Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Christmas Song Fun - Answers

So how do you think you did? Did you name the Christmas songs?

Here are the answers for our fun quiz yesterday!

1 - Silver Bells
2 - We Wish You a Merry Christmas
3 - Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
4 - We Three Kings Of The Orient Are
5 - Deck The Halls
6 - Frosty the Snowman
7 - I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas
8 - Away in a Manger
9 - Hark the Herald, Angels Sing
10 - Peace on Earth

Hope you guys enjoyed this!!!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Amazing Christmas Sausage Balls

Ok normally I don't do recipes on my blog, but I have had several requests for these in the past couple of days. So I am going to share my recipe for amazing sausage balls.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of bisquick
1 pound of hot/spicy raw sausage
2 cups shredded cheese (try a triple chedder if you can find it, Kraft makes one with mild, sharp, and vermont white chedders)
2 tablespoons of water

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together to form a solid dough. Pinch of small chunks from the dough and roll them into ball shapes. Place these onto a baking pan. Once your pan is full, bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes depending on size.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Enjoy!!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Lets Set Up a RSS Graffitti for Facebook

So last week I discovered RSS Graffiti on Facebook. I posted on my blog, on Etsy, and on Artfire about this great application. However I heard some very similar stories, "I don't know how to set it up."

So today we will do a walk through on setting up a RSS feed for your fanpage.

Step 1: While signed in to Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/RSS.Graffiti
Once on RSS Graffiti' s page choose "Go to Application"


Step 2: Choose your fan page.
Than Choose the "Add new feed here" feature


Step 3: Fill in the feed URL with your store RSS feed address (or your blog feed). Then give the feed a title (my store, my blog, ect). Copy your feed URL into the source URL box. Finally choose the standard for your Port style. It will look something like this.

Step 4: Schedule your feed. Choose the frequency you would like your facebook fan page to update. Be careful not to update to often or your page may become ignored by fans. However if you do not update occasionally your page will be forgotten. So it is best to choose a moderate update schedule. Here is a quick look at how mine is set up. 

Just choose to save your selections and you should be ready to start importing your RSS feeds into your Facebook fan page. I hope this tutorial is helpful to everyone. 



Thursday, December 16, 2010

Automatically Post Your Etsy or Artfire Listings to Your Facebook Fanpage

I have been struggling with updating my Facebook fanpage for a while. I was hoping to find a way to automatically update my fanpage with the RSS feeds from my Etsy store and my blog.

I have tried several methods to update my fanpage, and I think I have finally found one that I like.

I tried Facebook notes. However this method only allows you to update your page with one RSS feed. On top of that, this application has not worked correctly for several months.

I also tried dlvr.it. For most RSS feeds this methods should work.You can set up multiple sources to feed into one desinination, incluing Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google buzz, Myspace, and more.
It automatically creates a shared link with images and summary information on our fanpage. Unfortunately it does not work well with Etsy. My images would not pull correctly, so my new listings would be posted without an image, or with a Paypal/credit card image. Nope that is not what I wanted.

So I began looking for other options. I noticed that Craft Magazine was using RSS Graffiti to update their listings, so I looked into it. RSS Graffiti allows you to pull multiple RSS feeds into your Facebook fanpage. It also has the really cool feature of allowing you to designate RSS feeds for different fanpages. So if you manage more than on Facebook fanpage, you can update them all with RSS Graffiti.

So I bet you are wondering if it works with listings from Etsy? I just listed a new pair of earrings on Etsy, and then went to check on my FB. I noticed in my News feed, a new update from my Fanpage. Yes it was correct and included the correct photos.

RSS Graffiti is an application available on Facebook. Simply go to their Facebook page and begin using the application. You can find their page here. http://apps.facebook.com/rssgraffiti/?ref=ts

Are you looking for more ways to promote your store? Join us on the Twitter Tree. You can find it here today! http://aneedleinthehaystack-debbie.blogspot.com/2010/12/twitter-tree-thursday.html#comments

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Twitter Tree Wednesday 12-15-2010




Welcome to the Twitter Tree!

Instructions:
Please add this tag to your tweets. "bluebird"
This way we can Re-tweet later in the day, simply by searching the tag.
Thanks!


Below and in the comments section is a list of three twitter ready items that I would like for you to tweet. In exchange we will return the favor by tweeting 3 of your items. You may post them in the comments section.

You may tweet one or all of them. (And if you would like you may pay it forward by tweeting items in the comment section below)

This wonderful idea was started by ChristieCottage and has already brought in sales and promotional opportunities to those involved.  Remember “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Francis Bacon. ”  I saw that quote posted on Twitter yesterday and it seems to fit the idea, so let us create more opportunities to be seen.

You post the item(s) you tweeted for me along with your twitter account so I can follow you, and list 1-3 items (clickable links, Twitter Ready please) from any of your online shops that you would like for me to tweet for you. ( No "mature" items, please). Be sure the item is twitter ready. (Please include a description, not just the link and any #hashtags you would like to use.)

I will post when I have tweeted for you.

The Twitter Tree will be hosted by a different shop each business day.
Be sure and stop by and be a part of the twitter tree each day. We will promote this way until mid-December and then take a one month break.

~~~
Here are my Items of the Day!:                                                                           

Simple, Classic, Hoops! @elunajewelry http://etsy.me/hILlcu #bluebird #etsy #etsytweets
Sparkling Winter! @elunajewelry http://etsy.me/9YJhl8  #teamwwes #etsy #bluebird #handmade #buy
Spotted Jasper wrapped in silver! @elunajewelry http://etsy.me/i8zWrS  #bluebird #etsy #etsytweets

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Twitter Tree Wednesday 12-08-2010


Welcome to the Twitter Tree!

Instructions:
Please add this tag to your tweets. "bluebird"
This way we can Re-tweet later in the day, simply by searching the tag.
Thanks!


Below and in the comments section is a list of three twitter ready items that I would like for you to tweet. In exchange we will return the favor by tweeting 3 of your items. You may post them in the comments section.

You may tweet one or all of them. (And if you would like you may pay it forward by tweeting items in the comment section below)

This wonderful idea was started by ChristieCottage and has already brought in sales and promotional opportunities to those involved.  Remember “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Francis Bacon. ”  I saw that quote posted on Twitter yesterday and it seems to fit the idea, so let us create more opportunities to be seen.

You post the item(s) you tweeted for me along with your twitter account so I can follow you, and list 1-3 items (clickable links, Twitter Ready please) from any of your online shops that you would like for me to tweet for you. ( No "mature" items, please). Be sure the item is twitter ready. (Please include a description, not just the link and any #hashtags you would like to use.)

I will post when I have tweeted for you.

The Twitter Tree will be hosted by a different shop each business day.
Be sure and stop by and be a part of the twitter tree each day. We will promote this way until mid-December and then take a one month break.

~~~
Here are my Items of the Day!:
                                            
Sparkling Winter! @elunajewelry http://etsy.me/9YJhl8  #teamwwes #etsy #bluebird #handmade #buy

Simple Sweet Hoop Earrings 4 your Christmas Party  http://etsy.me/h4rGQH  #etsy  #bluebird  #buy
Spotted Jasper wrapped in silver! @elunajewelry http://etsy.me/i8zWrS  #bluebird #etsy #etsytweets

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Twitter Tree Wednesday 12-01-2010




Welcome to the Twitter Tree!

Instructions:
New for this week 
Please add this tag to your tweets. "bluebird"
This way we can Re-tweet later in the day, simply by searching the tag.
Thanks!


Below and in the comments section is a list of three twitter ready items that I would like for you to tweet. In exchange we will return the favor by tweeting 3 of your items. You may post them in the comments section.

You may tweet one or all of them. (And if you would like you may pay it forward by tweeting items in the comment section below)

This wonderful idea was started by ChristieCottage and has already brought in sales and promotional opportunities to those involved.  Remember “A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Francis Bacon. ”  I saw that quote posted on Twitter the other day and it seems to fit the idea, so let us create more opportunities to be seen.

You post the item(s) you tweeted for me along with your twitter account so I can follow you, and list 1-3 items (clickable links, Twitter Ready please) from any of your online shops that you would like for me to tweet for you. ( No "mature" items, please). Be sure the item is twitter ready. (Please include a description, not just the link and any #hashtags you would like to use.)

I will post when I have tweeted for you.

The Twitter Tree will be hosted by a different shop each business day.
Be sure and stop by and be a part of the twitter tree each day. We will promote this way until mid-December and then take a one month break.

~~~
Here are my Items of the Day!:                                                                           

Simple, Classic, Sophisticated Earrings! @elunajewelry http://etsy.me/hILlcu #bluebird #etsy #etsytweets
Picture this for XMAS @elunajewelry http://etsy.me/arflD3 #teamwwes #etsy #bluebird #handmade #buy
Mahogany Crystal Silver Pendant http://etsy.me/bliu4I  #bluebird #etsy #etsytweets #teamwwes