Well that is exactly what Pinterest is doing for the online marketplace — and bloggers alike. Pinterest, which is essentially an online pin board of your favorite things, has experienced exponential growth only a few months. In fact, from September of 2011 to December, the site experienced a rise of over 5 million unique users.

So how can you jump on the bandwagon? It couldn’t be easier. By simply setting up a Pinterest account you can start pinning your own products for anyone following to see. Of course, don’t over do it. Like any form of marketing, blasting customers with your message will never result in a positive outcome. Rather, create boards tailored to your company’s personality. Are you selling handbags? Well how about making boards based on the seasonal trends? In Spring you can pin products, crafts, and colors all relating to Spring — and why not throw a handful of images from your most recent online lookbook, too? The more people that follow you, the more opportunity you’ll have for those images to go viral.

As for bloggers, you can use this same method by pinning your most recent creations, designs, or featured images from your blog. By including a descriptive caption, you can entice your followers to click through to your blog. Again, just don’t get on a marketing soap box and blast your images — wrap your valuable information around related pins to give your followers some variety.

Happy pinning!

Post from: in her words

Using Pinterest to promote your business

We’ve experienced this most recently when we took the plunge to combine our money into one account. We’ve talked about this for awhile now, and we were slowly moving toward implementing it to our checking accounts, but I just wasn’t ready to call my money ours. I knew once your married, what’s mine is ours. But it took some baby steps to really get my mind there.  With the help of our financial advisor, finally came up with a system that we think will work.

We are now dividing our two personal checking accounts into three separate accounts: Mine, Yours, Ours. I was hesitant at first, you see I’m a “less is more” kinda person and going from two accounts to three just sounded over-complicated {especially when I already manage my business accounts on top of it!} But after working through an expense worksheet {which I highly advise you do as well}, we realized there really is a clear distinction between what is a family need and what is a personal want. So here’s how it will work:

• My “fun account” will give me a chance to spoil myself every now and then without going overboard. Typical expenses that would come out of this account are mani/pedis, shopping outings, a night out with the girls, etc.
• Chase’s “fun account” will allow him to do all the things he loves to do, but I don’t love paying for: hunting, golfing, etc. If we are able to keep from spending all the money in our individual account accounts, we may just be able to save up for that more expensive toy down the road without dipping into our joint account or savings.
• That brings be to “our account”. This account is where the majority of our income will live. It will fund all the necessities life throws at us: mortgage, utilities, groceries, doctor’s trips, etc. Also out of this account will come all our savings: emergency funds, ROTH IRAs, etc.

It can definitely be tricky deciding what comes out of which account. My most recent debate at the checkout counter: “Do I need the $25 shampoo or do I just want the $25 shampoo. I know I need shampoo, but I really want the Redken.” My conclusion here was, by using a $5 coupon and waiting for a BOGO half off, I was able to stock up on my basic hair products at a reasonable price that I knew Chase wouldn’t mind paying for.  Now, if I had wanted to try the latest and greatest super-silky-root-lifting-bodyfing-hair-foam, I would pay for that one myself.

The trick is to allocate the same amount of money to each “fun account” and remember those accounts are separate but equal. I’m excited to really dig into our new system — as with anything, I’m sure there will be a few kinks to work out.

Post from: in her words

What’s mine is ours

I have always wanted to adorn my front door with a holly wreath, but have never been able to justify spending $60 for red styrofoam balls on grapevine. This year I thought ahead…a month ahead. When I decorated for Thanksgiving this season, I decided to make my own Fall wreath by purchasing a grapevine wreath from Hobby Lobby (~$5) and some floral picks (~$10). The result was just what I had in mind!

Of course, Thanksgiving was over before I knew it, and it was time to put the pumpkins away and bring out the holly. Once again, Hobby Lobby made the transition easy. I found a berry garland for only $10 (originally $20, 50% off for Christmas); the same berries that were on the $35 (originally $70) wreath right next to it! All it took was my pre-purchased grapevine wreath and some grapevine wire to make what I think looks just as good as the store-bought version. Decide for yourself!

Merry Christmas decorating, everyone!

Post from: in her words

A berry cheap wreath

via

I have to say, having a husband that travels for a living does have it’s advantages (as few and far between as they may seem). As luck would have it, Chase received word that he needed to travel to Europe far enough in advance that I could plan a trip around his business plans! I’ve always dreamt of traveling through Europe, visiting museums and admiring the ancient architecture. My only other taste of Europe was in Spain when I was I was 12 years old, and it was just enough to wet my whistle.

This time around I will get to explore Germany and the Netherlands. I couldn’t be more excited! I already knew Amsterdam was an amazingly eclectic city, and that my husband had nothing but good things to say about Nijmegen and other smaller towns, but after doing some research, I discovered that I’ll be visiting one of the largest hubs for graphic design in the world! It couldn’t be a more perfect destination! My type-A personality went into overdrive, and I began researching all the possible museums, bookstores, and design parlors we could visit in my short 4 days of travel. I know I’ve crammed more into our itinerary than possible, but I’m ready and willing to try to see it all. Call me a dork if you will, but I can’t wait to explore the world of design from a different point of view.

Post from: in her words

Bon Voyage…or should I say, Goede reis!

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August always seems to be a big month for me. Not only is it my birthday month (happy birthday to me!), but it’s also the month I officially launched Ali Taylor Design. I can’t believe three years ago today I took the step to go out on my own. It’s been a fun ride so far!

This August I have one more cornerstone to add to the calendar — I have officially incorporated Ali Taylor Design. It feels so much more official to know ATD is now a legal entity, AND it motivates me to keep this fairytale going!
 

Happy August to all!

Post from: in her words

One year older

Finding the right applications to keep your business running smoothly is, no doubt, a challenge. Personally, I’ve been through the treacherous app land more than a few times searching for the right solution for a streamlined financial management system . . . and, after ruling out lots of viable options, I absolutely love the outcome of my search. I now have a trio of apps that keep my finances in order. Now I consider these three apps my right-hand men. My tripod.

Freshbooks :: Invoicing

If you’re like me, there are many things you’d rather do than keep up with your billing. When I first started Ali Taylor Design, I tried to create each estimate and invoice individually in an InDesign template I made. I quickly realized this wasn’t the most efficient route. That’s when I discovered FreshBooks. Freshbooks has now become my go-to application for time-tracking, invoicing, recording payments, and managing client contact information. I always have it open in my browser and I keep a running tab open for many of my clients. As I work, I am able to track my time with their nifty stopwatch widget. As I complete a task for each client I record that time to their invoice. At the beginning and middle of each month I send an invoice with a log of each task that has been completed to date. Once I receive payment, I record it in Freshbook and, in turn, Freshbooks automatically notifies my client that their payment way received. My clients appreciate the thoroughness, and I love that I never forget to record a task — even the smallest ones!

Shoeboxed :: Receipts

If I remember anything from accounting in college, it’s that you must debit what comes in and credit what goes out (or is it the other way around) :P? Now, while I’m on a scholastic kick, here’s an SAT flashback for ya: as Income is to Freshbooks, Expenses are to Shoeboxed – the second leg of my tripod. Shoeboxed is my receipt tracking application. They have a free account where you have to scan your receipts yourself, and a paid account where they’ll do it all for you. I don’t have a ton of expenses in my company, so I chose to stick with the free account. Essentially, I take a picture of every receipt from my business-related expenses and upload them into Shoeboxed once a week (I deem Fridays as my finance days). Once you’ve uploaded your receipts, you can choose a category (for tax purposes) and, ta-da, you’ve filed away your receipt for your tax records!

Outright :: Bookkeeping

Now, it ALL comes together with Outright — the third and final leg of my tripod. This wonderful, wonderful application pulls my income from Freshbooks and my expenses from Shoeboxed and compiles the data into super-clean and user-friendly reports for accounting purposes. It even generates a Schedule C for me come tax season! Now, I just use this Schedule C as a reference for my accountant (who is a very important piece of the puzzle). She then adds in other various line items such as medical expenses, charitable contributions, etc. I’m sure I could use Outright to manage these too, but I haven’t quite gotten that far yet :)

All in all, I’m very happy with my financial management system. It has been able to grow with my company thus far, and as I continue to expand into different facets of my business, these applications continue to expand their capabilities. I’m looking forward to a long-standing relationship with my tripod.

Post from: in her words

How I Do Business :: The Tripod

Well, here’s my most recent splurge (thanks to Woodstock Furniture Outlet!):

a coffee table…

…that seconds as an office!

Ok, I don’t really sit here 9-5 Monday through Friday. That would bring a whole new definition to couch-potato. But it is a perfect after-work blogging, web searching, snacking and reading spot! (say hello to Conner!)

Now I get to have some fun dressing my new coffee table! See, decorating my house is my non-techy creative outlet. As much as I love that my job allows me to be creative day-in and day-out, sometimes you need a shift in thinking to keep things interesting. Here are some well-dressed coffee tables I’ve been eyeing:

via pottery barn

via house beautiful

Who doesn’t love a new addition to the house? Something to switch things up — you know, that thing that provides just enough change to make you stop and think when you walk into the room. What was your most recent splurge?

Post from: in her words

A new member of the family room

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Hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth fo July weekend filled with good fun, family, and friends! Our goal for the weekend was to avoid the crowds and enjoy a stay-cation. We spent our days on the lake or at the pool and made it a point not to housework, open a computer or answer too many emails. Come Tuesday, I’m proud to report we definitely feel like we had a vacation!

One other wonderful thing came out of this weekend — our dear friends had a new, sweet baby boy! They weren’t expecting him to make an appearance until later this week, but (just like his parents) he decided the early bird gets the worm! We’re soo excited for them and can’t wait to go meet the little guy in person today!

Did you stay in town or head to the beach for your American holiday?  Are you refreshed to start your work week with a bang?! (yes, that was a fireworks reference)

Post from: in her words

Happy Belated Fourth!

Wouldn’t you love to sit here…

via

…eating this…

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…and looking at this…

via

…while maybe playing with these?

Photo by Jessica Stout via Style Me Pretty

That’s what I thought. I would too! Welcome, Summer!

Post from: in her words

Welcome, Summer!

Rather than hunting for ingredients and making trips to and from the fridge when you’re ready to prepare lunch — why not make them one trip away?  Let’s use a wholesome sandwich as an example.  When sandwiches are on the menu for the week, I keep a container in the fridge filled with all the necessary ingredients to make my favorite sandwich.  If I’m feeling extra motivated, I slice the tomatoes and lettuce Sunday before the week begins.

By keeping turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo together, all I have to do is grab bread and a plate and I have lunch in under 5 minutes.

This goes for non-work-from-homers, too!  If you’re trying to save money on lunches during the work week, keep your ingredients neatly stored together in the office refrigerator for easy preparation and clean up!

Bon Appetite!

Post from: in her words

Fast Food