News From the Mercantile

Website Advertising

In our last few post on Website Basics, we have been talking about how to start a website and all the things you need to do to get the site noticed by Search Engines. It is not enough that you opened your website and that you have the cutest darn merchandise, you have to get some of those millions surfing the net to stop by and make a purchase.

The first question you ask is how do I get noticed? How do I get those customers to come to my site and see my wonderful items? The answer is to advertise, advertise, advertise! Not very many new sites survive on word of mouth or search engine referrals. You have to get your company name out there and target your potential customers.

The first thing I would suggest is to take a little time to analyze your customers. Are your customers women? Are your items Shabby Chic, Country, Modern, Primitive or have a special interest? Really think about who will be buying these items and where these customers might be shopping already. Now you have some useful information and you are ready to make your marketing plan!

You know what they say "You have to spend money to make money!", so now it is time to start spending some money! There are lots of ideas about how to drive traffic your way, some cost a monthly or yearly fee, but many are FREE. Take a look at the list below to get some ideas on where you could spend your advertising dollar.

*FREE Topsite Listings - A topsite is a list of websites that you join and it keeps track of the number of website hits you are getting. Because you are in a group, and everyone is linked together, you could get customers from new areas and better Search Engine exposure. Many of these sites have specific traits, like Candle Topsites, Etsy Shop Topsites, Primitive Topsites or Marketplaces - like our Shoofly Pie Mercantile Topsites. My suggestion is to only join the ones that you think your customers would enjoy, no one will spend time searching for primivite candles when it is a Shabby Chic Topsite.

*Business Cards - Not everyone thinks of their business cards as advertising, but they are! This is something tangible that you can give people or include in shipping that has your name and all your contact information on it. Make sure your business cards have current phone numbers and web addresses. Use your website graphics on your business cards, this makes your logo recognizable and easy to remember. These small items leave a lasting impression. If you are in need of custom business cards, stop by our sister site, www.PrintMePrim.com for all your professional LASER printing needs.

*Exchange Links - Here is another FREE advertising tool. Remember only exchange links with established websites that have a direct connection to your site. Use good website manners in asking the site owner for a link. You are the person requesting a favor, so make it as easy as possible on the other website owner, have your URL, company name, your full name and banner all in the email asking for the link. My own rule is, if I have to track all this information down for the other website owner, I DON'T link to them. Get your stuff together and have already added them to your site, this makes me think you know what you are doing. Also remember, many site owners don't do site maintenance everyday, it might take a week to get you added, don't bug the site owner.

*Plug Boards - Here is another FREE opportunity. Personally, I hate plug boards. I think those blinking, flashing things are a nuisance and I don't click through them. I think they are a big waste of time, but if you have the time and they are FREE to join.

*Online Marketplaces - In my opinion these are places where money is well spent. But I must say not all marketplaces are the same. In order to really know if your advertising money is being well spent you need some website information. I suggest installing AddFree Stats on your site. This tool lets you analyze your traffic and lets you see where your advertising money is working. Use the same criteria for selecting your Marketplace, do they cater to YOUR kind of customer? Look at who advertises on that site, if you do a lot of research into them, you will see the same established, successful websites on many of them. Don't be fooled by cheap prices, you get what you pay for!

In today's slow economy, many website owners are looking for a way to save money, but you can also look at this as a way to regroup and have your site ready for increased sales. If you are in the market for advertising please stop by our Marketplace, www.ShooflyPieMercantile.com, and see if there is something we can do for you.

Next month we will start a new series on Craft Shows - are they for you?

Thanks for stopping by,

The Homemakers Handbook

Spaghetti Bolenase

1 lb. ground beef or Italian sausage or mixture of both
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1/4 Cup red wine
1/4 Cup water
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 Teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 can pitted black olive, drained (optional)
1 box spaghetti

In a large Dutch oven, brown meat, onions and carrots. When meat is cooked through and vegetables are soft, add mushrooms,tomato sauce, tomato paste, red wine, water, sugar and seasonings. Taste sauce and adjust seasonings to your taste. Add olives, if you like, and simmer over a low heat while spaghetti is cooking.

This is a great way to get kids to eat vegetables! You can chop the onion, carrot and mushrooms as small as you like. Very fast, ready in 30 minutes.

June Trade Days

Shoofly Pie Mercantile would like to introduce you to Brenda from The Prim Pattern. This wonderful site has Country patterns, Kits, E-patterns, Instant Download patterns, Free Patterns and so much more. If you sell Country/Prim Patterns, Kits or Craft patterns of any kind, they would love for you to join them!


The Prim Pattern is just one of the many websites that Brenda/aka Hattie, owns and operates. www.Hatties-U-Design-It.com is one of her sites that offers a wide range of website services. She does domain registration, web hosting, website construction and many more services. She is also one of the proud owners of Prim Sisters Talk Radio. Every Monday, this weekly podcast is filled with the latest in the Prim World, with guest speakers and lots of helpful tips and tricks. And if this wasn't enough she has the Prim Sister's Gazette an online craft magazine for Prim lovers and crafters of all kinds.

We hope you stop by one or all of Brenda's sites and see ALL she has to offer.

Hope you enjoyed our Featured Site and see you next month at "Mercantile Trade Days"!

The WAHM Home Companion

Time tested household tips, from various sources, for busy Work Women At Home!







Great Things To Do With WD-40

1) Protects silver from tarnishing.

2) Removes road tar and grime from cars.

3) Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.

4) Gives floors that ‘just-waxed’ sheen without making it slippery.

5) Keeps flies off cows.

6) Restores and cleans chalkboards.

7) Removes lipstick stains.

8) Loosens stubborn zippers.

9) Untangles jewelry chains.

10) Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.

11) Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.

12) Removes tomato stains from clothing.

13) Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.

14) Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.

15) Keeps scissors working smoothly.

16) Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes.

17) Removes splattered grease on stove.

18) Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.

19) Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.

20) Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.


Talk to you next week for the Mercantile Trade Days!

News From the Mercantile

Shoofly Pie Mercantile would like to be your guide to Small Business Resources for Working Women at Home. Last month we talked about starting a website to sell your merchandise and hopefully you are now the proud owner of your own domain! This month we will continue the series of Website Basics 101 and talk about how to optimize that site and drive Internet traffic your way.

Website Optimization is one of the hardest things for website owners to understand and do. Most people think that once you open your site the search engines will direct traffic to you. WRONG!! We now need to work on making your site attractive to those Search Engines and get your site ranked on them, so lets cover the 5 basic areas of Search Engine Optimization.

1. Proof Read Your Site!! This is one of the easiest, and most overlooked, things you can do to improve your site. I cannot tell you how many sites I visit and there are glaring misspelled words. Search Engines are literal and they do not know you made a typo, make sure you spell everything correctly and try not to use "cutesy" spelling for major things. Take a look at the photos you have on your site. Make sure they have a caption when not displayed and that the caption matches the description of the item. Search Engines do not link photos named CGI228843 to your item "Primitive Santa Doll", name the photo "Primitive Santa Doll" too and then when those engine bots see your site, they will link those two items together and give your site a higher rank for being relevant. I know that proof reading an entire site is not the way you want to spend an evening, but believe me it will pay off in the long run and your site will look more professional.

2. Meta Tags - what in the world are they really? Well these strange little things are the invisible words that Search Engines read on every page of your site. You probably added a few Meta Tags when you first started your site. Now is a good time to check those tags and purge the ones that are obsolete and maybe add a few new ones. Meta Tags describe your website pages to Search Engines, they are never seen by the public. If you were doing a Google Search for your site, what words would you search for? Well, those are the words that need to be in your Meta Tags. Think of everything that you could possible search for and use those tags. There are many, many articles out there on the web about Meta Tags and it is time well spent making sure your site has the right ones.

3. Want a FREE and easy way to get people to come to your site? Link your site with other sites that are similar to yours. Links are a funny thing for website owners, some love them and others hate them. I think they are a great tool to help new website owners and I always appreciated established sites linking to me. In my opinion there are a few hard and fast rules on website links. Only link to sites that are like yours, we don't want a primitive doll site linked to auto parts or medical sites. I know that when you start out you feel like the more the merrier, but this can actually count against you in your Search Engine rank. Those silly Search Engines look for relevance and don't see a link between pills, auto parts and primitive dolls. My own personal advise is to always go to the site that is asking for a link and see if it is up to your standards. I make it a hard and fast rule that if people ask for a link and their site has misspelled words, broken links, flashing and annoying things going on, then I decline that link. Also, use good website courtesy, when asking for a link send your banner, your URL and your website name, don't expect those sites to hunt around for your information, you are the one asking a favor. The last word on links is occasionally check your site for broken links, Search Engines and customers get annoyed by those "Red X's" and links that go to no where. Do quarterly website house cleaning and keep your site in good shape.

4. The Holy Grail of website traffic - Search Engines. Eventually all sites get crawled by Search Engine spiders, but it can take months or even years to come up on a Google Search. There are many companies that promise improved rank on Search Engines, but there are no guarantees. My friend Tina at Primitive Business Junction has gathered together a wonderful collection of articles about Search Engines, so this is something I would look into before I paid someone to optimize my site. Almost everything you need to do to increase traffic to your site can be done for FREE, but sometimes it is money well spent to have someone help you with these chores.

5. Last but not least is PATIENCE! The average amount of time for Search Engine Optimization to work is about 1 year. This is when you can do a Google or Yahoo search and your website comes up on the first page. Many people say "I have had my website open for a month and haven't sold a thing!", that is not unusual and before you open the doors you had better be ready for all the work to make it happen.

These 5 things are the basics for getting your website noticed by Search Engines. I have had a website for almost 5 years and I am always learning something new, keep at it. Next month we will be talking about advertising and how to get the most out of your money in these hard economic times.

Thanks for stopping by,

The Homemakers Handbook

A monthly offering of new and
sometimes "classic" family recipes
for busy working women at home!








Salsa Chicken


4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 teaspoons taco seasoning mix (GF if you must)
1 cup salsa
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Place chicken breasts in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle taco seasoning on both sides of chicken breasts, and pour salsa over all.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is tender and juicy and its juices run clear.
Sprinkle chicken evenly with cheese, and continue baking for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with sour cream if desired, and serve.

Thanks to The Baking Beauties for this great recipe!

May Trade Days

Shoofly Pie Mercantile would like to introduce you to the folk art of Millie Kelso at www.SweetGatherings.com. This wonderful merchant offers a big selection of country, whimsical patterns for snowmen, quilts & other needful items! For Prim Patterns and OoAK Dolls and Other Needfuls check out her sister site, www.SweetPrims.com.


Sweet Gatherings is located in Oregon and has been designing patterns for about 15 years. Millie has always loved sewing dolls, embroidering and quilting. Millie is currently selling merchandise at a local antique store, Glory Days Antiques. If you ever get to Springfield, Oregon you need to stop in for a visit.

Millie lives in Oregon with her husband, Bill and lots of animals! She lives in a 112 year old farmhouse on 2/3 of an acre. She loves to work in her garden and loves to collect old rusty things to decorate her yard!l

Hope you enjoyed our Featured Site and see you next month at "Mercantile Trade Days"!