And here we go again...
A woman owned business is, shall I say, hectic for lack of a better word. I knew this going in. However, I didn't know that everything could go wrong at the same time. I am behind in every possible area and it has shut me down.
That is the case right now, but I am getting up again.
It's hard, and I knew it from the beginning! I went into it 100%, but the challenges are more than just keeping a website. I maintain the site and all its technical aspects, as well as write the blog. I design and produce the pieces, and they must meet my standards.
I am in charge of advertising. I'm sure you know that requires a full time person. I am also customer service. You get the gist; the list is long.
Although I keep up the website, I have had the help of some very good people. One in particular has really gotten me out of some tough issues. But, I sometimes cannot reach out because I feel it is up to me. My project, my problems. Needless to say, I am overwhelmed.
I've mentioned before that I have gone down this road before and given up. I vowed that this time, I wouldn't!
So, although this is not my main blog, I do like to come to it and update every once in a while. I have fallen way behind.
For those of you who don't know, this is the history. I started with YourTreasuredDesigns. Because the dotcom was taken, I went with a dotme. I did not care for it but I lived with it.
I gave up on all of it around 2010. Then, I caught the bug again in 2016 and by 2017, I started blogging again and making designs. By 2018, Tesoros was born.
Tesoros is now Artful Gems. Although I love the new name, the change did not happen by choice. I went through the same issue. The dotcom for Tesoros was already taken and I simply wasn't happy with dotonline. Hence,
Artfulgems.com was born. And, people have reacted positively to the change.
I thought all was great until I went to register the business and I find that Artful Gems has already been taken. I think this is the reason for my latest shutdown. I have these plans and ideas in my head, and get totally excited. But, I forget to research things before I go all in...
For both names, I was so sure that I purchased business cards, shirts, customer gifts, and even more importantly, jewelry tags. It's been really disheartening to see my ideas backfire.
I know that businesses will have their ups and downs. But I am a positive person who believes that if you can think it, you can do it. I guess I fail to allow for mishaps that I should just take in stride. Instead, I see them as business enders.
I'm writing this because I don't want to give up on Artful Gems. Maybe putting it in writing will help with the process to get me going. Now that Spring is underway and soon I will be off for the Summer, I'm picking up the pieces and organizing myself. Writing today seems to be helping me figure thing out. I want this! Why should I not fight for it?
As you look at some things around this blog, some pictures will send you to a broken link. I'm working on fixing this!
What works for sure is Artfulgems.com! But, in the blog section, as well as in the shop, there are still some links that are broken. Please bear with me as I work on redirecting them. I am sure there is a way to do them in bulk, but I have yet to figure it out.
Stay tuned.
