Friday, July 19, 2013

Creativity beyond the craft…



Things to do!


“Vacation -- Bah-Humbug! Maybe ‘E-mail Bankruptcy’* is the answer,” sighed a frazzled Madame Le Tron, as she scrolled through her e-mail logjam, a result of her two-week vacation.

“C’est IMPOSSIBLE!” exclaimed Madame aloud.

“What’s impossible?” asked Giselle, as she entered the tiny office, hoping to use the computer to take her placement test for university.

“Over 500 e-mails, a things-to-do-list still to be created, one week to fill our biggest order of the year, and a blog to write, right now. Add to that unpacking, grocery shopping, work assignments, and a potential of two to three new shows to prep for, your going off to college, orientation for the same, and our most important recycle-tron recovering from knee surgery….”


“Actually, he had an axle replacement,” Giselle whispered under her breath.

“Pardon moi?” said Madame Le Tron, rubbing her eyes behind her big black glasses.

“Is the computer free?” asked Giselle.

“Ah, Mon Cherie, could you check back in an hour?”

“Qui, Madame….Madame, perhaps you should consider the use of creativity beyond your craft.  You are the most creative person I know.”

“Qui, qui, qui Giselle, merci,” Madame replied dismissively, waving a black-gloved hand her way.

“No, seriously, look at all you have done.  You have created Le Tron ~ “Toys with a Twist!” from nothing.  The concept, the storyline, even us -- We were created by you!  The re-cyletrons were your creations, even Managing Mike, the recycle-tron with the axle/knee re-placement was created by you. Honestly, Madame, the “knee injury” was your own creation. So use a little of that creativity of yours to figure out what you need to get done and do it!  Why not take a moment to scroll through your e-mail, see what jumps out at you, and save it.  Then go ahead and commit ‘E-mail Bankruptcy’ with what is left!”

“An excellent idea, Giselle! Here, the computer is all yours!” beamed Madame Le Tron, rising from her desk.

‘He-he-he, creativity beyond the craft! Go “Team Giselle!’ thought Giselle, delighted as she sat down to the computer screen.

“By the by,” inquired Madame, poking her head back into the room. “How did you get so smart?”


“Soon-to-be college freshman, majoring in phycology,” giggled Giselle.


“But, of course,” winked Madame Le Tron.

Ah, yes, all is well in the Wonderful World of Le Tron!


See you again, next Friday at 3 pm Central!


Au revoir,




Madame Le Tron


*E-mail Bankruptcy was an article found on www.inc.com , which we posted on our blog last week while on vacation. The thought was delightful and certainly worth considering but, had we done it, we would have missed what we think is a great to- do- list.  Enjoy!  These ladies seem to have it “Going-on”!  http://www.handmadehorizons.com


Check out their site and their fabulous 50% off sale!



THIRTY IN THIRTY 
1. Outline a blog post
2. Write up your blog post and hit "publish" 
3. Spend 30 minutes promoting your blog post on social media 
3. Make a list of 10 blogs that write about type of products you sell 
4. Contact 1 blogger from your list - tell them why you think their readers would be interested in your products, and invite them to write about your range (rinse and repeat) 
5. Create a Facebook ad for your business 
6. Read-up on trends for Winter / Christmas 
7. Sign-up for a free Mail Chimp account so you can start to build an email list for your shop
8. Create an email sign-up box for your website 
9. Write your email welcome text 
10. Send a thank you card to a loyal customer who has bought from you in the past 
11. Thank the last 5 people who have followed you on Twitter / Facebook and ask them to tell you something interesting about themselves
12. Check your Google Analytics and write a list of 3 actions you need to take as a result of what you learn from your stats
13. Re-write your About Page to give it a bit more oomph and sizzle (did you know About pages are often the most visited on websites, after the home page?) 
14. List 5 new products on your website
15. Fill out our Marketing Health Check 
16. Take a better photograph of a product you already have for sale, and add it to your website
17. Re-write the product descriptions for your 3 best-selling products to include search-engine friendly keywords 
18. Launch a summer sale!
19. Write a press release 
20. Send a press release to a magazine you've always wanted to be featured in
20. Contact three customers and ask them for a testimonial for your website 
21. Create a fun video for your About Page using Powtoon 
22. Outline a newsletter for your subscribers, letting them know what you've been working on
23. Write and publisher a newsletter for your subscribers 
24. Read a chapter of a business book (need recommendations? Ask us!) 
25. Re-visit your goals for 2013 and write down anything you've not yet done 
26. Jot down ideas for your Christmas product range
27. Get a friend to go through your website and give you some feedback
28. Add an FAQ to your website with the most common questions you receive 
29. Register your domain name so you can set up a professional email address
30. Write a list of the things you've achieved this year, and give yourself a pat on the back! 




Bon Chance!  As always we would love to have “YOU” post your thoughts below!  Let’s get a conversation started…




http://www.handmadehorizons.com

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