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#393160 04/08/13 04:15 PM
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Tammy Offline OP
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Hi everyone... I could really use some prayer right now because I feel like giving up. I started Chaplets & Chotkis about a decade ago, and had it going strong, but then a few years ago I sold my website. Several months ago I restarted my business with a new url: chaplets-chotkis.com, and emailed everyone who used to be on my email list and got it started again. I still send out emails to those people approximately once a month, and I do all the stuff I used to do when I first started Chaplets & Chotkis (like posting my wares on google search), but I guess things have changed since I started it a decade ago. I just haven't been able to drum up much business, and certainly nowhere near the business I once had. On top of that, in the past few years I have lost the dexterity it takes to make the prayer ropes - I can't wire-wrap any more, and I'm generally challenged just to get the wire through the hole on the bead to in order to string prayer ropes at all. I need prayers or I'm probably going to just give up on Chaplets & Chotkis entirely.

Please pray for me!
Tammy Kelly
www.chaplets-chotkis.com [chaplets-chotkis.com]

Tammy #393161 04/08/13 04:37 PM
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Dear Tammy,

I am so sorry to hear about this, and I do pray for the blessed work of your hands...May the Lord bless them!

Retail has taken a huge dip everywhere the past five years. The economy is absolutely terrible, and people who are in business know this and say it. Why we are being brainwashed otherwise is beyond me...

Anyway, I know for a fact from shop owners, that even in the most affluent shopping areas, business is terrible these past years, and not getting any better.

I also know from the Elder of one monastic community, that sales and donations are way down for them too--and they are struggling these past few years.

Keep in mind that those monasteries rely on people buying from their shops, and they all sell prayer ropes of different types, so this can also be a reason you are not seeing much activity. The monastic communities (their onsite stores as well as online stores) may be competition for your site.

Perhaps you can promote your site to parishes and churches that don't have heavy monastic associations? That might help...sometimes a new customer base is needed.

How about selling on ebay or Amazon? Many retailers are doing this on the side to boost their profit margins.

May God bless you and your efforts...

In Christ,
Alice


Alice #393164 04/08/13 09:53 PM
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Tammy Offline OP
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Thank you, Alice. I've tried selling on eBay, and the only sales I made actually cost me money by the time I paid for the auction fees and the free shipping I was offering to make sales! I have thought about advertising in church bulletins, but I can't afford the advertising fees right now. I've drastically reduced all my online prices because I figure a tiny sale is better than none at all, and I offer free shipping on sales over $30 (so it doesn't cost me more to mail than I get in the sale, LOL!).

I suppose you are right that it has more to do with the current state of the economy than anything else.

In Christ,
Tammy

Tammy #393181 04/09/13 09:00 PM
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Tammy I know what you mean. That is why I closed my online icon store years ago. By the time it was shipped and all, and I had to fuss with the guy to get my portion, well it was more frustration and aggravation than it was worth.

Be at peace and don't feel bad, you may find that you will sell them by word of mouth. If you have some made up, maybe check at your local churches to see if they have gift shops. A number of the larger ones here do. Let them see how beautiful they are, and also take some pamphlets expelling the Jesus Prayer. Maybe, they would carry them for you. Also, if you have local bookstores. Try building your business that way.

The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love.   (Zephaniah 3:17)   ‎

Tammy #393221 04/11/13 10:23 PM
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Tammy,

Pani Rose had some awesome ideas!! So many different types of jewelry (inexpensive) is all the rage here in stores that girls and women frequent from bracelets that look like prayer ropes to evil eye necklaces!

I would even try to sell them in these 'secular' stores! Remember the WWJD bracelets that were all the rage years ago everywhere? Hey--you never know!!

All it takes for one store to think they are different and marketable and you may even have a huge success on your hands!

May it be blessed!


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