New Logo: at it again (please vote!)

Hi All,

Well I'm still trying to get the right logo. You know the drill. Which do you prefer?

The poll is open for a month but I'm hoping to make the decision by the end of the week so please vote now!

Which logo do you prefer?

Feedback on my website please

Hi all,

Now that my site has been up for a while and people have had a chance to use it a bit...do you have any suggestions on presentation of information, navigation, layout, pretty much anything? I'm considering doing V4 of the website and I'd love your feedback before I get started.

First question, should the landing page be the page below that allows you to select the store or the blog? I know most blogs link from inside the main site, but the blog content is pretty integral to what I'm doing and I want to make sure people see it.

Second: I'm also hoping to integrate a more sophisticated shopping cart, but one that can be embedded into my existing site and not a complete (template) replacement for my site. Ideally I'd like it to work just like PayPal where I can insert buttons where ever I want; again, not using a template. I'm not aware of anything like this so please let me know!

Third: On the other hand, my navigation is a little crazy...maybe I would be better served by a traditional shopping cart layout? My main problem is making the information now contained in "step 1" and "step 2" easily accessible to someone who is purchasing.

Help me with an instruction sheet!

Hi folks, so one thing I've been messing around with is an instruction sheet. One of those dozen little things that takes some cents out of my pocket but I think it will be both helpful and a nice touch. I'm having it printed, double sided, on post card stock. Please take a look and let me know what you think. Clarity, content, typos, whatever. I'd like to get some printed up sooner than later so please take a sec and comment!

The Alpha "Shorty"

Hi all,

I've had some special requests for a more compact Alpha...and this is the only "finished" light that exists. It uses a smaller battery, but otherwise it's identical. These will not be offered for general sale because they require a special battery and charger that I don't (at this time) have for sale. This light will run on a RCR123 or 18350 sized battery but it must be an IMR chemistry cell to handle the massive current draw. Run time is...not very much. It's a real pocket rocket though.

Smaller size...same punch

These are special order items only, so please email if you are interested. It looks cute but it can be dangerous if used with the incorrect batteries...so I consider this an "advanced" flashlight. For example, if you don't know what RCR123, 18350, and IMR chemistry means...probably not for you.

This one-off light gets a fancy fluorosilicone o-ring

Fluorosilicone is about 10x the cost of a normal Nitrile o-ring and is the material specified by the US military for use on jet aircraft fuel lines...and stuff like that. Part of what makes them expensive is that they have an "indefinite" shelf life. Nitrile o-rings expire after 10 years. I told you these are made to last right? Do you think I should start using the blue o-rings on all of my lights? Comment below!

New Name/Logo: I Need Your Vote! (only six days to vote)

Okay folks, this little project is in a time of transition. As you know, I just did a big overhaul on the website. You might not know that I'm on the edge of a big "all or nothing" marketing push. I'm going to be sending lights out to some big national magazines and top tier blogs. It's pretty hard to do that since I'm going to be flushing a bunch of lights down the toilet, but hopefully one or two will generate some badly needed big press. Yes, it's psychologically difficult to send out a bunch of my (very few) lights to someone who might just throw it in a drawer and never look at it again...but I know I need to suck it up and do it.

It's kind of like dating...hey, call me back...okay? 

Anyway, the last piece I need to put in place (immediately) is becoming a "real" company and incorporating a business. This also means I need a grown up name and a new logo. I was hoping to have you, dear public, pick my new name; but time is not on my side. So I bit the bullet and I'm going with "Prometheus Lights." I hope it doesn't suck...too late now anyway. In case you don't know, Prometheus is the Greek titan that stole the secret of fire from the gods and gave it to man. Of course he was severely punished for this but let's just ignore that part of the story for the moment. In Greek, the name also means "forethought" which seems appropriate in light of Wired Magazine's latest article on the future of LED lighting.

I was also hoping to have you, dear public, help me pick from a variety of logos I've been working on; but that pesky time thing is still a problem. I need to have all this sorted...say, in the next week. So, I spent a few days beating myself up about my lack of community engagement in the business design process, but here we are.

Click this image to see a full size version

What I need your help with now, is the final refinement! I've provided 4 versions for your viewing pleasure. Which one do you like the best?

Which combination of logo and text do you like the best?

Tentative warranty policy...your thoughts?

I think it's about time to establish a more formal warranty policy for my lights and I'd like your feedback before I post it to the store. Many people participated in my first warranty thread and I've incorporated some of your feedback, some things I've learned while building the lights, and other manufacturer's policies. I want to make it as simple as possible, plain English, no fine print. Here goes:

The content is after the jump...

A walk in the dark...

Hi folks,

Adam and I shot a short video while we were camping in Utah. The underbrush was incredibly heavy which created two problems. One, it's hard to walk around. Two, there isn't much "landscape" for the light to shine on at close range.  I walk away from the camera about 200 feet and then turn around and walk back. The most interesting thing is how BRIGHT the light is for the observer holding the camera. If I was smart I would have done the same walk while I was holding the camera and cut the two segments together. Turns out I'm not that smart.



The real purpose for this video is a segue into this question: "What kinds of videos would you like to see?" You ask for it and I'll make it. You'll get a gold star for unique and interesting ideas. More obvious ones might include a "video instruction manual," more beam shots, shop tour, assembly process, torture testing...live, etc. Let the suggestions begin!

Cheryl's question answered!...with a question

cheryl said...

"One of my concerns is dependabiity, warranty and repair. Seeing that this is your first attempt at custom flashlight building, what assurances would we have that these light will perform as advertised? Being a one-man operation, I can foresee the possibility of you being overwhelmed if things don't go as planned. 

After reading your resume and accomplishments, I am quite impressed and have great confidence in your abilities. However, this endeavor of yours is monsterous and I would want a guarantee of the light's performance before I purchased."

So, I wrote a big long blabedy blah blog post in response. I deleted it. Let's try something different. What do YOU (as a customer) want the guarantee/warranty to be? That means anyone reading this by the way. Also, try and put yourself in my shoes: what do you think is sensible/reasonable to offer from a business standpoint?

Personally, I'd like my guarantee/warranty policy to be: "no reasonable request denied" I stole that line from Mark Dwight at Rickshaw Bagworks. I like it because it implies the company and the customer are in it together...not that the company is there to "serve" the customer.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about this one and it's a hard answer. It's also the kind of issue where consumers and businesses often find themselves at odds. One of the reasons I'm writing this blog and speaking in the first person is that I represent myself...and I'm trying to manage expectations. You are right, this is a one man operation and I hope my customers will relate to me as an individual and not like a faceless corporation. I'm also a little old fashioned in the keep your word, do your best, deal on a handshake kind of way. I want to attract like minded customers.

A couple more thoughts after the jump but PLEASE WEIGH IN ON THIS ONE !!! :)

New hotness: opinions?

Hi folks, I've been playing around with different surface finishes and I came up with the light pictured below. The body is bead blasted, grooves cut afterwards, and the head and tailcap are high polished. I really like it! So what do you, dear readers, think about this style?

Unfortunately this requires about the most hand finishing as humanly possible. There are ways to make batch processing easier, like vibratory tumbling, but I'll need 3-4 tumblers to the tune of about $750 bucks each. Not exactly the cheap route. I'll have to give this some serious thought. I might also have to start out making lights that have less finishing involved until I can justify the capital expenditure.

And an extra hour of hand finishing?...Check!

It also seems like it might be a bad idea to show all of the things I've been trying in case one is the clear favorite and I'm not in a position to immediately deliver it. (See above) After all, this kind of stuff usually takes place in some back room and the consumer never gets to see what is going on. Partly I hope this behind the scenes look will be interesting, but I also hope people will get excited about the process.

The appearance of production batches will be varied and represent a constant evolution. I don't expect there will be a "final design" until the distant future. Being limited production, I'll be producing small batches of different designs. Some may be "one time only" and others might get repeated. This will be driven by both customer response and whatever I'm excited about at the moment.

Ask a question, get an answer!

FREE LIGHT GIVEAWAY

Hi folks, I created a sticky on the left side of the page as a place for people to ask questions. Pretty simple really but don't hesitate to fire away. Then I won't have to sit here and wonder what to write for my next post.

Over here.

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Okay, this is a previous post that I'm bumping to the top...and may continue to do so. But I'm sweetening the pot...with a contest! I was listening to this Freakonomics podcast and it gave me an idea. Call it a lottery if you want, cause that's what it is. Here is how this works.

1. Post a question in the "questions" section.
2. If it's a good enough question I'll turn it into a stand-alone blog post.
3. Once I get ten questions that turn into blog posts, I'll randomly choose one of those questions (and its author) out of a hat and they will get a free flashlight + charger + battery. I haven't set pricing yet but you can expect the retail price to be north of $200 bucks. 
4. This offer will be open for 30 days and will close on March 1, 2011.
5. If I don't get 10 post-ables in 30 days, then...I'll re-think this whole thing. 

HELP: Getting connected to Facebook?!

NEED SOME ADVICE! 

Don't get ahead of yourself. YES I already have a Facebook page.  My question is slightly more sophisticated than "how do I create an account"...slightly.

So, hello people more expert in social media! Part of the plan with this blog (and product) is to reach as many people as possible. That's the point of advertising right? Facebook is one of the cheapest and most connected tools out there...so I might as well leverage it.

Something like 500 million users and counting? That's a pretty good potential customer pool. For starters, they all use the internet and when my first production run goes up for sale it will be online. Nice, my first layer of segmentation. Anyway, my primary question is about "step 2" Facebook connectedness.