tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52871673913097969462014-03-24T10:23:32.069-07:00So Me JewelryUnique. Beautiful. Confident.SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-8317697750967318402014-03-24T10:10:00.000-07:002014-03-24T10:23:32.079-07:00Day 14. Start a Blog<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Everyone</span></span><span class="shorttext"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">has its own reason</span></span><span class="shorttext"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">to have a blog.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a61d4H5qN-w/UzBmlPqwTwI/AAAAAAAABDI/_JxuQQaK6I4/s1600/blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a61d4H5qN-w/UzBmlPqwTwI/AAAAAAAABDI/_JxuQQaK6I4/s1600/blog.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Many experts are saying that blogging helps people to know each other better in a cyber space. Knowing brings trust and trust brings all kinds of relationship, including commercial. So it is good to blog and it is good not only for individuals but also for businesses.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I used to write one in a while and realized that blog</span></span><span class="shorttext"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">helps me to stay focused. I have a very</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="hps">good</span><span class="hps">imagination</span>, <span class="hps">and when</span> <span class="hps">I think of something</span>, <span class="hps">I jump</span> <span class="hps">from one thought to</span> <span class="hps">another and another</span><span class="hps">and soon I</span> <span class="hps">can’t remember</span> <span class="hps">where it all started. When I try to</span> <span class="hps">explain</span><span class="hps">it</span> <span class="hps">all</span> <span class="hps">on paper,</span><span class="hps">it is not easy</span> <span class="hps">for me</span>, <span class="hps">but it often</span> <span class="hps">helps me</span> <span class="hps">see everything</span> <span class="hps">from a different angle, it helps me organize my thoughts</span>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="hps">when I</span> <span class="hps">think</span> <span class="hps">about a</span> <span class="hps">problem</span> <span class="hps">it</span><span class="hps">seems too</span> <span class="hps">big and</span> <span class="hps">unsolvable</span>, but <span class="hps">if I</span> <span class="hps">write</span><span class="hps">it down on paper, I'm starting</span> <span class="hps">to see</span>a <span class="hps">solution</span>, <span class="hps">I begin to understand</span><span class="hps">in which direction</span> <span class="hps">I should go</span>. As soon as I fully understand the problem (by the way, writing it down requires relatively deep understanding), it become possible for me to come up to an executable set of steps which will lead me to my goal, it allows me to create a plan.</span></div><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Take for example</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="hps">this “marketing</span> <span class="hps">series”.</span><span class="hps">I am absolutely sure</span> <span class="hps">that</span> <span class="hps">if I had not</span> <span class="hps">started to write</span> <span class="hps">about it in my</span> <span class="hps">blog</span>, I would have <span class="hps">abandoned</span> <span class="hps">this idea and</span> <span class="hps">everything</span> would <span class="hps">remain as before. </span>I <span class="hps">thought about</span> <span class="hps">improving</span> <span class="hps">my store</span> <span class="hps">for a long time</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">sometimes</span> <span class="hps">when I read</span> <span class="hps">an interesting</span> article <span class="hps">I change</span> <span class="hps">a little bit</span> <span class="hps">here and there</span>, but it is not systematic and many pieces are getting forgotten. So, the blog helps me to stay on track and keep moving.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Can it go beyond “marketing series”? I hope so. I think even when I do not have a long term project like this one; we have many subjects to discuss. For instance, from time to time I’m making custom orders, which are not listed on Etsy. So, I’m going to write about custom orders, new techniques I learned, new products I’m working on… Not all subjects are supposed to be business related, I guess. We all love to travel, to do all kinds of things. Who does not like a good book? And how would I know about it if someone does not share this book with me on her blog?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So let’s do it together! This is very important to me. I’m looking forward to see your comments; I rely on it and certainly appreciate all your participation. I do really believe that there are many of you who way more advanced in many subjects and I learn a lot from your comments. So, keep it up, help me, help us to get a better understanding and obtain more knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-4-how-to-name-your-business.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-5-trim-your-expenses.html" target="_blank">Day 5</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-6-how-to-price-your-product.html" target="_blank">Day 6</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-7-packaging-101.html" target="_blank">Day 7</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-8-shipping-101.html" target="_blank">Day 8</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-9-product-photography.html" target="_blank">Day 9</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-10-why-sell-on-etsy-or-why-i-like.html" target="_blank">Day 10</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-11-how-to-sell-on-etsy-beginning.html" target="_blank">Day 11</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-12-complete-copywriting-for-your.html" target="_blank">Day 12</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-13-build-platform-for-your-shop.html" target="_blank">Day 13</a><br /><br /></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0Salem, NH, USA42.788555300000013 -71.200891242.602129800000014 -71.5236147 42.974980800000012 -70.8781677tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-18695937647737380452014-03-23T14:45:00.000-07:002014-03-23T14:45:06.649-07:00Best finds of the week! Spring<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">Today's post</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="hps">will be</span> <span class="hps">quite different</span> <span class="hps">compared to those</span> <span class="hps">that</span> <span class="hps">I wrote</span> <span class="hps">recently.</span> So many</span> <span class="hps">beautiful things</span> are <span class="hps">around us</span> <span class="hps">but often</span><span class="hps">we do not notice</span> <span class="hps">them</span>. I decided <span class="hps">to share</span> <span class="hps">with you</span> <span class="hps">the most beautiful</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">interesting things</span> <span class="hps">that</span> <span class="hps">I found</span> <span class="hps">(</span>saw) <span class="hps">during the week every Sunday</span>.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">Warm day</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="hps">today</span>, but the snow is <span class="hps">still</span> <span class="hps">lying on the ground</span> <span class="hps">and I</span>'d like <span class="hps">more</span> <span class="hps">sun,</span> <span class="hps">green grass and</span> <span class="hps">blooming flowers</span>.</span> <span class="hps">I saw this</span><span class="shorttext"> </span><span class="hps">photo on facebook</span><span class="shorttext"> </span><span class="hps">and it</span><span class="shorttext"> </span><span class="hps">made my day</span>:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uqj9euup9S8/Uy9NxpyJEUI/AAAAAAAABC0/XcWJPCyADU0/s1600/1185410_10152264353178769_1904525928_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uqj9euup9S8/Uy9NxpyJEUI/AAAAAAAABC0/XcWJPCyADU0/s1600/1185410_10152264353178769_1904525928_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The photo was taken by Italian photographer Andrea Zampatti in Italy.</span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">I would love to</span></span><span class="shorttext"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">hang this</span></span><span class="shorttext"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">wreath on</span></span><span class="shorttext"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">my door</span>:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="hps"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://img0.etsystatic.com/029/1/6751990/il_570xN.574449088_2l66.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://img0.etsystatic.com/029/1/6751990/il_570xN.574449088_2l66.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #595959; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 15.65pt;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/122857755/tulip-spring-wreath-deep-pink-peach?ref=shop_home_active_1" target="_blank">Tulip Spring Wreath by DoorDecorMore</a></span><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Put some spring on the table:</span></div></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dnok91peocsw3.cloudfront.net/product/456713-610x610-1389991580-s2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://dnok91peocsw3.cloudfront.net/product/456713-610x610-1389991580-s2.png" height="400" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://fab.com/product/hudson-rockpile-glass-vase-456713/?ref=browse&pos=5" target="_blank">Hudson Rockpile GlassVase</a></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.65pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 1;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Who says dishware can’t have a sense of humor? This Salad Bowl and Servers Set by Qualy embrace friendly, playful functionality:<span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://dnok91peocsw3.cloudfront.net/product/379817-610x610-1366402885-primary.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://dnok91peocsw3.cloudfront.net/product/379817-610x610-1366402885-primary.png" height="400" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 20.866666793823242px;"><a href="http://fab.com/product/salad-bowl-servers-white-green-379817/?ref=reco%7Chome%7Cpop-pop%7C4%7C3%7C2310" target="_blank">Salad Bowl & Servers White Green</a></span></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;">Since we</span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="hps">are already talking</span> <span class="hps">about food</span>, I love <span class="hps">to try new</span> <span class="hps">dishes</span> <span class="hps">and it looks very</span> <span class="hps">spring-like</span>. <span class="hps">I</span><span class="hps">should </span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">definitely </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">try it:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.recipe.com/images/asian-spring-rolls-1-R109632-ss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.recipe.com/images/asian-spring-rolls-1-R109632-ss.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.recipe.com/asian-spring-rolls-1/" target="_blank">Asian spring rolls</a></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love this spring jacket:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/34/98/52/3498526815bcf4d67a58b32f08f13ebb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/34/98/52/3498526815bcf4d67a58b32f08f13ebb.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Have a beautiful Sunday! </b></span><br /><br /></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-7279909123824959952014-03-21T09:02:00.000-07:002014-03-24T10:22:38.900-07:00Day 13. Build a Platform for Your Shop.<div class="MsoNormal">At the time of social media, the best platform for a business is… social media. Why? Simply because it is difficult to find a person who does not have facebook or twitter account. On top of that, it is usually free to use, which is always a plus. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m5BfUULv7DM/UyxhKO0YJQI/AAAAAAAABCk/yE68DXegXik/s1600/social+media.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m5BfUULv7DM/UyxhKO0YJQI/AAAAAAAABCk/yE68DXegXik/s1600/social+media.jpg" height="245" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So, what “social media” options do we have?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Facebook.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I love facebook. I have over 1500 friends and almost a thousand fans on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sparkling-Fantasy/141175176619?ref=br_rs" target="_blank">business page</a>. It is easy for me to post an image of the new jewelry I’m working on there. I also love to post there a link or an article I found interesting, I think this is why my friends are coming there – they also found it interesting.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Twitter.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://twitter.com/SoMeJevelry" target="_blank">Twitter </a>gives you almost the same capabilities as facebook or any other platform. The main specific is the size of a message – max size of a twit is 140 characters. However, it also allows to add images, which makes it really powerful. I think of a Twitter service as a news feed. Anyone can read my tweets, they do not have to become my fans or friends, but they can always be the first to know about my latest project. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Blog.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Well, you are reading it, it means I have a blog and a reader <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Based on the plan, I’m going to spend more time on each of those social media channels. I’m really interested to know how effective each media platform is for my particular business. I cannot be sure at this time though, that I will be able to analyze it in details, but I’ll try my best.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Blogging takes quite a lot of time for me, much more than any other social activity. Each article requires a lot of thinking and preparation. But it also gives me in return a chance to really think about the problem, to research it. There is an old Chinese saying about teacher who refused to demonstrate his skills, instead he always wanted to share. He said “If I show it to you it becomes an exhibition. If I share it with you, you will not only retain it forever, but I, too, will improve”. I <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>think this is what social media is about – about sharing. Let’s share!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div id="surveyMonkeyInfo" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; color: #666666; font-size: 10px; padding: 4px; width: 500px;"><div><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="350" id="sm_e_s" src="https://www.surveymonkey.com/jsEmbed.aspx?sm=wz7CA_2fflk6W6S3lvKcvCzA_3d_3d" style="border: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px;" width="500"></iframe></div>Create your free online surveys with <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/">SurveyMonkey</a> , the world's leading questionnaire tool.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><br /><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-4-how-to-name-your-business.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-5-trim-your-expenses.html" target="_blank">Day 5</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-6-how-to-price-your-product.html" target="_blank">Day 6</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-7-packaging-101.html" target="_blank">Day 7</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-8-shipping-101.html" target="_blank">Day 8</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-9-product-photography.html" target="_blank">Day 9</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-10-why-sell-on-etsy-or-why-i-like.html" target="_blank">Day 10</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-11-how-to-sell-on-etsy-beginning.html" target="_blank">Day 11</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-12-complete-copywriting-for-your.html" target="_blank">Day 12</a><br /><br /></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0Salem, NH, USA42.788555300000013 -71.200891242.602129800000014 -71.5236147 42.974980800000012 -70.8781677tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-74428789866325486382014-03-19T06:54:00.000-07:002014-03-21T08:30:22.169-07:00Day 12. Complete Copywriting for Your Listings.<div class="MsoNormal">I viewed hundreds of listing in the top shops and I can see there all kinds of listings. Some shops have really extended listings, with 3-4 paragraphs of stories; others have literally just 1-2 sentences. And they both are in the top sellers list. Can you explain it with any logical conclusion other than listing text is not matter? I can’t. Especially keeping in mind that I’m visual person and I think most of those who love jewelry are visual people too. But I’ll try to give some sort of significance to the listing.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Most important thing that blew my mind off was the statement that listing text is actually my advertisement. I agree with it 100%. However, for some reason I did not think about it that way before. So, this is a big change. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Another big discovery for me is the structure of the successful listing (by Lisa). A good listing should answer three questions: what, why and how. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’ll try to apply this marketing science to one of my existing products. </div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Here is how it looks and what my prior listing looked like:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QsSGBorXmmU/UymZsOTE1lI/AAAAAAAABCU/6igoUjpaR-A/s1600/Aurora3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QsSGBorXmmU/UymZsOTE1lI/AAAAAAAABCU/6igoUjpaR-A/s1600/Aurora3.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/72655424/unique-necklace-with-jade-green" target="_blank">Necklace "Aurora"</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal">“This unique, one of a kind necklace features an interesting mix of stones: Jade, Green Aventurine, Turquoise, Red Coral, Moonstone, Gold-Plate Beads, and Gold-Plate Clasp. Very Pretty! The necklace measures 17" long.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Now I’ll try to split it into three pieces answering three questions.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>What. </b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><u>It is supposed to describe the product itself.</u><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is a unique necklace made of Jade, Green Aventurine, Turquoise, Red Coral and Moonstone; all natural colors nicely finished by gold plated clasp. This is a classic 17” long necklace.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Why.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><u>This part of your listing should describe the benefits your product has to offer. </u><o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Wearing this necklace you will always be noticed and it will go nicely with a business suit, harmonize with a black cocktail dress or with a blouse and your favorite jeans. Buy it and be ready to collect tons of complements!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>How.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><u>This paragraph explains what the business stands for and what’s unique about it.<o:p></o:p></u></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal">The “So Me Jewelry Shop” offers unique, beautiful, one of a kind jewelries made from a quality materials. Our products will make you feel beautiful and confident; will help you feel more YOU!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">So, the complete listing description I got is:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>This is a unique necklace made of Jade, Green Aventurine, Turquoise, Red Coral and Moonstone; all natural colors nicely finished by gold plated clasp. This is a classic 17” long necklace.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Wearing this necklace you will always be noticed and it will go nicely with a business suit, harmonize with a black cocktail dress or with a blouse and your favorite jeans. Buy it and be ready to collect tons of complements.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>The “So Me Jewelry Shop” offers unique, beautiful, one of a kind jewelries made from a quality materials. Our products will make you feel beautiful and confident; will help you feel more YOU!</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">How do you like it? Is it better or worse?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">P.S.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">No games, just sports. (this is my favorite quotation from the best marketing movie – “What women want”)</div><div><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-4-how-to-name-your-business.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-5-trim-your-expenses.html" target="_blank">Day 5</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-6-how-to-price-your-product.html" target="_blank">Day 6</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-7-packaging-101.html" target="_blank">Day 7</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-8-shipping-101.html" target="_blank">Day 8</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-9-product-photography.html" target="_blank">Day 9</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-10-why-sell-on-etsy-or-why-i-like.html" target="_blank">Day 10</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-11-how-to-sell-on-etsy-beginning.html" target="_blank">Day 11</a></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-81181000586782638402014-03-18T06:52:00.001-07:002014-03-19T06:30:44.583-07:00Day 11. How to Sell on Etsy (beginning)<div class="MsoNormal">At the beginning, I want to say thanks to all who participated in the survey of the <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-9-product-photography.html" target="_blank">Day 9</a> article (photo). And for those who made comments – special THANK YOU! The winner of survey is picture #1. I think we shall talk about it a bit more in the next posts.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h4lWLyO7YJk/UyhO5dhbStI/AAAAAAAABCI/Dc1SjvSUuDE/s1600/pinkBracelet4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h4lWLyO7YJk/UyhO5dhbStI/AAAAAAAABCI/Dc1SjvSUuDE/s1600/pinkBracelet4.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today we come to the most interesting part (the reason for this whole journey): how to sell. Based on the plan there will be more than just one day about “how to sell”. We have already discussed photos and tomorrow I will have to work on listings. The next day would be about social media. After that... well, I still have so many questions even about a proper description for a listing, so I would better focus on my today tasks and leave future tasks for the future days.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I used to think that “If you build it, they will come”, but Lisa is saying this is a myth which does NOT work. She convinced me (partially) that telling a story in a product description is a bad idea also. Well, my descriptions are relatively short and precise, no stories. But that does not seem to help a lot. So, my take on this – there is a balance needed. I’m planning to experiment a bit and pay more attention to the results and methods I’m going to use.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><a name='more'></a><br />For now, my plan is to take one of my latest creations and prepare a perfect listing for it. Well, perfect means the best I will be able to come up with working on the next day’s assignment. Please, do not hesitate to comment and advice – any feedback is greatly appreciated. I do believe that together we may discover a better formula for a listing description.<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-4-how-to-name-your-business.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-5-trim-your-expenses.html" target="_blank">Day 5</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-6-how-to-price-your-product.html" target="_blank">Day 6</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-7-packaging-101.html" target="_blank">Day 7</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-8-shipping-101.html" target="_blank">Day 8</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-9-product-photography.html" target="_blank">Day 9</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-10-why-sell-on-etsy-or-why-i-like.html" target="_blank">Day 10</a></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-43333590074259838402014-03-17T10:07:00.000-07:002014-03-18T07:06:23.894-07:00Day 10. Why Sell on Etsy or Why I like Etsy.<div class="MsoNormal">I’m still registered on several other shops like ArtFire and USTrend, but I don’t know any other shop that would provide such a good service as Etsy does. I’m talking about both – sellers and buyers. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">As a seller or I should say as a shop owner, I think the listing price is reasonable and I certainly appreciate all the features Etsy gives me in terms of managing my listings. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">First of all, it is really easy to add a new product to the shop – usually it takes only a few minutes - all I need is set of images (good quality images we were talking about in the post <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-9-product-photography.html" target="_blank">Day 9</a>), description and a price. I also like shop sections and always use them. It helps me better organize all my listings.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pk4UjE_Uyfg/UycnTFFkYfI/AAAAAAAABB0/_5Sn3uPfVqw/s1600/ButterflyTurquoiseN9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pk4UjE_Uyfg/UycnTFFkYfI/AAAAAAAABB0/_5Sn3uPfVqw/s1600/ButterflyTurquoiseN9.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><h1 style="color: #333333; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: white 0px 1px 0px; width: auto; word-wrap: break-word;"><span itemprop="name" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/86372511/turquoise-and-copper-butterfly-long?ref=shop_home_active_1" target="_blank">Turquoise And Copper Butterfly Long Necklace<a name='more'></a></a></span></span></h1><div class="MsoNormal">Secondly, I do really like all the reports I have on Etsy (they call it “stats”). Stats show not only my sales and total numbers, but also all basic search reports – I can easily check how many people viewed my products, how they searched them (keywords), traffic sources (direct traffic, facebook and so on) and geographical location of viewers. Traffic sources on Etsy even shows other Etsy links, like treasury, favorites and other shops that sent me users.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Also I like that Etsy is really growing and they constantly improve their services as well. This is like a closed circle – new features bring new sellers, more sellers attract more buyers and more buyers making it more desirable for new sellers… </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">For the buyers, I think this is important to feel safe buying product or service online and doing it on Etsy makes me feel safe. Etsy is like amazon.com for handmade products – it is really easy to search here, it is easy to leave feedback and therefore easy to find trusted shops. Occasionally I’m buying some goods on Etsy myself and always feel pretty comfortable doing that.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Another thing that attracts me to Etsy as a buyer is unique products. I do not know any other centralized place where I can find truly unique and interesting, sometimes even crazy, things. Here are a few examples of goods that I do like and admire designer view of their authors.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://img1.etsystatic.com/006/0/6195596/il_570xN.471739745_d6rk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://img1.etsystatic.com/006/0/6195596/il_570xN.471739745_d6rk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: white 0px 1px 0px; width: auto; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 25px;"><i><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/154609273/terrarium-geometric-cube-terrarium-diy?ref=shop_home_active_7" target="_blank">Terrarium from lonesomehobo</a></u></i></span></span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://img0.etsystatic.com/014/1/5379694/il_570xN.467454714_63ct.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://img0.etsystatic.com/014/1/5379694/il_570xN.467454714_63ct.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: white 0px 1px 0px; width: auto; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 25px;"><u><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/153453806/geometric-leather-cardholder-lasercut?ref=shop_home_active_15" target="_blank">Geometric leather cardholder from StAnderswo</a></u></span></span></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://img1.etsystatic.com/025/0/5614554/il_570xN.537229017_jbik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://img1.etsystatic.com/025/0/5614554/il_570xN.537229017_jbik.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 25px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/172131511/outnumbered-vi-modern-wall-clock-small?ref=shop_home_active_16" target="_blank">Outnumbered VI Modern Wall Clock from All15Designs</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 25px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://img1.etsystatic.com/021/1/8987229/il_570xN.546410097_sesd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://img1.etsystatic.com/021/1/8987229/il_570xN.546410097_sesd.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 25px;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/174546168/lamps-table-lamp-designer-lamp-natural?ref=shop_home_active_3" target="_blank">natural bamboo lamp from bamboobg</a></span></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://img0.etsystatic.com/018/0/5180629/il_570xN.575119498_9acn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://img0.etsystatic.com/018/0/5180629/il_570xN.575119498_9acn.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/182307956/stehekin-handmade-lampwork-art-glass?ref=shop_home_active_12" target="_blank">Lampwork Art Glass Focal Bead from FlamingFoolsLampwork</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-4-how-to-name-your-business.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-5-trim-your-expenses.html" target="_blank">Day 5</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-6-how-to-price-your-product.html" target="_blank">Day 6</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-7-packaging-101.html" target="_blank">Day 7</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-8-shipping-101.html" target="_blank">Day 8</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-9-product-photography.html" target="_blank">Day 9</a></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-32206637896189816332014-03-14T14:29:00.000-07:002014-03-17T10:04:51.072-07:00Day 9. Product Photography.<div class="MsoNormal">I’m selling online most of my jewelry, which means my customer cannot touch or wear the product. That is why product image is so important – this is the only way for me to show how good it is. I’m constantly looking for a better way of making pictures; I want my customer to feel the beauty of the product just by looking to its image.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The following image I had when I just started, perhaps in the “before Etsy” times. I like it. However, it does not give the whole picture. For instance, looking to this image I have no idea what clasp look like or what the real length of the chain. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uRm_48MTGW8/UyNiWj_ES1I/AAAAAAAABA0/oIM7X731px0/s1600/circling5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uRm_48MTGW8/UyNiWj_ES1I/AAAAAAAABA0/oIM7X731px0/s1600/circling5.jpg" height="400" width="322" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m glad Etsy exists because it gives me ability to add up to 5 images for the same jewelry. I’m almost always utilizing all of them and am trying to show my product from different angles with as much details as possible. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><a name='more'></a><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I think pictures on a model are always good. At least, based on my statistic on Facebook I always got more views for the model images. Working with a model is not as easy as it looks like. I hope the<a href="http://digital-photography-school.com/posing-guide-photographing-women-2#.UjyVgtAtU2k.reddit" target="_blank"> 21 Sample Poses for Photographing Women</a> <span class="hps">article </span>may give you some insights on the poses and angles that work the best.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nwvRmSQ5QPg/UyNmq-AdIwI/AAAAAAAABBA/e2oiy8O4Vlk/s1600/Black-and-Silver-Lace5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nwvRmSQ5QPg/UyNmq-AdIwI/AAAAAAAABBA/e2oiy8O4Vlk/s1600/Black-and-Silver-Lace5.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U0U88gtBysY/SuDOet6jAjI/AAAAAAAAAQc/xcsvr04Rzeo/s1600/Fall7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U0U88gtBysY/SuDOet6jAjI/AAAAAAAAAQc/xcsvr04Rzeo/s1600/Fall7.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Lighting is very important for a good picture. I was experimenting with different types of lights and so far the best pictures I made are on the natural sun light. I have to admit though, that I do not have professional equipment (<span class="hps">except</span> <span class="hps">a light</span> <span class="hps">box</span>) and have no plans to invest a lot of money into it. But if you do, take a look to the <a href="http://www.tabletopstudio.com/documents/jewelry_photography.htm#equipmen" target="_blank">Table TopStudio</a> site – this is quite an interesting guide on how to use artificial lighting in jewelry photography:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Using natural light is a bit difficult for me because there are only so many sunny days in the year (I’m in New Hampshire). Usually, I perform a photo session only once in a while, when weather is cooperative and I have a good light. Sometimes several of my items are sitting and waiting for a good weather to be photographed. I make 20-30 images of the same product in different angles, using different backgrounds.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Background is another complex question. It is better to have a monotone background, but a plain white is too boring to me. I love more some sort of a texture, may be a piece of fabric, where each pleat adds shadow…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t3in_DyodaE/UyNpqYjFI1I/AAAAAAAABBU/T3rcwyD6s04/s1600/AmethystN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t3in_DyodaE/UyNpqYjFI1I/AAAAAAAABBU/T3rcwyD6s04/s1600/AmethystN.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Also I’m trying to avoid making all images look alike. It is easy to fall into this trap: when I found a nice angle and a contrast background and the picture look just right, I’m naturally trying to use the same “environment” for several of my products. And each of them look very good, but when I’m posting those images on Etsy and they place all of them on the single page, all my nice looking images become one mediocre image where eye cannot recognize individual objects. I think this is better to use slightly different angle and position, so every image distinctly recognizable even on a page with a dozen similar images.<br /><br /><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps">I</span>'m really <span class="hps">interested in</span> <span class="hps">your opinion. </span></span><span class="hps">Here are 4</span> <span class="hps">pictures of my</span> <span class="hps">bracelet</span>, <span class="hps">which one</span> <span class="hps alt-edited">do you like most</span>?<br /><div class="g-unit" id="gt-res-c"><div id="gt-res-p"><div id="gt-res-data"><div id="gt-res-wrap"><div class="almost_half_cell" id="gt-res-content"><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3Ojtnd5Ojg/UyNw5EpeWzI/AAAAAAAABBk/eh6dZfv4AU0/s1600/pinkBracelet4d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3Ojtnd5Ojg/UyNw5EpeWzI/AAAAAAAABBk/eh6dZfv4AU0/s1600/pinkBracelet4d.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /><div id="surveyMonkeyInfo" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; color: #666666; font-size: 10px; padding: 4px; width: 400px;"><div><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="300" id="sm_e_s" src="https://www.surveymonkey.com/jsEmbed.aspx?sm=CmcKVJ9B4ZBRbibZMUor1w_3d_3d" style="border: 0px; padding-bottom: 4px;" width="400"></iframe></div>Create your free online surveys with <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/">SurveyMonkey</a> , the world's leading questionnaire tool.</div><br />Thank you!<br /><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-4-how-to-name-your-business.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-5-trim-your-expenses.html" target="_blank">Day 5</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-6-how-to-price-your-product.html" target="_blank">Day 6</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-7-packaging-101.html" target="_blank">Day 7</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-8-shipping-101.html" target="_blank">Day8</a></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-69572739196532410862014-03-13T10:03:00.001-07:002014-03-14T14:25:08.667-07:00Day 8. Shipping 101<div class="MsoNormal">When I just started to do jewelry, shipping was confusing and difficult to some degree. Mostly because there are so many options available – USPS, FedEx, UPS. I use 100% of the time USPS standard services – I found that they have a really good prices and fantastic delivery time. I’m using USPS service for international deliveries as well and so far I had no issues.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">As simple as it sounds, using US Post Office requires understanding of all options available and they have pretty wide range! I think Lisa has a great summary of USPS services, so if you new to it, take a look:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.marketyourcreativity.com/2013/06/how-to-build-your-own-creative-business-shipping-101-day-8/" target="_blank">"How to Build Your Own Creative Business: Shipping 101"</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I completely agree with the Lisa’s look to insurance – I bought it only once when I had to mail relatively expensive piece overseas. Other than that, I trust USPS, they are doing fantastic job!<br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />The only thing I want to add is Etsy and PayPal they both have “shipping label” service, where you can print shipping labels online. It does require some extra work, though. I had to buy a small scale (does not have to be a specialized post office scale. A kitchen or food scale that can weight small objects with a good precision will do the job. Mine says that it can weight objects with precision 1/8 oz). And, of course, it requires you to have a package – check my post “<a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-7-packaging-101.html" target="_blank">Packaging 101</a>” <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Usually I print shipping labels from PayPal and only occasionally from Etsy. Printing labels saves time in post office; it is more convenient and also could be less expensive. I mail most of my orders with tracking number and was really surprised to find out that tracking number in the post office costs 90 cents while for the same package with printed online label it costs only 20 cents. I can live with extra 20 cents paid for a piece of mind.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3BjCeiklbcg/UyHkPgbtS5I/AAAAAAAABAk/9vIXlz9QMrc/s1600/summer-flower-bouquet-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3BjCeiklbcg/UyHkPgbtS5I/AAAAAAAABAk/9vIXlz9QMrc/s1600/summer-flower-bouquet-2.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-4-how-to-name-your-business.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-5-trim-your-expenses.html" target="_blank">Day 5</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-6-how-to-price-your-product.html" target="_blank">Day 6</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-7-packaging-101.html" target="_blank">Day 7</a></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-85823706118968933272014-03-12T06:16:00.000-07:002014-03-13T10:02:35.144-07:00Day 7. Packaging 101.<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I’m taking packaging seriously, very seriously. I believe that there is only one chance to make a first impression and the first impression in an order delivered by mail will be made by package. More than that, I’m making and selling jewelries and very often people are buying it for a special occasion. It could be as “casual” as Valentine’s Day or as unforgettable as wedding. So I really want to make it unique. Yes, also beautiful and confident <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> (I’m getting use to my new slogan).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">However, it does not mean that packaging must be expensive. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Of course, best deal you can get by buying larger quantities. This is what we all do from time to time. I also got the rule to go to the local stores after big holidays - usually, you can get pretty good deals there with up to 50-60% off for a beautiful boxes and ribbons. Michael’s, AC More, Christmas Tree Shop – those are my favorites. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">For example, for these beautiful boxes I paid $.50. There were 3 pieces in a package, so it is about 17 cents per box.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a5RTK4S-vNM/UyBc99ucsvI/AAAAAAAABAQ/qn_Aml4nT2k/s1600/package4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a5RTK4S-vNM/UyBc99ucsvI/AAAAAAAABAQ/qn_Aml4nT2k/s1600/package4.jpg" height="320" width="258" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormal">This box is very nice for small jewelries like bracelet or earrings. It has a screen cover, which makes it really unique and extremely easy to work with – I do not event have to open a box to see what is inside! I bought them in the Michael’s store for $12 per 30 boxes ($.40 per box).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-akgdMf-KvR4/UyBc9FqDgmI/AAAAAAAABAA/yicMdYP3vrA/s1600/package1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-akgdMf-KvR4/UyBc9FqDgmI/AAAAAAAABAA/yicMdYP3vrA/s1600/package1.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-utuvBVSezJU/UyBc9ZTRE2I/AAAAAAAABAM/7wHh_FLZe_E/s1600/package2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-utuvBVSezJU/UyBc9ZTRE2I/AAAAAAAABAM/7wHh_FLZe_E/s1600/package2.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">It may look like I’m paying a bit more than I could, but I do really want to make that first impression. Also, I do not have to buy large quantities in the local stores to get a good deal – all I need to do is just keep an eye on sale coupons and do not forget to visit them after big holidays. Having my supply small gives me more flexibility money wise, more packaging variety (means more fun to me) and also helps me to keep my closets unclogged.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7gHwUtxMd1E/UyBc90IW4gI/AAAAAAAABAU/A2stGI_Xszw/s1600/package5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7gHwUtxMd1E/UyBc90IW4gI/AAAAAAAABAU/A2stGI_Xszw/s1600/package5.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eC6FXFZ8Woo/UyBc9WkiwaI/AAAAAAAABAE/nW5W3MERwJk/s1600/package3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eC6FXFZ8Woo/UyBc9WkiwaI/AAAAAAAABAE/nW5W3MERwJk/s1600/package3.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-4-how-to-name-your-business.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-5-trim-your-expenses.html" target="_blank">Day 5</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-6-how-to-price-your-product.html" target="_blank">Day 6</a></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0Salem, NH, USA42.788555300000013 -71.200891242.602129800000014 -71.5236147 42.974980800000012 -70.8781677tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-62672337316616609382014-03-11T09:31:00.000-07:002014-03-11T09:34:14.703-07:00Day 6. How to Price Your Product<div class="MsoNormal">I always thought about total cost of the product in terms of how much materials cost me and how much time I spend making it. Of course, I've never taken into consideration time for developing the idea and struggling in finalizing it (would be nice to also include here time and costs for traveling to a beautiful islands looking for an inspiration). Are those the only expenses I have to think about?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Reading more about true costs, I started to think more about hidden costs. We all know that selling on Etsy requires paying a fee, using PayPal requires paying a fee, there are shipping expenses, product packaging, handling and processing… Have you ever calculated all of those costs? Have you ever included it into your final sale price? And I’m not even talking about time required for photography, image editing, advertisement… I’d better stop now and try to calculate hidden costs for a single item - one of my latest items “Saphira”.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-02RiWADfkRQ/Ux84DsLx48I/AAAAAAAAA_g/zuYM1NG4x60/s1600/Saphira4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-02RiWADfkRQ/Ux84DsLx48I/AAAAAAAAA_g/zuYM1NG4x60/s1600/Saphira4.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h1 style="color: #333333; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: white 0px 1px 0px; width: auto; word-wrap: break-word;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/85799010/saphira-chainmaille-necklace-with-fire?ref=shop_home_active_2" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">"Saphira" Chainmaille Necklace with Fire Crackle Agate<a name='more'></a></a></h1><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YLHp-8QPD5g/Ux84DUTIxVI/AAAAAAAAA_c/MNflZacuNRc/s1600/Saphira6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YLHp-8QPD5g/Ux84DUTIxVI/AAAAAAAAA_c/MNflZacuNRc/s1600/Saphira6.jpg" height="320" width="245" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Current sale price is $59.99.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Etsy Listing Fee - $0.20 (fixed price)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Etsy Sale Fee - $2.10 (3.5%)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Packaging - $2.00 (it includes middle size box, bubble wrap, post card)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">PayPal Fee - $2.04 (2.5% + $.30 per transaction)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Shipping – I charge shipping fee separately, therefore shipping is covered by a customer.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">What did I miss? Marketing and advertisement – I’m still struggling to compute it on per item basis. I probably have to include small (proportional) piece of office and web site support, but decided to ignore it for now.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So, even without all those small pieces, I can see that I will have to pay $6.34 in all kinds of fees right away. This is 10.5% of expenses I've never thought about! My conclusion – I have to raise prices.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Lisa in her <a href="http://www.marketyourcreativity.com/2013/04/build-your-own-creative-business-how-to-price-your-product-day-6/" target="_blank">creative business series</a> explaining the following pricing formula:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Wholesale Price = Cost of Materials + (Labor * 2)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Retails Price = Wholesale Price * 2</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Now I really have to raise prices! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">P.S.</div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Does it really require charging more to become a better business woman? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-4-how-to-name-your-business.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-5-trim-your-expenses.html" target="_blank">Day 5</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com2Salem, NH, USA42.788555300000013 -71.200891242.602129800000014 -71.5236147 42.974980800000012 -70.8781677tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-73279276076589332592014-03-10T08:39:00.002-07:002014-03-10T08:39:49.526-07:00Day 5. Trim Your ExpensesI think at this moment I’m doing relatively good job here. At least, I love to think this way. Mostly, because I’m doing it for a few years now and soon enough I got the list of my favorite places.<br /><br />For example, bubble envelops I bought few years ago on eBay for 17 cents per item. Cheap to buy, expensive to keep – I have to fight with my husband for a space in a storage room for a large box which sits there…<br /><br />Most of the beads and stones I buy from Fire Mountain Gems. They have all kinds of wholesale discounts. The best discount I got when I was teaching classes in Arizona’s Tucson Gem Show. Fire Mountain Gems were our sponsors and I have to admit, they are quite generous, I’m very thankful to them.<br /><br />By the way, <br /><a name='more'></a>Tucson Gem Show is probably the best place to buy all kinds of stuff – beads, stones, pearls, wire, tools – you name it! You can find pretty good prices there too.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_AC9EOYjztg/Ux3YdtWpKiI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/X7qNjQ-DVsc/s1600/DSC01350.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_AC9EOYjztg/Ux3YdtWpKiI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/X7qNjQ-DVsc/s1600/DSC01350.gif" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WFTYkWLmo1o/Ux3Ydt73nVI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/wEuh0uF1MCo/s1600/DSC01364.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WFTYkWLmo1o/Ux3Ydt73nVI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/wEuh0uF1MCo/s1600/DSC01364.gif" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UB_lYSvIN6Q/Ux3YdqsFahI/AAAAAAAAA-M/JpQX6ONThK8/s1600/DSC01360.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UB_lYSvIN6Q/Ux3YdqsFahI/AAAAAAAAA-M/JpQX6ONThK8/s1600/DSC01360.gif" height="322" width="400" /></a></div> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aFS2C99hkyg/Ux3YeeIy2yI/AAAAAAAAA-g/Vt9U5FT03SQ/s1600/DSC01366.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aFS2C99hkyg/Ux3YeeIy2yI/AAAAAAAAA-g/Vt9U5FT03SQ/s1600/DSC01366.gif" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><br />But the best price ever I got in Bermuda. Hard to believe? There is a large beach with sea glass in Bermuda. This is a beautiful place and almost unlimited source of colorful, which is rear, sea glass! Absolutely free. Local beaches are always helpful too – I brought a lot of beautiful sea shells from South Carolina.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qv0fFVDeGGo/Ux3bKmbZQYI/AAAAAAAAA-w/CU3TczaUwpw/s1600/DSC01097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qv0fFVDeGGo/Ux3bKmbZQYI/AAAAAAAAA-w/CU3TczaUwpw/s1600/DSC01097.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DYmyrRiRAp8/Ux3bKQn-MvI/AAAAAAAAA-0/I0q-K5Lp0dw/s1600/DSC02966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DYmyrRiRAp8/Ux3bKQn-MvI/AAAAAAAAA-0/I0q-K5Lp0dw/s1600/DSC02966.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><br />I’m looking for inspiration and quality materials everywhere I go. If we travel somewhere I always spend some time in a local bead store or a gallery (preferably both). I rear found a store with better prices than online wholesale store; but occasionally I can find in a local store something really unique and very often not very expensive.<br /><br /><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-4-how-to-name-your-business.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com1Salem, NH, USA42.788555300000013 -71.200891242.602129800000014 -71.5236147 42.974980800000012 -70.8781677tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-76343638241188306922014-03-07T06:46:00.000-08:002014-03-09T09:36:40.365-07:00Day 4a<div class="MsoNormal">Changing name may sounds like an easy step – what could be easier than changing a few words?! Apparently, this is not the case for a business name (perhaps it is still easier than changing a last name) – as soon as I changed my shop name on Etsy, I realized that I also need to change my banner. Got it! I like new banner even more!<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1--rv9Dt6xI/UxncNMcpLSI/AAAAAAAAA9s/DNET9pj7s1U/s1600/BanerSoMeJewelry1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1--rv9Dt6xI/UxncNMcpLSI/AAAAAAAAA9s/DNET9pj7s1U/s1600/BanerSoMeJewelry1.jpg" height="42" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>But the more I think about my new name and new slogan, the more I feel that this new name defines my thinking about the whole business. I feel this is not just a few words, but rather a new concept of doing business. I started to think about my business’s mission, I want and I need to change my “about” page, shop description page…<br /><a name='more'></a> I think, you got the idea. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">By the way, if you are interested, this is very easy to change the name on Etsy. The only caveat is they allow you to change the name only once. Also, Etsy is nice enough to promise maintaining links to the old name as is – all of them will be redirected to the new shop. However, it also makes it difficult to find an untaken name, because some shops are already closed or renamed, you can’t find them anywhere, but Etsy is keeping preserving those names and I was getting “name already been taken” error quite a few times.</div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">I will continue my journey in a couple of days. I do not want to leave an unfinished business behind – changing business name is more work than it looks like at first!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MHKX26KVE4I/UxpDWAJFYuI/AAAAAAAAA98/ZOVuh3uF2yk/s1600/WhiteGoldShellN5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MHKX26KVE4I/UxpDWAJFYuI/AAAAAAAAA98/ZOVuh3uF2yk/s1600/WhiteGoldShellN5.jpg" height="161" width="200" /></a></div><h1 style="color: #333333; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: white 0px 1px 0px; width: auto; word-wrap: break-word;"><span itemprop="name" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/96685480/white-and-gold-beaded-necklace-with?ref=shop_home_active_10" target="_blank">White and Gold Beaded Necklace With Pearl Pendant</a></span></span></h1></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-54502499296721165462014-03-06T08:24:00.001-08:002014-03-06T11:19:15.337-08:00Day 4. How to Name Your Business<div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">When I just started to work on this marketing program, my husband asked me if I want to change the name of the shop. I saw something about business name in the program topics and answered that I will think about it on Day 4. And today is Day 4.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I read instructions and started to think about my designs and art, how to describe it? How my buyers may feel when they wear beaded bracelet or a chain maille necklace I made? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It is difficult. I was jumping from one idea to another, from one name to another and… start questioning if I have to change the current name at all. I was almost ready to give up.<br /><a name='more'></a>Finally, instead of trying to get into my client’s shoes, I started to think how do I feel wearing my favorite pearl necklace? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZA4IYHQMcQ8/Uxiezz-ESRI/AAAAAAAAA9U/sC8OmiTRP9g/s1600/PinkPearlAndGoldN2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZA4IYHQMcQ8/Uxiezz-ESRI/AAAAAAAAA9U/sC8OmiTRP9g/s1600/PinkPearlAndGoldN2.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a></div><h1 style="color: #333333; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: white 0px 1px 0px; width: auto; word-wrap: break-word;"><span itemprop="name" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/101129672/pink-pearls-and-gold-crochet-necklace" target="_blank">Pink Pearls and Gold Crochet Necklace - Treasures of the Sea</a></span></span></h1><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-70MWLRIIa3A/Uxie6lyXQSI/AAAAAAAAA9c/6eTAlYEc6iE/s1600/PinkPearlAndGoldN3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-70MWLRIIa3A/Uxie6lyXQSI/AAAAAAAAA9c/6eTAlYEc6iE/s1600/PinkPearlAndGoldN3.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I feel warm. I feel beautiful. I love to feel its weight on my neck. I feel confident wearing it because this is so me!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Yes! This is so me! Finally I realized that one particular phrase always makes me happy. I love when someone trying my jewelry saying “Oh, this is so me!” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So the new shop name emerged: So Me Jewelry. And my slogan is going to be “Unique. Beautiful. Confident.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I like it. I’m changing my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SoMeJewelryShop" target="_blank">shop</a> name today.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-new-day-new-life.html" target="_blank">Beginning</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">Day </a><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-3-who-is-your-role-model.html" target="_blank">3</a></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-90857001494382991622014-03-05T08:00:00.000-08:002014-03-06T08:26:22.771-08:00Day 3. Who is your role model?<div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Yesterday, I identified top 20 shops on Etsy and spent quite a lot of time today checking them out. My goal was to find a role model – a shop I would like very much. In my mind, a “role model” also is a business I could use as a benchmark, as my ultimate destination of happiness and completeness… </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Instead, I was really surprised to figure out that instead of a role model, I found small pieces, distinct elements that I love. They are spread across many shops, they spark here and there. I noticed, that I started to see them clearly and I started to see what elements, features, sometimes even colors I want to have in my own shop.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m so excited about this very new to me process, so I want to share with you a few changes that I made right away. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"></div><ul><li>I noticed that in my listings I usually name exact names of a semi-precious stone I use. For example, purl, amethyst, garnet… However, most of the “top shops” are using more generic names, something like “semi-precious stone”. I started experimenting with search and quickly found out that it is much easier to find a good piece of art using generic terms. Conclusion: I started to add generic terms to my jewelry descriptions.</li></ul><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"></div><ul><li>Another thing I noticed is many successful shops are giving more detailed descriptions to their products. I think it is helpful for search engine – more keywords, relevance or whatever geeks call it. And also it was interesting to read. So I started to add to my descriptions a bit more info about stones I’m using.</li></ul><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;"></div><ul><li>I do not know what is the cause and what is the effect, but I can see that shops with more sales usually have more facebook likes as well. Interestingly enough, they do not hesitate to add social media links to the individual item descriptions. To all of them! And you know it does not bother me when I read such descriptions! So, I’m going to think about it as a role model and add links to my facebook page right into product description section.</li></ul><br /><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Here is my first items I have changed:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vxHKhVhNkuw/Uxa2rqAKr9I/AAAAAAAAA88/SUZ_R3wcwMM/s1600/GoldPearlB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vxHKhVhNkuw/Uxa2rqAKr9I/AAAAAAAAA88/SUZ_R3wcwMM/s1600/GoldPearlB.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a></div><h2 style="color: #333333; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: white 0px 1px 0px; width: auto; word-wrap: break-word;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/102716003/innocence-bracelet-with-pearls-rose?ref=shop_home_active_1" target="_blank"> Innocence Bracelet with Pearls, Rose Quartz and Green Aventurine</a></span></span></h2><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UYoVTcjPCec/Uxa21ToRHTI/AAAAAAAAA9E/CzuooY5YWPU/s1600/PearlGreenAventurimN5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UYoVTcjPCec/Uxa21ToRHTI/AAAAAAAAA9E/CzuooY5YWPU/s1600/PearlGreenAventurimN5.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a></div><h1 style="color: #333333; font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-shadow: white 0px 1px 0px; width: auto; word-wrap: break-word;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/111757406/innocence-necklace-with-pearl-aventurine?ref=listing-shop-header-1" target="_blank">Innocence Necklace with Pearl, Aventurine and Rose Quartz</a></span></span></h1><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">How do you like it? Is it better or worse?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, <a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-2-product-marketability.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0Salem, NH, USA42.788555300000013 -71.200891242.602129800000014 -71.5236147 42.974980800000012 -70.8781677tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-40198829398024674822014-03-04T08:37:00.000-08:002014-03-04T08:44:54.081-08:00Day 2. Product Marketability.<div class="MsoNormal">Marketing is something I was always having difficulties with. It’s always been a mystery to me, but I hope I can do better today.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I guess I have to start with visibility of my work. In order to test it I went to Google and searched all bunch of different keywords I could think of: beaded jewelry, bead crochet jewelry, bead weaving jewelry… - everything I could associate directly with my work, which mostly consists of beaded jewelry and bead crochet jewelry. The results were not surprising at all – the second, sometimes the third link is always pointed me to Etsy. Great news! It seems that I do not need to spread my efforts over many web sites – if I can make it visible on Etsy that would be good enough. At least for now.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Do you know that there are more than a 1000 jewelry shops registered on Etsy with total number of sales greater than 1000?</div><a name='more'></a>This is where I started to analyze my Etsy surrounding. Interestingly enough, first shop with beaded jewelry I did not found in the top stores. However, I found about 20 beaded jewelry shops with about 100 – 200 sales per year.<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The average price on those shops is quite different – from $12 to $1500 per item. I guess Etsy allows you to find a buyer on any item for any price. Of course, price must be reasonable - for example, $1500 item is a necklace with genuine ruby stones.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">Also I think it shows that market of bead weaving jewelry is relatively small. This type of jewelry is not as popular as “Alex & Anny” bracelets and therefore requires more effort to find my customer. At the same time, I could identify relatively large number of similar size shops, which makes me think that there is no special secret in it and if I market my designs right, I shall be able to find my customer who will love and appreciate my work.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5rvIZzxL8UY/UxVtfIbggAI/AAAAAAAAA8s/DMYdFrcqp3o/s1600/RedHeartB3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5rvIZzxL8UY/UxVtfIbggAI/AAAAAAAAA8s/DMYdFrcqp3o/s1600/RedHeartB3.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/178194713/shimmering-heart-beaded-bracelet-with?ref=shop_home_active_10" style="font-family: Guardian-EgypTT, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 25px;" target="_blank">Shimmering Heart Bracelet</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sfbeads.blogspot.com/2014/03/day-1-where-to-start.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0Salem, NH53.748710796898969 -60.820312528.226676296898969 -102.1289065 79.270745296898966 -19.5117185tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-58643381350603879372014-03-03T13:11:00.000-08:002014-03-03T13:11:37.444-08:00Day 1. Where to start?<div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is an easy and a difficult question all at once. Essentially, it is a starting point of any art, any action. I think the answer is lying at the bottom of my heart. So what is that I love to do?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I know that I love to make jewelry and my designs are product of a burning desire to express myself, my feelings. It usually starts with a beautiful sunrise or sunset, a colorful flower, a tree, a seashell… Pretty much anything can start the process in my head where all of a sudden I start seeing material I want to use; I begin to know what technic I would need to use with that particular material to express that particular feeling. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I use quite a few distinctly different technics. For example, some time ago I made a necklace “Black Sea”, which was inspired by a beautiful Black Sea sunset. The technique I used there is beaded crochet.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SOSavcLfZis/UxTXy3l7MJI/AAAAAAAAA74/6sZg7wvhG28/s1600/Black-Sea3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SOSavcLfZis/UxTXy3l7MJI/AAAAAAAAA74/6sZg7wvhG28/s1600/Black-Sea3.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><a name='more'></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UAfCQgq91Po/UxTXkpaqAuI/AAAAAAAAA7w/d7Fl9KL-Il0/s1600/black+seaCirmea_Laspi_Sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UAfCQgq91Po/UxTXkpaqAuI/AAAAAAAAA7w/d7Fl9KL-Il0/s1600/black+seaCirmea_Laspi_Sunset.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This “<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/71680964/beaded-necklace-lily-of-the-valley?ref=shop_home_active_19" target="_blank">Lilies of the valley</a>” is made of seed beads and pearls in beadsweaving technique.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_j41r_P1VDo/UxTYfMSUv_I/AAAAAAAAA8I/ejAQ6JdoFUY/s1600/lily-of-the-valley1.jpg" height="322" width="400" /><span id="goog_634674324"></span><span id="goog_634674325"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ajndwsjvfgo/UxTYjEHdbFI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/ugDRkx-RAG8/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ajndwsjvfgo/UxTYjEHdbFI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/ugDRkx-RAG8/s1600/download.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps atn">Necklace "</span>Arizona" <span class="hps">I did</span> <span class="hps alt-edited">after</span> <span class="hps">visited</span> <span class="hps">Phoenix</span> <span class="hps">in Arizona. </span><span class="hps">I used the</span> <span class="hps">chainmail technique.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zOCMlT4D5U0/UxTbtVFW-sI/AAAAAAAAA8c/3xJV3gwsA_0/s1600/ArizonaNecklace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zOCMlT4D5U0/UxTbtVFW-sI/AAAAAAAAA8c/3xJV3gwsA_0/s1600/ArizonaNecklace.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="hps"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">It is never boring to me to learn new technics and to make new jewelries. I love what I do and happy that I can do what I love.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0Salem, NH, USA42.788555300000013 -71.200891242.602129800000014 -71.5236147 42.974980800000012 -70.8781677tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-84551033844331630182014-03-02T08:08:00.000-08:002014-03-10T08:53:22.514-07:00A New Day - A New Life<div class="MsoNormal">Woo-hoo! This is my 100th post!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is quite a milestone for me and I want to make it special. Special in a many ways.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">First of all, I have changed design of my blog. Why? I’m tired of winter! I really love summer, sun and warm weather and I want to see more sunshine and bright colors. Hope you like it too.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Just as much as I love sunshine, I love to design and make jewelries. I’m trying to make it unique and personal, my work is a reflection of myself.</div><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormal">It is also important to me to share my work with others, with you. I do believe, that if someone likes it or share it on her page, or even include into a “treasury”, that means to me that I have at least one soul mate who understands me and likes my design. Therefore you can find my designs and my work on “<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SFBeads?ref=pr_shop_more" target="_blank">SFBeads</a>” Etsy store.<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GxK_6EHE7rs/Ux3eYxy4F4I/AAAAAAAAA_I/eXX_2ukHUJI/s1600/BigButterfly9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GxK_6EHE7rs/Ux3eYxy4F4I/AAAAAAAAA_I/eXX_2ukHUJI/s1600/BigButterfly9.jpg" height="161" width="200" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c3ClKfGViUw/Ux3eYuZKw1I/AAAAAAAAA_E/GXXm4jHLq3s/s1600/AmethystN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c3ClKfGViUw/Ux3eYuZKw1I/AAAAAAAAA_E/GXXm4jHLq3s/s1600/AmethystN.jpg" height="161" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And my store is another area I would like to change. Well, in fact, I want to change the way I think about it and make it more effective. Looking for an answer of how to do it, I found Lisa Jacobs's web site about creative marketing strategy “<a href="http://www.marketyourcreativity.com/" target="_blank">Marketing Creativity</a>”and her series <a href="http://www.marketyourcreativity.com/?s=31" target="_blank">"31 Days to Build Your Own Creative Business"</a>. I've decided to give it a try!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m not a business person and did not really pay much attention to the business side of the deal. So now I’m going to change it and follow Lisa’s recommendations (this is where I want to start) and will share with you guys my results. I’m planning to keep very detailed diary on this blog, I do not expect it to be easy for me and hope you can help me. PLEASE, comment on my posts, correct me and join me in my journey! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>First day and first article is almost ready. I’m planning to post it tomorrow.SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com3Salem, NH, USA42.788555300000013 -71.200891242.602129800000014 -71.5236147 42.974980800000012 -70.8781677tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-35145380275791774832013-02-19T16:39:00.001-08:002013-02-19T16:39:16.023-08:00Как носить жгут-трансформер<a href="http://www.livemaster.ru/topic/178155-kak-nosit-zhgut-transformer?">Как носить жгут-трансформер</a>: Украшение-трансформер в виде длинного жгута с застежкой – любимое украшение многих женщин, и это вполне оправданно, ведь, несмотря на его скромный на первый взгляд вид, это украшение можно носить таким количеством…SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-48988610959047366162013-02-09T21:15:00.000-08:002013-02-09T21:15:50.005-08:00Animal print: Tiger<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JtnM9DubFj0/URcp4aw4uKI/AAAAAAAAA5k/kz7H3J2RUOQ/s1600/TigerSet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JtnM9DubFj0/URcp4aw4uKI/AAAAAAAAA5k/kz7H3J2RUOQ/s320/TigerSet.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="hps">The second set</span> <span class="hps">of a series </span><span class="hps">Animal</span> <span class="hps">print:</span> <span class="hps">Tiger.</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="hps">I finished it</span> <span class="hps">a while ago,</span> <span class="hps">but forgot to</span> <span class="hps">show</span> <span class="hps">:-))</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tmjSc65GsxM/URcpt_zjUlI/AAAAAAAAA5E/BPc1bKszB08/s1600/TigerB3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tmjSc65GsxM/URcpt_zjUlI/AAAAAAAAA5E/BPc1bKszB08/s320/TigerB3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">Easy and gorgeous to wear! The bracelet measures 8 in.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/117950142/tiger-multi-strand-bracelet" target="_blank">https://www.etsy.com/listing/117950142/tiger-multi-strand-bracelet</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RP3eKwwb150/URcpt9DEZEI/AAAAAAAAA5I/-wr2DX1qSxo/s1600/TigerB4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RP3eKwwb150/URcpt9DEZEI/AAAAAAAAA5I/-wr2DX1qSxo/s320/TigerB4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> Long Multi-Strand Necklace </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">The first strand is 33 inches long and the longest one is 41 inches long, all measured with the chain that goes around the neck. The necklace is finished off with a lobster clasp. This necklace is very funky!!!</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MGvivKFH5-8/URcpuAyog4I/AAAAAAAAA5M/otQazS7ps7M/s1600/TigerN1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MGvivKFH5-8/URcpuAyog4I/AAAAAAAAA5M/otQazS7ps7M/s320/TigerN1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">The pictures can't capture the beauty of this necklace, you really need to get this one home and then you can fully appreciate it.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/117949510/tiger-long-multi-strand-necklace" target="_blank"> https://www.etsy.com/listing/117949510/tiger-long-multi-strand-necklace</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wDFdTFfdGIs/URcpuflnHbI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/bnjgSJGRXwA/s1600/TigerNBig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wDFdTFfdGIs/URcpuflnHbI/AAAAAAAAA5Q/bnjgSJGRXwA/s320/TigerNBig.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-2559570409773320572013-01-22T14:33:00.001-08:002014-03-16T21:04:46.409-07:0010 ways to say: "I love you"<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span class="hps alt-edited">I love everything</span> <span class="hps">different</span>, that's <span class="hps">why I love</span> <span class="hps">Etsy.</span> <span class="hps">Here you</span> <span class="hps">can find the most</span> <span class="hps">unusual things,</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">most of</span> <span class="hps">them are</span> <span class="hps">hand</span>made and<span class="hps alt-edited"> </span><span style="line-height: 16px;">one of a kind.</span></i></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></i></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/89165397/i-love-you-banner-black-white-demask?ref=sr_gallery_36&ga_search_query=I+love+you&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=1&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5626917/il_570xN.308767125.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 16px;">by </span></i></span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/JustBeccuz?ref=top_trail" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><b>JustBeccuz</b></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/94585839/hand-stamped-jewelry-i-love-you-to-the?ref=sr_gallery_38&ga_search_query=I+love+you&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=1&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank"><span id="goog_405630134"></span><img border="0" src="http://img1.etsystatic.com/013/0/6064930/il_570xN.416996889_9a72.jpg" height="235" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="line-height: 16px;">by </span></i></span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/BeeBaublesJewelry?ref=top_trail" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><b>BeeBaublesJewelry</b></span></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/80539063/personalized-ribbon-4-yards-i-love-you?ref=sr_gallery_12&ga_search_query=I+love+you&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/6091781/il_570xN.249654228.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">by <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheLonelyHeart?ref=top_trail" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><b>TheLonelyHeart</b></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://img3.etsystatic.com/008/0/5772575/il_570xN.390036575_d61o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img3.etsystatic.com/008/0/5772575/il_570xN.390036575_d61o.jpg" height="236" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">by <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/landbgraphics?ref=top_trail" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><b>landbgraphics</b></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/109170354/i-love-you-more-engraved-beach-pebble-by?ref=sr_gallery_17&ga_search_query=i+love+you&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://img1.etsystatic.com/001/0/5255184/il_570xN.374180209_5gb3.jpg" height="252" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">by <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/sjengraving?ref=top_trail" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><b>sjengraving</b></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/65655637/i-love-you-to-the-moon-and-back-wood?ref=sr_gallery_22&ga_search_query=i+love+you&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/6160832/il_570xN.275070492.jpg" height="275" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">by <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/MulberryCreek?ref=top_trail" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">MulberryCreek</span></b></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/104866344/i-love-you-i-know-star-wars-themed-mug?ref=sr_gallery_28&ga_search_query=i+love+you&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=1&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://img2.etsystatic.com/004/0/5732836/il_570xN.385123310_hemv.jpg" height="317" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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font-size: x-small;"><b>DanasPaperFlowers</b></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/78295340/i-love-you-spoon-hand-stamped-vintage?ref=sr_gallery_5&ga_search_query=i+love+you+spoon&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_ref=auto1&ga_search_type=all" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/6337647/il_570xN.258811613.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">by <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/OliveSpoonStudio?ref=top_trail" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><b>OliveSpoonStudio</b></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-53180202552107060182013-01-16T17:45:00.000-08:002013-01-22T16:23:58.458-08:00Happy Valentine's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BtV5sDc_5Bg/UPdJ15D8hvI/AAAAAAAAA38/guMWZgYW3tA/s1600/HeartSilver4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BtV5sDc_5Bg/UPdJ15D8hvI/AAAAAAAAA38/guMWZgYW3tA/s320/HeartSilver4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Every year, the fourteenth day of the month of February has millions across the world presenting their loved ones with candy, flowers, chocolates and other lovely gifts. In many countries, restaurants and eateries are seen to be filled with couples who are eager to celebrate their relationship and the joy of their togetherness through delicious cuisines. There hardly seems to be a young man or woman who is not keen to make the most of the day.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6GzDuC1i_-o/UPdJ2BUNFKI/AAAAAAAAA4A/RUzia9IJViE/s1600/RedHotLoveSet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6GzDuC1i_-o/UPdJ2BUNFKI/AAAAAAAAA4A/RUzia9IJViE/s320/RedHotLoveSet.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">While the history of Valentine's Day is sometimes debated, it clearly links back to a Catholic saint named St. Valentine.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The problem is there are actually three St. Valentine's -- one a priest, one a bishop, and little is known about the third. All were martyrs.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">In 469 A.D., Pope Gelasius declared Feb. 14 a day to honor St. Valentine, one of these three men.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-YU7QCnSFI/UPdJ2qLlUYI/AAAAAAAAA4E/m8w12lsKsDg/s1600/2hearts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-YU7QCnSFI/UPdJ2qLlUYI/AAAAAAAAA4E/m8w12lsKsDg/s320/2hearts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">One legend says that a Roman emperor banned soldiers from marrying in the third century, but St. Valentine took issue with this. He became an advocate for soldiers and was executed as a result of his outspokenness.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6IjuUWY_oqk/UPdJ16BJK1I/AAAAAAAAA34/TyRKhbGmNDA/s1600/HeartCupper3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6IjuUWY_oqk/UPdJ16BJK1I/AAAAAAAAA34/TyRKhbGmNDA/s320/HeartCupper3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Another legend says St. Valentine was executed for his beliefs in Christianity and just before he died, he left a farewell note for a loved one and signed it "From Your Valentine."</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EYRGC9O6Cw4/UPdJ2nl_Q4I/AAAAAAAAA4I/ZSqtg5p39E0/s1600/earrings2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EYRGC9O6Cw4/UPdJ2nl_Q4I/AAAAAAAAA4I/ZSqtg5p39E0/s320/earrings2a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">A conventional and widely accepted belief about the holiday itself is that Valentine's Day grew out of a Middle Ages tradition of celebrating Feb. 14 as the day "the birds began to pair."</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ht6QoSSq6Qg/UPdKEjXOuyI/AAAAAAAAA4c/glgZ4qhZcL4/s1600/clockB5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ht6QoSSq6Qg/UPdKEjXOuyI/AAAAAAAAA4c/glgZ4qhZcL4/s320/clockB5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Happy Valentine's Day</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #2d8930; color: #cceedd; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.875px;">All of this and more you can buy </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/SFBeads?ref=pr_shop_more" style="background-color: #2d8930; color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.875px;" target="_blank">here</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-52596637936714922052013-01-08T15:13:00.000-08:002013-01-08T15:13:20.562-08:00Garnet is birthstone for January<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><em>"By her who is this month was born<br />No gem save garnets shall be worn<br />They will ensure her constancy<br />True friendship and fidelity."</em></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><em><br /></em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://ny-image3.etsy.com/012/0/5586444/il_570xN.412318791_f49w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://ny-image3.etsy.com/012/0/5586444/il_570xN.412318791_f49w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The warm, bright garnet stands in contrast to this cold month. Garnet brings to those born in January friendship, loyalty and sincerity, and the stone is said to have the power to ensure good health and protect its owner during travel.</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C9WfzvLpmwE/UOu9OJjlLeI/AAAAAAAAA20/sZDavHkM1sk/s1600/GarnetGift.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C9WfzvLpmwE/UOu9OJjlLeI/AAAAAAAAA20/sZDavHkM1sk/s320/GarnetGift.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ROUPRs3Cc-M/UOu9aHf7VUI/AAAAAAAAA3A/nx2pD2wu26U/s1600/GarnetGift2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ROUPRs3Cc-M/UOu9aHf7VUI/AAAAAAAAA3A/nx2pD2wu26U/s320/GarnetGift2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Garnets have been known to Man for thousands of years. Noah, it is said, used a garnet lantern to help him steer his ark through the dark night. Garnets are also found in jeweler from early Egyptian, Greek and Roman times. Many an early explorer and traveler liked to carry a garnet with him, for the garnet was popular as a talisman and protective stone, as it was believed to light up the night and protect its bearer from evil and disaster.</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WBPowYmxJnY/UOu9aS24LEI/AAAAAAAAA3E/IMIYfCMkvmM/s1600/GarnetLongCopperN4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WBPowYmxJnY/UOu9aS24LEI/AAAAAAAAA3E/IMIYfCMkvmM/s320/GarnetLongCopperN4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KhmzNMHlEqE/UOu9aB3-3QI/AAAAAAAAA3M/nUzL1eJ6fMI/s1600/GarnetLongCopperN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KhmzNMHlEqE/UOu9aB3-3QI/AAAAAAAAA3M/nUzL1eJ6fMI/s320/GarnetLongCopperN.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The garnet continues to be the protective gem of journeyers. A gift of garnet is thought to be symbolic of love and the desire for a loved one's safe travel and speedy homecoming. It is January's birthstone, but far from being only a winter gem, the garnet, with its brilliance and multitude of colors, is truly one for any season. </span><br /><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d9dq-jWuScI/UOu9Z045NvI/AAAAAAAAA28/DPYZn1GEk44/s1600/GarnetLongCopperE2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d9dq-jWuScI/UOu9Z045NvI/AAAAAAAAA28/DPYZn1GEk44/s320/GarnetLongCopperE2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aTaQHE8_v20/UOu9armhwiI/AAAAAAAAA3I/DBRZhx8z6hU/s1600/GarnetLongCopperSet2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aTaQHE8_v20/UOu9armhwiI/AAAAAAAAA3I/DBRZhx8z6hU/s320/GarnetLongCopperSet2.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.88px;">All of this and more you can buy <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/SFBeads?ref=pr_shop_more" target="_blank">here</a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"></span>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-4163904321486354812013-01-01T11:58:00.000-08:002013-01-01T11:58:45.577-08:00Happy New Year!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_CpOd73BSIQ/UOM-S7VMM5I/AAAAAAAAA2U/JXlLC8UlRU8/s1600/WhiteChristmasTreeMHappyNY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_CpOd73BSIQ/UOM-S7VMM5I/AAAAAAAAA2U/JXlLC8UlRU8/s320/WhiteChristmasTreeMHappyNY.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />The New Year is the time of unfolding horizons and the realization of dreams, may you rediscover new strength and garner faith with you, and be able to rejoice in the simple pleasures that life has to offer and put a brave front for all the challenges that may come your way. Wishing you a lovely New Year.</div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-30365284360087055172012-11-30T09:34:00.001-08:002012-11-30T09:36:55.852-08:00Turquoise is December birthstone <div style="text-align: center;">Turquoise is the modern December birthstone and the accepted gem for the fifth and eleventh wedding anniversaries. </div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7quvp82F8t4/ULjsupCfNvI/AAAAAAAAA1w/QiWHMl7jvbQ/s1600/TurquoiseRoseSet2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7quvp82F8t4/ULjsupCfNvI/AAAAAAAAA1w/QiWHMl7jvbQ/s320/TurquoiseRoseSet2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xqonwgh6iWE/ULjs0vaMbpI/AAAAAAAAA14/FzvDM-dGRqc/s1600/TurquoiseRoseRing3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xqonwgh6iWE/ULjs0vaMbpI/AAAAAAAAA14/FzvDM-dGRqc/s320/TurquoiseRoseRing3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;">For centuries, turquoise was thought to protect riders and horses from falls. Today the beautiful stone is considered a good luck "charm" for aviators, flight staff and other professionals who need to ward </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;">off accidents.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--1sYvqO9Toc/ULjs6b0IcfI/AAAAAAAAA2A/68rHlGd7fX4/s1600/TurquoiseRoseEarrings2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--1sYvqO9Toc/ULjs6b0IcfI/AAAAAAAAA2A/68rHlGd7fX4/s320/TurquoiseRoseEarrings2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--7FgXBZnScw/ULjscf0RkYI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/bH-YTS7z4VM/s1600/Ocean-Breeze-Necklace7Squar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--7FgXBZnScw/ULjscf0RkYI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/bH-YTS7z4VM/s320/Ocean-Breeze-Necklace7Squar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Turquoise's bright and happy color is supposed to lend self-confidence to subdued personalities, and it is also very popular as a token of friendship, since Turquoise is reputed to be responsible for faithfulness and reliable relationships.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GvFUV7ptgOM/ULjslM4J5FI/AAAAAAAAA1g/E7RmPvGdpbQ/s1600/Ocean+Breeze+Necklace4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GvFUV7ptgOM/ULjslM4J5FI/AAAAAAAAA1g/E7RmPvGdpbQ/s320/Ocean+Breeze+Necklace4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c1CzI2evMAI/ULjsrSeS2EI/AAAAAAAAA1o/hg8juMW9saw/s1600/Ocean-Breeze-Bracelet6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c1CzI2evMAI/ULjsrSeS2EI/AAAAAAAAA1o/hg8juMW9saw/s320/Ocean-Breeze-Bracelet6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="hps alt-edited">All of this and more you can</span> <span class="hps">buy<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/SFBeads?ref=si_shop" target="_blank"> here</a></span></span></div><br /><br />SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5287167391309796946.post-63581980880836353042012-11-25T19:30:00.000-08:002012-11-25T19:30:05.465-08:00It makes me happy!!!<div style="text-align: center;">Two weeks ago, I sold one of my necklace</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tiSgDD-IuLw/ULLg4grOtjI/AAAAAAAAA04/6lat9HJW014/s1600/LongBurgundyN3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tiSgDD-IuLw/ULLg4grOtjI/AAAAAAAAA04/6lat9HJW014/s320/LongBurgundyN3.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7R4-B-49MbY/ULLgzFXZc-I/AAAAAAAAA0w/HYWrFfPfGsA/s1600/LongBurgundyN2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7R4-B-49MbY/ULLgzFXZc-I/AAAAAAAAA0w/HYWrFfPfGsA/s320/LongBurgundyN2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PAQ-aiVVuWY/ULLhO-9uSPI/AAAAAAAAA1I/LtzFDP8ROtY/s1600/LongBurgundyN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PAQ-aiVVuWY/ULLhO-9uSPI/AAAAAAAAA1I/LtzFDP8ROtY/s320/LongBurgundyN.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1sXC8J3r2lU/ULLhHa1soRI/AAAAAAAAA1A/SRH_RHZ8wH8/s1600/LongBurgundyN4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1sXC8J3r2lU/ULLhHa1soRI/AAAAAAAAA1A/SRH_RHZ8wH8/s320/LongBurgundyN4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">When I sell my jewelry and send them to my customers, I always worry, <br />Not because my jewelry is bad quality (do not get me wrong):-))))but because<br />what if they do not like the color (because all monitors are different), <br />or they need a different length, or something else.</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">And a few days ago, I received feedback:</div><div style="text-align: center;">"This necklace is more beautiful in person than I expected. <br />I wore it to work immediately and received tons of compliments. Thank you!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />And when I read it, it makes me happy!!!</div>SFbeadshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11492747158790918846noreply@blogger.com0