IntiMats® for Life's Intimate Moments

Present Day ~
I have a project that I have been working on for 4 years. At every point along the way I have taken the next step when I felt the time was right. I feel that it is time to share my product with my readers, so today I am announcing the sale of IntiMats® at http://www.slmnaturals.etsy.com/.

Below is the story of how IntiMats® came to be:

The Tale of the IntiMat® ~
On a lovely spring day in April 2004, Sharon came racing into the kitchen.
"I've got it! I will make and sell love towels!"
Laughing, her husband and daughter asked, "What are you talking about?"
"Well, there are times when people need something to keep the sheets clean. We've always called them love towels, and I can come up with another name, but everybody needs one."

Two weeks later Sharon shared the idea with her good friend and her mother over a glass of wine. Winks and giggles followed. If nothing else, Sharon thought, this is fun to talk about. Sharon and her friend shopped for fabric and talked about packaging ideas. They surfed the net to look for a similar product and found none. By the end of the month Sharon had talked to a lawyer about the process to trademark a product name.

The first name she wanted was taken. There was no product to be found, but the woman still owned the name. Sharon talked to the Technology Law Center at USM about trademarks, patents, and intellectual property issues. Sharon loved this stuff! She felt compelled to go forward. The fact that she couldn't get her first-choice name was a blessing in disguise: not everyone who is intimate is in love. She changed her focus and the IntiMat® was born. Now, how to make this happen....

In March Ken had asked if he could have the federal tax return money for the down payment on a Harley. Sharon said sure. In April she added a condition: Ken could have the federal money if she could have the tax return money from the state. A deal was struck. Sharon had the money if she decided to apply for a trademark. Then she waited for the idea to go away.

It didn't. A year later Sharon filed an application for trademark registration.

In the meantime she made up sample mats and shared them sparingly with a few people. Feedback was positive ~ people liked the idea of a soft mat that was pretty, practical, and washable. Fleece was soft but not very absorbent. Organic cotton terry cloth fit the bill for softness, absorbency, and washability. Sharon couldn't get the terry as wide as she wanted, but she did buy a few yards from a company her daughter found online. And she found the perfect satin binding for the edging. Then she waited for the next "aha" moment....

As often happens, life got busy. Sharon got a letter that the conditional trademark was approved and the product needed to be put in commerce, or she needed to apply for a six-month extension. She went for the extension, with the thought that if this was meant to be something would happen to move things forward. It was October 2006.

Then something did happen. Sharon and her husband bought a new house. Now she needed to take action or back away. Sharon put the IntiMat® for sale in a local hair salon and sent a sample to the lawyer, which was required to finalize the application. Sharon was in it now, but she would think about that later. Her days had taken on a life of their own and there were more pressing issues to think about....

Fast forward to autumn 2007. Sharon had sewn up the few yards of organic terry she had. She decided she wanted to create an inventory and actively pursue sales of her product. She contacted Cotton Plus and learned they no longer had the orginal terry she bought. However, they did have a different, wider organic terry cloth available in 50-yard rolls. Why not? Well, the size and weight of the roll for starters, but she didn't know that at the time. When the heavy, six-foot long roll of fabric was delivered Sharon thought it was a carpet for Ken's work, and when she got the bill for delivery she wished that was the case. She remembered her commitment to see this through and went on with what she had started.

Cutting, washing, pinning, sewing...cutting, washing, pinning, sewing....There was a rhythm to the process that Sharon enjoyed. The material felt soft and luxurious, perfectly finished with the satin binding. The product met her standards.

Sharon met with an accountant to get the basic information needed for a small business, and she had business cards printed. From the beginning she liked the theme "IntiMats for life's intimate moments." At that time she didn't have the official word on the trademark, which was still pending.

By January 2008 there was a basket of IntiMats® at the hair salon. Sharon's contact said women thought they were beautiful, but they seemed embarrassed to buy one. Now what? It looked like it was time to explore the options of listing the item online. As with the search for organic cotton, Sharon's daughter took the lead in research of sales options. She determined that etsy.com was the answer.

Then a major turning point: On March 10, 2008 the lawyer sent the letter that notified Sharon that the certificate of registration for the INTIMATS mark was final. She owned the trademark. It was official. It was time to take this project to the next level.

On March 23 Sharon's daughter helped her open a "store" on etsy.com. On April 2 Sharon listed the product, complete with pictures taken with a digital camera. Filled with anxiety that the product wouldn't sell, and equal parts of anxiety that it would, Sharon started telling people one at a time that the product was listed for sale online. What to do next would come to her....