The Steeping Pot

Now for a little bit about the site.  This site was originally an online tea shop for gourmet loose leaf tea and tea accessories.  It was my pet project during a really boring time in my career - waiting out my non-compete after leaving Unreal.  Since I had so much extra time on my hands, I decided to work on my self taught design and site coding skills, product marketing, and overall business sense.  I invested $4k in the setup, which included everything from the business license, marketing costs, packaging materials, inventory, and shipping supplies.  That's right, I was doing my own fulfillment. 

Needless to say, I went from having a whole lot of time on my hands, to having no time at all.  I really did love it though.  My favorite part was my monthly newsletter - The Steepers' Corner.  I would find or create recipes that involved cooking with tea and provide helpful tips and tricks for brewing. 

Next thing you know, my non-compete was up and it was time to further my career in Search Marketing.  So I landed a grown-up job at Yellowbook, and I didn't have time for The Steeping Pot anymore.  I was constantly traveling for work, and being the perfectionist that I am I couldn't bare to trust anyone else with filling the orders. 

It was great while it lasted.  I had over 400 subscribers to my newsletter, and it was growing each month.  I managed to break even before shutting it down, and learned a lot about myself and my industry. I wasn't in it for the money - it was simply a passion of mine.  The best part is that I still have access to get gourmet tea at wholesale prices :-).

The ultimate dream is still to one day own a little casual Coffee & Tea shop where I can hangout all day, and try out new recipes on my customers.  Sounds like a fun retirement gig right?

So now, I felt like it was a good time to make use of my domain and start blogging. I mean come on!  My profession and my obsession revolves around the internet, and I don't even blog.  It's sad really.  I have a million excuses why I never did it before, but I won't get into that here.  We'll see what the site becomes.  I won't make any predictions now.