Owner: ShopDogDiaries URL:http://shopdogdiaries.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:33:28 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: These are the daily chronicles of a "Work at Home" dog and his mom as they search for new and exciting ways to grow their home business via the internet, and at the same time find a healthy balance between work and everyday life. Site statistics:Click here
THIS BLOG HAS MOVED! 2008-02-13 04:14:00 I few days back I said I was movin'Well, my new URL is you happen to have me bookmarked, please update. Sorry to all you chaindropping Entrecarders if this screws you up!I'm still working on the layout of the new blog, I have a few things I have to fix that didn't transfer quite right when I moved the stuff from Blogger to WordPress. Plus I'm still playing with some things and have to get a few plug-ins yet.I will be leaving this post up for awhile and will start to disassemble this blog. Hopefully all goes well.Thanks for understanding.Heidi
WooHoo! I won something! 2008-02-12 10:34:00 I'd been spending a good amount of time reading through the Entrecard forums lately (but still don't participate much), and I decided to check out Promotions and Events. I found a contest by My Consoling Asylum who was giving away 250 credits to the first person to solve a logic problem. I normally wouldn't jump at 250cr, but it was the logic problem that caught my eye. I was the first person with the correct answer. Well as it turned out, not only did I win 250cr, but my 125x125 ShopDogDiaries ad will be shown on his blog for a week. How cool is that?The name of the contest is Mindcracking Monday Monster. Check out next week's puzzle for a chance to win credits and some ad space. Read more:something
So You Want To Buy Some Custom T-Shirts, But You Don't Know Where To Start? PART 3 2008-02-07 14:25:00 This is a continuation of a previous post. You can read Part 1 here.5. How many will you be ordering?Your per shirt cost is affecting by the total quantity you order. It's simple math. There are certain up front expenses which need to be billed out whether you're ordering 1 shirt or 100.The first expense which get's thrown into your order is the cost of getting the shirts from the distributor to my screen printing shop. I have to pay shipping on each box of shirts sent to me whether there's 2 shirts in that box or 72. I refuse to eat that cost, therefore the cost is reflected in your bill.Second, whether I have to print just 1 shirt or 100, it takes the same amount of time to do the artwork, burn the screens, and set up the job. This IS the bulk of what you're paying for. So if your up Read more:Shirts
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So You Want To Buy Some Custom T-Shirts, But You Don't Know Where To Start? PART 2 2008-02-04 21:03:00 This is a continuation of a previous post. You can read Part 1 here.3. Do you have a preference for 100% cotton? 50/50? Heavyweight?Some people still think it's 1978. It's not. 100% cotton t-shirts have come a long way since then. The "pre-shrinking" process has improved to the point where I can confidently say that, "yes, this shirt IS preshrunk." Of course you will have variances from brand to brand (some better, some worse), but overall, shirts do pretty much keep their shape. 50/50's do shrink less than 100% cotton's, but manufacturers make up the difference by cutting 100% tees a little bigger to begin with. So the bottom line is there is no distinct advantage to buying a 50/50 over a 100% cotton shirt if your main concern is shrinkage. Um... for your t-shirts that is.(I have Read more:Shirts
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ShopDogDiaries is getting an Extreme Makeover! 2008-02-02 23:48:00 I don't know about you, but I hate this template. But rather than going through the trouble of just changing over to a new Blogger template and retaining some of the limitations inherent in Blogger, I've gone ahead and downloaded a template in WordPress and am in the process of modifying it the old-fashioned trial-and-error way, since I'm not as geeky as some of you out there!I also got the domain name: ShopDogDiaries.com. If you go there now, you'll see a mess. I'm messing around with widths, text alignments, spacing, and NO, that is not the image that goes in my header... I just needed something quick to put in there so I could tinker with the template.Of course my last trick is going to be transferring the content from this blog to the new one. Supposedly it's a click of the mouse, Read more:Extreme
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Hello? 2008-02-01 23:33:00 I'm still here, just haven't had time to post and drop my Entrecards lately. I've had a busy couple days with work, hockey, and taking care of some personal business - so something had to give. Unfortunately, that "something" happens to be the three blogs I've got going!Hopefully at some point over the weekend I can free up a little more time to take care of my blogging duties and get a little caught up in the community happenings.Thanks for stopping by!Heidi Read more:Hello
So You Want To Buy Some Custom T-Shirts, But You Don't Know Where To Start? PART 1 2008-01-30 22:00:00 I find that most people who call or email me for a quote for screen printing are a bit clueless. They think they know what they want, but once you start talking to them, it's like people trying to carry on a conversation speaking separate languages.I know I'm putting you all on the spot here, and believe me, I'm not trying to be mean about this. After-all, it's not your fault you don't know a darn thing about screen printing, right?I've learned over the years that it's best to guide the customer to making a decision. So I have 7 basic questions I ask right off the bat. The answers to these questions help me give the most accurate quote possible. Plus, it allows me to steer an undecided customer toward something that is my preference. Let's face it, the bottom line is: how can I make Read more:Shirts
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My SouthPark Avatar 2008-01-30 08:34:00 In my Entrecard chain-dropping adventures this morning, I saw this post over at Geek Mom Mashup. She posted a link to a site where you can create your very own South Park avatar based on your personality. So I decided to create a couple reflecting me and my husband, Joe!If you want to make one for yourself, go to Read more:Avatar
My Screen Printing Evolution Pt. 2 2008-01-28 07:21:00 This is a continuation of a previous post, so in order to not be "lost", I suggest you read Part 1. Thanks!Where was I?OK, when I worked at Apple (Imprints, that is), I did both manual and automatic printing. When I was hired, the company (owned by brothers Jack and Kevin) had 2 manual presses - a 4-color table top Atlas and 6-color Atlas, and a cute little 2-color automatic. The owners kind of took a liking to me and made me "the production manager" of their shop. Which in a way is kind of funny since I was the only printer working there at first! But as their business grew and additional employees were hired, so did my responsibilities. Since I was the only one there who had real automatic experience (from when I worked with Jon Weiss), the company flew Jack and I to the annual Scr Read more:Printing
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Blogging Update 2008-01-26 14:44:00 I've been hard at work (or hardly working!) on my other internet fun stuff. I had bought a few domain names awhile back with the intent of creating websites or blogs using them. I also signed up for Hostgator a month ago with the intent of taking advantage of their unlimited add-on domains capability. They use cPanel which I was unfamiliar with, so once I opened it up and took a look - I wanted to burst into tears in total frustration! What the heck was I looking at?! You see, my previous web-hosting experience was through Yahoo Business Hosting which, as it turns out, is idiot proof web-hosting! Whereas cPanel has so many options that my head began to spin. Well, it's been a month now, and I've taken the time to figure out the basics. I now have three add-on domains, two of which Read more:Blogging
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My Screen Printing Evolution 2008-01-25 07:19:00 In my last post I was hemmin' & hawin' about what direction to go in with my blog here. I've been so caught up in a few of my projects (blogging and otherwise) that I failed to realize that 4 days have passed since I made that post. Sorry!I've decided that the best direction to go is to concentrate on blogging on what I know. Duh! Of course I will blog on other techie and blogging type stuff from a "discovery" perspective, because that's what it is for me at this point as I'm not an expert in the field. And I will throw in the gratuitous doggie posts because, well, this IS ShopDogDiaries!But what I know is this: Screen Printing
.OK, let's set the record straight. It is NOT silk-screen printing. It used to be silk-screen printing, but not anymore - and it hasn't been for many many year Read more:Evolution
Re-thinking ShopDogDiaries 2008-01-21 08:48:00 Can someone please tell me what this blog is about?In my blog-surfing adventures, I've noticed that one of the most popular topics for bloggers is: "kinds of blogs I hate" - or something along those lines. Usually the types of blogs which top those lists are the "make money" blogs. Another is the "random - this blog is about nothing in particular" blog.I guess I'm guilty of both! Oh well.I will admit though that some of the best blogs out there are the ones which stick to a theme and make the most of it. Whether you call it niche blogging or whatever term you choose to use, I personally don't mind the "make money" blogs so long as they provide some useful information.I just think that there are a lot of people out there who took the same advice I took. Some internet marketing guru said Read more:thinking
My Power Mall - A Road To Financial Freedom OR Just More Wishful Thinking? 2008-01-21 03:01:00 You may or may not have noticed that blue flash ad I placed in my right sidebar that states, "Dreaming of FinancialFreedom
? Wake up with MyPowerMall: Making your dream a reality! Always 100% free!"In my internet adventures a few weeks back, I stumbled upon an ad similar to this which led me to the MyPowerMall (MPM) site. On the site is a 30-minute video presentation explaining what MPM is all about. But what really got my attention was the fact that it was FREE. Free is good.Basically, when you sign up for MPM you get 2 URL's. One is the URL that you do your own shopping through, the other is the one which you use to promote MPM - for instance - the one you will click on here.In all the hype and hoopla about MPM, Ginny Dye, the founder explains that MyPowerMall is not MLM (multi-level
Goin' On Another Roadtrip! 2008-01-18 03:55:00 I'm leaving this afternoon for Toronto to play in a hockey tournament with my team. I'll be back again on Monday. Read more:Roadtrip
My Local Yellow Pages Scammed Me! 2008-01-18 02:36:00 It's funny how memories just pop in your head sometimes, isn't it? With all this networking going on, I began to think back of all the advertising techniques I'd used to promote my business. Then there is was... that one sore spot, that bad memory of being scammed by my local yellow pages.I advertised in the YellowPages
for several years before this had happened. You know, standard procedure, small business takes out ad in local book. One year I had gotten behind in my monthly payments and had accrued a debt of a little over $400 by the end of the yearly billing cycle. Needless to say, when they called me to advertise in the coming year's book, I declined because I didn't even have the money to pay my past due balance - never mind adding more debt on top of it! So, as is typical, th Read more:Local
Networking Updates 2008-01-16 23:38:00 1) eBay - I am pleased to say that I managed to sell 5 t-shirts, a dvd, and a dvd movie lot in the past 2 days on eBay with little or no effort. I haven't really been actively promoting myself on the eBay site these past few weeks, so I can only guess that my recent activity on a few social networking sites has helped.2) Entrecard - I've devised a card dropping system to suit my needs. To the best of my ability and time, I've been bookmarking the Entrecarders who've taken the time to drop on me, advertise on my blog, allowed me to advertise on theirs, or who've commented on my blog or have messaged me through the Entrecard system. At one point, I was going to attempt to make my way through the whole site (see my post here), but I have so much else on my plate - afterall, I'm in business
Something Close To My Heart 2008-01-16 19:44:00 I am pleased to have discovered a few blogs dedicated to pet rescue. They are HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer, Save A Shelter Pet, and Paws Awhile. I must confess that I have the potential to be one of those weird "cat ladies" as I have been known to take in strays. I think the most I've had in my house at any given time was 3 dogs and 8 cats! I DO have my limits. First off, the City of Buffalo only allows 3 dogs on your property, unless you have a kennel permit - which I've been very tempted to look into. There are no limit on cats, but cats being the way they are, I look to maintain a level of peace in the house. Some cats get a little buggy and leave poopies in places they're not supposed to, so I choose not to fill my house with cats. I need to maintain a certain Read more:Close
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Featured on Saphrym.com Today 2008-01-16 00:31:00 Cool beans! My blog was featured on Saphrym.com's January 15th Daily Read.For those of you who have never heard of Saphrym, he is blogging about his weight loss experience. So far he's lost 70 pounds since July! He also holds top spot on the 30 most popular sites in the Entrecard community. Pay him a visit when you get a chance. Read more:Featured
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The Reality of Self-employment and Small Business 2008-01-15 17:34:00 When there's no work....You don't get paid.One of the difficult things about being in screen printing is that it is a seasonal business. My household suffers a double whammy because my husband, Joe, is in the same line of work. He works for two other local screen printers, one of which I do artwork for as shown in my post on Friday. Unfortunately, both of Joe's employers have been slow for the past few weeks and I haven't had much printing work in myself, so money is extremely tight. Of course it figures that this is my busiest time of year with hockey, having gone on a road trip this past weekend and will be going on another to Toronto this coming weekend.Joe managed to get a day's work yesterday, but keep in mind... this is Buffalo, NY where a good paying job is $10 an hour, yet we g Read more:employment
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Who IS Peter Foti??? 2008-01-14 19:07:00 I just bid on the most bizarre auction on eBay!I paid a visit to the Entrecard forum where I stumbled upon this post by Sam at Sam Freedom's Internet Marketing Controversy Blog. And in a momentary lapse of reason, I bid on this auction. Thank God my husband doesn't know half the crazy stuff I do while I'm online!H. Read more:Peter
Entrecard Update 2008-01-14 13:29:00 I realize not all Entrecarders are not as neurotic as I am. I'm one of those OCD people who makes lists and goes over the same thing over and over again in fear of overlooking something! I'm poking fun at myself here and I'm hoping that others like myself who've found Entrecard to be, um, addictive will find at least a little bit of humor in this.Shortly after I joined Entrecard, I went to the main Campaign page and did a print out of all the categories. My original intention was to systematically go through every category and drop a card on each and every blog. But as it's turning out, Entrecard is growing much faster than I can keep up. I did the print out on 1/9. At the time there were 40 categories with a total of 1840 blogs.I visited the same page today and found Entrecard membe Read more:Update
goin' on a roadtrip! 2008-01-12 00:52:00 I'm goin' on the road with my hockey team this weekend for a two game road trip. Yes you heard me right... I play ice hockey... on a women's team... yep.Buddy will be staying home with daddy while mommy hits the road with her unruly bunch of female hockey playing friends! First stop is Syracuse where we will play the Rome Grizzlies, Saturday 7:15pm, Cicero Arena, then on the way home we will play the Rochester Susan B's, Sunday 12:45pm, Valley Park Arena. We need fans. So if anybody happens to be in upstate NY this weekend, check us out. We play women's Senior C, so don't expect much!Needless to say, I will be away from my computer for awhile, so don't be too offended if I don't return comments and emails and such until Monday!
Don't Quit Your Day Job! 2008-01-11 23:03:00 As much as I aspire to be an internet marketing mogul, truth be known... I won't be quitting my day job any time soon! In a little over a week's time I've made a whopping $.91, yes that's ninety one cents, from Google Adsense. Of course my husband and I jumped up and down and high-fived each other! We're trying to think positive; you gotta start somewhere right?In the event you're all wondering (I know you're not, but I'll tell you anyway) how my day job is going, below are the pics of the artwork and final product of that job I pulled the all-nighter to finish a couple days back.IMAGE 1: to the left is the chicken scratch concept the customer gave along with a partially ripped sticker (right) that was pulled off an adult beverage bottle. I don't know why it is, but this is typically w
Don't You Hate When People Use "Click Here" For Their Links? 2008-01-11 00:08:00 Yeah, it's annoying and amateurish, but you know what? Believe it or don't, there are still people out there that wouldn't know where to click if there wasn't a flashing neon sign with a big fat underline that said, "click here."I'm one of those semi-literate web people who chooses to use click here or read more when linking to things. Granted, the average fifth grader is more tech savvy than the average over 50-something, but to be fair to the old-timers, I like to spell things out a bit. When I'm laying out a web page or site I say to myself, "ok, can my husband figure this out!" So if an occasional click here is needed to get the reader to follow the link, then I have no problem with using it.I've come across this topic of discussion more than once in the last couple days. The last Read more:Click
My 15 Minutes of Fame as an eBay PowerSeller 2008-01-09 21:29:00 Yes, here's some shameless self-promotion! I had a short-lived stint as an eBay PowerSeller last spring... um, before they made it easy to become a PowerSeller!The standard used to be that you had to show $1000 a month in sales for 3 months to qualify for PowerSeller status, then of course you had to maintain it to keep it. They have since made it easier for vendors to get PS status by allowing then to qualify by volume rather than dollar amount. So now the standard is $1000/mo. or 100 units sold regardless of dollar amount which in a way is a joke. A guy who sells 100 99-cent ebooks gets the much coveted PS logo next to his eBay ID, while the person who sells 90 $10 t-shirts falls short!Yeah, I'm whining! Well, at least I can boast that I got my PS certificate the old-fashioned way.
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