If you watch the Food Network, then you know that Crave Bake Shop is the gluten-free winner of the Cupcake Wars! Read all about it! You don’t have to be gluten-free to LOVE everything Crave Bake Shop creates, you just have to crave good bake goods!

Attention Oregon Customers

Crave Bake Shop and Hide A Heart have created the perfect suite of delicious and romantic sweets for your Valentine!

You must pre-order your Valentine’s Day package by February 10th to receive these special rates!

The Sweetheart Cookie platter (pictured) with a Hide A Heart for only $25.

Get one large decorated sugar cookie and a Hide A Heart glass valentine for a special rate of only $12.

There are small assorted treat samplers ($20 value for just $15), as well as Chocolate Shooter Samplers (1 dozen Shooters for just $20, or 2 dozen Shooters for $35). Add a Hide A Heart to any package for $14 more.

Pre-order your Valentine’s package now!

Phone: 503-212-2979 or Email: cravebakeshop@gmail.com

Crave Bake Shop located at 460 SW 5th Street Lake Oswego Oregon 97034

Joining Pinterest

One must be ‘invited’ to join Pinterest. Open a browser and type: www.pinterest.com where on the page you will see the button to REQUEST AN INVITE. Please send an email to hideaheart@gmail.com and I will invite you to join.

Once you are ‘accepted’ by Pinterest, you will receive a Pinterest address that will look like mine for Hide A Heart: http://pinterest.com/hideaheart but it showing your name at the end of the address. I keep all web addresses along with other details in a word doc for easy reference and peace of mind!

Set up the profile with your picture and information.

Open a second browser windows. For example: #1 for Your Etsy Shop; #2 for Your Pinterest page

Make a ‘board’

On the upper right side there are three tabs: Add+ , About, Your Name. Click ‘Add+’ and scroll to ‘Create a board’ where you will choose a title for the products you will want to pin onto that board that fit the category.

For example: ‘My Work’ Open the browser window and go to your Etsy Shop. Return to Pinterest and click ‘add +’ then decide if you are going to Add a pin or Upload a pin by downloading a product picture from your computer.

Upload a pin

Go to your pictures file to select the picture and then click ‘Open’ Wait for the download to appear and add it to the board category of your choice. Add a description or comment then click ‘Pin it’

Add a pin

Open a new browser and go to your Etsy Shop and click on one of your listings.  Copy/paste the URL address from the browser window for the listing and paste it into the FIND IMAGES window. Wait for download, then add a description and ‘Pin it’.

You can also scroll down you  listing to the Pinterest button Etsy added and click it and add it to the board into which you want to ‘Pin it’.

Sharing Pinterest

Search for ‘friends’ you may know, visit their boards and pin their stuff! Also, share your Pinterest address when ‘liking’ other FB pages, visiting Share My Link , or when appropriate and relevant, when leaving a comment on Handmadeology, EverythingEtsy, and your other favorite blogs so you can ‘spread’ your pins far and wide; a great way to get your name out on the web while being generous with the product and promotion of others! You will be delighted by the response!

Facebook 

Beginning January 18 Pinterest can be added to your Facebook Timeline!

Caution:

Once you begin pinning, you will be ecstatic and engrossed for a while!

Happy Pinning!

If you watch The Cupcake Wars on the Food Network, then you know all about Crave Bake Shop winning the top prize and my friend Kyra who puts a little bit of magic in each delicious creative gluten-free recipe bite!

I have enjoyed friendship with Jana, Kyra’s mother, since we were 15 (Jana) and 17 (Moi). On the spur of the moment, I invited Jana over to dinner last week and we happily chatted about Kyra winning The Cupcake Wars with her Apple Fritter creation! We shared one the very next day! I stood outside Crave Bake Shop and each time someone I knew strolled by, I just happened to mention that available today was the taste treat that won the Cupcake Wars on the Food Network! Amazing how many people I know watch the Food Network and knew that Crave Bake Shop was a winner of the Cupcake Wars.

But have you heard of the game 6 Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon? Now Hide A Heart is presently only 3 Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon and let me show you how! I’m pretty sure Krya Sedgwick won’t mind!

“Be the rainbow in someone else’s cloud” she said and proceeded to tell a story of poignant worthiness.

While I have always practiced a similar concept, the succinct way in which Ms. Angelou delivered the idea seems to have become part of my DNA. I have often repeated the story told by Ms. Angelou when engaged in philosophical discussion with friends and acquaintances.

Having adopted the role of ‘tribune deliverer’ of ‘being the rainbow’ news I find the rainbow shows in my life more definitively and once more underscores ‘What Goes Around Comes Around‘ a song I wrote and recorded over 30 years ago.

Inspiring, encouraging and comforting is ‘being the rainbow in someone else’s cloud’ and the mission of Hide A Heart for you. 

I am no Pollyanna, I am fully aware of human struggle, but as Lena Horn once said, “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”

For me, choosing to smile to make a Happy Day is my favorite way of carrying the load and ‘being the rainbow‘ (photo credited to Rainbows End 2012 Digital Art by Sally Stevens). What’s yours?

Maybe its because a dear friend of mine died last year or that I took a another dear friend to the ER this morning. Maybe its because I turned a certain ‘Age of Chic’ this year.

Doesn’t really matter why or what age one may be, it only matters that giving some serious thought about who takes over Hide A Heart should I suddenly become ill has been keeping me up at night, so I figure my subconscious is trying to get my attention. I don’t want any of the red glass hearts to break because I was having too much fun with all the creating, marketing and selling but didn’t pay close enough attention to some pretty important details.

Hold on to Momentum

Be a cartoon for fun and not in practice! With the monumental amount of work, time and $$ one invests into a entrepreneurial boutique home-based online business, you wouldn’t want to lose momentum due to an unexpected or protracted illness.

Here are the steps I’ve taken and welcome any you can add.

Create a binder of:

1. A list of daily tasks
2. An inventory of products already gift wrapped
3. Detailed directions about filling, filing and how to prepare orders for shipping
   
4. Detailed ‘How To’ directions about how to purchase online postage
   
5. Relative account URL and passwords for those sites, cell phone and computer
   

Create a folder into which there are:

1. Post templates for Tweet, FB and other blog commentary
   
2. Write and schedule 12 blog posts
3. Download from Handmadeology goal tracker spread sheets and files for keeping track of sales, contact information for relevant suppliers and customer care
   
4. Write HTML code for post inclusion where appropriate- See an earlier post about writing HTML
   
5. Leave details of how to order shipping supplies online
   

Additionally, I have created folders into which there are printed gift message cards to include with orders and  have shipping supplies on hand to handle about two months of orders.

Now may I take a moment to direct you to web sites as appreciation for Amber and Lauren for whom I have particular affection? They gave me the opportunity to become a better writer and I encourage you to visit these worthy ladies!

Flight Path Studio

Petscribbles

Along with suffering from Rhino fever, I tend to do things the hard way! However, so far in 2012 I have learned two really wonderful things that have made life easier at Hide A Heart Central!

How did I miss this? I don’t recall receiving a notice about this happy button having been added to my Hide A Heart Etsy Shop. Did you notice on your Etsy product page a ‘Pin It‘ button has been added?

I have to say I was delighted to discover it along with another exciting realization!

One more Tip o’ the Day

One cannot use CraftCult to insert Etsy treasuries into a WordPress.com blog.

One of the things I like to do is post an Etsy Treasury featuring one of the HAH hearts as add additional appreciation and promotion by adding it to the Treasury Appreciation Page. So that I can return the favor by including a product from those shops when creating treasuries, this also helps me keep track of shops who have selected one of the glass heart products or my Mary Catherine Lunsford CD recordings.

I use a tool found on what used to be Whale Shark but is now known as Red Row Studio to make a code. The tool lets you select the size and number of rows for displaying the treasury.

This is an IMPORTANT asset, because the margins on this blog template are narrow and through trial and error, I have learned to be sure to set up for three rows of ‘tiny’ pictures so that the code will be created for that size.

Inserting the treasury code:

1. I open the page on which I want to post the treasury
2. I add the date of the treasury and then place a ________________ about three rows down
3. I switch the page to HTML and find the area between the date and the ___________ and post the code between them
4. I switch the page back to Visual so I can see if all the product photos show properly and then hit ‘update’
5. Then I ‘preview’ the page to be sure it looks right
   

I have always copied an Etsy treasury URL from the browser into a sticky note, then copied the part of the URL required to generate the code as shown here:

• The entire URL treasury address: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/ODgwMzUxNnwxNzIzNDI2NTM5/red-hearts-valentine-fashion-gift-guide?ref=pr_treasury
• The portion of URL treasury address needed to generate the code: ODgwMzUxNnwxNzIzNDI2NTM5

But today I realised I could simply copy the portion of the URL needed to generate the code directly from the URL browser! It’s only taken the entire year of 2011 to make this discovery.

I can’t wait to discover something more this year! What new discoveries are you making in 2012?

In the quest for media exposure for Hide A Heart, I subscribe to both HARO and Reporter Connection . Today I noticed a call for Valentine gift products for review giveaway and decided to check the page ranking of the blog before responding because I was advised by one of my 6-Thinking Hats committee members that providing a giveaway on a blog with less than a 4 page rank was probably not cost-effective.

However, in the esprit d’ camaraderie (since my blogs share the company of a lower PR than 4) I think it only fair to make exceptions on occasion.

I came across a couple of tools that I tried then settled on PageRank Checker. You can even add your blog or web site page rank via HTML code that the checker generates for you.

However, if you scroll to the bottom of the checker page, do note that it has a lengthy disclaimer. Getting free apps just isn’t what it used to be…kind of like the toys in Rice Krispies cereal boxes and Cracker Jacks. When I was growing up, those toys were sturdy and worked, especially the Snap, Crackle and Pop rings and the submarine that used baking soda to propel it. Probably has something to do with those pesky hackers making everything so inconvenient. Do you know of a good page ranking tool for a MAC using Safari or Mozilla?

In the meanwhile, I am holding on to hope that the PR checker I’m using remains viable.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,400 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

I discovered Diane’s penchant for detail last year when helping her decorate for Christmas. I was arranging the Angels and Animals for the Creche incorrectly she pointed out. “Really? They have to be arranged exactly the same every year? Maybe you need to color code them”, I said teasingly in my signature Rhino brand mouth!

Diane is a successful XOCAI Healthy Chocolate multilevel marketing distributor. She reads everything recommended by the ultra successful chocolate company to educate herself and improve the appeal of presentation and product pitch skills.

Diane is also a ‘retired’ CPA. I say ‘retired’ CPA, but she generously offers her services to a few select small businesses and Hide A Heart is the beneficiary of her good will and interest.

I recently mentioned to Diane that I would like to set up a ‘brainstorming’ session over coffee or lunch to discuss creative ways to market Hide A Heart. Diane immediately brought up the Go for No! book by Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz she is re-reading that points out that, “Every no is a potential opportunity to learn what the customer wants you to offer.”

“Marketing on Air requires some pretty creative thinking,” I announced to my friends at coffee this morning. Then I launched into sharing the information Diane told me, “First you tell them what your product can do for them, then….” and that’s when my friend Judi said, “Ah yes, you WIIFM!” “What’s that,” I asked? “What’s In It For Me?…WIIFM.” I think this may also be referred to as ‘incentive marketing’, similar to the appeal of the medieval practice of a Baker’s Dozen , AKA ‘vantage loaf’.

So I started to wonder how Hide A Heart might take advantage of the WIIFM and WIIFU (What’s in it for Us) model and be part of the rainbow for you?

Hide A Heart is the answer!

Hide A Heart is a gift of inspiration and comfort that is simple, sweet and endearing any time of the year . Given as a romantic gift, hiding the heart is fun for couples. Shared between parents and teens or other family members when verbal dialog can be tricky, the heart is a symbol of positive communication. The glass hearts are made in the USA by American workers and Hide A Heart is budget-friendly with R.O.I. (return on investment) that’s priceless!

You be the star!

Send a note and photo to hideaheart@gmail.com telling us where you last found your heart and we will feature YOUR story on our blogs, in news articles, interviews and included in the anthology of Hide A Heart: Little hearts that say a lot….without saying a word

January 1-30 2012

Every NEW Hide A Heart ETSY customer receives 10% of every direct sale he/she generates this month!

No matter which way you look at it, WIIFM or WIIFU=WIN-WIN and that’s an idea that appeals to my Baker’s Dozen sensibilities and being part of the rainbow for YOU.

What do you have planned for your small business in 2012?

Happy New Year!

Things done well in 2011

1. Improved upon photos
2. Improved Etsy Shop banner
3. Took control and improved the Hide A Heart web site
4. Improved product descriptions
5. Increased sales from 268 in 2010 to over 400 in 2011 (I set a goal of 600….maybe I was a little too optimistic but one has to believe in one’s product!)
6. Increased Twitter Followers from 900 in 2010 to over 2000 in 2011
7. Increased Facebook Fanpage from 800 in 2010 to over 1500 in 2011
8. Added new hearts

8.  Improved the HAH logo and packaging

9.  Increased the Hide A Heart blogspot HAHtourage members from 50 in 2010 to over 200 in 2011 and wordpress blog followers from 8 to 20!

10.  Expanded the web presence of Hide A Heart

11.  Placed Hide A Heart in several ’boutique’ shops: New Seasons Market, Crave Bake Shop, Nest Interiors, Multnomah Athletic Club, and a couple of Naturopathic offices

Things to do better in 2012

♥Improve blogging posts with better SEO…I must understand how to do this to succeed! ♥Increase direct sales–2012 is the year the rubber hits the road and approach at least ONE potential customer every day ♥Continue to create alliances and relationships to put this simple, sweet and fun romantic gift or gift of wellness into every home….one heart at a time.

Tell me what Hide A Heart can do for YOU and I believe together we can create a perfect WIIFU!