February 23rd. A very sad day as it our last ever Social Media Marketing course with Elevate Wales. What I have learnt on this six week course and the last course has been invaluable and has certainly changed the way I market my business.

I have already seen the benefits of being on social  media which used to terrify me.
Due to my previous complete lack of knowledge of how social media works, I have learnt so many different aspects, which will undoubtedly help my business grow, and to be fair has brought my business into the 21st century.

I have enjoyed doing the course immensely and am very grateful that I was given the opportunity to be involved with it.

I am also very grateful to Amanda and Alan for all their help and patience. I know my lack of computer skills must have at times been incredibly frustrating for them, but they have remained patient (and polite) at all times.

Social Media Marketing plan now complete, I can push forward with my campaign.

Away from Social Media Marketing it has been a very full week.

We have been buying children's wear in Southport for delivery in August. We have picked up a new brand for girls age 7-12 years called La Chic. It is totally fabulous. A slightly higher price point than our current brands, but will make our little girls feel totally special.

We also visited MODA at the NEC. After an early start - 5am on Sunday morning really isn't funny!! Anyway found some fantastic new brands. A new collection of shoes for us called Taramis, some beautiful leather handbags that will be delivered this week ( I hope) and some great new jewelry.
Get this new power purse. As my phone has just died on me and I don;t have a charger, wish I had one right now. I will hopefully have a selection of colours by the end of the week. Come and have a look.

Last Saturday was a Wedding Open Day at the Bron Eifion Hotel and Country Club in Criccieth. We were very busy and met lots of lovely people who are starting to plan their big day.

The week ahead will be busy with yet more buying for AW2015 and lots of lovely deliveries.

February 9th our fifth Elevate session, only one more to go, so trying to make the most of it while I can still gain information from Alan and Amanda. This morning we have been learning about Prezzi. Another useful tool for my business and my 11 year daughter will love it. She is addicted to Powerpoint, strange I know, but I think she will find be able to have the text and images moving quite cool. I intend to use it on my website.

Thankfully I manged to do a lot of work on part one of the assignment this week, which is fortunate as I doubt I will have any time this week, as I have a full on week ahead.  We are buying ladies wear in Manchester on Wednesday and Southport buying childrenswear on Friday plus we have a trade show in Birmingham on Sunday.

The biggest arrival of the week were some new Lisette trousers which are selling like hot cakes.
The fact their is no bulk because they are pull on so have no zip or buttons combined with the high rise makes them "super comfy". They also have a concealed tummy control which makes them extremely flattering.
I was able to create this post for facebook using the lovely Canva which I learnt about on this course and the snipping tool which Amanda introduced to me a couple of weeks ago.

Thursday 5th February, another venue for our Social Media Marketing course. I have been able to start my evaluation assignment, which has to be completed in another two weeks arrrghh!!

This week in the shop has been delivery after delivery. Black and white is making a strong presence in the shop, which is fortunate as it has been quoted in a few magazines and at London Fashion Week last September as being "the must have colour combination for SS2015".

Elisa Cavaletti is arriving weekly. She offers a selection of clothing which is deigned using beautiful fabrics that have the ability to take you from work, to the pub to a wedding. Although expensive I have never experienced anyone who hasn't felt that they have had their moneys worth. What is even better they don't need ironing. They come in beautiful boxes which are great for keeping them in or make wonderful storage boxes.

Our spring shoes are also arriving and starting to sell. I know it's freezing out there but start thinking about your spring wardrobe to help you get through February, it works for me!!

We are now half way through our advanced level of the social media marketing course. Seems to be going well so far thanks to the great patience of Amanda and Alan. Really enjoyed learning about slide share last week and hope to use it in my business when I get a minute. Unfortunately that wasn't the case this week as it has been another busy week buying.
We saw two ranges for Autumn/Winter 2015 Yest which we have been selling successfully for three seasons, it's price and wearability makes it very commercial.

We have taken on a  new range of outerwear coming in next winter. Stylish well prices coats and jackets. Very exciting.

Deliveries are arriving daily with beautiful spring stock. 

Our New Childrenswear shop has already started selling some of the new summer stock.

Second day of SMM

Well survived the first day of the advanced Social Media Marketing last week and have really enjoyed this morning learning about slideshare, which I feel will be of huge benefit to my business. Also enjoying the beautiful view of the Menai Straights from the computer room and it even started snowing. Perfect!!

Not sure that I will ever be a huge blogger, but I suppose stranger things have happened.

Since our last session I have had a very busy week.
I spent Wednesday in Manchester buying for autumn/winter deliveries. The roadworks in Colwyn Bay and Queensferry were horrendous and added in total nearly 2 hours to our journey. Apart from that it was a very productive and beneficial day. All the ranges were extremely strong and I am very excited to have them in the shop.

We met two new Joseph Ribkoff employees one of whom, Shaun, was from Canada where their head office is based. It was lovely to meet them and gain from their experiences.
Shaun's wife has 8 shops in Canada and enjoyed hearing about some different ideas.

The other two brands we bought were very good on price and will be an asset to the business.

Day 1 of the Elevate Social Media Marketing level 2. 

Looking forward to producing a strategy to increase the awareness of the business on social media with Alan and Amanda.

How to blog.

This morning has been interesting looking at blogs both good and bad. Scary thought having to think of something interesting to write everyday.