New for us this week (January 7th, 2010):

• We've finalized our new dance studio buildout and are putting the finishing touches on it over the next 7 days (Joanna and I did our first dance on the new floor yesterday in the studio and we LOVE it. We can't wait to begin teaching our dance classes and doing new videos again here in the near future.
• We wrapped up our 2009 fiscal year and were more than pleased with our 5th consecutive year of record-breaking growth in both retail and wholesale sales and we owe it all to our customers who continue to spread the word about our products both online and in their communities. We're excited about what we're bringing to the table in 2010 and we won't disappoint.

What's New for us this week (December 26th, 2009)?

• Since it's still the Christmas holidays and we're still trying to unwind from a long week, I'll make this short...let me start by saying "Merry Christmas" again and an early "Happy New Year" to everyone who visits.
• Our new studio is 95% complete - pictures and 2010 schedule will be forthcoming. We've been making even more changes that are going to surprise everyone and we can't wait to announce them. Keep an eye on us this year and please keep letting your friends know about us.
• We're having a pre-New Year's Sale (in case you didn't see the banner at the top - it goes through the 31st). We look forward to many of our 'gift recipients' visiting our site this week and stocking up. If you're new, please send us a quick note as we'd love to meet you and hear about your dancing.
• Hope you all have a great New Year's week and please keep your comments and questions coming. Hoping to see you all on the dance floor soon!

What's New for us this week (December 16th, 2009)?

• First and foremost, Joanna and I finally finished our holiday newsletter and update for 2009 and sent it out to all our customers and email subscribers this afternoon. We wanted this year's to be a bit more personal as we've been thrilled to meet so many great people this year via pictures and video. We hope you enjoyed the videos. Thank you to all our friends, and Happy Holidays again!
• Second, and this is exciting for us and all our new friends - today we set a record for new customer purchases (the # of 1st time customers). That means there will be that many more people out there to dance with and that you guys continue spreading the word. As promised, we'll be releasing several new titles soon with a whole new look and feel based on everything that we do well plus the 1000's of surveys and feedback submissions we've received over the last 2 years. We're very excited about what we're about to release...
• Third, and equally as exciting - the soundproofing and drywalling for our final wall was completed this afternoon on our new studio - 40 sheets of drywall on this last wall and it's all sealed up (picture on right shows some of it). Just a matter of all the fine-touches from here and we'll be set and ready to go.
• Fourth (not sure how I got into the number counting thing tonight, but I'm going with it). Fourth, we'll soon be announcing many of our 2010 partners and sponsors including many relating to dance music. Stay tuned for big changes.
• Last, and very important - please keep in mind that we're in business because we're good at what we do AND we love what we do. We work hard to make things easy for you but can't get there without feedback. Feedback on the products, our customer service team, our website, our emails, anything at all - let us know so we can better understand things from your perspective. We're not perfect but we sure take our business seriously and expect to be doing this a long, long time and want to make your lives easier in the process. Just keep us updated on what you want/need and we'll work to get it.
• I thought the last one was the last one - if I don't get a chance to update this again before Christmas, please know that we wish you and your family a wonderful Holiday Season and we'll definitely be seeing you in the New Year.

Shawn & Joanna Trautman

What's New from last week (December 6th, 2009)?

• We finished out November of 2009 with our 27th consecutive month of retail sales in ALL 50 U.S. states (you guys rock!). We also had sales to 3 countries we've never sold to before (welcome, friends!) and our friends in Canada continue to spread the word about our products as Canada led our International order column for the 5th straight month, just edging out the U.K.
• Added in a discount page that's only available through this link: Shawn Trautman Discount Code. The first part is a 5% discount for subscribing to our newsletter. The other part is a video that has some customers of ours (Bill and Linda) that stopped by our studio while they were on vacation from N.C. and gave a testimonial. Watch it and you'll get a 10% off coupon that's good for the rest of 2009.
• Joanna added her thoughts on the Two-Step Starter Pack, Two-Step for Beginners Volume 1, and Two-Step for Intermediate Dancers Volume 1 (under my take)
• Started adding in hundreds of recent comments submitted from customers to our product pages (Joanna's working on that as I'm writing). These are mostly reviews that have been given via our DVD surveys in the last couple of months and not ones from Amazon or other sources.
• Completed our bay window units and the remaining wall structures on our new production studio. Only thing left is the electrical, soundproofing and the lighting. It's looking fantastic!

What's New from 2 weeks ago (Novmber 27th, 2009)?

• Updated complete product information on all single products and most combo-packs (each one has a LOT more details now to help your decision making). (Was a lot more work than we thought it would be!)
• Updated Beginner Starter Pack description (my take)
• Updated Two-Step Starter Pack description (my take)
• Updated West Coast Swing Starter Pack description (my take)
• Updated Country Western Starter Pack description (my take)
• Updated Two-Step for Beginners Volume 1 (my take)
• Changed the view of the "All Dance Lesson DVD Products" page to be single items rather than 3 across (much easier to see)
• Used more new images from recent photo shoot on several pages throughout the site.
• Updated holiday shipping information and schedule (USPS has a new link - it's for the 2009 cutoff dates for shipments. This is good for everyone to know: http://www.usps.com/holiday/shippingcalendar.htm?from=home_ftpromo&page=holidaymaildates.
• Changed out the header of the website (6x) and am happy with where it is (for now) :-)
• Added "Stories" in on the header where it links to one of our video pages that has a number of customer testimonials. Watch the first one and you'll get a special coupon code at the end of it!
• Phase 5 of our new production studio is almost complete. Only a few days left!!!
• Last, I taught Line Dancing to Elementary School children last Wednesday during the Great American Teach-In. I taught 5 separate Kindergarten classes and one 5th grade class. It's amazing to see what fun kids can have when they're doing something fun, learning, and gaining confidence all at the same time. We worked on rhythm, counting, even and odd numbers, clapping, stomping (the little ones LOVED that part), and on paying attention (this was key for each class). Some of the teachers were skeptical about their abilities before the class but were surprised by the outcomes.