Looking to add some spring themed gifts to your mix? Here are some nice collections you could create...
sweet frame sayings for spring
Tis the season for moms, dads, babies & grads so we've added some special sayings to our simple statement frames for spring.
We are also currently offering free personalization on all our simple statement frames (normally $3) so you can add names, towns or whatever short phrase you desire.
45 fresh designs for 2013
This year my focus was on redesign. We pitched all the goods that were slow movers and replaced them with fresh colors, sayings and collections.
Our wedding frames & collages are a very popular category so we added some more love inspired titles that could be used for couples, weddings or families.
I redesigned over half of our everyday ribbon frames and added great sayings like... Peace Love Sunshine, Happy Memories Never Wear Out, You Gotta Love Great Girlfriends, Enjoy the Moments That Make You Smile & Together is my Favorite Place to be.
We have some nice new color stories on our simple statement frames and cute clips.
Three of our happy hooks sayings got an update and now read... Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open, Laughter is the shortest distance between friends, Always be ready to have the time of your life.
The pet section got a big makeover. We added the sayings, dogs/cats leave paw prints on your heart forever to memory magnets & frames because this saying makes a wonderful gift for pet parents who want to remember their current furry family members or ones who have recently passed.
Four new little wisdoms are in the line up this year. The new quotes include... May the dreams you hold dearest always come true & the kindness you spread keep returning to you - Irish Blessing
No matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
When love adorns a home, other ornaments are secondary.
Faith makes things possible, not easy.
Sonogram frames remain some of our top sellers so we added a new one that reads... So Little, So Loved and redesigned our pink 'Love at first sight'
Since our 4x6 flower frames out sold our 5x7 styles, we decided to only make the 4x6 styles moving forward so now there are 8 flower frame colors to choose from.
And of course we still have a lot of posy power sprinkled throughout the catalog too. So here's to a sweet smelling and beautiful 2013!
13 snazzy new styles for summer
Leave a quick note for a loved one, jot down a reminder at your desk or list the types of hors d'oeuvres offered at your party... the possibilities are endless with our sweet standing marker boards. All boards come with a fine tip marker that rests in an elastic tie behind the flower. Size 7.5"x7.5"
1. DE1-12 2. DE2-12 3. DE3-12 4. DE4-12
Plant a flower garden full of friends & family with our pretty picture posies. The magnetic ribbon trimmed stems come with three wooden leaf magnets that can hold photos, cards or anything you fancy. Size: 8"x24"
1. PT4-12 2. PT1-12 3. PT3-12 4. PT5-12 5. PT2-12
Give your go-to earrings a gorgeous new home with one of our stylish standing earring holders. Simply slip your studs or wires through the reinforced burlap frame for easy access. These look lovely on a bedroom dresser, on a bathroom counter or even as a store display. Size: 12"x12"
1. EH1-12 2. EH2-12
Keep your favorite earrings, necklaces and bracelets in plain view by placing them on our beautiful burlap jewelry holder. The center holds a sizeable smattering of your earrings and the 4 hooks can handle quite a few of your necklaces and bracelets. These look great in a bedroom, bathroom or walk in closet. Size: 12"x12"
1. JH1-12 2. JH2-12
Coming to Atlanta in a couple days? See all the new styles in person! For our summer show special, we're offering 1 free dry erase board with any ASAP order over $350 or 3 free dry erase boards for ASAP orders over $500. If you can't make it to Atlanta, we welcome this special on any incoming orders that meet the criteria. Please note SHOW SPECIAL and free marker boards on your order.
seven new goodies for spring
Being in retail, we find May & June to be our second most profitable set of months out of the year. There are so many events & holidays to celebrate. That's why we're introducing a mini release of new goodies that correspond with this spring's festivities.
4 new button bud vases
BV6-12
BV7-12
BV8-12
BV9-12
3 new memory magnets
MM37-12 - could be used for a 1st communion, confirmation or graduation gift
MM38-12
MM39-12
special collections for spring events
Celebrate these upcoming sentimental spring events with a few of our inspiring hand-crafted wares.
Make new memories with mom this Mother's Day.
Let grandma know how much you love her.
Graduates get ready to celebrate friendship, go on new adventures & follow your dreams.
Treat teachers to a terrific gift.
7 Ways Pinterest Can Increase Your Facebook Exposure
I imagine you've heard about the ever growing eye candy site called Pinterest by now. If not, here are a few fantastic articles by cool mom picks, snap! retail & copyblogger that will get you up to speed.
There are MANY ways this site can be used to benefit your business, (as the articles above address) however it also can be a great tool for finding fabulous content to post on your facebook page.
Your store is a reflection of you. So if your customers love the goodies you offer in your shop, they more than likely would also love to see... what inspires you, what makes you laugh, what foods make you drool, what tips you find helpful and so on. Wonderful images & links to these types of things are plentiful on Pinterest.
If you find your facebook updates aren't getting many likes or comments, it may be because you aren't even showing up in some of your fan's feeds. Social Media Examiner does a great job of explaining how this happens. One thing you can do to help gain better exposure is posting items that will receive higher levels of interaction.
And this is where the gold mine of Pinterest comes into play.
1. Photos & sayings that make people laugh really encourage interaction & sharing.
2. Inspirational quotes or sayings are another way to encourage shares & likes.
3. Delicious recipes are also fun to weave in the mix. Just post the link from where the image is found & your fans can visit the blog or website that lists how to make the tasty treat.
You can also use these recipes in your emails. I posted the image & link to this caramel cream cheese apple flower recipe in an email right before Thanksgiving weekend & it got really high link open rates!
4. Helpful tips or clever ideas are always appreciated.
I plan on using this gem once all our spring scarves are on display. (yes, you can pin videos too!)
5. Seasonal ideas keep your content current & fresh.
6. Give your customers free printables to use. There are loads of talented graphic designers & artists that offer up adorable gift tags, note cards, lovely labels, sweet sayings & more! Just post the link from where the printable is found & your fans can visit the blog or website to print it.
7. Another way to get a lot of comments coming your way is to post a photograph & ask your fans to 'caption it'. Animal photos work great for this.
I hope some of these ideas will get your fans liking, commenting & sharing your posts with their circle of friends. We invite you to follow catching fireflies on Pinterest & like our facebook page to see how we engage & get new firefly fans daily.
Happy pinning!
give back & get 500 new facebook fans
Looking to grow your facebook fan base & give back to your community? Instead of throwing your money at traditional advertising, use it to do some good & get guaranteed results. Here's how it works.
1. Find a local charity that has a large & active facebook following. Contact & tell them that you'd like to create a fundraising campaign that gives their non-profit a $1 for every new facebook like your shop gets during the campaign month. If they're excited about this opportunity proceed to work with them.
We chose Almost Home Animal Rescue
2. Create a custom facebook welcome page that lets your future fans know if they like your page, a dollar will be donated to the featured charity. We set a lofty goal of getting 2,000 new fans to let people knew we were serious about raising cash for this great cause.
Here's an example of our page. Once a new fan clicked the like button the second 'thank you' image appeared. Your welcome pages don't have to be this fancy, but it's important to communicate to your future fans that they're helping raise money for a great cause just by clicking like.
3. Spread the word at your shop by creating flyers & including them in all your customer's purchases.
In addition to donating money, we also collected supplies for Almost Home.
4. As the month went on we promoted our campaign in our emails & on facebook.
In addition to our facebook posts, Almost Home also help spread the word to their fans on their page.
After the month was over we gained 613 new facebook fans, collected lots of pet supplies & helped out a great non-profit.
the 2012 designs are here!
This year it's all about flower power... not the hippy kind ~ more of a whimsy flavor with a slight vintage flair.
I've been having fun hand dying the 'petals', cutting up old books & mixing them with buttons & other findings to create this new flower collection.
I must admit, these new flower frames are my favorite & our catching fireflies customers agree. They made their debut at our retail store right before Christmas & lots of them got snatched up.
Another great thing about these frames is the option to personalize them with a custom tag. It's a really sweet & subtle way to celebrate a special date, place or gathering of friends & family.
Five more giant posies joined our collection of wall flowers for the new year. Adding the larger sizes really added the extra pop to our original summer introduction.
Sticking with the flower theme... both of these new introductions make great desk accessories & are perfectly priced for a fantastic grab & go gift. The post it pads are replacable & the vases come with silk flower for display but can hold water & real buds.
I added a couple new styles to our ever popular memory magnets & added fridge flowers to our marvelous magnet collection. These little guys come with a silk flower for display, but can hold water & a real flower bud. I have no doubt that fridge flowers will make an awesome little gift for teachers, moms, grandmas, girlfriends & more!
It was time for our ransom quotes to get some fresh words of wisdom so we redesigned 7 of them. Some of the new quotes include...
The longer you wait for the future, the shorter it will be - Loesje
Those who don't believe in magic will never find it - Roald Dahl
Don't follow your dreams; chase them - Richard Dumb
The secret to having it all is knowing you already do
I also redesigned 3 of our wedding ribbon frames & made 'forever yours' more beach themed intended for those magical get-away weddings. Plus I added a golden toned portrait frame to the mix. I think this new color story for is great for vintage anniversary photos.
After I designed the new boy frame, I thought this simple & sweet pennant layout would be perfect for personalizing baby frames. The pennants show of the baby's birth date & their name is stamped right above. This is another of my favorite new introductions.
The good boy & good girl frames were such a hit last year, we added those designs to our leash hooks & memory magnets for our furry friends in 2012.
I also added a small handful of new everyday frames. Hopefully these new goodies will brighten up your shelves & walls in your shop and make the perfect gift or keepsake your customers are searching for.
Cheers to a bright & hopeful 2012!
a facebook welcome like no other
Customizing my 'welcome' page on facebook has been on my to-do list for a number of months. Recently I spent some time visiting other pages to see how they're welcoming their new fans & here's a few examples I found...
The above examples are fairly general in requesting likes, but are visually eye catching.
These examples give a little more information on what their facebook page is about. Also Moosejaw offers a second image after you click 'like' that has a humorous 'thank you' note which is always fun.
These two girly sites lure their customers in with a bit of curiosity which gives good reason to take action & like their page.
Rewarding your customers with coupons & contests is another option. These pages are more sophisticated and you would likely have to use a company like North Social to implement.
This independent toy store partnered with a non-profit to gain LOTS of likes. You can read all about thier amazing marketing skills in Gifts & Dec Magazine as they were an REA finalist this past year.
Inspired by their story, I chose a similar format for my first custom facebook welcome page for catching fireflies ...
Since October is Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog month & we have a rescued Basset Hound that comes to the office everyday with us, it made sense to partner with an animal shelter. We plan on lauching this campaign with a press release as well as through our enews, blog & bag stuffers.
The beauty of it is we're spending 'advertising' money on a good cause while growing our facebook fan base by leaps & bounds.
For sister store's page I crafted a more informative layout that highlights some of the benefits of being a fan of Yellow Door Art Market. This concept is really simple & easy... just grab a few of your team members, a frame or chalkboard & shoot away. You can size your photo & add words at picnik.com in a snap!
So how do you get started creating your very own welcome page?
It's really easy!
1. Create two 520 x 520 pixel images. One for your new fans & one for fans that already like your page. You can do this by using photoshop elements or this free photo editing site, picnik.com
2. Like Wildfire's iframe for pages on facebook & download the application.
3. Follow these simple instructions on how to upload your images & change your settings.
And Viola... you got a snazzy welcome page!
