I have an amazing team at HotFlashDesigns. I am the designer and Advertising manager and God is the Sales Manager. I keep putting together kits and letting people know about them as best I can and it's up to God to bring in the sales. And He, in turn, "blesses the work of my hands", as stated in Deuteronomy 28, so that I put out better and better kits.
One of the things the Creative Team (part of the advertising team) and I are concentrating on right now is trying to get the word out to more people that there IS a HotFlashDesigns and that HotFlashDesigns does wonderful work. I'm not walking around with my thumbs in my vest because my inspiration comes from Him. It's pretty amazing when your Sales Manager really has His finger on the pulse on the market and knows what will appeal. HotFlashDesigns has had a Facebook page for months and months. But, it sat there dormant because I didn't really know what to do with it or how to do it. So I had to do what my deceased husband used to call "hide and watch". I had to figure out how other designers were using it and then figure out how to do the same.
On Facebook, we are always looking for "fans". "Fans" is really shorthand for a target market. These are people who like our stuff. We offer freebies, special coupons, etc to "fans". What our fans may not know is that the moment they become "fans", they join the advertising team and that is fabulous. As they come to grab whatever our special offer of the moment is, they post things to their own facebook page. THEIR friends are now aware of HotFlashDesigns because of the post to their facebook page.
I have believed for a while now that Facebook has great potential to grow my customer base. And that is exactly what I need! Folks who love my designs LOVE my designs. I actually get "fan" mail. That's great and it feels SO good, but unless there is a way for that "fan mail" to be shared with others, my customer base won't grow. In the business world, the theory is that every satisfied customer has the potential to send you 16 more.
I have believed that the possibility for exponential growth exists through Facebook. So, the first few "fans" are the hardest. After that, it just kind of multiplies because of the exposure those "fans" bring to the table. Before Facebook, I was advertising in the traditional ways. I had a newsletter, I posted goodies here on the blog, and I was sending out ads to be posted in various scrapbooking groups. After Joe's death, I let the newsletter lapse. After all, you kind of want your newsletter to be upbeat. I wasn't feeling very upbeat and I didn't want to spread that to my newsletter mailing list. But, both the newsletter and the blog were kind of limited as advertising media. The only people who would have seen a newsletter were those who had signed up. And the blog was only visited by a large group of people when there was a blog train (because of the blog train's advertising). But Facebook is a whole nother animal! Because friends of fans see our advertising, it grows! and grows! and grows!
I said all that to report something wonderful. On Friday morning, HotFlashDesigns had 205 fans. That's not many. I am praying for 5000. (Yes, I pray that God will send 5000 fans. I also pray that God will bless every one of those 5000 fans.) So, 205 is a drop in the bucket. However, I woke up this morning to 224 fans. What did I do in the meantime? I sent out a reminder that our freebie was still available and posted about it here on the blog and at A Cherry on Top. Not a lot of time invested to garner 20 additional fans. In short I LOVE FACEBOOK. And I love my Sales Manager. He has promised me He has plans to give me hope and a future, and I'm counting on Him.
So yesterday was a reasonably successful day. I am finished in the Master Bath for now. It has undergone a major clean up action and come out looking shiny. I did a decent job of cleaning up after myself in the kitchen even though that messy cook was at it again. I even managed to tackle the second shelf in the fridge. I finished the dusting in the office that needed done and managed to vacuum in here. And, I dusted in the living room. I used the mop, dry, on part of the wall on the other side of the room--I'm amazed that I can see the difference from here--and I got those cobwebs! Yeah! So, what shall I do today?
Well, today, I'm going to headquarter in the kitchen. I figured out that I can put something on the floor, a folded towel or something, and manage that third shelf that way, kneeling, without all the bending. There are some things that need put away; the dishwasher needs emptied. Some counter tops still need a good wipe down. And the floor needs attention. I can stay busy in the kitchen for a fair amount of time.
Dining room--I have hope that I might actually be able to make a dent in the supply of boxes!This will entail carrying in books from the boxes in the garage and sorting through them to see if they should be kept or donated.
Office--My time out here is going to be spent on my desk!
Living Room--I've been wanting to deal with the stuff piled on the bookshelf for some time. Today I just might get there!
Hall--Still dealing with laundry.........clean laundry, dirty laundry, laundry that needs put away.
Master Bedroom--The pile of stuff on the dresser is still calling my name. Also, it just might be time to use that feather duster in there. And, I think I need to run the vacuum cleaner in there today.
Master Bath--Put away a few things that ended up on the countertop when I cleared the floor to wash it.
That's the full circuit. If I have extra energy, I can attack the cobwebs outside in the entryway.
As to design, I am still plodding along on the kit made with the colors from my Mommy's Day flowers. I started on layered flowers Friday night and was so tired and brain dead I got nowhere with those, but I got a few done yesterday and I'm on a roll with those now. I am feeling in the mood to finish up this kit and get started on some really summery stuff.
So, that's the plan for today. Sounds good to me.
Eye candy? You betcha. When I designed the new kit for this week, I never gave it a thought that it could be used for vintage style layouts. I regard the kit as pretty avant garde. However, I'm actually going to show you two vintage-style layouts today, done with Sunday Morning.

This page was created by Laurie. The adults in the photo are her great grandparents. Her grandfather is the little 6 year old boy. I found it interesting that Laurie comments that her great grandfather had tuberculosis at the time. The family found the original photo and in comparing it to this one, this one has been touched up to make him look less gaunt. I can't help but wonder at the process of altering a photo in that way in the days before Photoshop. I would assume it had to be done by hand with a brush and paints..... I really like that cluster of flowers below the photo. Isn't this a fantastic page? You can leave Laurie some praise here.
This next page I first saw on Facebook. I am a high contrast kind of girl. I love to play with bright colors. This layout made me stop and catch my breath when I first saw it.

The high contrast of that orange frame against the neutral background really pops the photo. Christy did this page for me. She used one of our frame clusters and remarked that once she had the frame cluster, the page just kind of grew from there. The photo is of Christy's grandmother, taken, she believes, during her grandmother's late teen years. The page is beautiful and I love that she used one of our frame clusters to create it. Please leave Christy some praise here.
I need to get moving. Lots to do today, like every day. I am hoping to get a lot of it done so I need to get started. YOU be BLESSED today. Don't forget that this is the Lord's day........