Internet Battle Ready

Disagreements in the real world make me sad and melancholy. So do disagreements online. Often, the online disagreements are even worse, because they have a harder time finding closure. Without that face-to-face interaction, neither party may feel the urge to apologize or find common ground so that they can move on.

I wish it was easier to not take things to heart, as some individuals have a hard time writing what they mean to say when they are communicating on the internet. It can become far too easy for people to miss-read one another, take a joke as harsh bullying, or find a reason to take something too personally and be offended.

As my small handmade business grows in terms of its internet real-estate, I need to become more comfortable with the internet battles ahead of me. I am probably going to offend some people. Some people are going to disagree with me. Sometimes, people are going to point out what they don’t like about me, right on on my Facebook Page, or right here in my blog comments. It’s gonna happen. And I’m gonna feel a crap-ton of sadness because of it, so I need to prep NOW in order to lesson the blow.

I’m going to throw some insults at myself right here and right now. I figure I may as well start getting used to it, so my feelings aren’t as hurt when the real tomatoes come flying!

Really, Megan? Do you even proof read this shyte before publishing? You only have a thousand spelling errors in a single post.

The crap you make is gross.

I disagree with everything you said about this. In fact, I think you are giving poor advice on purpose you sucky, suck-tard.

You are obviously a reseller. I’m gonna to report the crap outta you!

You couldn’t have possibly come up with this yourself. You must be plagiarizing from something. I will find the source of something that looks hardly even similar and accuse you of copying.

You make ugly shyte.

You are oober lame and boring.

Your face makes me want to barf.

I bet you are really a 50-year-old man, pretending to be a 20-something, so you can sell your crap.

There are so many other people who’s stuff is so much better than yours, I can’t believe anyone would want to buy your crap.

I am right, and you are wrong. (Not even sure what we are arguing about, but THIS is a FACT.)

Gah, clearly this status/post was aimed at offending ME. I now feel the urge to get revenge and tell you how terrible you are.

Hmmm… not sure if I feel any more prepared now or not. But it was worth a shot.

How do YOU deal with internet battles? Are you good at keeping your cool when accused of something you didn’t do, or wasn’t your intention? What about when strangers flat-out tell you how much they think you suck? Is it better to delete and ignore, or try to confront the situation?

Treasury Tuesday

‘Floral Fever’ by oKIDDo

SUZEEE $159.00	clutchables $10.00	8daysOfTreasur… $40.00
OriginalDesign… $15.00	KimberlyTurnbu… $125.00	MegansBeadedDe… $24.95
SwankyPrints $38.99	Florist $86.00	LostInTheValle… $15.00
sandnsurfcreat… $14.95	UpcycleRecycle… $3.75	NightCraftin $6.00
KittyKittyCraf… $45.00	jenlo262 $25.00	GlassRiverJewe… $34.00

‘Isn´t the HOPE a green one ?’ by Countryprimitives1

EcoCraftSupply $2.85	PiaBarileJewel… $18.00	Mossology $40.00
FotoArtiste58 $25.00	klaradar $45.00	LouisestArt $22.00
starlightwoods $18.00	thebeadgirl $48.00	JillianAudreyD… $35.00
julishland $36.00	ForYouDesign $65.00	MegansBeadedDe… $24.95
Bombus $32.00	pamelasjewelry $34.00	RebeccasEmpori… $9.15

‘Orion Constellation’ by FemalePowerTeam

thebeadgirl $36.00	naftul $127.00	SilverLinesJew… $25.00
Joliejye $42.00	klaradar $45.00	MistyAurora $12.00
NangijalaJewel… $68.00	CallOfEarth $30.00	8daysOfTreasur… $34.99
ElviaPerrin $35.00	Glamour365 $10.00	LouisestArt $95.00
karmologyclini… $59.00	88editions $108.00	Raceytay $19.00

Why May is the Best Month Evah

1. The weather starts to get nice.
Even if June has nicer weather than May, overall, we are more thankful for may weather because of the predessessing crappy weather that we’ve gotten sick of experiencing before. Like eating everything gross on your dinner plate and saving the best for last, it makes it taste that much better. The relief we feel when that May sun starts to shine, incredible.

2. My birthday.
Duh!
Plus, emerald is a fabulous birthstone color. I love making me some green creations in its shade.

3. April showers brings…
…you guessed it! May flowers! Gotta love all those beautiful blooms and fresh greenery. Speaking of which, the “April Showers Brings May Flowers” EtsyHeartsBeads team challenge is going on right now. You can vote for your favorite of the 3 entries by clicking on my entry below:

Meet Victoria from DeweysNook

Can you sum yourself up in 3 sentences?:
I adore traveling, discovering new things, and being spontaneous!

Tell us about what you sell:
Dewey’s Nook is just that, a Nook where you can find a large variety of things. Most commonly you will find my wood crafts, but I’m hoping to add a sewing section.

Parisian Jewelry Box – $17

What is your favorite thing about creating?
Getting that next big idea. It happens randomly, I’ll be walking along my craft store and I see something out of the corner of my eye and I know it will look amazing. It’s probably the best feeling as a crafter.

Antiqued Cork Ship Box – $24

Where do you find your inspiration?
Definitely from traveling. I like to try and not only incorporate visuals seen in the country (Such as the Eiffel Tower in France), but the entire style of the country. If I’m doing an English box I want it to be bold, spectacular, and proud, but if I’m doing in the French style I want it to be simple, clean, and sharp.

Knight Chest – $27

Do you have any selling tips or tricks for other online sellers?
I call it the 3 P’s of selling, Promotion, Photos, and Products. You need to be fun and approachable, so websites like Twitter and Facebook are excellent to have, along with Pinterest. Make it so you’re not just promoting yourself, but other sellers items and other non Etsy things. Have fun with it. You have to have a product that you’re proud of, if you’re not, no one will. If you make something that simply doesn’t work, instead of listing it anyway, either just start from scratch or try to upcycle it in some way. You photos are SO important, we e-sellers are at the disadvantage, a buyer can’t physically hold you’re item, but you must represent it as best you can in the five pictures you’re allotted. The two most important things with photos is one, a light box (Which can easily be made, or cheaply purchased online) and photo editing. It doesn’t have to be hard, or expansive like Photoshop. It can be as simple as Ipiccy, or my absolute favorite, fotofuze.

Where can we find you outside of your shop?
We’re on Twitter, which you can find here: twitter.com/#!/DeweysNook.

Do you have a coupon code for us?
You can use coupon code “BLOGFEATURE” to take an extra %13 off you’re order.

How Our Numbers Relate to Our Ego

# of sales
# of blog followers
# of items
# of admirers
# of Facebook Fans
# of Twitter Followers
Etc.

I wonder if we would work as hard on increasing these numbers if they weren’t so out there, for all of the public to see and judge? We can’t help but judge someone’s success based on the visible evidence before us, and for most of us, that’s how high their numbers are.

Unfinished Wooden Wall Unpainted Letters Numbers by GalleryWoodLetters

I have noticed however, that some businesses with really high numbers, are somewhat deceiving. It’s awesome to have 10,000 blog followers, but if your average views per day is less than 50, then I am guessing those followers aren’t really all that interested in reading your blog. If you have over 50,000 Facebook fans – good for you! However, I’ve noticed that with my measly 600 fans, I’ve had higher “talking about” numbers than a lot of major companies with likes in the tens of thousands. That means something.

With all of these numbers so publicly on display, it may be tempting to try and accumulate as many as we can, so we can appear to be more popular and liked than we actually are. (Remember Newt Gingrich’s fake twitter followers?) It feels pretty good to have higher numbers than the other guy. Even if that means underselling our products just for high sales numbers, or spending all day in “I’ll like your page if you like mine” threads.

I’m proposing a re-focus. You want a lot of numbers, but you want them to be meaningful numbers. You want fans and followers who actually care about what you have to say. You want people to heart your shop and items that would actually consider making a purchase, and blog followers who are going to actually read your content.

Instead of focusing on inflating your numbers as quickly as possible, focus on giving people a reason to keep up with you. You’ll get twitter followers who will actually read and click on your tweets if you keep them interesting. You’ll get blog followers who will actually look forward to reading your posts if you are a genuine and consistent blogger. You’ll get Facebook fans who actually engage and share your status updates if you space out your link posts with interesting content worth sharing.

Time to forget about how your numbers make you look, and think about what your numbers are actually doing for you in terms of your business. It’s better to have a lean following of loyal fans than a massive crowd who is ignoring you.

Happy Birthday to MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Today I am officially 17 24.

At least I’m still on the underside of my mid-twenties, right?

Crap I’m getting old.

And I’m not just saying that because I want the 98% of my readers who are actually older than me to feel bad about themselves. That would be a terrible… wicked thing to do. [insert maniacal laugh here]

I feel old because there is so much I want to do and time goes by so fast. If I asked myself at 12 what I thought I would have accomplished by 24, I probably would have answered that I would be a bestselling author of at least a dozen horror novels and have already traveled around the world a thousand times over. Duh.

Okay, so to be fair, when I was 12 I was planning on being a writer when I “grew up,” and didn’t have the first clue as to what a graphic designer was. But still, I feel lame that I haven’t even attempted to write those novels yet and I’m practically almost 50.

I’ve done a lot of other awesome things though.

I’ve done a little bit of traveling here in the states. I’ve graduated from college and got myself a good job (all before the age of 20, thank you very much.) I’ve fallen in love with the man of my dreams and had my dream wedding. I’ve made some great friends. I’ve run my own handmade business, and I’ve also made some great internet friends.

I’m thinking my 12-year-old-self can suck it. Those novels can wait.

---

Speaking of my birthday, as a celebration of having been born, I’m giving you guise a sweet coupon. Use FREEBIRTHDAY to get free U.S. shipping from my MegansBeadedDesignsShop. Good for today only, so feel free to take advantage.

Treasury Tuesday

‘The Perfect Breakfast’ by dollfoodminiatures

Ninainvorm $49.00	GiraffesKiss $5.50	viruset $23.32
CattailsWoodwo… $45.00	LolasRoom $20.00	houseofharriet $43.00
LittleSweetDre… $15.00	timelyteas $5.00	kimonoscuro $16.00
thewoodlandbur… $5.00	efiwarsh $4.00	TinyTastyJewel… $16.00
MomsCookinAgai… $3.00	Glamour365 $9.00	roscata $22.00

‘Sweet neutrals in nature’ by filmshirley

DejaVuPrintSto… $24.00	DorotaJewelry $25.00	WildLifeStyle $14.50
prvtcollection $36.00	CvetCvet $16.00	Biberta $13.00
velanch $40.00	WildLifeStyle $25.50	galafilc $79.00
PatriciaGalluc… $78.00	galafilc $49.00	LovelyPlanetCl… $43.00
Biberta $12.00	Glamour365 $9.00	CoastMountainS… $5.00

Gift Card Winner

47 loverly comment entries for the $25 gift card prize. Thanks to everyone who participated, you are all awesomesauce!

And the random.org chosen winner IS (drummroll please) : discocadaver !!

Congratulations! As soon as I get your e-mail address from you, your $25 gift card will be blessing your inbox. Enjoy!

Meet Andi from BitchAndStitch

Can you sum yourself up in 3 sentences? Give it a go!
Well, my name’s Andi, I’m 18 and from Scotland but living in England. I love sushi, I like way too much Asian food. I knit and sew and my mum taught me how to do both, she helps me make things for my store.

Tell us about what you sell:
At the moment it’s mainly baby hats. I knit a lot, so does my mum, we also sew a lot and we’ve decided we’re going to make custom bedding and curtians so you can have a matching room and nursery and everything. There’s a bag, we’re trying to make a couple more of those, a couple of aprons, and some baby jackets. And I mustn’t forget my monster dress!

What is your favorite thing about creating?
Seeing the finished product, I like seeing the fabric or the wool in it’s unmade form turn into something amazing! It’s so great seeing something you made. I love the compliments I get too, I wore my monster print dress to London and loads of kids said I looked nice and that they liked my dress. I’ve also made fluffy outfits with skirts and legwarmers like my etsy display picture, I love things like that! Becuase nobody else will ever look like Andi!

Where do you find your inspiration?
Mainly from the fabric or wool shop, I look at the fabric, say it has cakes on it like the ice cream apron I made, I think “Who would want that, where would they use it, what would they want it for?” I decided that the ice creams were food and food went in the kitchen so I was going to make some curtians for my mum, but in the end we decided on making a pair of aprons, then I made a pinafore dress out of some left over. I also look around Etsy to see what other people are selling and I think about what I want too.

Pink and white newborn or doll headband

Where can we find you outside of your shop?
Ah, well, there’s several places.
Facebook – www.facebook.com/Original.Sex.Fruit
YouTube Vlog – www.youtube.com/user/mirandabone?feature=mhee
Twitter – twitter.com/#!/GalacticToast93
Blog – sexfruit-sexfruit.blogspot.com/

Do you have a coupon code for us?
Yes! SEXFRUIT will get you a 5% discount!

The Snowball Effect

When you are starting a business people tell you there will be a snowballing effect. Be patient, success will come. You just gotta give it that good initial shove, and then once the sales start rolling in they will multiply, right? Well……. sort of.

There IS a snowballing effect, but what they DON’T tell you is that the course you are rolling your ball on is completely uphill. You can’t just give your little ball a push and watch it travel, gathering momentum and getting bigger as it speeds along. You have to be behind it the WHOLE TIME, grunting and sweating, as you force it to move up the steep slope.

You never get to a point where you have to stop marketing and promoting, it is a constant thing that must be done or you will fade away.

You never get to a point where you get to stop coming up with new products because your current line-up is so good it will last you forever – your customers will want to see new shyte, no matter how long you’ve been around or how good your current shyte is.

I remember when my MegansBeadedDesigns shop reached 100 sales and I wondered if it would get any easier to reach my next 100. While I wouldn’t say easier, I will say faster. And faster not because of any other reason than my pushing them along the entire time.

Instead of working less on my business I’ve chosen to work harder at it, but also leaner – cutting out the tasks and busy work that don’t really have a great effect on the big picture. I like to spend my time on what is working, while keeping in mind that what works may evolve over time. For example, I’ve cut out treasury teams that require clicking and commenting on ALL team treasuries. While there was some nice exposure from them, not enough to deserve all of the time they required.

To maintain my upward momentum, I’ve tried to establish a semblance of a routine. I try to make enough items to keep a certain amount in my Etsy shops, post a certain number of times a day to my social networking sites, publish a blog post every weekday, etc. Setting up a basic daily to-do helps to keep me from feeling overwhelmed.

If you are struggling to get the ball moving again, try setting up your own routine. To-do lists with items you can check off will make you feel accomplished. Keep you overall goals in mind to maintain focus, and things will keep moving in the right direction.