No, no's are CACA!!!

Three more No, no's not to use in your terms of sale:

1. No shipping to APO/FPO's in your terms of sale is a no, no! Jacky says that although many buyers are not affected personally buy the fact that you don't ship to APO/FPO's they may still be turned off by this term of sale. Most American's do believe in supporting our troops and they will be offended if you deny troops the simple pleasure of buying from you online or on eBay. She reasons that it is a very silly policy regardless because shipping to APO/FPO's costs no more than shipping within the US. Only difference is an extra 10 seconds it takes to fill out a form to ship to an APO/FPO.
2. Charging extra to ship to Alaska and Hawaii is a no, no! People who live in those areas know that shipping USPS to AK and HI will cost the exact same price as shipping to Washington, Maine, Florida or southern California. Since all these areas are USPS Zone 9 why should you charge extra for AK and HI when it costs you the same as several other states.
3. "I am not responsible for any packages once they leave my hands. I am not responsible if your item(s) are lost or damaged for your protection please purchase insurance." Jacky, says that this is the biggest No, No of them all and should never be used in terms of sale, especially on eBay. First if you are not selling on eBay but using PayPal according to Paypal the seller is responsible! Paypal's terms will override your terms of sale and PayPal will give the customer a refund. Selling on eBay will result in the same outcome. Most Mom's who run online boutiques and eBay stores do so to provide their families with another source of income and to give customers an alternative to Wal Mart/Target. Boutique Moms and eBay Mom's cannot leave their customers out in the cold if they want to pull business in and away from the department stores. Wal Mart and Target will always replace items if they go astray in the mail. Jacky's advice is to purchase insurance yourself out of your own pocket for big ticket items or large purchases. She says that replacing a lost package for someone might just turn what could have been a lost customer into a repeat customer!

I hope you have once again enjoyed reading more of Jacky's great advice for boutique and eBay sellers. Going through your policies and removing the no, no's you might have in them will do a world of good for your sales. Remember No, No's are CACA!

Please visit Jacky's online boutique www.RhinestoneFashions.com for the very best in boutique custom made onesies.

Stay tuned for more advice from Boobba Baby Blog's resident selling expert Jacky! Blog 2 you Later!

Big Dot of Happiness

Everyone loves a good party but no one likes to really plan the party usually. For me party planning is a joy especially when it comes to planning baby showers! I love baby shower games, baby shower decorations, baby shower favors and I especially love diaper cakes, that are used as ceterpieces! Boobba Baby, will soon be expanding it's store services to include baby shower planning and catering with the help of a young hip chef named Jennifer Lee. Ms. Lee comes to us with a lot of experience doing trendy Palm Beach parties. In the last couple of months Jennifer and I have been working together on getting vendors to be able to fulfill all our baby shower party needs we hit the jackpot by finding www.BabyShowerStuff.com!

Baby Shower Stuff is a web site that has all one needs to plan the most spectacular and fun shower on the planet. They have baby shower invitations, games, favors, supplies, balloons, centerpieces, diaper cakes, gifts and even thank you cards. The prices are very reasonable and it really helps when you are planning a bigger shower and need extra supplies. Shipping is SUPER quick and offered at low cost. The best things about Baby Shower Stuff are their Big Dot of Happiness Original Games. If you haven't seen or played one of these fun baby shower games you haven't lived a full life yet.

The Big Dot of Happiness Original Baby Shower Games include Who Smells The Stinky Doo?"Scratch 'n Sniff", A "MAZE" ing Baby, IS IT TIME?, Is it time?--Did my water break?, The "Dirty Diaper", "My Water Broke" , Guess what the "SweetMess" is, Baby "Firsts" Unscramble, Baby Word Search Classic, and the Pacifier Necklace Game. Personally, I have had a blast playing the "Dirty Diaper", Guess what the "Sweet Mess" is, and "My Water Broke" games. What I love about the games that the Big Dot of Happiness has come up with is how great they are for breaking the ice at baby showers. A baby shower is a time when important people in our lives get together to celebrate the upcoming birht of a baby. These important people many times come from different aspects of our lives and may not know eachother or be acquinted. Baby showers become awkard if there isn't a way to get people everyone to interact. Having fun games for everyone to play is the best way to get everyone laughing then making it easier for them to mingle!

If you read the Boobba Baby Blog regularly then you know how big I am about promoting companies owned and operated by moms and yes this is another one of those fine companies! In 1999, Sherri Yukel was a stay at home mom who loved it but was still restless, so she sought out a hobby to keep her attention occupied. When she had a rare moment that she wasn’t busy started "tinkering" creating unique items for her children and friends who were having babies. Her hobby grew into a business concept that evolved into what is now a team of 16 “fanatics”. The "fanatics" and Sherri love helping their customers create pleasant memories celebrating life’s occasions! The companies believes in making everyday events into extraordinary events with extraordinary ease. Now that they have become the originator of the Big Dot Originals games and prodicts they have evolved to be more than just an "Event Party Company”!

If you have baby shower planning needs please visit Sherri and her elves, at www.BabyShowerStuff.com, who you can consider your year-round bunch who look for ANY excuse to help you seek some spunk without the funk! They also have several other party planning sites so run and check them out! Blog 2 you Later!

NO, NO's are a No, no!

I spent the greater part of today talking on the phone with a lady who is just a wealth of information and incredibly fun to talk to. She made me crack up about a thousand times and I related to her on many personal levels. She gave me enlightening tips on how to make a business thrive and keep customers happy, which I will share with you here. The gal I am referring to is Jacky owner of Rhinestone Fashions. Jacky is a successful eBay power seller with 100% positive feedback and repeat customers galore! She is now diligently working on employing her eBay success techniques on her newest web site. Jacky, is a work at home mom of four children who supports her family solely on her eBay income quite the achievement. Her eBay success has allowed for her husband to also be a work at home parent. Now they both can turn all their energy towards their business and their children. I bet you want to know how they were able to do this. Well, when I asked Jacky about her formula for success the one thing that stood out the most from her advice was for all sellers to think like buyers. Some of you may have heard of doing this before but the way that Jacky states it was a new and refreshing way to put it.

She asked me if I liked being told no. Of course I said that I did not like being told no. She quickly replied that no one did. She told me that buyers don't want to hear, see or read any implications of the word no. She said especially on eBay where shoppers come into a listing in a good mood seeing a bunch of no can put them in a bad mood and turn them off to your listing. Jacky, keeps to the motto keep it simple. Her listings are simply descriptions and pictures of the products. What you don't want to do according to her is have a listing that is beaming with terms of sale. She says that for most buyers that is a put off because it implies mistrust. She then told me that no, no's are a no, no! She wasn't just simply referring to the use of the word no she was referring to anything that could be implied from any of your policies as a no!

"The word only=NO! If you tell a buyer you only take Pay Pal then you are saying NO to checks, money orders, credit cards and cashiers checks."

Jacky reminded me that money is money and you should give your customer the option of paying any way they want to or can. She said that if a seller would rather get payment through Pay Pal then instead state it as, "seller prefers Pay Pal" but to not do it in the description of the item. She said the best place for that is towards the bottom with the eBay info.

She says that just being flexible with your terms of sale, providing quality products and friendly service will not only make your listings attractive to your buyers but they will become repeat customers. Those repeat customers will then refer more business to you. She feels that Rhinestone Fashions has been mostly built on word of mouth. When she first started she was told that their was no way, that she'd never and that only a few people could manage to do well with what she planned on selling on eBay. Well, as you can tell no, no's to Jacky are a no, no. She didn't even listen to the nay sayers and did what she knows best work hard at proving that no is not in her vocabulary. She has become a success and is willing to help others learn how to be better business owners. The rhinestone onesies pictured in this post are part of her creations that you can check out at her web site http://www.rhinestonefashions.com/! Stay tuned for other posts where I will share more of Jacky's wisdoms with you! I figured we learn one implement it and then we can move on to the next one.

Thanks again Jacky for sharing your knowledge with me, taking the time to listen, sharing many stories with me and for making me laugh SO much today!

Hope you readers can use this information not only selling on eBay but in your web sites, too! Blog 2 you Later!

Born to Sell

Some people are just born to sell especially if they love to create! My son has a playmate named Lazara who I think will make a great business woman someday. Any chance she gets she comes up with new ideas on what to make to sell. She makes flower arrangements from weeds (that actually look great), she sets up lemonade stands (wouldn't recommend drinking it) and she spends much of her day brainstorming new business models. Talking to Janille Hudson owner, designer and founder of Boosker Babies gave me real insight into the kind of woman Lazara will hopefully grow up to be.

Janille tells me that as a little girl she would fill her Radio Flyer wagon with rocks that she hand picked from her yard and go door to door selling them to her neighbors. She would also sell sand pictures from her front porch that she had made using sand from her sandbox and glue. Of course she also had lemonade stands, participated in school fundraisers and constantly came up with many new business ideas. Unfortunately, the "real world" got in the way of her big plans and she got a "real job". Owning her own business was a thought that she always entertained in the back of her head but she never really explored the possibility of it becoming a reality. Janille poured her energy into her work and managed to keep her mind content with being creative and hand making gifts for others every chance she could. She would make unique baby gifts for those that she loved rather than buying a present that anyone else could also buy. She made many bibs and burpers for family and friends. After making gifts here and there she realized that she could turn her love of creating baby items into a business. This is how Boosker Babies became a reality and Janille found herself living a childhood dream. Boosker Babies makes Bibs, Burpers, Blankets, and Bum Buddys all of which Janille, a new mom, finds to be essential baby items. When asked why these items in particular she explained to me that they were they ideal things for her to make since, all babies need Bibs & Burpers to keep clean, Blankets to stay warm and Bum Buddys to keep protected when being changed. She loves to keep up with trends in her designs as well as change the fabrics she uses frequently. Doing these provides her customers the assurance that their Boosker Babies purchases are fairly unique items. Janille decided to take a new approach when making products that is why all Boosker Babies items are reversible and made from 100% cotton and chenille fabrics.

To purchase a coordinating gift set or individual items from Boosker Babies which Janille promises to hand sew with love and particular attention to detail please click the picture above. Blog 2 you Later!

Happy Fourth, don't press the button!!!

I thank Steve for making it easy to access this game.

Dancing to the beat of my own drum!

Are you looking for the perfect gift for a little girl that loves to dance? Then I know the perfect place for you to shop for her and that place is http://www.lilliangraceboutique.com/. At Lillian Grace (aka Hathead Boutique) you will find tutus to fit just about any little girls taste. My personal favorite is the Posh & Pretty Tutu (shown below) is an extremely poofy tutu. Made of yards and yards of soft shimmer tulle and it is available in one color or many colors, making it a perfect gift! It also has a large satin bow and a tiny flower at the waist to add extra flavor. What made me fall in love with these tutus is the fact that they come with the option of adding music to them. I would have never thought of that! What a cool idea! I know that little girls love to twirl and dance giving them built in music makes all the more fun.

Speaking of fun the owner of Lillian Grace, Kim is one mom who truly knows how to have fun but still manages to run a successful business. When she isn't making beautiful tutus or adorable outfits you might find her out on a motor cross track cheering her twins on. Having fun at the beach with her daughter or just about finding any fun activity to keep her away from the housework. Good thing her hubby is great help! She would rather spend her time creating even if it means having to make another 250 tutus and recital costumes for Falls Church Rec Center's recitals again this year. Yes, I said 250 tutus! For the last three years she has been making their tutus and costumes. No, wonder she wants to get out and have some fun after making that many tutus! To check out Lillian Grace's wonderful line of tutus, clothing or hats please visit them at http://www.LillianGraceBoutique.com/! Kim will give 10% off to anyone who comes to her from the Boobba Baby Blog. Just mention Boobba Baby Blog when you place your order. Blog 2 you Later!

Top 100 Lists Mostly SUCK!

Many of my readers, I am learning, are small business owning WAHM's. Since, I am also a small business owner and a WAHM; I thought I'd share some of my new learned tid bits with you all. So, today I will be doing much ranting and raving about BAD marketing ideas!!! My latest and greatest PET PEEVE has become Top 100 Lists. Not all top 100 lists are created equal, all are not bad, mostly all generate bad traffic, you shouldn't advertise on most and all (especially those on a homepage) will divert traffic away from your site. My breakdown of Top 100 Lists:

All Top 100 lists are not created equal!

Just so you know anyone can generate a Top 100 list, I even have my own. I got one started and paid to have the ads that come with it removed, I started contacting sites to join my list, and I really got into it until I took the time to think. So, before you go and sign yourself up for a bunch of these lists and fill your site chuck full of, unpleasing to the eye banners, THINK before you brand yourself! Not only can anyone generate a Top 100 List but they can put whatever banners and links they find on the net on their list. Hey, I want Oprah.com on my list, maybe HP, oh how about Martha Stewart.com and even Boobba-Baby.com (that's a really cool site with great stuff) must add them too. Yupe, so a list can go from 0-60 faster than my husband's 1979 Firebird! A list doesn't have to have approval from another site to add it to their list! You'll be able to tell if the person added most of the sites themselves if few have detailed site descriptions. Another clue is if when you click on a Top 100 site that is on their list it takes you to through the voting portal of the list.

Okay, ALL these lists aren't a bad idea!

Your right these lists can generate traffic to your site and they all aren't a bad idea. In fact, I am part of a couple of these lists and I advertise on some which generate REGULAR traffic to my site. I just don't really care for the ones that make you put their link on your homepage. I rather put it on a links page. If my customers care to see who I link with they know where to go! I shouldn't need to plaster my entire site with marketing for someone else unless I love that product or service. A Top 100 list isn't either a product or genuine service, what it happens to be in my opinion is a list of some of your competitors. Want to know which ones I personally like and think are a good idea? I'll give you links at the end of this post, as a Thank-you you can enter the list and vote for my site. Tricky, uh? No. I'm kidding about voting for my site, though! It is part of the game with these sites. This leads me to my next peeve with these sites.

Mostly ALL Top 100 Sites generate bad traffic!

No, I am not saying that all traffic that comes from these lists are bad some is actually from shoppers but most is from other business owners who like you are looking for traffic. Some is even coming from people doing research on becoming a business owner. Of course most of the traffic you will get then will not generate a sale! You have shop owners clicking on these links to see what other people are doing, to check out the competition and to get ideas on how to compete better. Does that sound like good traffic to you? Wait want to hear something even funnier? Most of these lists are just replete with web designer ads and these designers are usually towards the top of these lists! Why these web designers aren't dumb they are probably the smartest ones out there! Where do they put free ads for themselves? Where people who are in need of their services will be and will be magnetically drawn to them. I am telling you this because I for a fact know that mostly shop owners and shop owning hopefuls frequent these lists, making them a great place for web designers to advertise!

Reasons why You Shouldn't PAY to Advertise on Most!

While these ads that only cost a few dollars may seem like a good idea to get your name out there they really, usually aren't! Honestly, most of these sites aren't even Google ranked; few of them are getting enough daily hits for it to register in any search engines! So, you basically are paying for NOTHING! No one will see your $15 ad, wait I forgot your competition will. Where is your money going? More than likely to your competitor. Really these lists are started by other boutique owners aren't they? So, your hard earned cash just might be going to your competitor so they can spend it on REAL advertising! Don't get scammed people. When, I first started my boutique I was scammed. I soon noticed how quickly you could get a Top 100 list to fill up and people inquiring about advertising then I got angry about how scammed I got on the first few ads I had paid for. If the list is not ranked don't buy their ads! But if they are ranked then you might want to consider buying some ads or joining ones that generate constant traffic and adding only those links. Buying ads on popular ones will keep you from having to add their links to your site and diverting traffic away from your site, so that money might be worth it. If you have a low advertising budget and would like to better spend those dollars don't waste them on Top 100 ads what you should do then is join the list and keep yourself towards the top, by voting for yourself. Which now leads me to yet another pet peeve about these lists?

Number One on a Top 100 List does not equal a Top Site!!!

Until, I had my very own Top 100 list I didn't know that just because a site is number one on one of these lists it does not mean it is the most popular site among shoppers. Sites on the Top 100 lists can be weighted and most are to ensure unfair ranking. List owners can make their clicks to and from their sites be weighted higher than other sites. What you get is the 100 lists owner’s sites towards the top of the list. Another problem is that some of these lists allow for visitors from the same computer to vote as many times as they like in one day. I think this is another unfair practice. With those lists a site owner can sit and vote for themselves as much as they want and many do. I have noticed that these lists are at times carbon copies of one another. Not only are the same people joining them but these same people are becoming "maniacs" about voting for themselves. If you check some of the bogus lists out usually the same people towards the top in all of them!

All will divert traffic away from your site!

You don't want your customers leaving your site right? So, why give them a link to click and easily navigate away from your site, they might not even ever find you again. These top sites are usually a bad idea because they are essentially geared to drive traffic away from your since they encourage clicking and browsing. A customer might just keep clicking until they find one that is pleasing to their eye instead of staying and looking for quality in a site. If you want to join Top 100 sites for the possibility of getting some web traffic only join ones that do not require a link to them on your homepage. Keeping the Top 100 list off your Homepage or your entire site template will keep visitors on your site longer. Okay, so I promised you a list of Top 100 sites that are good here well honestly there aren't any when it comes to boutique sites!!! If you are looking for support groups or information on a particular subject like breast feeding then top sites are excellent clicking on one may take you to a corner of the net you would have never found before!!!Everyone please don't forget the Quintuplets I wrote about last week!!! If you can send them anything, especially diapers please do so! This family really needs help! They have six children who are so loved but finances are very strained. They have had so much help from their family and friends but that help can only go so far before it also becomes warn thin. To help them please visit http://www.5ontheway.com/default.htm!

Thanks for your support, Blog 2 you Later!

Do you have Monkey Toes?

I personally have Piggy Toes, little short stubby piggy toes! My mother-in-law not only likes to remind me of the fact that I have piggy toes she also likes to laugh at my poor little toes! Poor Toes, they never hurt anyone. On the toes subject I have recently come to really enjoy saying, "Monkey Toes", it is such a cute expression and there are some really adorable shoes and socks that go with that expression. My sons flipped for these the minute they saw them! Most kids that see the Monkey Toes shoes really want a pair of their own to just adore and cherish! After talking to the Monkey Toes designer Jenny Chism I realized why these hand painted shoes have become such a huge hit among kids. My talk with Jenny focused on how she first came up with the idea for monkey toes, where she gets the idea for such cute new designs and the company’s mission. What I found out follows below. Owning a business was a long time dream for Jenny. Hand painting shoes with cute and fun animal themes began as a way of bringing her peace of mind during her morning routine of dressing her daughters. This peace of mind idea would launch her into the world of entrepreneurship since she figured other parents would also benefit from footwear that children would love to put on. So, she used what was a pet name for her daughter's long toes, "Monkey Toes", and made it a brand. When I asked Jenny how she comes up with the ideas for such cute designs she responded, "I come up with new characters based on my customer’s ideas! Sometimes new ideas just pop into my head, but most of the time customers tell me what their kids LOVE and we create them! We are getting ready to start sending out our new Wowie Cowie designs and shortly after we will have Silly Monkey's and Spunky Spiders. We are so excited to see what kids think!” Jenny, pictured above with her daughters, is also an inspiration to all Moms’s out there she balances being a business owner, designer and single mother very well. Her company is growing by leaps and bounds because she is in touch with what kids want. When asked how she manages to do it all she said that it was a carefully orchestrated combination of Red Bull, Chocolate, and Starbucks Soy Chai Lattes that keeps her on top of it all! Hmm, I must try that! Monkey Toes is very committed to keeping kids stylish while providing parents with peace of mind and ease in dressing routines. Check out the other great Monkey Toes styles at www.Boobba-Baby.com! New styles coming soon!