Of course, a quick and easy way to go from plain jane to glam  girl is to add some sparkle. But that doesn’t mean you have to drip yourself in diamonds. Simply introducing some sequins or glitter to your wardrobe will really help. No need to go overboard though…keeping the sparkle in one, concentrated area is usually best. For example, a sequin skirt in a neutral color paired with a simple top will make you feel and look effortlessly glamorous. Or choose a sparkling accessory to go with that little black dress for a more understated look.

Aerial View Necklace and Toasted Meringue Cuff.Both from Anthropologie.

Black Knit Diva Twist Dress by Astrid Land and Finders Keepers by Frankenkitty

And keep thinking sparkles when recreating a glam look in your own home, but choose bold statement pieces that reflect light such as mirrors and modern chandeliers.

Glamorous Blue Home by House Beautiful

Colour Inspiration by This is Glamorous and Milk Glass Vase by The Dansant

—-

Image Credit (top of post): Wai Lin Tse

When you sell Internationally, as many of us do, you occasionally run across the odd customer who wants you to help them circumvent their customs fees by marking “gift” on the customs forms or by claiming the item’s value as less than the purchaser’s paid price.

This seems harmless, and because most of us are focused on providing exemplary customer service, you might even feel tempted to agree to this request. But, you might want to re-consider this decision because, contrary to your first instinct, this is not good customer service.  It’s mail fraud.

Mail fraud of this type may seem harmless, but it’s a felony. It carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and/or fines of up to $250,000.

Are you willing to go to federal prison for a sale?

One way to ensure your customers are aware you’re not willing to participate in this is to add a note into your shop policies under your Shipping information. If you’ve had a request or two like this, or are concerned about getting these kind of requests, I encourage you to do this.

Here is an example from our shop – “INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING shipping is available at reasonable rates that are listed at the bottom of each item description. Please note that we are not responsible for any VAT/Customs fees that may be related to to your order nor will we help you in illegally circumventing these fees if they are applicable to you. Falsifying customs declarations or having an item marked as “gift” in order to avoid customs fees is classified as Mail Fraud and is a felony.”

Although good customer service is everything in any type of business, please remember that stepping over the line from good customer service into fraud or illegal action is often a line that the unscrupulous can try to blur.

Be careful out there!

This article has been written by Gilliauna.  Visit her shop for beautiful, handcrafted, beaded
 and gemstone jewelry and accessories!

Image credit: Mels ATC’s

Deon’s Zibbet shop, Poocheze is all about providing you with ‘Gourmet Treats For Your Pooch’.  And they sound really yummy!  She has Cheesy Beef, Carrot, and Peanut Butter bones, and even Chicken Puffs!  Makes your mouth water doesn’t it!  Well it’s not for you silly!  It’s for your pooch!

Enjoy our interview with her…

1. Tell us a bit about yourself?

   I am a 39 year old mother of 2, married to the love of my life for 16 years. We live in our own little slice of heaven in eastern Ontario.

   A little over a year ago, we purchased a 150 year old house on a back road in the middle of nowhere. It’s absolutely gorgeous and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. We live here, on our little hobby farm with our 3 dogs, 4 cats, 3 rabbits, 4 chickens, a rooster and a goat named Otis.

2. Apart from being ‘creative’ what do you do?

   The most important thing in my life is my family. My husband, my children and my disabled parents take up the majority of my time and all of my heart. Of course, I do leave some room for my puppies.

   10 years ago, my husband and I made the decision that we would make the sacrifice of my income, so I could stay home and raise our children. It was the best decision (and one of the hardest) we’ve ever made. We’ve never looked back though. We have a very close relationship with our children. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

   So, the short answer is, apart from being creative, I am a Mom.

3. What inspires you to do the kind of work you do?

   We are very proudly owned by two of the most adorable Chihuahua puppies that you’ve ever seen. Like everyone else, I love to spoil Jack and Sammy, however I’ve never been pleased with what I can find at the stores. Everything is filled with preservatives and dyes and that is simply not good enough for my babies.

   

   So, I started researching and baking. The end result is what you see offered here at Poocheze; wonderfully delicious, healthy and natural treats and food for your precious Pooch.

4. Do you look up to anyone? Who? Why?

   I have always had the greatest respect for my Grandmother. She was a single mom back in a time when that just wasn’t done. She was strong, she was loving and she meant the world to me. She taught me to be more than I thought I could be, she showed me that there are no limits to life, she taught me to be strong and independent and to make the most of what I have. I still miss her terribly.

   

5. What other passions do you have in your life?

   Obviously, my puppies mean the world to me. They bring me such joy and laughter every day. I can’t imagine my life without them now.

6. What do you like most about Zibbet?

   Wow, an easier question to answer would be what don’t I like about Zibbet, because the answer would be “nothing”. I love how easy it is to list an item, I love that my monthly fees are lower than I can possibly get anywhere else. I love the professionalism of the site and it’s admin. I love the fact that I can talk with the CEO when/if I’m having problems. I love the community, the togetherness, the fact that we all have a place to go to be together and network. I love the look, the feel and the overall vibe of Zibbet. It’s fresh, it’s new , it’s exciting and it’s amazing!

   

7. What ‘new’ things would you like to see added to Zibbet?

   I have to admit, I would love it if Zibbet would automatically add my items to Google. I know though, that admin is working on making Zibbet an even more amazing place to be, that they are continually listening and taking notes. They are amazing.

8. How do you promote your work?

   I blog, I Twitter, and I have a Facebook page. I sometimes take out paid advertising, but I find that word of mouth, amazing customer service and a fantastic product is the best promotion you can have. Locally, I participate in craft shows and farmers markets.

9. How would you recommend other Zibbeters make the most of Zibbet.com?

   First off, if you haven’t upgraded your shop to Premium yet, do that. Right now. The perks are fantastic and you can’t beat the price of only $7/month for life.

   Once you’ve done that, get out there and let the whole world know just exactly how amazing you are! Stay true to you and to what matters most and you can’t help but be a success.

10. In the future I’d like to be…

    My ultimate goal is to have my own B&M where I sell not only my treats and bags, but all kinds of wonderful Pooch related items. Oh, and to be world famous. Definitely.

Craft Show - Get together with some friends and throw your own craft show this month. It can be at one of your homes, in a coffee shop, or wherever you can find space.

Teach A Class - There are lots of people out there who would love to learn a new craft but simply don’t know where to start. Why not teach a class? Contact your local craft stores to see if they offer space, ask your favorite restaurant if you can use their banquet room, or if you only have a few people, a regular table at a restaurant would be okay. Also check with your local library - some of them have meeting rooms you can use!

Attend Other Events - If other crafty events are taking place in your neighborhood, make sure to attend them! Becoming part of the local craft community is very important. It is a great way to meet new people, and it’s always fun to brainstorm ideas with people who have similar interests.

Crissy Herron is the founder of Indie Biz Chicks, a website that provides business, marketing, and publicity info to “women who’d rather work for themselves, than work for the man.” You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook, or learn more about her passion for entrepreneurship and the DIY movement.

Today, I’m touching on a trend that’s been popping out in design magazines and blogs for the last year: bringing the outdoors in with woods wallpaper. The look is quite a statement, which I love. But it can also be really rough on your pockets. You may not realize that these designer wallpapers can cost as much as $150+ per roll…and you’re going to need multiple rolls to cover an entire wall.

So, if you are looking for a more budget-conscience way to get a similar look, while supporting the handmade community, visit these shops…

Birch Trees vinyl wall decal from Single Stone Studios $145: Although the initial price of this birch decal is similar to the woods wallpaper, you’ll only need one set of decals to achieve the look. So, you’ll save money in the long run.

Cornelius Patridge print from Heather Buchanan $18 and Fox print from Orange Willow $15: Once you have the wall covered, add some contrast to the neutral gray with artwork that has a punch of color. Prints are a great way to keep your costs down in the art department. Hang asymmetrically with the frames of your choice.

And that’s it. You have a similar look for a fraction of the price. See you next week, with more inspiration in design and style.

Image Credit (top): Decorology

Brittni is the founder of papernstitch, an exhibition site for art and handmade goods, as well as the editor of the papernstitch blog.  You can follow her on Twitter or learn more about her love of all things handmade.

Who doesn’t love guilt free shopping!?

Entry is extremely easy and you can increase your chances of winning by entering multiple times.  Each entry will only take you about 1 minute!

Read on… 

Aim of Competition:

As with our last competition the aim is to promote the limited number of Premium Accounts left at the discounted rate of just $7 per month.  There’s currently only 295 left! We’d love to see these go within the next few weeks.

The fact is, the more Premium Accounts we can sell, the more we can do to push Zibbet forward as we can hire more staff (development, marketing, customer service etc), put more money into promotion and so on and so on.  We’re doing very well and are currently seeing nearly 50 new Premium Sellers join each week.  Lets try get that to at least 100 this week!  With your help, I’m sure we can achieve this!

Duration:

This competition will only go for 1 week and will end Sunday 12:00AM, 14th March.

How to Enter:

There are a number of ways in which you can help us spread the message and each of them will be an entry to win the $50 Zibbet Shopping Spree Voucher…

1. Post a message like this on Twitter: There’s Only 295 Premium Accounts left on Zibbet at the discounted rate of $7/month. Don’t miss out! http://bit.ly/9lWF4g (This link leads to the ’sell’ page and is shortened for Twitter.  Feel free to insert your own unique referral link here to get referral credits.  Use bit.ly to shorten your referral link)
2. Post a similar message to Facebook. (You can word it however you like)
3. Start a thread in a forum/message board that you frequent. (Please don’t SPAM forums and message boards.  If you do, your entry won’t be counted.  Only start threads on sites that you are actively involved in.  DO NOT USE YOUR REFERRAL LINKS TO POST IN FORUMS AS THIS IS PROHIBITED IN MOST COMMUNITIES AND USUALLY RESULTS IN THE THREAD BEING SHUT DOWN)
4. Write a blog post.
5. Any other form of promotion that can be easily linked to…e.g. Plurk, MySpace, Craigslist etc

Once you have posted your Tweet, Update, Blog, Forum Thread etc, copy the link and post it in the comments section of this blog.  Each one will be counted as a separate entry.  Therefore, you have the opportunity to increase your chances of winning by spreading the message via a variety of methods.

Important: We need exact links to your promotion.  Don’t post in the comments, I tweeted and then a link to your Twitter account.  Post the link to your actual Tweet.  You can do so by clicking ‘view tweet’ and then copy and paste the URL here.  The same goes for other forms of promotion.

Rules:

1. You can only enter once for each individual method.  In other words, you can’t send 100 Tweets and get 100 entries. You can send 100 Tweets if you like, but it will be only counted as one entry!
2. You must post the link in the comments section for it to be counted.
3. All entries must be in by 12:00AM on Sunday, 14th March.

The winner will be drawn randomly using random.org and the winner will be posted in the comments section of this blog.

Good luck! 

Image credit: kirakirahoshi

She knows a thing or two about marketing her brand online and offline.  I highly recommend that you read her answer to “How do you promote your work?” because she has a lot of gold nuggets to share with you all.

We especially LOVE the fact that her two year old son can say “I love Zibbet”!  And she didn’t even teach him how to say it, he just came out with it!

Shirley creates unique and beautiful jewelry.  You should go and check out her shop and treat yourself to something special!  Her tagline: “Dare to be different.  Dare to wear Mamasakio.”

Enjoy the interview…

1. Tell us a bit about yourself?

   I am Shirley, 40 years of age. Born in Suriname (South America) with Chinese and Indonesian ancestors. We moved to The Netherlands when I was 6, grew up and studied there (Degree in Psychology, Masters in Science of Education, Curriculum Development). We moved to the UK in 2005 and I worked a year or so in the UK. I worked in education policy and education management.

   I have always done something creative. It is a way to relax for me. I painted, made bowls out of papier mache until my place was full of it, crocheting, knitting, baticed t-shirts and vests.
A friend of mine introduced me to jewelry making and at first I made them for myself, family and friends. Now I am selling them online too.

2. Apart from being ‘creative’ what do you do?

   I am a teacher, a cook, a taxi driver, a cleaner, a police officer and more, all in one, AKA Mum/Wife. LOL.

   My fantastic, positive thinking partner and I have four children: a 2 year old boy and three girls  (4, 6 and 10).

   

   I consider myself lucky to be able to do what I love doing and being with the children at the same time and see them grow up.

3. What inspires you to do the kind of work you do?

   A lot of things inspire me. It can be music, reading, people in general, other crafters and artists, nature, the baffling beauty of beads, poems and stories, my own background. Everything.

   I am reading a fantastic book at the moment and I just don’t want to finish it, because I want to keep feeling the atmosphere and the time the story took place. I am researching jewelry at that time now. And I might come up with a creation inspired by that book. Who knows? But it needs maturing…

4. Do you look up to anyone? Who? Why?

   My grandmother who died a couple of years ago was a great person, a very straightforward no nonsense lady. She lost her husband, my grandfather, at a very young age, leaving her with 9 (some of them very young) children and she still managed to have her small businesses going, keeping a farm, a catering business, selling her delicious Surinamese Javanese food at the market in Paramaribo. She was renowned for her recipes. I admire her.

   

5. What other passions do you have in your life?

   Family, nature, reading, traveling. Being with my family makes me happy. Nature allows me to breathe my thoughts. Reading makes me get lost in other worlds. Traveling satisfies my hunger to explore.

6. What do you like most about Zibbet?

   Zibbet is what I imagined a ‘handmade’ community would be: unique, excellent customer services, a personal approach towards sellers. I hope Zibbet will never lose that personal touch.

   I like the look of Zibbet. Items come out more professional than on any other online handmade community I have tried in the recent past.

   I love creating, but dislike listing. Listing on Zibbet is quick and easy…so another reason to love Zibbet.

   It is fantastic that I - as a Premium Seller - can use widgets for my shop. I have a Facebook Fan Page widget, my blog widget, Twitter widget AND my Etsy widget (Zibbet is not afraid of competition!) on my front page. Brilliant!
   
   The Zibbet Community is great. I just joined (http://www.zibbet.ning.com). It is nice to connect with Zibbeters and learn from them. I’d advice you to do the same.

   I like having Crissy’s business tips and Erika’s Zibbet Picks on Zibbet.

7. What ‘new’ things would you like to see added to Zibbet?

   * I would like a Zibbet application / tab added to my Facebook personal account and my Facebook Fan Page. I have a temporary one for Zibbet under the My Stuff tab.

   * Items priced in different currencies.

   * When I list an item I sometimes refer to one of my blogposts for more background information. I would really like people to be able to click on the link and open that particular page in a new window.

   * A Zibbet widget would be fantastic. I want one for my blog.

   * A Zibbet Photo Gallery to feature different Zibbeters for my blog, including their URL so my blog visitors can go to their shops in one click. I have seen wonderful work from Zibbeters and I just want to share it. I already tweet and blog about my favorite items and Zibbeters regularly.

8. How do you promote your work?

   Online …

   Project Wonderful (http://bit.ly/bLs1Dg) is brilliant. I have done it once and it brought a tremendous amount of people to my shop.

   I blog, http://www.mamasakio.blogspot.com. (Please read Crissy’s tips on Zibbet too about blogging)

   Twitter and Facebook are very useful tools. I’ve gotten sales through Twitter and Facebook.  Just a tip: use http://bit.ly to shorten, share and track your links.

   YouTube can be very powerful too. I started using it because I could not get all the pictures of my lariat necklaces, and the different ways you can wear them, listed, so I made a video and uploaded it on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/mamasakio.

   Tutorials are the best video’s you can make for YouTube, and always add your Zibbet Shop URL.

   I have joined all possible sites and I at least filled out my profile, added my avatar and left my Zibbet Shop URL on there. It just takes a minute and it might be useful in the future. I joined Photobucket, Picasa, Flickr and MySpace, for an example and more. I can’t possibly keep up with all the sites I signed up for but at least I have my information on there, including my Zibbet Shop URL.

   Offline…
   
   I always walk around with my business cards.

   I always wear my own handmade jewelry. And I get people asking me where I bought my jewelry. So offline sales definitely works using or wearing your own items.

   I do realize that you can’t go out and about carrying your hand carved furniture or ceramic bowls, but it might be an idea to make a t-shirt or a shopping bag with your handmade item(s) - preferably the bright colored ones - and all the necessary information, your Zibbet shop URL etcetera. Maybe an idea for a Zibbeter who makes t-shirts or shopping bags?

   I can and will do a lot more offline.

   I just ordered ‘I love Zibbet’ buttons (http://bit.ly/d5xHCb) from Portable Graffiti. Our 2 year old son knows how to say ‘I love Zibbet’ now (didn’t teach him this; he just came out with it, so I must have said it a lot for him to remember) so I have to go out more with him wearing Portable Graffiti’s ‘I love Zibbet’-button, and showing off my jewelry .

   *****

   Promoting your work is also promoting your Zibbet Shop and Zibbet. I think it is also up to us pioneer sellers to make Zibbet and our shops successful.

9. How would you recommend other Zibbeters make the most of Zibbet.com?

   I think everything has been said before: try to excel in what you do, promote your Zibbet shop, promote Zibbet, use Project Wonderful, upgrade your account to a Premium one and enjoy unlimited listing. I am glad Jewels So Sweet, has introduced me to a Premium Free for Life Account! Zibbet is stuck with me for life!

   Use a personalized e-mail signature. Add links to your shop and if possible add Zibbet banners too. Zibbet has a range of banners to choose from. If you blog, don’t forget to use the banners on your blog too.

   Needless to say that everybody should start buying from one another. It gives you the first feedback you can display on your front page (this is not possible with a Basic Account by the way). New buyers and non Zibbeters would be more confident to buy from us.

   Maybe you find this useful as well:
 Include a sentence and add a link to the Check Out Guide and FAQs on your front page?  Most people are new to Zibbet so this would help them find their way round.
I also added a short sentence how to pay with PayPal without having a PayPal account. It is mentioned in the Check Out Guide, but just to make sure people know they can make purchases with their bank or credit card too.

10. In the future I’d like to be…

    …still doing what I do now. I am forever learning and developing. Maybe I will combine batic and papier mache with my jewelry making? I do have plenty ideas.

However, if you are posting about something such as tips on saving money or time management, where do you get photos?

You have several options. You could browse Flickr (using the Creative Commons option) and credit the person who took the photo in your post. The upside is that it is free, but the downside is that these photos are often unprofessional.

Stock.XCHNG is a free stock photo site (think of their name as “Stock Exchange”). You can find professional level photos on this site and you can use them on your blog for free. You do not have to credit anyone. However, the selection isn’t always the best. You may not be able to find exactly what you want, but you could find something “close enough.”

iStock Photo is another royalty-free stock photo site, which means that you will not have to give anyone credit for using the photo in your blog post. This is the best site that I have found. You can find photos on any subject you want. These photos are not free. The cost will depend on the image. A regular photograph may start around a dollar, but a vector image (illustrated) may be $10 or more dollars.  Of course, once you download the photo you can use it over and over again.

Do you have another source for finding good photos? Leave a comment with your favorite source!

**** I have a cool freebie for you this week! This is a sneak peek of The Year Long Marketing & Blogging Plan. It contains 5 Marketing Ideas and 10 Blogging Ideas. Download it by clicking here!

Crissy Herron is the founder of Indie Biz Chicks, a website that provides business, marketing, and publicity info to “women who’d rather work for themselves, than work for the man.” You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook, or learn more about her passion for entrepreneurship and the DIY movement.

As the name suggests, the column will showcase the very best in design and style and will no doubt be inspirational to us all!

Brittni is a twenty-five year old artist and maker, living happily in Florida with her husband and two pets.  She is the founder of PaperNStitch, an absolutely beautiful online exhibition site that she started in 2008 that promotes artists, designers, and makers (pictured below).

She also maintains her own blog (www.papernstitchblog.com), which is focused on design and style, and features artists, makers, crafters, and indie labels. She also features DIY projects / tutorials, fashion and home decor. A little bit of everything. The blog is updated with new posts 3-5 times a day!

Brittni says…

“Art has been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember, and since receiving my BFA in painting and drawing almost four years ago, I have been quite the busy lady: working as a high school art teacher for several years before leaving my position to pursue papernstitch full time. Aside from creating my own artwork, I truly enjoy promoting other talented artists and makers.”

Please join me in welcoming Brittni to Zibbet!  We can’t wait for her first post!

After you read this interview, I guarantee you’ll feel both uplifted and inspired.  Jennifer has a great attitude to life and it’s infectious!

Life’s good…enjoy the interview!!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself?

   My name is Jennifer Karen Corkrey O’Hara. I am 34 years old. I started to go blind on my honeymoon just 4 years ago, from a rare disease called Intracranial Hypertension (IH).  You can read more about it at www.jennohara.com.  My disease is very painful & very strange. I can see about 1-4 hours a day, I just don’t ever know when it will be and for how long at a time. It could be 15 minutes at one time, or all 4 hours in one time frame. The brain pain that I have to live with is horrific, but I am a fighter, a survivor! It’s very tough to live with, but I am a go getter kind of personality. I believe in the power of prayer & I believe if you want them, dreams come true. I am married to a wonderful man & we have 2 great cats. I am the 7th child born to 2 great parents! I love life! I am so happy to be alive & have a new chance each day!

2. Apart from being ‘creative’ what do you do?

   I love to garden.  I am learning how to do everything now with no eyesight, so it’s a little tricky, but I have the best teacher, Canaan, to teach me how to live this new life. So there is nothing that I can’t do that I did before. It is just done in a different manner. Like gardening, I feel with my hands so much more now; I love it. I get even dirtier. I love to learn new things. Right now I am working on my mobility so I can pass the test to get a guide dog. So most of my time if it isn’t crafting with 3 businesses, I am learning Braille, how to cross streets by myself, learn new computer tools to use blind,  I belong to the best blind support group in my home town that I go to & I love to listen to things on CD.  Oh yes & I am a mentor.

   

   My mentee comes over twice a week & we talk about boys, she helps me with my work, I teach her how to file, & we are great friends. I am a member of a community group that meets all the time & I find freedom & unity there. So my life is very full. I am learning something even when I just sit & be still as a newly blind person. Life is good.

3. What inspires you to do the kind of work you do?

   I am inspired by my disability. It motivates me to accomplish things, especially being the business owner of 3 online shops. I love it. It makes me push myself to places I have never been, or never thought I would ever be. If I can do it anyone can do it. Dreams come true, no matter what the dream, no how big or how small. Making a sale a day is a dream accomplished for me!

4. Do you look up to anyone? Who? Why?

   I look up to my Momma & Daddy! My mom passed away 6 years ago, but she still inspires me & I still look up to her in a big way. Her and my Dad had 7 children, were married for 50 years & had the up and downs of life & managed to carry a message of love, laughter and life to me. They both are the most amazing parents, but good people as well. They taught me to do the right thing even though it might be easier to do the less right thing. They taught me that I am capable of making the best decisions possible, that I have inside me to live life with no regrets, and that I have enough love in me to share with others.

   

   They not only taught me these things by telling me, but by guiding me and living by example. They truly are the most special people I know. I also look up to my husband, Brendan. He is so compassionate about life & people! He shows me how to have balance in my life. He truly is the man of my dreams and I look up to him so much. I love him with all my being.

5. What other passions do you have in your life?

   Being the 7th born in a family, you can’t help but have passion about family, friends, & people in general. I love people. I love my own & my husbands’ family. I adore my friends, especially my Zibbeter friends Mamasakio and AllAboutTheButtons. I love giving back to the community, I love being a mentor, and helping drug addicts who want to get clean. I would say that being a grandmother is a passion of mine.  Gardening, listening to music, and traveling are also my passions in life.

6. What do you like most about Zibbet?

   

   In one of my favorite books the first sentence is “Simplicity is the key.”  That is what I like most about Zibbet. They keep it simple for me, but give me fantastic results. For example, listing is simple, the amazing look Zibbet gives to my photos & advertises my items in my shop are awesome, but it all started simply. I also like how I feel like I belong to something so great. Being a Zibbeter is a wonderful thing. I love the new Zibbet Community as well. There are so many wonderful things about Zibbet. I love that I can be blind and still run a shop on Zibbet. I really enjoy the blogs. I love how I can search for things by color. I really enjoy how involved the creator of Zibbet is involved in the daily running of Zibbet. It is amazing to me & an inspiration!

7. What ‘new’ things would you like to see added to Zibbet?

   I would like to see a better way to communicate within Zibbet. I would like to be able to communicate with a Zibbeter about an item they sell, ask them a question about it, get an answer, & see what the item is that I was talking about, or at least have a link to their shop page so I can find it myself. I really think the communication part of Zibbet needs some attention. I did hear through the Zibbet Community that they are going to work on this. I hope this is true. It is a real important attribute for me not only as a seller, but as a buyer as well. I would also like to see the ability to have widgets on my shop that direct people to Zibbet. I would love to be able to post these on my blogs & on my websites.

8. How do you promote your work?

   When I think of promoting I think how I can best get my company name out there to get a sale at the least possible rate.  One of the simplest things I do is have an email signature that promotes my shops. I have also asked family and friends to add me to their signature and many of them have. It doesn’t have to be a long drawn out thing either. Like my brother has – “Visit my sister at Zibbet.” Thanks Jim! Thanks Dad! You would not believe how word of mouth gets around & is one of the best marketing tools I believe & more importantly, the cheapest! Currently I spend money on the following advertising, Project Wonderful, Google Ads, and I have spent money on FaceBook Ads.  Project Wonderful is my favorite one that I spend money on. It’s the cheapest & it gives me the best results. I also get great results from Google Ads, but it costs a bit more. FaceBook Ads, cost a lot, the results were terrific to get fans (teenagers), but not to get items sold. I have a lot to learn about this & look forward to learning more about it by participating in the Zibbet Community Groups. There is a great one there called, “Loving to Learn & Remain Teachable.” There are also many other articles to read about this very topic.

9. How would you recommend other Zibbeters make the most of Zibbet.com?

   I recommend my fellow Zibbeters make the most of Zibbet.com by taking the time to read the wonderful verbiage that is on the site. There is so much great info in the new blogs that they have created with 2 fantastic women, Crissy Herron, and Erika Jurney.  Jonathan does a great job at blogging as well.  Have you seen the great inspire banner? I love it! I recommend exploring Zibbet as if you weren’t a Zibbeter. It really gives you a perspective that is essential to know what it’s like to shop on Zibbet, which helps you with your shop. I recommend making the most of your shop. You can do this by becoming a premium seller and changing your colors on your site to match your color scheme of your logo or banner. Something so simple really makes a difference. I recommend referring Zibbet to friends and family by adding it to your email signature. Just take advantage of all Zibbet has to offer. The brand new Zibbet Community is something I am huge fan of! Just Dive into Zibbet, use your time wisely, read, & share! Most of all have fun because it’s a lot of fun to be a Zibbeter!

10. In the future I’d like to be…

    I really do my best to have acceptance, surrender, and live for today. Since I became blind, I have really learned how critical living in the moment is to me.  I was an Operations Manager for a yarn wholesaler & I loved that job, but I really love being the owner of 3 little small shops online. I would like to continue to manage to maintain these 3 shops, www.daintiedesigns.com,  www.mrssupply.com, & www.jewelssosweet.com,  continue to be in love with my husband and really enjoy my time with him, as well as my dear daddio. I want to be an inspiration to my mentee, Claudia; I want to go to bed every night knowing I did the best I could for that day alive and free. I want to remain full of passion for life Just For Today!