You're the Boss: Part 9

Don't forget to enter our Raving Fan and Future Raving Fan Contests to win a Sneak Peek at the 2011 Line and Your Choice of Calendars from Much Ado About You.

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-9-
Take Advantage of FREE Marketing Opportunities
Social Networking sites are not only great for locating your long lost Kindergarten crush, but they have opened up the door to tremendous advertising opportunities for your home-based business.  Have a fan page for your business and post frequent updates about your shop.

In the last two years I have sold almost 800 calendars.

I think that's pretty good for a little home-based business.

Wanna know how much I have spent marketing these calendars?

Almost nothing.

In the beginning, before I even realized that this was a business, I was making all my sales thanks to word-of-mouth.  The lovely thing about a calendar is that it kind of advertises itself.  Whenever one of my customers goes to a PTA meeting, or the dentist, or is asked by a friend to schedule a lunch... out comes the calendar.

Then I started selling my calendars on Etsy.  It is free to open a shop on Etsy, but you do have to pay a 20 cent listing fee for every item that you list.  I suggest to anyone opening an Etsy shop that you post a new listing every day, whether that means creating a whole new listing or re-posting a listing that has sold... something should be posted every day.  This is because Etsy's search engines go by date posted, so the more often you are posting, the closer to the top of the search your items will be.  Even though this is not 100% free, at 20 cents a listing, you could post every day of the month, and still only spend $6 a month.  That's not bad.

In the last 16 months that I have been posting nearly daily on Etsy, I have sold over 300 calendars in 40 states and 4 countries.  For less than 1% of my profit... I have been able to reach all these people.  That's pretty hard to beat.

But there are also many truly free ways to get the word out about your business.

Here are a few that I have found helpful: 

1. Have a Facebook Fan Page

 It is extremely easy to put these pages up, and it is a great way to communicate with your customers.

I'm sure there are many of you out there that oppose Facebook and the whole idea of Social Networking, but you should very seriously consider getting on the bandwagon if you are serious about your business.  I use my Fan Page to talk about shop updates, sales, the funny happenings of an office full of crazy women... it's a great way to keep my shop on my customers' minds.

2. Tweet

I will admit right now that I greatly dislike Twitter.  I don't get it... I think it is difficult to use... I hate how half the time you try to log on they tell you they are full... but I know that it is another valuable tool for reaching customers.  I do have a Twitter account... MAAYpaperfreak, if anyone is interested.  I opened it because Gussy wanted to tweet about me one day.  She did... and on that day I had the highest number of hits that I have ever gotten on my shop, so clearly Gussy knows how to take advantage of Twitter.  But to be honest... this is not a free opportunity that I take advantage of.  There... I said it.

This makes me feel old.

If you are not as "old" as me... use Twitter.

3. Use your Products

If you sell hair accessories... wear them.

If you sell checkbook covers... write checks often.

If you sell jewelry... never go anywhere without earrings.

I sell calendars... so every opportunity I get, I am whipping my calendar out.

4. Hand Out Business Cards

{Especially if you have super cute ones, like mine.}

Don't be afraid to approach someone that you think could benefit from your products and hand them a business card.

Brooke saw a gal at Gymnastics one day that had an ugly, generic, tattered calendar that she clearly lived by, and she handed her a business card and said, "I've never seen anyone that needed my friend's calendars more than you do."  I have since sold several calendars to that gal.

You don't have to be pushy... trust me, that is not me... I am not a sales person.  Just give them a compliment {a genuine one though... don't be fake} and hand them a business card.  You can say, "I love your headband.  I sell fun hair accessories... here's my card if you are ever interested you can check out my website."

4. Have Excellent Customer Service

I will go into much more detail about this when I talk about tip #10, but truly there is no better free advertisement than a happy customer.  You can't buy that kind of advertisement.

Simply Fabulous

What a fantastic weekend we had!  I hope you all had wonderful weekends too.

I will tell you all about mine {that way if you didn't have a fabulous weekend, you can live vicariously through mine}.

First of all though... a winner for our Initials, Inc. giveaway.

Congratulations Sarah from Blue Barn Quilts!  Yay... I'm so glad you are a big winner!

Okay, now... you may have noticed that I did not blog on Friday.  That's because I was in Temecula with Nathan and our friends from our Couples Small Group.  Why would we spend a super hot weekend in Temecula... you ask?  We were out there to see Brian Regan perform.  If you have never heard of Brian Regan... go watch some of his videos on iTunes.  He is a very clean, conservative comedian that just happens to be hilarious.  I was laughing so hard by the end of his performance, my stomach muscles and cheeks hurt and I had lost most of my make-up from crying.

We had good food, good fun, and there was also a funny incident meeting Brian Regan by the pool.

We had so much fun on our quick little getaway with our friends.. such a refreshing treat.

Then we came home Saturday to find the final copy of our Home Study in the mail!!!

Woooooo hooooo!!!  We are officially ready to adopt!

Now I just have to finish up my paperwork for the Adoption Agency and make my scrapbooks for the birth moms.

We're getting close now. :)

Before I wrap up this post I thought I would share one more thing with you for your viewing pleasure.

Remember I told you that we were going to dinner on Thursday night:

We had a really fun night at Simply Fondue with the Bennetts.

Good times... good friends... good news... good weekend!

Super Steal of a Deal

Looking for the Initials, Inc.  giveaway?  Scroll down or click here.

Don't forget to enter our Raving Fan and Future Raving Fan Contests to win a Sneak Peek at the 2011 Line and Your Choice of Calendars from Much Ado About You.

 

Has anyone out there ever heard of Restaurant.com?  My mom just told me about it the other day, and it's an amazing find!  It's a website where you can get gift certificates to various restaurants at ridiculous discounts.

 

One of our favorite local restaurants is Simply Fondue.  It's this funky little place in downtown San Juan Capistrano that is just my style.  It's got leopard print booths, zebra fabric on the walls, black and silver damask wallpaper, and accents of hot pink and purple... to name just a few of the funky elements.

 

 

Last year for Christmas, Nathan and I gave each of our parents a nice bottle of wine, and told them we were taking them to Simply Fondue for dinner. {FYI... there are no corkage fees on Tuesday nights.  We took them on a Tuesday.}  We had so much fun, and Beau loved it.

 

Anyway, my mom called the other day to tell me that I could get a $100 gift certificate to Simply Fondue on Restaurant.com for just $40.  I logged on to check it out, and sure enough... it was $40.  

 

But before I checked out I Googled "coupon code for restaurant.com" which I like to do before any and all online checkouts {I can't tell you how many times I have gotten free shipping out of that}, and I found a code for an additional 40% off.  {The code was "bridal", and as far as I know it is still working.}

 

I typed in the code... and sure enough... my $100 gift certificate ended up costing me just $24!

 

So tonight Nathan and I are going to Simply Fondue with Jennifer and her husband Nathan.  {Yes, they are both Nathan, and even worse... they are both Nathan B., so we like to call them Thing 1 and Thing 2.}

I can't wait!  Fondue is my favorite!  I can't wait for the cheese course.  Mmmmmm.

And just so you don't think Oh, that poor Emmy... she totally got scammed... last night we used the gift certificate I had gotten off of Restaurant.com for Diho Siam, our favorite local Thai restaurant.  It was a $25 gift certificate that I purchased for $6.

Check it out!  They are gift certificates available from restaurants all over the country.  If you get a good deal... tell me about it!

Waiting

Looking for the Initials, Inc.  giveaway?  Scroll down or click here.

Don't forget to enter our Raving Fan and Future Raving Fan Contests to win a Sneak Peek at the 2011 Line and Your Choice of Calendars from Much Ado About You.

"You can get so confused

that you'll start in to race

down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace

and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go

or a bus to come, or a plane to go

or the mail to come, or the rain to go

or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow

or waiting around for a Yes or a No

or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting."

 -Dr. Suess, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

In the last six years I have gotten really good at waiting.

When we first started trying for a second baby, I thought for sure it was going to be a piece of cake... just like it had been the first time.  But after just a few months with no results... I was tired of waiting.

Then many more months passed.  And years.  And we were still waiting.

Only at some point in my waiting process I stopped waiting for what I wanted, and learned to wait on the Lord.

Have you ever heard the song While I'm Waiting by John Waller?

I really love this song.  The lyrics go like this:

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Tak

ing every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

 

I love this song because first of all, it acknowledges that waiting is painful.  

It is painful.  And frustrating.  And scary.

But it is also a great reminder that sometimes while we are waiting, we get so caught up in the waiting that we forget that our first calling is to be worshiping.  We were made to worship, not wait.  Worship and serve.  When we selfishly focus on our own desires, we neglect our calling as worshipers and servers.

You know what is funny?  I started this blog entry because today I am waiting again, but for something really silly.

Today I am waiting for packages to arrive.  

Packages full of fun things like supplies for my new line of calendars.

And I am reminded that while I am still waiting for a baby, God has provided so much to fulfill my days.

I'm not stuck in the Waiting Place.

"NO!

That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape

all that waiting and staying.

You'll find the bright places

where Boom Bands are playing."

Well Dr. Seuss... in the midst of my waiting today, I have found my bright places.

 

My family.  My home.  My friends.  My neighborhood.  My business.  My church family.

My packages that are beginning to arrive.

Initials, Inc.

Don't forget to enter our Raving Fan and Future Raving Fan Contests to win a Sneak Peek at the 2011 Line and Your Choice of Calendars from Much Ado About You.

 We've got another giveaway today.  Yay... more free stuff!

I understand that most of you across the country have already started school... which I think is bananas!  Here in California, we still have two weeks of Summer Vacation left.  Good thing, since I haven't even thought about school supplies shopping yet... maybe I will do that today??? 

You know that commercial for Staples where the mom is skipping around the isles while It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year is playing in the background.  I love that commercial.  And not because I can't wait to get rid of my son.  I just love routine.  I do much better when we are on a routine.  Summer vacation is great for two weeks, and then I am ready to be back on a routine.

Anyway, in the spirit of back-to-school, my friend Holly from Initials, Inc. is giving away a Personalized Lunch Sak.

Have you heard of Initials, Inc.?  It's a new company that creates and produces customized and personalized products from Chic Handbags & Totes to Trendy Storage Bins and the personalization is always FREE.  You can design your product to fit your own unique style and personalization.

This item retails for $24.99 and comes in five different fabric patterns, which can be found on Holly's website.  This one is the Bubbles pattern.

If you are local to the South Orange County area and would like to host an Initials, Inc Home Show, Holly is offering an additional $20 in Hostess Credit to anyone that books a show in September.  

Just contact Holly for more information.

Okay, so here's the details on the giveaway:

The contest will run until this Sunday (August 29th) at midnight PST.

Here's how to enter:

{I am changing the system a little... so pay attention.}

Leave a comment with your email address so that I can contact you if you win.

If you want a second entry:

Become a follower over in the right sidebar and leave me a second comment.  

If you already are a follower, just remind me.

If you want a third entry:
Put my button on your blog {the code is in the left sidebar} and let me know in a separate comment.  

If you have already done this, let me know... and thanks for the support!

If you want a fourth entry:

Blog about this giveaway and... you guessed it... let me know in another comment.

If you want a fifth entry:

Post a link to this giveaway on your Facebook status {honor system here}.

Does all that make sense?  I know last time I asked you to leave just one comment, but I am getting too many entries for that system.  Now I want you to leave separate comments for each entry.  Sorry to keep changing things up... I'll figure out a good system one of these days!

The winner will be announced on Monday.

You're the Boss: Part 8

Don't forget to enter our Raving Fan and Future Raving Fan Contests to win a Sneak Peek at the 2011 Line and Your Choice of Calendars from Much Ado About You.

-8-
Be Organized
Organization with your supplies and products will make work much more enjoyable for you.
Organization with your invoicing and expenses will make work much more profitable for you.
Organization with your clients, like responding to emails in a timely manner and getting orders shipped quickly will make work much more marketable for you.

Many years ago Brooke and I were trying to come up with a business that we could start together.  We came up with the idea for Organize Me.  We were going to be Organizational Consultants that came to your home or office and turned your crazy clutter in a beautifully organized sight to behold.

We even wore matching overalls.  It was 2001 people.

Anyway... that business never took off, but my point is that I love to organize.

I am a generally very organized person.  I like lists, labels, and order.

This has been extremely helpful to my business.

I don't need to tell you why being organized is a good idea... it's obvious.

But I am going to give you some tips on organizing your supplies and paperwork that I hope will help you to make your business more efficient.

You know that phrase "Time is money."  Well, it's true.

When you are running your business... the more efficiently you can produce your products, the more profit you will be making on each one.  Bottom line.

So first things first... organize your supplies well.

I make calendars {in case I haven't dropped that hint enough} and so I organize my supplies by design.  Each design has its own drawer that contains all the paper and embellishments needed to complete that design.

Each drawer is labeled with the name of the design it contains.

There are also drawers for extra solid paper, labeled according to the color(s) contained it those drawers.

The white drawers at the bottom contain other supplies, such as glue sticks, Stickles, calendar bindings, ribbon, etc.

I also have a tub that we keep on the work table with supplies that we use every day.

Okay, so my supplies are all in order, but none of the supplies would even be necessary if we didn't have any orders to fill.  And in order to get orders, and continue to get orders, you have to have a good system for organizing your invoices.

I have told you that I use Etsy, so I am going to show you how I keep things straight with my Etsy account, but I'm sure that you could apply a similar system to any shopping channel you are using.

The first thing I do when I get an order is print the order, contact my customer to let them know that we received the order, and relist the product.

I then put the order in a hanging file that is above my desk that says "Need to be Entered", which means that it needs to be entered into our database.

Once the information has been entered into our database, the invoice is marked with an "X" and it is put into the file above which says "Ready to be Made".

Our amazing database that my amazingly fabulous husband built for us prints out a Daily Status Sheet which lists all of our open orders.  {If you don't have a nerdy super-smart husband that can build you a database, you can always just keep a running list using Excel or even Word, but don't tell my husband that I suggested that.}

When my employees come in to work each day they check the Daily Status Sheet, then go get the invoice out of the "Ready to be Made" file and begin working on an order.

While orders are in-process, they are kept in these snazzy trays that I got from Ikea:

I love these trays because each one pulls out completely and can be carried to the work table while someone is working on that order.

When an order is complete, it is prepared for shipping at our fantabulous Shipping Station.  The invoice is then put on my desk so that I can complete it in the database.  Once it is completed, it is marked with a "C" and filed in our Recent Invoices box:

I keep the current and previous month's invoices in this box, in case there is a situation in which we need to refer back to the invoice.  {What... a mistake?  No!  We never make mistakes around here.}

At then end of the month, I move the previous month's invoices into my filing cabinet and start a new file for the next month.  Make sense?

It may take you a while to get yourself organized, but it will be so worth it in the end.  If you have to, shut down your shop for a week and devote your time to getting things in order.

You don't have to spend a fortune.

I got most of my organizational tools at Target and Ikea, and they definitely didn't break the bank.

One last tip about organization: be sure to extend it into your finances as well.  If you are not organized with the money coming and going in your business, I promise that you will never make a profit.  You will never know how much money you are making {or even if you are making any money} unless you know how much you are spending.  My friend Gussy just did an amazing post about Budgeting Your Business that you should definitely check out.

  I will just say:

1.  Open a separate checking account and credit card {with a low limit} for your business.

2.  Keep very good track of your receipts for all expenditures.

3.  Get a good CPA that knows how to take advantage of every tax credit that you should receive for running your home-based business.

20 Things on the 20th

Okay, wait... today is the 20th, right?  Yes!  I'm pretty confident that it is the 20th.

Today I thought I would share with you a few random facts about me.  20 to be exact.

But first let me remind you that you currently have 2 opportunities to win a calendar from Much Ado About You.  For free.

 

1.  Check out the Giveaway Week at 30 Days for my calendar and many other fantastic giveaways.

2.  Enter my Raving Fan and Future Raving Fan contest.  

Okay, did you ever get that 25 Random Things message on Facebook where you were supposed to write a note and share 25 Random Facts about you and then tag 25 friends and tell them to do the same?

I loved that fun little phase.
I learned some of the most interesting things about my friends that I thought I knew pretty well already.

Anyway... for your reading pleasure {or maybe you are thinking, what in the heck do I care about your stupid facts?}, here are:

20 Random Things about Me
{remember... because today is the 20th}

1. I married my high school sweetheart, and I absolutely believe in soul mates and love at first sight because it happened for me... when I was 14 {of course, it took Nathan 3 years to fall in love with me... but for me it was "at first sight"}.

2. In the last decade I have had a total of 7 surgeries.

3. In 1992 (the year I was in 8th and 9th grade) these things happened: a bus load from our youth group went off a cliff on the way to winter camp (not the bus I was on, but one carrying many of my friends, including my counselor... miraculously no one died), a woman I babysat for killed both her daughters two nights after I last watched them, and I witnessed a fatal hit and run in which an elderly pedestrian was dragged 100 feet by a speeding truck... it was a traumatic year.

4. When I moved into my current house, I moved across the street from a girl that I met in 6th grade at summer camp and was pen pals with for several years (she lived in AZ at the time), but hadn't spoken to in more than a decade before I moved in.

5. I met my two best friends at school... one in Junior High Woodshop Class, and one in the dorms at Cal Poly.

6. I have one tattoo that I got on my honeymoon {we went to Tahiti... the birthplace of tattoos}, and when we got home the first thing my new husband did was tattle on me to my mommy.

7. I am extremely social, and I hate to feel like I am missing out on a good time anytime any of my friends are together, but I am also a total homebody, and would usually rather be at my house than anywhere else.  Which explains why all my friends are always here.

8. My family wins things.  A lot.  My mom won a million things on gameshows, including a car and a trip around the world.  My sister just won one of Lysa's TerKeurst's blog giveaways.  I have won a Christmas wreath, a trip to Cabo San Lucas, and Bingo... to name a few.  Sometimes I don;t enter contests because I feel bad for the other people because I know I will probably win.

9. The worst day of my life was the day my husband's mom died, and I remember almost every detail with vivid clarity, but don't remember most of what happened over the next week.

10. I am a perfectionist, but I sometimes mask that with messiness.

11. I want to be a guest on The Martha Stewart Show.

12. My favorite "desserts" are doritos, tortilla chips with ranch dip and peach salsa, and string cheese.

13. I gained 45 pounds when I was pregnant.  I started at 110 pounds, which means that I nearly doubled my weight.
 

{I can't believe that I am showing you this picture!}

14. My grandma was a movie star, and one of her biggest roles was in a movie called Playgirl.  No... she was not that kind of movie star... she played a young girl being trained by a con-artist to trick men into giving them lots of money.  One day the Cable Guy came over to fix my cable box and saw Playgirl listed on my DVR list.  He then proceeded to tell me how pornography is the number one source of revenue for the cable company.  It was embarrassing.  Thanks Grandma!

15.  I believe that I have a calling to share with other women how to love God even when you don't get the greatest desire of your heart, and hope that someone will someday ask me to tell my story to a group of women.

16.  If I won the lottery I would buy a whole street full of houses and move all my friends and family there.  And I would open a paper store.  The only problem is that I don't play the lottery.  {Hmm... maybe I should... I do win things.}

17. The best and worst thing that has ever happened to me has been infertility.

18. I hate my middle name.

19. My parents and Nathan's parents had the same wedding anniversary.

20. If I could live in any other period in history... I wouldn't.  I am way too high maintenance!  I need my flat iron, my TV, and a drive thru!

There you go... 20 things about me.  Have you got any Random Things that you would like to share with me?