My New Business Partner "Square"

Hi handmade friends,

I hope everyone is wrapped up in the Holiday spirit and ready for Christmas.  I have been working every day on completing custom orders for friends and for customers at craft shows.  Hands down word of mouth is the best advertising.  I have had so many referrals this season that I just can't believe it.  It's been busy, but great!

This little cutie patootie is my new "business partner"  this little guy Square allowed me to take credit cards this season at the holiday shows I participated in.  No more, I don't have any cash or I'll come back.

He comes packaged like this

He's all ready to go go go when you get him!!

He even comes with stickers with all the credit cards you can take. 

Here he is connected to my phone

You just enter the dollar amount and swipe the card - Wala "Approved"

Your customer actually signs the screen on your phone and you can email or text a receipt and they will receive it on their phone while they are standing there checking out.  You can even take a photo of the items(s) they are purchasing and that gets sent with the reciept! LOVE this feature!! You also get an email confirming the transaction.  It's only 2.75% for each swipe and for the convenience it's perfect, really no more than a paypal transaction via Etsy

Here is the link to get your very own little "Business Partner." 

Oh and the best part he's free!!

Square

Blog Designer Recommendations

Your blog design is the first thing that readers see when they come to visit. Even before they begin reading your awesome posts, their eyes are feasting on the graphic design of your online home. We thought it would be fun to showcase some of the blog designers that we have worked with and/or love their work. We know you will just love these ladies!

Wattlebird-Annie is just starting out with blog design but my does she do a fun and creative job on her blog designs. Here are a couple of my favorite's by Annie.

Melanie's Mark

Giggles Glitz & Glam

B's Blog Boutique-Of course we love Bailey. She created our Scatter Girl's blog and Connect. Engage. #SetUpShop's blog. Bailey is so easy to work with, prompt, and really knows her stuff. Here are a couple of my favorite's by Bailey.

Mine for the Making

Growing Sweet Pea

Life Made Lovely-fresh, fun designs are Heather's specialty. I am a huge fan of her sweet landing pages, blog design, logo design, and all the personality behind her work. Here are a couple of my favorite's by Heather.

Apearantly Sew

Pink Lemonade

Yellow Heart Art-Leonora is super talented. She designs great logo's that are a cut above the rest. She will work with you to create a shop design, business card design and layout, buttons, big cartel or etsy banners and buttons, or a custom art print. Here are a couple of my favorite's by Leonora. 

Elephant's Trunk

And I just love this custom print by Leonora.

These lovelies are amazingly talented. Consider checking them out for your next blog makeover!

Blog Tip - Scrolling buttons in your sidebar

I have a nifty tip and HTML code for you to have scrolling buttons in your sidebar.  I know I love so many shops and I want to promote them, but space is limited on my blog.  So, I found a nifty way to keep the buttons, but in a smaller space.

Scrolling buttons

If you go to my blog Hoot Designs under "Fun Finds" and "Creative Connections" my buttons scroll.

Here's what you do:

Add this scroll code to your HTML box there you want the buttons to scroll

<center><div class="textwidget"><marquee direction="up" width="200" onmouseover="this.stop()" scrollamount="4" onmouseout="this.start()" height="400" align="center"> <center>

*the highlighted number 4 is the speed and you can change this number as you wish*
*the 200 and 400 number in the code are the height and width of the column and how much space it will fill in the sidebar*

Then under the code add the button codes you want to scroll under the code above, like this:

<center><div class="textwidget"><marquee direction="up" width="200" onmouseover="this.stop()" scrollamount="4" onmouseout="this.start()" height="400" align="center"> <center>

<center><a href="http://thehouseofsmiths.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r28/casonshelley/HOSbuttonmodern.jpg" /></a></center>

<center><a href="http://iammorethanjust.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v714/mycreations/Blog/Iamreader.jpg" /><br/></a><br/><center>

Add the center code like this <center> before and after your button codes so everything lines up all pretty.  Some buttons have this already before and after, if not, add it. 

Now your all set for scrolling buttons on your blog.

Adding a Search Box to your Blog

Has this ever happened to you? You read something great on a blog and you want to go back and maybe that blogger does not have archives set up or any way to go back and see old posts? Or you have to hunt and peck through all the archives to look for the post you saw?

Seak and you shall find - maybe

Photo via Pinterest - direct link

Well....

How about adding a search box to your blog?

Here is the simple code.  Just paste it in your widgets area under the HTML and your set!

<center><p align="center"><form id="searchthis" action="/search" style="display:inline;" method="get"> <input id="search-box" name="q" size="25" type="text"/> <input id="search-btn" value="Search" type="submit"/> </form></p><center></center></center>

See Our Scatter Girls search box up there to the right under

our Facebook/Twitter and RSS feed round buttons?

Super easy and a time saver for your followers

who come back to visit to find just what they are looking for.

Happy Blogging

Suggested Links

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The internet as we know is full of vast sources of information for the handmade business owner, but sometimes do you really want to search for this information? Nope, I don't blame you. I'm here to help you out today, I've done some research for you and want to share a few great resources I've seen lately around the web that I think are worth sharing. I hope you find these resources useful and informative. 

1. Improving your SEO

For those of you who know what SEO is you know how important it is and for those of you who don't let me give you a hint (search engine optimization). It is an important tool for anyone with an online presence. 

2. "How to Reach the Customer You're Not Getting, but Should Be"

Here is a great article for handmade business owners in regards to marketing. Most handmade business owners would rather spend time on creating but it is important to focus on the "business" side as well. 

3. Social Network Etiquette

What an important skill to master in this crazy online world and here is a great article to help us out! 

4. How to Be a Successful Blogger

Don't we all just want to be successful? Here is a great resource from the author of Style Me Pretty a great Wedding Blog discussing some great tips for successful blogging. 

5. Ways to Grow Your Business

This article gives a great overall breakdown on just about everything for owning your own online shop. It is a perfect article for those who are thinking about starting opening a shop, those who have just started a shop or even those who have been around awhile and just need a reminder.

Scatter Girls welcomes #Setupshop

Happy Tuesday to all our Scatter Girl friends.  I'm very excited to share this post with you about a brand new blog created as a result of a chat that many, if not all, of us are a part of each week.  Gina , our very own Scatter Girl who blogs at Hiya Luv has a brand new blog #Setupshop.  How exciting for us.  We meet on Monday's at 8pm {est} on Twitter to chat about all things handmade, our shops and such, and now we have a blog to follow and have #Setupshop always available to us.

Here is what Gina wrote in her introduction post

"My vision for #SetUpShop is that we are here to help one another succeed."

• #SetUpShop is a place to build relationships and cheer each other on when we have had a bad experience or are challenged with our businesses.
• #SetUpShop is a place to give one another honest feedback in a kind and supportive manner.
• #SetUpShop is a place to share ideas and strategies but not to steal or copy from one another.
• #SetUpShop is a community of learners striving to do our very best in our handmade businesses and in the real world.

Click above to visit #Setupshop

We will also be sharing lots of #Setupsup goodness here on Scatter Girls too!!

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