Young Entrepreneur Finds Success On Net

Misty Calhoun stumbled across the Belly Bling Web site two years ago while searching the Internet for navel ring vendors. She ordered a titanium piece adorned with colored stones from the online store and has remained a customer of the Cedar Falls-based business for the past two years, according to a story in the WCFCourier.

Those qualities have helped bellybling.net become one of the nation’s top navel ring sellers. The company’s owner, Ben Frein, is now developing a companion Web page – bodybling.net, which sells other jewelry, including nose, eyebrow and tongue rings – and hopes to increase both sites’ visibility in the coming year. While other businesses struggle to make ends meet during the economic downturn, Frein’s ventures continue to attract costumers from across the globe.

“Today we rank No. 1 in the (Google) search for belly button rings and that makes a huge difference,” said Frein, who launched Belly Bling in 2006 while still a student at the University of Northern Iowa. “By being Internet-based – by being small and nimble – we’ve been able to grow.”

Roughly 25,000 visitors stop by the site each month, which features 150 unique rings, each available in three or four different colors. This year, Frein, who graduated from UNI in May, placed advertisements for the business in OK! Magazine and Cosmopolitan. All orders are processed and shipped from the entrepreneur’s UNI office with the help of four paid student staffers.

Photo by WCFCourier.

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