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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Hitting the Bay Hard!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
#1 Money Saving Tip For Brides
Everyone wants to save money on a wedding! And there are a myriad of ways to do that. But THE number one money saving tip I've learned of is... keep your wedding a secret.
No, not from your friends and family! But from your vendors! Think about it... of all the services you hire and items you buy, which vendors really need to know it's for a wedding?? Just a few come to mind: the minister, the florist, the cake maker and the the dress shop. Beyond that, no one needs to know it's for a wedding. What's left can often be a big chunk of your wedding budget: the location, the caterer and entertainment.
So what's the advantage here? Let me explain how I came to know this fantastic money saving tip: I used to be an on staff production manager for a very busy commercial production house. A large portion of a PM's job is to negotiate contracts with vendors. I shared an office with two other PM's who were engaged to one another and planning their wedding.
The girl would play "naive Susie" on the phone...gushing about her nuptials as she got price quotes on every detail that was included and what was extra. Her intended would turn around and call the same vendor with pretty much the same details (number of people, menu items, etc). Only he would refer to the event as "a party." Their quotes from the same vendor would often be hundreds of dollars apart!
The fact of the matter is...many vendors simply charge more for a wedding. And I'm certain the reason is "the Bridezilla factor"! Many brides see the wedding as the day to be "all about me." (Er.... what about your new husband?) Or their chance to be a princess. They act like spoiled brats and treat their vendors like slaves.
It's the same with my own business. If someone is easy peasy to deal with and is a regular, I toss in freebies and offer discounts. But I have one customer that, while she does spend quite a lot, is always unhappy. She returns stuff from every other order. She changes her mind while we are in production. And when I was so sick after Christmas, I started hearing from other wholesale customers that my items were being sold on ebay! This woman was over ordering using her wholesale discount to sell my stuff at rock bottom prices! Freebies I had tossed in her box on good faith that they would be used for samples in her shop were also being sold for next to nothing. Let's just say that when someone who is that much of a PITA ain't gonna get a discount... I don't care how often she asks!
So... bridezillas, PLEASE DON'T USE THIS TIP! It will backfire in your face! In the end, my friends saved thousands on their wedding. Only the band complained. My friends were quick to point out that they were in "the business" and ending up tossing a few hundred more to the boys in the band. I wouldn't have done that. I would have had the number to the local consumer reporter on speed dial. If the band walked, I would've plugged in my ipod... a very un-bridezilla move.
As long as you remain pleasant to deal with and state your truth (It IS just a party!), you should be able to save lots of money!
No, not from your friends and family! But from your vendors! Think about it... of all the services you hire and items you buy, which vendors really need to know it's for a wedding?? Just a few come to mind: the minister, the florist, the cake maker and the the dress shop. Beyond that, no one needs to know it's for a wedding. What's left can often be a big chunk of your wedding budget: the location, the caterer and entertainment.
So what's the advantage here? Let me explain how I came to know this fantastic money saving tip: I used to be an on staff production manager for a very busy commercial production house. A large portion of a PM's job is to negotiate contracts with vendors. I shared an office with two other PM's who were engaged to one another and planning their wedding.
The girl would play "naive Susie" on the phone...gushing about her nuptials as she got price quotes on every detail that was included and what was extra. Her intended would turn around and call the same vendor with pretty much the same details (number of people, menu items, etc). Only he would refer to the event as "a party." Their quotes from the same vendor would often be hundreds of dollars apart!
The fact of the matter is...many vendors simply charge more for a wedding. And I'm certain the reason is "the Bridezilla factor"! Many brides see the wedding as the day to be "all about me." (Er.... what about your new husband?) Or their chance to be a princess. They act like spoiled brats and treat their vendors like slaves.
It's the same with my own business. If someone is easy peasy to deal with and is a regular, I toss in freebies and offer discounts. But I have one customer that, while she does spend quite a lot, is always unhappy. She returns stuff from every other order. She changes her mind while we are in production. And when I was so sick after Christmas, I started hearing from other wholesale customers that my items were being sold on ebay! This woman was over ordering using her wholesale discount to sell my stuff at rock bottom prices! Freebies I had tossed in her box on good faith that they would be used for samples in her shop were also being sold for next to nothing. Let's just say that when someone who is that much of a PITA ain't gonna get a discount... I don't care how often she asks!
So... bridezillas, PLEASE DON'T USE THIS TIP! It will backfire in your face! In the end, my friends saved thousands on their wedding. Only the band complained. My friends were quick to point out that they were in "the business" and ending up tossing a few hundred more to the boys in the band. I wouldn't have done that. I would have had the number to the local consumer reporter on speed dial. If the band walked, I would've plugged in my ipod... a very un-bridezilla move.
As long as you remain pleasant to deal with and state your truth (It IS just a party!), you should be able to save lots of money!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Beading - Not Making Beads
I've been a busy beading maniac. So why no new beads??? I haven't been making any! I've been working on my niece's wedding projects and I'm sure in the coming month there will be a slew of wedding posts here. So if you find wedding bling and how to save lots of money on a wedding interesting... do check in!
This is one of our latest projects - a work still in progress. The niece is the only girl with lots of aunties who love and spoil her and she is SO not Bridezilla. She just trusts us! (Silly girl!) Seriously though, her aunties are all very talented and creative and one (our fearless leader) has a background in fashion and graphic design.
Since we may have a limited load in time at the location and we are doing all of the decorating ourselves, we are building vignettes for each of the tables (Candy, Sweethearts, Memorial, Guest check in) and taking pictures and storing everything for one table in a box with the pictures so that any "elves" (i.e. cousins and bridesmaids) that show up to help and look and the photo and set up the table.
This piece is probably going on the candy table as it has such a girly sense of whimsy! We found the ballerina on sale at Ross. It had hideous pink plastic drops with large brass split rings dangling from the skirt.
I removed those and started making heart shaped drops with Swarovski crystals...which got a little complicated. I shape one side of the wire in a swirl, hammer and texture with both side of a chasing hammer, add an 8mm crystal, round the top of the other side of the heart, more hammering, add another crystal and wrap onto the skirt. I quickly decided to do every other loop of the skirt!
The bestie had these plastic (but adorable) red drops from the cake stand project she did. I added them to every other loop of the skirt in both the large and small sizes.
Finally, I could NOT leave the bodice plain! I'll be filling that in with more Swarkies. I have my work cut out for me!
This is one of our latest projects - a work still in progress. The niece is the only girl with lots of aunties who love and spoil her and she is SO not Bridezilla. She just trusts us! (Silly girl!) Seriously though, her aunties are all very talented and creative and one (our fearless leader) has a background in fashion and graphic design.
Since we may have a limited load in time at the location and we are doing all of the decorating ourselves, we are building vignettes for each of the tables (Candy, Sweethearts, Memorial, Guest check in) and taking pictures and storing everything for one table in a box with the pictures so that any "elves" (i.e. cousins and bridesmaids) that show up to help and look and the photo and set up the table.
I removed those and started making heart shaped drops with Swarovski crystals...which got a little complicated. I shape one side of the wire in a swirl, hammer and texture with both side of a chasing hammer, add an 8mm crystal, round the top of the other side of the heart, more hammering, add another crystal and wrap onto the skirt. I quickly decided to do every other loop of the skirt!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Inside My Jewelry Box: Sparkle
This is one of my most favorite pieces. It was the piece I entered into the recent Fire Diva's Bead Black Tie Bead Challenge.
I just love how this piece sparkles and shines and no, the photo doesn't do it justice. Truth be told, it was a bead I didn't feel comfortable selling as I noticed a hairline crack deep within this hollow upon cleaning. Which means I toss it or keep it for myself. Most all my jewelry is made from mistake beads...
So, knowing full well that crack could eventually break, I did a simple design with universal wraps of sterling wire and filled the hollow with tons of gorgeous Swarovski crystals and cubic zironias. This piece rattles and it shines... it's such an eye catcher.
And while most cameras never seem to capture blue accurately... this one is no exception.... it's in my favorite denim / steel blue colors. A great way to dress up while dressing down!
Even with that crack... I've worn this piece for years, frequently banging it on table and desk tops. It's still glowing strong!
So, knowing full well that crack could eventually break, I did a simple design with universal wraps of sterling wire and filled the hollow with tons of gorgeous Swarovski crystals and cubic zironias. This piece rattles and it shines... it's such an eye catcher.
And while most cameras never seem to capture blue accurately... this one is no exception.... it's in my favorite denim / steel blue colors. A great way to dress up while dressing down!
Even with that crack... I've worn this piece for years, frequently banging it on table and desk tops. It's still glowing strong!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
HUGE Sale on Glass Beads and Jewelry!
I am really motivated to clean out my existing inventory of glass beads, especially on Artfire. I've LOWERED all prices over there even on jewelry!!
There are some HUGE focals for 19.99
That huge glass bead took well over an hour of flame shaping not to mention the custom frit blend!
There are many hand sculpted sets for 19.99! Another custom frit blend on these.
There are some fantastic single beads marked down to 4.99
Beads / jewelry... it all must go. I'm hoping to have an "ebay sale" without going to the trouble of listing there. So, if you've had your eye on something... Now's the time!
Rubber stamps and made to order items are NOT on sale.
Thanks as always for l@@king!
There are some HUGE focals for 19.99
There are many hand sculpted sets for 19.99! Another custom frit blend on these.
There are some fantastic single beads marked down to 4.99
Beads / jewelry... it all must go. I'm hoping to have an "ebay sale" without going to the trouble of listing there. So, if you've had your eye on something... Now's the time!
Rubber stamps and made to order items are NOT on sale.
Thanks as always for l@@king!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Holiday Gifts
I'm kind of a day late and a dollar short with this post... but such is life! I wanted to share the matching Christmas Tree necklaces I made for my mother and sister. I forgot to photograph mine...which is lavender and white so... I'll be even later with that post! ;-)
Mom's was traditional:
My sister's favorite color is chartreuse or, as I call it, Grinch Green! Still her's is my favorite!
Mom's was traditional:
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Creative Vision?
I'm taking a few days off to recoup from my trip to Louisiana and the nasty cold I brought home with me. So the bestie and I went to downtown LA to purchase a few more crystals she needed for one of our niece's many wedding projects. Along the way, we noticed that a wedding supply shop we had favored because of the kind old man that owned it had become a leather and findings store. The old shop closing was expected. But the fantastic and unusual selection of the new shop was most unexpected!
I found inspiration everywhere I turned. The most amazing magnetic clasps ever! I bought some leather cording to try with kumihimo and my head was just spinning.
In the center aisle, I found sections of ebeaded bits ready to be sewn into place. And then, I spied these loved velvet collars! I was envisioning a whole line of jewelry possibilities, mixing my glass beads with these lovely velvet bits when my best friend joined me. I quickly explained: I guess you slide a bead on, add a clasp and look they have these adjustable slides so it can fit anyone!
Without missing a beat, the bestie quipped, "Yeah, or you could just wear it as a bra strap!"
I found inspiration everywhere I turned. The most amazing magnetic clasps ever! I bought some leather cording to try with kumihimo and my head was just spinning.
In the center aisle, I found sections of ebeaded bits ready to be sewn into place. And then, I spied these loved velvet collars! I was envisioning a whole line of jewelry possibilities, mixing my glass beads with these lovely velvet bits when my best friend joined me. I quickly explained: I guess you slide a bead on, add a clasp and look they have these adjustable slides so it can fit anyone!
Without missing a beat, the bestie quipped, "Yeah, or you could just wear it as a bra strap!"
Monday, December 12, 2011
You Like Me!!
The number one question I've gotten since I started this series on Fan Pages is... How do you get them to like your page. It's rather elementary... You make it worth their while!
I openly tell people that my fans see my work first, they get first dibs on a sale and often get their own sales coupon codes for extra percent off and / or free shipping. There are perks to being my fan!
Think about the fan pages YOU like... WHY do you like them??? Is there something they do to entice you? Maybe that would work for your fans... can you adapt their techniques??
But other than making it enticing, my best advice is point out you have a like button EVERYWHERE you are. Mention it on your sale receipts, business cards, show fliers, your blogs, your website, your shops and your personal Facebook page. Tweet about it once in a while... "Secret fan sale starts tomorrow (with a link to your fan page)."
The second most popular question I've gotten is - "What's your fan page?" REALLY??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Do you not see the annoyingly large box to your right???>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
That's called a Page Badge and getting one for your own fan page is pretty nifty and simple. Let's walk through that:
So that takes care of your blog. But I'm often amazed at how many sellers I see on Artfire and Etsy that don't take advantage of the Fan Page Like buttons there.
Artfire, as always, makes it so simple. From the Tools tab in My Artfire, click on Market Hub. There you are allowed to fill in all the places people can find you: Blogs, personal sites, Etsy, Twitter, My Space and ...fan pages.
On Etsy, go to your account / settings. There you can fill in your Facebook fan page (or personal page) and your twitter.
I openly tell people that my fans see my work first, they get first dibs on a sale and often get their own sales coupon codes for extra percent off and / or free shipping. There are perks to being my fan!
Think about the fan pages YOU like... WHY do you like them??? Is there something they do to entice you? Maybe that would work for your fans... can you adapt their techniques??
But other than making it enticing, my best advice is point out you have a like button EVERYWHERE you are. Mention it on your sale receipts, business cards, show fliers, your blogs, your website, your shops and your personal Facebook page. Tweet about it once in a while... "Secret fan sale starts tomorrow (with a link to your fan page)."
The second most popular question I've gotten is - "What's your fan page?" REALLY??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Do you not see the annoyingly large box to your right???>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
That's called a Page Badge and getting one for your own fan page is pretty nifty and simple. Let's walk through that:
- Click here to create Facebook Badges
- Choose Page Badge.
- Choose your your blog host
- The next page will give you widget options... which blog (if you host more than one), which page you want the widget to advertise (If you have more than one fan page), The title of the widget, the content (This is where I edit mine to say there are benefits to liking me... I also tweak the width here to fit into my three column format.)
- Click "Add Widget" and Viola! You have a like box page badge on your blog!
So that takes care of your blog. But I'm often amazed at how many sellers I see on Artfire and Etsy that don't take advantage of the Fan Page Like buttons there.
Artfire, as always, makes it so simple. From the Tools tab in My Artfire, click on Market Hub. There you are allowed to fill in all the places people can find you: Blogs, personal sites, Etsy, Twitter, My Space and ...fan pages.
On Etsy, go to your account / settings. There you can fill in your Facebook fan page (or personal page) and your twitter.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Fire Divas Black Tie Challenge
The Fire Divas are getting ready for all those fancy Holiday and New Year parties? Well take a look at these pretty baubles! Our theme this month was Black Tie - something you would wear to dress up a bit.
Please cast your vote on the right side of the Fire Divas Blog and make sure to leave a comment below, and you could be the lucky winner of a 20% off coupon from the ArtFire shop of Amy Sims Designs!
The Poll closes at midnight EST this Saturday, December 17th, and we will post the results on Sunday.
Entry 1
Entry 2
Entry 3
Entry 4
Entry 5
Please cast your vote on the right side of the Fire Divas Blog and make sure to leave a comment below, and you could be the lucky winner of a 20% off coupon from the ArtFire shop of Amy Sims Designs!
The Poll closes at midnight EST this Saturday, December 17th, and we will post the results on Sunday.
Entry 1
Entry 2
Entry 3
Entry 4
Entry 5
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Fan Page Apps
The number one question I received after last week's post was how to get people to like your page. I will cover that but first we have to finish decking out your fan page. Before they come, you have to build it!
You have to think of your fan page as another interactive website for your business. You want to give them a lot too look at and things to do (buy) while they are there.
The easiest and best thing to do is work with the photo albums that come with your page. For my page, I know that I make lots of beads and occasionally jewelry and those items fall into specific categories: Glass Bead Sets, Under the Sea theme, Focals, Big Hole Beads, Sweet Treats and jewelry. So I create annual albums for those items. I don't want the albums to seem too long to discourage browsing. But if you only make a few items you won't need so many. Maybe you make so much, you need monthly albums. However you organize them, these are my tips:
There are also apps that allow you to create custom tabs for your fan page. You can create a landing page, telling people about your business / products / you and encourage them to like you. If you know basic html or can deal with a WYSIWYG editor such as blogger, you can do this. TabFusion is one such free tab maker that is fairly straight forward and used by many high-end clients!
Additionally, you want to feed all your listings to your fan page. Having a steady flow of interesting content is KEY! You should feed anything to do with your business that has an rss feed to your wall! There are MANY apps and third party sites that allow this.
For the Fire Divas fan page, we set up a twitterfeed account. We feed every team member's newest listings to our team twitter account, one per shop per hour. (You ARE feeding all your listings to your twitter automatically, right???) As a team, we decided that many new listings was too spammy for our fan page however and we do not feed team listings there, choosing instead to manually post treasuries and collections that focus on the whole team.
But as an individual, I RARELY list more than three items per day on any of my sites combined... and my fan page is about ME... supposedly, my fans want to know what's new. So I do feed all new items to my personal fan page.
While twitterfeed is great to feed to twitter and to your personal page, it doesn't have the capability to feed to your fan page. But there are several apps on Facebook that you can use for this. The two I have the most experience with both have quirks.
So now, you have some content for your wall but you should also make shopping easier so that your fans can shop from your fan page. There are shopping cart and payment apps right on Facebook but, you can also link to the shops you already have!
Artfire has step by step instructions for this on their site. NOTE: if you had the Artfire app installed on your page before 12/1/2011, you will find it has stopped worked due to an upgrade. Simply go to your fan page / Artfire tab and enter your shop name and the upgrade will work!
Etsy, as always, makes things just a bit more difficult. But there is a My Etsy app for your fan page as well. Click on "Add to My Page" and it will walk you through the steps. It may be helpful to have three tabs open: My Etsy app, your actual Etsy shop, and your Fan Page.
You have to think of your fan page as another interactive website for your business. You want to give them a lot too look at and things to do (buy) while they are there.
Keep photos of your latest work, new shops listing and even blog listings feeding to your page!
The easiest and best thing to do is work with the photo albums that come with your page. For my page, I know that I make lots of beads and occasionally jewelry and those items fall into specific categories: Glass Bead Sets, Under the Sea theme, Focals, Big Hole Beads, Sweet Treats and jewelry. So I create annual albums for those items. I don't want the albums to seem too long to discourage browsing. But if you only make a few items you won't need so many. Maybe you make so much, you need monthly albums. However you organize them, these are my tips:
- Try to keep 30 - 50 current photos per album.
- Never list more than three photos at a time to avoid spamming your own page.
- Always hit "Publish" when you are done for the last three photos to be visible in your wall feed.
There are also apps that allow you to create custom tabs for your fan page. You can create a landing page, telling people about your business / products / you and encourage them to like you. If you know basic html or can deal with a WYSIWYG editor such as blogger, you can do this. TabFusion is one such free tab maker that is fairly straight forward and used by many high-end clients!
Additionally, you want to feed all your listings to your fan page. Having a steady flow of interesting content is KEY! You should feed anything to do with your business that has an rss feed to your wall! There are MANY apps and third party sites that allow this.
For the Fire Divas fan page, we set up a twitterfeed account. We feed every team member's newest listings to our team twitter account, one per shop per hour. (You ARE feeding all your listings to your twitter automatically, right???) As a team, we decided that many new listings was too spammy for our fan page however and we do not feed team listings there, choosing instead to manually post treasuries and collections that focus on the whole team.
But as an individual, I RARELY list more than three items per day on any of my sites combined... and my fan page is about ME... supposedly, my fans want to know what's new. So I do feed all new items to my personal fan page.
While twitterfeed is great to feed to twitter and to your personal page, it doesn't have the capability to feed to your fan page. But there are several apps on Facebook that you can use for this. The two I have the most experience with both have quirks.
- Networked blogs - will feed anything with an RSS feed to your personal or fan page wall. The downside is... I find it to be a popularity contest. You have to either post some code on your page (impossible on Etsy / Artfire) or get 10 friends to confirm you as the author of your feed. They can also delay the feed based on how many followers you have... which sucks!
- RSS Graffiti - will also feed any RSS feed to your wall or fan page. This one can be trickier to set up and it does have posting errors from time to time but...it's not a popularity contest.
So now, you have some content for your wall but you should also make shopping easier so that your fans can shop from your fan page. There are shopping cart and payment apps right on Facebook but, you can also link to the shops you already have!
Artfire has step by step instructions for this on their site. NOTE: if you had the Artfire app installed on your page before 12/1/2011, you will find it has stopped worked due to an upgrade. Simply go to your fan page / Artfire tab and enter your shop name and the upgrade will work!
Etsy, as always, makes things just a bit more difficult. But there is a My Etsy app for your fan page as well. Click on "Add to My Page" and it will walk you through the steps. It may be helpful to have three tabs open: My Etsy app, your actual Etsy shop, and your Fan Page.
*** Summary***
- Utilize photo albums on your fan page.
- Create a custom landing page.
- Feed all your shop listings to your fan page wall.
- Add tabs for your Etsy / Artfire shops.
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