Your Favorite Things

I thought I'd do a showcase of all your favorite things from the giveaway post. It was fun to see what you all are excited about this week!

Kristen's Cold Water Creek Jacket

Becky's Sugar Canister

Amy's Polly Pockets (giveaway winner!)

Shannon's Pals and Gals Paste-Up Book

Handkerchiefgal's Crayola Jumbles

Tina's Mid-Century Peacocks

Carrie's Custom-Made Birthday Invitations

Megan's Justin Gypsy boots

Maggie's Vintage Crochet Pattern Book

Danelle's Kiss Diaper Bag

Celina's Vintage Napkins

kdelrosario's Smurf Houses

Nancy's Vintage Clothespins

Christy's CakeWalk Dress

Angela's Vintage Dr. Seuss books

Elizabeth's Dorothy shoes

Bekah's Sock Monkey Sheets

Diana's American Girl doll clothes

Trish's SAS shoes

Sarah's Duplo Blocks

Sandy's Federal Punch Bowl Set

Moriah's Nine West Shoes

Thanks for playing, everyone! That was a lot of fun to see your favorite listings :)

Giveaway Winner!

Well there's nothing like a contest to bring our readers out of the woodwork!

The random winner was Commenter #3, Amy (Coupon Tipster), who wrote:

Amy, I tried to send you an email with the details on how to claim your prize, but it bounced back to me. Please contact me at jacalhoun @ centurylink.net.

Tomorrow, I will put together a post with screenshots and links to all the listings that were mentioned in the comments. Thanks for entering, everyone!

Giveaway!

We've never done a giveaway here before, so let's do one. Just for fun! You almost don't even have to do anything for it. I want you to leave a comment on this post linking to your FAVORITE item that you currently have listed, and tell me why it's your favorite. It doesn't have to be the most expensive, it doesn't have to be the newest or the oldest. Just the one that is your favorite.

The comments will close at 8PM EST on Sunday, September 2nd. I'll use a random number generator to choose the winner. The winner will win a free pair of shoes from my store! Well, free up to $25 anyway, which is practically all of them. Or if you've just GOT to have a pair that's more than $25, well then I'll give you $25 off. And shipping's on me. Sound good?

Get to linking! 1 entry per person, please :)

Setting Goals For Your Online Business

If you are running an online business, it's a good idea to set some goals for yourself. You need to have something to focus on, rather than just the attitude that whatever happens, happens. When I first started selling on eBay 2 years ago, my goal was to net a whopping $10 a day. It was a real struggle, and it took a long time to reach that goal, but I kept focused on listing, and eventually I reached it.

For the past 6 months, my goal has been significantly higher than that. In May, I got the closest I had ever been (only $90 short). June stunk (as it did for most of us, I'm pretty sure). But then in July, I met my goal a week before the end of the month, and then had an amazing last week and ended the month at 1.5 times my goal!! I stayed focused on my listing and was determined - and it paid off in a big way!

For August, I chose to aim for somewhere in between my original goal and the crazy high number I hit in July. Again, I stayed focused on my listing and excellent customer service, and again, I am right on track to hit the crazy high number again! If I hit that number 3 months in a row, I'll raise it just a little bit and we'll see what happens.

But financial goals aren't the only goals that are important. I am currently working toward my goal of 1000 listings in my store. I am at a little under 800 right now. I was at about 825 last week, but I didn't have any time to list over the weekend. I'm pretty sure I have enough stuff right now to get me to my goal. Once I hit 700 listings, my sales took off! So I am extremely focused on hitting 1000, because if business boomed mid-summer at 700 listings, I can only imagine fall/holiday business at 1000 listings!

Hey! I think I'll have a giveaway here once I've hit 1000! I'm hoping to reach that goal before we start school on September 6. I need you all to help keep me focused so I can reach my goal on time. I don't know what the giveaway will be. Probably a pair of shoes, since that's who I am and what I do. I'll do a new giveaway post once I hit that point, but thought I'd mention it here for a little extra incentive.

Come join us on our proboards group and let us know what your sales goals are for this week!