Jeweltastic: My Jewelry

This is a sample of the jewelry I can make and I would even consider doing special pieces for you.  Which means completely unique and not another exactly like it.

Jeweltastic: Free Business Stuff

Jeweltastic is running on an extreme shoestring budget.  If we spend even $0.01 it costs in materials to make jewelry.  I've been purchasing supplies $20.00 here, $20.00 there.  Many of the things I use are low cost to no cost.  This is my list of cool things that I use.

I use Microsoft Office but before I used that, I used Open Office which has a lot of the same capabilities as Microsoft Office. 

Photoscape has photo editing capabilities.  If you have a blemish you can erase it out.  You can make videos, a collage, and more.  If you have an online business in which you need photos then this is perfect.

SBA offers free business advice and SCORE offers mentoring.

Contact Office   offers calendars,  bookmarks, notes, fax and more 100 MB are free any more than that there is a charge.

You can get free magazines. 

Online content that is incredibly valuable:

Entrepreneur
Forbes
Business Week
Inc.com
Generation X Finance
Management Craft
Duct Tape Marketing
Score More Sales
Small Business Trends
Starting a Small Business
Weebly     is incredibly easy to use if you've ever used Blogger, Weebly is just as easy to use and it offers business solutions to open an online store.

Jeweltastic: Branding

October first my mom and I discussed a name for our home business.  I Googled it, trademark checked it, researched it forward, backward, and inside out.  Jeweltastic is what I came up with.  On October seventh, I joined a popular crafting community.  The problem with the community is they announce new members and it left me vulnerable to people who would scavenge the name Jeweltastic.

I chose this name for a reason.  I researched it.  I knew what I was doing when I named my shop Jeweltastic.  To do a Google search and find a shop from the same crafting community attached to Jeweltastic was and is an insult.  It's taught me, that I will have to do it all on my own.  I can't trust anyone online any longer.  Jeweltastic is my brand and I have the electronic files as proof.   It's also going to end up trademarked.

You wouldn't call yourself Hershey or your shop Hershey Whatever.  It would be violating a trademark owned by a company.  You can use that name it doesn't belong to you.  This is why it's important to come up with something completely original and not something you saw from a username.  Coming up with something original and unique to you is hard work.  It took days of research before I settled on this one.

Branding:

"The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.

Therefore it makes sense to understand that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem."

I had branding in mind when I came up with this.   I make homemade jewelry.  I know there are others who do so.  I admire other people who are creative enough to do so.  I don't admire those who steal other people's ideas.  When you say "That's jeweltastic!"  I want you to think of me.  When I fight for the name Jeweltastic, It is no longer personal, it's business. 

Entrepreneur has a few points that are highlighted for small businesses when it comes to branding.

1. Create branded online destinations.   Luckily, I've done this.  if you see shirleyatjeweltastic or atjeweltastic, you've run into me.  I own Stumble, Facebook, and Twitter accounts and there is more to come.
2. Establish entry points.  They suggest providing meaningful content.  I'm working on that.  My blog posts are all labeled and Google now knows I'm here.  I write like a maniac and I have other blogs.  Perfect!  I can advertise elsewhere.
3. Locate your target audience and bring them back with you.  I believe I am doing this.  Thos who are my friends on social networking sites are into fashion.  I have to work on commenting on blogs but it will all get figured out.
4. Connect with influencers.  I do need to work a little more on this.  I've friended sites like InStyle.  I do hope to mail out free "samples" to various people and companies.
5. Give more than you receive.  I'm working on this point.  This one is a daily work in progress. especially since I have so much to do.

I highly suggest you visit the link.  This has mostly been my personal experience with branding.  The points are all valid though and better explained at the provided link.

Branding is hugely important to any business and a mixture of your own imagination and your own creativity should be what you use, not someone else's.

Jeweltastic: Nothing More Than a Blog

In my attempt to avoid fees from doing nothing more than posting a picture, I've come up with a way to do what I want to do without excessive fees.  I will be removing the shop from here and adding it as a link in the sidebar when I'm ready.

In other news... I will be hosting a giveaway to residents in USA.

This is what I'm giving away.  If you're interested, you can get me at Facebook make sure to leave me a message.  I will hold it on Sunday from 6:00pm eastern to 6:30pm.

Stay tuned for further details!

Jeweltastic: Lessons Learned

As someone who has been blogging for years, I can tell you social media has played a huge role in what I am doing now.  It's taught me some lessons.  Some of those lessons are common sense and some were learned the hard way.

Lesson 1  Personal blogs or a blog with a niche is a good thing.

It's an awesome thing to have a blog before you begin a blog based on your business.  It not only teaches you how to write in a manner that is valuable content-wise, but it also teaches you when you should be quiet.

Lesson 2 Write what you believe.

I believe I can be successful.  There is not a single blog that I own that is falsified or a misrepresentation of me.  All of my blogs are about a life journey or community service.  Since they are mostly personal and this is business, the only link between them is with one social site only.  I'm determined to leave my personal views out of my business.

Lesson 3 Be real.

More specifically, don't spam.  Spamming only hurts your business.  I delete over 200 spam a day from my inbox some are legitimate businesses.  If you got to my blog and you have nothing to say except to drop a link, you're spam and you're deleted.  If you act like a robot, you will be treated like one.


Lesson 4  Converse.

If you are on a blog or a social media site, learn to converse with people.  On the other side of that link is a person who lives and breathes just like you.  They have thoughts, feelings, and ideas just like you.  They are all potential customers, social media followers, and blog readers.  They will never visit your site until you can master communication.

Lesson 5 Learn a little at a time.

Jumping in at once can be overwhelming and can lead to failure.  Pick a site and learn it and use it.  You're going to make mistakes, everyone does.

Lesson 6 Have fun.

If it isn't fun, you aren't going to want to do it.


Timethief from One Cool Site  states, "I believe every point you make is a solid one. What's most important is to be aware that although a new blog is created every 9 seconds another blog dies every 6 seconds. The reason so many blogs are abandoned within a few months and usually in less than a year's time from their creation date because many are motivated to blog only make an income and their expectations fall short of the reality. Unless or until one makes $100. US on Google Adsense clicks by they will not receive a check. My experience is that unless one has an abiding and long term passion for what one is blogging about then the blog won't be "living" for long."