Robin from Robin's flight and her terrific purses and bags

For my next feature, I found some great hand bags, purses and wallets on etsy that are all hand-crocheted by Robin. Here is her story...

1-Tell me something about yourself and your art + your full name and where you are from

My name is Robin Flatley, and I live in Livonia (Detroit area), Michigan. I'm a stay at home mom of two beautiful children.


2-How did you get started as a designer?

My grandma taught me to crochet when I was 8, and my mom taught me to sew not long after that. As an adult, I started to crochet again and switched to bags and other small projects . I slowly started designing my own patterns, and lining my bags to make them more useful. I love combining the crochet with fabric, as well as zipper pockets and multiple sections to make the bags more handy.


3-What inspires you to create?

Often, my inspiration will be a nice fabric or set of fabrics. Or I'll see a nice handbag that will give me a design idea. Or, as with my forsythia tote, it's nature itself that fuels my imagination.


4-How do you get the word out about your shop and your work

I'm not very good at that, I'm afraid. I try to make connections on the etsy forums, and I do have a facebook page. I carry business cards and hand them out if people notice my own bags. My mom's probably better at that, she's one of my best advertisers!


5-Where we can find your purses and wallets

My items are found on my etsy website!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/RobinsFlight

The winner for my March 1st giveaway is...

The winner for the March 1st giveaway is Martina (avalonne83)
This is her blog http://avalonne83.blogspot.com/
She has picked the 'full moon' earrings and will also receive free shipping.
Congradulations!!!

Searching Google with more accuracy

While surfing on the net I found some very useful information on how to search on google with accuracy.. I'm certain this should be of use to anyone who uses google for searching the net. Here is a list to help you out.

1. Explicit Phrase:
   Lets say you are looking for content about internet marketing. Instead of just typing internet marketing into the Google search box, you will likely be better off searching explicitly for the phrase. To do this, simply enclose the search phrase within double quotes.

   Example: "internet marketing"

2. Exclude Words:
   Lets say you want to search for content about internet marketing, but you want to exclude any results that contain the term advertising. To do this, simply use the "-" sign in front of the word you want to exclude.

   Example Search: internet marketing -advertising (with the -connected to the following word)
   

3. Site Specific Search:
   Often, you want to search a specific website for content that matches a certain phrase. Even if the site doesn’t support a built-in search feature, you can use Google to search the site for your term. Simply use the "site:somesite.com" modifier.

   Example: "internet marketing" site:www.smallbusinesshub.com

4. Similar Words and Synonyms:
   Let’s say you are want to include a word in your search, but want to include results that contain similar words or synonyms. To do this, use the "~" in front of the word.

   Example: "internet marketing" ~professional

5. Specific Document Types:
   If you’re looking to find results that are of a specific type, you can use the modifier "filetype:". For example, you might want to find only PowerPoint presentations related to internet marketing.

   Example: "internet marketing" filetype:ppt

6. This OR That:
   By default, when you do a search, Google will include all the terms specified in the search. If you are looking for any one of one or more terms to match, then you can use the OR operator. (Note: The OR has to be capitalized).

   Example: internet marketing OR advertising

7. Area Code Lookup:
   If all you need to do is to look-up the area code for a phone number, just enter the 3-digit area code and Google will tell you where it’s from.

   Example: 617

8. Calculator:
   The next time you need to do a quick calculation, instead of bringing up the Calculator applet, you can just type your expression in to Google.

   Example: 48512 * 1.02

9. Word Definitions:
   If you need to quickly look up the definition of a word or phrase, simply use the "define:" command.

   Example: define:plethora

Hope this list of Google search tips proves useful in your future Google searches.

Please see my next giveaway below

Giveaway for one free pair of earrings of your choice and free shipping.

Please read the post below to see how to enter.

My next feature is ChrissyAnn Ceramic

Etsy Buy Handmade ChrissyAnnCeramics

I found her shop on etsy and I would love to share it with you!

Tell me something about yourself and your art

My name is Chrissy Ann Feiteira, I am a ceramic artist living in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, a lovely small town by the sea. My clay studio is located close by, about a fifteen minute bike ride, in a small city called New Bedford. I have been working there since 2002 after finishing college and moving back to the area from Providence, Rhode Island, and began Chrissy Ann Ceramics.

How did you get started as a designer?

As an artist, I was nurtured creatively from early childhood. My family always encouraged my sister and I to create by supplying us with plentiful art supplies, and new craft projects. It was a way that our family spent time together, and socialized.

I began my studies as a sculpture student, but clay was always my real love. So, I enrolled in a ceramics class and when I mixed up my first five gallon bucket of glaze, I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. After graduating in 2002, I began renting my own studio, and slowly purchased my own equipment.

What inspires you to create?

I get weird unexpected inspirations at really random times. Certain seasons really do it for me, like spring time makes my creative mind go wild! I love making early spring discoveries watching things as they grow. It's a really great moment to sit, reflect on, and sketch.

Once I had collected rocks that had a deep glow of burnt colors and I thought "Oh, this would be a great new palette for some vessel forms I can make for the fall." I love those moments of inspiration because it gets you out of your head for a moment, and into that very moment of time with fresh uncluttered eyes and heart. It is refreshing! Inspiration just happens sometimes when you least expect it and you just have to try and hold on to it before its gone.

How do you get the word out about your shop and your work?

Most of my advertising comes from the many shows I participate in within my local community. I've grown to love outdoor markets, I love meeting the locals, and forming relationships with my buyers. I love to hear the stories of where my pieces have gone, and how they are being used. I pass out many postcards with my Etsy shop and contact information as well as traditional business cards, show schedules, and workshop info if I have one coming up.

Where we can find your items?

You can find my work in my Etsy shop of course, www.chrissyannceramics.etsy.com. I am trying to be better disciplined this year with regular new Etsy listings, and updates.
Our studio building has a website that we've been slowly getting together. You can find me and my studio mates at www.hatchstreetstudios.com.
You can find my blog, facebook and twitter here:
www.chrissyannceramics.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/ChrissyACeramic
www.facebook.com/ChrissyAnnCeramics

Help the population of Haiti

After the terrible disaster that struck Haiti earlier this week, human rights conditions are now worse then they have been in years. The people face an immediate critical need. Indie Fix is coordinating a silent auction of items that have been donated by indie crafters, artists and designers.
Please consider bidding in the auction. Every little bid will help!

All information regarding the auction can be found here:
http://indiefixx.com/images/haitirelief/index.html

I so wanted to donate some of my jewelry for the auction, by right now they have received so much that it's alot of work on their hands, they are not accepting more art.

I have decided to donate 50% of my sales on etsy until January 20th to the Red Cross for Haiti Relief.

MY NEXT GIVEAWAY ..

A FREE PAIR OF EARRINGS OF YOUR CHOICE FROM MY ETSY SHOP WITH FREE SHIPPING

To be eligible for the draw you must visit my shop and post a comment here saying what your favorite pair of earrings are. The giveaway will be on March 1st.

Using a new marketing strategy

*Track what you are doing and find out where your traffic and sales are coming from.

*Start a mareting calender before starting new mareting strategies. If you track your activities on a marketing calendar, you can quickly refer back to specific dates and figure out what could have contributed to the increase in traffic or sales.

*If you start a marketing strategy that is costing you money and/or alot of time, make sure you’ve researched it enough to know what the odds of it working for your are. There is enough cost-free information on the Internet to get you started in the right direction. If you are well informed of a strategy before you try it, you’re more likely to succeed at using it effectively. You should also figure out who your target audience is and focus your efforts there.

*Set up Google analytics, if you haven't already and track the traffic coming into your shop. Google analytics contains valuable statistics such as where your traffic is coming from, how long pople stay on your site, and what time of they day they visited your site. Alot of useful information for tracking your traffic can be found here.

*Give your marketing strategies enough time to work effectively. The typical turn around time for most marketing plans is 3 months. Make sure you give your strategies at least this amount of time to work. It may take a while before you start to see an increase in traffic or sales, but hang in there to know for sure if your marketing strategy is working.

*If you have a steady increase in sales, you can assume something is working for you. To find out what that something is do a bit of research by checking your marketing calendar and your Google Analytics stats.

Some of the information used in this write up was taken from an article by Jamie on handmade news

The winner for my January 10th giveaway

I have picked a new winner because I have not had a reply from fivelittlegems, nor from Vasillas Pasparas, so the new winner is Vikki from the quiltingV

Best greetings for 2010

Happy New Year to everyone!!!

Please see below for my next giveaway

for a $15.00 gift certificate from my etsy shop

Marketing ...search ...tags

Every website owner has heard of them, every search engine uses them, and if you are into SEO you just can't ignore them. Yes, we're referring to 'keywords'. Perhaps the most crucial aspect of search marketing are keywords, and choosing the most 'relevant' keywords can be the difference between success and failure of your web-based venture.

Search marketing and knowing your keywords

A keyword is a single word or a phrase which is used to help search engines index your site. Generally, keyword can be a one to five word phrase that can be used by people during search to find your website. However, choosing 'relevant' keywords for your SEO strategy is not easy. Some business owners tend to use keywords that are internally focused rather than being based on the kinds of searches people actually make. Other times, people tend to be almost 'careless' in researching their keywords and choose generic or irrelevant keywords that have extremely high competition. Some examples of generic keywords could be SEO, website, search engine, UK etc.

The best way to choose keywords for your business is by thinking like a person interested in your service/product. What type of word or words would they type in the search engine browser to find your offering? What are the qualities of your product or service? Answering those questions will better help you in choosing the best keywords for SEO.

Choosing the best keywords for SEO

Typically, there are many different methods to find best and relevant keywords and some of these steps are:

Finding words that people use to find product or service similar to your offering.

Keyword research tools such as google adwords, Keyword tool, Wordtracker, Trellian Keyword Discovery, etc., are tools that help you pick the most searched and relevant keywords for your website.

A keyword list helps you understand your target audience 'search psyche.' So, create a keyword list to find the best combination of primary and secondary keywords that:

Drive traffic to your website

Finding related keywords used for search on large and small search engines.

Discovering keywords using trend related tools such as Google trends & Google Insights
Discovering news, forums, and blog related keywords

Finally, remember that the main goal for choosing the best and most relevant keywords for SEO is to divert large amounts of targeted traffic to your site and stay ahead of your competitors.

Part of this article was taken from "John Hill" Website designer, seo uk professional and search marketing specialist