Hey guys, it's been a while since we last did a blog. Things have been absolutely mental these last few weeks but in a good way, the pandemic has been awful for anyone and everyone, we've seen major leaders get it and fight it off, lots of families lose loved ones or they have been financially impacted in some way or another. We are no different on that front, usually, by this time of year, we would have been to several major events, showing off our new products, meeting new people and generally networking our butts off where possible. As mentioned in our other blog 'That didn't go to plan' we had to focus on other ideas and platforms. Well, trying to make this a positive blog, we have done exactly that we've spent more time at home playing with our seven-year-old, and focusing on what we do best! Walking the dogs, painting, making clay models and watching lots of TV. Alongside that and where possible we've been focusing on new products, updating the website and learning how to do better online. I've got to admit using these youngster tools such as Twitter and Instagram has been a challenge, we are all comfortable with Facebook but would like to grow our Twitter following if possible, so anyone reading this please give us a tweet to force me/us to use it more...
Anyway, must keep this on track, in doing more online we've been looking at the minefield that is SEO, to try and drive more traffic to the website without having to pay a fortune to an SEO expert or using the various tools out there for sales and marketing. I've explored Google Analytics, and various other tools of a similar nature and learnt about this google ranking system based on how reputable your site is, and how other people might reference it on their sites. These are called backlinks. We ran a search online and found our site is referred to from only 2 other places (these mainly stemmed from Events and Fairs we have attended). So our goal now over the coming months will be to see if we can increase our backlinks from other sites to increase the score and reputability of our own site! Challenge accepted, but I'm not sure where to start? perhaps I could go for a Guinness world record? my partner thinks this would be a good idea to try and go for something like the worlds longest piece of embroidery which when checking was something like 400+ meters long... If I didn't go for that then perhaps something else like the most pieces of embroidery done in an hour? or something weird and wonderful like how many names could be embroidered onto a single T-Shirt... We are open to ideas here but would like to go for something! We are about to go into our busiest season with all of these annual events just around the corner starting with Halloween, then Bonfire Night and then, of course, the big one...Christmas. There is of course things like remembrance day where we have considered making some items and donating profits to charity! You may also want to check out this section on our site which is brand new, and something we absolutely fell in love with when we saw them! they aren't in line with our typical product set but seem to complement each other nicely. We have a selection of babies keepsakes like first tooth and first hair curl compartments in plated Silver in the form of trains and carriages! They. Are. Beautiful.
2021 is looking to be an even busier year as our website traffic will be up, the product volume and choice will be greater combine that with all the shows we missed out on being top of our list as we are dying to get out there and catch up with all our fellow stallholder friends we tend to see at the various places when we travel the country!
We might be quiet now until the end of the year as we get our heads down, finish adding the new products we are working on to our store (but for those eagle-eyed readers) which are as follows: More mother-daughter, father-son aprons, Family trees and various other items fit for framing and displaying on the walls in your home, Additional hobby items that are perfect for the Gifts for Him/Her sections, even more, Special occasion items i.e. Christenings, Easter and weddings gear.
The list is never-ending !!!
As always, thanks for reading and feel free to drop me a message if you've any questions or would like something special.