Teacher Shoes

Ha! Walk a day in my shoes. But make sure you really look at them. Really.

I keep my two pairs of "teacher shoes" under my desk, inside my office. Yes, I am blessed with an office this year. One of the "perks" of having a very large classroom for the very large number of students I have in my elective classes. So I get the big room with the separate office. This is a good thing, because I am not a desk-sitter, and my kids know it. Of course, they still try (and sometimes, unfortunately, do) to get away with playing the Halo Demo while I am on the other side of the room helping someone else. But I digress...

Yesterday, I wore a long skirt. After the first bell rang, I went into my dark office and kicked off the flip-flops I customarily wear to school, to exchange them for the high heels under the desk. My shoes of choice are Onex shoes, American hand-made, very nice. One pair in black and one in cork- the same style, so I don't have to have aching feet from changing styles all the time. I just wear whatever matches my current outfit. Unless it's a Tuesday, the day I choose to wear one cork, and one black, shoe all morning long. Just goes to show how very observant my students are, that not a one said a thing. I looked down around lunch time and had a WTF moment, as I saw my two different colored shoes. Such is my life.

Facebook LOVE!

I really do love fb. A lot of people don't, but I am now connected or re-connected there to almost everyone who ever mattered to me. I have moved around a lot, and it's really difficult to stay connected when you have friends in every port. Especially for me, due to childhood experiences (dare we say, baggage?) I am a really disconnected soul. Disconnection from those I care about is a defense mechanism, if you (tell yourself) not to care, and you act like you don't care, it's much harder to get hurt. I guess for me, fb offers me a way to be able to send a quick message (don't even need email anymore!) and let my friends have a little glimpse into what's going on in my life. I am not a fb addict, telling everyone everything about my day, and I do tend to lurk- I love reading everyone else's updates, while not updating much on my own.

So does all this digital stuff encourage, or discourage, community and connections? I challenge whomever says that we are less connected because of the internet. I feel very connected, and it works for me. Everyone is different.

Pricing Strategy experiments...

I read in a lot of places to increase your prices and see the sales pile in. I tried that, and it didn't work! So, last weekend I repriced everything on Etsy to a slightly lower and more competitive price-point, and I had 6 sales in one week. I think that's a record! I think I have finally found my sweet-spot, which means it's the price I can live with, and the price my customers will easily pay. I don't wholesale my work, although I've been thinking I would like to. But I think I would develop a different line for wholesale, something more robust at a higher price-point would work IRL sales situations. But online, you have to convince someone they want what you are selling, for your price, and you have only a few photos to do it. IRL, people can touch and hold your items and fall in love with them :)