Jellyfish Wishes

Once upon a time there was a little girl, 5 years old to be precise. This particular little girl had a birth defect that, sadly, was missed for years. This caused her to, once the problem was found, have serious problems which required many surgeries. Five years old is far too young to have a lifetime of dealing with medical issues. Fear not though friends! This special little girl had a fairy mommy who wanted to take a positive stand for herself and her little daughter. So this fairy mommy collected numerous cards for the latest surgery in February, knowing that these tokens of affection would make the special little girl smile after surgery and the 2 weeks it would take her to recover. There would be no crying and worrying for this little girl and her fairy mommy. They even collected over 500 cards! That's a lot! The special little girls favorite card was a jellyfish. 


Together, the special little girl and her fairy mommy, decided they would carry on the "card" tradition. They now do this for other children, and their mommies (or daddies), who needed extra comfort through encouraging words, prayers, pictures, or whatever may help. They call the children that they collect the cards for their "jellyfish". Along with the cards they have collected a stuffed or knitted jellyfish is included.

By now, if you're a follower of my blog, you know I love warm hearted stories. This story, and that's how I am telling it by referring to the owner and creator of Jellyfish Wishes as a fairy mommy, is super sweet and touching. No parent wants to think of their child sick or needing surgery. When you are in that situation, either as parent or the child, think of how helpful it would be to know people are thinking of you!

Right now Jellyfish Wishes is collecting for a little girl named Gwendolyn. Here's the shameless FB link plug: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jellyfish-Wishes/140763696004828. For more information you can go to their page and check out the notes section on how to send cards. There is even a few pictures of some of the people lucky enough to have received a Jellyfish Wish package.


Since the Jellyfish idea went "viral" they have been OVERWHELMED with people who need a wish. At this time they are in need of, and accepting,

• Knitted or Stuffed Jellyfish
• Handmade cards or pictures drawn by children
• Small donations to help with shipping
• Extra envelopes
• Extra stamps

The special little girl and her fairy mommy are about to hold a card making at their local church in which other children will be able to help create "wishes" for the ten children in need. Jellyfish Wishes would also welcome:

• Stickers
• Glue
• Crayons
• Markers
• Glitter

If you have it in your ability to help make a wish come true, please do. If you can't, but would like to help, please spread the word about Jellyfish Wishes. And head over to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jellyfish-Wishes/140763696004828 and let the special fairy mommy know what a truly inspiring job she is doing.

If it captures one persons attention, then it was worth it right?

With love, Melissa <3

Random Acts of Kindness

I believe that what you put out there comes back to you times two. I am also a big softie. I cry at the animal cruelty/Sarah Mclachlan "Angel" commercial (who doesn't?!), sponsor a child commercials, I donate outside of stores, etc. I might take it a step too far by crying at Pampers commercials, but that's neither here nor there. That being said, when I saw that a fellow FB business page was doing something called Random Acts of Kindness, I wanted to know more and share with you to hopefully warm your heart and let you know that there are still people out there, like me, who practice random acts of kindness in hopes of cheering up someones day! This is what first grabbed by attention:

When I saw this picture, being the curious person I am, I had to know more. So I asked her (Shauna) to please email me information on what she is doing. This is the response I got:

Thank you for being so sweet and wanting to hear the story of Lemon Kissed's Random Acts of Kindness Project! I really really appreciate it - it truly warms my heart. The whole concept behind me leaving the earrings around town was simply that I wanted people to stumble upon them and for it to brighten their day. By nature, I love to help people and make people happy, and this is just another fun way to do just that! Attached to each pair of earrings that I leave behind somewhere for someone to find is a plain white card that reads "Random Acts of Kindness" on the front. Inside I wrote the word "enjoy" and my Lemon Kissed url is stamped on the very back.

My hope is that when my earrings are found, it brightens a day. I also hope that at least a few of these people pass on a good deed themselves. Being nice feels nice. You don't have to do huge, grand gestures - just simple, random acts of kindness can make a huge difference, and I'm hoping that this project can get others thinking the same thing!  I am DELIGHTED knowing that I may be making someone's day, or at least giving them a smile.

I have spread earrings throughout Portland Oregon, and Hillsboro Oregon (a suburb of Portland). I have sent packages to Lemon Kissed "correspondents" or friends in Eugene, Oregon, in Florida and in Mill Valley, California so more earrings can be spread around so we can reach more people. The next batch of earrings will be going to friends in Washington, Los Angeles California, Philadelphia and more! I'm grateful to friends who want to help me out - I hope they are having as much fun as I am having, and I hope to hear from at least one person who finds the earrings, I'd love to hear how it made them feel!

Seriously, how freakin' awesome is that?! It would make my week, not just my day, to find a pair of these adorable earrings and know that someone, somewhere, hoped that I would enjoy them. All without a selfish thought, just in hopes that someone else will, somehow, pay it forward.

So please, when you're at your lowest, and you doubt humanity and you feel there is no hope, remember that a small act of random kindness will not only make you feel better, but it will touch someone, somewhere. The ripple effect is amazing. Shauna, girl, you are destined for something special and if you need help spreading your random acts in CT, I'm your girl!!

Take the time to make someones day just a little better! <3 Melissa
http://www.facebook.com/lemonkissed

Product Review of Carousel Creations Soaps and Sundries

As a business owner, you come across many other businesses. Whether to "check out" the competition or to place an order of your own. Every once in awhile you run across a business that you fall in love with. You know you're not supposed to have favorites, just like with your children, but it happens. For me it happened with Judy and her business Carousel Creations Soaps and Sundries. I had asked my fans, on my business page, for input on whom I could go to for a good, all-natural face soap. They pointed me in her direction. I asked her a few questions to help point me in the direction of what I was looking for. She suggested the carrot soap, so I ordered it. I am pretty hard to please LOL, so when I received it in the mail I was a little put off by the presentation  since it just arrived in the envelope not wrapped up like a present with a pretty bow :) But I used it and am ever so thankful I did! It put any doubts I had to rest. I am thirty something and still tend to get breakouts, how embarrassing at this age. The soap cleared it up!! So I ordered it for my teenage son. Two weeks later his face is on the way to recovery from teenage acne too.

So I suggested to her (actually begged and pleaded :)) to do a product review. She sent me a few ends of her current stock of soap, along with a drying clay soap she suggested my son use once a week to hasten along the treatment (see I told you, she's AMAZING). In the package was:

• Raspberry Vanilla 
• Pomegranate Punch 
• Fruit Smoothie 
• Cherry Almond  
• Oatmeal Milk & Honey 
• A tube of lavender raw sugar scrub 

When I got the package I quickly opened it, like a child at Christmas lol. The smell was HEAVENLY! I did suggest other packaging to her, but she let me know that due to the way the soaps are made wrapping them in plastic to "pretty them up" locks moisture in to the soap, which is no good for it. Then she reminded me, gently, not to judge a book by it's cover. Good thing too, because once again in testing the product, I was not disappointed! I set the soap out on the counter for a day to dry, like this,

and my daughter and husfriend thought it was cookies! We all had a great time using it. It really smells so good. It is good quality soap. Aside from the smell it does also get amazing "soapability".

Look at all those bubbles! Ok, so I think I've raved enough about the product. The woman behind it is just as awesome. She's a nice, sweet woman, who will be more than happy to work with you. No, I don't know her personally, she didn't pay me to write nice things. I am just a regular, happy customer.
So head on over to www.facebook.com/carouselcreationsonline and tell one of my top 3 favorite stores Melissa sent you to say "Hi!"
Have an amazing day! "Don't worry, be happy!"

A little Facebook information for your business page

There's been a lot of confusion, and even anger, with all the changes and repercussions to Facebooks new rules. I thought I would create easy access to everything I have learned in one spot. If I learn more, you can rest assured you'll be the first to know! 

Marching or Silent Tagging:

I, and a few other FB businesses, can confirm 100% that FB is blocking pages from doing marching or silent tagging.

If you're unsure what marching or silent tagging are then, well you probably shouldn't be worried :) but if you're now curious, basically these are tagging games where you like all of the pages that have tagged themselves in the comments, which you can quickly do by hovering over their name, clicking to go to their page and then clicking like.

When you get blocked by FB you get a pop up that tells you that you are being "spammy" (with all their money and rules you'd think they would have a better word!), forces you to agree that you understand FB terms & conditions and then BLOCKS YOU from posting on pages for 15 long, painful days. It blocks you from posting from your business page, as well as your personal profile! You can still post on your own pages, but it makes doing anything on Facebook uber difficult!

Therefore, liking a heap of pages in a row, as you do with silent tagging, is a flag to FB. It seems to boil down to the amount, the repetition and the timing of your posts.


Other things that cause you to be blocked:


I discovered the hard way that posting a similar comment on a number of pages repeatedly will also get you blocked. I was posting on business pages to let them know I was new to their page and that I do product review. I had copied one post and pasted it on a few pages, just tagging my business page in each one. That's when I got the SPAM death post from FB. So, obviously, repeatedly copy and pasting is a "spam" red flag to FB.  


I have heard, via FB conversations, of people having been blocked for tagging multiple pages in short succession, for embedding images, continuously, in a single comment thread or for doing a similar comment on a number of posts on their page wall. Sadly, I cannot find any specific information from FB about what will get you blocked but it seems to boil down to this:


If you are tagging/commenting/posting/sharing/embedding in quick succession, or in a repetitive fashion, then FB might decide you are spamming.  Remember: there is an algorithm that determines spammy posting. FB has an idea of what "normal behavior by real people" is, and anything outside of that gets flagged as spam. 

Of course posting, tagging etc. is completely acceptable on FB. Just remember, slow and steady wins the race! Be slow, and not impatient, about it to appear "real". Spread out your tags and posts, write original comments do not copy and paste and do not be repetitive (we should all be original anyways :)).

The FB statement of rights and responsibilities include these statements:

• You will not send or otherwise post unauthorized commercial communications (such as spam) on Facebook.

• You will not tag users or send email invitations to non-users without their consent.

Contests and Giveaways:

FB also appears to be cracking down on people who are running promotions and giveaways, which are against the rules, which does not surprise me as we've all known this for awhile. Remember, a promotion either involves a prize of money or gift.

If you hold a promotion on FB you must use a 3rd party application. You can hold a promotion off of FB (i.e. on your blog) and post about it on FB but be absolutely sure that whatever promotion you hold does not require anybody to take any action on FB, i.e., no tagging, liking, commenting, sharing, posting, messaging et cetera. It is not allowed and take the chance of getting your page shut down. 

Auctions:

I have not been able to confirm, nor find, any concrete information about FB shutting down or blocking pages due to auctions. FB does not have guidelines for people SELLING GOODS. You are allowed to sell stuff on your page, but you should be aware of the guidelines that are there, just to be sure, for example if you are advertising a sale.

As far as i can tell a true auction, which results in the highest bidder making a purchase, should be allowed. (If an auction is for charity be sure you follow the rules of your state/country as FB will not be happy if you break legal, local laws.

It is also possible that a page would be be shut down if an auction involves requiring people to like/tag/post etc. as that looks a bit like a promo which is against the rules. Also, if people are suddenly tagging/liking/commenting et cetera in that repeated unusual pattern, that was mentioned above, then it would possibly get you blocked for spamming.

So the bottom line about auctions is that we are hoping that FB is not shutting pages down for holding them, as they have not made it clear if it is an unacceptable practice. If I hear or find anything concrete about auctions I will update this post and share any information I find.

In the mean time, if you are having an auction, or any kind of sale for that matter, make sure you are truly selling your goods. Do not use words like winner and prize, and do not ask people to do things like tag, like, or comment. This could be construed as spammy or in violation of promotion rules.

In conclusion, a friendly reminder. Do not rely solely on FB as your business. You have no ownership of FB. Therefore you are merely a "squatter" on their land, at the mercy of their ever changing rules, and yes even their constant glitches. Use FB to interact with people, but set up your own site to run your business. Remember to be aware of how your actions as a page owner can be perceived by others and how it will reflect on you.

I hope this information helps everyone with a business page on FB. Have an amazing day! "Don't worry, be happy" :))

MCN Designs Product Review

By: Melissa Ringsted:

I was lucky enough to be chosen to do a product review for Melissa, the owner of MCN Designs. I am not completely computer dumb, but on certain things I do have a difficult time. This is where someone as talented as Melissa comes in! First off, I contacted her about the product review. She was very quick in responding to me and asking me what she could do for me. I let her know I was looking for a new logo, created specifically for me, and also a welcome page for my business page. She asked me what I was looking for. Unfortunately for Melissa I am a very indecisive person. I gave her a vague idea of what I like and she returned, quickly, with a mock-up of a logo for me. I liked it, but didn't love it. So I asked her to add an owl. I ended up with a logo I am in LOVE with.

From there she created a welcome page for me. She worked off of the vague design I had tried, unsuccessfully, to create on my own. Of course, with as amazing as she was helping me do the logo I KNOW she could help you create an equally amazing Welcome page from scratch, if you don't already have one.

Melissa was patient, and more than willing to help me walk through all the little snags I ran across due to my lack of computer knowledge! Be sure to head on over to http://www.facebook.com/mcndesigns. Believe me when I tell you, you WILL NOT be disappointed in the customer service, product and pricing of this business. Remember, your logo is the first thing people will see! It speaks volumes about you and your company. You want something to attract people, aside from just your amazing product, and Melissa's job is to help you create that and walk with you thru the whole process, as she did me. As Melissa so nicely signs all her emails - "The purpose of life is a life of purpose"

A little background on Melissa:

Melissa is a 2005 graduate of SUNY Purchase College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, concentrating in graphic design. She received the Seniors Recognition Award for Graphic Design at Purchase and was honored with the Leadership Award for her senior project by the Westchester Funds for Woman & Girls.

Her career began at DDR Public Relations in Thornwood, NY, as the Visual Communications Manager, specializing in designing promotional materials for clients and the firm, corporate identity, and the firm's web site. Melissa also takes photographs for clients of their special events or scheduled photo sessions for media uses, and for collateral designs and marketing materials.

Melissa has also worked for design studio, Design Monsters in Stamford, CT with focuses on logo identities, postcards, brochures, CD packaging and web for clients including John Mellencamp, Stamford Center for the Arts, Divabetic and Katreese Barnes (Saturday Night Live Music Director).

Currently Melissa is working as an in-house Graphic Designer for gourmet gift shop, Holbrook Cottage, in Briarcliff Manor, NY. She designs and creates the gift shop's weekly emails, postcards, newsletters and signage, as well as photographing merchandise.

Scentsy Review

Scentsy

By: Gina Lindel

I have never had the pleasure of going to a Scentsy party, but if you ever do go you won’t regret it! No parties coming up? Then contact Gina! Her website is: https://ginalindell.scentsy.us/Home

No worries about their catalog photos, they really do look like the product that comes to your door. I now have a beautiful wax warmer. I chose the Nantucket Mid-Size, which works well with the beach house theme I have going on. If beach theme is not your décor, no problem they have many different styles and colors to choose from. For the month of August most items are on sale for 10% off. Go check out the website!

Do you enjoy arts and crafts? Scentsy offers a warmer in different basic colors. Then you can purchase theme packs so you can change your Scentsy warmer when you re-design your space, move, or are just bored you can change things up!

I normally have issues with scented candles but Scentsy has no flames. All the heat comes from a light bulb, which means less chance of a fire. This also means that there is no air pollutions from the wick, so you get a nice clean melt of just wax, no soot. This makes the scents so much more fragrant, you can really smell the clean.

I strongly suggest the sweet pea and vanilla, it was my favorite! The cherry lemonade is also very nice. If you like more plain scents, you can never go wrong with vanilla!

Place your order with Gina here: https://ginalindell.scentsy.us/Home

Also, friend Gina’s facebook page to stay up to date on new scents: http://www.facebook.com/ScentsMadeSafe

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your day :))

Revised by Melissa

Do Likes=Sales?

You have been hard at work on your facebook business page, doing silent ladders, shop hops, and "liking" every page that asks for help but have your sales gone up?! We asked this question on our Little Bee Buzz facebook page and wanted to share the information with all of you, in hopes of helping our friends out.

The general consensus is that Likes = Exposure, but not necessarily sales. Our advice to you is: do NOT give up on the marches, parades, and parties! Getting your business name out there is important! Work hard on your logo, color, and the over all theme of your business page so that you can use this exposure as your branding. Branding is something all businesses, big or small, should do. Think of some big name businesses and I am sure a logo or theme comes to mind. When you have an annoying jingle stuck in your head, that is branding. You can use your facebook page, and blog, to further your branding for next to nothing. We'd like to give our thanks to Kristi over at JSK Studio (http://www.facebook.com/JSK.StudiobyKristiShepler) for all the information on branding!

A benefit to going to all these pages is you get to see what other businesses are doing. How they photograph their products, what "tabs" they might have available to the consumers or how they interact with others. You might even be inspired by their logo and recreate it to fit your business. You could possibly find a new service that could be offered on your page. Just because you are "liking" a page that is a competitor in your field doesn't mean you can't also benefit! The old saying of keep your friends close but your enemies closer comes to mind. Thanks goes to Shannon from Frogjunkiee’s Creative Creations (http://www.facebook.com/FrogsPotpourri) for an interesting twist on visiting other pages.

The higher fan numbers will make visitors more likely to order from you versus other lower number pages. The thought process of the consumer being the higher amount of likes the higher creditability this business has. Who would you trust more - someone that has made the product and done the service several times or a newbie in the field? Our thanks goes out to Paper Trail Gallery for your input! (www.facebook.com/papertrailgallery)

Now that you have all these new "likes" on your page you find yourself asking, "Now what?!" You hit refresh on your web browser in hopes of a sale but nothing. Work on turning those new likes into fans. The best way to start is right when you "like" a new page. Leave an interesting comment that will start a conversation with that page owner. On your own page keep updating your statuses and showcasing photos of your wonderful products! Lots of pages play games, do giveaways, and hold auctions which all are great ways to get those "likers" back on your page. Remember, not everyone is in the market at this VERY moment for your product, but they might be in a week or they may even have a friend who is interested and they will remember you and send them your way.

If you enjoyed this article and you would like your business featured in an upcoming blog please check out the discussions tab on our Little Bee Buzz facebook page. Feel free to leave a comment about a topic you would like us to blog about or ask us a question about this blog. We would love to hear from you! Thanks for reading and enjoy your day :))

Help out where you can.

So, sadly, in todays society not many people are willing, or able, to help other people. Today I came across one Facebook business page that is trying to help a local family via an auction she has on her page. The first thing I did was to bid on items. Second, I posted the link on my own business page, There for You. Now, I'm taking it to the next level and blogging about it in hopes of helping in any way I can. I emailed them to try and get the back story and I got an immediate response from Amy, and this is it, in her own words: Yes the fundraising is being done for my sister and brother-in-law. Basically, my brother-in-law, Steve, developed a really bad infection which progressed to sepsis. He is currently in the ICU at Johns Hopkins. He was the major bread winner of the family so this is a huge loss to the family.They have one child, my niece, who is 7. The drive for my sister to see him is about 3.5 hours each way. Their car broke down the first night so its been a scary road. They do not have cellphones but, thankfully, a group of her friends put together a fundraising page on facebook and they were able to get a prepaid phone for her to use while traveling to and from the hospital. Steve will have several more surgeries. The last update I received is that he is stable but still on a ventilator and had another surgery today. I think that makes the total surgeries 4 thus far. I’m not sure how many more he will be facing or how long he will be in Baltimore. They live on the Eastern Shore of MD – which is a hefty drive, so hopefully they will be able to transfer him to a local hospital eventually.

The link to the community page is:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/199075286814292/

That may help with more information too. I’ve not talked to my sister recently so I don’t know a status for today yet but she updates via the community page when she is able to. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Thanks so much for your offer to help, we appreciate that!

Amy

Let's all take the time to go to the community page, or Bentley's Bands at: http://www.facebook.com/BentleysBands

to bid on auction items. Helping just one person, or in this case a family, can make you feel good, not to mention the family who will know others care for them.

With <3 Melissa