Memories for Life on Facebook

After months (maybe years!) of contemplating, I finally created a Facebook page for Memories for Life! I have been asked so many times why I don't have a page and it really just came down to finding the time to get everything set up. I didn't want a bare page from day one, so I took the time to load photos in relevant categories and I'm making an effort to post at least one thing every day. 

My hope is that when things start to get crazy busy again during the holidays and I'm not able to blog as much, I'm still able to post quick updates in Facebook. I like that on days when I can't write a whole post, I can still post a quick photo, a few words and still reach my friends and customers.

What I'm not liking is the changes I've heard Facebook has made. I don't feel like my posts are reaching many people. I already have over 200 people that like my page, but only get one or two likes on my posts. Maybe I'm just expecting too much too soon?

For those of you with Facebook pages, what are you thoughts? Do you get traffic? Any tips/pointers?

Another thing I'd like to ask your opinion on is a name for my page. Of course Memories for Life isn't available and I'm at a loss of what else to call my page. I don't really use the "sb" part anymore. It used to stand for "scrapbooks" when I first started my Etsy page, but I've gone away from scrapbooking, so I'd like to get away from that part of my name. And I don't feel that adding my name, Edi, somewhere really helps either as it's not a common name and gets misspelled often.

Do you have any suggestions for a name for my page? I'd love any help I can get!

Do you have a Facebook page for your business? Feel free to leave it in the comments as well and I'll be sure to stop by and like it :)

Back to School - BBA Challenge

This month it's my turn to host the Blogging Business Artisans Challenge. My topic...Back to School.

"With the little ones headed back to school this time of year, create a fun back to school project. It could be something fun to do with the kids, something for them to give their teacher or just one last fun thing to do with them before they return to school.
Don't have kids, tell us what this time of year means for you. Do you still love to play with school supplies? Do you love that the local spots won't be so crowded with tourists?
Tell us all about it in a blog post."

I have to admit that I still peruse the school supplies every year, even though I haven't been in school for several years now. There is just something about fresh new supplies!

 

But instead of buying this year, I made one of the supplies myself! I always have tons of paper left over after making guest books. And I have tons of chipboard left over after making name albums. So I put the 2 together and made myself a nice little notebook. I always take tons of notes during the holiday season to keep orders straight, so this will be coming in handy very soon!

Leatherette Coasters

 Last week was mostly a nice, quiet week at home getting caught up on work. I was even able to get a new item made and listed!

These Leatherette Coasters look and feel like real leather.

They come in both light brown and dark brown and sell as a set of 6.

Okay, now tell me...How many times do you make a new item and wait FOREVER to list it? I just went through some of my photo files over the weekend and wrote down all the items I have pictures of waiting to be edited and listed. There are probably 30 items!

So I'm pretty proud of myself getting these made, photographed, edited and listed within a week's time...lol :)

Back to Business

Thank you for letting me share all about our Chicago trip last week. And thank you for those that stopped by and commented! Today I'd like to get back to business and talk a little bit about Etsy's Vacation Mode feature.

During our trip was the first time I've ever put my shop on Vacation Mode since opening in January of 2008. For every other vacation I've taken (even a week in Mexico!) I've left my shop open and answered questions and sent thank you convos to buyers.

I have to admit, I was a little scared using vacation mode. I'd heard horror stories about not getting back into Google's search for weeks and "losing your place" in Etsy's search. But I had also heard from a couple friends who had recently also put their shops on Vacation Mode with no trouble. So that put my mind at ease a little.

 

And to tell you the truth, it didn't take long for things to be right back to normal. I had nothing to worry about. I think it helped that I had a few orders that were waiting to come through when I left. So those orders came through immediately after I returned since my buyers were already lined up and waiting. I also think it helped that I had a handful of items that had expired while I was gone. So renewing those got my shop back into search rather quickly as well.

So my advice...Enjoy your vacation! Don't be afraid to put your shop on Vacation Mode a few times a year. While I won't use it for little weekend getaways, I will use it more often in the future.

What advice or thoughts do you have about Vacation Mode? Please share in the comments.

Chicago - Part 4 - AC/DC

Our last day in Chicago was our most anticipated and what initiated the whole trip to begin with...AC/DC!!!

We did start out the day by visiting the Shedd Aquarium first. While it was mainly just a bunch of fish (what did you expect...lol), there were quite a few cool exhibits. And we took in a water show as well.

My favorite fish are the brightly colored ones. Big and small, I love their color! This cute little turtle got to join them in their tank :)

And this blue lobster is said to be one in a million.

The water show included beluga whales.

And a sea lion that actually came right up on the platform for his show :)

Okay...now on to the ROCK!!!

AC/DC did not disappoint!! The entire show rocked! It's kind of hard to tell from this angle, but the stage was a huge pair of horns.

And all those red flashing lights you see in the crowd are light-up horns you could buy as a souvenir. They were everywhere!

Brian Johnson (lead singer) and Angus Young (slide guitarist) put on one hell of a show!

Angus did his famous Duck Walk all night long. And had a huge guitar riff at the end. They even had an entire stage extension for him! It even rose up in the center where he laid on the stage and spun in circles while still playing his guitar!

I wish I had gotten some better videos, but I did manage to get this clip before my camera went kaput. 

For a group of guys, mostly in their 60s, they still know how to rock a full house. This show was completely sold out and we talked to people who had traveled from Florida and Texas to be there!
 I don't know if these guys will ever make it back to the US to tour again, but I can't recommend seeing them enough!

Chicago - Part 3

 One of the highlights from our trip to Chicago was meeting up with fellow Etsy and blogging friends Paige and Rose. It's always so fun meeting people in person that you've "known" for years on the internet. We had a great lunch and some great talk. I just wish we would have gotten a few more pictures.

 The rest of that day, Jesse and I just walked around the city taking in all the beautiful sites. I love all the ornamental designs. The great architecture and detail in everything!

 The town we live in is called Essex, so it was pretty cool to come across Essex while in Chicago :)

 While we didn't visit the Sears Tower, we did walk past this giant several times while in the city. It looks like a million bucks with those mirrored windows!

And I just love the old clocks and detail of the beautiful Wrigley Building! The blue sky and puffy clouds look pretty nice here too :)

Chicago - Part 2 - Navy Pier

  For our first full day in Chicago, we visited the Navy Pier. I'm definitely no fan of heights, but I knew I wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel no matter what. I had to do a little convincing to get Jesse to go with me..lol. To be honest, once you get moving, you pay more attention to what's in front of you and around you than actually looking down. I wasn't scared for even a second...and that's saying a lot!

A beautiful shot of the sailboats on Lake Michigan with that great skyline in the background.

 

 Ferris Wheel Selfie :)

 Another thing we decided to do while visiting Navy Pier was ride a tour boat. We chose the Architectural and History Tour given by the Seadog. Neither Jesse and I are much into history, so we were a little worried about that part of the ride. But we had the best guide who made the entire 75 minute tour lots of fun.

And of course I loved getting to see all these awesome buildings from the water. Cruising from Lake Michigan down the Chicago River was so much fun!

 A beautiful light house on Lake Michigan.

 We pretty much spent the entire day at Navy Pier just walking the strip and taking in the beauty. We did a little shopping, got lunch and enjoyed the beer garden later on :)