How to Market for the Busiest Season

With the holidays fast approaching it’s time to step up your online marketing. There are several ways to use social media to make a good impression and increase your traffic as well as help ensure a successful holiday season.  You’ve all heard the saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ this is especially true when it comes to online marketing. People like and need to see what you’re offering them, so use pictures as often as possible when marketing a design or product. Utilize your facebook business page and your google+ page. Always add pictures to your blog as well. This is probably the most important step that I’ve found really makes a big difference. When using other platforms like Twitter be sure to use  hashtags at the end of your tweets as this makes your comments able to be found much more easily for those searching out specific products or ideas.

Well as you may have noticed I’ve changed up my blog background to a more wintery/holiday theme and changed my intro picture to a winter scene that I captured at a ski mountain.  Do you like the new look?  Well now I’m focusing on creating designs for the holidays… here are some of my latest creations… Designs by Shell

7 Recipe Ideas for Fall and Winter Meals

When the weather turns a little colder do certain comfort foods come to your mind.  Perhaps you think of getting out that crockpot that you haven’t used in awhile or that indoor grill that’s been tucked away. Think of savoury roasts, mouth watering soups, seasonal veggies and oven warmed garlic bread.  You’re getting the idea… here’s a list of 10 recipes  I gathered together, perfect for fall and winter meals. Main entrees, side dishes and maybe even a dessert recipe here.  WARNING – May make you hungry!

1) Easy Crockpot Roast Recipe – http://www.squidoo.com/CrockPot-Pot-Roast

2)Traditional Shepherds Pie http://www.squidoo.com/shepherds_pie

3) Baked Acorn and Butternut Squash http://www.squidoo.com/baked_acorn_and_butternut_squash

4) Delicious Crockpot Vegetable Soup – just add biscuits! http://www.squidoo.com/Crockpot-Soup

5) Easy Cheesy Pasta Casserole - http://www.squidoo.com/cheesy_pasta_casserole

6) Best-Ever Chicken Pot Pie http://www.squidoo.com/homemade-chicken-pot-pie

7) Moist and Delicious Chocolate Cake Recipe http://www.squidoo.com/Chocolate-4

Hope you give one a try… I’ve been busy working on some designs for fall and winter too… here are a few of my latest! Stop by Designs by Shell to have a snoop around for other new  themed items.

Ways to Budget for Your Holiday Shopping

Does shopping for the holidays stress you out. It doesn’t have to if you create a budget and stick to it. If you’re not a list maker I suggest you try it for your Christmas shopping it really can take the pressure off.  Here are a few ways that may help you with your shopping this holiday season.

1) Create a list of all the people you plan to buy for, if you plan to buy even a small gift for someone like teachers, hair stylist, etc. right them down too!

2) Now beside each name you’ve written down write the amount that you plan to spend on that person (doesn’t have to be exact)  Add up the amount if it exceeds your budget, then trim down your list. Do you really need to buy a gift for that relative you only see once a year! A nice card may be enough!

3) Use cash to buy your gifts… you can watch your pennies better and may make better choices. Credit cards can get you in trouble here…

4) Start shopping early, keep your list handy at all times. You never know when you might come across the perfect gift for someone!

5) If the malls and stores stress you out. Shop online from the comfort of home, you can find some really unique gifts this way and many sites offer online coupons for savings!

Here are some designs and items I’ve been working on for my store Designs by Shell, come by for a visit and find some unique gifts too… Stock up on gift tags, labels and holiday postage…

7 Marketing Terms and What They Mean

If you are new to on-line marketing or just beginning to understand what it’s all about the breakdown of  these marketing terms may help you along. I remember when I first started my on-line business many of the terms and marketing jargon was beyond my scope of knowledge and I felt quite lost. Through ‘fearless’ learning, experience and listening to others I have gained a lot of useful knowledge.

1)Affiliate Marketing – described as revenue sharing between online merchants/advertisers/authors and sales people.

2)Brand – a design, name, slogan or any other feature that identifies a seller’s goods or services from another.

3)Creative Strategy – a guideline of what your products or business should convey, who it should be conveyed to and how the tone should be set.

4)Direct Marketing – sending out a promotional message directly to consumers.  Using forms such as e-mail, newsletters, consumer websites…

5)Image Advertising -  Attempting to create a desirable mental image of a product or company in the mind of consumers. Familiarity…

6)SEO – Stands for Search Engine Optimization.  Choosing targeted keywords or phrases related to a website to ensure that the site gets ranked by the search engines. (Google,Yahoo,Bing)…

7)Product Placement – form of advertising where goods or services are placed in a setting rather subtly, not in your face marketing.

I was recently interviewed about my business.. here it is if you'd like to learn a little about my journey! ShopeKeeper of the Day Interview

Hope you find some of these marketing terms helpful in your journey. Now in keeping with my updates for my store, here are some of my recent designs and products I’ve been working on.

List of Top 10 Ideas for Indoor Hobbies

What do you do when the weather turns cold and the outdoor activities you usually do are no longer possible? I was thinking about this the other day. Many of us like to keep busy in the evenings and if we’ve been working all day, whether at a physical job or on the computer all day it’s nice to do something a little different. I thought I’d write a list of Top 10 Indoor Hobbies, maybe there’s something you’d never thought of or might like to try.  These may be geared a little more to women but I tried to mix it up a bit!

1) Do a crochet or knitting project – a scarf, or dish cloths are easy to make. Lots of free patterns on-line too.

2) Learn to play an instrument. That guitar that’s in the corner needs some attention!

3) Scrapbooking – great way to organize family pictures. Make a special book as a gift.

4) Carpentry – If you have access to tools and garage space build a simple wall shelf or a bird house. (The birds will thank you)

5) Teach yourself Cake Decorating. Watch on-line tutorials then collect your supplies and jump in.

6) Paint a room. A fun project if you take your time.

7) Read a Novel you’ve been wanting to get too!

8) Purchase a camera and learn all about photography.

9) Learn how to make Candy. Some excellent recipes on-line. Package it up and give as gifts.

10) Plant an indoor herb garden, you’ll have fresh herbs for all your sauces. 

This is just a small list but maybe you’ll come up with some other interesting indoor ideas for the winter months.  Here are some designs I’ve been working on for my store Designs by Shell…

Seven Health Benefits to Drinking Coffee

If you’re an avid coffee drinker you’ll be glad to know that there really are benefits to drinking coffee. Now of course, in moderation. I’m not talking about the guy or gal or polishes of 10 to 12 cups a day. That’s a little excessive. A moderate amount of coffee may have it’s benefits while an excessive amount may actually cause problems in some individuals. I searched many sites on the internet to get the best information out there. According to many studies done, these are some of the results I found.

1) Coffee is loaded with antioxidants known to protect our bodies from free radicals that cause disease

2) Coffee improves memory and concentration

3) Reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease

4) Reduces the risk of diabetes, Alzheimer’s  disease and Parkinson’s disease (European Journal of Neurology Studies)

5) Protects against liver disease

6) Provides that burst of energy you need to get moving in the morning

7) A healthy dose of coffee is said to be no more than 3 –4 cups per day

Here are some fun coffee themed designs I’ve been working on for my store Designs by Shell, pop by for a visit to see more!