Fright Night Trick Or Treat

Halloween at the house of @mackintoshandmore

Come on over...my address is right here

Lovely comments for this Art Deco style vase, I love my customers. ❤️

Thank You. x

Really - Thank You so much. x

Onward an upward.

Brrr. Getting Very Autumnal

So how do you live long and prosper in a little retail world?

If you want a bricks and mortar presence on the High Street you need the premises, the products and the people.

Your shop fittings will help you stand out from the crowd and together with the ambiance you create, your business will be totally compelling to the public at large. The U.S.P. (unique selling point) of the store will make people want to spend money with you rather than a superstore or hypermarket.
Even better, stock stuff they cannot match, be it vintage, quirky or totally unique to you. Do all these things and you are off to a great start.
But it's not enough these days, you need to self-promote.

You need Social Media of Course!

 

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. I'm a novice with much to learn but I see the value of a presence on these platforms.

I joined Facebook years ago but only recently have I started using it to help promote my business. Does it work? I will let you know in due course. 

It used to be the case in business that when times got hard the first things to suffer were Staff Training and Advertising budgets, but aren't they the very things you need to utilise when things get tough?
As Social Media is essentially free the only thing you need to spend is time and this can be a significant investment to the self employed. 

People seem to respond better to images rather than lots of text so I can understand the success of Instagram and I MUST try to make time to develop a presence on my recently acquired page. You would think that Twitter would work best with a picture and caption. Not for me though, I find Twitter to be rather disconnected, with people only looking for followers rather than content. As for others like WhatsApp or Snapchat etc. I am totally clueless. A newbie like me cannot deal with those yet, so my focus is understanding Facebook for now.

Image of this Blog on my phone.

Be More Mobile!

People seem more happy to get mobile on the sofa - with a phone or tablet in hand.
On checking how people connect with my on line "presence", I find there is an overwhelming amount of mobile device browsing compared to desktop computers. If you have a web presence you need to be "mobile" optimised. I was horrified to see some of my stuff while browsing on my phone, something I almost never do, it just did not look right. As I use a desktop computer almost all of the time I had not considered that there would be a significant difference, my bad!
For example, I purposely don't have side panels on this blog because they seem to distort the view on a small device. And I noticed my images don't work when shown three abreast whereas they look fine on a desktop screen.
None of this had occurred to me before, but as this is the future of on line browsing I had better start addressing mobile compatibility right now.

So Much To Learn So little Time.

THE FUSCHIA'S BRIGHT...

The Future Is Fuschia...

Fuschia & Pearl - £24.95 - 25cm

Mackintosh Rose & Leaf - £29.95

Flower Vase 30cm - £34.95

 This combination reminds me that Spring has nearly sprung!

Small Hurricane Vase - £19.95

Mackintosh And More

Posy Vase 20cm - £19.95

 

Identity Parade!

Stand Still And Face Forward!

 

Mackintosh And More Small Hurricane Lamps

 

Okay, pick out the one you like and buy it, which do you prefer Amazon or eBay?

 

Buy Gold - I Would.

They say that Gold is a a good investment, but you can find it for your self at the following Goldmines Amazon or eBay

 

 The two central images were an early experiment that did not work, sorry!😒

Feeling Blue

Not Really, just vase-ing!

Blue seems to be quite popular at the moment, so here are a few examples coupled with Pearl accents. This really is a striking combination, giving a lovely pop of colour in most room settings. All will be available for sale soon.

Hurricane Warning!

↑↑↑↑↑ SHOP LINKS UP HERE ↑↑↑↑↑

Coming To An Internet Marketplace Near You!

Hurricane Lamps in Ruby Red and Slate / Acid Etch ( Black and White?)

These are great for pillar candles, flowers or dried arrangements. Lovely table centrepiece for weddings or other family celebrations. 

Or just for staring at, because they're pretty!

The Old One Two!

Not one sale...

But Two!

Here I am, front row 3rd from the right

You may remember, this Purple and Pearl Cylinder Vase was first introduced in the dresser group photo.

Well 24 hours after launching it into the inter-web marketplace it sold TWICE on eBay! 

This might not mean much to most, but I, for one, am extremely pleased.😀

You can see it on eBay Here 

 

A Dozen Red Roses

 

Happy Valentines Day

 💋

 ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

 

 

 ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

 💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘💘

The World Of Gift Fairs - Selling To The Trade - Part 2.

The Trade Show must go on!

First things first, choose the size of pitch you'd like, I usually had 3m x 2m, and pay the organiser LOTS of money. Then they ask if you'd like lights - as though a dark display is an option - and they charge more money for those! Then they ask if you'd like an electricity socket, and guess what? Yep, more money. I was getting scared. This was fast becoming a massive financial investment and I had to make it work.

Alan sourced a display stand which was predominantly glass, this was to minimise shadows and make the  display light and bright. Believe it or not we built it in our dining room, it looked so huge! I spent weeks filling it with vases and moving them from one position to another, grouping colours and such, until I was happy with the result.

TOP TIP - we then took photographs of the completed display to remind us where to put everything. This is key to preserving your sanity when you have lugged all your stuff from the hire van and plonked it in front of your "space".

First Day at Trade Show in my new uniform

At last, the day before the show, we were off to Harrogate to set it all up

 

Wildflower Studio - back in the day!

With everything in position and pens, order forms and calculators to hand. The first morning of the show should have been calm, but of course I was anything but. The cost was weighing heavily on my mind and I was feeling antsy.

When the doors opened, I figured that it would be hours before we saw any potential customers, so I went for a little wander around to help calm me down and left Alan in charge.

I was happily chatting to another stallholder, when some friends from Hexham appeared. They joked that I was 'skiving' and had left Alan to do all the work. I laughed along but was puzzled until they said 'yeah, he's got quite a queue forming'.

  

Shmoozing Customers.

I literally ran back to the stand!

The weather for the duration of the show was blistering sunshine and we almost melted in that Marquee. BUT we took orders steadily for four days, it was heady stuff and we were delighted. I could not believe it!!

All I had to do then was make them...