Holiday Shopping Online

Here we go into the 1st week of December, so how is your Christmas shopping coming along? I have been pretty successful. I actually scored some FREE after ECB's gifts at CVS on Thanksgiving night. Who woulda thought???

Scored good prices online for Wii games and accessories for the kids from Gamestop, Toysrus and my all-time favorite Amazon. If you find yourself missing out on all the deals, here's a heads-up: Tomorrow at Amazon, all the Gold Box Deals will be for the Wii. How cool is that. Check it out right here: Amazon Wii Gold Box Deals

For those of you who are shopping for younger kids, Amazon is busy slashing their prices on some very HOT toys! These are the latest deals I found:




From Baby Alive Learns to Potty to the Eyeclops Night Vision Goggles, Amazon's prices are the rock bottom lowest I've seen this year. Pick yours up now before they all sell out at these prices!!

Edgefest 2008

This past weekend I spent some quality time with two of my teenagers as we attended "Edgefest 2008" at the Altamont Fairgrounds in Altamont,New York. The weather kept good for pretty much the whole day although we did experience a few quick rain showers.

There were a total of 15 different bands performing but my favorites were P.O.D. , Filter and Everclear. My sis and daughter got the surprise and thrill of their lives as they were walking back from the bathrooms and saw the lead singer of Filter, Richard Patrick, by his tour bus. They went up and complimented him on a great performance and shook his hand. He was very down to earth and friendly! Needless to say, I was bummed but they were ecstatic for the rest of the day!

Do you know Richard's brother, Robert Patrick? Betcha you do. He is John Doggett from the X-files and T-1000 from Terminator 2 , as well as starring in many other movies.

Here is a few pics from our wonderful day of great live music!

Embracing The Squidoo Experience

Just about everyone who knows about Web 2.0 has a Squidoo lens. Some have 2-3, others have made it a competition, personal endeavor and/or money-maker have anywhere upwards to 300-500 lenses!

I started out with three lenses, Nightmare Before Christmas, Decorate with Disney and For Those About to Rock. Their main purpose was to advertise our Fun Cool Collectibles business and showcase our merchandise. This goal has been met. We get a steady flow of traffic and a good conversion rate on our products.

But as in every business, goals can always be improved, revamped and widened. One of the steps of my new goal was to update and improve on my current lenses. Fresh updated information is a key to a good Lensrank at Squidoo. So I spent the day updating my lenses and reading up on new information. Two things became of this process that is worth mentioning:

1.)I learned about important new places to submit my lenses:

Lensroll: This site is basically Digg for Squidoo lenses. You can submit your lenses (a maximum of two per day)and users can vote for them.
Squoogle: This site is a link directory not only for Squidoo lenses but also Hubpages, Gather etc.
LensMasterWorld: This site is a Squidoo Directory for Lensmasters. Submit your lenses here.
Squidom: This site is called "The Kingdom of Squid" You can submit your lens and vote for your favorites. A nice added touch on this site is that when you add your lens, it also gets twittered on Twitter!

2.) I stumbled across this lens, "Are You a Stay-at-Home Mom(or Dad)Interested in Earning a Monthly Income". This person outlines her past year and a half on Squidoo and documents the money she has earned from her lenses and affiliates. She breaks it down month by month and by how many lenses she had live during that time. It grabbed my attention, it also gave me a renewed interest in taking a closer look at Squidoo as more than just a traffic generator, but as a real moneymaker. So I have been reading and researching, absorbing the tips and tricks on the many different lenses of the Giant Squids. I will take time but I will share how I proceed and if I get lucky and start earning more than 3 bucks a month.

My new improved serious attitude for creating lenses was applied in the new lens I made today, "All About Tinker Bell"

Oh and as previous mentioned in another post this week, I also created a lens about my son with Autism. That now brings me up to 5 active lenses. Yes a far cry from becoming a Giant Squid, but nonetheless, a start.

If you are new to Squidoo or would like to learn more about optimizing your lens, I recommend checking out the new Squidoo Answer Deck Headquarters.

Garage Sale Fever? What's wrong?

Well I've spent the last 2 weeks trying to clean out some of the 15 years of accumulated junk. It's been a S-L-O-W painful process but finally got a good start for a yawn sale. As I sit and price stuff I think what a great way to get rid of this stuff quickly and pass some great steals onto others. Yeah right! The first weekend (last week) was marred a bit by extremely hot weather and severe thunderstorms. But customers did come and BROWSE.

One of my first customers took a took at my Disney DVD's priced at $2.00 and $3.00 and informed me the lady up the road was selling Disney movies for .25 a piece and I would do better if I DROPPED my prices. I just smiled sweetly and fought off the urge to go running and buy all the Disney movies at the other garage sale for a quarter. LOL. But seriously, an hour later 2 of the Disney movies were gone. I know times are tough and everybody is looking for a good deal but since when did garage/lawn sales become so....CHEAP???

Gas and food have skyrocketed to unbelieveable new heights. People should be flocking to garage sales, especially as the new school year is just a month away. I have good quality teen clothes for .10, .25, .50. Name brand jeans for $1.00 in almost new condition? But where are all the buyers. I was quite depressed.

This week so far has faired much better. Today yielded almost $100. I know if I lived in a big city I would be celebrating right now as I prolly would have sold everything! But I live in a small town in a line of small towns and those gas prices can be a real yard sale killer.

I just want to clear out the bulk of the stuff and give the rest to charity. But I'd just like to do it quickly...more quicker than weekly weekend sales. I considered auctions but at 30% commission..hmmm..I'll pass for now. I'm leaning toward listing the really good stuff on craiglist or kijiji, wonder if that will have any rate of success. I hear of others having good luck. Guess I won't know til I try.

If anyone knows any tips or tricks, success stories for craiglaist or kijiji? Drop me a comment. Much appreciated.

Getting back to Business

I am feeling quite proud of myself today. I managed to remember to Twitter. I updated two of my Squidoo lenses and created a new lens "Growing Up With Autism" which was very personal to me. It talks about my son, Jonathan, who has autism. I think it came out good, real good. I hope other enjoy reading it too!

Sales this past week have been fantastic! I cannot believe how many we've had. July has always been the slowest month in past years but this year may break that trend. I don't know why but I think the ability to access the internet while on vacation in hotels , hot spots and mobile phones plays a big part. No longer are people away from the net while on vacation. Which is great for our online business!

Tomorrow I will work on blogging and my websites.

Patches 1998-2008

Our family pet Patches died earlier this week, she was 10 years old. She was a beautiful calico colored cat with a gentle soul. She and I were not very close until after I split with my ex-husband, it was then she seemed to change and adapt, becoming my protector. If I was yelling at the kids or crying, she would come running into the room and look at me meowing..until I reassured her all was well.

She "talked" to me all the time, my daughter, was always a bit jealous cause Mommy could get Patches to meow on demand and she couldn't. And purr, she had one of the loudest purr motors I have ever heard!

At night, she would make the rounds, slepping for a bit in each of the kids rooms, until finally settling down for the night on my hips. And she would drive the boys crazy, following them around all day when she was in heat.

This past year she had become very thin, she threw her food up regularly. She went through a same dark period last year but seemed to work through it and regain her weight back. This time around though, I could sense a loosing battle, I suspected a form of stomach cancer had taken over her body and this time she would not win the fight. She never seemed in any pain which I am grateful for.

It was particularly hard to learn of her passing away when I came home from work. I felt sad and upset that I hadn't been able to be home and spend any time with her the day she passed. My daughter who was 5 yrs old when she picked Patches out of a box in front of our local Wal-mart, took it the hardest. They practically grew up together.

As the circle of life must go, we will start over with a new kitty, prolly by next month. Deep down, both my daughter and I know, there will be no other kitty in our lifetime that will ever be or take the place, of our dearly beloved Patches.

We love you, rest in peace!

Andy Warhol What a Find!

Andy Warhol, one of America's most imaginative artists of the 20th Century. He just didn't go around a paint trees, rivers, oranges, or whatever Artists draw to starve to death. He was one of the first to poke fun at America Pop Culture. It doesn't matter what class you came from, you probably drink Coke. His little artistic jabs at America's obsession with money and fame was the source of much of his work. It is amazing to think that shortly after his death, it took Sotheby's nine days to dispose of $20 million dollars worth of his estate. He also had much more in investments. He did not die a starving artist!

At Fun Cool Collectibles have a found clothing and bags with some licensed Andy Warhol pop culture images on them. I love looking at them. It is like looking at true American Icons. Check them out at Fun Cool Collectibles

Happy Memorial Day

Wow has the past month flew by! It's been very busy here. My oldest turns 17 years old next week. He attended his first prom..his junior prom and had a fun time. My daughter has been busy training for the 30th Annual Freihofer's Run for Woman in Albany next Saturday. This will be her 3rd time running the 5K, not bad for a 14 year old. She really enjoys it and it gives her such a sense of accomplishment. And my youngest son, has been practicing for his piano recital in June. He has really done well with his piano lessons. Sometimes, because of his autism, he has a hard time learning the notes. He finds it easier to play by ear and memorize the music. But I am really impressed by how far he has come. He also has a very wonderful piano teacher who knows just how to get the best out of him during his lessons.

How proud I am of my kids! Looking forward to a nice Memorial Day weekend, warm weather and hot dogs and hamburgers off the grill! Hope yours is as fun!

Oh and Fun Cool Collectibles is running a Memorial Day Sale too!

New Alice in Wonderland merchandise in stock now!

Check out these recently added Disney Alice in Wonderland merchandise:

Alice in Wonderland Yellow Thermal Hooded Shirt
Alice in Wonderland Bangle Bracelet
Alice in Wonderland Pendant Necklace
Alice in Wonderland Hardcover Journal

So while you are anxiously awaiting news on the cast and production of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, pick up a few of these favorites for yourself.

Comic Con in NYC

My son just got back from this weekend's Comic Con 2008 in New York City. This was his first real trip to something like this and he had a ball.

This is a picture(above) of him with Judith Park, the author of YSquare He received an autographed copy for free.

Here's a picture(right) of Blue from "CatBlue Dynamite" a film by Romanov Higa. He will also be the director of the "Appleseed Genesis" TV series. Another big highlight at the convention was Code Geass(pictured below)
It was truly a weekend to remember for him. Stan Lee was there, as well as Fat Momma and Major Victory. Chris Carter featured a trailer presentation of "X-Files: I want to Believe" We will be looking forward to the New York Anime Convention September 26-28th.

Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Remember Whens?

I though today I would write a light-hearted post, kind of Remember When? of the movie stars.

First we'll pay a little visit to 21 Jump Street with a YouTube clip that not only features Johnny Depp but Brad Pitt too! Enjoy!


Next mosey on over to Celebs as Kids Here you can see Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, Sarah Jessica Parker, David Duchovny and more.

Do you remember...

Johnny Depp in The Nightmare on Elm Street?
Bruce Willis in Moonlighting?
Harrison Ford in American Graffiti?
Halle Berry on Knot's Landing as Debbie Porter?
Tom Cruise, Diane Lane, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe and Matt Dillon in The Outsiders?
Sally Field as Gidget?
Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy?
Kurt Russell in an episode of Gilligan's Island as the Jungle Boy?
Gene Hackman in The Posideon Adventure?
Anthony Michael Hall and John Cusack in Sixteen Candles?
Angelina Jolie in Hackers?

Many stars have long, long resumes. It's fun to look them up and see what shows they guest starred in or made brief uncredited appearances. Every once in a while I'll send some time surfing through the International Movie Database reading through the actors ages and movie tidbits.

Hope you enjoyed this brief, but fun, flashback to the past with me.

The Wii, the Competition & the Wait!

Last week, my son convinced me to take him to Gamestop for the Super Smash Brothers Brawl Competition. This was held at 10:00pm as a prelude to the midnight release of the game. So we started out and much to my dismay, it was lightly sleeting and snowing. I took it slow, even though my sons eyes were glued to the digital clock in the car, ignoring his reminders we needed to get there at least 30 minutes before the competition started. We got there with plenty of time to spare.
He met his two close friends and they excitedly chatted about FINALLY getting their hands on a game that was delayed way too many times to count. We registered, which brings the importance of why I was there, anybody under 18 yrs old had to have a parent sign a consent from. Then the first disappointing news of the night hit our ears. He wouldn't be able to buy a copy of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl game because we hadn't pre-ordered it! What? I don't remember reading about that on the Gamestop website. It almost defeated the point of being there for the release. Well the kids enjoyed the competition, my son made it to the third round and lost to his friend who went on to win first place.
Okay so no game for us, but his friend, who did pre-order, was going home with his. This also meant that I would be driving home alone, as now my son would be going to his friends house to play the rest of the night away.
Next morning, pick up my son, who didn't sleep more than an hour or two, and we head to Walmart in hopes of snagging the elusive game. Thank goodness..we score one. Get home and what this? The game doesn't work. Faulty disc? NOT. Wouldn't you know, Nintendo has released a news statement admitting that the golden game of the year, will not work in some Wii's. A very small percent, they say. Well, yes, we fall into that slim group. Next step, printing out Fed Ex shipping labels and boxing the Wii and game back to Nintendo. What a hassle but thankfully this isn't going to cost me a dime.
Flash forward to today, a battered box, which makes me wince, arrives from UPS. Inside the newly "fixed" Wii and game. My son comes home from school, tears the box open, sets up the game and proceeds to reload all the information back into his system. I'm looking in the empty box for maybe a coupon or SOMETHING for this major disappointing delay, nothing. Fifteen minutes later, a hurrah from both my sons and they slip fresh new batteries in their wiimotes and load the game. I never remember putting my parents through this much. What we do as parents for our kids! And yes, I'm guilty, I was one of those parents that stood out in the freezing cold the first year the Wii came out, just to score my son a Wii for Christmas. Ah heck, he's a good kid. High honors in school. I can't complain...or can I?
Come on Nintendo, will ya give parents a break ?

YouTube, iTunes and free education

Okay so here I am this past weekend, trying to get into the flow of Social Marketing and much to my surprise I am finding that I am learning about things I never knew existed on the internet!

Here I was at Digg and came across Top 10 Universities With the Best Free Online Courses. This sounds interesting so I check it out. And from there I find Free Online Courses from Great Universities which can be downloaded as podcasts through iTunes no less. It's getting even more interesting. From there I end up at YouTube where I find Berkeley University at California courses. By now I am hooked on all this free education!

Okay so these are courses you won't get any credits for and they probably are a bit lacking from the full classroom courses, but still, can one really complain? Everything from Anthropology to Physics. Most of the stuff comes from places we would only dream about attending: Stanford, UCLA, Yale etc. MIT was really most impressive at 1800 online courses as well as a nice variety of High School Student geared courses, geared toward Advanced Placement.

My son decided he is going to sign up for Japanese and Kitchen Chemisty.

As for me, I'm starting with the Search Engine Berkeley Courses at Youtube and The Future Of the Internet iTunes Podcast from Stanford.

Not bad for not having to step out of the house or open my wallet huh?

Think Spring? See our collection of Tees!

As an online business seller I realize you always have to be ahead of the game. Like always looking ahead to the next holiday and the next season. When your product has to travel through the mail, you really need to think about advertising weeks before the fact. So I sit here and think about the coming of Spring. Not as easy as it sounds. We are currently getting hit with another snowstorm, the 2nd one this week, and they are calling for 10" of snow to fall before morning. Welcome to winter in Upstate New York!

For those of you already basking in 60 and 70 degree weather, or those of you who wear T-shirts no matter what the temperature,(My daughter fits that description)please take a look at the fun and cool tee shirts we have in stock:

Disney Couture Dumbo T-shirt Jrs size S
Nightmare Before Christmas Jack Skellington Face Mens Tee sz M
Nightmare Before Christmas Turquoise Striped Jack Face Boys T-shirt sz L
Nightmare Before Christmas Juniors Jack Skellington Neon Tee
Mighty Fine Invader Zim Juniors Tee Shirt sz S
Invader Zim Gir Toddler Tee Shirt sz 2T

Are you thinking Spring fashions yet?? Stop by our store and browse even more Tees:
Rock Band T-shirts, Disney T-shirts, Nightmare before Christmas T-shirts, and much much more

And for those of you still stuck in the winter doldrums, like we are, check out our winter clearance section for some good bargains!

See you tomorrow after all the shovelling! Maybe I'll post some photos!

Social Networking for Your Business

First off, what is social networking? And how does it involve our business?

From wikipedia:
Social networks connect people at low cost; this can be beneficial for entrepreneurs and small businesses looking to expand their contact base. These networks often act as a customer relationship management tool for companies selling products and services. Companies can also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Since businesses operate globally, social networks can make it easier to keep in touch with contacts around the world.

This is easier said than done though. New social networking sites are popping up on a daily basis. Just this week, I was introduced to Qassia. But as many online small business sellers, I also battle with time contraints and the confusion as what sites are the best. Which ones will bring me not only the traffic but potential customers and sales?

I came across this link to the Top 100 Social Marketing Sites. I figure if I am going to create a worthwhile social marketing campaign, I should focus on the more popular sites and provide a quality effort instead of hundreds of thrown together social pages scattered throughout the web.

One of the easiest ones I have been able to create and keep up with on a regular base that has provided me with steady traffic and sales has been Squidoo. I only have three lenses and one group but I have found it very easy to go in and update the content and links each month.

Another good article that helped me prioritize and focus on social marketing was this article from SiteProNews, "How To Start A
Social Marketing Campaign" by Jack Humphrey. I also found the author's website, Friday Traffic Report, to be absolutely LOADED with important and useful information complete with video tutorials!

This is by no means a complete how-to on social networking and marketing your online business but visit the links and you'll be off to a good start.

Ebay Boycott Week is Winding Down...who is Victorious?

As most of you might know, this past week Ebay buyers and sellers have been boycotting in protest to the many recent announcements of changes. Although the numbers at Ebay have fluctuated up and down all week long, I believe the true impact to be what the numbers can't tell you.

Who is Victorious? I believe the victory this week belongs to the many buyers and sellers who have not only boycotted Ebay but have actually started to buy and sell at other alternative sites, such as Ecrater and Ebid. They have cut the apron strings from the "Big Bad Bay" and gone out on their own.

I had read post after post on such forums as PowerSellers Unite and Ecrater, from sellers AND buyers alike; sellers who have either moved their products to another site or created their own website and buyers who have searched and bought products from sites for the 1st time. Alternative sites, have seen their sites grow 3x's their size in this week. These people, my friends, are the real winners. They are the VICTORIOUS!

I have had buyers email me after they bought my product, telling me how happy they were to find what they were looking for, WITHOUT having to look at Ebay.

I have shared stories with other sellers. At the beginning of the week, I listening to their fears, hearing the uncertainty in their future. By the end of the week, many of them were already receiving sales in their new "habitat", their tone was a sigh of relief, their conclusion..Yes, it can be done. There is life after eBay!

On the short term it does not seem like the boycott has impacted ebay at all. But Ebay better be careful on their shrug of the shoulders attitude because the effects of Ebay's new business module, is still yet to be felt. Those who haven't jumped ship, are waiting until May. Those who already have, are taking their customer base with them. It shall be a long year for Ebay...

Super Bowl Champs: New York Giants

Born and bred in New York, I watched last night's Super Bowl game in excited anticipation. It was a definate nail-biter with alot of yelling at the TV in my household. Kudos to the NY Giants for pulling off what most critics and fans thought was impossible.

How great it was to see Eli Manning prove himself the quarterback he is and become more than just Peyton Manning's little brother. How great it was to see the Giants come together and win the Super Bowl as a team.

Poor Patriots went sulking away last night. Brady's cool demeanor become undone. It was time for the Patriots to step down for the limelight and it was done by the only team this season that gave New England a reason to worry.

Well done New York Giants from an appreciating New York fan!

Do you want the world to know you love the NY Giants or that you are sulking with the New England Patriots? Wear a NY Giants Wristband Bracelet or this New England Patriots Wristband Bracelet Both with Free Shipping!

Reflections of an Online Seller

I remember, just a little over 7 years ago, we began selling on ebay. I still reminiscence over my first auction sold, my first item to be involved in a bidding war, the first time one of my auctions ended for triple the profit. Oh what great few years those were.
Now the last year on ebay, totally different story. I was stressing over how many auctions were closing without bids, how it wasn't even worth selling anything less than $5 anymore and how uch of my profit was being eaten up by fees from both Paypal and Ebay.
But don't get me wrong. I am not bitter over my years at ebay. If anything, I am wiser and more experienced. This couldn't have come about if I hadn't sold on ebay.

Now I have my own store, Fun Cool Collectibles, and again, the new found fun and glory is back again! The anxiously waiting on the first sale, the adrenalin rush of my first sale, the ability to say "100% full profit" when someone paid using Google Checkout! Life is good again. Now my confidence is back up at its level and I expect, yes EXPECT, to have at least one sale a day. I imagine I would have tons more if I had the time to fully apply myself. But, for now, it works. I look forward to this new year and new sales. The possibilities are many, my goals in full view.

So, how do you feel about your business? Care to give eCrater a try? Hope you are sharing in the excitement.

Our Business Success at eCrater Marketplace

The end of January will mark our 6 month anniversary of our Fun Cool Collectibles store in the eCrater Marketplace. We had a very successful holiday sales season and feel good about the months to come. Our sales are creeping up to the 300 mark, we should reach it before the end of the month.
For those of you looking for an alternative to eBay, I encourage you to check out eCrater. As a totally free alternative site for setting up your shop, you have nothing to lose. eCrater offers automatic Google feeds and simplifies the options of Google Checkout and has recently added Google Analytics for optimizing and tracking your webstores performance.

We are averaging almost 3,000 pageviews and over 100 new unique visitors a day. We have been fine tuning our keywords and applying our SEO knowledge to make these numbers grow. Places like Squidoo, USfreeads, MSN live Spaces have helped us spread the word of our store. Forums like TSSIF, eCrater and Auction Sellers Motivators help us through the exchange of ideas and marketing tips. Whereas so many other people report a decline in visitors after the holidays, we can report only a slight decline. More importantly, we've experienced a steady flow of customers throughout these first weeks of January.

Our biggest sellers so far: Nightmare before Christmas merchandise, Disney merchandise and Rock Band clothing and accessories. But that's not all we carry! We also have Hello Kitty, Trick fairy, Emily the Strange, Invader Zim, and Skelanimals in stock.With over 800 items in stock and growing, we have something for everyone!

Oh and don't forget to check out our After Christmas Sale going on now until January 31,2008

Whether you already have your own online store or are looking to open one and are looking to exchange ideas. Please feel free to contact us. We would love to reach out and network with you!

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

I was very excited to read that Tim Burton would be making an "Alice in Wonderland" movie. It will have both live action and animation elements and will stay true to the original story essence, according to an interview with Tim Burton by Sci Fi Wire.

Set to start filming this May, the approximate release date is rumored to be 2010. Wondering if Johnny Depp will be part of this too? I can see him as the Cheshire cat perfectly!!!

Also be on the lookout for an extended new version of Burton's Frankenweenie. I always figured eventually he would come back to this film especially since Disney held back the reins on his vision the first time around.

Both movies are rumored to 3-D movies. I just hope Disney doesn't get on their high horses over Burton's darker imagery style. It's what makes "The Nightmare before Christmas" such a wonderful cult classic. Heck, it's what makes Tim Burton...Tim Burton.

What's New for 2008?

2007 has come and gone and now it's time to reflect and reorganize my goals and aspirations for the coming year. Our webstore, Fun Cool Collectibles is off to a booming start. I have spent alot of time researching my marketing choices and the addition of Google Analytics to the website has given me loads of information on where my customers are coming from.
Our biggest product line The Nightmare Before Christmas has been selling like hotcakes. We recently restocked and are proud to offer the highly coveted limited edition Nightmare Before Christmas Mayor's Car that was sold at Hot Topic (and now sold out)with a limited numbered run of 1500. This collectible is fetching a HOT price upwards to $100 and will surely climb as supply depletes. I am a proud owner of one #1213/1500, looks perfect on the shelf in my den among the new Nightmare snowglobes I got from The Disney Store this year.

Also, we have added new Nightmare Before Christmas clothing: shirts, sweatshirts and sneakers!

Love Invader Zim? We've also got those cute plush Gir slippers in stock!

And for all my goth friends out there...don't miss the Skelanimals Penguin Plush Slippers Simply gothic adorable!

I know one of my main goals, I am sure this applies to 99% of the people that sell online, is for this to become a main source of income with the means to support my family. It's not going to happen tomorrow but it is coming closer to a reality than it was 3 years ago.