Tweeter.

I have no idea how Twitter works. Neither does Tim. 

He calls “Tweeter”. (Unintentionally.)

But, he met a guy who told him that social media 

has now outranked “word of mouth” for the best way to grow business. 

And so, Apple Wellness has officially joined the world of “tweets”. 

Our first tweets went out yesterday, and we already have 26 followers. 

This sounds impressive, but it may not be. I don't know. 

The only thing I knew about Twitter, before this week, 

was that it had a very well designed logo. 

And great name recognition. 

The word "tweet" has pretty much been redefined.

Everyone has at least heard of Twitter and tweeting, 

even if they don’t use it themselves. Twitter is genius.

I love any business that has great design and great marketing.  

Apple Wellness is pretty good to go with the design part 

(if I do say so myself), 

and I'm pretty sure that Tim thinks that

Twitter is going to change our lives

(or at least our marketing strategies).

 

And so, "New Goals for Apple Wellness": 

Take over the United States with Twitter and creative marketing. 

Make Apple Wellness a household name. 

 Create a verb of our very own. 

Start a store in Hawaii. 

Move to Hawaii. 

Retire young.

The Deal Is On…

 Friends, we woke up this morning to this:

Yes, that is my business that is featured in Groupon

in my inbox.

 The deal is on! Come check us out!

(I feel like a celebrity.)

http://www.groupon.com/deals/apple-wellness?utm_campaign=apple-wellness&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&c=btn&addx=RB.OBRIEN7@GMAIL.COM

Four.

I'm happy to be here, at the end of four months, 

ready to jump into the beginning of five.

Five is going to bring exciting things like…

Groupon marketing…

Radio advertising…

Gym partnerships…

a new website,
new newsletters,

and a really awesome

"day after Thanksgiving"
(which also happens to be Apple's five month birthday,
which also happens to be my twenty-fourth birthday)
sale. 


Whew.

Farewell, four! 
Hello five!

Dear Blog World,

I'm sick. 

I have been snuggling on the futon in the back room 

of our store for the past two days.  

I attempted work twice, and was sent home twice.  

So here I sit. 

I am trying to stifle my coughing, 

because being sick is bad for business. 

And I don't want to scare any customers off 

with my sneezing/coughing/moaning. 

Being sick usually makes me antsy, 

because I definitely feel like I should be using 

any "free time" I get to accomplish 

something grand.

But today has been a good sick day.

The following is a compilation of the

grand things

I accomplished today - despite feeling miserable.

I designed our newest marketing material for Apple Wellness:

I took a long nap.

I caught up on my blog reading.

I had a really good idea. 

I talked to my mom.

I felt very proud when three customers

brought in their Columbus Day coupons.

I taste tested several types of granola and two flavors of iced tea...

I took my vitamins.

I hid from customers.

I let Timmy pamper and sing

"Happy 27 Months" to me… 

(we've been together 27 months now!)

I finished Rynn's wedding programs.

(finally)

 (here's the front)

And I got to spend the whole day with my lovey.

It's been a good sick day.

 Timmy says he couldn't have started Apple Wellness without me. 

And it is probably true.

But sometimes I feel like Apple Wellness is 

a little more his business

and a little less mine.

I mean, I've never been passionate about supplements before.

(Although my mom tried her hardest.)

And there was the instance yesterday, where I dramatically exclaimed,

"I hate vitamins!"

But I didn't really mean it. 

I just hate those big vitamins that are hard to swallow. 

(Don't you?)

Tim is the personality and face of Apple Wellness

and he kinda knows everything there is to know about supplements.

  But he consults me on every decision.

 Because we're business partners. 

And I'm the computer fixer, website designer, and promotion organizer.

The picture hanger, the kid corner setter upper,

and the interior designer.

 I know a lot about natural foods and healthy eating.

And I've always said that any business 

is only as good as it's graphic designer.

If I had a business card, it would say

"Becki O'Brien, Graphic Designer and Marketing Director

and Owner."

I'm one of the two owners of Apple Wellness.

One of the two people who made our little store possible.

That makes me feel pretty important.

Timmy says he most definitely, without question,

never-ever could have started Apple Wellness without me.

And it is certainly true.

Happy Three Months, Apple Wellness!

Thanks to this box that arrived in the mail today:

Apple Wellness has new business cards.

Listing our new website - currently in the process of becoming amazing. (We also have a website that Yellowbook created for us for free. Click here and check out the super cheesy video. It cracks me up and the whole website definitely needs some tweaking!) 

 

Listing our blog - have you checked it out yet? 

 

And these new business cards also double as referral cards. (That was Timmy's brilliant idea.)

Apple Wellness has brand new promotional materials, too, like this little card (pictured above). This one is targeted toward gym members, and has a pretty amazing coupon included on the back.

Apple Wellness is keeping me busy, that's for sure.

And I love it. 

an announcement.

 Apple Nutrition is changing its name. There. I said it.

(You should know that I am picturing you, dear reader, falling off your chair from shock right now. Maybe Timmy's drama is rubbing off on me...)

I could try to explain, but you wouldn't really be interested in the complex logistics of it all anyway. I mean, it's one of those long stories that nobody cares about except the people in them.

So our Apple Nutrition is becoming Apple Wellness.
Cute, huh?

I like it better. I love it. It's the business name I had been searching for my entire life. And I'm excited to switch out 'nutrition' for 'wellness'. We'll be keeping our cute apple logo and apple-y branding, so here's hoping it won't be too confusing for our customers.

Ok, I know it will be confusing. But nothing a quick explanation and a nice smile can't take care, right? Tim has a great smile.

I had always considered myself an expert namer. (Let's remember the genius name of Pinklepurr** for my cat.) But this entire experience has shaken my confidence in naming our future children. I don't think it would be quite as easy to change a baby name one month after it is born.

The moral of this story? Names are a big deal. Name things very carefully...

**Have I ever mentioned that the first time Timmy met my cat (before we were dating) and I told him that her name was Pinklepurr, Tim's exact words were: "Pinklepurr? If I were that cat I would KILL MYSELF!" This was after he had been chasing her around my apartment, trying to catch her in a butterfly net.

Check out our brand new Apple Welless blog! We'll be posting healthy recipes, nutritional facts, product reviews, and more! 

 

I took a web design class in college. My instructor was an interesting fellow who called himself "Jimi J" and had the most boring voice in existence. My friend and I spent most of our web design class doing other class' homework. I definitely passed the course, but I carried away zero knowledge. I did enough to get my A, and I was a happy girl. I kept my textbook... just in case... SOMEDAY I might want to create a website...

Well, someday happened sooner than I expected, silly me. I have spent a lot of time regretting my lack of attention in Web Design 101.

Apple Nutrition needs a website. Really. We've had so many people ask us if we have a website. It's always a little painful to have to answer, "Nooo...".

But I'm working on it. Still, it will for sure be a while before it's up and running.

In the meantime, I had an epiphany last night. Meet my epiphany:

www.applenutrition.blogspot.com

Apple Nutrition has a "blog"! But I think it looks more like a website. Like the tabbed sections? It's a quick fix and will certainly do the job for now. We should start showing up on Google searches, and we finally have a website to direct our customers to! It took me about two hours to put together, and it's free. Hmm... who needs a website?!

It's a Grand Opening

Apple Nutrition is officially open!

In one week, we somehow managed to transform
that (picture on the left) into this (picture on the right).

Stocking shelves, entering barcodes into the computer, pricing products,
putting up posters and signs, cleaning, decorating, organizing...
we were busy little bees!

Family and friends joined to help, partnering with us as we stayed up past midnight every single night. Arriving early every morning to start again, all sleepy eyed and groggy.
Pulling 19 hour days.

In the end, as we sat in an emotional mess on the floor late last night, Caleb (Rynn's fiance) drove 2 hours to come to the rescue! He and Rynn hugged us close and sent us home at mignight. Those two lovelies stayed up until 3:30AM, finishing everything we didn't have the energy to tackle! We are so blessed with amazing family! Amazing moms, sweet sisters, fabulous daddys... without their help, we would still be knee deep in boxes.

The store looks amazing. (Doesn't it?!) I had an idea in my mind of what I wanted it to look and feel like, and it's exactly perfect. I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of our products have gorgeously designed packaging, pretty labels, and brightly colored lids. Everything looks so lovely sitting on the shelves. I feel like a little butterfly, surrounded by happiness. (And I'm one proud little graphic designer... Oh, doesn't everything just look soooo pretty?!)

Our store feels happy and bright. 

God is so good, and He is just as excited as we are!

Come visit us! Pretty please!
We're pretty much giddy with excitement. 

6313 McKee Road, Fitchburg
(across from the Super Center Target on PD)

Store Hours

Saturday, 10-6

Monday - Friday, 10-7

Sunday, Closed

This week, my days look like this:

6:00AM .:: Wake up. Get ready for work. Eat breakfast.

7:00AM .:: Work on various Apple Nutrition projects.

7:30AM .:: Leave for work.

8:00AM-1:00PM :: Work at my "real" job.

1:00PM-2:00PM .:: Take a nap during my lunch break.
2:00PM-4:30PM .:: Finish out the afternoon at my "real" job.
4:30PM-5:00PM .:: Go straight to Apple Nutrition.
5:00PM-12:00AM .:: Work at Apple Nutrition.
12:30AM .:: Go home. Go to sleep.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Too much work. Not enough sleep. And when I don't get my sleep, I become one droopy, sick, and somewhat pouty girl. I'm not sure how I'm still alive. And I definitely do not have the time, energy, or cheer to formulate an entertaining blog post.

I am just a little overwhelmed.

Lucky for Timmy and I, we have a host of family members
and friends who have been tirelessly helping us in our
frantic scramble to get everything finished in time.

Coming Soon:
New York City!
Apple Nutrition Updates!
New Designs!

(Timmy and I on a tour bus in NYC)

pure beauty shelf talkers.

Apple Nutrition is going to have a magical beauty section.

And Timmy negotiated with the vendors, to pretty much
get me a lifetime supply of free makeup.
Which is good.
Because after I researched all the icky ingredients
found in typical beauty products...
I've been suspiciously staring at all my 
old makeup. Parabens, huh? ...

 Lately, this is what we do.

Smooch, jump, and work
at

Apple Nutrition.

(We open in two weeks!)

Dear Pinklepurr,

I am very sorry that I just now realized Pet Vitamins existed. Please forgive me if your kitty eyesight suffers because of my negligence in giving you daily dosings of Vitamin D.

love, Becki

Did you know Pet Vitamins existed? I mean like, actual brands of pet vitamins?

I did not, until Timmy informed me that Apple Nutrition will be carrying a line of pet vitamins.

 
I scoffed at the idea of feeding vitamins to pets (How do you feed vitamins to pets?), until I realized what Vitamin D can do for pet's eyes. Then I was a believer, and I knew some pet vitamin shelf talkers were in serious order.

And they make me laugh. Apple Critters. Get it? It sounds like Apple Fritters. (Umm... don't ask me why that is funny, since nobody (hopefully!) eats pets, and there is no real reason to connect pets and pastries. But... it's funny!)

you may have heard of our neighbor...?

Apple Nutrition is now a brand.
And we're selling our very own line of Whey Isolate protein powder. Available in vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, banana, mixed berry, and peanut butter flavors.

Check out the cool packaging. *smile*
(Try to envision it wrapped around a bottle of protein...)

front of label

back of label

my business owner

I really love being a part of Timmy's dreams.