Pay it Forward

It's hard to believe we are well into the month of November.  This is a busy month for crafter's and designers that are working hard to share new products, designs and ideas in time for the Christmas season.  The malls and brick and mortar shops have had holiday items in view for several weeks now.  

I find for myself setting small goals really helps me stay focused and on top of my creative endeavors.  I'm always marketing my Zazzle Shop a little more at this time of year. It is my highest volume of sales that happen in November and December.  

I also have really been excited to share and grow my Youtube channel. It seems to be growing every day! This is the time of year when my love of crafting really comes to life and Youtube is a great outlet to share, chat and create with others who do the same. I hope you will come and check out my videos and think about subscribing to my channel. I totally appreciate all of those who support me with kind comments and subscribing. Crafter's gotta stick together! lol

Today I want to spread some love and pay it forward by sharing another designer's products. She often share's and promotes my products on her blog. So her turn today. Thank you Bebop! Here are a couple of her products.  

                            Chicadee Bird in Christmas Tree 

                                Snow Bunny Greeting Card

Take The Stress Out of Your Christmas

It's so hard to believe we are well into the month of December. Have you got it all together? I know this busy time of year can be stressful for so many people. Trying to create the perfect home, decorating, baking, finding the 'perfect' gift for your spouse or children. It can be over whelming if you let it.  

Here's a checklist with simple ideas to help you focus on what's important and keep the stress out of Christmas. 

1. Have a plan, so important but of course by now your plans should be well underway and many of them finished. If not it might be time to look at your goals again and even take a couple things off the list if possible. Remember the true meaning of the season, if you are a christian family keep your priorities and values at the top of your list. 

2. If you have family events to attend, dinners and family get together's be sure to mark the calendar and let other family members know of the plans well in advance.  

3. If the gift giving has become a burden and unnecessary for your family or extended family members speak up. Remember not everyone has extra money to spend on several gifts and the whole shopping thing is not pleasant for everyone. Many families opt to do a white elephant gift game or set a price limit and have a gift exchange rather than purchasing gifts for everyone. Another option is to donate to a charity that you might choose as a family and bless others this way.  This can relieve a lot of the holiday stress for people.

4. Don't put pressure and high expectations on your family members or friends. If people can't attend your party or family get together don't take it personally.  Allow other's the same courtesy that you'd expect. 

5. Plan your Christmas dinner menu well in advance. Stock up on kitchen staples that you know you'll need. If your family is large and the gathering is big assign food dishes to other family members. Everyone likes to bring something at this time of year and contribute to the dinner.  It's even okay to buy some baked goods if the time has run out for you to do your Christmas baking. Most people are okay with this. 

As you head into the final weeks before Christmas take a some time for yourself if even just to take a brisk walk each day, get to the gym or sit down and read a few chapters of a book. These things will keep your energy up and give you more focus as things begin to get busier.  I wish all my readers much peace and joy this Christmas season. Blessings to all for a wonderful 2018. 

Take Out Holiday Coffees

Thanks a Latte Gifttag

Building Your Business

As many of you have on-line business’ that you are trying to grow, promote and make some income with I thought I’d talk a little about ways that have worked for me. There are millions of people around the globe logging onto the internet daily. These people are looking for work from home ideas or business’, services or products to purchase. If you have a company where you are selling products like myself the first thing to do is to set up an attractive website, maintain it regularly and add new products daily if this is something you can do. Then join social/business networks and market, market, market. Of course  go about this in a professional manner, you don’t want to annoy people and turn them away. The idea is to capture their attention with your designs, products or services so they will remember you and return to your site.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,IBO Toolbox are some suggestions for you to get started. Connect with others, this can really help you to stay motivated too! Hope this inspires you and helps you take the next step on your journey. 

Here are some designs and products from my store Designs by Shell Come by for a visit… always keeping it fresh with lots of new designs.

Ways to Market Your Business

Are you struggling with ways to get your business seen by others? Is the lack of traffic and sales getting you down? I thought I’d share a few ideas for marketing your store or service.  Just like a brick and mortar business an on-line business needs to be promoted and marketed, perhaps even more so. There are many places that I have found that have worked for bringing more traffic to my business.

If you’re reading this then you know that blogging is an important one for marketing your business. On a blog you can share information about your work, upcoming promotions, your latest designs or whatever you want potential customers to know.

Another idea is creating a Facebook fan page. It’s free and you basically control what links and information you want others to see. People ‘like’ your page and this helps you get seen by their network of associates too! The potential for visibility is unlimited.

Join networking sites for business like LinkedIn, IBOTOOLBOX, and Twitter. Also spend time in forums and comment  and share others links as well. These will all help you grow your business and help you gain a presence in the business market. 

Okay, well here are some fresh and fun designs and products from my store Designs by Shell. Come by for a visit to see more…

Why You Should Have a Facebook Fan Page

Have you joined the ultimate site to market your business. Facebook has become a huge new advertising platform for your company. There are a lot of great reasons that you will want to do this. For instance, the pages are public meaning that the search engines can index the page and that allows people to find it and visit your link. Links are good. As the author of your Facebook page you get to control it and add links, remove content, etc. The best thing is that it’s free marketing for your business. You can create a page in a matter of minutes by following simple steps. So if you haven’t done this yet you might want to think about getting a page out there. It sure can’t hurt. Here is the link to my page Designs by Shell Please like it and I’ll like your page back! :-) I update my page daily with new designs from my store. Here are some more cute things I’ve created! Come by for a visit!

Money in My Pocket

Do you love to write? How about writing and really, seriously getting paid for it! Well with this site called Squidoo you can write one page articles (called a lens) These pages practically come together on there own. The modules where you add content be it information about your topic, pictures, tips, products that others can purchase are all ready for you to use. Just choose the ones that you would like on your page, upload your content and when you're ready hit the publish button to set it out to be seen.

When people click on a link you make a small royalty from the click outs. If you add a selling module like ebay or amazon and show items for people to buy when they click through and make a purchase you also get a royalty.

What a great way to let your imagination go free writing on any topic you choose. It's free to join so what are you waiting for go sign up... you'll love it. I have to say once you do a few of these pages it becomes addicting.

Here are some inspiring items from Designs by Shell

The Importance of Tag Lines

Did you know that most companies get noticed or remembered because they have a great tag line that appears with their logo. Think for a minute, how about Nike, (tag line ) "just do it" or how about Coke (tag line) "It's the real thing"! When you start to think of companies you remember their tag line don’t you?

Basically, a tag line should be used anywhere your business name and logo appear. This will definitely get your business recognized and help you with your marketing strategy.

Here are 10 places to use your tag line:

business cards,e-mails,social network pages,websites, newsletter/brochures, invoices,ads, banner listings, phone book listings, and letterhead.

Here are a few business cards I’ve designed for Designs by Shell …where creativity shines… see where your tag line would go…

Write Squidoo Pages and Get Paid

Writing for Squidoo is simple and easy. A great way to make some extra income and share information with others. Squidoo provides the platform, and allows you to add modules of all kinds to your one page article. If you have another business you need to market or promote this is where you can do that! This is one way that I promote my store Designs by Shell . I can share a variety of my products on any article I choose to write. Add Amazon or Ebay modules with products that relate to your topic as this encourages people to click on these items and if they purchase you will receive a royalty from their sale. How fantastic is that! As you make several of these pages called lens' the more opportunity you have to bring in income. Choose topics and content that you are interested in and the writing becomes very easy. It's not like work at all... So what are you waiting for become a squidoo lensmaster and you'll be on your way to making an on-line income. In the sidebar you can visit a sampling of my own squidoo lens.

Get Started Here

Here are some of the latest designs I’ve been creating…