Heart to Heart Forum

Thursday, May 1, 2008

May Day

Happy May 1st,
Our featured merchant for May, Linda of Charmed Victorian, has a brand new website! Her new seasonal fairy charms are adorable. Take a look at the all new and improved 'Charmed Victorian':
May's Featured Website

Our expansion project is almost complete as we welcome to our mall, Gail of 'Tea Bureau' and an afternoon tea publication, 'The Tea House Times'.
Fourth Avenue
Fifh Avenue
Gail's network has had such an impact on me that I have completely revamped our site map page to include "Tea Time" as a new category.

Life is good!
Vic

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Visit Qflea's Vendor Spotlight

More good news today! We are the featured "Vendor Spotlight" in the most recent edition of The Qflea Shopping News:

Check us out!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

April's Featured Website

We would like to start by announcing the featured page for April:
April's Featured Site

Take a look at the beautiful treasures offered by Roses and Teacups. Also, take a second to look at our brand new format for the links to past editions. We took a lesson from Victoriana Magazine and are featuring image links to past months. This format will continue throughout this year until we have an entire year in review with our image links. What this means is that you are actually purchasing a featured spot for a year instead of just one month.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Drum Roll Please...Victoriana Magazine

What a wonderful way to welcome Spring. Here is an e-mail I received on Tuesday:

Hello Victoria,

The March issue of Victoriana Magazine is online with your wonderful photos and your article about the Victorian Heart Shoppe. It was a pleasure working with you; your article is a fabulous addition to this month's magazine.

http://www.victorianamagazine.com/March 2008/

You will find your article featured on page 1.

Thank you for your help and I hope this proves to be a successful experience for your business. I look forward to working with you in the future.

Thanks again.

Joanne Haug
Executive Editor: Victoriana Magazine
Web site: www.victorianamagazine.com

Monday, March 17, 2008

Open House Month

Good Morning Everyone, We have officially declared March as "Open House Month" at the Victorian Heart Shoppe. We will be changing our featured page out hopefully before the end of next week with a big surprise for everyone. Look for our e-mail : )

Meanwhile, we have several newcomers to welcome to our mall:

Meet Ed and Maria of "Carriage House Gifts" who have joined us on Second Avenue:
Second Avenue Shops

Meet Debbie of "Cozy Cottage Gifts & Decor" who has joined us on Fourth Avenue:
Fourth Avenue Shops
Debbie was referred by her friend Sharon from C'est Chouette. A big thank you to Sharon for the recommendation : )

Meet Francie of "The Scented Cottage" who has joined us on Third Avenue:
Third Avenue Shops
Francie was referred to us by her friend Debbie from Cozy Cottage. A big thank you to Debbie for her faith : ) We won't let you down!

We have also added some photos to our "about us" page and believe we have the most attractive merchants in town. It's OK for us to believe that and you will agree when you take a look at our gallery:
About Us

We are sitting on the edge of our seats waiting to hear from Victoriana Magazine. When we hear, you will as well. Thanks for your patience and encouragement. Anything we can do for you, please let us know!

Top of the mornin' to ya,
Vic

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Car Door Magnets

Good Morning everyone, We just ordered some car door magnets from Vista Print for an amazingly good deal! If you do not already have an account with them just go to:

www.vistaprint.com

You will see many free products on the list of marketing materials. The car door magnets are new and you can upload a logo or image free of charge. We used their template and added our own logo and text. We ordered the large size which are comparable to two sheets of paper side by side. The price was $14.49 for two plus shipping. What a great deal. We have been considering car door magnets for a few months and again it is Vista Print to the rescue. (If this deal does not come up for you, we may have to send you a link so let us know.)

Have a great day,
Vic

P.S. Heard from Victoriana Magazine this week and it looks like we are a "go" for March! We have a waiting list of new merchants ready to grab any open windows on March 1st. Wow! This is great fun : )

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

February's Featured Website

Our February feature page is brought to us by Laura from Pet Scribbles or was that Lulu, Chief Feline Officer? Take a look at the darling Valentines:
http://www.victorianheartshoppe.com/featured.html

Our feature in Victoriana Magazine will be worked on this month and should be ready for the March issue : ) This is a very exciting time for us at the Heart Shoppe and we look forward to a wonderful year of new visitors and lots of publicity.

Let us know what we can do for you,
Vic

12 Tips for a Successful Christmas Bazaar Table

12 Tips for a Successful Christmas Bazaar Table
by Victoria Otto

The following tips are recommended for a small retail shop participating in an arts & crafts holiday fair or a Christmas bazaar.

Up to 6 weeks in advance:

1. Make a list and check it twice; more often if a tendency to misplace lists exists.

2. Brand your booth with the following items: (These can be purchased "free" at www.vistaprint.com for only the cost of shipping) banners, business cards, calendar magnets, rack cards, etc.

3. Invite friends and recruit plenty of help for the actual sale day.

4. Inventory your products (something old, something new): ordering too late could cost a sale so make sure to have plenty of that "most popular"' and "brand new" item on hand for the big day.

5. Print out a readable price list, stickers and tags get lost in the shuffle: whole dollar amounts (round $4.95 to $5) will make it much easier to make change at the actual event.

6. Get in the spirit of the event with tablecloths, decorations, centerpieces, etc. that reflect the holiday theme.

At the event:

7. Provide a sample to all interested traffic (if you are selling perfume, spray a business card "to go", free recipe cards for a food booth, etc.).

8. A sale isn't a sale unless there is a discount: offer 20% or more off the regular price and be sure to bring a calculator.

9. Feed the impulse buyer: the 'five and dime' has acquired dollar signs so be sure to have at least one $5-$10 item for the impulse buyers, perhaps no higher than $30 unless you are prepared to take checks or credit cards.

10. Stage your products: the most expensive jewelry looks better on a hand, the most beautiful scarf around a neck, an exquisite 'wine charm' dressing a crystal goblet, the idea is to show off the goods (baskets, boxes, bags)!

11. Have an appropriate cash drawer, money bag, or register, with plenty of change (makes both dollars and sense).

12. Remember the true meaning of the event: Christmas is a celebration of the Christ child's birth. Arrive early, have fun, be of good cheer, suggest appropriate gifts, and be thankful for all blessings from Above.

Author: Victoria Otto from Victorian Laurels @ www.victorianlaurels.com

Contributors: Linda from Charmed Victorian @ www.charmedvictorian.com

Debbie from Cozy Cottage @ www.cozycottage.com

All of the above shops can be found in one place: Victorian Heart Shoppe mall @ www.victorianheartshoppe.com

About the Author:

Victoria Otto is the owner and CEO of the retail website, Victorian Laurels, and the membership mall, Victorian Heart Shoppe. Her newest venture is as the Editor of an online magazine called Victorian Etc. She has a BS in Mathematics and is a retired school teacher of twenty-five years. Victoria lives in New Mexico with her husband, Jeff, and their dogs, Duke & Roscoe.

Spring Cleaning by Terri Seymour

How to Spring Clean Your Website

Spring is a wonderful time of year but it might not be so wonderful for our online business. The weather is getting nicer and people are spending more time outside, away from their computers. One way to get more people to come to your website is to do some spring cleaning and I don't mean your house! Our websites can get stale and outdated if we do not clean them up periodically.

There are lots of things you can do to freshen up your site and bring new life and new customers to your online business.

1. Add a new section filled with resources, information and maybe even some special deals for your customers. Use relevant keywords to improve your ranking. For example: if you own a home decor business, offer decorating tips and advice. Show people how to decorate on a budget or how to redecorate with things they already own. By providing information and resources along with your products, you are giving people a reason to keep coming back. This is how you build trust with your visitors and get more sales.

2. Remove all dead links, outdated information and products. Nothing is worse than going to a site and finding links that don't work or information and/or products that are no longer useable or helpful. Go through all the links on your site and freshen up the content to offer up to date information!

3. Give your homepage a facelift by adding new graphics, text, etc. Redo your banner and give it some new life. Take out the old graphics and add some fresh new images. Research your keywords and revamp your text with some effective keywords. Write a new introduction to your site detailing all your new additions.

4. If you haven't yet tried blogging, read up on blogging and zap some life into your site. Some free blogging sites are Blogger and WordPress. Blogging is a great way to improve your search engine ranking while expanding your network.

5. Update your product line. Add some fresh new products and offer the old products at clearance prices. Have a Spring Sale and liven up your sales! Keep those customers coming back for more!

6. Add a What's New page so you can let everyone know about all your updates now and in the future. This feature could get more people to return to your site to see What's New?

7. Research the colors used on your site. You may find changing the colors of your site can bring a whole new life to your business.

8. Put a small survey on your site. Ask your visitors what they would like to see and what type of products they are looking for. Getting the information straight from the horse's mouth could do your business a lot of good. Offer your visitors a small gift for answering the questions on the survey.

9. Renew your goals! Make new goals and write out a new business plan. Learn from your experiences, good and bad, and improve your plan for success.

Spring is a time of renewal, revitalization and reenergizing! Our online businesses are no exception!

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