Facebook Cover Photos

I've got a number of cover photos for my Facebook business page and I was wondering which might be the most eye catching.  What do you think?  And how often do you think a business should change their cover photo?

Number 1 is some of the raw materials I use to make my jewelry:

Number 2 is a particularly gorgeous custom piece of jewelry:

Number 3 is a picture of part of the interior of my store:

Three totally different approaches to what I do.  Which to you like the best, or which do you think is the most effective?

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Blog Revival

I let too much time pass.  Then I almost forgot about it.  Then I added some new "things to do" to my To Do list and I really didn't have time.  It's been over a year since I blogged regularly and I still don't have the time, but I'm determined to try! 

I enjoy posting and interacting on Facebook.  (You can "like" my page here )  I'm trying to figure out Pinterest--it's very cool, but still a little complicated from a "marketing" perspective.  I'm ashamed to admit I haven't sent out an email newsletter in far too long. 

There's just so much stuff involved in running a business these days.  And for me, all the online/social stuff is in addition to making my jewelry, filling online orders, and interacting with customers in my store!  Like I said, I'm determined to try to work it all in, to make a more effective schedule so that I don't run out of "day" before I run out of "things to do".  I'm starting with this blog.  Consider this the REVIVAL!

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The BelAire Courtyard

It's been awhile since I posted a picture of the lovely courtyard where my store is located.  Fine dining restaurant Cafe Margaux is on the far right (outside the camera range), with some of the outdoor tables and the pretty fountain in the foreground.  My store is in the back left corner of the courtyard.  To my "right" is a cute little shop featuring ScentChips fragrance melts.  To my "left" is a boutique full of fun and fashionable clothes.  We also have The Village Spiceman, with all kinds of yummy sauces and rubs, and Shoetique, with cute and affordable shoes, boots, and bags.  If you're local, you need to come down and reacquaint yourself with the BelAire Courtyard (especially ME!)

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Summer Schedule

The thing I love most about summertime is that I get to sleep in a little longer each morning, since I don't have to take my son to school. Not TOO much longer, because I do have to take him to the day camp he attends at his karate school, but long enough for it to feel indulgent. The downside of that lovely sleeping in is that I get to my store later in the morning, and have that much LESS time to get everything done that I need to before I open my doors. Like this, for instance. I'm blogging, and it's already time to be opening my store. I did list some new items in my Etsy shop, but I still have to update my Facebook Fan Page. I did take care of my eBay sales and made a new listing there, but I haven't written the bill payments that need to go with the mailman today.

Adjusting to my summer schedule will require a bit more focus than I am sometimes inclined to have. Today is only the first day. I'm not totally displeased with my progress so far this morning. I'll go update my Facebook Fan Page, write the checks to pay the bills, and then get to work on the gigantic pile of special orders on my clipboard! Since my doors are now open, there's the possibility that customers might walk in, but being in business to sell to the public is what makes all those other things even necessary, right? So if I have to get up from my desk to take care of a customer, that's a GOOD thing! The rest...I'll just keep muddling along!

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Getting Better

I have to say that my new "resolution" from last month--writing a blog post before I allow myself to play on Facebook--seems to be working at about 70% effectiveness. If you don't count weekends, that is. But my schedule on weekends is different, so I guess I'll have to work on taking that into consideration. On weekdays, I take my son to school at 8:15 and then come straight to work, even though I don't officially open my store until 11:00. That gives me an extra couple of hours to focus on getting some uninterrupted "work" time in before any customers might arrive. On weekends, I tend to treat myself to a little extra sleep, plus those pesky household tasks like doing laundry and cleaning the bathroom, so I don't get in to work until about 10:00 at the earliest. Not enough time to do all the paperwork and computer business that I should do each day before opening. So I guess my options are: 1) Don't sleep in (hmmm...unlikely). 2) Don't do the laundry or any of those other household chores (impractical). 3) Get more organized and efficient so ALL tasks can be accomplished, even on weekends (wow...wouldn't that be great?) 4) Don't blog on weekends (the most likely scenario at this point)!

You can "vote" with your comments and follow along to see how well I do!

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Still Nothing

I've waited a few days to post again. I've had this page up on my computer all afternoon, hoping some kind of inspiration would hit. Nothing. I've had a grand total of 5 people walk into my store today. I just can't get motivated with that kind of inaction surrounding me! I've spent an hour or so poking around on other people's blogs. Maybe someone said something where I could take an idea and run with it. Nope. But I just couldn't bring myself to close the page without writing something.

Happy Thursday, anyone...?

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Summer Routine

The summertime really messes with my routine. During the school year, I take my son to school and come directly to work, where I have two hours to concentrate on computer and paperwork before I actually open my doors. It's still not enough time, but it sure helps get (almost!) everything done.

But in the summer, I sleep an extra hour. Don't get me wrong--I LOVE sleeping an extra hour. I have a really comfy bed! But now I take my son to his Day Camp at his karate school and come straight to work, but I get here an hour later. One less hour to shoot new photography and upload pictures. One less hour to work on my online promoting. One less hour to drop Entrecards or interact on the artisan websites to which I belong. One less hour to get a blog post written, as you can see from the large gap between my last post and this one.

I have to admit that I have fewer customers actually walk in my store this time of year, so you'd think I could make up some of the time that way. But it seems that the less "invigorating" my day, the less motivated I am to do the things that need doing. I actually found myself playing an online game the other day, even though I have pictures to take and an email newsletter to write. Naughty me!

I've been meaning to post on here for weeks, so actually getting to it today makes me feel a little better. Maybe by the time summer is over, I'll have figured out a new routine where I can get all my work done. Then when I have that additional hour first thing in the morning after taking my son to school, I can squeeze in something else productive! (Like a nap, maybe? I know I'll be missing that extra hour in bed!)

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My Extra Two Hours

My son goes to a Christian school about 12 miles from our house, so I drive him there every morning. I would be driving past my store to go back home again, so even though I drop Ricky off at 8:15 and I don't open my doors until about 10:30, I go in to work right after I leave him off. This is my "extra two hours", and it's usually pretty productive. I always try to get the majority of my computer work done before I open the doors to customers. Then I can be working at making jewelry after the doors are open. It's usually easier to put down my pliers when a customer comes in than it is to stop typing--or worse yet, uploading or downloading something. And with the state of the economy and the paltry number of bodies I have walking in my door, I want to be able to devote my full attention to any possible sale!

Local schools were on Spring Break last week, and I have to admit that it sure was nice to have that extra hour to sleep in, and the other extra hour to get ready for work at a leisurely pace. But I don't feel like I was as productive as usual. Because I didn't get here until 10:00 or 10:15, I didn't have my normal amount of uninterrupted computer time. And because I tried to squeeze computer time in between customers, I didn't get very much jewelry made last week. So although I hated rolling out of bed at the sound of the alarm at 6:15, I have to admit that I'm happy to be here at work early enough to get my whole "to do" list done today!
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Online Venue #11 -- This Blog

A couple of months ago I started a little "series" about all the online venues I try to keep up with on a regular basis. This is the last one. This blog. I started it to keep my customers up-to-date on my jewelry and what's going on in my life. I've been in business a long time, and I've come to discover that people who buy handmade items like knowing a little bit about the artisan who creates the items. And creating a blog seemed like a good way to expose my jewelry to a new audience.

The benefit that I didn't anticipate showed itself as I made my way around the blogosphere trying to promote my blog. There are lots of other really cool blogs out there! Some business-related, some personal. Some informative, some thought-provoking. I've got quite a list of Favorites that I try to read at least a few times a week. So in a way, creating (and maintaining) this blog spawned a whole other "online venue" for me to keep up with.

No, there are not enough hours in the day to do everything I'd like. As I've written the posts for this series and examined each online activity, I've decided that I like and appreciate each of them in their own way. Each has its own merit, each has its own place in my overall business plan. So for now, I'm going to keep them all. It's not likely that the earth is going to slow its rotation enough to add any extra time to the day, so I'm just going to keep doing the best I can. After all, the way it is now, there's certainly never a dull moment in my life!

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