Success Comes From Within

Often, sellers ask is anyone making sales at this or that site? Is this site good for sales? Do you get a lot of traffic and sales at this venue?  Long-lasting success is not based on the website or selling venue or any other entity or person. Sustainable success happens according to the person's unfailing commitment, acquired knowledge and savvy efforts.

Unless you got in on the ground floor, even Etsy is no longer a venue where you are likely to list products, do nothing and get sales. Nowadays, new Etsy shops have to promote themselves ceaselessly to obtain regular sales. Etsy used to be the go-to venue to list creations, do nothing much and rake in the sales.

Earlier in Etsy's history, a person could join and by virtue of the traffic alone selling success could be had. Because of the changes in the purpose and direction of the owners, competition is now so varied and stiff that even those with great products have to pull their own weight in marketing. This is something that sellers should have always been cultivating. Why? Because that type of self-generated success is lasting. 

To successfully market and promote our brands, we have to believe in what we do and believe in ourselves. We have to see value in all of it and we have to be determined to show others that value. Sometimes, we have to change products and direction or reevaluate our goals.

If we don't possess that do-or-die attitude, we will depend on others and their websites to give us success. Eventually, we'll quit. If this is the case, them maybe we should not have been pursuing this type of success anyway. Maybe it was always just a fleeting hobby that we mistakenly saw as a driving purpose. 

A creative person who is driven and burning with the love of creating and the determination to show others the value of it will work tirelessly. They will press on until they find the correct techniques and products or services to get that point across.  Like they say, a good seller can sell ice to Native Alaskans.

We should all want sustainable success, rather than success that is attached to any one e-commerce site. If a website begins to fail or if the owners take a direction that is no longer compatible with our beliefs, we can leave and take our success with us. Without fear, we can take self-built, sustainable success where ever we go. 

Success = 

• Unfailing Commitment
• Acquired Knowledge
• Savvy Efforts.

Success comes from within.

Free Image Mondays: Fireworks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today's image is a colorful, fireworks graphic. The dimensions are 1920 x 1871px and it is a PNG file. 

Download It Here From My Files At Microsoft OneDrive:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AucUJVHYQ3s5jC4lI10ZtKRIPiTO

Then click the download link at the top of the OneDrive page.

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The bonus image is 9 styles of snowflakes. The dimensions of the files are 1920 x 1920 px (each snowflake clipped separately will be smaller) and it is a PNG file. https://1drv.ms/u/s!AucUJVHYQ3s5jCZz6PKOwqSJfEbX?e=HXkTbH

Download It Here From My Files At Microsoft OneDrive:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AucUJVHYQ3s5jC8RslRk7wZlY_tG

Then click the download link at the top of the OneDrive page.

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Comment if you have problems getting the images.

HAPPY CREATING!

 

 

All Free Image Mondays pics are free for personal and commercial use, no license, no fee, no attribution needed. Print out or use digitally.

Die-Cut, Stamped, Embossed Christmas Cards Technique

I designed these narrow Christmas cards, 3.25 x 6", to fit lavender envelopes that I already had. Techniques and media used are stamping, dry/heat embossing, die-cutting, embossing folders, cardstock, ink, glitter, embossing powder, Washi tape, ribbon trim, rhinestones, gel and paint pens and gel plate-printed background papers.

I die-cut the Christmas trees and snowflakes shapes with dies in 2 sizes/designs from Aliexpress. I like these trees because they have nice cut-out designs in the branches. 

 

After trimming my gel plate-printed papers, I dry-embossed them with an Aliexpress snowflakes embossing folder. I highlighted some of the dry embossed snowflakes with silver metallic gel and paint pens.

 

Joy Peace Love is stamped/embossed with a sentiment stamp from an Aliexpress holiday set. I refreshed my Stampabilities embossing ink pad with a few drops of glycerin spread across the top and lightly pressed in with a spoon. It has lasted well over 2 years. You can get a bottle of glycerin at most drug stores or the pharmacy of discount stores.

 

The heat embossing of the stamped text was done with Ranger Snowflake Embossing Tinsel (a combo of white embossing powder and silver glitter) and Joann Craft Essentials Silver. I kiss-trimmed each sentiment.

 

I stamped inside sentiments of Merry Christmas and a Joy To The World wreath, with the same Aliexpress holiday set, with Memento Tuxedo Black. You can see part of these sentiments in image #2, where I off-stamped on little pieces of card stock.

 

I adhered Washi tape from Amazon and Aliexpress and mini ribbon trim to the embossed panels and glued them to the folded, white cardstock. After I attached the snowflakes and trees, I positioned the Joy Peace Love sentiments and glued on. 

 

I embellished each card with glitters and rhinestones from various sources.

 

I stamped my logo on back with a Zazzle customized stamp in My Favorite Things Boysenberry.

 

These multi-technique holiday cards came out very well to be a rushed job. Next year, I'm going to start earlier, I always say!

 

Merry Christmas! Joy, Peace & Love To You & Yours!

 

Note: Products without links means I couldn't find them or I don't remember where I got them.

Double-Embossing Technique On Star Of Jesus Cards

 

Ran across these lovely, Star of Jesus cards in my Gelatin Printing Enthusiasts Facebook group. I wondered if they were embossed but thought the stars looked thicker than expected. Did the crafter use some type of ultra or super thick embossing powder or enamel?

It turns out that crafter, Michelle Moussan, used the easy double-embossing technique. She explains below:

I die cut the star and then did the double embossing. After I melt the first layer of embossing powder, I ink it again with embossing ink and add a second layer of embossing powder. I then added small bits of highly reflective glitter. Like I said just a bit so it wouldn’t be overwhelming just catch the light a little. 

Embossed Cards Design by Michelle Moussan

The double-embossed effect can work with what we have, rather than buying another product, such as ultra thick embossing powder. Just a few minutes more are needed to get the look. Designs can even be embossed a third time. 

It would seem that generally, the thicker the embossing will be, the less intricate the design will need to be. Heavy embossing may over fill detailed areas.

Are Like And Follow Chains Worth It?

I've succumbed to the temptation in the distant past. When I realized that true value was not achieved through these staged social interactions, I decided that my creative time is too prized and limited to devote to these types of games.

The reciprocation is false inflating of stats at worse and giving to get at best. The increased stats are not from potential customers who discover our shops organically or through our savvy marketing skills. Smart marketing has value and attracts potential customers without requiring reciprocation.

These social trains are not an authentic way to realize appreciation for our creativity. I doubt if most of the likers and followers ever darken our shop doors again after the initial rush. Why fool ourselves by basking in fake accomplishments? Why strive to receive a flurry of activity only to be ghosted the day after? Likes for likes and follows for follows are a lot of precious effort for hollow shop interaction and inauthentic stats. When we think about it, it's really being deceitful to our potential customers, isn't it? It's painting a contrived picture.

Our time is better spent improving our target marketing and SEO skills, and learning how to better promote our brands. Social media trains, blog hops and the like cannot successfully compete with intelligent growth. The effort devoted to improving business skills has long-reaching effects that guarantee long-range selling success. 

Here is some info on SEO, an area in which we can all improve.

SearchEngineLand says:

SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” In simple terms, it means the process of improving your site to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to your business in Google, Bing, and other search engines. The better visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely you are to garner attention and attract prospective and existing customers to your business.

SEO is a fundamental part of digital marketing because people conduct trillions of searches every year, often with commercial intent to find information about products and services. Search is often the primary source of digital traffic for brands and complements other marketing channels. Greater visibility and ranking higher in search results than your competition can have a material impact on your bottom line.

SearchEngineLand is chock-full of info on SEO, what it is, why it's important, how it works and how to learn it.