Getting on Track

How many people made a New Years resolution to get their business and life on track and less cluttered? I know I do every year and while I don't quite end up as I had envisioned, at years end, I have made improvements.

I was just reading a magazine article that talked about this very thing...how to get on track and stay focused. And the perfect time to start is now.

One of the first things that they discussed was Touch it Once. Either do it, delegate it, file it or ditch it. Some hard words to live by, but if you adopt this philosophy things can only get better.



Another important point that was made was in regards to bookkeeping. Set up a system where you do the paperwork needed for your business now and keep it current. Make sure to enter onto a spreadsheet all those expense and income now, while you go through the year. It will make next years tax preparation so much easier and you could see at a glance just where your business stands if you have good financial information at your finger tips. Also find an accounting system that is easy and the right fit cause if you don't then you won't probably use it.


Make an extensive list of things to do for the day. Accomplish the most difficult ones first, because you don't want it to stare you in the face all day, now do ya? Making list also has a concreteness about it. You can visually see what you would like to accomplish and when you do get something done nothing like seeing it crossed off that list to warm your heart. I am a big list maker and when I follow my list it helps to keep me on track and focused.


Be selective with your time. Limit outside interruptions. If you don't value your time don't expect anyone else to. This includes family and friends. How many times have you heard "She doesn't have a "real" job, cause she works from home"? Little do they know that we probably spend more time doing what we do than working at a 9-5 job entails.


Decompress. Do something just for you. Make appointments with yourself. If you workout make sure to schedule it just as you would any other appointment. Make yourself a priority.


And finally stay up with technology. Even if you upgraded your software/hardware in the last 5 years, it may be out of date. Stay abreast of the new features of the software/hardware you are using and evaluate whether updating is worth the expense. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

Hopefully this will give both you and me some things to think about and make a plan to implement these ideas. The sooner, the better.

Did You Know That's It's Not Allowed

This isn't the post I had intended on making today but after reading in the etsy forums, I thought it would be good to share the information that was there.

How many of us bloggers have websites? How many of us do online drawings? Now you are saying what does one have to do with the other? Hmmmm....I didn't think much either but they do!



After reading this forum thread I was surprised to learn that if you offer a chance at winning something, making a purchase a condition, paypal may shut you down! WOW! Who would have thought that paypal monitors transactions, but apparently they do!

I think most bloggers are ok with how they do their giveaways, but ones that give an extra chance if there is a purchase from a website, selling blog, etc, may be flirting with disaster. Who knew?


I know that I am now rethinking my marketing strategy for my website now. How about any of you?

Accepting Credit Cards

How many times have we all heard from our customers, that they are tired of paypal? They don't like using it...they don't trust it....etc, etc.

I use to have a merchant account with doing as many shows as we did it was a necessary evil. I have since cut back on my shows and with the lousy wireless reception we got, it was more problems than it was worth, not to mention I was paying for a service that I rarely had. So when the fall craft show season came around, I had to find a replacement for accepting cards.

My friend Pat and her hubby Lou, have been using Propay for about a year. They have used it without any hitches. So I was fooling around trying to decide what to do and I came across this post in the etsy forums regarding propay and there being a discount for etsy sellers.

So called Propay on the phone. Asked my questions. Found the link and signed up. Got a great discount on the yearly fee..only $29.95/year versus something like $70. To get the deal you have to click on the link and go through to the end. It takes just a few minutes to get yourself all set up. You can use it on your website, at craft shows, and of course on etsy, artfire or even ebay.

Anyway, thought I would share the link cause the forum thread didn't have many posts to it...propay . Sure hope that somebody can use it. Their fees are very comparable to paypals and you don't have all the ebay baggage that comes with using paypal.