Presenting my New Website

You might have noticed that my recent blogging has been down to only about once a week. I didn't want to make any big announcement until it was finished but during all that time I would have spent writing or making soap I've actually been hard at work building a new shop site. It's taken a lot of time with setting up web hosting, getting to know wordpress, building graphics, preparing products, taking photos, and finally educating myself on the online shopping experience. I was determined to do it all myself and am now ready to present it: here's the link to my new shop.

The history of my online presence began with opening an Etsy shop and then shortly afterwards a shop on Folksy. Though I've done a little bit of business through both these online marketplaces, what I really wanted was my own site that I could run and market myself. I had a good idea of what I wanted to do before Christmas but not enough time to do it so opted to opening a temporary shop using Blogger. It served its purpose but wasn't to the level that I wanted; hardly surprising since it was running on a platform meant for blogging. My hand hesitated on the mouse for a split second but I was pleased to be able to finally delete it yesterday and am excited to officially open my new shop. I've even revamped my blog's design to coordinate.

I'm also quite excited that my products have been featured in the current edition of Vegetarian Living Magazine. It was primarily for the article's print that I was working so hard to get my shop up and running by this week. In the article I chat to Sara Niven about our move to the island and the story behind the creation of Lovely Greens natural bath and beauty products. They've given me a double spread and I've been delighted to be able to direct friends in the UK to their closest news stand to pick up a copy. It's a surreal thought that my products and picture are printed in countless magazines that are right now lying inside thousands of shops, newsagents and homes.

Hopefully the piece will raise more awareness of Lovely Green and I'll be interested to see how the overall impact will be. But now that it's published my focus is on the new shop site and making sure that it's a beautiful place where my products can be found and purchased easily. It isn't completely finished since I'll be adding a few new products but I feel that it's pretty much there. Now it will be on to the site's marketing and then to other things like preparing my garden, checking my bees, making products, and getting back into the rhythm of being at the Farmers Market. My first day back is on Saturday and I'll also be at the first few weekends of the new Manx Artisan Market in Douglas. It's a fresh new year and I can't wait to get stuck in :)