Announcing An Exciting New Etsy Partnership

A very effective way to market a business is to form mutually beneficial partnerships.  To find an ideal partner you have to know your business and who your target market is.

Ideally you can find a business that has a similar target market but is not in direct competition.

For me I am most known for my button creations, and I have been trying to form several partnerships for awhile to fill some unique markets.  When a good friend wanted to send me buttons for a custom made necklace it dawned on me.... I could offer customized button creations for my customers. 

My customers can send me buttons from a sentimental button collection they have and I will work with them on a color scheme and create necklaces, rings and/or earrings for them.

Then I went one step further and found an amazing ceramic artist on Etsy who makes handmade buttons!  It fits perfectly with my unique button creations.  My customers won't be getting any buttons, they will have handmade buttons from:

http://www.buttonalia.etsy.com/

She is willing to make just about any shape, size or color button and mail them directly to me for these custom orders!  I will be referring my customers to her shop, to find the most unique buttons and then they will order a custom piece of jewelry to be made from the buttons.  She will be listing custom listings highlighting the fact that my shop can use her buttons to create unique jewelry creations!  It is a wonderful arrangement, we both have good Etsy traffic, views and sales and have set up our first listings to cross promote!

Here is the listing in Buttonalia's shop for the custom buttons:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/82028138/designed-for-and-by-you-you-choose-the

And here is my first listing for a custom necklace, but I will be doing rings and earring listings soon.  PLUS I am still tweaking bracelet designs with buttons so hopefully an entire set of jewelry will be available soon.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82148100/design-your-own-customized-button

We both featured pictures of each others work in our listings, and tried to cover all the details for the customer.  Such as the length of time needed to complete an order, including the time to receive the buttons to create a piece of jewelry, links to find the listings, pictures to show examples, etc.

I am truly excited about this opportunity.  It will be wonderful for both of us but best of all is the opportunity provided now to our customers. 

Such a unique product now available!!  The possibilities are endless....

Would love to hear if you have partnered with other shops or websites and what your experiences have been.

Thanks!
Janet
http://www.galla15.etsy.com/

Update on Lola

I just wanted to give a quick update on Lola!  She is doing pretty good.  She is definitely relaxing and appreciative of being indoors where it is safe and DRY.

She is starting to stretch out and really relax, purring and eating really good.  We will definitely need to get more work done on her, probably some blood work to make sure everything is ok since she is so malnourished, and to get spayed, and the rest of her vaccinations.

Here are some pictures of her relaxing

We received some really nice donations from friends, and it is GREATLY appreciated.  100% of all donations go strictly to Lola's care.  The vet bills and her food, etc.  For her to get healthy and to find a loving home.

If you would like to donate the button is at the top right of this blog.

Thank you everyone for the support.

Janet
http://www.galla15.etsy.com/
http://www.trinketsnwhatnots.com/

Meet Lola An Abandoned Cat

MEET LOLA

She had a home, was indoors, and had a family.  But then the family moved and dumped her in the woods well over a month ago.  She has been outside now for a month, I would rarely see her going through the yard, and the last time I saw her a few weeks ago I could see all her ribs.  I started putting food out to help her when I could.  She was outside during the earthquake and Hurricane we had and now seeing her so skinny and knowing all she has had to endure, plus we are having huge rains and flooding again.... I trapped her in a humane trap last night 9/6.

She was taken to the vets today to make sure she doesn't have FIV or HIV and it was rather shocking what this kitty has gone through.  She is luckily negative for the FIV and HIV!  YEAH

But we discovered she has been biten by another animal and has an infection from it. 

There are 2 puncture wounds on her back and one is pretty large.  She has a ton of little nodules/bumps on her belly and around her hind legs that are her lymph nodes.  The lymph nodes have enlarged in an effort to fight the infection from this bite.

She weighed in at 6 pounds, and is approximately 1-2 years old.  She is very skinny and scraggly.  She was covered in mud last night from the huge rains we are having.  She has fleas and some ticks and she also has a bad case of worms!  They discovered a tooth missing in the bottom front of her mouth too!

It is like she has been through a war!  To top it off it does not appear that she has been spayed so there is a possibility that she could be pregnant.  So for now Lola is in my bathroom with a sleeping bag and warm towels, tons of food and water and love.  She needs a home.  We got her a rabies vaccination today, and she will be on anti-biotics for the next 2 weeks to get rid of the infection.

We have to give her 2-3 weeks to see if she develops rabies from this bite she has on her back, and if she ends up pregnant, also to make sure the infection clears up.  But in 2-3 weeks hopefully she will be gaining weight and healthy and we can get her spayed and placed in a home!

If you would like to help with Lola ... to help her get healthy, get her vaccinations and spaying and placement in a home we would greatly appreciate donations.  Just $5 dollars would be a huge help.  Today's vet bill was $188, and we will likely need 400-500 more for the spaying, vaccinations, deworming meds, food etc.  The donate button is at the top right of this blog, just click donate and you can put ANY amount in you like.  Even $1 dollar!  All donations are greatly appreciated.

Here are a few more pics.

As you can tell from these pictures she is very affectionate.  Despite all she has been through she just wants to snuggle and have love.  She reminds me of the Pink Panther, a rather long, broad nose, skinny, she has a little goofiness to her but is the sweetest cat.  At the vets she never put a claw out, or anything just wanted to have her head and cheeks rubbed and to be wrapped in my arms. 

You can find pictures of many other animals I have helped over the years on my flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/galla15/sets/72157624027304995/

We just helped this guy who had to have a 1700 dollar bladder surgery!  He is doing great now but there are a lot of bills involved.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/galla15/5919973221/in/set-72157624027304995

All support and help greatly appreciated.  I will keep updates posted on how she is doing on this blog.

Janet

http://www.galla15.etsy.com/

http://www.trinketsnwhatnots.com/