Have a Cheery Happy Friday

Have a Cheery Happy Friday!

Welcome to LilacsNDreams, and happy you stopped by. Here it is Friday again. Ummm....where did the week go? Seems like it just started, and already it has gone by. Thankful for the weekend to be here because I think I need to be home this weekend doing my own thing. 

Here is wishing all of you out there a wonderful Friday, and a gorgeous weekend! Thrift, Create, Blog, Listings, Pictures, and whatever it is you do this weekend....enjoy it, have fun, and be safe. Take care, and see ya'll again soon. Toodles . . . . . . 

Growing Your Business Online Reputation

Growing Your Business Online Reputation

Welcome to LilacsNDreams Everyone! The next topic to be shared is Growing Your Business Online Reputation. This comes from feedback, trust, and the brand recognition that has been earned. 

With Social Proof this can help your customer to feel right at home with you. This can come from a combination of you having experience, history, and the familiarity of the site. This can help to build customer trust with your sales transactions. You can also get this social proof from having product reviews, word of mouth, and from your brand recognition as well. 

You will need to build your reputation slowly, and gradually. Having your shop start off with a good impression with good photography, professional listings, and then will come to a time when you can build your price points as well. 

You might see others who sell the same products as you, or similar ones. With some of these places you might notice that they sell for a lot more money. Your profit margin will grow with the size of your business, and the reputation that you have built. It could be a couple of years before you maybe start to increase your prices, and by building your reputation you can accomplish this. We don't start out this way in the beginning with making big money. We build over time. 

Many of us dream of getting that big break. Boy, wouldn't that be nice, right? In reality a business will succeed with a history of some wins. Just keep putting yourself out there with things you have learned, use different opportunities to help spread the word about your business, and never stop building and accomplishing your goals.

Visit Lisa with Market Your Creativity, and enjoy the things that she shares from her knowledge, and experiences. 

Well, that is it for now folks. Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams, and have a super day! Till the next time. See you again soon. 

Effective Networking, Making Connections Online

Effective Networking, Making Connections Online

Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Recently covered was Blogging, and Social Media. Today I will briefly cover some effective networking, and making online connections that will help us with our businesses.  

I am going to share a statement that Lisa from Market Your Creativity had shared in one of her first posts that she had shared on Etsy in the forums. What she had told the community there was "I am always your friend. We have neighboring shops and we help each other, whether you realize it or not."  

Interesting idea when you think about it as this is something we do with the different platforms we use to sell on, how we become involved with different social networks, and it would be like having a shop in the mall or one of those mini malls. So, what we do to attract customers to our shops, and places we sell can also help those around us. What you do to draw people to your shops is something others near by can benefit from as well. So, if someone comes to visit my shop, you are right next door, and could also get a visit as well. You are not trying to outsell the competition, or take their sales, but rather you are working to make sales. 

So, Lisa shares how she sees this as not pulling competition from each other, but rather how we are all pulling from the same places to make sales. It's an interesting thought don't you think?

We are all human, and sometimes we will get that sudden jolt of envy when we see someone else getting the good sales, and maybe some success too. Consider transforming some of those negative thoughts into admiration for those sellers. Take the opportunity to learn from them, and with some respectful admiration convert that into something positive for you. Get your creative juices flowing, putting your thoughts into work, and go forward to create your own success. 

Try to believe that there is enough business for all of us to have which includes some money too. This positive thinking can open some possibilities, and some potential connections around you. Feel the need to reach out to other competitors, and business owners that inspire you. When you do this you will be surprised with some of the ideas, some of the projects, and some of the exchanges that you will generate. 

This in turn will give you more confidence to build something from nothing. Brainstorming with sharing, and connecting with others can help produce many more things for you. 

I myself am a huge fan of networking in different ways. Since I live most of my time online most of my networking is done within the virtual world. The benefits, and knowledge that comes from these places can be priceless for many of us, and our careers.  

You can start this by setting some goals, reaching out to others, and maybe connecting with other business owners. Take the step, and see where it leads. It is beneficial to you, but it can also be a fun experience too. 

Remember to drop by, and visit with Lisa at Market Your Creativity. She really shares some good things there to learn from. 

Thanks so much for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams! Until the next time I wish you all a wonderful day. See you again soon. 

Some of the Social Media Basics to Know

Some of the Social Media Basics to Know

Welcome to LilacsNDreams where I will discuss some of the social media basics that you should know to help you with your business. 

Facebook is one that we all know, and is by far one of the most popular ones for anyone to start out with. Most of your small, and creative businesses do have a Facebook fan page. It is simply a great way for you to connect with your customers. 

To create a Facebook fan page from your home tab (the news feed page) on the far right dial click on create page. The rest of your process is pretty much user friendly, and self explanatory for you to use. Decide on the type of business that you own, fill in the necessary information, and twala there you have it. 

For those of you with an Etsy shop you can connect your facebook fan page to it. On your Etsy account page click on Info & Appearance under the Shop Settings category. Under the heading of Links you will see the check box that is for a Facebook page, and for Twitter. Click on the Link a Facebook Page with your shop, and connect the two. This will then result in a Like button that is under your Etsy Banner. 

Twitter is misunderstood at times. It is not for advertising as many think. I would recommend strongly to not go through your shop, and try to tweet one product of yours after another. This kind of thing will result with a large amount of the unfollows. 

Twitter is for networking by reaching our to your peers. It helps to make connections with your customers, and other businesses alike. Like others it helps to contribute to your business.   

A few suggestions that will help you to benefit with Twitter is to consider tweeting bloggers with an interesting comment, or suggestion from their posting. Consider maybe tweeting an article that you found interest in. You could tweet about a story for some of the same interest as your industry. You could tweet about one of your favorite characters in a program while you are watching the show. 

You can also link your Twitter account to your Etsy shop by going to your Etsy Account Page. Click on the Info & Appearance under the Shop Settings category. Under that heading Links see the checkbox for a Facebook Page and a Twitter Account. Just click on the Connect with Twitter to connect the two. You will then get a Follow button under your shop banner also. 

Pinterest is something we have all heard about, and has grown and populated amongst many people. Inspiration boards are fun, and very inspiring for many who visit. Have a board for your shop with others shared from Etsy. Have a board with like interests, and products of not only your items, but of others that fit into your same industry too. Have a board that represents blogs which of course you will have yours pinned in there too. When you pin things you can also share them to Facebook, and Twitter too.  

Instagram has been another popluar form of social media that has become popular as well too. I haven't tried this quite yet, but am working on it. I have seen many great comments about it. Many start an account by their shops name. They then will post likable, and some trendy pictures of their products. As has been seen they will then #hashtag like crazy. You will then answer inquiries from others in the comments section of each photo. They will show prices, and they can link the pictures to their Etsy shops and other places of business. 

So, what other forms of social media have I missed? Believe me, there is plenty out there. Some of you have found success with using other places as well as what has been mentioned too. If you have a favorite not mentioned by Me I would love to have you share with us, and also share some of your experiences with those that have been mentioned too.   

As always don't forget to visit with Lisa at Market Your Creativity to see what more she is sharing of these business topics, and helping out with too.

Thanks so much for sharing time with LilacsNDreams. Until the next time I wish you all a Happy Day, and see you again soon. 

WooHoo Its Friday, Weekend is Here

WooHoo It's Friday! The Weekend is Here!

Hello everyone, and hope ya'll are having a wonderful fabulous Friday! Wanted to wish ya'll a super Friday, and to have a great weekend as well. Have fun with all you do. Enjoy, and be safe. Will see you all again on Monday. Have a super day!

Blogging Represents Your Brand, Drives Traffic to Online Storefronts

Blogging Represents Your Brand, and Drives Traffic to Your Online Storefront.

Hello there, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Today I will talk a bit about blogging which is something I enjoy doing. I want to share with you how blogging represents your brand for your business, and how it can help drive traffic to your online storefronts. Actually it is good for those who have websites, and is a form of social media that is good to use. 

When you blog you should do it regularly. Remember, if you don't have a business yet this is still good to have for a business that you might have some day. If you don't have any intentions of starting a business I believe it is still good for people to do. As you sit down to write for your blog you will ask, like many do, what is it I want to say? Once you start sharing it only gets better for you. 

When I first started to blog online I had no clue as to what I was doing, what I wanted to say, how to get started, and then nervous if anyone would actually find me to read anything. Getting started can be hard. I didn't think I would really have anything to say, or talk about. Over time ideas would come to me, I would read something that would give me a thought, and I learned to make small notes to myself of these ideas for later uses. 

It can take a while to find your way of what you think you should say, or what you think that maybe people would like to read. Once you get started, once you find your way, you will find that blogging is not as bad as you first thought. You find that the words come pouring through you as you open more to share, and more of you is revealed for others to see you which is good for business too. You will find over time how this helps to reveal your brand. 

If the business you have chosen is meant for you then you will find yourself eating, sleeping, dreaming, and living your brand. So, share it to the world in a conversational style way by using a blog. 

The blog is an ongoing thing in conversations between you, and your readers. People can come to your blog that would like to get to know you, and maybe ask you questions too. It's great when they wish to share things with you, and the other readers who visit. With your blog they can read a full post compared to the short messages with Facebook, or with the 140 characters that can be used at Twitter. 

Don't be offended with people who are not interested in reading. Some people do not like to read which is okay. Your target audience is going to be with those who are online looking for something of substance every time they visit online. This helps those who like to dig a little deeper, and get more of a feel for things by getting to know you. Consider it like writing an email to a good friend of yours which will help you share what others are looking for. 

Some of the traffic that comes to my shop is from my blog. Once in a while I enjoy sharing items that others are offering to help boost a little traffic for them as well. You will find that the blogging community is friendly, engaged, and they are willing to help other bloggers too! Blogging is not like visiting some of the forums that we have with our online storefronts. Some of those forums can get kind of mean, people get rude, and like others I cringe when it happens to me or see it happening to others. 

The blogging community is certainly people who like to share, and are friendly writers. We all look for new stories, some inspirations, and etc. You will also find that they are happy to link with you, tweet, pin, post some of your products in return, and that they enjoy sharing as well. The more that you can share the more your links are put out there, and the more clicks you can get too. It's a revolving circle. 

So, where do you start to blog? If you have your own website sometimes a blog can be made with that. Many will use the free blog from Google known as blogger.  There is also wordpress that many will choose too. Some will start with wordpress.com, and later will switch to the wordpress.org self-hosted site. Keep in mind that you can also get your domain with a place like GoDaddy, and have that directed to your blog with blogger too. That is something I do for Me. So you might ask, which one is better, and what do I choose? Many like wordpress, and there are some that prefer blogger. Here is a little article about blogger vs wordpress. See what is being shared about the 2 places. 

My preference is with blogger as I have a hard time getting around with wordpress. I am not a computer techie person, and blogger was easier for me to work with myself. Who knows, maybe some day I'll grow up more (LOL), and venture over to wordpress. Till then I am with blogger, and have been content with it so far. I like things simple I guess.  

If you would hop on over to visit Lisa at Market Your Creativity check out Day 14 in her series that she shares about how to build your own creative business. There she gives you some links for the beginning blogger, and for the advanced blogger too.  

Well, there you have it for today everyone. If you are not blogging I hope you will consider it, and know that it truly is good for you to do. It's one of the forms of social media that is good to use when branding, and building your business. Don't forget, you don't have to have a business to blog either. Many do it to share with family, and others too. 

Thanks for sharing time with LilacsNDreams today, and hope to see you again soon. Take care, and have a Happy Day!

Basic Components For Your Online Platform

Basic Components For Your Online Platform

Hello, and Welcome back to LilacsNDreams! Today is about the Basic Components For Your Online Platform. Imagine your customers, or your fans as your online audience. Also, consider your online presence, or your reach as the platform you are creating. We strive to have a bigger platform in order to have a bigger audience that we want to gain.   

Your online platform is an interconnection of many things. Your websites, social medias, and your storefronts you want to build links to all of your projects. An example would be that this blog drives people to my Etsy, and Ecrater shops. Also to my listings at Ebay. Along with those places my blog can also encourage people to visit my facebook, and twitter. In turn all of those places will link back to my blog, my blog shoppe, and etc. This makes a connected circle with building your network. You want to make sure that each place will feed into the next one. 

Storefront

This is your money spot, but will not always be your most important spot either. Remember, you would like people to buy into what you are creating with an atmosphere for them to experience a piece of your business. You will create this experience in many ways for them. Before making this the final stop for your customer they just might have decided they were going to make a sale before this with either the blog, or your social media sites. 

Try to think of ways that you can grow your platform out wider than just your storefront. By doing this you will help yourself attract many more customers as well. 

Blog

I myself feel strongly that business owners should have a blog. A blog is like an ongoing conversation that you can have with your customers, or your readers. This is a place for a live and active form of communication. With a blog you can showcase so much more than just your products. As many have shared a blog is a place where you can share your thoughts, and feelings. People can really get to know you better with your blog, they can relate with you, and it helps them to feel understood as well. 

Social Media Accounts

As mentioned before some where in the beginning, time is truly on your side. Create an account on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and wherever else you think that your customers might like to hang out at. You don't really have to use all of the accounts often, or for a long term. Over time you will see which media accounts have become critical, and beneficial to your business growth and success.

So, any interactions that you have with your customers should be favoring towards them. Don't look at them as fans, or followers. Consider them more as friends as it is more appreciated. Remember, they have invited you, and accepted you so it's nice to respect them as well. 

So, here are some basic components for your online platform. Hope these topics are being helpful to you, and remember to visit with Lisa at Market Your Creativity who shares all of these things, and is very helpful with many things as well. 

Thanks so much for sharing your time with LilacsNDreams, and hope to see you again soon. Take care, and have a Happy Day everyone!