Grease Monkey

This week has been super busy at home, and with my shop.  I have so much information to get to you all, it’s hard to break it into little bite sized pieces.  Today’s” lil tidbit” is about Firefox.

All Etsy Sellers should install and use Foxfire as your web browser.  (Especially when you are logged into Etsy)  There are a ton of tools that you can easily install and use to help you with your shop.  Here is a link to the Etsy Apps -     http://www.etsy.com/apps?ref=com_apps  Look through these carefully.  There are tons of things that can help you every day.

www.facebook.com

This week’s assignment is to create a blog and link it to me!!!  Let’s get a group of self promotion together.  We all need our jobs, and we all need each other!  If you get to facebook too, you get a $10 off coupon to my shop!!!!

Tally Ho!!!  Let’s rock the next week!!

<3 ya - Princess

Send me an angel..... Todd Frank Nelson

I got in touch with an old friend on Facebook the other day.  We used to play together when we were little.  He is an actor now in Hollywood.... but, both of our families grew up in West Seattle, near West Seattle High School.   

He asked how my brothers were.  I have 2 brothers.  Todd is my older brother, and Nick, my younger.  He hadn’t heard that Todd passed away some years ago.   I know he was sadden to hear the news but not shocked.  Todd was an amazingly talented artist and a beautiful person.  But he felt things deeply, and intensely.  This made him an incredible poet and musician.  He could put into words, feeling that can not be explained.

I think of him every day.  He touched so many lives.  I named my son after him.  A friend of his wrote a song about him.  I will try and figure out how to post it here.......

I think today I will create some kind of tribute of my own.  Todd was a musician and singer.  He loved coffee like me.  His family and friends were everything to him, but he lived a tragic and hard life.  He was so smart, he blew me away.  His poetry still sings to me.

To anyone that has loved and lost, close your eyes, and send them some love.  I believe they can feel it.

I love you Todd.  Your Memory Lives On.

Why every bride should shop on Etsy

I wish Etsy was around when I was getting married….. I would have had the best of the best, at a fraction of the cost, and made myself and my bridal party feel like royalty.  Don't let this royal wedding spoil your day.  You are the star.  You are the Princess.  Let Etsy and me, (if you give me a chance).  Make you feel like the only bride of the season!!!!

 I make jewelry, so I get the cool task of helping brides make bridesmaids gifts, and the occasionally even the ultimate prize – the bridal jewelry.  What most brides don’t even know, is that I make super yummy gifts for them, as a thank you for their business.What is even cooler is that a lot of other shops do too!!!!  Not only do you get a handmade artisan product from a craftsperson in the USA – but you get it wrapped, and special goodies.  I went to the local mall’s jewelry shop and got bleh for the same price…wrapped myself and no special yummies for me.

I say this…   Brides, BE PICKY!!!  Find your bridal jewelry, favors and apparel GO TO ETSY!!!!  It is so awesome.   The best kept secret in bridal land!!!

I am off to take a pampering “Girl Bath”  Thank you Tallulah's Soaps)

Hold my calls.....

<3  u all….

Tallulah Soap's

Ohhh – and here is my newest treasury. A Cinderella Story

Love all things wedding – especially ROYAL!  XOXO

Someone Else's Job

I love my job, don’t get me wrong.  But, I have to admit, there are parts that are just not my favorite.  I am sure a lot of you will agree.  I love to create.  I love to find pretty sparkly things.  I love to tie something that I do to Marylin Monroe (My Idol).  However, these days, the more I create, the more I work.  Taking picture, creating catchy and cool descriptions…..  I have decided, being the princess that I am, that this all must be someone else’s job!  My job is that of the artist.  I get to do the fun stuff!!!  It is someone else’s jobs to do the rest….market, photograph, blah blah.

I have decided to hire an assistant.  Fictitiously of course, who can afford an assistant?  This assistant should be at my beck and call, (No pun intended) and shall cater to my every artistic whim.  In fact, I think we ALL should have this assistant.  We shall call him….. (Has to be a man and cute enough to be considered pool boy status)  Edward !!!  No twighlight reference, just an old yet cool name. (Was also considering William, but with the royal wedding comin up….well, ya know)

OK, so Edward needs to begin by organizing my office (no small task) surprisingly he does so without complaint.  Oh, he is working out splendidly.  Next I think he needs to photograph and list all my items for me.  They are doing no good tucked away in their little pouches!  No cheesy photos either, we are talking top notch – treasury acceptable pictures.  In his spare time, he will organize my paperwork, create an excel spreadsheet to ease my ordering worries, and wrap and ship all incoming orders with the artistry of Tiffany’s.  If anyone else has suggestions for Edwards job description, please feel free to post.  Oh, pictures of Edward are always welcome.  I love Fanciful Sundays! 

Twitter - continued.....

Hi there fellow tweeters.  I am very proud of your progress; by now you have created an account, started tweeting, sent some follows and have some followers.  Now it’s time to graduate!!!  

What is next?  I’ll tell ya, a great program to help you manage and watch the twitter world.  Best of all, it is FREE.  We all love free.  Well, I love free >.>  Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of programs you can get to help you manage your Twitter account.  But for now, watch your pennies.  This one is awesome.  Download the desktop version of tweetdeck from Tweetdeck.com.  If you have an Iphone or android, you can grab those too!

Once you have tweetdeck, enter your info, and create your columns.  It’s like the stock market.  Depending on your business, you will be watching different things.  

But don't worry, you aren't out there alone.  Everyday, thousands of companies are right there with you.  We are all learnging about this new way to market ourselves.  You are a front runner - A pioneer!  Congratulations to you for taking these steps!

Now that you have tweetdeck, create the columns that best suit your shop!  Everyone needs to watch their mentions, and direct messages.  Beyond that, I recommend for etsy sellers to watch #Etsy and @etsy.  For non-etsy sellers, think of what your niche is, and start to watch them – you might have to play around a little.  It’s good to watch your competitions tweets and see where they are posting them.  #whereeveryourcompetionposts  =D

That said, mind your twitter manners.  There is etiquette to Twitter.  You will need to spend more time tweeting others then yourself.  Make sure you always say thank you to anyone that Retweets your tweets!  Don’t tweet more then 2 times an hour.  If you flood twitter, it turns people off and they will stop reading your tweets.  Now go out there and make some friends!  Retweet things you like!!   People will notice you retweeting them and will in turn start to retweet you! 

Making these new friends is what is creating your "Social Network".  In just a few short steps, you are there.  Working on your own social network.  Believe it or not, this is fun and exciting.  I have made great connections, and life long friends.  The best people in the world to have as friends are people that are just like you.  Hard working small businesses with big dreams.  I love them!!!