Visit LilacsNDreams New Blog Blogger Come on Over

Reminder of LilacsNDreams new addy to visit which is http://www.LilacsNDreams2.blogspot.com  OR  also http://www.LilacsNDreams.com. Same place, but whichever one is easier for you to click with:)

Things are moving along smoothly at the new blog, gaining some watchers, and the views are coming in pretty good too. Hope everyone had a wonderful Wednesday, and wishing you a great Thursday! Ya'll take care, and come on over to the "new" blog to visit, and say Hi....I know who to come visit if possible then:)

Thanks for sharing your time with me here today, and see you over at the new place. Take care. 

Reminder LilacsNDreams Has Moved to New Blog Please Follow

Reminder that LilacsNDreams Has Moved to a New Blog, and asks you to Please Follow there. Hi all, and hope this gets to everyone. Due to circumstances I am not going to keep repeating....LOL:) I have started a New Blog. I am asking everyone to please follow me over there. Same name, still using blogspot, but without upsetting things too much I had to start a new blog. So, when you can, come on over to the new place, and would LOVE to see you there. LilacsNDreams Blog  OR  LilacsNDreams, and also LilacsNDreams Shoppe Blog  OR  LilacsNDreams Shoppe. 2 main pages to the blog, but as you know there are also other pages that I have there as well as I did here. 

So, hop on over, give it a read....I am working on redoing the same posts for over there too. That way those following can bookmark, and note again with them as they wish. Sorry for the inconvenience, but would be happy to see you there!:)

Have a super Tuesday everyone, and see you at the New Blog!:)

 

Policies Page For LilacsNDreams Has Moved Follow Me

Welcome to my policies page for LilacsNDreams blog. This is a short announcement to let everyone know that I have Moved! LilacsNDreams has a new blog! Would appreciate it if you would come on over to visit me with the new place, and give me a follow there. Still a working progress, but much of it is done, just some tweeking being done, minor changes, and some of the blog looks the same as over here too. Few changes, but the main landing page is the same to help ease everyone into this move. 

I didn't want to do it, never thought I would be doing this, but do to some issues that took place I was locked out of here for a week with no guarantees of getting this reinstated. Sorry, couldn't sit and wait around...started a new blog. So far, so good. 

So, hop on over to visit with me by clicking on LilacsNDreams OR here is the new addy for it too LilacsNDreams2.blogspot.com.

IF you would happen to click on one of the tab links at the top, it should bring you over to one of the new pages on my new blog too. IF I did everything correctly, and it works as I intend it to. Hey, thanks so much for understanding with this, and being patient during this time. I appreciate you all for it. Take care, and have a wonderful day everyone!:)

 

Lilacs Has a New Blog Please Follow Me There

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone! Stopping by this blog to keep you all updated as things are changing....you might find them a bit confusing....but I am working as fast as I can to change it all out. So, please bear with me if you will.  Thanks so much!:)

First of all, if you landed on this blog I am assuming it was from a clickable link that brought you here, or you used the blog addy of LilacsNDreams.blgospot.com. I want to let you know right away that due to circumstances that happened on May 7th...I had started a new blog. You can find that one at LilacsNDreams2.blogspot.com OR use LilacsNDreams.com also.  Not knowing if this blog would be reinstated, or not...I couldn't take that chance. So, I jumped on it right away, and spent all day working with this, and have been doing so off, and on since that day too. When you land on the new blog it looks very much like this one...some of the pages have changed a bit, but the first page, the landing page I kept very much like this one so that everyone would know they are coming to the right person....LilacsNDreams. Of course I kept the name on both blogs...but with the dates of things, and the amount of followers I am hoping you will know for sure that you have landed on the new blog. 

Now, once you land on this page...since I am not computer literate, and not sure enough of myself to take the step to do the 301 redirect or the redirect I also found with google for blogger also. So, the next thing I have been doing is all the tabs you are seeing at the top of this page, or if you land on other pages by chance for this blog....when you click those tabs at the top they are going to shoot you over to the new blog, and the new pages I have there. 

Once you land on those pages, or the main page of LilacsNDreams....if you will...please click on the follow me button there, and let's do this again. I really truly apologize for the inconvenience of this, and hope this is making sense of what I am shortly saying too. Hopefully soon this will be understandable, and all those that are following will get to the right destination. Till then I have to keep this blog going to help move things over, and get them all into one place before I can consider closing this blog. 

So, if you have any questions, please hop over to the new Blog by clicking on LilacsNDreams, or to go to LilacsNDreams2.blogspot.com please. Thank you so very much for understanding this all, and bearing with me during this time. I wish you all well, and to have a wonderful day!:) See ya at the new place! 

  

LilacsNDreams Has a New Blog Please Follow Me

WOW! What a deal, and what a mess too! I really truly did not expect this to happen. I am actually a bit tongue tied with this situation as well everyone.  Due to circumstances LilacsNDreams has a New Blog, and is asking that you Follow Me to that one.

What you might ask? What is she talking about? Sorry, everyone. I really truly hate confusing all of you, and I really truly hate doing all of this too.....As some of you are aware of the situation, last Monday, May 7th I was locked out of my blog here, this blog that I am conversing with ya'll on now. It kept showing disabled, not found, deleted. I begged, and went looking everywhere that I could to find it, and to find answers. I was very shook up by this, and was just sooo hear broken over it too. I did what I could to have this issue reviewed, and to get me reinstated as well too. I wanted it done like yesterday of course, but you usually have to wait about 7 business days, and 1 person with Google informed me they would turn in my request, but things did not look promising either, and if anything would be done by Google. I was trying to sign into the gmail account associated with this blog at the time, and yada yada yada. Things did not look promising at all. 

I was devastated, and was worried about what I had grown here, how I would notify people of what happened, how things were progressing here, and so I started a New blog right away. Yes, it is still named LilacsNDreams...wouldn't have any other name, right? LOL:) I have directed my .com to it, and my blog addy is almost the same as this one is too. Let me remind you of those addy's to better help you..... LilacsNDreams .com is at the new addy, and then there is the LilacsNDreams new Blog addy too. 

So, if you will please, to save the confusion of things and what I have started....hop on over to the New Blog, and give me a follow there. I have it set up, pages all arranged, and still doing some minor tweaks with it, but have it running, and am gaining followers there slowly too. I had found a place that was showing some of my "old" blog posts that I had done here, and so was prepping for adding those posts to the new blog as well too. Course, they will have a little bit of some revising done to them as well for fear of duplicating things in Google's eyes.

I just cannot believe this happened, and what a mess.....I am so so very sorry everyone, and I truly apologize as ya'll have been such great people here too! I was sooo worried about finding all of you again, and finding ways to let you know what had happened. All I could do was reach to places I thought maybe I had been found with, and hoped it would help with some people...which it has. But, not knowing definitely where everyone was coming from made it harder, and all I could do was do the best I knew to do. 

So, making my long story short...trying to anyway. I deeply apologize for this mishap, and the situation of all of this. I have a gmail account set up with my new blog that is ONLY for that blog, and nothing else to further stop any issues like this again. If you will I ask that you please follow me over to my New Blog, and give me a follow there since that once has become active, and others are aware of it too. I appreciate your understandings with all of this, and again apologize deeply for this as well. If you are using my LilacsNDreams .com domain that is great as it has been directed to the new blog as soon as all of this happened - I spent all day on that Monday working on the new blog, and getting it out there for everyone too. Also, here is the New Blog addy to follow with if you will please everyone http://www.LilacsNDreams2.blogspot.com 

Thank You so very very much everyone, and hope to see you at the New Place. Ya'll take care, and have a wonderful day. See Ya!:)

   

Ruby Lane and Ruby Plaza Changes by End of Year

Ruby Lane and Ruby Plaza Changes by End of Year, have you heard?


Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Always a pleasure to see you dropping by. For those who sell vintage, and antiques you know about the market place called Ruby Lane. At some point they had made a sister site which is called Ruby Plaza where you could sell your items of new, and not vintage. There are many sellers who were enjoying having both sites to work with, and sell with too. Well, it is now being announced that Ruby Lane is going to be closing it's sister site of Ruby Plaza. The site will still be active, sellers can still sell there, the sellers there are also given some options for moving their items into Ruby Lane, and for those who sell there...it is best to see this detailed information from the site so that during the process of discussing this there is no misinterpretation of what the rules, and changes are for you. 


Like any other site when this happens you have questions of what do you do now? Where do I put my items that are not considered vintage, some are new, and some are thrift store finds too. One place I am going to suggest watching different sellers with is at the Social Network of Vintage Rising. This site is a sister site to the Vintage Village, and with the announcement of Ruby Plaza closing Lora the site owner, and administrator of the Villages had an idea, and has gone to work with it too. Vintage Rising started out as a social network where others could share about their items handmade, altered, vintage. Items that had been repurposed, and upcycled using vintage components of sorts. With this new announcement Lora is adding more to this site. Sellers that are members there will now be able to show their items from Thrift Store Finds also. Items of new, gently used, and things you would find in Thrift Stores. On the site this is will be called Thrift Store Alley. How neat of an idea this is too! Here you contact the seller themselves about purchasing the item of interest, and they will direct you how to pay by either sending you an invoice directly, or some may choose to have you purchase through a venue of choice they have chosen too. 


Things are being worked on with the site, and Lora is moving fast to get things accomplished for sellers already there to use, but I would suggest keeping an eye on this place for purchases of interest within the categories of Thrift Store Finds. How fun is that going to be, and how convenient by doing this too...don't you think? I am excited myself to have another place that I can show some of the items I have to offer without worrying about the venues of choice that would, or would not allow such items to be offered for sale. 


Keep in mind that many still use ebay, and complain of the fees, and the changes they keep having too. There is also ecrater where people can offer payments through paypal, or google checkout. Some are using Facebook, and using yardsellr through there too. I have also looked at this place too since I am still working on downsizing my inventory myself:)


Hope this bit of information can be of help to some of you who do online sales. At least if you did not know about it you do now, and are able to visit the sites to find out more about all of this too. Keep in mind there are still many venues out there that are still be used too. Along with that some are using their blogs to sell with....see something you like, contact me, and I will bill you directly through paypal, google checkout, or amazon payments myself:) Some people also have their own websites too. Whatever the case is there are many online sellers of many things to be offered to You. 


Hey, thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams everyone. As always I enjoy the visits, the comments, and everything that others share too. Ya'll take care, and see you again real soon. Have a super weekend!:)

Social Media Tools Include Social Bookmarking

Social Media Tools Include Social Bookmarking too!

Hello, and Welcome back to LilacsNDreams everyone! Sorry, I know, I know....been missing in action here lately again. Life...sometimes will throw a curve now, and then at us....know what I mean?:)

Looking things over a bit here, and wanting to get back onto track of things to finish what was started too. I have been periodically discussing different things involving Social Media, some tools to use, and trying to briefly explain some things too. As I look things over with my notes it looks like I should be able to finish some things up today with this topic. I want to cover Social Media Bookmarking, and give you some ideas with this that are also used too. Again, remember there is much more out there from what I am telling you, but I hope to be covering some of the basics to give you an idea.

Social Media Bookmarking

According to Wikipedia this involves a Method for Internet Users to organize, store, manage, and search for bookmarks of resources online. Many online bookmark management services have launched since 1996. Tagging is a significant feature of Social Bookmarking systems. Enables users to organize their bookmarks in flexible ways.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking  Here is the link of where I have copied what is below, and noted above from them as well too.

Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves aren't shared, merely bookmarks that reference them.

Descriptions may be added to these bookmarks in the form of metadata, so users may understand the content of the resource without first needing to download it for themselves. Such descriptions may be free text comments, votes in favour of or against its quality, or tags that collectively or collaboratively become a folksonomy. Folksonomy is also called social tagging, "the process by which many users add metadata in the form of keywords to shared content".^[1]

In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine.

Most social bookmark services encourage users to organize their bookmarks with informal tags instead of the traditional browser-based system of folders, although some services feature categories/folders or a combination of folders and tags. They also enable viewing bookmarks associated with a chosen tag, and include information about the number of users who have bookmarked them. Some social bookmarking services also draw inferences from the relationship of tags to create clusters of tags or bookmarks.

Many social bookmarking services provide web feeds for their lists of bookmarks, including lists organized by tags. This allows subscribers to become aware of new bookmarks as they are saved, shared, and tagged by other users.

As these services have matured and grown more popular, they have added extra features such as ratings and comments on bookmarks, the ability to import and export bookmarks from browsers, emailing of bookmarks, web annotation, and groups or other social network features.

Some Social Media Bookmarking places you might know are:

Stumble Upon - This discover engine find, and recommends web content to users. They then discover and rate different web pages, photos, and videos based on personalized preferences.

Digg - Social content site that likes technology related content. The promotion of your own blog aggressively on Digg is not a good idea.

Delicious - They allow you to share bookmarks. This is used for thought leadership with link sharing.

Reddit - This is a social news website that users submit content, and other users will vote the submission up, or down. This ranking determines the position on the site's front page, and pages. 

Another popular thing used for others to visit, and see what you have to say, what you are sharing, and etc is with RSS Feeds.

RSS:

Feedburner - is one of the popular ones known to use. This provides feeds, and management tools bloggers, podcasters, and other web based content publishers. 

Google Reader - also another well known one to use. This is a web based aggregrator capable of reading Atom, and RSS Feeds. 

Technorati - This is an internet search engine for blogs.

I hope that with these few postings I did of the topic with Social Media Tools that it was able to help you a little bit, and give you some ideas of how big it is and becoming. Also, to better assist you with which areas you would like to focus with in your journies of your business, hobbies, and just things in general. If you know of anything, or can think of anything you would like to add to this, or past posts....Please, do so. You are always welcome to share, and visitors often look forward to reading from what others have to say too. 

Thanks again for visiting with LilacsNDreams, and glad you stopped by! See you again soon everyone. 

 

Picnik Closes Other Photo Editing Options to Use

Picnik Closes April 19 Finding Other Photo Editing Options to Use. 

Welcome to LilacsNDreams Everyone! April 19, this Thursday, Picnik will have their last day. They are closing. Sad time for many, and quite a few people got use to the site, and using it. They did give fair notice, but soon people will still be looking for other alternatives to use. 

So, I am going to enclose a partial list of some I have found, heard about, and have seen others mention some too. Everyone will have their own taste, and own preferences of which one they wish to use, or prefer to use. There is no right, or wrong. It all depends on how you use it, what features you are looking for, the simplicity of use, and so on. After reading this if you know of others that are not mentioned here, and are worthy to use, please help out in sharing those. That would be great!:)

Photo Editing Options:

befunky - apply photo effects, enhance, edit pictures & photos online
picmonkey - this is a site being noted for taking the place of picnik, some of the developing people to this site had also worked with picnik too
pixlr - free online photo editor, no registration
FotoFlexer - most powerful online photo editor, 100% free
Picasa - organize, edit & share your photos
PhotoShop
Photoscape - free photo editing software
Phixer - directly supports Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and many more
ipiccy - loads pictures quickly, and has a simplicity of a site to work with
Gimp - open source answer to Adobe PhotoShop
 fotofuze - free to use online application

Please, remember these are not all the programs out there being offered. There are many more that others have used, and have experience with. I like picmonkey, I like befunky, and I also liked ipiccy after playing with it a bit too. Ipiccy does load nicely with the pictures. If anyone has another suggestion, or knows of others that have had good reviews please feel free to share them. Would love to know of more options myself too. 

Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams. Hope the list helps some of you that are still not sure of where to go after Picnik closes this week. Many choices of software photo editors that are free, good, simple, and complicated too. Everyone has their own preference of what works for them. I wish you all well, and good luck with this task to complete this week. Take care, and see ya'll again soon. 

Social Media and Network Photo Sharing Applications

Social Media and Network Photo Sharing plays a part of Social Network, and Social Media too. 

Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone! Still trying to carry on with Social Networking, and Social Media with this break down I had started. I do hope it has been helping some of you, and is helping you to see how big this is, and how much is really out there too. 

Photo Sharing is another tool that you can help share, and market with for your Vintage, Handmade, Homemade, Market Places, Venues, and so on. I will not be covering all of them offered, but I will be sharing a few with you. Don't forget if there is more you would like to see, or learn about that you can always Google it as well for the information, and links.

Photo and Video Sharing:

You Tube - This is a video sharing website where the users can share, and can upload new videos. With this site you can also put together pictures, some music, and different things to make a little video of your products to be shared with others on their blogs, websites, and so on.

Flicker - The website is for hosting images, and videos too. The community of members here can share, and make comments on the media viewed here. Through google searches I have also seen pictures from here that ranked enough to be seen with search engines.

Picasa Web Albums - This is another free photo sharing website that is connected with Google. It's a free Google Tool for Online photo sharing, and photo editing too. It has been noted about the simplicity here, and the free picasa software for photo organization, editing, and uploading too.

Photobucket - This is yet another free basic account to be used. There is also a paid account that can be used too. Here you have photo sharing albums you make. You can also displays, and customized galleries, and slideshows. Some of them you might see on different blogs, or websites as well.

Twitpic - This is a website that users are easily allowed to post pictures to Twitter. Being among one of the top rated Social Networks they should have something too, right?:)

Instagram - This is an iPhone application that allows users to also share photos. The phone applications are another big thing being used by many. Sorry, I have not quite advanced that far yet, but it is coming:)

As you can see this is a growing thing by using photos, making your photos clickable, using videos, etc. It is all good for social networking with others. Another great way for you to share things, and to show items that you make, or sell too. 

Hope this little segment was of use to some of you. Sometimes it is the little things that we do not think of, or that we put together without realizing it  is all useful to us for many reasons. Thanking you all again for visiting with LilacsNDreams. Hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to visit some of my other site pages too. My LilacsNDreams Shoppe page shows pictures of items I have done, have found, that I offer, things sold, and sometimes you will see treasuries or collections that have been done too. Take care, and see you all again soon!:)

Blogs and Blogging Are Social Media Tools Too

Blogs and Blogging are Social Media Tools to use as well too. 


Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone. This is another discussion from what I have started earlier about Social Media Tools. This post will be about Social Media Tools that include Blogs and Blogging. There are many places out there to blog with, and to use their platforms for blogging. Please remember this as you read what I have to offer to you. 

Blogs And Blogging:

Wordpress - You have wordpress.com and also wordpress.org. One is more detailed with a paid domain, different plug-ins that can be used to better assist you with all you would like to do with your wordpress blog, and etc. Wordpress is one of the popular blogging tools, and content management systems that are used. 

Blogger or Blogspot - This service is another popular platform used that allows multi user blogs, and has time stamped entries with it too.  This blog publishing service allows private blogs, or you can also have multi user blogs too. Also, this is a Google Tool as well too. 

Tumblr - Has become more popular over time. They have a social networking website with a blogging platform allowing their users to post to a short form blog. 

Type Pad - This blogging service is targeted to those non-tecnical users. This service also has photo albums, mobile blogging, and also includes a multiple author support too. 

Weebly - This place is also free for a website, and for a blog too. They have threaded commenting that went live in Dec. of 2011. When you comment on a blog post you have the ability to directly respond to other comments, and have your reply appear in the line below the original comment. 

Windows Live Writer - This is something that is nice to have. This is an offline editor that is to work with all platforms.

Everyone has their own preferences to how you blog, and where you blog as well. That is great because remember what one person might like, or maybe what works for them will not always work for everyone else either. Some have found with their own websites that they can add a blog with it. Some of your Market Places have a blog that you can use with your store. Also, some of the social networks also have blogs with their sites, and for others to be involved with too. 

I know there are more out there. If you know of one that you would like to share about, please do so. You are more than Welcome to comment, and share with us all here. Hope everyone had a super Easter Weekend, and thanks again for visiting with LilacsNDreams. See you again soon.

  

Social Media Tools to Use For Vintage Handmade and More

Social Media Tools to Use For Vintage Handmade Homemade and so much more!

Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone! I started a discussion a few days ago about Social Neworking, and Social Media. Very similar, but slightly different too. I wish to continue on with this thought, and hopefully help you a little bit more too. 

In this posting I am going to mention a few of the more popular, or used places out there that others are using. Keep in mind that this list is not all of them as there is much out there to see, and be a part of. It all depends on your interests, the business you have involving it, your personal thoughts and feelings, your goals, and so on. Hope this will again help you, and give you some ideas as where you would maybe like to go, and for future goals too. 

Social Media Networks to consider:

Facebook:  This is a Social Networking service that allows its users to upload pictures, and text to be shared. Facebook Pages is usually the best place to start, or one of the first thoughts people will have to join. Facebook Pages allows you to collect Fans who can better follow you, and your updates to things. 

Google+:  This is another Social Networking service that is newer than Facebook. Here you can also upload pictures, text, and videos that you would like to share. Upon sharing such things they are done publicly, or you can direct them to show with specific circles. Circles are organized by you which are groups of people you wish to share with. 

Google+ Pages:  These are organized by groups, organizations, and business that set up profiles for posting information to other groups of interest.

LinkedIn:  This is another social networking sight that is focused a bit more with business relations.

Ning:  This is a social network that is designed by you the administrator with your needs in mind. It includes having forums, blogs, photo galleries, a place for others to collect to and share about themselves, and their businesses. Another great way for others to collect to, and be active with. See a few of my links in my side bar to get an idea.

Pinterest:  This is another form of social networking that is done by using pin boards. Here you use a photo sharing technique of things you find of interest which include vintage, collectibles, repurposing, handmade, homemade, blogs, websites, etc. Great way to organize some thoughts, and is another way to bookmark things you find of interest. 

Wanelo:  This is yet another form of social networking that is done by using the pin board idea again. Here you again pin, or save photos into collections you organize yourself. The difference with Wanelo is you are allowed to self promote yourself here.

Please, remember there is much out there to be seen and viewed. These social places I have mentioned are not all of the Social Networks. I am amazed some days how I can still find more, and see more when I am roaming the internet. The ones I have mentioned here are those that are used more, or have become popular for many to use. Next time I will cover a few more things with Social Network Media Tools to use.

Hey, if you know of others, have found others, or have joined with others that are not mentioned here...Remember you are always Welcome to share with us here. Thanks so much for visiting with LilacsNDreams today, and always happy to see you. Make sure to say Hi so that I can come visit with you too. Take care, and have a Happy Day everyone!:)

   

   

Social Networking and Social Media Connecting What is It

Social Networking and Social Media Connecting for fun, pleasures, and business too. 

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Always nice to have you visit, and passing by. Among many things that are discussed today is Social Networking, or also known as Social Media. I went to Wikipedia to get a more understandable definition of this for us. Social Networking Service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities and people with similar or somewhat similar interests, backgrounds, and/or activities make their own communities. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. If you go to Wikipedia you will be able to read what I have printed here, and much more that is said as well too. Don't just the meaning of this, but also see what else is all said as you follow down the page reading. Very interesting. 

Any Website that invites you to interact with the site, and with other visitors falls into the definition of Social Media. We see the word Social Media, and it can mean many things which instrumental is some of our first thoughts. But, as you read further you can also understand how it pertains to the issues of Social Networking too. I found the definition for this to be at http://www.webtrends.about.com/od/web20/a/social-media.htm. Feel free to give it a visit to also read a little bit about this too. 

Social Networking can be a great home on the Web. It can help you connect with people, or reconnect with long-lost friends, and it can even help your career by making business contacts too. Social Networks range from friends-based networks like FB, and My Space to music, and movie networks like Flixster, and Last.FM to business Social Networks like LinkedIn, and XING. I found this little tidbit with http://www.webtrends.about.com/old/socialnetworking/u/list-of-social-networks-guide.htm

Make sure to come back, and visit LilacsNDreams again. My next posting I am working on I am hoping to cover different Social Networks, or Social Medias that are being used, and try to give a brief idea of what they do as well. Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams today. Hope this was helpful to you. This is a growing area, and is still growing with questions of what is it, do I need to be involved, what can it do for me, what can it do for my business, which ones should I use, and so on.

See ya'll again soon. Have a Happy Day Everyone!:)

 

Google and Their Algorithm Changes Being Worked On

Google and Their Algorithm Changes happened again recently. 

Hello, and Welcome back to LilacsNDreams, and nice to see those for your first time visit too! First of all, till I get a few more things accomplished at home with some of this remodeling I will be posting different things right now that I see mentioned, is being reported, and if I find something interesting to share. I have not been able to do much creating, thrifting, and having the extra room for things now too. Till then I am listing things for sale with different places to down size my collections, lower the inventory, and....hopefully to get ready with moving in the next few months. Not quite seeing the light at the end there yet, but it will come:)

I am going to share a link with ya'll to go visit, and see a bit about the Big Google. Yeah, we have to play nice with them, but sometimes they are too over powering for some of us smaller sellers too. As we know Google is always making changes. Sometimes for the good, and a lot of times....what a headache too. LOL:) They recently have been working with their algorithm again. Going through things involving content of what we are sharing with our sales, if we are doing too much of linking...like over doing the keywords....they are trying to keep things in an area they say that is good for everyone, and is suppose to help us all. Hmmm....wonder sometimes, right? 

Anyway, from LinkedIn I followed to this link titled Link Building Networks Fall to the Mighty Hand of Google. Give it a peak to see some of what Google has been up to. I know it is not everything, but it gives you an idea, and little bit of an insight as to some things happening around the net. 

Thanks so much for visiting with LilacsNDreams everyone! Always glad to have you visit with me. Take care, and see you again soon. Have a Happy Hump Day All!:)

 

Pinterest The Copyright Question and New Terms

Pinterest The Copyright Question and New Terms.

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Glad to have you back, and thank all of you for stopping by to visit. Pinterest is a really big issue these days, and still has many people in an uproar over items being pinned there. What is legal, what is not legal, copyright infringements, should you pin or not pin items from other people, and so on. Many are against the pinning issue, and then there are many others who like it because it is showing their things to everyone else as well. It's all great as long as you are doing it correctly. Yes, I have pinned different things on boards there. When the pins are from a seller, maybe a blog, one of the social networks I deal with, etc. I make sure that the link to them is included with the pinning, and I do give the site, or the person credit for it too. I have always given credit where it is due for things used, and offer the corrected links with the names as well. 

Since the uproar has started Pinterest has updated their terms on their site, and they have sent notices out to those who have an accounts with them notifying of the changes. I will share with you the notice that I had received. See it copied below for you. 

Updated Terms of Service

Over the last few weeks, we've been working on an update to our Terms. When we first launched Pinterest, we used a standard set of Terms. We think that the updated Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, and Privacy Policy are easier to understand and better reflect the direction our company is headed in the future. We'd encourage you to read these changes in their entirety, but we thought there were a few changes worth noting.

• Our original Terms stated that by posting content to Pinterest you grant Pinterest the right for to sell your content. Selling content was never our intention and we removed this from our updated Terms.
• We updated our Acceptable Use Policy and we will not allow pins that explicitly encourage self-harm or self-abuse.
• We released simpler tools for anyone to report alleged copyright or trademark infringements.
• Finally, we added language that will pave the way for new features such as a Pinterest API and Private Pinboards.

We think these changes are important and we encourage you to review the new documents here. These terms will go into effect for all users on April 6, 2012.

Like everything at Pinterest, these updates are a work in progress that we will continue to improve upon. We're working hard to make Pinterest the best place for you to find inspiration from people who share your interest. We've gotten a lot of help from our community as we've crafted these Terms.

Thanks!

Ben & the Pinterest Team

I would also like to share another link with ya'll that was shared on Facebook, and that I have been sharing to others as well. This article comes from Mashable titled The Copyright Question: How to Protect Yourself on Pinterest. 

I know this is a lot to take in, and I am not going to tell you all that it is ok to pin with Pinterest, or it is not ok to pin with Pinterest. Many use the site as a Virtual Bookmarking place, others use it to organize things with some of the items they offer themselves, but also wish to share the great items that are offered by others too. Many are addicted to the site because they enjoy seeing things they are not already seeing, and they enjoy sharing everything too. But, it is up to You to be the judge if you wish to use Pinterest, or not. Sadly, the internet is a big open space, and not only is Pinterest doing this, but many other places have been doing some of the same things for even a longer time. 

Thanks again for visiting with LilacsNDreams everyone, and hope you enjoyed what articles I was able to share with you. I wish you all well, and hope to see you again soon. 

Facebook and the Timeline Countdown Begins

Facebook and the Timeline Countdown Begins

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! For many who have accounts with Facebook we have been watching different changes over time. Well, the one that is coming at us right now is the new Timeline. Whether you have switched to it, or not it is coming. The Facebook Timeline Pages countdown has begun for this week. 

I myself am still drying to navigate through it, and understand it. I am still not sure if I like the new addition of this, or not. But, whether it is acceptable by us, or not it is mandatory to have it by the end of the week. So, if you have been avoiding it, now is the time to catch up with the Facebook Timeline to work with it, and try to understand it. 

The Facebook Timeline Countdown is On is a link that was shared by Barbara of Out of the Attic 2u with The Vintage Village. Hopefully this will help some of you with some of the things that need to be done, and to learn a little bit about it too. 

Hope everyone had a beautiful weekend, and wishing you all a super week coming at us. Remember, don't be afraid to share something if you have more links, or knowledge of something being discussed. The more, the merrier, and it is helpful for all of us too. Don't forget to say Hi if you visited so that I can drop in on you too. Thanks again everyone. Take care, and see you again soon. 

  

When Online Sales Are Made and Completed

When Online Sales Are Made and Completed.


Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Glad to have you stopping by. 


Every Seller does things differently when it comes to the completion of a sale made. How do you handle things yourself as a seller? What kind of routine, or system do you have set up? I myself have a routine of once a sale is made I like to send a note to the customer thanking them for their purchase, and to please notify me if there are any changes with their mailing address so that I can note it. Sometimes a customer will already have paid right away once they have made their purchase too. That is always good too. If they do this, then I send a note thanking them for their purchase, and their quick payment they made. Once I have delivered the box to the post office I will then notify the Buyer that their box has been shipped, and I will also include the tracking information for them at that time. I ship everything Priority Mail including insurance, and the tracking number is always included with this method. Other methods of shipping are done upon request. Keep in mind not all sellers will use priority mail. It depends on the items bought, and if they offer other methods. 

That is a smooth, and fun sale when things can go like that. Sometimes there is the issue of a purchase made, but it is unpaid. How do you then treat this? How long do you wait before you relist the item for sale again if this happens? I always allow up to 7 days for payments to be made. So, by this time if I have not received payment I am generally listing it for sale right away. Prior to that I have generally gotten a response from a Buyer, and correspondence has been shared. This is helpful with making a sale. Sometimes you have Buyers who do not respond, but still pay quickly, and things are good. Then, there are those who do not respond at all during this 7 day period that I myself allow for payments to be made. Keep in mind there might be explainable reasons for this too. Something might have come up, there has been an unforeseen emergency, and so on. Generally if I have not heard anything within 3 days from the Buyer I do send a small reminder asking if they received the invoice ok, asking if there is a problem, etc. More than likely I will hear from the Buyer. Then...there are those that do not respond at all. They have changed their minds, decided they do not want the item, and do not respond. This is not fun to work with, but a part of doing sales too. 

The biggest thing that all parties can do is Communicate. Having Communication is one of the best things to have with the procedure of sales online. I know that sometimes the notes I email to customers might be a repeat from what the systems from some of the market places themselves are already sending out automatically. I don't mean to spam anyone, and it is not my intentions of doing of upsetting anyone with this procedure. But, sometimes the systems have glitches with things being sent in a timely fashion to the customers, and I have no way of knowing this. So, to be safe, and more secure I still send my minor notes to the customer just to make sure we are connecting.

Something I like to remind customers about is if you have any questions, or any problems to please contact me. I am friendly, and easy to work with:) Hope this helps some of you understand a little bit of my procedures I use for when the sale is made. There is more, but this is one of the steps of the process. I have never been taught a true correct way, or told if there is a right or wrong way that is a rule to follow. In my mind Communication is the biggest thing that should be shared, and this I am a firm believer with when doing Online Sales.

Thanks for visiting with LilacsNDreams, and see you again soon! You are Welcome to share, and comment with this subject. I always like hearing from everyone, and enjoy the things you share too. Make sure to say Hi when visiting so I can come visit you as well too. Take care everyone till the next time. Have a super weekend!:)

     

Picnik Photo Enchancing Site is Now Picmonkey

Picnik Photo Enhancing Site is Now Picmonkey!


Hello Everyone, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Always happy to see you here. I am excited, and hope that others will be when hearing this too. How many of you like using Picnik for your photo editing, and enhancing? The ease of it, the simplicity, no sign in or registration, but just hop on in to do what you needed with your pictures and then be on your way. I have adored Picnik, and was heart broken when I heard that they would be closing by April 19. What to do, What to do? There are many many programs out there, many of them have their own things to use, but many many of them did not have the simplicity of Picnik which was actually very popular, and used by many people too. I seen someone in the forums at Etsy announce that Picnik is now Picmonkey, and it is now active too! I know I had read something about this earlier, and the site was not fully functional at that time. But, I have popped on over to the site tonight, and played with one picture there. It all worked, no problems, very simple, and Whew! What a relief too! So, now I do not have to worry at all. Picmonkey will now be replacing Picnik for me, and I also have found that I like BeFunky to use for photo editing too. They also have many qualification as Picnik had.

So, when you get a chance hop on over to Picmonkey to see what it can do for you, enjoy the simplicity of the photo enhancing site, and see if this maybe is the site for you to replace Picnik's closing with. Hey, thanks for stopping by to visit with me everyone!:) Remember, you are always welcome to share, leave a comment, and of course.....Please say Hi also so that I know you visited, and can come visit with you too!:) Take care everyone, and see you again soon. Later..........

 

Solar Flares Knocking Out Electronics on Thursday

Solar Flares Knocking Out Electronics on Thursday


Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! I had another post in mind, but thought I would share this instead with everyone. Just in case you did not see the news, or hear about it. On Thursday, March 8th, if you find all of your electronics of sorts . . . internet, cell phones, cable, and any electronics is acting kind of funky, there is a reason for it. On the news tonight they gave notice of this, and what the results could be from some Solar Flares that will be happening. This is something that happens every so many years, and our time is coming to see some of it tomorrow. If you are in the right location you might also be able to see some Northern Lights displays too. 


So, remember....if there are any issues with your electronics of sorts that you use there is a reason for them flickering, coming in and out, and so on. Our Solar Flares from above will be rippling things for us a bit down here:)


Thanks for stopping by LilacsNDreams, and hope ya'll survive the Solar Flares on Thursday. Take care, and see you again soon. 

Pinterest is Good Useful Sharing Learning and With Copyrights

Pinterest is Good Useful Sharing Learning and With Copyrights.

Hello everyone, and as always Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Pinterest . . . We have all heard of it, or most of us have heard of it. It is a growing Social Network that has intrigued many people to join with them. It has been a pass time, place to share, place to learn, is useful for many reasons, and has been very addictive for many people too. What you do at Pinterest is you pin items that you have found on the internet that are creative ideas for you, maybe you would like to follow a website or a blog, make a list of items for weddings ideas, and etc. This is the place to do all of these organizational things for yourself. Whenever you pin something, that item when clicked on by someone else visiting your boards, will take them to the original place, or link of where the picture came from that you found it at.

Copyright issues with things like this? Visit ddkportraits.com to read what this person has done, and about her phone call with Pinterest Founder Ben Silbermann. Get an idea and feel for what was discussed, and what is being done by Pinterest with this issue raised by many people of copyrights. I know many of the issues have been from photographers, and some of their concerns are very understandable too.  Also, see the Pinterest - Copyright as they have it at this time.

I think Pinterest is fabulous, and has been a great source of seeing or meeting people, and new products too. Because of Pinterest I have been able to visit many other Websites, Blogs, Online Stores and Market Places by Sellers, and have seen some things that I would have not otherwise seen myself. With the issues at hand of concerned discussions, I do believe things will work themselves out too. 

When you have a chance, come visit with Pinterest, and you are more than Welcome to start with boards that I myself have started at Pinterest. All of them under LilacsNDreams of course. Always organizing, and rearranging things with items I wish to view later, keep in mind, and etc. Always welcome to visit with me there too!:)

Nice to see ya'll again, and hope you enjoyed your visit with LilacsNDreams. Remember, you are always welcome to share things with us here....keep it clean, and no arguing please, and remember everyone is very much entitled to their own opinions. Also, don't forget to say Hi so that I can hop on over to visit with you too!:) Take care everyone, and see you again soon!:)

Use Search Engines in Searching For Products and Stores

Use Search Engines in Searching For Products and Stores. 

Welcome to LilacsNDreams! Glad to have you visiting here. I was thinking of something the other day, and thought maybe it might be helpful to share this thought with you as well. When you are searching for treasures you want online, how are you searching? You go to the computer, sit down, and what do you type into the keyboard to look first when searching for items to buy? I think many people assume they should just go straight to Ebay. There is much more out there to see. People, Buyers, and Shoppers should also learn to go to the search engines when you are shopping, or searching for things. Your common search engines to use are Google.com and Bing.com. Sometimes searches are done with Yahoo, and actually other small places too. 

When you have a specific item that you are looking for use the search engines to shop with. By using the search engines you will get a nice variety of things to choose from, and you will see and realize the other market places that are available to shop with too. Sometimes prices can be better because a fee structure for a seller is so much better than what is offered to them with Ebay, and other places too. Also, you will find different payment platforms that can be offered for you to pay with. Not all places are Paypal only. For instance, with Artfire I offer Paypal, and Amazon Payments, and try to note that I can invoice you with Google Checkout at Artfire too. Some of the other sellers there also offer pro-pay with their stores too. At Ecrater I offer Paypal, and Google Checkout. Remember, I can also invoice with these places if you would like to contact me separately from the market places to purchase too. You know, like if you seen something of interest in my LilacsNDreams Shoppe page. 

With search engines if you know the name of the shop, or store you wish to look for you can also connect with that name too. Once the pages with that name come up you will see all the places they are associated with, and sell with. Give it a try. Google, or Bing my name of LilacsNDreams. You will see my blogs, my stores, along with different places I am also associated with too.

Hope this little tid bit of information was found to be helpful to all you reading, visiting, and stopping by LilacsNDreams. You have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them. You are more than welcome to comment, and share here too. Don't forget to say Hi so that I know you visited, and I can hop over to see you as well. 

Thanks for dropping by everyone, and see ya'll again real soon. Take care, and have a wonderful Day/Evening!:)

 

Buying Searching Junking and Preparing For ReSelling

Buying Searching Junking and Preparing For Reselling.

Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams! I was curious about something. Once treasures found are brought home with you, what do you do next? I am sure we all have different ways of doing things, and we all do what we feel to be best for our sales.  Of course the wonderful decisions of are we keeping it, or will we sell it?...LOL:)

I love shopping Thrift Stores, Yard Sales, Auctions, Estate Sales, Flea Markets, and Yes! Junking too! Once I get items home I set all the pieces out, and I make my notes of the items bought, where bought from, dates bought, and prices I paid for things too. Then...comes the fun part. Gently washing, and cleaning all the items to the best of my abilities. I always worry about damaging things so I am careful with all pieces, do them one by one, and take my time with them. Since they are pieces that will be resold as is, or used in repurposing I still thoroughly look all the pieces over carefully. During this time I will note any faults, knicks, markings and stamps of brands, and so on. Once I have completed this I will then get out my notebook, and start my research on pieces to see how many others are also being offered. I like to get an idea of average sale prices that are offered, and what they have sold for as well. Some of these treasures may also be researched with different books to learn some of their history, and values for in today's market too.

Doesn't seem like much of a procedure with this step of preparations, but it can be time consuming. I enjoy it as I learn the pieces, and connect with them by better viewing them in a different way from their purchase. 

Hey, if you have something to add with this, or would like to share something please know that you are welcome to do so. Just hit the old comment button below, and share with us all. Love hearing from all of you, and I even enjoy seeing ya'll say Hi to me too!:)

Thanks so much for visiting with LilacsNDreams! Take care, and see you all again soon!:)

  

Stay Connected Google Friend Connect Leaves Use Linky Followers

Stay Connected Google Friend Connect Leaves Use Linky. 
Hello, and Welcome to LilacsNDreams everyone! I know I have mentioned this recently, but I wanted to add another note, or a reminder of this situation. 

Google Friend Connect is going away on March 1st, 2012. Hate to see it, but Google has been removing some of their applications over time, and Google Friend Connect is one of them. So that I do not lose friends, or those who are connected to follow along with posts, any kind of notices, and etc....I have added Linky Followers. You will see this box in my right side bar, and right under the Google Friend Connect box too. Linky Followers is also Free...I like that!:) So, if you would like to stay connected please sign up with Linky Followers. 

Thanks for visiting everyone, and I look forward to many more posts being shared with you too. Take care, and have a super Sunday!:)

UPDATE:  I enjoy my followers with LilacsNDreams, and I know some of you like to have certain ways of following, and keeping in touch with some of your favorite blogs too. I suggest visiting SewCalGal with her blog, and seeing what she has to offer with this issue. And...read some of the comments left by others to maybe give some insights to this situation too. There is a good chance that the blogspot bloggers will not be effected with this change, but we will have to wait to see for sure. If you know of anything, or have some suggestions....Please feel free to share them with all of us here at LilacsNDreams. Thanks for stopping by everyone!:)