Crystal Martin – Latonia’s Dream Shoppe
Name: Crystal Martin
Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a 27 year old SAHM/WAHM of two children, a son and a daughter. I have been
married for nine years to my highschool sweetheart. I love creating gifts and
crafts for my family and friends. I have really enjoyed designing my site. I
love learning new things. I hope to create a family atmosphere on my site and I
would love to include my children in my ventures. Church, Family and Home are
the most important things in my life and to carry that over into my business is
a wonderful feeling.
What is your business name and web address:
Latonia’s Dream Shoppe
www.latoniasdream.com
What inspired you to become a work at home mom:
My mom passed away in 2003 and she always made my Easter Baskets and gifts for
me. She loved to draw and create crafts. She passed this love on to me and my
children and this site seemed like a perfect way to honor her memory. The chance
to do something I love to do and to stay home with my children in the process
was very appealing to me. it has strengthened our family in such a way that I
could never begin to describe, while also lettng me feel my mother’s spirit with
me in a new way.
Tell us a little about your business:
We create a variety of Beautiful Gift Baskets/Candy Bouquets, Handmade Purses &
Totes, Custom Candy Wrappers, Handmade Soft Sculpture Dolls and any more Gifts
and Crafts! We offer something for every occasion and strive to create
customized gifts for every customer. Our customers satisfaction is our goal and
together we can come up with a gift perfect for each individual. If you are
looking for something and we don’t have it, simply send us a request and we will
try our very best to create exactly what you are looking for!!!
Is there any advice that you would like to share with other women that are
interested in working from home:
Stay true to yourself and your instincts! Be Kind! Be Patient! Trust in the Lord
for He will guide you through! ‘Treat others as you would have them treat you’
is the best way to forge ahead to meet your goals. Don’t be afraid to try
something new because it may be your calling!
What has been the most effective advertising method for you:
Free Samples and Word of Mouth. The MomPack has helped to get the word out. It
is a wonderful advertising/sharing experience.
Can you share with us one negative business experience that you learned from:
Just because someone hurts your feelings or an idea doesn’t pan out, doesn’t
mean you have to change who you are or how you choose to handle your business.
Someone didn’t like my ideas but instead of giving up, I pushed ahead with my
ideas and have come such a long way.
Who’s buying your products and where are they coming from?
I just discovered a new piece of software called Conversion Gold.
The script allows you to copy and paste a little snippet of code within one or all of your websites and produces reports of the conversion rates that your sites receive.
These reports will tell you such things as who are buying your products, where they are coming from and how much they are spending.
For those using Pay Per Click campaigns it can be a pain to have to login to each of your accounts to see what kind of performance you are getting, with Conversion Gold you can simply login to your admin area and receive all reports in one place – just having that ability is what sold me. I will now be able to check all of my sites in one place.
I am just getting started with the software and will keep you all up to date, but I think that it is going to be a winner in my book.
You can view an online demo of the software in action right now.
4 Ways of Increasing Your Profits Using Images
Images not only can create an aesthetically pleasing atmosphere for users,
but they can also (and more importantly) help you gain credibility, and
ultimately sales if done correctly. Here are some great ways to increase your
credibility:
1. Self Portraits/Customer photos
Having a photo of yourself on your sales page will help your customers feel more
at home, and that they’re dealing with a real person, and not just a machine.
This increases your credibility in the viewer’s eye because it adds a personal
touch, and you will see your sales increase when you employ such methods. A
great place to place a self portrait is in an ‘about me’ section of your site or
newsletter. If you don’t have a section like this, you should consider creating
one because this, just like the image will increase your credibility and your
conversion rate.
Another way of using pictures to increase your conversion rate is by using
customer photos. You should place these on customer testimonials, and when
people view them, they will see that this is a real customer that is satisfied
with your product, and they will carry much more weight this way. Testimonials
alone are a great way to increase conversions, so don’t hesitate to make them
even more effective by adding customer photos. The only problem here is
acquiring the photos themselves, since many people do not have a self portrait,
but that shouldn’t stop you from asking your customers for them, and maybe even
offer them discounts for some incentive! The choice is yours.
2. Product Packaging
Product packaging images – this means, regardless of what you’re selling, be it
tangible or intangible, to offer images of your product. If you’re selling an
ebook, create an ebook cover. If you’re selling an actual book, show a photo of
it. What this does is explain to the viewer of your site that your product is
‘real’ and that they’re really getting something when they’re spending their
money. It’s been proven that simply showing an ebook cover on a sales page can
increase conversion rates by over 50%! You can’t afford to miss out on something
so simple that will increase your sales this much, so make it a point to have
some product packaging!
3. Physical Evidence of Product’s Success
This can mean an infinite number of things depending on what you’re selling, but
in a nutshell, try to include a photo of something that lets your site’s
visitors know that the product you’re selling actually works. Some examples: If
you’re selling a book on internet marketing, show a picture of a check you’ve
received while using the techniques explained in your book. If you’re selling a
book on bodybuilding, show before and after pictures of someone who has
practiced the methods explained in the book. These kinds of things will
drastically increase the viewer’s excitement in your product and will get them
itching to whip out their credit cards!
4. Soothing, Pleasant Graphics
You want your site’s look to be welcoming just like a big soft sofa, so your
viewers are visually relaxed and not constantly being annoyed. Things to avoid
are animated icons and bright/flashy/uncomplimentary colors as these are very
unprofessional, leading your visitors to believe your product may also be
unprofessional. Plus, these things may turn away some visitors altogether, so do
your best to avoid them. Train yourself to use softer colors, softer gradients,
softer backgrounds, etc. And you (and your visitors) will reap the benefits.
If you practice some or all of these methods you will see great improvements in
your conversion rates, so don’t take them lightly. People will read interesting
copy, but nothing builds credibility like a bit of positive imagery. Hope you’ve
learned something!
Barrett Phillips is webmaster of Baphi.com and Author of ‘Simply Design -
Aesthetics That Sell’
His book offers tutorials on Ebook Cover Design, Logo Design, and Web Page
Design geared towards intenet entrepreneurs.?http://www.baphi.com/
14 Ways To Persuade Your Web Site Visitors To Give You Their Email Address
1. Ask visitors to subscribe to your e-zine. It’s a good idea to also give them
a freebie when they subscribe.
2. Have them sign-up to get access to download a free ebook. The subject of the
ebook should be related to your target audience.
3. Give your visitors a free membership inside your member’s only web site. Have
them sign-up to receive a user name and password.
4. Hold a free contest or sweepstakes at your web site. Ask them to give you
their contact information to enter.
5. Offer your visitors free consulting via e-mail. Have them fill out a web form
to e-mail you with their questions.
6. Hold an interactive poll on your web site. Ask your visitors to e-mail you
their vote or opinion.
7. Ask your visitors to sign-up for a chance to get a web site award. Have them
e-mail you their contact and web site information.
8. Have visitors fill out a survey on your web site. Give them a free gift as an
incentive to complete the form.
9. Offer a free online service from your web site. Have visitors fill out their
contact information to sign-up to the free service.
10. Ask visitors to sign your guest book. Tell them they will get a free gift in
return.
11. Offer a free affiliate program for your visitors. They will have to sign-up
in order to receive marketing materials and commissions.
12. Allow visitors to submit a free classified ad on your web site. Require them
to give a valid e-mail address in order to post an ad.
13. Give people who visit your web site a free course sent via autoresponder.
Just ask them to fill out their contact information to receive the free course.
14. Offer your visitors free software to download. Have them sign-up to get an
access code to unlock the software.
Lise Godin is a student at Success Universtiy.
http://lise.successuniversity.com/slim
They have assembled over 50 of the most amazing minds on the planet to bring you
the most advanced online courses on SUCCESS ever assembled. Now you can even
Earn While You Learn with their Business Opportunity. For a Special Offer go to:
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Jillian Vest – White Lily Candles
Name: Jillian Vest
Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a young mom of two wonderful little girls Kylie who is 23months and Allison
who is 8months and I am also a wife to a wonderful man who is a marine. We live
in Virginia and are getting ready to move to North Carolina this December since
my husband is being transferred down there.
What is your business name and web address:
I am a consultant with White Lily Candles and my website is
www.crazy4candles.com
What inspired you to become a work at home mom:
I have been a stay at home mom since the birth of my second little girl in
December 2004 and I wanted to still be able to help my husband provide for our
family so when I found White Lily and their wonderful products as well as their
great opportunity I leaped at the chance to become a consultant and I am so glad
that I did because now I can help with some of the little things as my business
grows.
Tell us a little about your business:
White Lily candles makes hand-poured soy candles, luxurious bath & body
products, hand-dipped stuffed animals dipped in your favorite white lily scent
and votive holders and there are always new products coming. We also hold
fundraisers for those in need of some financial help by making a candle in their
name and donating a part of the purchase price to them. The candles smell
wonderful and they burn until all that is left is the little metal peice at the
bottom and the body products smell great as well, leaving your skin soft and
smelling wonderful for hours after you applied it even after sleeping or washing
your hands numerous times!
Is there any advice that you would like to share with other women that are
interested in working from home:
The only advice I can see giving is to keep at it, do not give up! Your business
will succeed it just takes time and patience and lots of advertising to make it
grow. Word of mouth is a wonderful thing and when you have a wonderful product
such as white lily for example you will have customers for life, just keep at it
and you will do great!
What has been the most effective advertising method for you:
Word of mouth from family and friends, link exchanges with other wonderful work
at home moms, being a member of the mompack which is a great group of moms who
each help promote each other and last but not least not being afraid to ask
someone you don’t know if they would like to try your product.
Can you share with us one negative business experience that you learned from:
I am still so new at this that I do not have one of these experiences yet.
Mention that you were referred to me through this website and I will give you a
free gift with any order of $25 or more, this applies to orders sent directly to
me and not through the company website.
