Frond Design Studio booth at Quilt Market

If you’re in the fabric biz, you know all about Quilt Market and how amazing (and overwhelming!) it can be. This past weekend, Spring Quilt Market was held just down the road at the Oregon Convention Center. Hosted by Quilts, Inc. the trade show is always a great way to meet new shopowners, bloggers, designers and manufacturers. It’s a great way to find new story ideas and new writers. Already I’m planning out the next several issues and tapping shopowners to share their specialties and skills with our readers. 

Thanks to everyone who came by the booth to say hello or stopped me in the aisles to tell me how much you love WebCents. It was a lovely response to the magazine and I’m grateful that so many are not only enjoying the articles, but finding that they’ve learned something with each issue. 

 If I didn’t get the chance to talk with you, feel free to send me an email and tell me your story ideas. I’d love to hear from you. 

-teresa

 5 Key Steps you can work on today

1. Develop a list of keywords and phrases relevant to your business. 
2. Good content drives good search results
3. Optimize your Images.
4.  Increase your Link Popularity
5. Turn your visitors into customers

With nearly thirty years of Market experiences to call on, Donelle has advice from the trenches. She will share her best tips on staying organized, developing savvy buying strategies, and making your trip to Market both enjoyable and profitable.

All participants will receive a copy of The Fabric Shop Network’s “Shop Market Like a Pro” CD, complete with worksheets to use before, during, and after Market.

Register today — space is limited. 

* Read about Heather Givans’ jump from teacher to owner of Crimson Tate (in just two weeks!)

* Todd Gibson shares his experience with Facebook Offers

* Get the inside scoop on using site analytics to set and achieve your goals

* Find out what inspires and motivates longarm quilter Angela Walters

* Pattern designers Melissa Stramel (Lilac Lane Patterns) and Heather Jones (Olive and Ollie) share their stories in Face to Face

* See what Monica Lee means when she tells shopowners to think like a shopper

* Plus much, much more! 

You can purchase individual copies or subscribe for one year. 

Oliver + S

Oliverands.com received this recognition at the Blades Ecommerce Awards, on March 7, 2013. Oliver + S was honored for the sleek, innovative responsive design framework powering its website. The framework allows for a seamless shopping experience across a variety of devices (computers, tablets, and smartphones) , as well as providing a streamlined and more economical way for the company to maintain its website while staying current and accessible with the ever-expanding array of consumer-driven technology.  

“Content is produced and updated only once, and then it’s available instantaneously on all devices and platforms that our customers choose to use,” said Todd Gibson, managing partner of Liesl + Co., parent of the Oliver + S brand. “This has resulted in significantly lower development and maintenance costs for us than if we had developed a separate mobile-only version of the site, and it allows our customers to interact with us equally well on whatever device they choose to use.”

The website also boasts another clever feature, “dress the paper dolls,” an interactive application that allows shoppers to dress paper doll images in a variety of Oliver + S outfits, the sewing patterns for which are for sale on the site. “Our branding and packaging is heavily reliant on our paper doll illustrations,” said Gibson, “and we wanted to convey this imagery and the fun of playing with the paper dolls on the website.”

The inaugural Blades Ecommerce Awards, sponsored by PayPal and Miva Merchant, was held in conjunction with MivaCon 2013, Miva Merchant’s 13^th annual user conference, at The Hyatt Regency in La Jolla, California.

About Oliver + S:

Oliver + S is a line of quality sewing patterns and fabrics for children’s clothing, designed and developed by the company’s founder, fashion designer Liesl Gibson. The company’s parent corporation, Liesl + Co., also produces Lisette, a line of sewing patterns and fabrics for women’s clothing, as well as Straight Stitch Society, a collection of patterns for gifts and accessories. For more information about Oliver + S, please visit http://oliverands.com/.

That is one of those trusty attributes of sunshine, it completely changes the view. I suddenly notice the pink blossoms that have been nudging up against the deep green leaves of the camellia outside my apartment. I can see the film on my windows left by months of less-than-ideal weather.

Whether it’s things that make us smile or things we need to fix, getting a fresh look is important and this issue we’re encouraging you to take a new perspective when it comes to how you operate your business. Have you tried advertising through social media? Todd Gibson from Liesl & Co. shares his experience on Facebook Offers and why they might be the perfect way to jump into the online advertising pool. You may have already seen them and not even known it.

It is all too easy to miss everyday opportunities that could prove profitable. In her Panning for Gold column, Marsha Doyenne tackles some simple things you can do to bring in more customers and more sales. Facebook fans, bag stuffers, and blog hops are just a few of her ideas to get a little extra attention.

Looking at life from a different perspective completely changed the direction Heather Givans (of Crimson Tate) was heading just a few years ago. I had the chance to talk with her about embracing her seemingly crazy idea and running with it; an idea that turned into a successful urban quilt shop. Don’t miss her story on how she got there and where she dreams of going from here–it’ll inspire you, too.

No less inspiring is Angela Walters who is taking on the quilting world at a rapid-fire pace. When she decided she wanted to do more than just quilt for others, she meant it. She can add author, fabric designer and nationally-recognized longarm quilting instructor to her resume, all because she wanted a change of pace.

What are you doing this spring to mix things up, fix the aspects that are lagging and add a little more va-voom to your business? I hope you’ll find a little inspiration in this issue of WebCents. And then let me know what you decide to tackle next, okay?

[If you would like to receive this and the next five additional issues of WebCents, please use this form or give us a call at 360-892-6500.]

Marketing isn’t about what you want; it’s about what your customers want, need and expect.

With Graph Search Facebook is hoping to change that. Using its vast amount of info, you can now look up anything shared with you on Facebook, and others can find stuff you’ve shared with them. Depending on your connections, you will get related results. Different people see different search results. 

Increasing the number of local fans you have for your Facebook business page, can help you rank higher in the list if a local quilter searches for a fabric store their friends like. While it’s not perfect, Graph Search has potential for building a shop’s reputation based on their fans’ accolades on the site. 

Check out the video for more info on how the new Graph Search works. If you don’t have it yet, expect it soon. 

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