Editing The Pen Addict 453/transcript (section)

== Journal Sales Follow-Up ==


'''Myke:''' All right. So I just want to give a bit of follow-up on the journal sales. So if you want to get yourself a theme system journey, go to cortexmerch.com, and you can do that. We had a super strong start. Really, like, in the first week, sold more than we've sold in any first week. And that wasn't a surprise to me, because we had quite a pent-up demand from Gray's YouTube video that he produced. So we had like a very large restock list. So because of how fast it was going, placed an order double the size of any order we have ever placed before. So we still, now I think it's finding its level. I think we're about 50% sold out of what we have. So it's finding its level now, and we'll see how it goes over the next couple of days. We did just release an episode yesterday as well. So maybe that will bump it up a bit. But considering what we have in stock now, and what we have ordered, my expectation now is we'll actually be able to keep these in stock for the rest of the year. Cool. So we may have finally found it.

'''Brad:''' Yeah, I was going to say, that's actually really good. Yes. That's what I want. That's a good answer. Yeah. Because now we can maybe do some planning and thinking about how we manage this day-to-day, long-term. Mm-hmm. And that's exactly what I wanted. Taking shots. Yeah.

'''Myke:''' So we've sold enough to cover our costs, right? Which is what you want. And now, so we're not out of pocket on it. And we can now find what the business is. And also, as I've kind of touched on this before, there are things that I want to do, marketing-wise, that I can't do if we have no stock. Because it's pointless. Trust me. Right? So, you know, we really had to just nail down the issue. And the way that we have been able to nail down the issue is by changing production. Because if we were still having them produced in China, we would not have yet restocked. Right. From, you know, like what we just put up last week, we wouldn't even have that yet. So, and the fact that we've now kind of ordered the amount that we're ordering and have them arrive in a month, like that's what we need to happen for us to be able to keep this as a consistent in-stock product, which is the design. And, you know, I think people like to assume that we're trying to hype it. Right. And like, look, the hype is great. But hype on a journal where you're supposed to, if you use it every day, buy three or four of them a year, it's not a good thing. We need to have a consistent stock. So people feel like they can rely on it and they can invest in it.

'''Brad:''' Well, you want to be able to offer an annual pack too, or two or four pack.

'''Myke:''' I have other plans for that. Gotcha. Which, again, I can't do that, anything like that, until we can get our stock levels fixed.

'''Brad:''' Well, and you've also mostly finalized the design, right? You did the first round, almost like a beta, like what you said, you know, publicly the first time. So you could see what improvements needed to be made for round two. And now I feel like you're pretty locked in. Oh, it is locked in now. To that design. So now you just, you know, you just send emails and say. Exactly. Which is all it is. Wire transfers.

'''Myke:''' Do it again. Print it again. Right. Right. And I don't need prototypes or anything, right? Right. Just send me a sample now, because there should be no issue, right? Like we've done it. This will be the third time we've done it. So, you know, these things should just roll off the production line now. And we could only order the amounts that we've ordered. Like we've already sold significantly more of the second edition than we ever sold the first edition. Right. And the first editions only existed for three months, where the previous edition existed for over a year, nearly 18 months. Right. And this is because we could order more of them. We could order them more frequently. And we were comfortable to make those larger orders because we knew if it doesn't sell out, we don't need to change it. You know? So we're definitely aiming to settle this into a standard product now. And, you know, there is a tweak that I will make, which is I need to change the year of the copyright now. Yeah. But like I'm not going to do that anytime soon. Yeah. Easy peasy. So, yeah. I'm very pleased. If you want one, go to cortexmerch.com. You can rely on us now. We'll be in stock.

'''Myke:''' This wasn't the... So the spoke pens weren't the only products that I got from you. I got the much threatened box of other stuff you've been keeping from me for a while. Which you only sent... This is a big week. You only sent this to me because you had to fulfill my Sinclair order.

'''Myke:''' Because I backed the Knox Sinclair project. And so I got that. I got the wax canvas Sinclair, which I like very much. I always have to remember, like, the wax canvas is so different to the regular canvas. Mega different. I think for me personally, I prefer the regular canvas, but I like having the option.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. A lot of people don't like the wax canvas at all. And I totally get that.

'''Myke:''' I like it. I like it enough. But I like the regular canvas more. Yeah. But I like the wax canvas too. I assume the wax gives it some level of water resistance, right?

'''Brad:''' The standard nylon has that too. But maybe a little bit more in the wax. I don't know. Because regular... The nylon that we use is Cordura. And Cordura comes with DWR coating, which is durable water repellent coating. Yeah.

'''Myke:''' When I'm saying canvas, I mean the Cordura, right? That's what I mean. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like the regular.

'''Brad:''' So it's not going to survive sitting out in a rainstorm, because there's seams and zippers and other ways to get through. But if you spilled a drink on it, it should essentially just bounce off.

'''Myke:''' Right.

'''Myke:''' But I also got my Spoke Roadie.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. This is a big week for you for me. It is a big week for me. I got a lot of stuff in the mail. Your fountain pens almost beat this box in, to be honest.

'''Myke:''' Yeah, it really did. There was just a couple of days difference, which is hilarious.

'''Brad:''' Because I sent this UPS a while ago. So the Roadies are all sold out, right? Yeah. I think we're going to have a restock on Friday is what we're tracking. So yeah. That's just been like a huge hit for us. The Roadie has been really, really popular.

'''Myke:''' And this is the one that takes the Jetstream refill. What is the model that I have? I don't see it on the website.

'''Brad:''' It's the Gecko is the one that you wanted. It's currently sold out. Okay. Well, they're all sold out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I had, that might be my photo version. I have a set of photo versions. I was like, oh, well, I'll just send this one to Myke because it's not in inventory. And this is the one.

'''Myke:''' It's orange and orange body, kind of line green cap. And it has the like, what do you call this? Anodization with all the colors on it on the group section.

'''Brad:''' Yeah, just the anodization. It's like a rainbow anodization. Yeah. This was the best seller. This was the number one seller. Okay. Easily. It's cool. It's not on the website though. At all. Yeah, yeah. Like all the other products say sold out, but. Yeah, because we did have a small restock of those. So ones that have been zeroed out for a while get like turned off the page. And then when they come back, they'll just come back on.

'''Myke:''' And this killer, like, I love it. I love how weird it is. I think it's fantastic.

'''Brad:''' This pen surprises people. I think that's why it's so popular because people don't know what to expect from it. Yeah. And they get it and they're like, I'll be damned.

'''Myke:''' Because the design of it is so strange in a way. Like how large the cap is, you know, compared to the body of the pen.

'''Brad:''' Yeah, yeah. That's one of those things you don't know if it's going to work, right? Aesthetically. Like, is this really what we want to do? Is this going to work? Do we have the, you know, the design right? Do we have all the measurements correct? Like, is it going to look, is it going to look right? And yeah.