Monday, December 22, 2014

Getting my (Business) Act together + Give-away!



calendar December 22Just as 2014 is about to come to a screeching halt, I've managed to meet one more of my goals for the year!   (No need to add comments such as "It's about time!" or "Cutting it mighty close there!"  ha!)  




house with treesI've long wanted to get my own business domain name again.  I had one back in 2011 and let it go with the website I had.   I started on Artfire then, and went with theirs.


The truth is, as I've expanded this year from one store to three, I've found it rather clumsy trying to direct people to "where I am."    3 stores, 2 store names, all those urls!

                                                                     Metapolies
                                                          (Etsy)
arrow black gloss Uturn down fat arrow black gloss Uturn up fat  arrow black gloss counter clockwise fat
Sharyl's Jewelry                                                                   Metapolies
(Art Fire)                                                                                            (ACM)

Having 3 online stores may be an odd thing to do in the first place, but it's an experiment of sorts, and I'm determined to play it out a little bit longer.   

 You might recall that in May of 2014, I did some branding work and redid my business cards, (and banners, virtual and physical table ones).  Of course I did that just before deciding I would like to change my business name and open more venues!   Well, as I've been in flux, I've continued to use those cards, adding stickers on the back with the two new store urls.   (Yes, yes.  Tacky, I suppose.   But think of it as moving to a new location.  You "make do" until you get settled in, right?)



The other evening, I finally decided to get the domain name and create a one-page landing site (home page) for all my business needs.


  The url is:   metapolies.com.  

I do hope you'll check it out 
and give me feedback!

From the one-page website, you can (hopefully) easily get to all my stores and my social media (Blog, Facebook, and Pinterest).
I've tried to optimize it so it works well with computers,  tablets, and phones.    That's made the layout a bit tricky and not quite what I had hoped for.  I'd really like it to be attractive/inviting AND intuitive/functional.   I'm not sure if I've made the mark yet, but I'm going to begin using it.

Some things I can change, but others I'm limited by what this simple system can do.  

Please, please, please...
If you have ideas, suggestions, complaints, do let me know! I'm very eager for feedback so that this works well for YOU and anyone one else trying to find their way to my stores and social media contacts.  How can I make it better for YOU to use?

My main goal is, instead of directing people to 3 sites, I now will direct them to one only. ONE on my business card, ONE on Facebook announcements, ONE when I run into friends and family.  All the same ONE!  



arrow black gloss rightJust:   Metapolies.com



Hopefully, it's all easy after that!   

As always, thanks for helping me out and sticking by me as I evolve!

~Sharyl


GIVE-AWAY!!!
We just hit 175 participants on this blog! 


was the 175th person.
Welcome, Val!

I've sent her a small sample packet of Metapolies™ goodies, but want to give the other 174 a chance too!    A look at Metapolies.com and a comment on my blog here by 12/26/14 will get your name in the drawing!   (Please make sure I can find you again on Facebook or  email, store, etc.)   I'll announce the winner on 12/27 and attempt to notify the winner.  If the winner hasn't claimed the prize by 12/30, I'll draw again.

I'm hoping to renew my blogging efforts in 2015 and if you are not a member, I hope you will join us!   

************
Graphics:   wpclipart.com
Business card/photo:  Sharyl McMillian-Nelson, 2014.

************


15 comments:

ShadowDogDesigns said...

The landing page looks GREAT, Sharyl! That is something I have on my "to do" list for 2015. You've inspired me (: Thanks!

Miss Val's Creations said...

Hi Sharyl, I'm so excited to be your 175 follower! Your home page looks great. It is easy to see your shop links and social media links. Wishing you continued success through 2015 as your business grows! ~Val

Natalie -- NKP Designs said...

It's about time, cutting it mighty close there, eh? ha ha ... just kidding of course! Good for you! You did great!

Linda A. said...

Hiya Sharyl!,
Nice job with combining everything. I had no idea that YOU are "Metopolies!" =)

One suggestion - I love that you have the pronunciation key near the bottom - I'd suggest moving that to your banner because in all the time of knowing OF your business, I never knew how to say it. =) It will help with brand recognition.

<3,
Linda

Unknown said...

I think it looks great!

Sharyl said...

Thanks to each and every one of you! Linda, I so appreciate your suggestion! It's a good one! --Sharyl

Patty Brown said...

Nice job! Hope your business continues to grow by leaps and bounds

Anonymous said...

Great landing page, Sharyl! I think this will really help consolidate things and drive traffic to your business. One thing you may want to look at is the blog feed. For some reason it is not showing up (at least for me - I am using Firefox as a browser).

Miz Mowse said...

This is something I need to do too. spread all over the place and multiple derivations of the orginal name. Glad it all came together for you.

Sharyl said...

Thanks for all your helpful comments! Lisa, I'm unsure why the blog isn't coming up for you, but I sure appreciate you checking all the links! They are working for me in Chrome and Firefox. Hopefully it was a temporary blip?

Everyone commenting is entered for the give-away! Still a few hours left for signups! --Sharyl

Sharyl said...

7:20pm 12/26/14: UPDATE: If you get a message regarding Malware when you click on the ACM (Artisan Component Marketplace) store site, please be assured it's being worked on. The update is that there is not really any Malware on this site, but there is a problem with this message popping up. Hopefully it will be removed soon! Sorry for the disruption!

Sharyl said...

The time to enter the drawing has come to an end. I'll announce a winner soon! I'm still very happy to hear your feedback on the Metapolies.com website! Best wishes to all!

Sharyl said...

And the winner is... #1-- Shadow Dog Designs! Congrats and thanks to all who participated in one way or another!
--Sharyl

PyxeeStyx said...

Congratulations Sharyl! I don't know if it's my network or the link, but I was not able to access your website from your facebook post. Might want to check that. I'm gonna try again from here.

Sharyl said...

UPDATE: ACM site is working fine again! Thanks!