Neglecting my duties

 We all know the old saying, "I've just been so busy I haven't had time to do anything". I want to use that excuse here but that's all it would be, an excuse. I've been neglecting my business in so many ways. I haven't been promoting it, so we haven't been selling much. I haven't been creating any new items to sell and I haven't built anything in weeks. I haven't tried to paint anything in months. Yes, I've been busy with other things but I haven't been that busy. I'm feeling better than I have in a few years so I should get going and do some creating. They say that "Tomorrow is another Day" and well it is. So tomorrow when I post here there will be a picture of something new that I just made. Now it's time to get off my fat butt and get to work.
     See Ya

Using Facebook and Twitter

Sometimes I really feel like I'm a fool. I don't know much about computers, the internet, or social media. A short few years ago I would have said "Huh?". It's been a slow process to beat some things into my thick head, but I think I'm slowly learning the importance of a few things that I need to be doing to get sales on the internet. I like to talk, boy do I like to talk, but writing it down is something entirely different. Selling in person at vendor shows is a completely different game than selling on the web. I have to take better care in writing my descriptions. Learn to choose better keywords to get better SEO results. Take better pictures. Uuugghh!! The old saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" has a whole new meaning, now that I'm an old dog.
Oh well, enough complaining. It's time to get to work on new promotion techniques that include Facebook and Twitter in a higher capacity. It's time to get noticed on the www.

End Of The Season

Another year of crafting is just about over and now it's time to regroup and rebuild for next year. We tried some new ideas this year. Some worked , some didn't. We will work on some new designs in the next 3 months and try to be ready for show time in April. We will be working on a new promotion for our online shop also. We have to get better keywords and work on SEO. Online promotion and online advertising isn't as easy as I thought it would be but I'm learning, slow but sure.
I hope everyone had a good year and we wish everyone a Happy Holiday season.

Handmade Christmas

How about a Handmade Christmas this year? With a handmade gift, it's unique, one of a kind. As a crafters, we use many different things to create our products. In my case, I build my products out of wood. No two pieces of wood are identical. So even though I build many items that are the same, because the grain in the wood is different, the finished product has it's own unique look. This can't be achieved with mass produced copies. The hand painted items that Elaine makes are also unique because the brush strokes aren't exactly the same or in the exact same spot or size. These handpainted items will resemble each other but they are unique in their own way.
Check out our shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/OldTimeCountryCrafts and see if we can't help fill your Christmas gift needs.

P.S. While you are here, sign up on our e-mail list to recieve special offers only available to our e-mail subscribers

It's that time of year again and everybody is busy. So I won't waste your time or mine. We have a sale on framed 8x10 prints. These are $15.00 each but until 1/01/10 you can get 2 for just $22.00. Plus these come with FREE SHIPPING in the Continental USA. Go to our shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/OldTimeCountryCrafts and have a look.

While your here, sign-up on our e-mail list for other special offers.

I've been a bad boy. I could use the excuse that I've been too busy to blog, but that sounds quite lame. The fall craft shows here have for the most part been OK. People weren't buying big items, but they did spend on smaller decorative items. It did surprise me that people weren't buying much holiday decor from anyone. It's always a guessing game what the public will want, so I just take what I have and hope for the best. A sale is a sale right? Our e-mail list is growing. By signing up, you become one of our preferred shoppers. When we send out e-mails, we include discount codes that only members receive. The e-mail sign- up is on the right. We won't sell your name to anyone else and we won't send you junk e-mails day after day. We will send you an e-mail a few times a year to show you new products and to remind you who we are and what we make.