Soul Role is the incredible handmade, organic and eco-friendly apparel shop of Nancy Campbell of Hawaii (formerly of New Jersey- which gives me some hope that I might get out of Jersey one day, too).

Nancy’s goal is that customers connect with her deep aloha aina (love and respect of the land) in her products – goal definitely met Nancy! Soul Role was recently featured in the Huffington Post’s Mother’s Day gift guide!

Soul Role Banner on Etsy

Banner – Now Soul Role’s best, most unique thing- her love and respect for the land and the sharing of this through the creation of amazing handmade, eco apparel – is definitely reflected in this banner which is a definite good thing (not to sound all Martha here). She has her shop name in a strong clear font and a tagline in a lesser font, so there are a lot of things going on here that work. And if Nancy has a strong connection to this design she should certainly keep it. It feels a little disconnected from her shop though – maybe it is the amazing model shots on her front page (vs the banner graphics) or something about the colors of her line this season, but she might consider updating it into something as simple, clean and modern as her shop listings.

Soul Role Eco Apparel

Avatar- Perfection!

Soul Role’s shop announcement is very clear and has a strong confident voice. She might want to add the “As Seen in the Huffington Post Mother’s Day Gift Guide!” to the top so it jumps off the page. Her shop title (although clearly stating what she sells) might be able to create better SEO. Her style has a yoga, fitness, healthy lifestyle feel to it that might be better optimized for Google search with some of these words. I would also look to add these words into the listing verbage – maybe with tips, etc – being an expert in eco clothing,  yoga, healthy living etc would really cement her brand as the go-to place for this style.

Her shop policies are well thought out and look like they cover everything a potential buyer would need to know.  Her profile really gives a voice to her story and her brand and definitely lets us connect with her on a very personal level – breaking up the one large paragraph into smaller pieces would make it a little easier to “see” the important stuff since internet customers tend to “scan” information. Some of the listing sentences and paragraphs run together, too and could be more eyeball friendly with some clearer spacing. Soul Role does a great job with specific color and sizing info and letting the customer know exactly what they are getting.

“In 1992 I moved to Hawaii with 18 dollars in my pocket and dreams of sustainable living.” – Nancy

Soul Role's Gorgeous Girl Yoga Pants

Nancy’s items definitely stand out on a page of similar items. This one jumps right out at us! 

Titles and tags could be reworked a bit (I know this is a never-ending rework it seems for all of us!)

For example a skirt currently titled:

Organic Clothing Summer Circle Skirt for Women in Gray Organic Cotton Soy Eco Friendly

I might try : Organic Gray Skirt – Yoga Skirt – Maternity Skirt – Circle Organic Cotton Eco Friendly Dance Skirt

Tags:

I would renew often enough to stay on the first couple pages of Soul Role’s top categories and take a look at the keyword impressions and views to make the best possible choices with tags, titles and renewals.

So since Soul Role is definitely well-branded and polished and just needs to be found by the right people, how can Nancy make this happen? This is of course the question that we would all like an answer to and there is no sure thing, but absolutely putting our energy into this (and being center-stage ready like Soul Role is) can definitely make things happen for us!

Soul Role Beautiful Cap Sleeve Top

This is exactly the time of year makers should be thinking about magazine placements for the holidays and holiday gift guides. Now is the time to get it in front of influential magazine editors!

First I would take a look at the products Nancy wants to promote – keeping in mind this promotion could result in her getting to create a lot of them! Next a trip to the local Barnes and Noble with a pad and pen to check out some magazines.

Picking the right magazines is important (what are Soul Role’s customers reading?) – grab the current issues of those magazines and check out the mastheads - you’ll find them near the front.

The page will include a list of the staff, including editors and writers, along with basic contact info. Note – the masthead will also include a list of publishing, marketing and advertising reps – these are not the correct people to call unless you want to place a paid advertisement in the gift guide issue.

You can probably do most of this legwork online, but sometimes seeing the actual magazine and visualizing our products inside helps.

Call an editorial assistant and ask who has been assigned to work on the current gift guide – it might be one or several in-house editors, or the magazine may have freelancers assigned to it. Get in touch with that editor with a friendly, short email and then follow-up. I would focus specific items on specific magazines – think exercise, healthy living, bicycling, healthy pregnancy, etc.

Having an online portfolio outside of Etsy is great for clothing and accessory makers. There are online lookbooks and galleries that can be created pretty inexpensively.

Soul Role has a great active facebook page and has bought her domain name (yay!) – maybe a landing page for her domain linking to her Etsy shop and a blog where Nancy could write about healthy living and promote herself would help to grow her brand an even larger audience. It would also allow her to most easily create an email list for promotions (Mailchimp is my favorite for this).

Soul Role Girls Hoodie

Youtube videos create excellent SEO and I would love to see one of Nancy’s amazing photoshoots, her studio, sewing tutorials and tips, healthy living videos, etc.

Soul Role could partner with local business people – healthy chefs, accupuncturists, yoga teachers, chiropractors, life coaches to create fashion events at local venues (think retreats, health clubs, healthy eateries, spas, mom groups)- these would be great opportunities to garner instant candid feedback and testimonials, pictures, an email list, facebook fans and publicity – think live tweets, gifts and healthy fun.

Soul Role has some totally gorgeous bridesmaid dresses. Gone (I hope) are the days when brides forced prom gowns on their best friends and even though weddings are still big business and an event where people continue to spend money – even bridezillas are realizing their friends need dresses they will be able to wear again. I have an Etsy friend who sells wedding cufflinks and her business with them really took off after she had a bride send her pictures of the wedding party wearing them. I would do whatever it takes to get those pictures! Discounts to brides, photographer bribes, anything (short of illegal or unethical … well short of illegal) it takes! I am certain that custom bridesmaid dresses like Soul Role’s could be a business all by themselves!

I am not sure if Nancy has any sewing help and it may be hard to grow without lining that up – handmade apparel is one industry where it is going to be more work to stay small (and do it all) than to expand!

(of course our businesses expand with our intention for them to do so and the direction we grow is always up to us)

Besides creating amazing clothing and providing great service which Nancy has down- she could brainstorm some other ways to get repeat business. Create a gallery of customers wearing her clothing – maybe sending pieces out with some type of sign saying Soul Role with some clean branding that a customer would hold up in the photo while wearing her clothing (customer gets entered into a drawing plus a discount code for future purchases) or have a featured customer section for her blog with interviews.

Collaborate with other eco sellers on marketing campaigns and customer business card exchanges.

Soul Role Yoga Pants

RECAP: 1. Think about tightening up Soul Role’s banner and title/tagline branding to support her clean, modern, organic yoga clothing (focus!) 2. Work on making customer information more eyeball friendly where applicable and include information to brand Nancy as the go-to person for eco friendly activewear 3. Contact magazines to work on a holiday gift guide placement 4. Consider a blog/email list/online gallery/ consider advertising on a healthy living blog gearing the advertising to specific products 5. Think local for fashion events 6. Consider a youtube video sewing or healthy living or business specific series to connect with more people 7. Consider a real focus on bridesmaid dresses (get the wedding photos)

I don’t think it is a good idea to divert ourselves in too many different ways all at once – we can toss the old multi-tasking paradigm that doesn’t work anymore and probably never did – choosing a couple specific directions and focusing on them is best. A great big calendar where you can devote chunks of time to different things work great. It helps us stay focused and keeps us moving forward. We set our intention and take action in that direction.

We focus on the process and let go of the outcome (this allows things to come to us in ways we could never even imagine). We say yes …a lot (note – if we are people pleasers we have to watch this, but it is still mostly a good way to grow a business and if we have taken the time to set our intentions with this whole adventure in the beginning – we will know the things we have to say no to when we see them).

We work on providing a great experience for our customers – providing stuff they feel good about buying and that makes them feel good about themselves – and draw those customers to us by getting our brands out there. We want people looking for us so we don’t have to spend as much time looking for them (the number one keyword used by customers for my Polarity shop is not the word locket although that is pretty much all I sell in there – it is Polarity – by about 3 to 1).

Nancy has an amazingly gorgeous collection of clothing and accessories and is absolutely center stage ready – it is totally up to her where she takes this adventure called Soul Role next – the sky really is the limit for her!

A few days ago, my husband and I picked some 6 pounds of mulberries from one of three trees in our yard. As I was picking, a group of children walked by, one commenting he thought those berries were poisonous. My husband handed him one and told him to try it, and the kid said with some surprise that it was quite sweet. Well, yes. Yes it was.

It seems the Mulberry tree has gotten such a bad reputation that people in these parts routinely let the berries go to the birds. Weird, huh? Mulberry trees grow wild in so many parts of the country, and it’s pretty much free food. I like free food =)

Mulberry Sorbet:

Anyway, whether you’re getting immediate gratification from making a pie, making jam, starting the fermenting process on some wine, or even using the berries as a natural dye, the mulberry is an amazing fruit. What is your favorite way to use Mulberries? Share please =)

(mine? the above sorbet in a martini glass with a splash of vodka, chambord and a sprig of basil. yep.)
xo!
Lorigami

This week’s Tuesday Treasury winner is Bee from The Wooden Bee for her treasury “Captain Dad”.

This post and selection of the winner this week are courtesy of last week’s winner – Fia from FiaNaturals.  Here is why Fia chose the winning collection:

My connection to the ocean is deep and I would give all of these items to a “captain” dad for sure.  I love the way Bee picked the items with the color blue reflecting the sea: simply beautiful.  In Germany Father’s day was May 17th,2012 so I picked this treasury because it was the perfect gifts for dad.

I love this Recycled Wall Art by The Wooden Bee.  It was made for Earth Day with post consumer paper waste,heart shaped with a burning technique to reflect the harm to our Earth: I love sustainable art!

Runners Up

“Fathers Day Gift Guide for the Perfect Eco Dad” by Nancy from SoulRole.  A Fathers day gift guide for the perfect eco dad.  Simply prefect list of beautiful items for a dad who loves Earth.

“Eco Chic Family” by Elaine from RedorGrayArt.  The whole family is invited in this beautiful treasury of unique items.

I picked the first ripe strawberry from my yard just yesterday. After splitting it 3 ways so the kids could each get a taste, I only had a tiny bite that left me wanting more but in a few weeks I know there will be fresh fruit everywhere! Summer is canning season at my house and my favorite thing to make is jam. We eat it all year long in peanut butter sandwiches, on toast and pancakes and, sometimes, right out of the jar. It’s easy to make and is a great way to preserve the taste of summer to revisit all year long.

Here are some great reasons to make your own:

Making your own jam preserves fruit at the height of its ripeness. You can taste the freshness even in January.

Using fruit that you grow yourself or from nearby farm makes it easy to eat local all through the winter.You may even be able to find berry varieties that aren’t available in the supermarket. I’d never even heard of loganberries until I saw them a local u-pick farm several years ago and they’re now my favorite berries for making jam.

Making your own allows you to reduce the amount of sweetener in your jam or swap sugar for a sweetener you prefer. Honey perhaps? Much of the jam in the supermarket has high fructose corn syrup. Make your own and eliminate that icky ingredient. Be aware of the recipe, though. If you buy a package of regular Ball or Sure-Jell pectin at the store, it includes a recipe sheet. 5 cups of berries need 7 cups of sugar?! No thanks! You can opt for low-sugar pectin that allow you to use less sugar and the jam will still gel. My favorite pectin is Pomona Pectin because it works with little or no sugar, can be stored indefinitely and works even if you halve, or double, the recipe so you can make the amount of jam you want.

Lastly, my favorite reason to make my own jam is that I can make all sorts of unique fruit and herb/flavoring combinations that you’d pay a premium price for at an upscale market. Experimenting with different combinations is so fun! Add herbs to cut fruit and let them sit for a day or two before cooking to let the flavors meld, then make jam according to recipe. Alternatively, place herbs in the pot of fruit during the cooking stage, then fish them out before you ladle the finished jam into jars. Either way you’ll get delicious flavors that you can’t buy in the store.

These are some of my favorite combinations:

Peaches with rosemary make a delicious woodsy flavor. My husband was skeptical when I made this jam but it’s now one of his favorites! Ginger is delicious with peaches too.

Strawberries and mint. A classic flavor combination that tastes like sitting in the garden under the summer sun. I eat this right out of the jar. For another strawberry option, you can’t go wrong with adding a vanilla bean for a ‘strawberries and cream’ flavor.

Blueberries and basil.

Raspberries and lavender.

Experiment with your own combinations and have fun! If you’re worried about your jam not turning out properly, remember that the worst thing that can happen is that it won’t gel. That’s not even a problem because then you’ll have delicious syrup to use on pancakes, ice cream or to mix into a drink. Also, if you’re worried about BPA in your canned goods, see this great post about BPA-free canning supplies.

Do you have a favorite jam recipe or fruit/herb combination? What will you be preserving this summer?

This article was written by Casey from Sesame Seed Designs. See my other EcoEtsy articles here.

Tagging is one of the least fun and glamourous of all your Etsy shop tasks.  The beauty of your designs, photography and descriptions seem so much more interesting to focus on.  However, the words you choose in titles and tags are the elements that get customers to your shop to take a look at that beautiful work.

Last year, Myra of HerbanLuxe created an awesome series of business posts on search engine optimization. As we enter the summer months, this feels like the time to revisit this important topic and provide suggestions to get your tags in shape.

Review Your Stats

One of the first stops as you review your tags should be your shop stats on both Etsy and Google.  This will give you a snapshot of the keywords shoppers are using today to get to your shop.

In addition to the natural search keywords, you can look at the search terms that were used for any Etsy ads you have run.  An example of those results is below.  What is interesting is to look at both the total impressions and the words used to drive traffic.  In this case, “wine cork” had the most impressions and 0.9% of those impressions turned into shop views.  In contrast, “upcycled” only had 1,237 impressions, but 1.4% of those clicked through to the shop.  Using both in the tags are working.  On the flip side, “glass bead” only drove 929 impressions and the conversion to views was 0.2%.  This might be a tag to drop for another alternative.

Benchmark Others

Do some searching on your own to see if you can get your products to show up on the first page.  Take a look at some of the other shops that do show up on that first page.  Check their product for the tags.  Are they using a tag that you haven’t considered before?  Look for ideas and consider adjusting the tags on one or two of your items to see if that word begins to work for you.

Ask Friends

Tags by FiveSeed

At the Etsy Success Symposium it was suggested that you have friends or a family members look at items from your shop, then, go to the search bar, and type in words that they can think of to “find” your item.  This way, you can see if the words they use to locate your item are the ones that you are using in your tags.  If they aren’t, again, these are words you could consider adding to your list.

Karen created a wonderful thread on this topic in our team discussions on Etsy where we could review one another’s tags.  If you haven’t joined in the fun, pick a product from your shop and jump into the conversation.

Make Frequent Updates

Tags by SwirlyArts

With so many updates to make in your Etsy shop on a regular basis, the tags may sometimes (often) fall to the bottom of your “to-do” list.  However, if you can set aside a couple hours even once a month for a tag review the rewards could be great.

Spend the first 15 minutes of your two hours getting organized.  Have a list of ideas and inputs from your stats, your benchmarking, and your friends summarized at your fingertips.

Spend the next 15 minutes making stops at the Etsy Merchandising Desk and the treasury home page.  Take a look at the trends for the next month from the Merchandising Report.  Review words trending in treasuries.  From both of these sources, key words can jump off the page by following those trend words.  Jot those ideas down.

Now, you have an hour and a half remaining to go item by item through your shop and update the tags.  Remove items related to holidays and trends of the prior months and add new ones from your list of ideas that are relevant for that item.  Yes – this is a slow and monotonous project, but just keep focused on the benefits on the other end of the task.

Don’t Forget the Titles

Wood Tags by MonkeysOnTheRoof

Tags are just one component in Etsy search.  Your title is the first line of attack on the search front.  Make sure your titles are direct and to the point.  Include what the item is and other main attributes.  If you have several similar items in your shop, try different approaches with each one to see which gets the most traffic.  Then, adjust the others to that naming format.

Summary

While tags aren’t always the most fun dimension of your Etsy shop, there is a lot of analysis and creativity that can be applied to the development.  Try some new things!  Changing up your tags doesn’t carry big risks, but it can reap wonderful rewards for the traffic to your shop.  Do you have some additional ideas for optimizing your tags?  If so, share them with the team here!

Happy Tagging!  Lori from Drinks to Design

Lead Image in this post is of colorful Map and Travel Tags from Marmalime

Tu-Crazy

If this were 1636, I would be a fabulously wealthy woman:  My garden is awash in the wild colors of the early blooming tulips.  Bright hues of red, yellow, pink and purple are clamoring for attention.   Splashes of magenta can be seen in between the green growth of the perennial beds.  The shyer soft peach and white modestly glow above their tall stems.  The colors, after the long North Idaho winter, are intoxicating and they bring vibrancy and cheerfulness to the vernal equinox.  I am crazy for tulips!

Originally, the tulip was a wildflower found in Central Asia, and grew to prominence in Turkey in the 15th century.  Although strictly regulated by the Ottoman Empire, bulbs were easy to transport,and  migrated to Western Europe and the Netherlands via commercial traders.  Elegant and unusual, the tulip developed many crazy fans, willing to pay great sums for its’ unique beauty.

Tulip Mania

Tulip Mania refers to the Dutch phenomenon occurring over a short period of time, beginning around 1634 and ending in 1637.  Although business records from the time are somewhat scarce, it appears that the Dutch Parliament enacted legislation, written and supported by the independent Flower Guild,  allowing tulip contracts (not actual tulips, mind you) to be sold for a fraction of the real cost.  And the race was on for merchants and citizens alike…think sub-prime mortgage craze and you have a simplistic, but fairly accurate understanding of what followed.  Contracts were purchased and resold many times over, with prices wildly inflating until the outrageous prices caused an unceremonious collapse of the tulip market in the spring of 1637.  In fairness, it is important to note that the collapse could also have been caused by a concurrent outbreak of the bubonic plague, and not just market shenanigans. The plague could have been a serious party foul for the financial festivities.

Historical tulip mania and threats of the plague aside, being aware of legislative actions, at the federal and state level as well as ordinances in our local communities, is important to the sustainable lifestyle.   Contacting legislators and local leadership about issues of importance is as vital to green living as composting and recycling.

But, it is not 1636… It is a beautiful spring morning, 2012 and the sun is shining gloriously.  The tulips are waving gently in the soft morning breeze and the hummingbirds are beginning their breakfast flights.  I am going to take my cup of coffee out to the garden and revel in my riches.  I am a blessed and wealthy woman.

Have you discovered an ordinance or code in your local community that could impact your green lifestyle?  Have you considered what you might do or who you might contact in that situation?

Written by Kathy, Proprietor of Dustbin Handmade Cards

http://www.dustbincards.etsy.com

I went home to Canada for a visit 4 years ago and had a revelation. I was so impressed with Toronto’s recycling directives. There were recycle stations on the street corners, grocery stores had “green” bags and supplied recycle bins for canned goods, and they even recycled their food waste with a compost pick-up service! I was very impressed and disappointed. Where I was living at the time was behind in the recycle revolution. My local grocery store didn’t have green bags. We did have recycling pick-up, but there were few on my street that actually used the service.

I went shopping after I got back from my trip armed with my new green grocery bags. I showed them to the store manager and suggested supplying them for customers. A couple of months later they started selling the recycled bags. Then the next store I went to started selling them and so on. It was like a domino effect! I would like to think I had a part in helping spread the “green” bug in my neck of the woods. It might have been a coincidence, but it made me feel good, like I made a difference.

Now, 4 years later, I am glad to say everyone has recycled bags to offer. Now we just have to get plastic bags off the menu! Happily, they come in all shapes and sizes, simple and stylish! Here are some great bag ideas from our friends on Etsy! Just click on the bag to go to their shop!

I am happy to say I am on my way back from Toronto once again with a hand full of new reusable bags! For more articles on Green Living, check out this article by ECOKAREN.

Kim Johnson

Ekofabrik, http://www.kimjohnsonstudios.com

This week’s Tuesday Treasury winner is Fia from FiaNaturals for her treasury “Glowing Eco Mothers Day”.

This post and selection of the winner this week are courtesy of last week’s winner – Julie from Joliejye.  Here is why Julie chose the winning collection:

While I loved all the treasuries this week, Fia’s is my favorite.  I’m sure my mom would be fond of everything in this lovely collection!

From Fia’s shop, here is a pair of African seed earrings:

Runners Up

“Bee Yourself” by Jennifer from Snackaby

“Renovation” by Kate from ThinkCappyThoughts

There are days when all of us have run one too many errands, checked an excess of items off our to-do list and pushed ourselves with an overload of household chores. To help inspire you to pause and center yourself, I wanted to share the above quote, which reminds us to stop and indulge in our interactions with nature.

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (USA), has embarked on an inspiring green initiative – the installation of  more than 40,000 high efficiency solar panels on canopy structures over two major surface parking areas on the Livingston Campus. This represents one of the largest solar canopy energy systems in the nation.  In conjunction with the existing 1.4 megawatt solar energy facility on this campus, the project will generate an additional 8 megawatts, which will be enough power to satisfy 63% of the electrical demand on Livingston Campus. Construction commenced in May 2011 with completion of the project planned for Summer 2012.

According to Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick, “This exciting and innovative project demonstrates Rutgers’ ongoing commitment to energy conservation and environmentally sound practices. Rutgers takes environmental stewardship seriously, and the university is proud to be a leader in developing renewable energy resources in New Jersey.”

Image from http://www.solairegeneration.com/

Solar canopies convert sunlight into electricity. Built over parking lots, they also provide people and cars with shelter from the sun, rain and snow. Light fixtures and security cameras mounted under the canopies can improve nighttime safety.

Image from http://newyork.construction.com

Although Rutgers has its own efficient bus  system and cycle paths for students to get from campus to campus, New Jersey, unfortunately, does not have efficient intrastate mass transit options. Most faculty and staff have little choice on how to get to work: we drive our cars. So I find it gratifying and inspiring that a couple of huge parking areas on the suburban campus will now serve a dual purpose and the clean energy that the solar canopies provide can help to offset perhaps a small part of the emissions generated by so many cars on campus.

Information and top image from: http://news.rutgers.edu

Posted by LindaEve

Yoga is quite possibly the best preparation an expectant mom can do while pregnant. There are many benefits that come with practicing yoga including the connection one can achieve between mind and body. This connection enables the participant to notice how she holds herself while standing, lying, sitting, and laboring. In turn, one is then able to discover where stress and tension are “being held,” because we all hold stress and tension within the different areas of our bodies and systems.

Twenty years ago, as I sat in a bathtub feeling the first real contractions of my first labor, I stared intently at my belly and tried to deal with the impending event as best I could. Twenty hours later, my beautiful daughter was born. After all these years I still wonder how I managed to get through it without an epidural. I should tell you, my threshold for pain is not very high, but I’m also afraid of needles which actually worked to my advantage in a way. As I think back on what I did during those twenty hours; what I remember most was my breathing. As it turns out, it was my “ujjayi” breathing that got me through my labor, which I’ve since learned about through practicing and teaching yoga.

Over the years, I have talked with many moms about participating in yoga classes because I’ve seen firsthand how it allows women to cope with the intense pain of childbirth. I’ve witnessed (and practiced)breathing techniques learned in yoga that assist laboring moms with blocking out everything around them. In addition to the pain and discomfort moms experience during labor there are other distractions that can take focus away from the task at hand including beeping sounds from machinery and equipment, nearby conversations, poking and prodding, and yes, sometimes even the television. I have many students that come to my classes because their doctors recommended they take yoga in preparation of childbirth.

Yoga encourages us to be “in our bodies.” Meaning, that if we listen to our body, it will tell us when it’s time to slow down or adjust our lifestyle. I know that since I started practicing and teaching yoga, I naturally check in with my body when I get stressed. For example, when I’m driving in bad traffic, or lost on the highways, my shoulders start to scrunch up near my ears, and my breathing gets shallow. Sometimes I even clench my jaw and hold my breath(usually when I’m running late). After a while, I begin to notice how tense I feel and take action with a few deep, cleansing breaths. In no time my shoulders come, and I feel more relaxed. So it is in labor. As a laboring mom hits “transition,” this is when her cervix opens 8-10 centimeters, it becomes harder and harder to stay focused(due to the pain she’s experiencing from contractions). It is vital at this point for the laboring mom to “go back to her breath.” That is to say, she must focus on her breathing instead of focusing on her pain. The more ingrained breathing and relaxation techniques are, the easier it will be to get into a “meditative state” during labor.

So as you can imagine, yoga is beneficial whether you are pregnant or just living your life as best you can. I encourage you to slow down in your life and enjoy it. Have you taken a nice deep breath today?

Namaste, Juanita
www.juani1.etsy.com
www.painterdoula.com

Have you checked out Tophatter?  Tophatter is a fairly new live auction site that you can attend right from the comfort of  your home.  All you need is a laptop, internet connection, and of course a Tophatter account.  As a buyer, If you decide to decide to bid and win an item, PayPal is the method of payment.  There are a variety of wares being offer at any given time and things move lightening fast.

Back in April, I spent a weekend {It’s addicting – so beware}, just stalking the various auction rooms.  I called it doing research.  What I found interesting was the “live” environment; people were politely chatting with each other (you can read the chatter in conversation bubbles that pop-up), they  were bidding on goods and it seemed everyone was having a good time. In the image below, which I grabbed on May 4th, you can see me back, I’m the one with the circle around my feet.  At this particular time, this auction room for the Early Bird Bazaar had over 112 attendees waiting to bid.  I mean they were literally waiting for the auction to start so they could start their day off shopping.

It should be noted that all Tophatter auctions are scheduled in Pacific Standard Time, so if you live in another time zone be sure to figure out the exact time for your zone.

Tophatter Live Auction

So this past week, I bit the bullet and decided to try Tophatter out as an auctioneer / seller.  After I created my seller profile and made sure all my information was correct, I listed an item. As a new seller I was only able to schedule one listed item.  The folks at Tophatter want to make sure they protect their buyers and their growing brand and reputation, so until you have successfully sold 3 slots you will not be able to schedule more than one time at a time.

Herbanluxe Tophatter listings

After you have sold 3 lots successfully, Tophatter will grant you priority scheduling based on your stats as a seller. There are several factors involved in a sellers stats, such as:

• Your percentage of successfully sales
• The number of average bids on your lots
• Your final sale price
• Buyer feedback

A short time after I uploaded my first listing and scheduled it, I received an email from a Tophatter staffer telling me they loved my work and wanted to feature more of it in their Bath & Beauty auctions and offered to usher any new listings to the next closest auction dates.  This was very cool.

My first scheduled auction was a success. I was scheduled under the Bed & Bath category and there were about 50 attendees. It all happened so fast, it made my head spin.  I mean within seconds my item was up for live auction, bids started flying, and in the blink of an eye my item sold.  I didn’t have to invoice the buyer, Tophatter does this for you.  You do get to leave feedback for the buyer and you also get to mark the item as paid and shipped.  It’s pretty straight forward.

Turns out buyers can set alerts for items they are interested in bidding on.  So they can see your scheduled items days before the auction is actually scheduled for.  They can also Pin, Tweet and Like your scheduled items.  Talk about free marketing. I have to say that hands-down this social media feature is one of my favorite Tophatter features.  I tend to keep a close eye on my Google Analytics and was pleasantly surprised to see traffic to my shop from Tophatter.

So, we all know that something this good is not offered for free.  There are some fees associated with running your Tophatter auctions, the following is taken right from the Tophatter site regarding fees:

You pay Tophatter a 10% fee (based on the winning bid amount), with a minimum fee of $1. If your item doesn’t sell, you don’t have to pay. There are no fees to list an item. This fee is paid to Tophatter via PayPal after the buyer pays you. You don’t have to pay Tophatter right away. You can let the fees accrue for a week or two, and pay us at your convenience.

In the future we may change or increase these fees. In the event of a fee change, we will honor the fee structure at the time you scheduled your lot.

For this post, I decided I wanted to ask the folks at Tophatter a few questions, so I sent off an email and John G., a Tophatter staffer took some time to answer my questions.  I kept my questions short as to not take up too much of his time and these are his replies:

1. How many registered users does Tophatter currently have to date?
John G.: We have thousands upon thousands of registered users! My apologies on being vague, but I can’t disclose our total registered user numbers at this time.

2. Of all the auction categories, which has the largest average number of attendees? Is it the early bird auctions, jewelry, bed and bath or does it seem to depend on a specific time of day?
John G.: Our most popular auctions are jewelry, supplies & our bazaar auctions. We usually have 150-250 users in these auctions.

3. What are the one or two main benefits of selling at a live auction?
John G.: The main benefits are awareness & instant sales. When you sell in an auction on Tophatter you get to promote your merchandise to a huge room of potential buyers. Also, the auction format is fun, fast & competitive which means that buyers are more likely to purchase your merchandise while it’s up on the auction block.

So there you have it. If you are looking for other ways to promote your shop, I recommend trying Tophatter on for size.  If you’ve used Tophatter in the past or are currently using them, I’d love to hear your feedback and comments.

While reading old Classic Winnie the Pooh stories to my children, Rabbit was always discussing rhubarb in his garden and in his pies. My little gardeners didn’t know what it was, so I put it on the grocery list, and over the last few years rhubarb has woven itself into our kitchen for special occasions and summertime treats.  It doesn’t seem very popular in my neck of the woods (the East Coast of Florida, USA), so it is sometimes hard to find organic rhubarb, even in season.

Through most of the world rhubarb is considered a vegetable, however in 1947 a New York court decided it would be considered a fruit in the United States.  Tariffs on vegetables were higher than tariffs on fruits at the time. However, rhubarb is a vegetable as it is closely related to garden sorrel (a common perennial herb). My little gardeners sometimes mistake rhubarb for Swiss chard at the farmers markets, as they do have a similar appearance. However the leaves of rhubarb are toxic.  Field-grown rhubarb is typically harvested April to June, but seems to be available in grocery stores throughout the year due to hothouses (heated greenhouses).

For culinary uses, the fresh raw stalks of the plant are used.  My oldest likes to call it pink celery, as it does have a crisp similar to that of celery. Rhubarb stalks can vary in color from the commonly associated crimson red, to speckled light pink, and simply light green.  The color differences result from anthocyanins (water-soluble pigments), and vary according to both the rhubarb variety and the production technique.  The red rhubarb is most popular with consumers, but the light green stalks have the most robust flavor.

One of our favorite ways to use rhubarb is as a compote, which can be taken one step further for a delightful treat, Rhubarb Fool!  I’m not sure where these recipes originated from, as I’ve been making them from memory. They are pretty simple.  You can adjust measurements: 1 lb of rhubarb makes approx. 3 cups.

Rhubarb Compote

1 lb rhubarb, leaves removed, stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces

¼ cup brown sugar, loosely packed

2 tbsp water

In a large saucepan combine rhubarb, brown sugar, and water, stirring to coat. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is tender, about 5-7 minutes. Drain juices if you like. We like to leave the juices if we’re not going to make Rhubarb fool with it and refrigerate it for a few hours before serving.  This compote can be made ahead for up to 2 days.

My little gardeners love the smell of rhubarb when I am chopping it.  And we all love serving the compote over ice cream, but you can take it a step further…

Rhubarb Fool

3 cups organic whipping cream

1 cup Rhubarb Compote

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, whip cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold in rhubarb compote.

Yum! Anyone hungry yet?  Besides drizzled over vanilla ice cream, you can also use rhubarb compote: layered in custard, with granola and yogurt, baked over oatmeal, and poured over pound cake!  We have even added some leftover rhubarb compote to our smoothies!

Rhubarb is a great summertime treat, and it’s good for you too!  Rhubarb is a source of potassium and vitamin C and is very high in dietary fiber, vitamin K, calcium, magnesium and manganese.

Enjoy!

Bee

The Wooden Bee

www.thewoodenbee.com

Photo via Sparre.Enger

Have you noticed how often we bloggers give advice that we need to hear ourselves? Earlier this year I organized a Simple Living Challenge on my blog, which connected me to incredible new friends and in the course of three weeks we explored the ways to simplify our everyday and to make our lives deeper and infused with meaning.

Even before the challenge had started I had realized the importance of out-loud dreaming because in my strive to simplify my life and help my readers do the same I unwittingly found myself using a very simple netbook instead of my powerful laptop. Ironic as it is, simple technology is not good. It doesn’t do the job. In fact, it makes things worse. After thousands of pageviews, hundreds of comments, tens of guest posts during the challenge, the reward I got was ruined vision, spasms of the eye muscles and a new glasses prescription.

Simple. I am now allowed to spend thrice as less time in front of the computer than before my Simple Living Challenge, and more than 2 months later I haven’t yet recovered fully. Don’t ask me what I had to give up because of that. It is much, and dear to me. But I am not telling you this to provoke your pity. I wanted to talk about the dangers of prolonged hours of sitting or staring near.

The dangers of sedentary life

Did you know that sitting for more than 6 hours a day increases your risk of dying within 15 years with 40%? According to research we now spend even more time sitting (about 9 hours) than sleeping (about 7 hours) but clearly our bodies were not made for such intense and long periods of inactivity.

As soon as you sit, the electrical activity in your muscles shuts off, calory burning drops to only 1 per minute and the enzymes that help break down fat drop with a staggering 90%.

Now add staring at close distance to sitting. The increased hours of close distance pressure on our eye muscles lead to a condition called Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) which affects 90% of people who spend more than 3 hours at the computer. Among the CVS symptoms are headache, dry eyes, blurry vision, and long-term nearsightedness. Further aggravating these symptoms are improper lighting conditions (glare or bright overhead lighting) or air moving past the eyes (overhead vents, direct air from a fan).

Here is self-explanatory infographic to support my words:

Via: Medical Billing And Coding

How to keep ourselves healthy

Along the course of a few months I met 3 eye specialists and learned that in order to avoid eye problems I should look outside almost every 10 minutes thus providing relief for my eye muscles. What ophthalmologists consider a resting position for the eye is to look at a distance longer than 5 meters. Daylight is essential for eye health as well and regular breaks, let’s say every 30 minutes should be taken as well.

You can combine these breaks with simple exercising to keep your body awake and the enzymes working, which is also beneficial to your creativity.

What I consciously couldn’t stop myself from doing, my Simple Living Challenge did for me. It finally got me to simplify my life and rid it from too much online stress and hopefully got it healthier as I now move much more. But please, don’t wait for something similar to happen to you. You don’t need to hear it from the doctor. Instead you can take it from someone like me, who just got that experience and is willing to help you out. Stand up, walk more and look in the distance!

How do you fight the plague of sitting?

Sonya Kanelstrand