Giveaway Time!

WOW! It's time for a Valentine's Giveaway! I'm giving something away from my Lollishops Shop, actually i'm giving 2 things away! Just visit the Lollishops Giveaways blog and follow the posti-a-comment instructions for your chance to win this lovely lolly ring and bow necklace for a combined total giveway of just under 20.00! I would like to thank the wonderful and sweet Heather of HeatherKnitz for hosting these contests! What a great gal and have I mentioned sweet? So check it out for your chance to win!!!

I Had the Time of My Life...

Cheezy, I know, but I truly had a fabulous weekend!! I know you all want tips on business running and promoting, but today I had to steal a day to write about the awesome weekend I had! I finally got a hair cut that I love, I mean LOVE. My father insisted on taking me to his stylist, since I have been known to fall into the mommy look with my hair pulled back and out of the way of tiny hands! I hesitated to go, since my last hair cut was a disaster and I paid waaay too much for it, then I paid even more to have it 'fixed' and I still hated it! This is the first time I have ever had a stylist tell me what I needed and guess what? I needed it! haha! I never know what works for me, what looks good and what doesn't. I NEED that persons opinion, this is their career, their job, their life! They know what they are talking about. She topped it off with a headband by PinkPewter and it was glorious and perfect!

I walked into the hosue to see my husband and he smiled, he told me he loved my hair and it's his top style yet! Believe me in 10 years of being together, this is a huge compliment! I change my hair all the time!

Next was dinner at the Signature Room on the 95th of the Hancock Center in Chicago. It was absolutely fabulous if not magical! We had been there several times before kids, but somehow, now that we have kids, it seemed so much more elgant, fancy, dreamlike! It's great seeing a menu without chicken fingers on it! After a before dinner drink at the bar, we were seated along side a window the view was amazing. We had another drink while overlooking the menu and finally my husband decided on Lamb and I had the Filet. We ordered new drinks with dinner and it was decadent. Everything seemed to matieralize out of nowhere. Service was superb! Dessert followed and then it was time to keel over after settling the bill! Down we went in a super fast elevator and as if by magic a cab was down there ready to escort us to the Cadillac Palace, we were off to see Dirty Dancing! OMG! It was closing night and it was crowded! We were easily the most overdressed in the theatre, my husband in a suit and I was in an evening gown. (Remember, first big night out in 4 years, we wanted it to be perfect!) But it was still awesome! I bout too much merchandise, but I had to! It is my all time favorite movie!! Everything was SPECTACULAR, but I swear I fell in love with Tony Vincent. Was he in the lead as Johnny Castle? Nope, he was a singer and played Johnnys cousin, you know, the guy that takes baby to see the staff only quarters? WOW, he has a voice that makes women swoon! We had a truly fabulous weekend! I could go on, but I think I have said enough! haha!

Fridays Fabulous Finds!

It's friday! I am so excited! I have tons to do this weekend, so I figured I will share a bit of my favorites with you! Don't get carried away and buy them all on me!! I'm in love with everything here and just don't know which to buy first!

AdornMeJewelry has this amazing gray wire wrapped ring that looks like an egg in a nest, it's truly beautiful!

MaureenWilson has this fabulous family sign that would be perfect on our front door!

CarryMeAway is home to the cutest hand painted totes ever! I'm dying to make this cupcake one a diaper bag! How chic is that!?

JuJuLee has this super cool giant diamond ring in black! This is so cool, i'm drooling! I wish she had one in pink too, I would be all over that!

Featured!

Today, I find myself featured in a Treasury!! I got notified on Flickr! This is titled LOLITA and I love all the pieces on it! Those Spoon earrings on the right are mine! I think this treasury is so pretty and full of pinkness that i'm in love!

A big thank you and hug to SumikoShop for creating such a lovely piece of inspiration!

It's All On Sale!!!

Spend 25.00 today only in my shop and get a 10.00 gift certificate off a future purchase!!!

Step right in!

Promoting Yourself....

Dessert Buffet Bracelet by MichellesCharmWorld 25.00

Morning everyone! It's time to make sure you are promoting yourself to the heavens! are you getting that word out everywhere? I always make sure I have a kit with me every single time I leave the house! It's a mini promo kit.

My Promo Kit

I am putting this photo on Flickr too, so that I can point out things in the notes. I keep it pretty compact and switch out the jewelry samples often. I have a code book/idea book so that I can keep track of the codes I give out to people that ask for my business codes. The tacks are for putting up my business cards wherever I go. It's a great way to promo on the go. I was at Potbelly subs last week and I noticed that my cards were gone, so I put up some more that I had and then added others that I had on me. I also noticed that another Etsy sellers cards were gone too (she lives in Rockford too), so I convoed her when I got home and let her know. I basically put them up wherever possible.

I was part of this business card and flier swap on Etsy once where we all swapped a certain amount of business cards and or fliers, post cards what not and then each person had to go out and paper their city with the fliers they got. Photos were required so that everyone could be sure it was done. I am planning on starting something like this again in hopes of spreading the word out of other awesome artists! So go on, get out there!

Free Earrings!

Sooo.....would you like a pair of pretty in pink earrings from MichellesCharmWorld? A perfect pair of hearts for your ears?! These little hearts dangle from a silver dome post and would complement any outfit! Perfect for the upcoming holiday too! So would you like these earrings for free? Just fill out this survey, by HIGHLIGHTING, COPYING and PASTING it into your email window and after filling out each question, adding your mailing address and then sending it to me at MichellesCharmWorld@Gmail.com . Only emails will be accepted and only surveys that have been ENTIRELY filled out will get the free pair of earrings sent to them. Use the subject title: SURVEY

Please be honest with your feedback :)

1. Male or Female

2. Age

3. Have you visted MichellesCharmWorld on Etsy before (http://michellescharmworld.etsy.com/) ? If yes, please let me know what your thoughts on the shop are.

4. If not please visit now and let me know what your thoughts were?

5. Have you purchased from me before?

6. If no, what is keeping you from purchasing?

7. Have you stopped into my new Lollishops shop yet? (Http://lollishops.com/MichellesCharmWorld)

8. Please visit my Lollishops shop and let me know why you would or would not purchase from the shop.

9. How did you find my blog?

10. Any other comments are much appreciated!

Thank you so much! I hope you have a great day!

~Michelle!~

Just another Manic Monday....

Mmm..Pie Stud Earrings by MichellesCharmWorld 6.00

Good morning everyone! I hope the weekend was wonderful for everyone! It's monday now and it's time to get back to work! I'm thinking of trying to come up with a blog schedule so it's not so difficult to come up with topics on a daily basis. I'm still thinking of what they will be though! If you have anything you would like me to write about, please let me know! I love helping people as much as I can! This is what I have so far:

Monday--Change up Featured Items Reminder and maybe a weekly challenge of some sort?

Tuesday-- In The Studio-- Organization tips, photos, new supplies that sort of thing.

Wednsday--Promotions

Thursday--Shop Improvements

On a good note, have you loaded your Google analytics for your Etsy Shop yet?!?! Talk about an OMG moment! I just uploaded mine and got the checkmark about 32 hours ago and lo and behold I have in that amount of time already surpassed my views in my Lollishops shop that has been running for over a month now, in fact I have more than doubled the views! haha! I am 100% amazed at how fabulous that is. (the loads of views, not how sad my Lollishops store is! I have to figure out something else for that) I am getting a lot of foot traffic and a lot of convos and even some sales too. It's also great to notice that my traffic is in fact coming from overseas just like I always knew it would. The best part? I'm noticing that I have a couple people from a few cities that seem to spend a lot of time in my shop daily! haha! Brentwood, TN where are you and who are you? How about you Lambeth, England? This is so fun! I know there are other regular visitors, many that visit daily too! It's a fun tool, I check it for both of my shops every morning as I start the day.

The top one is Lollishops and the bottom is Etsy, I had to cut the rest out because it has personal information and codes on it. You can see how my Lolli views keep tanking, nothing to compare yet on the Etsy views, so we will see if it was just a lucky coupd of days. I should also mention that I was barely online in these past days as we went out of town. I was not doing any online promoting or listing of new items. I just relisted some pieces in the evenings before bed.

Back to shop news! Have you changed up your featured items yet? Get to it! Time to get the shop looking fresh! I've been invited to set up at a birthday party for a 16 year odl this weekend. My pieces will be the party favors and i'm really excited! The hostess gives me a price range and those are the pieces I bring. Unless she has a theme. Everyone picks out what they want upon arrival and then during that party, I package up the goodies in cute bags with tags and business cards in little boxes and such and then put them out for the guests! It's an awesome way to make great money for about 2 hours time! THese are my favorite kind of private parties! SO I'm off to work on getting tose pieces together this week too!

Saturday Special....

Pancakes and Syrup Brooch by MCW 12.00

Ahhhhh.....gotta love when that weekend hits! You can sleep in (yeah right), Relax (cough, cough ummm no), Read a book (how about watch the movie), Cook wonderful and healthy meals all day (ahhh....fast food anyone?) Needless to say the weekends are hectic. My posts are usually late and really short as they are done on the run. I try not to post on the weekends, but then I feel guilty! haha! Not sure why though. Oh well, I wanted to share with everyone something that I did this week. I changed up my shipping. After a couple years of selling online, I finally started mailing packages with delivery confirmation. I was scared that my sales would stop, since shipping is a huge part of why people don't buy. So I added it to my announcement to explain why shipping was higher than it used to be, I sent out information in my newsletter and also made a forum post about it. I wanted to cover all my bases. I did this on Thursday and that day I still got 2 sales! Yesterday, I got 6 sales and today I already have 5. It seems that my pattern is staying right on. After too many missing packages I just had to do it and now I feel so much better! So go ahead and make a drastic change, it just may get you out of a slump!

Heart Shaped Photo Frame Ring by MCW 9.00

SATURDAY SPECIAL:

Buy anything in my shop today and use code: Blogger110 and get a free bow necklace with your order! Stop on and and enjoy my candy colored paradise!!

Word for the Year...

I was browsing the Lollishops Guild (a private forums for vendors) and I came across a thread by Jill of Bailiwick Designs. It was all about choosing a word to set the tone for the year. I thought this was a great idea and went and thought about it. I chose the word Patience. I am a very impatient person, think 3 year old pouting and demanding. The sad thing is, is that it always works. I was an incredibly spoiled child and only grew up to be a spoiled adult hahha! I would be lying if I said my father didn't still spoil me. I was also lucky enough to marry a man that spoils me a bit too much too. I feel sorry for the man our daughter marries! hahaha! So I have decided to really try and work this out. I found some charms with the word PATIENCE on them and I made them into a Purse charm and a cell charm. When I move to my new studio, I am hoping to put the word on the wall. I not only want to learn patience in business (my lack of views and sales on Lollishops is a big one for me). I also have 3 children and trying to juggle this business and being the perfect stay at home mom is difficult sometimes. I need to be patient and realize that having it all is not always important. So what is your word?

Here is the direct line from the thread:

Every year I choose a word to use as an inspiration
and encouragement to myself. I'll even print it out and put it up all around my studio (and the bathroom
mirror too!) to remind me. Last year my word was
"focus"; this year it's
"grow". For one thing, I want my business to grow.

Take a Moment...

HI everyone! Just wanted to encourage you all to take a browse in my shop! I will be giving away a free bow necklace if you purchase today or tomorrow (Friday). Just use the code: Bow110 in the Notes To Seller. Now stay warm out there!

If you purchase from my Lollishops shop, just go ahead and pay through paypal and I will send you the bow necklace AND a free pair of earrings! I'm trying to build up my customer base over there! It's pretty slow, so stop on in please!

Valentines Day Is Here....

Conversation Heart Charm Bracelet by MCW 12.00

So it's not really here, but it's time to start thinking like retailers! I am not going to make too much holiday themed stuff since it never seems to sell, but I am going to shuffle around some stuff with candy and hearts on it and put it in my featured items, sticking with pinks and reds.

New Featured Items in MCW

I am trying to stay away from getting too theme-y, I want a certain look for my shop and the conversation hearts as cute, so I am sticking to candy and treats and it will still fit in with the rest of my shop!

Dessert Treats Charm Bracelet by MichellesCharmWorld 30.00

Another great way to get into the holiday is with packaging, i'm changing up my packaging and backrounds to suit the holidays. That pink polka-dot is one of the backrounds and I have some hearts too. I am going with pink jewelry containers and I had new earring cards made up! I'm using pink tissue paper and white ribbon.

Since I had earring cards made up for both shops and my labels have Etsy and Lollishops on them, I am transitioning this into both places. I am going to re-do all my Lollishops photos, since there is not that much inventory, but only the new photos will get the new backround on Etsy. So what are you doing for this new holiday?

I am thrilled to help out this wonderful cause. It feels so good to help a cause that is worthwhile. Take a minute and blog it too, what a great way to start a new year! Thank you Tori for sharing this:)
Let’s Eat Cake, an amazing fundraiser hosted by the equally amazing Melissa Margarita-DiStefano, is coming up quick: Tuesday, February 17th at the Plaza Paramount Hotel! Let’s Eat Cake is a cake decorating competition with all proceeds going to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Learn more about the fundraiser right here.
In an effort to make sure we get the word out to everyone (and raise money), we are starting this chain-blog (Ok, not sure if that is correct terminology. But it’s like a chain letter so let’s just go with it, shall we?)
Here’s what we need you to do…Repost this post (or create your own new version) on your blog and ask others to post it on their blogs. Melissa will donate one dollar to the fundraiser for EVERY BLOG that posts on Let’s Eat Cake this week! With the power of the blogosphere, that can QUICKLY add up! Let’s make Melissa Pay! Once you have reposted it, leave a comment letting us know that you posted it along with the url to the blog. It’s for a great cause and it will be fun to see how far it will go! So lets do it… Lets blog it forward and raise money for a great cause!!!
**Kudos to Unique Designs for creating this fun chain-blog effort!**
P.S. Ok, Melissa… time to kick in another $1!
P.S.S. If any business wants to help out with a matching challenge, Melissa would love to hear from you!

Pricing Your Items...pay yourself what you are worth!

Cake earrings by MichellesCharmWorld 10.00

Alright...hmmmm that title can't possible be right, there is no way I can pay myself a million dollars! hahahah!!! Okay all kidding aside, when we put our stuff out there, we are looking to make money right? We're looking to make back what we have in supplies and fees and time, but also a profit! It's difficult getting your pricing just right and sometimes it seems as though there are people undercutting you every step of the way, but no worries keep it at what you think and the customer that buys the cheaper item was never going to be your customer to begin with. There are so many threads like this around, that I hate doing a blog post about it, but sometimes people want to hear it from someone they 'know' and I feel like I know you all! Sometimes prices are just too high and that's because the pricing formula may not be right. I've priced some pieces that I knew were overpriced, but was just too lazy to figure it out right then and there. Of course they didn't sell. Remember that if you are interested in Wholesale selling your items, the norm is 50% of your selling price. So be very careful! I price all of my items, so that I can still put them on sale at 50% if they are not selling and make a good profit.

My pricing formula:

Supplies x 2 + 2.00 for overhead (bills and such) + 15.00 an hour + .60 (2 renewals and listing)

I round up to round off the dollar amount as I don't like listings that say 4.75 in my item shop.

Whenever I get a new supply order in, I count every single piece in the batch (even the ones I cannot or will not use) I then divide that by what it cose to purchase and ship or any other fees associated in the cost of the supply (If I went out just for that, I put in some gas money too), this gives me the per-item cost that I then use to calculate supplies pricing. The pieces I do not use head off to a box of my destash stuff and then when I go to sell my destash, it's all pure profit outside of the fees and photography time, since I built that into the cost of the supplies that I do use.

Hope this helps you guys!!

Improve it!

Yay everyone! We are 6 days into the New year and for most of us, it's finally starting to calm down in the real world enough for us to get our virtual world up and rolling again. I have been so busy with the holidays and then my 2 kids birthday right afterwards, that my sales have taken a complete tumble. I can tell that my sales suffer when I don't dedicate the time to get the word out. Just take a peek at my sold section and you will see just what I mean. I have gaps in between some sales too! It's time to buckle down. So my question to you, is in these 6 days so far, what have you done to improve your shop? If the answer is nothing, it's time to get out there and do something!! I changed up my featured items and began using different backrounds again. I was feeling that the white was really making it too sterile and my items are more fun! I have changed up my Avatar, to something that is on my first page, so that it is easy for someone to find if they spotted me in the forums.

Love My Wellies Necklace by MCW 12.00

I have also begun a new 12 month subscription program to my shop. I offer a different item every month for my customers when they purchase the listing. It's an amazing way for people to get a taste of your shop and you also build in a repeat customer base. Why? They may be tempted to buy more when they are in there getting their monthly item. I have already sold a 12 month program and a 6 month program since implementing this! I am hoping that it will grow!

The Etsy Gift Guides

So I have finally made it!! I'm in the teen gift guides! I cannot believe it!
The wonderful Shawna of MommysYellingGirl, was kind enough to notify me in the morning!

That's my pink video camera ring at the bottom of the page! I'm so excited! This is the first time I have ever been in one, even though my husband has been in them before! I will keep you posted on how it goes for me! So far it has gotten over 300 views!

Happy Birthday Princess

Happy 4th birthday to my amazing little girl! Princess Peanut, you are the very first light of my life. You taught me how to be a mommy and although along the way we've had some bumps in the road, we're learning it together. Your sense of style has me thinking one day, you could be the next Betsey Johnson! Your smile warms me to the bones and your laughter tinkles like little angel bells. You are a great little girl that reminds me of myself in so many ways, when you sit and read a book, all you ask for is silence and a glass of water. When you make necklaces with mommy, they have to be just right. Your patience with the younger boys shows me what a wonderful person you have already grown up to be. I look forward to the years we have ahead of us together. While often stubborn you fight for what you want and as annoying as it may be to daddy and I, don't ever lose that, There will be many times they you will have to fight to get to where you want to be. Little Autumn-Verona, thank you for making me a better person and I only hope I can mold you into being someone as great as you make me feel. Much love to a girl that makes me feel like a rockstar and may all your wishes come true today and everyday.

Time To Shop!

Shop Etsy for my Funky and Chunky Line

Come on everyone! Enter the world of online shopping!! Join me in either of my shops today and get a FREE Bow Necklace with your purchase. Use the code 104Bow in the Notes To Seller after you check out! Free necklace will only be given to those that pay with Paypal today.

Shop Lollishops for my Wearable Sweets Line!

Quick Saturday Tip!

First Page of MichellesCharmWorld on Etsy

I'm off shopping on Etsy and Lollishops today, and I am noticing some things (other than the face that I need to stop shopping). Close-up photos are an AWESOME way to show detail, but you then need a descriptive title. PLEASE tell me that it's a necklace, earrings, bracelet or what-not. I don't want to guess and most likely won't click if I can't tell what it is. Remember in photos bracelets can also be mistaken for necklaces. I always put what it is in the subject title. When doing a search, people will look at the page as shown above there. They will not always click on something that catches their eye if they have to guess. Descriptions are the last thing I do when shopping. First I look to see if it's eye catching, then I read the title, then I look at the price and then I click to enter the shop.

MichellesCharmWorld on Lollishops

I always shop using the Search Bar, it's the easiest way for me to be specific and see the most of what I am looking for. I love to bake, so i'm looking for a baking necklace maybe. I pull of a page of listings and begin to browse:

On this page, I first look at the photos (yay, check out my 2 items at the bottom! haha!). 3 catch my eye right off the bat, so I focus on those. (the other 2 were too dark and well then there are my 2). They all say Necklace and 2 even give the length. My click will go the the Cupcake Baking Necklace, since it is in essance what I was really looking for. So, are your titles detailed enough, without being crazy-Ebay titles? I automatically surpass anything that has more that 7 words in it. Too wordy is not a good thing :) Have a great weekend!

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe NYE! We did some family bowling and then spend the evening at home. It was wonderful and fun! Only a few of us made it to midnight though! hahaa!Today is another day for family, so today I invite you all to think about what this New Year means for us all as shop owners? For me it means a year to start new and fresh. I'm going to be working on organization in the studio big time this year and work on a better system for filing my postage receipts. Right now I put them in a file folder seperated monthly and that's still taking too long to find them. I may staple them weekly together and also start scanning them onto the computer so I have an online way of pulling up receipts for my customers. I want to get rid of old stock that no longer needs to sit here taking up space. Lots to think about!