Todofono Blog

Todofono will be revamped with a new focus and new drive and we need your help. Please post comments here on things you would like to see that would enable Todofono to become a thriving business.

A manufacturer in Guatemala just posted a set of handmade handbags. Please see them here. Also please look at some of the handmade greeting cards and wrapping paper from Nepal. These are beautiful items.

We’ve noticed strong support on other web forums for developing world products and thought this blog could be a good location to begin to collect those thoughts.

Here’s one from the loyal users of Kiva, a microfinance lending service: http://www.kivafriends.org/index.php/topic,420.0.html

It has been a little over 1 year since the idea for Todofono was born. I remember because it was at the tail end of my time in Guatemala that we started talking about how amazing it would be to enable the remote villagers I lived with in San Juan Cotzal to start selling their goods on the global marketplace. Their town and their people were largely persecuted during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war that ended only a decade ago, and they’re a village that truly needs some outside assistance to work their way out of poverty. On the one hand, they’re cut off - about an 8 hour bus ride from Guatemala City. Their ancestors have always been subsistence farmers, and their first language, a Mayan dialect called Ixil, was transcribed only within the last 25 years. But in other respects their society is making huge advances. Cell phones are widespread, there’s a new road connecting them with the capital, and the younger generation is producing more entrepreneurs with new business ideas in textiles, sustainable forestry and exporting fruits/vegetables. And most excitingly, we’re enabling them to sell their products around the world on Todofono. Indigenous Guatemala are famous for their textile designs, handwoven on a back-strap loom. The technique has been passed down from generation to generation, and it’s neat to see these designs, into which the women pour their hearts and weave all kinds of thoughts and emotions, making their way to places like Washington DC, San Francisco, and Boston. Income is being funneled back to these families & into their communities, and we’re going to as best we can track to see what progress is made.

The momentum is kicking in, and we have opportunities now to sign on partners from 3-4 different continents, literally becoming a GLOBAL marketplace for all third-world entrepreneurs. We’ve also recently sunk a lot of time into the website & our technology to make it as convenient as possible for online shoppers. Please don’t hesitate to give us any feedback that would make your experience better, and thanks for supporting us!

The new Todofono Marketplace is now online.  We have just launched the Todofono Marketplace which is meant to bring products from developing country entrepreneurs directly to your fingertips.  Please take a look at: www.todofono.com/shop and telll us what you think.

This is very exciting news. We have just completed and shipped the first order through the Todofono Marketplace Store.  The item was shipped today to California and we are very excited to see the fruits of our labor and to showcase the wonderful products in the store.

Here is a link to the item that was shiped:  Colorful Handbag

The Todofono Store at store.todofono.com is now accepting orders. Please continue to follow along as we continue to add more sellers.

The Hart Fellows program at Duke University is writing an article about the exicting progress of Todofono. Look out for the upcoming article. If the link changes once the article is written, I will update this post.

As you may have already notived, www.todofono.com is alive and breathing. We have also completed our first round of sales through using the software via eBay and are very happy with the way things are progressing.