PROJECT TIME

Well everyone, it is that time of year again......must be fall because we have not had summer yet and July is almost over....



I'll be paying heating bills instead of air conditioning bills.(Only had the A/C on 2 days)






The gardens are already starting to look sad... All this rain and cool weather has not been kind to my flower beds and I added about 20 feet to the front beds. Some of the leaves are starting to turn yellow. Their feet are cold and wet.






So, what does one do when you can't go out and play in the sun? My house has never been cleaner (except when hubby goes hunting---clean once and it stays that way---at least until he gets home).






Crafts, that's what. I have gotten a head start on another afghan, made some baby sweaters, bonnets and booties. I guess you can say Mother Nature is my motivation to get these projects done now! Now my fingers are stiff and sore from all that knitting and crocheting and not from listing items for my Bonanzle booth. I will also be making some Christmas Peppermint Candy wreaths.( I have listed some things...I am not slacking off totally ).





All of the above brings me to my point of this blog. Don't waste the bad weather days. Things are pretty quiet on the e-commerce sites during the summer months. Use this time to build up inventory, clean up your booths, do listings and above all else make your business plan for the upcoming holiday season. This will save you a tremendous amount of stress come September when things start hopping again. You will be so proud of yourself....and you will feel contentment knowing that your shelves have been dusted, the floors are washed and polished, inventory all neatly placed in your booth and you are sitting waiting for the onslaught of all those holiday shoppers. (okay....now I am tired...did I just clean all of your booths).






I don't know how you all feel about this, but something I have incorporated in my "Business Plan" for the upcoming season is a LAYAWAY PLAN. This is not something new. It has been around for eons. I cannot think of a better way to motivate buyers to spend, especially in this tough economy. I think it is good customer relations too... inspire them to plan ahead and reduce their stress over holiday shopping. They can choose their purchases wisely, stay within their budget and have it all paid off before having ever given the gifts to their loved ones. (Does that not make you feel all warm and fuzzy....does me).



Another thing I have been trying to do is source out some relatively inexpensive and useful stocking stuffers. I have managed to come up with a few and I hope they will be a hit.







You can check out my booth at







http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/jinx_stuff







Am I rushing the season? Nope I don't think so. All the B&M stores are buying next springs fashions now. Lets all have a stress free holiday season. Okay so now I'm motivated... I'm going to go check my Christmas lights.....maybe I should put them up now.......








Just kidding.





Til next time ...be happy ...be safe...



Jinx

PLAY NICE IN THE SANDBOX EVERYONE

Hi everyone....



Okay so I said I would try to increase the frequency of my blogs.....oops



I guess life just happens to get in the way of trying to do everything. It has been a hectic summer already and it has only just begun.....I am going to have to learn to either say no or get some lessons on how to set priorities.

Anyway, what I want to talk about today is something that has been bothering me for quite some time and now feel that I have to deal with it. It is not a pleasant subject so here goes....



Why oh why are people so mean. I have been reading the forums on several sites and have noticed that some people can be really mean, arrogant and very opinionated to the point of belittling other sellers.Do these people not have enough of their own work to do? They should not be telling other people how to run their business or their lives.



This not only happens at Bonanzle but other venues as well. I came across a poem which might give people some food for thought.



GRANDMA'S PEARLS OF WISDOM



I've travelled paths you've yet to walk

Learned lessons old and new

And now this wisdom of my life

I'm blessed to share with you



Let kindness spread like sunshine

Embrace those who are sad

Respect their dignity, give them joy

And leave them feeling glad



Forgive those who might hurt you

And though you have your pride

Listen closely to their viewpoint

Try to see the other side



Walk softly when you're angry

Try not to take offense

Invoke your sense of humor

Laughter's power is immense



Express what you are feeling

Your beliefs you should uphold

Don't shy away from what is right

Be courageous and be bold



Keep hope right in your pocket

It will guide you day by day

Take it out when it is needed

When it's near, you'll find a way



Remember friends and family

Of which you are a precious part

Love deeply and love truly

Give freely from your heart



The world is far from perfect

There's conflict and there's strife

But you can still make a difference

By how you live your life



author unknown



I hope everyone will think about the words in this poem....and the next time before you take a strip off someone's back you will stop and think before you type.



I have been fortunate that no one has taken a strip off my back, but I cannot help but feel some emotions for those that I have seen this happen to. Life is too short. And so now I say



PLAY NICE IN THE SANDBOX..... we all have to get along.



I have not injected much humor into this blog as I believe this subject is just way to serious to joke about.



Now for some fun stuff....check out my booth at http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/jinx

I have added some new items and will be adding more over the next few days. I also plan to add a "Layaway" program. Christmas is coming..... LOL (not that far away actually)



So till next time...Be Safe ...Be Happy...



Jinx

MY AVATAR (MICKEY) IS AN ESCAPE ARTIST

I am shortening the time between blogs.

Pretty good for an almost senior citizen.

Okay my camera is still neglected but I have at least added a few more items to my booth....

and when I find my camera and take some pictures I will be adding more items. The listings are done ... I just need to add some pretty pictures. But as usual I am wondering aimlessly.

My aimless wondering today was because of Mickey (my avatar). We call him several things...


Mr. Congeniality....because he has all his little doggie friends in the neighborhood that he likes to go visit.


Mickey Mouse....because my husband calls him a rodent (he is so small) ..not like the bigger dogs we have had in the past


and my almost favorite nickname.....



Houdini....because he escapes from everything.......



I cannot begin to tell you what we have had to do to keep him from escaping the back yard.

The wrap around deck has had the underside totally cordoned off with lattice. We first put it up around the stringers... but he was still escaping. Turns out he was going under and then up over the headers..... so we had to put lattice there too. That stopped that escape route.


Then he was going under the fence.... so out came more lattice around the perimeter of the yard..... that route blocked off...


Oh Oh ...now he has learned to dig in the flower beds.....sure Mickey just dig up my flower beds and get out under the fence there.....more lattice. I think I own shares in the company that makes lattice.


The purpose of all of the above..... My aimless wondering today trying to find my "Dear Little Mickey"




You have to picture this in your mind...





An older woman in her late fifties, wearing only a negligee and a long down filled housecoat and bare feet running down the street calling MICKEY...MICKEY....MICKEY (have you got that picture in your mind?)



Yep that be me......I was scared to death that I would find that he had gone down the hill to the main street and had been hit by a car... I was beside myself almost in tears. I decided that if that was the case then before I went down the hill I would go home, get dressed and then get into the van and drive down. I feared the worst.


But on my way back to my house I thought hmmmmm .... Mr. Congeniality, Mickey Mouse, the great Houdini had escaped under the gate in the back yard... perhaps I should check the court behind us.... so here I am still in my sleeping attire and bare feet.... checking out the court and low and behold there he was. He actually came when I called him. My Dear Little Mickey.



Needless to say, I picked him up and carried him back into the house, where he is safe and sound.

Oh and yes .....more lattice has been put up!!!!



So that is my excuse for doing absolutely nothing today......just this blog.



It also serves as my excuse to go shopping at you guessed it...



http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/jinx_stuff for anything but the ordinary.



Does anyone have little dog restraints????



until next time be safe....be happy.....



Jinx

SQUEAKY WHEELS FOR THIS BONANZLE SELLER

PROMOTING AN ON LINE BUSINESS

I am still on my learning curve. In my last post, I challenged everyone to learn something new every day. I have to admit that I was disappointed that no one responded with their new knowledge. I was hoping to get some feedback as to what people had learned. But it is okay as long as you met the challenge for your own personal goals. I also got some followers to my blog. Thank you .

I am still doing the dog paddle and am getting a little tired. There is so much to be learned.

I am learning a great deal on how to promote an on line business. My head was reeling.....do a blog, join this group, join that group, google feed, do follow-ups on those groups yada yada yada.

Well, I gained some knowledge on the subject. IT'S A LOT OF WORK. My eyes were going crossed from the monitor screen, my chair has a permanent indentation in it (not to mention my flat bottom), my fingers are not as limber as they once were for typing and it is time to file down my fingernails. Thank heavens for spell check. And I have only partially listed a few more items. Have to get back to that camera. It is probably feeling a little neglected.

Through it all I have learned that anything worth going after requires a lot of work. I have seen some fruits of my labor....increased traffic to my booth. Heck even a few small sales. I must be on the right track. Next... I have to learn how to increase sales. Hmmm........at least the mind is working.... the wheels are turning even if they are a little squeaky. Anybody have any WD-40?

If you haven't checked out Bonanzle yet, do so... you won't be disappointed. It is a fast and upcoming new venue for on line shopping. There are over 1.8 million items listed and thousands more added each day. Wow talk about shopping till ya drop! We all have to do our bit for the economy. I say spend spend spend. I am not sure hubby agrees with me but I just tell him I am helping the economy. He gets this silly grin on his face, shakes his head and walks away. He knows he won't win this one. LOL. There is no controlling me.

Anyway, you can start your pilgrimage at the following booth

http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/jinx_stuff

Have a great day and I hope I put a little smile on your face.

Till next time take care.

Jinx

I AM A NEWBIE- THERE I SAID IT!!!!

Welcome Everyone!!!







This is my first Blog ever!!!







So, if any of my ramblings do not make sense to you-- oh well! A literary expert I am not.
I am trying. This is all new to me. It has been a wild ride on the learning curve and I am sure I still have a lot to learn.


My goals in writing these blogs are hopefully to enlighten and encourage everyone to continually strive to be a better person. Continue to educate themselves no matter what their age is. Trust me I am not young .... for that matter I am not old either. Hopefully I can manage to put in a little humor too!!


I want to share with you my recent experiences with On Line Selling. (Another first for me) Yep, I jumped in with both feet...not knowing the first thing about it. I guess you can say sink or swim. I think I am doing the dog paddle right now or is it the jelly fish float?

I tried the ebay thing-- yeah right --- that just cost me $$$$. I thought to myself, there has to be a better way. Lo and behold , I found another venue. Wow..... what a wonderful site. BONANZLE......the people are friendly, always willing to help the "newbies", and the buyer/seller support is terrific not to mention the live booth chat. From what I have learned in the last three weeks, it is the fastest growing shopping site on the web.


I have learned how to set up my booth, crop pictures, write listings, write attributes, feeds, set up links to other sites.... the list goes on and on. The best of all of this is ......I have met a lot of new people from all walks of life, all different circumstances and all parts of this great world. I have not sold anything YET but I have grown as a person. This you cannot put a dollar value on.


So now, my challenge to you.... What have you learned recently? Are you keeping your mind active? Are you willing to learn at least one new thing every day? Share it with all of us--- who knows you might teach us something.

Feel free to see what I accomplished......follow the link below

http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/jinx_stuff

Thanks for reading this... I do hope you enjoyed it and it put a little smile on your face...

Until the next posting .... Be happy and be healthy

Jinx