Michelle Staley made revisons to her Busy Breathers backpack, which allows those who need oxygen to carry containers easily.
Fort Morgan’s Michelle Staley is watching her Web business grow, while getting a hand from other mothers and offering a hand at the same time.
She received her first shipment of her Busy Breathers oxygen backpacks in December 2008, but has learned more about marketing in the past 1-1/2 years, she said.
She’s added about 30 new products to her Web site, which allows her to appeal to a greater range of customer interests, and that is making for better business, Staley said.
It is not easy to market only one item at a time, but by having multiple products she is getting more attention, she said.
Like other Web marketers, she has also learned the value of drop shipping, which means having manufacturers and distributors send orders directly to customers, instead of having an inventory of products around to sell herself, Staley said.
That means she does not have to buy 2,000 backpacks or other items to keep around her home office. It helps with her cash flow and amounts to a smarter business practice, she said.
Staley got into the Web business after her son Ty was born prematurely. He had to have oxygen for a time, and it was cumbersome to carry around an oxygen tank and also try to balance a diaper bag and other items.
She came up with the idea of using a backpack to hold everything she needed, leaving her hands more free.
Staley then designed a special oxygen-carrying backpack which was specifically made for mothers to tuck away everything they would carry in their purses, such as wallets, and baby materials, with a special mount to hold the oxygen cylinder in place.
It’s been well received by the health community, but it was hard going getting the word out, even through the Internet, Staley said.
That led to increasing the numbers of products she has, and adding one product another mother inventor came up with, she said.
The WubbaNub is a pacifier which stays in place with premature infants, allowing mothers more freedom of movement.
This other mother also had a premature infant, and struggled to keep the child’s pacifier in place, because the baby was too small to hold it in place. She sewed a stuffed animal to a pacifier and the child was able to hold it better, and it would stay in place by itself, Staley said.
She named it the WubbaDub and is marketing it to other mothers who have similar situations, Staley said.
Recently, Staley was interviewed on an Internet radio station by Kim Lavine, author of “Mommy Millionaire”, and Lavine is also featuring her Busy Breather oxygen backpack on her Web site.
It was exciting to be on the show, Staley said, because Lavine’s book had inspired Staley to go into business, and the exposure could help business.
This is just one aspect of a high-tech emphasis, as Staley reaches out to people over Web pages and Twitter, as well as another Web radio show called “Mom Blog.”
In fact, she’s sold some of the backpacks from contacts made on Twitter, she said.
Lavine told her that she has great potential with so many millions of people on oxygen as the population ages, and that makes for a big customer base.
While the backpack was made for mothers, it is just as useful for adults who need to carry oxygen, Staley said.
Staley’s backpack manufacturer was so sold on the product that he has offered to sell them himself, giving her a royalty for each sold, while she still sells them herself, she said. He had never made that kind of deal before.
With feedback from customers and the manufacturer, Staley is coming up with a revised backpack which is streamlined and more affordable. It will still have a special pocket to hold things that go in a purse and some other storage space, but it is less bulky and is made to work even with liquid oxygen systems, with a mesh window for looking at the flow meter instead of a plastic window.
It’s handle grip is also more substantial, Staley said.
Although the original backpack is still a good way to carry oxygen and other baby needs, this will be even better, with a lower price, she said.
Staley has also added other kinds of fanny pack-style, camera-style and cylinder bags for oxygen.
She said she is also excited to be able to offer pulse oximeters on the Web site, which allow people to measure their own or their child’s blood-oxygen level just by clipping it on a finger.
Staley is also offering wrenches for working with flow meters and a special nebulizer mask for kids.
This mask has a design like a dragon, which makes it more fun for kids who have to spend time on nebulizer treatments, Staley said.
Staley started her business in a hard time for sellers, as the recession began to really kick in, but she has sold backpacks to some of the largest oxygen companies and has her foot in the door of one of the large medical supply companies, she said.
She has heard from people who have told her that her invention has made a world of difference in their lives, she said.
“I’m still plugging away,” Staley said.
Sometimes she donates them to kids who are in special need.
Recently, she gave away some backpacks to a set of twins that were born early at 27 weeks at Denver’s Swedish Hospital, Staley said.
She couldn’t resist the donation, because Ty — now 5 years old — was born at 27 weeks, she said.
By DAN BARKER Fort Morgan Times Staff Writer
Article courtesy of Fort Morgan Times
