LAKE STEVENS — Many parents have a low threshold for little kids’ music, especially in the car. The tinkling tunes soon have parents rolling their eyes and saying, “Please. Not again.”
Lake Stevens resident Kelly Bolton, 25, has the solution for nails-on-a-chalkboard singsongs for children to 7 years old.
Bolton and her sister, Bremerton resident Suzanne Sprague, have started their own small business called Melodies About Me. They are in the process of creating a CD with fun, original songs written by them and their mother. The twist: The songs can be personalized to include specific children’s names. There are more than 1,100 names to choose from when ordering.
The new Internet-based business has also put the sisters close to the end of a national competition that could garner enough money to help them along in their quest.
In November, Bolton learned about the Just Start contest run by Intuit, makers of TurboTax and QuickBooks. Intuit was looking for creative small business ideas that the public could vote on. The Just Start winner gets $40,000 in cash and $10,000 in goods and services. Two runners-up will win $5,000 each.
“This will be really cool,” Bolton said.
Three weeks ago, Bolton and Sprague heard that from 1,500 entries, they were one of the final five.
“I thought, “Holy Moly!” Bolton said.
The past few months have been busy for the Bolton and Sprague and their families. They write songs, such as “Purple Sock Blues,” a ditty about how socks always go missing, and e-mail versions to their mother, Terry Lage, in Iowa. Sometimes Bolton sings on the phone. Lage, a gifted writer and musician, then works on the music and lyrics to create a product that has appeal to parents, as well as children.
“Moms are in the market for that kind of thing,” Bolton said.
They know of what they speak: Bolton has an 8- month-old daughter, Emily, who loves to dance to music, as does Sprague’s 13-month-old daughter, Hannah.
The business side of the operation falls to Bolton and Sprague, who got a business loan and are learning about logos, Web sites, marketing and advertising. The vision for Melodies About Me has grown throughout the past few months.
“We really are thinking big now,” Sprague said. “We want everyone in the country to know about Melodies About Me.”
That goal may seem lofty, but Bolton and Sprague are hiring people to help with marketing, and the grand prize from Intuit would go a long way to helping them realize their dream.
Intuit’s QuickBooks public relations manager Sharna Brockett said that a wide range of businesses were represented in the contest. The final five were chosen, based on their clarity of expression and feasibility of the idea, by three independent judges all experts in small business.
About 10 million people a year in the United States start a small business. Intuit took that to heart.
“Let’s not only help establish but let’s help someone start one,” Brockett said.
This is the first Just Start contest. Now that the final five have been chosen, the public can go online and cast one vote once per day through Thursday for their favorite idea. They can also comment and encourage finalists and ask questions.
“It’s like the ‘American Idol’ part of the contest,” Brockett said.
Christina Harper is a Snohomish County freelance writer. She can be reached at harper@heraldnet.com.
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