Hello, friend.
I've been working on this lil cloth diaper blog for a couple months now and "officially" launched it a little over a week ago. Now, here I am making a
total overhaul of this site--new name, new focus, new purpose.
When I first started planning to switch my cloth diaper posts from
my personal blog to their own site, "Squishy Tush" was
the obvious name. It's what I've called the profiles I've done of my friends who cloth diaper, and it just fit. I proceeded with design and updating photos and content.
I also felt like
something was missing.
I believe in God and feel Him calling me to
courageous things, even in (
especially in) the little stuff. I knew my new little blog project wasn't an exception, but I just wasn't sure what that meant in practice. Sure, maybe give away a portion of potential income from said project. But was that enough? What else? And could I work that into the brand?
While I prayed and wrestled with that, I got my site up and realized I had been a little... well, there's just no better word... stupid. I didn't do much "market research"
before launching my blog. I didn't want to get distracted with what everyone else was doing and lose focus of what
I needed to do.
And, in that simple choice to be blind, I completely missed something obvious: There is already a cloth diaper related site called
Squishy Tushy.
Notice the resemblance?
A little confusing some might say. Others might even go as far as to call it "
trademark infringement."
Big gulp.
I couldn't believe it. All this work, all this designing when I'm not a designer and SEOing when I'm not an... SEOer. It felt wasted. Door not just shut, but
slammed in my face. A door that was there all along if I had simply been smart enough to research it--or at least do a quick Google search.
This is where the wrestling came
full circle.
Finally, the prayers for direction were answered--a path was made out of this shut door. This wasn't just a frustrating roadblock--it was an opportunity to
pursue something bigger. An opportunity to scratch my own big ideas, and instead be courageous.
This is where Prefolds Love was born. In the brief hours that I went from blog launching, to scratching it all, to
salvaging it in a new name and with a new purpose.
The new name:
Prefolds Love.
It's a phrase I first heard in a cloth diapering board referring to people who use prefold cloth diapers and love them. And, well, that's me. We briefly tried Flip covers and stay dry inserts, then switched to prefolds and covers full-time when our son was born, and we love them. I also love helping other beginners get past the "
yuck!" of cloth diapers to
find the "love!"
The new purpose:
Loving.
No, not just cloth diapers.
What truly excites me is that I don't know all the details of this part, I just know the possibilities are there. I'm starting with
giving part of our proceeds away--at least 30%. (We still have quite a bit of student loan debt to pay off, otherwise I'd say 50% or 75% or, heck, give it all away!)
We have potential to earn money on the hard work in all the posts, pictures and resources provided here through things like affiliate links and sponsor ads. And we've decided to give a portion of that away to help fulfill our mission in
loving others--feeding the homeless, caring for orphans or otherwise loving God's children.
(We'll find a way to share the progress with you. To let you know how much you've helped give away, and who it's helping.)
It's also an opportunity to help my fellow consumers--moms, dads, cloth diaper buyers, disposable diaper-buyers--
pause to love. And finding the joy to do so in the little things--like buying cloth diaper products through someone's affiliate link that won't just help a momma pay down some debt for her family, but help an even needier momma feed her kids or help care for a kid who has no momma.
Whenever it is that you've found yourself here on PrefoldsLove.com, I hope you'll stick around. I hope you'll return. I hope you'll
share the love by tweeting, pinning, or even using affiliate links for your cloth/baby purchases.
More than anything, I hope you'll find
something here that will
inspire you to love.
That's a long story to
explain the sudden changes, and the confused design and miss-watermarked photos as I continue on the transition. This part will be done as soon as possible, and we'll get on with the fun stuff--new posts, and giving updates!
In the meantime,
welcome. Feel free to peruse. And I'll see you back here next week.
