This is one of my favorite articles I wrote for Note from the lane called "How to succeed in Business with out really crying"

How to succeed in business with out really crying

Well, here we are in the dust bowl of online sales, better known as summer. This one is no ordinary expected ebb and flow. Even my 84-year-old Mom has seen more action then my stores these past few weeks and she's a widow. Unlike other venues I have taken note through the years that the one thing you can count on concerning peaks and valleys with Jewelry and collectibles is it's sheer unpredictability. I recently became friendly with another wonderful Ruby Lane shop owner. I'm becoming increasingly convinced most of us land here because we don't just dance to a different drummer, we invent previously unacknowledged beats. She revealed that not only does she talk to her inanimate collectibles, but that they talk back. I asked her to try and casually steer the conversations to stock tips. You know, lovely pink dress Mrs. Beasley, where do you stand on annuities. Oddly, I have not received any further correspondence on the matter. But I'm for it. I think it's not that far from the right idea.




So, for those of us who have not yet learned how to commune with our Formica tables, and most especially those of us who forged ahead on blind faith and opened yet a second store on Ruby Plaza with visions of train tracks and a old guy twisting his mustache demanding rent, how do we keep our spirits up? The answer lies in letting go and I don't mean giving your stock away. There is a panic in the air, sellers are slashing prices to such an extreme, instead of the usual take this percentage off, they might as well call it, My life is on fire sale.



Here's something of interest that happened to me in the past week concerning this drought. For the first time in nearly ten years, I was not looking forward to turning on my computer, day after day of disappointment. Finally I decided to do something else. I took my now outweighing me Dobie for a walk. Bare with me there is a point. I knocked on a neighbors door whose two little girls love my dog to say Howdy. They asked to come to my house to play with the dog. While we where doing that my neighbors directly across the streets two little girls came out. Incredible in over a year these 4 little girls had never met, so I walked the girls over to meet them and their Mom and then with my Dobie in tow we all walked the short two houses down and the two Mom's met. Within ten minutes the girls where the best of friends and this long summer became much more entertaining. One family has a play house, the other a big pool. Every day the Mom's now each take all the kids for two hours, giving the other one a chance to be in her kid free zone. So, what you may ask has that got to do with slow sales. Check this out! The Mom directly across from me said she was a hairdresser and the next day, I rolled out of bed and walked the 6 feet to a banging haircut. During which time it turns out my neighbor is not just a hairdresser but a stylist on movies. What do movies need? Very often Vintage Jewelry. Sometimes they even rent it and now my stores have made there hit list.



You may not have a pet to walk or a magic teapot that whistles your next steps like a navigating system. But you get the idea. Let go again. There's always a way to reinvent. The thing about what we sell is nobody needs it to live and yet people always find a way to have the things that bring them joy to touch or feel or look at. What is ever the reason in good times or bad for buying, if not that most of all. Just keep punching holes when you find yourself boxed in.



Vintage Shari
sharala@dslextreme.com

P.S. Do I have the worlds greatest dog or what!











Wear me out Vintage Jewels

http://www.rubylane.com/shops/vintageshari



Wear Me Out Vintage Jewels 2 Now

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