Day 30 - This One Little Detail Can Cost You Business

“Sometimes the little opportunities that fly at us each day can have the biggest impact.”

-  Danny Wallace, Yes Man

In all the craziness of running my own business, it's easy to overlook little details that seem unimportant in the moment. As I hurriedly answer an e-mail or list a custom order, I want to be done with the task as quickly as possible. But, forgetting small details can really hurt in a big way. One example that always comes to mind is spelling - and I don't mean just lousy spelling that should be caught with spell check. I'm talking about the spelling of people's names. This particular topic really hits home with me because of my name - Theresa. It can be spelled two ways - either Theresa or Teresa.

I cannot count how many times in a week I see my name misspelled. In most instances, it's no big deal. If I'm at Starbuck's and the cashier asks for my name, I don't care how she spells it. I just want my coffee. We're having a quick business interaction and the spelling of my name is not important for the transaction to be completed. However, if I am a customer and having a long-term business relationship, then I hope the business owner makes an effort to spell my name correctly.

Case in point: I signed up as a consultant with a company a while back. My mentor was very high up in the company and I was really excited to learn from her. From the get-go, she spelled my name as Teresa. No big deal at first, but after a few e-mails and interactions, I very politely mentioned that my name was spelled Theresa. The next e-mail from her still had the spelling incorrect and I received no response to the comment about my name. Well, this told me two things:

1. She didn't care enough to read my e-mail thoroughly.
2. Spelling my name correctly wasn't important to her.

It took me another few weeks and several attempts on my part to get her to finally start spelling my name correctly. Since I thought we were going to have a long standing business relationship, I felt it was important that she know how to spell my name.

In the end, I stopped working with this company. The mentor didn't follow through in a number of ways, and looking back, ignoring my attempts to notify her of the correct spelling of my name was the first red flag.

Little details do matter and it's important to me that customers know they are appreciated and important. Taking that extra moment to double-check the spelling of their name before sending any communication is so crucial! Think about it - when you receive an e-mail, the first line usually contains your name and you will notice if it's not spelled correctly. Why have that be the first impression your customer gets from you?

What do you think? Is this important to you?

Day 29 - March Social Media Results

If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done.

- Thomas Jefferson

Last month's social media results were very interesting and quite different from February. For the month of March, I concentrated much more on Facebook and less on Pinterest - and the results definitely show it!

March Promotions

1. One Facebook contest for a sterling silver bangle - see my post about it here: My Facebook Contest.
2. One general contest for a $15.00 gift certificate (advertised on Etsy Giveaways, Facebook, and newsletter).
3. 2 day 25% off sale just for Facebook fans and newsletter recipients.
4. 16 Facebook posts throughout the month.
5. Semi-daily Pinterest pins (not as many as I had planned!).
6. Sent out 2 newsletters.

While I felt busy all month with my social media and other promotions, looking back on this list really shows me that I should be doing a lot more. It's great to write all this down and review it. When I'm going through my day, it can feel that I'm keeping up on my goals, but I can now tell I have more work to do for April.

Facebook Wins This Month
By far, the best promotion I had was the Facebook contest. It generated a lot of views and new likes. I also received quite a few sales from it.  Facebook interactions were up and continued for the rest of March. I gained almost 100 new fans!

 

I only gained 24 new Pinterest followers and even fewer for Twitter. I haven't concentrated on Twitter this year and still don't know how much I will ever get on board with that platform. I vow to work harder on Pinterest for April. We'll see if it has an impact at the end of the month.

Social Media Referral Data

I obtain my referral data from Google Analytics and you can see that I had a huge jump in Facebook referrals. 

 The main thing to remember with social media is that it is a marathon, not a sprint. I enjoy the interactions with my customers which is why I like Facebook so much and want to spend most of my time on that site. It gives me the biggest connection and best feedback.

I'm also slowly getting more comfortable with social media. I have to admit that I was worried about 'selling' on these sites. I didn't want to be spammy and I think I've succeeded in that area. For April, I plan on stepping it up a bit. Now that wedding season is here, I hope to focus on more wedding themed posts and Pinterest pins. 

I'll post April's results early next month.

March Giveaway - $15.00 Gift Certificate

This month's Theresa Rose Designs giveaway is for a $15.00 gift certificate to my store - Theresa Rose Designs.

The contest begins today and will run through Friday, April 4th.

Please read the following before entering:

1.  This contest is open to U.S. entries only.

2.  Only one gift certificate will be awarded and is only valid at www.TheresaRose.etsy.com I do not take any responsibility for lost or misused codes. Once the certificate is redeemed, no other certificates will be re-issued.

3. Invalid entries will be deleted. I will check all entries before picking a random winner. Make sure you fill  in the correct information required for your points. Otherwise, your entries will be invalid for the drawing.

4. Winners will be notified via e-mail with certificate code.

Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Day 28 - Theresa Rose Design's Referral Program

I'm so excited to announce my new referral program! I must also thank Lisa, one of my Facebook Fans for giving me the idea to begin with. I hadn't thought about instituting a referral program but after researching it (gotta love Google!), I realized that it's a great way to reward my loyal customers.

Here's how it works:

1. Send me an e-mail at TheresaRoseDesigns@gmail.com and ask for your unique referral code.
2. I will send you the code for you to share with your friends. This code, when used in my Etsy shop, will give your friends a 10% off discount on their entire order.
3. When they make their purchase, I will send you a coupon code for 20% off your next order.
4. Receive a 30% off coupon for every 5th referral!

There is no limit to how many referrals you send. You will receive a 20% off coupon for each referral and a 30% off coupon for each 5th referral.

How To Prevent Sterling Silver From Tarnishing

Preventing Sterling Silver from Tarnish

Preventing sterling silver from tarnishing is a question I often receive as a jewelry designer. It's so disappointing to go into your jewelry case for that beautiful piece of silver jewelry that you may not have worn for a while and see it darkened from tarnish. You wonder how it happened and can easily assume it's the fault of the material. However, you may be surprised how many different ways your prized pieces can tarnish.

Sterling silver is comprised of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals. The other metals, while comprising a small part of the component, is what makes sterling silver tarnish. All sterling silver contains copper and it reacts to moisture and sulfur in the air. Silver tarnishes faster in high humidity and air pollution. Chemicals such as perfume, lotions, hairspray, etc. also contribute to the tarnishing process.

Here are some simple tips for preventing tarnish:

• Minimize sterling silver’s contact to chemicals. For example, if you are wearing a sterling silver necklace, don't spray perfume on your neck, spray on your arms instead. The same goes for body lotion. 

• Jewelry should be the last thing you put on and the first thing you remove. Spray your perfume and hairspray before putting on your jewelry. As soon as you get home, take off your jewelry. This will prevent you from accidentally exposing it to household cleaners.

• After taking off silver jewelry, clean it with a dry soft cloth before putting it away.

• Store clean, dry sterling silver in a dry airtight container, like a ziploc bag and store it away from sunlight such as a drawer or jewelry case. Sunlight will speed up the tarnishing process. If you want to take an extra step, purchase anti-tarnish strips and place those in the ziploc bag for extra protection. They are inexpensive and can be found at most jewelry supply stores.

• Don’t leave silver jewelry in the bathroom or by the kitchen sink - any area that is regularly exposed to moisture. Do not wear it the shower, swimming pool or hot tub. Remember that humidity is not your friend!

• Do not use rubber bands to bundle jewelry because when rubber bands age, they release sulfur that causes tarnishing.

 I hope this list helps!

Day 27 - 3 Great Podcasts for Solopreneurs

You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf.

One of the benefits of running an on-line handmade jewelry shop is that I spend a good portion of my day sitting in my studio making jewelry. Since my husband is at work during the day, it's just me and the dog at home. It's quiet and I love it. I used to listen to music or surf YouTube for random videos, but I've recently discovered podcasts, and I'm hooked! Talk about multi-tasking. I'm able to make my jewelry while learning all about running a business. I can honestly say it's been a big game changer for me.

While there are no shortage of business related podcasts out there, I'm listing my top 3 that I've found so far. I'm looking forward to discovering even more out there, so if you have any suggestions, please post them.

Michael O'Neal - The Solopreneur Hour
This is currently my favorite podcast and I've been listening to Michael O'Neal daily as I catch up on all 80+ of his episodes. He just started last year in August and broadcasts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Plus, he's located in my hometown - San Diego!

His audio podcast, Solopreneur Hour, features conversations with top-notch solopreneurs from all industries and backgrounds, including network marketing, internet marketing, art, music, fitness, actors, etc. These guests (or as Michael more aptly refers to them 'co-hosts') are true entrepeneurs who have acheived great success - not through magic, but hard work, endurance, and innovation.

As Michael states on his website - "Our mission is to take you through their journey, give you actionable steps and actions to help you with your ventures, and inspire you to take massive action.   Hopefully we’ll have a few laughs along the way. We share practical steps and tools, including books, smartphone apps, websites, training courses, strategies and stories that will support you every step of the way."

I wish I could list the best podcasts, but they are all so seriously fantastic that every single podcast is my favorite after I've listened to it. Ones that I found especially relevant to where I'm at right now in my business growth have been:

• Natasha Wescoat: Building An Art Empire With Social Media
• Everything You Wanted to Know About Branding, But Were Afraid to Ask, with David Roth
• How to get 100,000 Facebook Likes with Bret Gregory
• Cliff Ravenscraft: Turning a Hobby into a SIX FIGURE INCOME 
   

Convince And Convert - Social Pros Podcast
Social Pros specialize in social media marketing. Their tag line is Real People Doing Real Work in Social Media. Since I've decided to concentrate a lot of my efforts this year on social media, these podcasts have been right up my alley - chocked full of great information on this ever-expanding area on the internet.

Each 30-60 minute episode includes:

1. Interview with a leading social media strategist, manager, director of community, or similar working for a corporation or organization.
2. Social Media Stat of the Week, discussed and ratified or debunked by Jay and Jeff Rohrs of ExactTarget.
3. Holy Social, an amazing social media case study
4. Two Big Questions, where our weekly guest shares the answers to four questions asked by the hosts based on their experiences.

A few of their podcasts have included:

• The Avalanche of Information and Scalability of Social Media
• 75 People You Need to Know in Social Media
• How to Leverage a Community of Passionate Fans 
• 4 Experts on What It Takes to Be an Amazing Social Pro  

A lot of their content is geared towards bigger companies but can be scaled down to make it relevant to solopreneurs, such as myself.

Rick Mulready - Inside Social Media Podcast

Rick interviews people that are heads of social media from successful companies. 

From his 'About' page, he states:

"Because so many small businesses find social media overwhelming and confusing.  They dabble and thus find it ineffective in growing their business. Big brands, though, tend to know what works and what doesn’t. They have the budget, resources and brand name behind them and are at the forefront of social media strategy. We can look at the fundamental social media principles these brands are successfully using and model and adapt them for our own businesses. The idea is to break down the principles that are working and simply and easily apply them to our own businesses, with little to no budget."

I love this! This guy is totally speaking to me and I've learned so much already from the few of his podcasts I've been able to listen to.

• MTV’s Tom Fishman on Choosing the Best Social Channels for Your Business
• Neil Patel on How to Drive Massive Traffic to Your Website
• Building a Massively Successful Online Business Through Social & Online Media with World Famous Drummer Mike Johnston 

I hope this list gets you pumped up to start listening to podcasts too. I personally have found them to be so inspiring.

Day 26 - Running My First Successful Facebook Contest

Last week I decided to run my first Facebook contest. I've run contests in the past, but they've always been posted on my blog. I'll promote it on Facebook and through other channels, but the idea was to get people coming to the blog and build my Facebook Fan base, newsletter base, etc. This time, I ran the contest directly through my Facebook Page and didn't advertise it anywhere else. So, the only place you could find out about it was to be on Facebook and see my posting.

It was a great success! In fact, I was completely overwhelmed with the reaction. Since I had just under 800 fans at the time, I expected maybe 30 - 50 entries. I think I received 30 entries in the first 5 minutes!

I had 2 reasons for wanting to run a contest exclusively on Facebook

1. I wanted to do something special for Facebook fans by giving them a chance to win a piece of my jewelry without competing with other people. The blog contests I run are always popular because I advertise them on Etsy Giveaways and a lot of people view them and share the information. However, most people that go to Etsy Giveaways are specifically looking for contests and not likely to convert to future customers. This was a way to have a contest just for fans that are already engaged with me and my products. 
2. Since my Facebook posts will disappear from my fan's view if they do not interact with my posts, this was a good opportunity to get some engagement and ensure that I will show up in their future news feeds.

Facebook Contest Rules
Before running the contest, I did a pretty thorough search to make sure I wasn't breaking any rules that could get my post deleted, or worse, my page removed from Facebook. It turns out that Facebook likes to change their rules often, but the latest changes are more in our favor and after reading them, I felt confident that my contest was well within their guidelines.

Here are their promotion guidelines:
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What is considered a promotion on Facebook?

Promotions typically include:

•  Entry/registration
•  Element of chance
•  Giveaway or prize

What’s changing?

We’ve removed the requirement that promotions on Facebook only be administered through apps

Now, promotions may be administered on Page Timelines and in apps on Facebook. For example, businesses can now:

• Collect entries by having users post on the Page or comment/like a Page post
• Collect entries by having users message the Page
• Utilize likes as a voting mechanism

As before, however, businesses cannot administer promotions on personal Timelines.

Accurate tagging is required in promotions

In order to maintain the accuracy of Page content, our Pages Terms now prohibit Pages from tagging or encouraging people to tag themselves in content that they are not actually depicted in. So, for instance:

• It’s OK to ask people to submit names of a new product in exchange for a chance to win a prize
• It’s not OK to ask people tag themselves in pictures of a new product in exchange for a chance to win a prize

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My Contest
A few days before I ran the contest, I put out a little teaser letting everyone know that a contest would be posted by the end of the week. That post alone was seen by over 350 people (usually my posts are seen by 150 - 250 people). 

Thursday afternoon I posted the contest. The rules were simple - I was giving away a sterling silver birthstone bangle. To enter, you just had to comment on the post with the color birthstone you would want if you won. No other requirements. 

Contest Post 

The Results
Like I mentioned before, I thought maybe 30 - 50 people would enter. I didn't expect 344 entries! As it turns out, quite a few people seeing the post shared it on their timeline, so I received a huge boost in views - 7600+ instead of my usual 150 - 250. For a small business like mine, that was viral. :-)

Another added bonus, and one I didn't expect, were all the new people who 'liked' my page by the time the contest was completed. I started off with 798 fans - 24 hours later I had 835 fans. I also received sales from new customers who had never seen my jewelry before.

It was great to see all the interaction and comments. I loved that people shared the post and I gained new fans. For the cost of making the bracelet and shipping, I received a lot more attention than when I spent significantly more money on a Facebook ad.

Overall, it was a resounding success and I plan on running many more contests in the future.