It's not you, it's me.... or is it??

I know many on Bonanza repeatedly talk about lack of sales or buyers, and on some days I'm inclined to agree wholeheartedly that things are not progressing the way I would like with regards to sales. While I have some pretty specific feelings about how and where we need to go in order to get more traffic, I also recognize that in some ways, I have fallen short of my own expectations. Let's be honest, I don't advertise and promote myself as much as I used to, I don't regulate my time as well as I should and I definitely don't keep to a dedicated schedule. No, though I do spend a lot of hours of everyday on my booth, listing and reading forums and sometimes even tweeting - the more I think about it the more I realize I don't use all of the tools I already have at my disposal as well as I could, so ultimately a large part of my own problem- is me. 

Now this is not to say that everyone is their own problem when it comes to lack of sales- by no means do I believe that; but what I do believe is that those that seem the most successful on Bonanza do some serious advertising and self promotion. Then there are some that do all the typical types of promotion and still say they have no sales- that leads me to wonder, if Bonanza jumped in and advertised for them would that really bring them more sales? Is it the lack of promotion- self or otherwise? Is it the economy? This would seem to be a definite factor. Is it the items that are listed in the booth? After all , many are niche sellers and some have items not everyone would buy. Is it the pricing or even shipping policies and costs? And let's not forget the all important search engine optimization, traits and attributes (yeah I know I always groan in despair when I have to mess with these over and over) Yes, we have all heard how the "other" place advertised for us (I was once a Sith apprentice too) but when did you really feel your store or even your general old seller account was truly YOURS over there? I never felt ownership of my own account- I tried but every time I wanted to do something different or even something that would clearly have benefited me- the "Dark Side" jumped in and made things even more complicated and harder for sellers and easier for the "evil galactic empire". I laugh now but I definitely wasn't laughing then!

I guess my point is, while advertising is very important and advertising by Bonanza itself would be great- it is by no means the end all and be all of making your booth (or business) successful- when it comes down to it- it's YOUR booth and YOUR business- so do everything you possibly can and then some to make it successful- count on yourself because you are the only one that can truly control your online selling "destiny". 

Click follow for my next post- hopefully a more humorous one lol, and check out my booth on Bonanza at

www.Bonanza.com/Breezers

The definition of "stuff"

When it comes to four letter words one should not repeat- in our house 

"stuff" 

is one of them.

This word has  become the bane of my husband's existence- as he generically categorizes everything I have for sell, everything I hand craft or yes even those catch all items that tend to gather among the shelves as "stuff"

It's not "merchandise" to him- it's simply "stuff"

as in "Honey, did you sell any of your stuff today?"

or

"Hey when are we gonna get rid of some of this stuff?"

Yet despite all of his woeful and verbose opinionings on the evils of "stuff" he still takes me to auctions and shows, and once in a blue moon, if I bat my eyes just right, he still signs the checks for payment when I am just "a little short" on cash to get this or that  :)

Then once we get home and he starts unloading the car it decidely becomes "stuff" again
 as in

"why in the world did you get all of this stuff"

"We don't need this stuff"

and the ever popular

"we have enough stuff, you don't need to get anymore stuff"

and the not to be forgotten

"from now on, no more stuff until you sell the stuff you already have"

Then he reads the Sunday paper and says "Hey,  there's an auction at ..... wanna go ?"

hmmmm maybe he's is an enabler and doesn't know it? LOL

So while the other members of your household may go on and on about all  the "stuff" you have, deep down (and in my husband's case deep deep DEEP down) they know that all that stuff has a purpose somewhere and they are just giving you, well- "stuff" about it!

Check out my store full of "stuff" at

www.bonanza.com/Breezers

You never know what you might find and if you decide to buy, well my husband sincerely thanks you!

:O)