so.

While this may sound like giving up, it is not. I have dedicated the last 4 years to building the company. I didn’t really learn how to do it right until last year in July which means that I should give it another 3 years right? Wrong. I can’t justify another infusion of cash on the hope that this time I might win. What I can do however is to set a clearance price point and attempt to blow the sneakers out and if over half the inventory is sold I can consider that marketing for another shoe release. February is the ultimate measuring stick. I had 200 pair of shoes in stock when I began to realize that I had to give myself a goal/ultimatum. That was at the beginning of January. It is now the beginning of February (tomorrow), just go with it.

Unlike last year where I broke down sales according to advertising cost, I am simply counting how many shoes sold this month. Thanks to my assistant Nicole for going through all of the Amazon sales figures and extracting this information. The columns aren’t lined up properly but you should be able to see what sold and the relationship.

Title – Page Views – Page Views Percentage – Units Ordered – Ordered Product Sales
ARCH Allen Premium Casual Shoe – (Haze Grey/Storm) - (9) – 19 0.16% - 1 - $33.96
ARCH CG097II Run (USA Blue/Haze Grey-Red-White) Limited Edition (8) – 33 – 0.29% – 2 – $66.93
ARCH CG097II (Court Blue/Crawford Red-Wht) Limited Edition (9) – 0 – 0.00% – 1 – $58.47
ARCH CG097II (Court Blue/Crawford Red-Wht) Limited Edition (11) – 0 – 0.00% – 1 – $38.96
ARCH CG097II (Court Blue/Crawford Red-Wht) Limited Edition (8) – 0 – 0.00% – 1 – $63.96
ARCH Casual Shoe: The Allen Olive Suede & Denim (10) – 0 – 0.00% - 1 – $64.95
ARCH CG097II Storm Running Shoe (Black/White/Grey) (13) – 66 – 0.57% – 1 – $38.96
ARCH CG097II Storm Running Shoe (Black/White/Grey) (11) – 63 – 0.55% – 1 – $38.96
ARCH CG097II Lightweight Running Shoe (Grey/White) (10) – 62 – 0.54% – 1 – $38.96
ARCH CG097II Lightweight Running Shoe (Grey/White) (13) – 41 – 0.36% – 1 – $38.96
ARCH CG097II Storm Running Shoe (Black/White/Grey) (9) – 87 – 0.75% – 2 – $92.94
ARCH CG097II Lightweight Running Shoe (Red/Grey/White) Winter (11) – 13 – 0.11% – 2 – $107.92
ARCH CG097II Lightweight Running Shoe (Grey/White) (9) – 60 – 0.52% – 2 – $98.43
ARCH CG097II Storm Running Shoe (Black/White/Grey) (12) – 139 – 1.21% – 3 – $166.88

Okay these numbers might be a little confusing, but here is a simple breakdown: I sold 2 Casual shoes and 18 Running shoes for a total of 949.24. January was not bad at all considering I began the month without running any ads to direct traffic to the shoes. I also was selling the shoes at a higher price. Why did I drop the price? Well, I realized that Chinese New Year meant that I would either have to make another order while I still had 200 pair in inventory or since the New Year basically means that China takes off a month, I could sell the inventory and make a new order at the end of February or at the beginning of March for a late March/April release date for a new shoe.

The numbers are promising and just in the last 3 days I sold 10 pair. If the pace continues I could possibly move through the inventory. While it may not seem that I am being optimistic, I really feel good about the numbers. I’d like to know what you think.

Stay Motivated

Chris B.

ARCH Exclusive: Buy One, Get One Free-Thank You Sale

Posted on January 25, 2013 by admin

Get it? Red, Black & Green… just go with it.

While the other companies are attempting to capitalize on the upcoming Black History Month by creating a multitude of shoes in loud and heritage based colorways, I’m simply trying to continue the momentum ARCH has made over the last few months. If you’ve followed the blog, then you know that we have done okay for the little engine that could. To show my appreciation, I’m attempting to do something that is big for ARCH. Since I’m Black, every month is Black history month (I know that’s kind of corny, but it’s true). I want everyone to have a chance to share in our companies growth and history.

From today through February 28th I am selling the ARCH CG097II at the original price of 60.00. Now, I’ve sold the shoes at 30,35, and most recently 50.00 with Free shipping. As a price breakdown, it costs me 15% to Amazon when I sell the shoe, shipping costs about 12.00 for expedited shipping. It costs me 30.00 dollars to make the shoe and since I included a free tee shirt or Rumbatime watch, I haven’t made any money. I am not saying this to gain sympathy. I’m giving you the hardcore, honest facts. The increase to 60.00 still has FREE shipping, but over the next month, when you purchase the shoes on Amazon you can pick a pair of ARCH Casual shoes and they will be FREE! This is a 100.00 value, which I think is still a great deal and still creates the best price point on the market for minimalist footwear.

I hope that you will join in my celebration of Black History Month, by moving forward and supporting small business. It just so happens that it’s an African-American small business

Stay Motivated

Chris B.

OKAY BIG EDIT!

Instead of a Buy One Get One Free Thank you sale with Free shipping, I’m going to do the serious blowout thing. I’m going to drop the price of all ARCH Footwear to 25.00 plus shipping. Okay, back to your regular scheduled program… Hey, I can do these kinds of things right?

SHOP NOW!

Final Monthly Performance, Marketing and Advertising Post for 2012

Posted on December 31, 2012 by admin

John and Tony, wearing ARCHs in Michigan, on the job. (Don’t ask about why it’s the backshot, I didn’t take it)

I feel ridiculously out of touch right now. The Holiday season is almost over. Everyone I know and everything I see is discussing turning over a new leaf for the New Year. I’m simply trying to put together a better understanding of this past year. I haven’t really laid out any major goals for 2013 other than continuing to sell the inventory of the shoes I made this year. I have another two months to do this since Chinese New Year starts at the end of January and lasts until the end of February. What does this mean for ARCH? If I don’t manufacture the new colorways of the CG next week, there won’t be another sneaker coming out until March/April. I don’t know if the company will sustain until then and proceed off of the very good feedback and reach established during this holiday season. I have major decisions to make and none of them have to do with our US New Year…

On to the discussion for the end of December. My employee Nicole did an incredible breakdown of sales for ARCH. She has enabled me to recognize growth patterns, but more importantly we have an actual count for each individual shoe sold and the money we have earned back on the company. Notice I didn’t say profit? At this point in the company, I am still losing money. I am still giving out a tee shirt with each pair of running shoes sold (well not anymore since the tees are all gone), and I am dropping watches in the casual shoe boxes (and the now the running shoe boxes). In other words, the gifts of appreciation counter any profit made. Not to mention that I ran a reduced price of 35.00 on every pair of the shoes in the ARCH lineup. My philosophy in doing this was to provide a pricepoint that would interest people in trying a new brand. It worked, but as I said, I lost money on every purchase. I continued using Amazon Ads for the brand. I did not start a Google campaign or a Facebook campaign as I planned to do for December. This makes explaining this past month a lot easier.

Two campaigns: ARCH Casual and ARCH Running from varying dates

ARCH Casual featuring The Allen casual shoe in 7 colors. Date: 10-15-2012 to 10-31-2012 I think it’s important to show October for those who don’t feel like looking back at the old reports. The Casual shoes finally showed an increase in returns and were consistent in sales. Write me with any questions.

October
Number of ads: 35
Impressions: 63,802
Clicks: 139
CTR: .22%
Total Spend: $3.53
Average CPC: .03 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 0
Product Sales: 0.00
Conversion Rate: .0%

November

Number of ads: 35
Impressions: 218044
Clicks: 538
CTR: .24%
Total Spend: $18.92
Average CPC: .03 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 3
Product Sales: $105.00
Conversion Rate: .44%

December 12-01-2012 to 12-31-2012

Number of ads: 35
Impressions: 233907
Clicks: 487
CTR: .23%
Total Spend: $18.38
Average CPC: .04 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 3
Product Sales: $124.97
Conversion Rate: .52%

ARCH Running featuring the CG097II running shoe in 4 colors Date: November 11-03-2012 to 11-30-2012

Number of ads: 38
Impressions: 708,791
Clicks: 1432
CTR: .20%
Total Spend: $55.59
Average CPC: .04 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 14
Product Sales: 245.00
Conversion Rate: .70%

December 12-01-2012 to 12-31-2012

Number of ads: 38
Impressions:801858 – This number is a bit misleading because I originally factored in the previous months incorrectly. This total is the difference from the end of November, but does not deduct October. I’m confused… Kanye Shoulder Shrug
Clicks: 1466
CTR: .19%
Total Spend: $51.36
Average CPC: .04 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 14
Product Sales: 640.00
Conversion Rate: .83% – This is incredible!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, these numbers may not be as accurate as I’d like because instead of separating the monthly totals from Day 1, I’m doing so two months after the initial campaign. Hey we all make mistakes. I should put the screen shot up, but instead of putting up another screen shot, I will share with you the overall picture from sales this month. If you are a person starting a company this should inspire you. I’m trying to think of the best way to present without too much clutter… Okay here is the monthly breakdown of sales, remember this starts in August:

August: $1322.01 – 23 pair sold

September: $669.37 – 12 pair sold

October: 825.77 – 18 pair sold

November: $1194.50 – 24 pair sold

December: $1931.86 – 41 pair sold

Total: $5943.51 – 118 pair sold

This is more important though… I started to track states this month and here is a list of the states that ARCH made it to in December: Michigan, North Carolina, California, Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida, Texas, New York, Nebraska, Kentucky, Washington, North Dakota, Tennessee, and the big drum roll………. International locations: Venezuela and not so international, Puerto Rico!!!

As exciting as all of this is especially with the support being shown by the people purchasing the shoes, the question still remains will the company keep selling in 2013. Honestly I can’t say, but I know this the last six months of 2013 have proven to me that I can take a little known brand and actually extend the reach of the company with very little press coverage and no assistance, it’s a huge accomplishment. I truly appreciate the people who have supported the brand. I hope my craziness and passion has enabled you to pursue a dream of your own. Here’s to a great 2012 (raises glass of juice, hey I don’t really drink you know?)

Stay Motivated

Chris B.

WWYWT? Spouse 5 week Challenge: Exercise and Health

Posted on December 5, 2012 by admin

Okay it’s been a minute since I posted on the site, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been running and working out. I just haven’t been posting. I’ve dropped about 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks. Which is great! The reason? The Spouse 5 Week Challenge. My wife recommended that we challenge each other on a daily basis. Well, not daily, but 5 days per week we have to do some sort of workout. The cool thing about this is that we don’t have to work out at the same time, but we do have to workout in the next 24 hours from when we last worked out. That’s confusing. Example time: let’s say she hits the treadmill for 25 minutes at 10am. I have all day to meet the challenge of working out for 25 minutes. I’ve been alternating weights, Yoga on the Kinect Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 and Boot Camp along with running on the Kinect Your Shape. She has been going swimming and hitting the treadmill. This is a great way to get your fitness plan in order.

Today I hit the outside running path. Here is the breakdown:

Distance: 2.15 miles

Time: 27:39 I know not the fastest pace in the world, but man it was chilly and there was a wind, and the dog ate my homework (Kanye Shoulder Shrug)

Avg Speed: 4.5mph, Elevation: Up 62ft and Down 68ft Calories: 306

Music: The Roots Undun (Clean) a great thematic album that creates a slow paced run. Dope, contemplative lyrics and thoughtful storytelling, it’s like listening to a movie.

I hope you guys out there are doing something to stay motivated. Oh I forgot, shoes I wore today? ARCH CG097II (Black Steel/Pitt Yellow-Wht) Limited Edition (13)

Monthly Update on Amazon Ads and Overall Sales

Posted on December 1, 2012 by admin

It’s been an extremely busy month. As everyone knows November includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The month initially started off really rough for ARCH shoe sales. But as the month came to a close things really picked up. It was pretty exciting to say the least. So first things first, I will get into the Sales that were generated by Amazon Ads. Then I will give the total sales based on all ARCH brand shoes that sold during this month. I am generating this list by looking at the Sales e-mails sent by Amazon.

Two campaigns: ARCH Casual and ARCH Running from varying dates

ARCH Casual featuring The Allen casual shoe in 7 colors. Date: 10-15-2012 to 10-31-2012 I added the month of November to these sales. Those metrics are below and include the hits from the previous half a month. I didn’t feel like breaking down the clicks and impressions so do that math on your own, lol.
Number of ads: 35
Impressions: 63,802
Clicks: 139
CTR: .22%
Total Spend: $3.53
Average CPC: .03 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 0
Product Sales: 0.00
Conversion Rate: .0%

November … Okay I changed my mind and did the subtraction

Number of ads: 35
Impressions: 218044
Clicks: 538
CTR: .24%
Total Spend: $18.92
Average CPC: .03 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 3
Product Sales: $105.00
Conversion Rate: .44%

ARCH Running featuring the CG097II running shoe in 4 colors Date: 11-03-2012 to 11-30-2012
Number of ads: 38
Impressions: 708,791
Clicks: 1432
CTR: .20%
Total Spend: $51.36
Average CPC: .04 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 10
Product Sales: 245.00
Conversion Rate: .70%

As always a very interesting thing continues to occur with these numbers. My total spend increased from last month, but I also sold more shoes combined. Once again, I dropped the price per pair down to 35.00 which literally means that I am losing money by selling the shoe especially since I am including a free watch with the casual shoe and a free tee with the running shoe. However, I have to build a fan base of people who trust me and the product and in order to do this, I have to provide customer service on par with the biggest and best companies in the world. Sometimes when you lose, you actually win.

Think about this, ARCH is still an unknown entity. I am not being featured on the big shoe blogs or the lifestyle blogs. I don’t have Google Ads running and I don’t have a big time sponsor telling people to trust the brand. This is a very grassroots movement and the people who are taking a chance on the shoes have never tried on the shoes and have never seen the shoes beyond a picture on the website. If those people who are buying trust me, I have to give them a reason to return. The question is how long does it take for me to build up their trust? Do I have to continue doing this for always? I don’t think so, as the demand increases I will be able to provide the same customer service, with an increase in price, for better designs. I still am committed to only making shoes that will have a maximum price tag of 60.00 dollars and there is my marketing angle. My goal in the new year is to shift manufacturing and increase the number of shoes ordered to decrease the cost per pair. Which will enable me to continue to package the shoes with Free items.

I am also very aware of the need to conquer my local market. In my Key Points I explain that a business has to conquer it’s region. My willingness to overlook the local market is based on the fact that I have no desire to drive and deliver shoes and sell out of my trunk. I did this for years by selling at Flea markets and barber shops. In January I will open my first storefront for ARCH. While I am not looking forward to the overhead, it is necessary to actually conquer my local market and build my base here in Memphis. I will continue to use Amazon as my primary distribution network. I am going to use Square as my P.O.S. in the store. I am excited about the growth as small as it seems, it’s really a huge accomplishment!

As I stated earlier the 13 pair sold through Amazon Ads was topped off with an additional 7 sales that were not generated by the Ads. 20 pair in one month!!!! And an additional 1 pair on Small Business Saturday at K’PreSha Boutique in Downtown Memphis. I missed two sales there because I could not process credit cards. I won’t miss those again. This has been an incredible month overall. I hope that you are taking the time to pursue your dreams and that you are seeing progress in your ventures.

Stay Motivated!

Chris B. P.S. Go visit the shop and buy a pair

ARCH Cyber Monday Sale: Run Light, Get Casual, Support Small Business at a great price!

Posted on November 25, 2012 by admin

CG097II Storm Lightweight Running Winter

: The Allen Suede & Denim Black

ARCH Sneaker Store on Amazon is getting ready for Cyber Monday by dropping prices! Grab a pair of The Allen casual shoes, or a pair of the CG097II Lightweight running shoes, or buy both for the low price of 35.00 on Cyber Monday! Get a Free ARCH Stay Motivated Logo Tee with the running shoes, or a Rumbatime Perry watch with your purchase while supplies last.

The Allen comes in 7 different colorways and are great for men looking for a cool, comfortable casual shoe. This is a great time to grab a few colorways for your wardrobe.

The CG097II comes in 7 different colorways and at 6.8 ounces is one of the lightest running shoes on the market. Featuring a segmented outsole with rubber components in high wear areas, this lightweight model is perfect for treadmill running and workouts as well as short 1 to 3 mile daily runs. The Red/Grey Storm Winter version is lined with mesh for Winter running and is limited to 20 pair!

Visit the store now and get a jump on Cyber Monday!!!!

ARCH Featured on Fashinvest.com

Posted on November 16, 2012 by admin

I love it when someone takes the time to write about the brand considering the amount of difficulty involved in gaining exposure for small companies. A big shout out and thank you to Fashinvest.com for introducing ARCH to their audience. Here is the link to the article for you to share with friends. Thank You 1,000 times for sharing my vision!

Chris B.

ARCH Article on Fashinvest.com

ARCH CG097II Lightweight Running Sales and Other Info

Posted on November 13, 2012 by admin

On November 29th at 5:30pm I will be speaking at the University of Memphis Fogelman School of Business in Dr. Fabian’s entrepreneur’s course. In preparation for that I am of course sitting and creating information that will be used in the conversation to analyze the growth of the company and how I am actually doing with sales. For the past few months I have been updating anyone willing to listen about the growing pains involved with selling a new shoe and building a brand. Today my talented employee Nicole took the time to breakdown the actual cost per item for the CG097II this far. This is important because the upcoming Storm release will not be like the other releases in that I will not fluctuate in price. I will set the price, with free shipping, and watch what happens. Okay so here is the information:

Original order 120 pair of shoes

11 pair given away in promotional deals

7 pair damaged

102 pair total to sell

All shoes have been sold through Amazon.com

Shoes sold: 53 pair (okay the chart is below downloaded from Amazon

This is actually very good news as opposed to my monthly updates which were based on marketing totals and ads. I forgot that I actually sold shoes without the assistance of Amazon Ads. If you have any questions about this, don’t hesitate to ask below in the comment section. Stay Motivated

Chris B.

B008RLKAYU	ARCH CG097II Run (USA Blue/Haze Grey-Red-White) Limited Edition (9)	0	0.00%	0%	1	$48.96	1
B008SBSSDY	ARCH CG097II (Court Blue/Crawford Red-Wht) Limited Edition (12)	0	0.00%	0%	1	$34.49	1
B008SBSSI4	ARCH CG097II (Court Blue/Crawford Red-Wht) Limited Edition (11)	0	0.00%	0%	1	$43.96	1
B008SCC10E	ARCH CG097II (Black Steel/Pitt Yellow-Wht) Limited Edition (11)	0	0.00%	0%	1	$43.96	1
B008SCC10O	ARCH CG097II (Black Steel/Pitt Yellow-Wht) Limited Edition (9)	0	0.00%	0%	1	$38.96	1
B008SCC118	ARCH CG097II (Black Steel/Pitt Yellow-Wht) Limited Edition (8)	0	0.00%	0%	1	$43.96	1
B008SCC13G	ARCH CG097II (Black Steel/Pitt Yellow-Wht) Limited Edition (10)	0	0.00%	0%	1	$43.96	1
B008RAPPKK	ARCH CG097II Run (Barbados Blue/Yellow-Black-White) Lightweight Running	10,863	1.08%	98%	9	$511.81	8	$56.87
B008RLKAYA	ARCH CG097II Run (USA Blue/Haze Grey-Red-White) Lightweight Running	8,825	0.87%	98%	9	$537.44	8	$59.72
B008SBSSF2	ARCH CG097II (Court Blue/Crawford Red-Wht) Lightweight Running	9,587	0.95%	100%	9	$485.15	9	$53.91
B008SCC16I	ARCH CG097II (Black Steel/Pitt Yellow-Wht) Samples-Lightweight Running	14,839	1.47%	99%	19	$814.63	19	$42.88
					53	2647.28

CG097II Storm Collection: Lightweight running shoe (Blk/wht-gry)

Posted on November 8, 2012 by admin

Black Storm CG097II

The CG097II Storm Collection will launch on November 23rd, 2012. I’ve made subtle changes to the shoe since the summer release. Instead of using the Lightweight vented insole, I used a more cushioned insole at an increase in weight. The original CGII weighed in at 6 ounces which made it one of the lightest natural/free/minimal running shoes on the market. The shoe still is one of the lightest, but the size 9 weighs in at 6.8 ounces now (Note the picture below). I also reduced the height of the shoe to make it more streamlined. This lower cut allows the addition of slots in the tongue to provide a better lockdown. Before there was slight movement in the heel. If a person is new to running or uses a heel to toe strike, it would be noticeable. Overall I am pretty satisfied with the shoe and wanted to share these pics with you before the launch. You will also note that the logos are finally pointing in the correct direction on each side of the shoe (Big yippeee moment). Finally the white rubber contact points on the outsole are now grey on each colorway. I think this gives the shoe more character, but more important it diminishes that light brown color from the glue between the rubber and foam. Let me know what you think and check out the pics.

Weight 6.8 ounces

Black Storm medial

Black Storm Heel

Getting ready: Lightweight running, men’s fashion, shoes in general

Posted on November 7, 2012 by admin

The new arrivals and stacks lining the hallways

As always I am ready to update you guys on what’s happening so I’m starting with another picture. The pic above is of the recent shipment of the Storm Collection CG097II Lightweight running shoes. The shoes are about an ounce heavier since I increased the weight of the mesh used, specifically in the Red and Gray. The shoes look great and I officially can reduce the cost of the summer release since those are really considered samples. (While I’m the only one that knows this, I will expose it to you, the logo on the summer release, the left side of each shoe, the logo is backwards. On this model the logos are in the correct position and the shoe is actually better manufactured which allows me to feel comfortable with my 60.00 dollar price point upon release.

In other news, the website The Fancy has listed my brand as ready to buy through their site. This is huge and has given me another outlet for the casual shoes beyond Amazon.com. Take a few minutes to go in and check it out. Just visit the Fancy and browse, http://www.thefancy.com/things/209415222681673185/The-Allen-Sneaker-in-Rust-Suede-%26-Denim

That’s it for now. As always I hope you are working on your dreams and if not just support my brand.

Chris B.

Stay Motivated

P.S. grab a pair of kicks by visiting the link at the top or to the side and shop the collections. Everything has FREE Shipping right now and everything will ship with a FREE gift while supplies last. Big shout out to my employee Nicole, she is the one who has to make all of the boxes and put paper in the shoes and QA them now. I’m working on building the brand, lol.

More Marketing and Sales Information on Running and Casual Shoes

Posted on November 1, 2012 by admin

October Marketing Screenshot

For those of you who are following these, I hope you are getting a better understanding of the work involved in attempting this shoe business. I guess it’s not an attempt, I’m doing it… just not very well. Here is the marketing breakdown for October. Please note the start dates for the ARCH Casual: The Allen Suede & Denim Collection vs the continuing ads for the CG097II Lightweight Running shoe that was released in August. If you are not familiar with these monthly reports, then scroll down to look at the recent articles and then read this one. I will update you on this aspect of the articles: I have decided to use Amazon Ads primarily, but I am not allowing the ads to run seamlessly from month to month. In order to see an accurate breakdown of how effective Amazon Ads are, I am ending or pausing, the campaigns at the end of each month to write these articles. I am also including a discussion on Facebook Ads in this report to show you how Facebook works, or isn’t working, in this instance. First however is the October breakdown of overall sales.

Two campaigns: ARCH Casual and ARCH Running from varying dates

ARCH Casual featuring The Allen casual shoe in 7 colors. Date: 10-15-2012 to 10-31-2012
Number of ads: 35
Impressions: 63,802
Clicks: 139
CTR: .22%
Total Spend: $3.53
Average CPC: .03 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 0
Product Sales: 0.00
Conversion Rate: .0%

ARCH Running featuring the CG097II running shoe in 4 colors Date: 10-03-2012 to 10-31-2012
Number of ads: 24
Impressions: 554,399
Clicks: 1031
CTR: .19%
Total Spend: $33.70
Average CPC: .03 cents
Orders placed through the ads: 10
Product Sales: 285.00
Conversion Rate: .97%

Summary: Casual shoes are not as strong as athletic shoes. In a company as small as mine, for it to succeed I have to literally only make the shoes that sell. I can not be as diverse in my design choice. The terrible performance of the Suede & Denim and the casual shoe overall is still tied to a lack of media coverage and the lack of a popular person wearing the shoe, I can not risk the company’s growth on making these shoes again. This is further reinforced by the fact that the Running shoe has sold at both a mid price point 40-70 about the same as it has at the lowend 25-30.00 price point (October price drop). So what do I do with this information? I am thinking that I continue to clear out inventory by price reduction on the Casual shoes and the summer colorways of the running shoes, while still using Amazon Ads. I maybe able to revisit casual footwear in the future, but as of right now the Allen will definitely be the last casual styled shoe I will create. My focus will shift completely to natural styled, lightweight, running and performance footwear. Which funny enough is where I started with the company initially.

Additional Information: Facebook Ads

Facebook continues to be the biggest and most popular social networking site. However, my infatuation with Facebook is diminishing after my last ad campaign. Small business people do not have the ability to dump thousands into marketing and the way Facebook works now, it simply has not helped me. Starting to realize that Facebook is no longer the interaction tool it once was for small business because of the way their algorithms work. Posts no longer show up in the feeds which limits interactions with the people who like your page. I ran a Facebook ad and got 90 likes with 100 dollars. As soon as the ad ended my reach dropped 97.16 percent. My “people reached” during the ad at the highest was 160 per post. My reach per post after the ad is around 20 people reached per post. I’m thinking that any ad created for Facebook should not be pointed towards fan pages or personal pages, but towards the actual websites where a person can see your biz and make the decision to like the page.

The most telling thing I can do in regard to Facebook is to post a picture that captures how poorly my page has performed since running my campaign.

The Average CPC was .84 cents. The ad ran from 9/22/2012 to 10/22/2012. I went from 4 likes to 94 likes during this time for an average price of $1.11. The problem with this is that as soon as the ad finished my interaction and reach for buying likes for 1.11 cents has accomplished an interaction rate with only a few of those who liked the page. While this is good and I continue to use Facebook, these are very bad numbers. I am sticking with Facebook as my form of social media because I am familiar with it and it is easy. Social media CAN BECOME A JOB! I’ve chosen my platform for now. I’m still motivated and waiting on the Storm Collection to arrive, but if you don’t know, now you know.

Stay Motivated Fam

Chris B.

Here is the Facebook pic note the location where the mouse is and the numbers since the ad ended on the right.

My Facebook Ad Campaign (click to expand)

Winter Running? CG097II Storm Collection

Posted on October 29, 2012 by admin

The Summer release is currently marked down to move before the Fall/Winter lightweight running CG097II Storm Collection is released in November. I’ve changed the mesh to a slightly heavier mesh than on the summer shoe and created a more monotone look. I also made the rubber on the outsole grey to give the shoe a better contrast and to offset the problem I had before with the white showing glue.

If you didn’t pick up a pair of the IIs, now is a great time. The CGIIs are perfect for 1-3 mile runs, as a training shoe replacement for your more expensive models and it is perfect in the gym on the treadmill. I might post a video of me running in them just to show what it looks like for a big guy to run in the shoes. The shoe is not loaded with a bunch of hard to pronounce technology, that actually harms more than it helps new runners. Simple is better. The shoe is a lightweight foam and rubber outsole meant to allow your foot to move in it’s natural position which leads to less stress.

Okay enough of the sales pitch. Here are some pics from the factory. I will of course have more pics once the shoes arrive and are QA checked and packed. In the meantime hit the ARCH Online Shop and grab a pair of the CGIIs Inspiration pack at over half off; and yes I’m still throwing a tee shirt in while supplies last.

Chris B.

ARCH CEO

Storm Grey/White CG097II

Storm Black/White-Grey CG097II

Storm Red/Storm Grey-White CG097II

ARCH Footwear 7 Days/ 70 Pair Promo

Posted on October 27, 2012 by admin

I guess creating a promo for selling 70 pair of shoes in 7 days seems kind of small in the grand scheme of things, but that’s what I’m doing. Building a brand is difficult primarily because getting press coverage is non-existent unless you know “people”… and I don’t know people, but I do know my product is nice enough to try. So here is the pitch, I’m reducing the price of the shoes from the SRP to over half off. My goal in doing this is to give visitors to the site an incentive to go ahead and try both the casual shoes and athletic shoes. To sweeten the deal I am also offering a free gift with each order (while supplies last). Now this doesn’t mean that the gift will be perfect, but you will definitely enjoy it.

So this is how it works:

1. Look to your right and click the link to shop the ARCH Online Store.

2. In those sections you will see an ad from Amazon.com, click on the link and you can choose a size.

3. Once you place your order, it will be shipped by UPS or USPS and get to you in 2 to 6 days.

4. I will include either a ARCH woven label logo tee, or a Rumbatime Perry Watch with your order.

It’s that simple. You support a new brand, get a nice pair of shoes and a complimentary gift and it won’t cost you more than a trip to the movies, or a cheap date with a girl who likes you enough to go on a cheap date.

Thanks and share this with a friend, or buy a friend a pair with your order. Nothing like getting discounted NEW shoes for men, with a free gift right?