4.29.08

Christina and I took the advice offered re: the photos of the jewelry to heart, and she was able to work some magic where the pics were concerned, so the new images went up last evening, and I have to agree that they look worlds better, so thank you for the notion of improving those!  :)

Work continues on getting the newest crop of goodies ready...it has been a longish process, but we're getting closer.  I now know how to format PDF's and LIT files, have made a few, we've got the LightScribe burner, have cover images, so we're just in the process of putting all the ingredients together and testing before we call this next phase a done deal, but I have to say, I'm excited about it....this stuff is (IMO anyway) the coolest thing ever, and I can hardly wait till we have it up so you guys can see!   =D

Anyway, so that's what's been occupying much of my time here lately, and with any luck, we'll have some new goodies posted soon, so stay tuned! 

Chris & Chris

4.20.08

So maybe it was just me.

Between today and yesterday, we added more than a dozen new items to the store, all with Turbo Lister, and with none of the problems I encountered previously.

Everything went flawlessly.

So much so, that it was almost worrisome (I'm the sort of fellow who starts getting suspicious when things begin to operate too smoothly).

But...that feeling was short lived.

I got over it, and took a measure of delight in the knowledge and proof that you really CAN teach an old dog new tricks!  ;)

So...smooth sailing all around then.

I even tried my hand at making a product catalog for us, but I don't think Christina was all that thrilled with the results.

Truth be told, I wasn't either.

Guess there's a limit to that whole old dog, new trick thinking after all, eh?

But...no matter.

Things are...progressing.

I like it.  And on that note, I'm gonna get up from the computer a little early, and go spend the evening with my wife.  :)

Chris & Chris

4.17.08

Okay...so today was a pretty big day in terms of getting automated and getting more inventory up on the virtual shelves.

We went from 7 listings, to 22 listings, and that's where she'll sit for a while (we've got more stuff in the wings, but I have to wait till Christina can get time to take some photos of the new stuff).

Things in the "Coming Soon" category:

* 4 new novels (in the editing stages, currently)

* Notecards

* E-Books (pdf and lit formats) - I was originally planning to offer these as downloads, but I heard something about a ban on that sort of thing? - if there is...fine...we'll do it via LightScribed CD.

* Audio Books - again, LightScribed CD

??

Got some other ideas, but at present, they're still in the planning stages.

So...questions for the galley then, are these:

1) Does anybody know why Turbo Lister items won't show up in my store?  I've got a (klunky) system worked out where I:

a) create multiple listings in TL

b) upload them to the site and see which ones actually appear (some do, some don't, even tho they're all "clones" of each other).

c) "end" the items that don't.

d) relist them one at a time

and magically...they appear.  It beats the heck out of me, so any advice would be hugely appreciated!

2) What do you think of the store?  What do you think of the merchandise? What do you think of the prices?

and

3) Do you think that the "coming soon" stuff will enhance the store and make it more appealing?

Just...wanting to take a pulse check.  :)

In other news, I spent some cycles putting together a product catalog.  Christina's beautifying it, and when she's done with it, I'll turn it into a PDF.

We're going to try our hand at a primitive form of viral marketing.  Make the PDF, e-mail it to all our friends and ask that they share it with anyone who they might know to be interested in the items we're offering.

Inside the catalog are links back to the store, how to contact us, etc.  So...who knows?  Maybe it'll start putting some eyeballs on the place.  I'll let everyone know how it goes, and if anybody has any experience with viral marketing and can offer up some additional tips to try, I'm all ears! (which makes me look rather funny, btw). ;)

Cheers!

Chris & Chris

4.17.08

Ug.

I like Turbo Lister.

I despise Turbo Lister.

I'm not sure which one of those statements is more true at present, but one thing can fairly be said.  "I am getting a LOT of exposure to Turbo Lister."

So I downloaded it, and got it sync'd up with my account here.

Then went to add some new items to the store's shelves.

That's when the trouble started.

They GOT to eBay, but wouldn't show up on the store shelves.  And worse...in my attempts to tweak them to somehow make 'em show, I wound up deleting my entire inventory!  :(

So I started over...and did it again! (poof...store inventory vanished).

Third time was a charm, and I think I have now figured out a system so that Turbo Lister and I can coexist peacefully.

I'm gonna try to add some more items this afternoon, so....we shall see.

In any case, it's been a frustrating, but intriguing day for the Hartpence Horde (me, Christina, and our four furry, four-legged companions), and I think I just might be getting the hang of this stuff.

Oh...and I found out how/where to add store categories today too, so everything's not listed in the "other" category.  Go me! ;)

Chris & Chris

4.14.08

I'm new to this stuff, so you can poke good natured fun at me if you wanna, but today was a pretty major milestone...I figured out enough about menu creation software and self booting CD's to make a simple menu that would auto-load pdf's, which means that I'm an important step closer to being able to offer the novels in e-book format on CD...now, all I need to do is get the burner with lightwave capabilities (I thought that'd be much cooler than a simple label, and for only a smidgeon more, so....).

Next step....refining the process.  The test disc I made is okay for a test, but it's a far cry from what's possible, I know....plain gray background, plain gray buttons.  Not saying I want to play Picasso, but I'd like to go a little fancier than that.  Still, now that I've got the principles down, the fancier stuff should just be a matter of art, and, wonder of wonders, but I'm married to an artist! ;)

Chris & Chris