Well, I've been working on getting the store stocked up better, but still have quite a bit left to go.

I managed to get mostly everything listed except for the jewelry. For the jewelry, I will need to take pictures and get those listed as well. Those pieces will be a bit more complicated, as I'm not sure about the names of each piece and must do some research.

Everything had been going great with the store and still sending out the orders as usual.

The weather is getting a bit cooler now, so thinking winter is on it's way.

Stay warm,
Christi

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Stocking Up!

Will be working to get the store stocked up soon.

There have been a lot of project lately, but things should be quieting down soon. So, it's time to stock up again and get the store all ready for fall and the cooler weather.

Still have some Mia Bella votives to list as well as a lot of jewelry.

Expect an additional 500 items at least.

Thanks for your time and have a wonderful week!

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Mia Bella Soaps and Candles

I've recently added Mia Bella Pie Candles and Mia Bella Soy Soap Bars to the product line. Soon, I'll be adding votives as well.

Mia Bella soy candles burn much cleaner than parafin wax candles. They also have lead-free wicks and smell amazing.

Once I have them listed, I'll be listing the Lia Sophia jewelry as well as the rest of the Cookie Lee Jewelry that I have. I'm too late for Mother's Day, but oh well. I'll make it in time for Christmas :D

I also have a lot of noname jewelry sets that I'll be listing. Some very pretty sets for sure. OK, not sure how many of those will make it into my store ;)

Have a great evening!
Christi

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Anti-Virus Programs Uninstalls

Watch out if you are uninstalling a virus program. If your system acts funny, chances are that you need an additional uninstall file.

I know that Windows Live One Care and Norton Systemworks both need additional files to fully uninstall.

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Forums - Which ones to join and why.

As I sit here thinking about how much time I just spent posting on forums, I must also ask myself if I really thought it helped my business.

It's nice to feel as though we belong and fit into a group. It's also easy to get comfortable interracting with the same people.

When I started selling online, I had so many questions. I needed to know where to sell and which sites had what I was interested in. I joined some selling forums to interract with other sellers and get the information I needed.

Once I decided on a site, I began to post in the site forum to gain knowledge about my store and new features that came out. However, once I figured out where to sell, I should've started minimizing my time spent at the selling forums. I should've transitioned to forums where I'd attract buyers instead of other sellers.

Of course, it does depend on who my buyers are. If I create templates and do custom work for other sellers, I should continue to participate in selling forums. However, my customers typically won't be other sellers. Many of them make their own candles, bath products and jewelry. They are looking to make money online versus spending it at my store.

So, where should I spend time? I'd still spend some of it where I have my store checking in for new options and codes. However, most of my time should be spent at forums that allow me to reach my customers.

I've found forums that are female oriented. The only problem is that they don't allow banners in signatures. Mostly all of them want you to participate in their forum, promoting their advertising without being able to advertise anything for yourself. Is that fair? I don't think so.

So the next time you want to spend time promoting your store, think about where your buyers are. Reach out to them whereever they are. Break out of your comfort zone and try new forums.

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Malware Issues on April Fools

Well, It seems like eveything is still going smooth.

My computer had an issue, but it was my own fault. I had downloaded a couple free screensavers off of the internet, and one had some malware in it. Not too bad, but the darn thing kept rerouting me to other internet pages. Ugh.

System is fine now. I tried Malwarebytes, but that didn't find the cause. It found some registry entries, which just return when you restart the system. I had to restore my system back to an earlier point and once I could work on it, I downloaded Ad-Aware. That actually found the root problems, which was a free screensaver I installed.

What I learned from this:

*Never install any screensavers from Screensaver.com
*Never install any screensavers from Freeze or anything from Apple Blossom Art
*Only install programs from trusted sources like CNET.com
*If something is free, there is usually something attached to it making the source money.
*Microsoft One Care cannot find Malware or Adware
*Therefore, install Ad-Aware as it's free and seems to find the culprits causing problems.
Here's the link: http://download.cnet.com/Ad-Aware-Anniversary-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?tag=mncol;pop
*Be sure to check installed programs under the control panel, then, add and remove. You'll be amazed to find all of the toolbars left from applications.
*Adware is a program that tracks what you do and sends over your stats to vendors. You don't notice these much, and they aren't much harm to your computer.
*Malware is a program that actually forwards your browser to other affiliate pages. For example, you click on a news link and are rediracted to a pet store. These are a bit more troubling if you don't take care of them right away. The reason is that they stop your computer from accessing Window's Updates and virus protection. They don't affect other computers (unless you share the infected programs), but are just a pain. It wouldn't have been so bad, but I didn't like that it messed with my firewall and such.
*Viruses actually use computers to spread (like a cold) and severely affect a computer's operating ability.Well, hopefully, you were able to pick up some useful information from my last 2 days of research. Thanks,Christi

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Forum 4 Women

I had been spending a lot of time on marketing forums and the issues were always the same. So, I decided to find a forum where one could discuss a broad range of topics. That way, I wouldn't have to join 5 different forums. There seem to be so many forums out there for mothers or professional women and so on. It's like each forum is a group that includes a certain type of woman.

What about women that don't have children or those that don't feel so professional? There were only a couple of forums that were all inclusive. Most of those were geared around articles, so one has to do a lot of reading before asking a simple question. Who has that kind of time?

A few forums weren't monitored very well and had naughty posts on them. I mentioned the posts to the admin of one of the forums. She stated that she had 19 forums and didn't have time to monitor them all. OK, so now I know her forum had not much to do about helping women and more to do about making money. That just really doesn't seem right.

I also saw a lot of organizations for women without a forum. Wouldn't it be nice to have a place where an organization would be seen by many women? There were sure a lot of organizations that I hadn't heard of.

I also thought it would be nice to have a forum that wasn't plastered with advertising. Many of the forums I saw seemed to have one goal. That goal was to fill every inch of space with an advertisement.

I think women are worth more than that. I think it would be great to have a place where we all can go to discuss whatever we'd like. A place more interested in helping women than making money off of them. A place where we can help each other instead of pointing to a list of articles. And, a place where we can support each other no matter what.

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