Finding that special gift

Finding that special gift takes time and effort. You know the person so well that you really want your gift to be meaningful. You have several options available for shopping. You can go to the mall and look through several different stores. You could go to one of several department stores and look through lots of everyday items. Or you can shop online. Still nothing jumps out and tells you this is the right gift.

One option online is going to a "HANDMADE" site. Many designers and crafters, like myself, make and sell our products on ETSY.com. On ETSY, you will find thousands of shops making a wide variety of items, all unique in their own way. Because it's all handmade no two items are exactly identical. I make my products out of wood. The grain in the wood is different causing each finished piece to have just a little different look, all it's own.

One other point that I need to mention is that most of the people who sell on etsy can design an item just to fit your needs. This is not an option at the mall. Some of the products that we make are pictured here in the right side of this blog. To get to our shop just click on the words OldTimeCountryCrafts on the right and it will take you there. It's located just above the e-mail sign-up form. Sign up for our e-mail list to keep up with our new products and promotions. We don't e-mail often, only to let you know of new products or special offers just for our subscribers.

Where does the time go ?

It's already the middle of another week and almost the middle of another year. Where does the time go? Have I gotten anything done or has the time just been wasted? No matter what I get done, I always feel that I should have been able to do more and do it faster. Oh well , I guess what will be will be. So it's on to my next project, list more items in our shop, finish a project or two that I have started, Then see if I can find my kitchen table again. I know it's under there somewhere.
In honor of EARTH DAY , I am offering a framed print of Yosemite National Park for 25% off with free shipping in the continental United States , TODAY ONLY . You can get it in our etsy shop. Here's the link @http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24026083

Not just another Monday

Another week-end is gone and now begins another work week. Hmmm, I just remembered, I worked all week-end so where is the begining and the end of work? Just one more perk for being self-employed I guess. I'm not complaining, this is what I choose to do and I do love doing this. I always thought that a 40 hour week meant that you only worked part time, so the hours I devote to making and selling my products doesn't bother me. If you truly like what you do I don't think that you are bothered by time invested.
So I guess I was right. It's not just another Monday.

Marketing Online

I'm a complete novice at online marketing but I need to keep a record of my "progress", or at least I hope I'm making progress. It's a different and difficult world online (as if my life offline was easy). As of today, this is what I learned about selling my handmade goods online.

(1) I didn't do any research into how to successfully sell online, list and sell right? What a fool. It would be nice if it worked but much to my dismay, it doesn't.

(2) How to get customers to my site? $64 question and my answer may not be worth 2 cents. Do I use free ads or do I pay and where in the heck do I do this?

(3) At first I wondered, what the heck is social networking and how the heck is this going to help me sell my woodcraft? To repeat myself from earlier, what a fool.

(4) So now that I know a little about social networking, and a little how to promote my woodcraft, what's next? Keep learning you FOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok. So I guess what I've learned most about so far is myself. Since I hate to call myself a fool, I had better get back to work and learn how to do a better job of online marketing.

Give me a BREAK

Well the week-end is over, so now we get to do it all over again. Right? Wrong. The first thing I have to do is see if my old truck is repairable or if it will cost more than it's worth. The new parts that were installed on friday were defective so now I may have more problems than before. Time will tell. On the bright side, we had a good time at the craft show. Seen some old friends, made some new one's, and sold some items. I wish we had sold more, but then I always wish that. All in all, I can't complain. We had a good location and there was a good crowd so it was a good time, all except for the truck incident. Better days are coming, oh , if I only believed that was true.

Thinking

Always thinking of new and better product designs , you can never rest in the world of "handmade". Being a woodworker specializing in home decor, I sometimes find myself lost in a design that I personally don't like . Although this makes it harder to complete, I must stay at my post until it is finished. As I get older, I realize more often that I have to design for a wider scope of home decor schemes. When I started doing this 30 years ago, I only built in the "colonial" style . To compete in todays market I will need more options .

So it's off to the design sector of my world to see what I can come up with . Nothing like a little handmade design time to keep me out of trouble .