Mr. B came over wanting to check out a friend’s web site. Yes, Mr. B has a computer – in fact, two of ‘em. One’s a monster Toshiba (Windows 95), the other’s my old Sony notebook (screen’s toasted after someone “worked on it” for him). He doesn’t have internet access, though, so comes over here for that.

Anyway, we looked up the site, The Whole Truth Network, and I fell in love with the template …uh oh… so of course I had to go find it. (Interesting site, by the way. Check it out.)

That was quick and easy enough, even found a Blogger version – yes! Unfortunately, it also led to hours and hours of template-itis, during which I must have downloaded a couple hundred (at least). Some were WordPress, but most were just regular ol’ web site templates. I need a few of those, and the ones I have stashed on the hard drive just aren’t getting it. Customizing takes time and I haven’t been keeeping up with the latest CSS and stuff. Yes, I’ll catch up, but it was actually a time-saver to spend 8 hours ooh-ing and ah-ing and downloading like a maniac. My most heartfelt thanks to all of you out there who build these great themes and templates and freely share them with all of us! Bravo!

Sooo… 7 hours and 45 minutes into this quest. Eyeballs are dangling out of the sockets, hand frozen to the mouse. Click into third-to-the-last page out of, ummm, somewhere over a hundred pages of templates, and what do my dried-up bloodshot eyes land on? An ecommerce template. Whoa. And then another. Whoa whoa.

What’s the big deal about that, since ZenCart’s already installed on the store site? Well, as much as I love ZenCart, I don’t like the fact that one can’t just use Google Checkout and PayPal buttons. You have to set up with regular cart integration, SSL, the whole proverbial ball of wax.

I don’t need that with my site, don’t want it. I can offer secure payment with buttons that take the customer directly to the payment site where they can pay securely. In my most humble opinion, that is The Most Secure process for the customer. Also the easiest for them, considering I offer no multiples of anything. If a person were to actually order more than one item, it’s a very simple process to issue a partial refund for any discounts (if applicable). Perhaps not as convenient for the shopper, but there is a work-around for that which reduces the inconvenience.

All this has resulted in replanning, redesigning, and regrouping – more reinvention. Here we go again… hah!

And now the phone has rung with yet another distraction/interruption/annoyance.
To be continued…

Step #1: Drop the wholesale business. Done!
Step #2: Revisit pricing.

Dropping wholesale led to thoughts on pricing. For now, I’m concentrating on JewelryObsessed, as that inventory is currently at full retail. DanceTheMoon has “old stock” that’s already below wholesale. (Though that will probably change, too.)

Do I need that cushion between wholesale and retail prices now? If not, how can I give my retail customers the best deal, without going broke and getting the lights shut off?

A bit of number crunching revealed that yes, indeed, lower retail prices will work. Not only that, but I can throw shipping in on the deal! Whoa!
Not only that, but my prices were a bit high for jewelry on Etsy. This will put them right around average.

Right here is where I want to give you a head’s up on a great spreadsheet for pricing handcrafted work. If you haven’t tried Chris Parry’s Excel sheet, you’re missing out. It’s a real eye-opener. There’s actually two sheets: One is good for jewelry and other things that have more precise expenses, the other you’ll want to tweak to fit your art/craft. They’re both amazing – and free.

Sooo… this weekend, you’ll find me at JewelryObsessed:
Step #3: Set up new shipping profile.
Step #4: Change prices.
Step #5: Revise policies.
Step #6: Revise shop announcement.
Step #7: Freshen up existing listings, new photos; freshen profile.
Step #8: List more jewelry! Now that I know where I’m going with this shop, I can get busy with it :-)
Of course, 7 & 8 aren’t weekend projects, and will be ongoing.

In the meantime, do try out those spreadsheets and let me know what you think. I just might share some tips and tweaks in the future… ;-)

Off to refill the coffee mug… Talk to ya later :-)

It’s been a busy month or so, which you’ll question if you’ve visited any of my shops or blogs. They’ve all been sitting there, languishing.

Creativity took a hike, so it was time to switch to the left brain for a bit.

That alone can be a challenge. Googling brought up some great right brain/left brain info.

Which side is your most dominant?

Spinning Dancer Image

If you see the dancer spinning clockwise, your right brain is at work; counter-clockwise would be your left brain. She went counter-clockwise for me only when I concentrated on HTML coding or some such stuff. As soon as concentration broke, she went clockwise again. Fun toy!

That search brought up lots of different quizzes to determine which side of your brain is more dominant.

Averaging several results, my right is dominant – in a strong way. Interesting, since I’ve been in left-brain mode for a while now. Also, I can get pretty geeky, and enjoy that. But it does take focus, while making stuff just happens.

Okay, now I’m hijacking my own posts… Anyway, so where does “busy” come in, if nothing’s been done???

Well, it was time to study, analyze, take notes, think, re-think, plan, re-plan, re-group, and do a lot of mumbling and muttering (one of my high skills). In short, it was time to reinvent.

I have emerged from the murky depths, crawled out through the black hole a wiser woman.

Murky Black Hole

I’m hoping, anyway…

Of course, this has resulted in a looong to-do list… added on to the already-existing list. I’m going to share with you as I go down the list. Maybe you can make use of some of the things I’ve been learning.

I’ll be starting bright and early in the morn, after a good night’s sleep.
See you when the coffee’s done :-)