A Click Too Fast

Posted on January 12, 2017January 12, 2017 by Dusty Roads

Sometimes I can be really stupid. What’s that expression, “Measure Twice , Cut once” ? There should be one about ask twice before delete once. It may not be a snappy but it would have saved me buckets of grief!

I mentioned this a few posts ago but I have more info now.

I have my photo website, http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com. Here you can order prints of my pictures if you find some you really like. I haven’t had much luck with the “Fine Art” or Animal and Nature prints so far but I was really trying to drive interest by adding greeting cards.

One of the vendors had an awesome collection of templates , especially for Christmas and Hanukkah. You could select the template, add the photo you liked and even add 2 lines like “from our house to yours” or ” Season’s greeting, the Jones Family”.

xmas-card-sample

Because I was beginning to get inquiries I went behind the scenes to be sure my price lists were up to date. I didn’t want someone putting in an order that I couldn’t fill. That would not make for a positive experience. Sure enough, the single card option was gone.

I spent hours searching through the data bases, nada. So with a heavy heart and feeling quite discouraged I might add, I deleted the price list and started over with the options that are now available.

On a whim I sent off an email to zenfolio customer support. They confirmed the single card option was gone but they told me I was grandfathered in. WHAT! Unfortunately there is no way for them to restore the price lists I deleted so even though I was grandfathered that too fast click on delete took it all away.

I’ve been looking into what they call “Self Full filled” options so if I can locate templates, I may be back in business.

I hope so. I really wanted to see this pick up this year. I think I will practice on the Birthday Cards first.

02242012-017e

I’ll keep you posted!

Be careful What You Wish for

Posted on January 9, 2013January 9, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Now I’m not saying I’m psychic or anything..psycotic maybe…but if you recall as 2012 was wrapping up I posted about The End of a Cycle/ New Beginnings. In that post I said I had a feeling things were going to change for me in 2013.
Well it didn’t take long for the first shoe to drop. I would have had my 10th year anniversary at my job this year on May 12. I just wanted to make it until then at which time I was planning to review my “options’.

I found out yesterday that I should start reviewing my options now. I’m not going to make it to my 10th anniversary. My company is moving my department to another office north of Boston. Everyone is welcome to keep their jobs and work from the new office or they can take a severance package. There’s no increase in pay for the move. For me it would require a 1/2 hour- 45 minute drive (depending on traffic) just to get to the “T”. If I choose to drive all the way it would be at least 1.5 hours each way and that’s on a good day. I worked in that office before and most days it was 2+ hours.

Between the time and the additional cost taking their offer to move isn’t an option. So that means that on April 1 (April Fool’s Day) I will join the ranks of the unemployed.

On the good side I’ll be old enough to draw social security. I will also be eligible for unemployment and there will be some sort of severance. I’m not sure how much.

Now before everybody gasps and offers condolences let me tell you that I am actually very excited about this.

I used to enjoy my job but changes in the structure in recent years had me increasingly dissatisfied. I stayed because of the economy, my age and mostly because I really like the people I work with. As conditions deteriorated I knew we were all in it together. Now that I know my time is coming to an end I’m excited to look for new opportunities.

I have been dabbling with the photography so the first thing I have to do is get serious about it. I intend to use some of the “down time” to build up my “stock” (photos) portfolio and see if I can get that producing some income.

I’d love to see my photo cards take off.

Sales have been sluggish but I’m not real good at promoting myself. I know the people who receive the cards love them and the people who have sent them are all repeat customers so I just have to get the word out more. Maybe now I’ll have time for some craft shows. Any suggestions on low-cost advertising are welcome. Chime in
www.dustyroadsphotos.etsy.com
www.dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com
And of course, feel free to become a valued customer. 🙂

The same thing applies to my pet photography and portrait line.

I need to get my name out there. Once again the key is advertising especially in the highly competitive market we’re in. Everybody has a phone or camera phone and everybody considers themselves a pro. I need a niche.

I was recently “flirting” with another company about a “work from home” position. I’ll see if I can get that back on track. I also noticed that a number of companies that have “in store ” photo studios are hiring as well as several “photo Processing Labs”.

Then there’s freelance work.

I have had 1 photo published and I’ve been encouraged to write travel articles and try to sell those. In fact at one point a major newspaper suggested I report on New England Travel. I didn’t do anything with it at the time but maybe it’s time to revisit these opportunities.

Relocating is not an option because my home has not rebounded enough to sell and staying here is cheaper than renting.

So the bottom line is that change is in the wind and I suspect it will be a busy , challenging and exciting time. Have any of you been through a layoff or career change later in life? I’d love to hear what kind of experience you had.

There’s no season in Retail

Posted on November 6, 2012November 6, 2012 by Dusty Roads

A pet peeve of mine is that retailers don’t let one holiday finish before they start the next one. Before Halloween one of my local stores had 3 separate displays set in a row, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. When I commented on it the clerk replied “There are no seasons in retail.”

I’m beginning to understand what she meant. Thanks to my 2 web sites where I sell my greeting cards online and my little kiosk at Cape Cod Crafters in Pembroke, Ma, I am finding that it’s a lot different selling retail than making cards for a few friends. There needs to be a lead time so shoppers can find the cards, have time to buy them, address them and get them in the mail.

Last year I really dropped the ball. I had nothing ready by Christmas so it was a 2 week scramble to get cards made and distributed. This year I’m doing a little better but still cutting the time too short. At the moment I’m waiting for supplies and prints so I can put the cards together and get them advertised online and into the shop.

So here’s an update for anyone who might be interested in Holiday cards. I will custom design a Thanksgiving card if you email me. The cards are $3.95 each plus 6.25% tax for Mass residents and shipping. I don’t plan to have a line of Thanksgiving cards this year because it’s too close to the big day but I’ll work on it for 2013.

Christmas Cards or if you prefer Holiday cards will be online within 2 weeks as soon as the supplies get here. Keep your eye on www.dustyroadsphotos.etsy.com.

If you are looking for a really pretty card but want to keep your costs down you should check out my photography web site on http://www.dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com

I have a slightly different line of cards there. On http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com you’ll find 10 holiday photos ( More being added) to choose from. Once you chose your photo you select the card design you like. You’ll have the option to add a short message. You might be prompted to review the placement of your photo and chose if you want a plain paper or “metallic”.

The metallic gives a very shiny finish but the plain paper is a glossy finish too so both are very attractive.

These postcard style cards come with an envelope and are a less expensive alternative to the hand crafted cards I sell on etsy.

I hope you’ll check them out. I’d love to be able to fill your holiday card needs.

One more food post

Posted on October 17, 2012October 17, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Ok, I get it. You like the travel posts better than the food reviews, Ahh if only I could afford to travel enough to keep you, my loyal followers, satisfied. Every now and then I have to unpack my suitcase and spend some quality time with my cats, work some overtime to replenish the travel fund, and recharge my own batteries.

I love traveling but I subscribe to the Go, Go , Go philosophy of travel..so much to see, so little time. I would never be able to hang out on a beach, I’d feel like I was missing too much. That’s not to say a beach vacation isn’t a perfect one for a lot of people…just not me. Since my vacations are so high energy sometimes I need to get home and back to my normal routine to recharge my batteries. That’s when finding interesting topics to share becomes a real challenge.

So the bottom line here is that I have one more food tale for you then I’ll leave that subject for a while.

The Sailing Cow Cafe has closed up for the winter season now. The last weekend was Columbus Day which seemed early this year. As part of the last weekend festivities they had a band and the invited me to come down to take pictures of their customers. They called it Photos on the Beach by Dusty Roads Photos.

My friend Nancy and I went down for 10 am and stayed until 3pm. It turned out to be a beautiful day, if a bit cool by the water. The Cafe had us put a sign in the window and gave us a table outside to set up a display. Nancy is a power house when it comes to talking to people. She was busy handing out my business cards and brochures while I talked to the people who stopped to look at the cards and pictures I’d brought for display.

Everyone was enthusiastic and we gave out a lot of information but that was as far as it went. No one was up for a picture of themselves. Oh well, as far as publicity it was a great success. We met 2 women trying to get a dog park off the ground. They were very interested in the pet photography side of my business. I got ideas of things to make another such event more successful.

Being at The Sailing Cow from 10:00- 3:00 meant we had a chance to sample the food. We had muffins for a quick breakfast and all I can say is WOW. They were great. The breakfast menu had all the usual breakfast items and they looked good too but we wanted to keep it light. Others must have felt the breakfast was good too because they had a full house.

After we finished our agreed time frame (10am-2pm) we stayed a little longer to listen to the band and have a quick lunch.

One of the owners had told us they made the best onion rings so I had to try them. They were great. Very thinly sliced and fried crisp… they were excellent. The side order was easily large enough for both of us.