Archive for July, 2007
Blogging, Ecommerce, and Me
I haven’t been blogging for very long, but I am learning what a wonderful idea and tool this is for communicating on the internet. I am discovering that blogging is more than sharing a journal or diary of thoughts and creativity. Blogging can be a tool that is used to share information, news, business activities, and opinions on unlimited subjects. Here is a tool that can be used to introduce yourself and your business to an infinite number of people. You can share your expertise in your chosen field, show off your creativity, or simply express your opinion about the trends and styles for the coming season.
A colleague recently introduced me to the idea of combining my blog and my website together into what she calls a “blog-site” with my blog also being ecommerce capable. This is a very interesting concept that I am currently setting up here on this blog and will see how it works for me. Here is the link if you would like to read the article for yourself Blog, Blog-Site ~ Independence from eBay.
This will be a work in progress as I add products to my blog here. I plan to make a page to feature each category for my beaded jewelry. Links to my Pages are located in the right sidebar. The different pages will feature a selection from my web store of items available for immediate purchase here through a secure shopping cart. There will be links back to my web store, KC Bead Designs, if you would like to browse and shop my full available inventory for more designs.
Beaded Lanyard Badge Holders will be my first “Page” that I will be adding soon. Look for it to appear next week.
You are invited to browse and shop in my store: KC Bead Designs anytime - 24/7. I hope you subscribe to “Reflections . . .” and enjoy sharing my passion for artisan jewelry.
’till next time!
Cheryl Skeens,
Jewelry Artist/Designer
KC Bead Designs Website
KC Bead Designs Squidoo Lens
KC Bead Designs MySpace Page
Jewelry Artist Direct
KCBeadDesigns Jewelry and Variety Store on eBay.com Closed
I have decided to close KCBeadDesigns Jewelry and Variety Store on eBay.com. After setting up the eBay store and maintaining it for six months it has not been a resounding success for me this time around. When I ran regular auction listings, I saw increased traffic in my store, but the increase in traffic didn’t always end in store sales. Increased fees and changes in eBay policy in promotion of core listings vs. store inventory were all factors in my decision along with time and energy limitations.
KC Bead Designs will continue as my main web store and I will continue promoting my jewelry items on my MySpace Page and Squidoo Lens. I will be adding the eBay store inventory to www.kcbeaddesigns.com.
For those of you that shopped and supported my efforts on eBay, thanks. I hope you will visit and browse my web store KC Bead Designs soon.
You are invited to browse and shop in my store: KC Bead
Designs anytime - 24/7. I hope you subscribe to “Reflections . . .” and enjoy
sharing my passion for artisan jewelry.
’till next time!
Cheryl Skeens,
Jewelry Artist/Designer
KC Bead Designs Website
KC Bead Designs Squidoo Lens
KC Bead Designs MySpace Page
Jewelry Artist Direct
How to Move Lots of Beads without Stress!
During the middle of April we purchased a house in an area we really love and started the process of totally redecorating it before we moved in. We decided that we could do all of the cleaning, spackling, painting and etc. that goes with updating a house ourselves. We forgot that we weren’t as young as we were the first time we redecorated a house and how busy our daily lives are too. Now two months later the house is almost done and we have moved in. What isn’t done right now is on the list of things yet to do.
During this two month period, I let my jewelry business take care of itself. A little neglected and low on stock but KC Bead Designs survived both my absence and the move. Now I’m back and ready to start work again!
I want to share a moving tip I discovered while trying to move beads (or lots of small parts) easier. In my new home, I have a room totally dedicated to my beads and beading. This is a dream come true for me. Previously I had made space in a guest bedroom for my “bead stuff” using a four foot table as my work area and having beads cramed into every corner and container I could find. The idea of trying to combine and move my “stash” of beads and supplies was daunting. I had visions of beads spilling out of my son’s truck into the driveway and all the way up the stairs at the new house. My son was very patient while I sorted and combined bead containers (what he claimed were hundreds of plastic boxes) into larger bead cabinets. I use cabinets with small plastic drawers that are used for hardware and craft storage. After filling all the little drawers in each cabinet, I used poly stretch wrap (the kind they use to wrap merchandise pallets) to keep the drawers from coming out and spilling beads everywhere. I chose the stretch wrap with the handle so it was easier to use and wrapped the cabinets all the way around with a couple of layers of stretch wrap so the drawers couldn’t spill their contents out front or back. The cabinets were easy for my son to pick up and load in his truck and unload at my new home without fear of spilling Mom’s beads. A quick cut through the layers and my cabinets were ready to use. No sticky tape, extra boxes or missing drawers made the move pleasant for both of us.
I found other uses for the stretch wrap during the move too. When taking apart my display racks it was easy to “wrap” all the parts together and because it is clear, I could easily see what was bundled together. I’m going to use it when packing my displays and stands for my next show. I may never have to use packing tape, twisties or rubber bands again!
After years of working in a small space and dreaming of how I would arrange my work area if I had my own room just for beads, I have finally put everything in its place. I am amazed at how many beads I had accumulated and the variety of beading supplies I actually have on hand now that I can actually see and find everything in one place.
Well that’s all for now, I’m off to work on my web store and update my Squidoo lens. I’ll be sharing new jewelry soon!
You are invited to browse and shop in my store: KC Bead Designs anytime - 24/7. I hope you subscribe to “Reflections . . .” and enjoy sharing my passion for artisan jewelry.’till next time!
Cheryl Skeens,
Jewelry Artist/Designer
KC Bead Designs Website
KC Bead Designs Squidoo Lens
KC Bead Designs MySpace Page
Jewelry Artist Direct
