Busy is Better

There is a world of difference between my previous shiternship and my current internship.

And the current one is so much better.  Which is a huge relief.  I would have been super pissed if it was anything similar to that last experience.  But it isn't.  I'm busy doing relevant things to their business.  So far I've gone through their entire website to make sure all the links work, and I've revised the copy and made design suggestions.  They are going to revamp it soon according to some of my suggestions.

I've also come up with the Google Analytics and Wordtracker numbers on a (super long - like 1000) list of keywords. This info will be used to determine which keywords should be added to the clients website based on the competition for the word, how much it's searched for, and how relevant it is.  Which I think is kind of cool.  I want to do something similar for my website, so that it's search engine optimized as well, but they haven't gone over with me the formula used to rank the keywords.  (I asked but the girl I was working with didn't really know since another lady does all that math stuff.)

And I also worked on link building.  So for the particular client, I searched this list of websites they gave me and I researched the contact info for each site and where we would ask them to place a link to the client's website.  This apparently also helps optimize the client's website for search engines as well.

Then, (I know this is getting boring - only one more!) I searched a list of directories to see if they listed some of our clients.  If they didn't I submitted them to be included in the directory.

Next week I'll be coming up with their plan for a direct mail campaign.  (I took a class in this, so I'm excited to work those skills and actually complete a direct mail campaign.  I've designed some, but they were never really used.)

So I've been super busy.  But it's good.  I like being this kind of busy, where I'm learning things and accomplishing a lot of work.

I have two craft shows this weekend, so hopefully those go well.  And then next weekend I'm going to Memphis to sell my jewelry at my aunt's home show.  She makes candles, and has some other people that make other stuff, and then invites a ton of people over to shop.  There's wine and hopefully people buying my jewelry, so I'm excited.

I'll keep y'all posted on how everything goes!

2 Weekends, 2 Craft Shows

The very first craft show I did for Snapdragon was not a resounding success.  I only sold four earrings.  And that was over 2 days.

I learned a lot though, and applied it to this past Saturday's show, which was a lot better.  There was a pretty good crowd until later in the afternoon.  I sold seven earrings and a necklace and gave away a lot of business cards.  

I have two more shows in two weekends and I'm hopeful about both.  I may sign up for a couple shows in December.

I haven't sold anything online yet, but I should get some more traffic from doing shows.  I'll keep you guys posted.

All the pieces are coming together

It's amazing how a lot of things in your life can be going kind of terribly, but when one thing just works it brightens your day or week or whatever.  Creating Snapdragon Designs Ltd. has been that for me.  

I ordered a stamp, have business cards printed, tagged and labeled my jewelry, and acquired bags; I am ready to do this!  My first craft show is tomorrow and I'm excited and a bit nervous.  I'm still doing some last minute prep work, but I'm kind of amazed how it's now all put together, branded, and ready.

On a related note, if you haven't seen the website lately, you should check it out: Snapdragon Designs Ltd. I redid the PayPal stuff and have added some more items.

Man, I'm really glad I've had the chance to start to make a business out of this.  Having this to work on has mercifully kept me busy at a time when I'd be rather depressed without it.  Anyway, just wanted to give y'all a quick update.  I'll let you know how the show goes.