Finally Google Analytics

Celebrate!  I finally got Google Analytics linked with my blog.  It took discussions with and help from the folks in the IT department at my full time job to help me get it up (and hopefully) running.  The last couple times I tried to do it, I got error messages.  No error messages this time, so I am hopeful that it will work.  If not, it's back to my IT group.

Week 11: Online Advertising

 

 

When I start up my business, I believe it would be advantageous to limit my advertising to Facebook, some direct mail to local people, postcard ads at crafts and street fairs that we would participate in, and possibly print ads if we could afford them. 

I’ve just started using Twitter and I have not received any Twitter ads, so I don’t know what they look like.  I have, however, had numerous ads show up on my Facebook page – though I usually ignore them. 

I designed three possible Facebook ads that I could use:

 

 

Below are also a couple of ads that could be used when folks do Google searches under the words:  “unique”, “one of a kind”, “one-of-a-kind” or “personalized”. 


One-of-a-Kind Gifts - Remnants Reworked
www.remnantsreworked.com
Unique, personal and one of a kind gifts
- create the perfect gift


Unique Gift Ideas - Remnants Reworked
www.remnantsreworked.com
Handmade and personalized gifts created
according to your specification


Personalized Gifts - Remnants Reworked
www.remnantsreworked.com
We will create and send personalized gifts
for any event or occasion.


Pinterest might also work for our business, as people post photos of crafts and items that they like to Pinterest.  This might bring customers or clients that are looking for the type of items we create. 

As for direct mail advertising, I would create a postcard with multiple photos of items we have created on the front side(glossy).  The number of photos would depend upon the size of the postcard.  On the back side, on the left, I would offer an option of a 20% discount on all orders placed before a specific deadline (based upon when I do the mailing) or free shipping.  Below is an example of what I am thinking. 

          Visit our website at www.remnantsreworked.com
          for photographs of some of the items we have
          created for our customers.  After deciding what
          item(s) you would like created, including choosing
          the colors and/or fabrics to be used, then go to
          our order page to fill in all the required and necessary
          information. 

          You may use one of the following codes when
          placing your order: 
               MS12345 - 20% discount on your order
          OR
               MS56789 - free shipping on your order. 

 

Also, I could include the same type discounts on my email newsletter to my current customers. 

Week 10: Why I need a newsletter and when to send it

It seems to me that my first newsletter would be a welcome email, recognizing that they did sign up and maybe having them send a response to confirm.  Once confirmed, I would send out my “get to know us” newsletter, which would be more informative than later ones, since I am formally introducing my business and products to potential customers.  I would anticipate, to begin with, that a quarterly email/newsletter would be the way to go. 

I like the idea of giving a customer a discount for their birthday, and maybe we would give a discount for multiple items of the same type, e.g. wedding favors. 

We are a very small business (just my daughter and I) and I would include notes about the business, photos of products we’ve made, maybe a suggestion area where customers can suggest things they would like to see us make. 

I would include a section on new items.  One of the things I am known for is my flower arrangements, bead work and other craft items besides just sewing.  So as we add new possibilities to the business, I would need to let my customers know.  Another idea would be to include information on the costume design work my daughter or I have done and see some photos (past or present).  

I could use a survey to find out what customers think of possible items we might create and sell.  It is rather obvious that if an item doesn’t sell, then it is not really a good thing to keep making.  But it is a good idea to have customer input as to whether they would like the item.

A newsletter would also be a good way to introduce ourselves, give some of our background, and as the business grows, introduce new employees.  I might also introduce some of our suppliers’ businesses, for example, my girlfriend’s business where she creates and sells hand-dyed and spun Angora yarn (from her own rabbits).

Since I love trivia, I would like to include some bits of trivia and invite my customers to send me some of theirs.  Maybe I could keep a running trivia content section on my blog – entitled “Things I’ve learned from Jeopardy and by reading”. 

Even though I am considering quarterly newsletters, I may decide to put out “special editions” such as a combined one for Chanukah, Christmas and New Year’s ideas, then one for Mother’s Day possibly combining it with Father’s Day.

Week 9 – Blog 2: What categories would I create & how would they help the business grow

 

 

 

A couple of things I read about creating categories are that you need to remember to create a balance between being too broad and too specific. A category should be thought of like a Table of Contents in a book. It should be descriptive, not too many categories and each post should only be assigned one category (if any) with tags should you feel the post might also be related to or good for another category.

My blog is called “Cindy’s World Travels”, and I plan to continue to add notes, photos and other fun stuff from my various world travels. So that my family, friends and co-workers can follow along on my latest trips or check out any previous ones. Thus, I would create a category for each country, e.g. Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, Australia, Switzerland, England, Scotland, US, etc. That way if someone was interested about one of these countries, they could go straight to that particular country.

I would create a category for CSIT155 and subcategories such as “Social Media-Business”, “Sites” in order to keep the class information/homework separate from the other blog items. But if anyone wanted to read them, they could go ahead. I would create a category for my business “Remnants Reworked” to contain information about the company, what we do, and FAQ and any other pertinent information on my company. Eventually I may decide to create a totally separate blog for Remnants Reworked - if my daughter and I get it "off the ground".

Also, I think it would be good to use tags in case something in one category would be relevant to another category. You can think of tags as akin to the Index in a book. For example, under my Remnants Reworked I could have a tag to information that may be “filed” under Thailand or Vietnam categories such as where I purchased material to create items for sale or vice versa.

I could also have a category entitled “Items for Sale” so that if that was all my readers/customers were interested in, they could go to that section immediately and then I would have tags to other sections, depending upon what related to items we created and were selling. 

By creating simple, defined categories, my readers would not have to wade through everything I wrote, and, hopefully, would be able to find what they were looking for much easier and faster.  By using tags, I would then be able to get them to check out another of my blog categories, and thus make them interested in reading others and continue to check out my blog.

 

Week 9 – Blog 1: How personal should your business blog be?

 

A little bit your personality and a few personal items about you would be helpful in a business blog.  Telling some of your likes/dislikes, maybe giving a little bit of a background on how and why you started your business and some other basic items would help your customers, future customers  and business associates realize that there is an actual person behind the business and the blog and maybe have them come to think of you as a friend., someone they would like to see become successful.   

A few small business blogs I’ve read have included photos of themselves, and their pets.  Have incfluded stories about their pets, usually funny anecdotes or how the pet “got in the way” while they were trying to work or "guard" the business.  Sometimes they mention achievements, or as I put in mine, a trip I took that included purchasing some unique fabrics for my business. 

You don’t want to weigh down your customers with your personal feelings, moods, hardships, problems and so on.  You want to inform your customers of new items or services, maybe mention that you are thinking of doing something and would like their input (or use a survey).  This would engage your customers and make them feel they are assisting you in the growth of your business.   You could also ask them to let you know if they have an idea of something they would like to see you do. 

A good phrase to remember when writing your blog is K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Stupid.  Don’t get too technical, but don’t be too basic either.  You need to find a good middle ground as you don’t want to “speak” to far above your customers nor do you want them to feel that you are talking down to them (making them feel stupid). 

 

Week 8 - Searching for Twitter Leads

 

 

Ok, so after setting up a new Twitter account for my business, Remants Reworked, customizing it, figuring out how to follow some other students, the next part of the assignment was to use the advanced search tool to find at least five other users who could benefit my business. 

I searched crafts, and came up with Artisan Faire, then I searched using the word fabrics and found both Mood (of Project Runway fame) and Michael Levine Inc. (a fabric store in downtown Los Angeles that I have spent a lot of money at).  I have to admit, when you search “fabrics”, I had to go through quite a few to find the two I wanted.  It would have been easier to just search their names (if I could have remembered the name of the store in LA we go to all the time - Michael Levine).  I decided to do a direct name search for a couple of the sewing magazines I use: “Threads” and “Sew Stylish”.    Finally, just for the fun of it, I searched for Project Runway and decided to follow the official Project Runway and Tim Gunn, but I was amazed that the results included in this search, including various designers that had been on the show, fan clubs, and Project Runway shows in other countries.

I was trying to figure out how to search for costuming and not get all the places that sell costumes, but more like theatres, film and tv who need costumers.  Any suggestions?

One thing interesting, is that although I followed some of my classmates and other specific sites, tweets showed up in my Twitter account from the Gap, Huffington Post and a few others.  This could get rather interesting in the long run. 

I did write one tweet, and that was to mention that although I had only been in Hanoi, Vietnam for two weeks, I had made a number of friends, so I am worried about them due to Typhoon Haiyan.  Don’t know when I will hear from them or I may be able to contact them.  Just keep all the people in the path of that Typhoon in my thoughts and prayers.

 

Week 7 (Get Visual) - similar sites

First I searched under “creative clothing”, “creative accessories” and came up with very few sites that were even remotely similar to mine.  Then I searched under “one of a kind” clothing and/or accessories and found a few similar sites – though most seem to use recycled vintage clothing and not new materials.  Further discussion (before this search) we discussed also using recycled clothing (e.g. purchased from thrift stores – which we have done for theatre costuming purposes).

Creative Clothing by Roxane - http://www.creativeclothingbyroxane.com/; she only has the website with photos of costumes and other articles of clothing that she has made

One of a Kind Clothing Store - http://www.pinterest.com/sexigelrox/one-of-a-kind-clothing-store/ ; shows pictures from a number of different places for ideas and how-to in order to create the type of articles we plan to do.  I have bookmarked this Pinterest site. 

TheSunnySideBiz - http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/thesunnysidebiz/0/0/12054 ; you can find this shop on Facebook, twitter, her website or her blog and you can share this shop via Twitter, Google +, Facebook and StumbleUpon; she sells one of a kind clothing & accessories, bags/purses, pillows and covers, aprons, pot holders/hot pads, hanging dish towels, eye glass cases, jewelry.  I have never heard of StumbleUpon. 

Chic Stitch - http://chicstitch.com/Accessories.php ; besides its webpage, you can find this store on Etsy.com, but I could not find any other way to access the online store; they sell custom dresses, skirts, clothing and accessories; for the clothing, the customer needs to provide the materials and they are located in Ontario, Canada (somewhat hard to visit for fittings from here)

Glamarita Clothing & Accessories - http://www.thumbtack.com/wa/spokane/handmade-jewelry/custom-one-of-a-kind-clothing-accessories-clothing-designer; found on Thumbtack and can also be found/followed on Facebook or twitter (and you can email them); they make one of a king clothing and accessories using recycled and vintage materials.  Thumbtack is another site I have never heard of. 

All of them showed photographs of the articles they made and sewed.  Some had photographs that were professionally done and others were just the type you would create using your own cameras.  For our site, it would definitely need still photographs showing what we have created in order to sell.  I still don’t know if video would work for our business or not.  I would need to do more research to discover exactly which sites would work best for our business.  We would need a webpage, maybe my blog, Pinterest would be good to “advertise” on and etsy to sell our product.  I’m not sure about Twitter, because I am still not sure just how it works, especially in relation to a business.  I follow specific people on Twitter but I don’t post unless it is in response to something someone I follow says.