Halloween Cakes, Cookies, Cupcake Toppers, Decorations, Flowers FOR SALE.

I have created a Facebook photo album of all items I can create for your Halloween parties.

Cakes, Cookies, fondant cupcake toppers, crafts, decorating, flower arrangements and pumpkin carving.

Promoting Other Artists & Small Businesses

I have decided I am going to begin to feature other artists on my blog. I have been featured in several blogs and now I think it's time to give back. I have said before that I would buy from independent sellers any day over large chains. Since the economy has shut down many medium to small businesses, the concept of "helping the little guy" is even more important. We need to support our local businesses and people who work for themselves. This Esty seller BlakesWork creates heat resistant sleeves for coffee cups. I try to carry my plastic cup in my car, but most of the time, getting coffee is a last minute decision, based on where I am at. So if I am not in my car, then I don't have my own cup. So when I have to get the cup & sleeve from the coffee shop, I feel really bad. I always make sure to recycle the plastic top & sleeve . . but I still feel bad for having used the disposable cup & sleeve. I think this heat sleeve is a great idea and very elegant as well.

So I have networked with several great people who are trying to help themselves and others get ahead in this economy. Some of those contacts have come through meeting people or from a referral. The Backyard Boutique Party Network is one of them. This is a group of Independent Business Women in the L.A. area who network to promote their businesses. I have recently found other networking sites on Etsy.com newsletters. One of those being The Handmade Movement. They are a collaboration of Etsy sellers who try to promote new sellers or those that don't have any or very few sales. Twice a week they pick two of those sellers to feature and all members can buy something from those 2 stores, thus giving the seller more than a 1st sale . . . they are bom=barded with sales. Now, I would LOVE that surprise for my stores! Wouldn't you?

I think this is a great idea . . better than the sample boxes that I participated in before. Another person has just started a concept of shop, swap & blog. You feature someone else's business in your website or blog. Her blog is called Structured Chaos. The concept of her idea is to send a sample of your work to another participant seller and in return, you get a sample back from them. Then you write about their product on your website or in your blog. I think that's a great concept for gaining exposure and building your network. I will participate in some of these and let you know how it goes.

New Facebook Fan Page & Twitter Page

I just created a Facebook fan page for my website, to further promote my art & photography. I also created a Twitter account to further promote my work. The Facebook fan page automatically posts to the Twitter page, so that makes it much easier. I hope to gain a new fan base from the Twitter page.

I am gearing up for an art show at the California Beer Festival, on September 26th in Ventura, CA. I have a whole new wine/beer/liquor category to add to my image collection. I already had a good collection of wine photos, but only 3 beer photos & no liquor photos. This photo is one of the beer photos. It was taken at the Cantillon Brewery in Brussels, Belgium. This is bottler that was used many many years ago. They still keep it in their showroom.

A New Camera

So we went to Cabo last week and saw the hurricane 1st hand, which was pretty exciting. But this is the 1st time where I really wish I had another camera with me. Like I said, I love my camera. It is a great camera, but there were so many shots I just couldn't get with all the surfers and boogie boarders on the 3 break waves. I guess I was less regretful of having another camera because they closed the town early, so I only had shots from the day before the real "weather" started. I also have to consider that there was so much wind and water in the air, that I guess any camera would have not done very well. I had to hide my camera in a towel in between shots, and like I said, that was the day before it got really bad.

I think about being in the right place at the right time, in terms of catching great wave, surfer shots, and I've been in the right place at the right time . . twice now! The 1st was in Oahu in Dec. 2004 when the waves were record breaking. We didn't make it to the North Shore, so I didn't see what I was missing, but heard about it. Now, being in a hurricane area in Cabo, I have a few decent shots, but none that wow. There was no real damage to the town, so I have no good shots of the aftermath either. But I had thought I'd get at least enough great shots to add to my collection at art shows . . . but no such luck. So a new camera is coming sooner, rather than later, because I need to offer surf/surfer shots at my art shows.

Researching Cameras & Flash Photo Software

So I've been researching new cameras, as I need another. The Canon 5D Mark II is looking oh so fine, but the weight is my problem for most cameras. Most of my photographs are taken while traveling and to have a heavy camera and lens to carry around is not an option for me. With my fibromyalgia, I can't carry a purse around any more, without being in pain. A standard SLR camera and lens far outweighs a purse. Canon is also coming out with the more compact PowerShots (with built in lenses) with more features, but I still love my old Powershot Pro. It has been an amazing camera and I can capture great images on the go. I just can't get that quick shutter action I want. The ability to create amazing bokeh effects has been equally rewarding, as my photos are all about depth and dimension.

The next thing I've been researching is Flash software programs and websites that have flash built in, like SmugMug and Shutterfly Pro. I love every feature in SmugMug, but I don't like paying an extra 15% commission for reports, credit card processing, etc. I already print through Shutterfly and have been really happy with the photos, but their 15% commission fee also applies. Call me crazy, but I want to keep the money I earn for the photos I take. Then, for the best Flash based software programs I've found, there is always a feature missing that I like. So I am still undecided on what I want to use, but I know I need to make a decision, so I can re-vamp my website.

Decisions, decisions . . .

Social Media Marketing Update

Here's an update on my social media marketing marathon. I am gaining momentum. For DenisesDelectables, I have received a great deal of interest, a few orders and now a large 4th of July party order. I need to track where the orders were generated from, so I can keep a log of the marketing source. I have also had a great deal of exposure on Etsy.com. Like I said before, their different marketing tools within their website make it easier for any seller to be seen. I have had 5 people add me to their Treasury list, which is a 12 item page that a user creates of their favorite, or themed items. Some of these treasury pages are very well thought out and aesthetically beautiful. Etsy has featured me on their front page twice, and I've had 3 people feature me on their blog with links. I still have not had a bid accepted from my MiNeeds profile for event photography, but it is another way to get all of my businesses seen. I created another MiNeeds account for my fine art.  

I started a new wine consulting business last week, of which I also found in the social media marketplace. To promote my wine consulting business, I created a web page that was used like a newsletter, letting friends know of my new wine consultant business. I also started, through Meetups.com, a Central Coast Wine & Foodies group, where people can meet to learn about wine and food pairings. We meet bi-weekly and we will have a dinner at a restaurant along the Central Coast once a month. It's a good way to continue to network and build future business relationships. If you are on the Central CA Coast, join us and attend the 1st meeting in Ventura, on June 28th. More details are at the Central Coast Wine & Foodies website.  I also started the same group on Facebook to garner more exposure.

I am gearing up to start my fondant creations and cupcakes for DenisesDelectables. I am debating whether to start a new blog for that business, as I want to start creating custom design fondant cakes too. For the 4th of July, I am creating fondant cake and cupcake toppers in the shapes of hot dogs, flags, pies, stars and stripes and I am going to try a fireworks design too. I will list these fondant creations at DenisesDelectables tomorrow.

So things are moving along. The social media marketing experience has been beneficial so far.

The BIG Conversion Project

So I have put off this large project of converting my website from dark ages, FrontPage, to Dreamweaver. I have had many ideas of how I want to redesign my website, and have finally zeroed in on a final design. I always cringe when I open the site because it is not compatible with Safari or Firefox, so the thumbnail preview doesn't look good. And I don't want to tell people they should open Explorer in order to view my photos. 

I have also found a problem in that the photos are missing metadata. I've only had Aperture for 2 yrs. and over 1/2 of the 500+ photos I posted were before that. I think I will have to copy those images back to Aperture and add the metadata. All I do know is that this conversion is going to take a long time to finish. But I'm tired of looking at a mediocre website.

I did have another marketing idea for when I do finish the conversion. So stay tuned, as you could win a very nice prize.

P.S. For those hard to shop for guys, I have a great Father's Day gift. See my DenisesDelectables listing below with the photo of the Grand Marnier bottle titled "The Ultimate Father..."