MicroMentor

Boy have I been busy in a good way. My store is taking off slowly but surely...knock on wood, ha ha! So far I think I should credit God, I have done tons of praying, the "please God just give me one sell and I promise I will be good" kind.
Let me credit my fellow etsians for their help with advice and for being kind enough to put me in some treasuries and reading lots to Storque blog entries (the Etsy blog). I tried Google Adwords and so far nothing really great has come of it but I have tracked my page with their web analytics and I can't believe I didn't start sooner. This great site craftopolis.com shows you all your stats and tag info and even treasuries you are included in, and a site called craftcult.com gives you all of your page views ever!
By far the greatest thing I have to tell you about if you are starting your own business is a site I stumbled upon a month ago when I was looking for volunteering opportunities. Micromentor.org is a site that matches proven and effective business professionals with entrepreneurs that are looking for someone to mentor them through the ins and outs of business enterprise. As a mentored you fill out a profile of your business and what your needs are for your business and what you would like a mentor to focus on for developing your business. The program than sends out your profile and you begin to get mentor matches sent to you with their profile and you choose who would suit your needs best. This is really a great free program.
My mentor has been in the jewelry business for 55 years and is working with me on advertising and community exposure. We have a list of goals and we talk on the phone once a week until we cover everything. Being a mother of three and trying to juggle a business and the house can be hard but it feels more attainable when you realize there are programs out there like MicroMentor to help all you have to do is take a little time and do some research.