Marketing Campaign is Working -- Now I need some sales!

Many of you probably know that I am a Project Manager and a dreamer.

My latest dream is to retire from full time work for the third time. I would like to do that sometime during the next year.

When I leave my full time position, I will need something to challenge my need to build and manage projects.

I know this is the most important project that is on my horizon. It must be planned and executed with finesse. So -- In the words of Hannibal on the A-Team - here's my plan.

Build two on-line stores, the first to allow Pat and I to search and rescue antiques and collectibles for resale; and the second, to offer great discounts on Amazon.com merchandise for my customers.

Project Recap:

All setup work has been completed on both Stores.

Both stores are populated with products.

My Inventory control is in place.

Phase 1 of my Marketing Plan is complete and operational.

Last step is to wait patiently while my marketing plan brings in customers.

My Antique and Collectible EBay store, Brownstown Marketplace has been up and running for about 1 1/2 years and is doing quite well considering the time pressure of my full time job at United Airlines.

My Online store that offers Amazon.com merchandise at discounted prices, Flatrockdeals.com is also up and running.

Patience Please!

dive in -- New Project

During the spring, I completed most of the development for our Antique/Vintage/Eclectic Item Stores on EBay and Etsy. This project is composed of the following pieces:

Website: www.brownstownmarketplace.com
EBay store: www.stores.ebay.com/Brownstown-Marketplace
ETsy store: www.etsy.com/shop/FlatRockMarketplace
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/BrownstownMarketplace.

It seems my creative juices are still flowing.

My next project is building a gateway to all of Amazon.com's products. They encourage affiliates to direct business to their marketplace by linking through their own content.

This is an experiment to see if this blog will link to my new Web Store.

Please check out my store and use it to purchase items via Amazon:

www.flatrockdeals.com

This is a test, only a test. LOL

Where have I been?

Dec 2012 - Feb 2013 -- Just living -- work, internet store development, socializing with Pat, Daughter, Son-in-law and Grand daughter. Normal stuff --

Feb 2013 -- Off to Las Vegas-- Pat's mum ceelebrated her 85th birthday on Feb 15th - we stayed at The Grand view -- we own a Timeshare at this location - it is a great place to stay when going to Las Vegas.

Norma Jean,  Pat's friend from her days working at Skywest, joined us for 5 days of fun. We went to the timeshare sales presentation and said NO.

That scored us free tickets for a Las Vegas show called "Human Nature" and a free dinner at a very fancy Italian Resaurant - both at the Venetian Hotel and Casino.

The show was great - Smokey Robinson produced a show about Motown and had it performed by 4 very talented Austrailian singers. Actually bought a CD.

 

 

 

Mar 2013 - Apr 2013 -- Just living -- work, internet store development, socializing with Pat, Daughter, Son-in-law and Grand daughter. Normal stuff --

 

 

May 2013 -- Back is sore - went to PCP - he gave me pain pills and scheduled X-rays and MRI - looking for arthritus, hip problems, nerve problems. Will review results on Mon 20th. Can hardly walk -- pain when standing. got to be solution - I need to get moving again -- don't want to lose my sveldt figure and muscle tone.

 

Still working on my on-line stores for Career 4. Now have a gateway to AMAZON called

 

flatrockdeals.com -- if anyone needs to buy Amazon type products, please check out my gateway.

 

 

I also have brownstownmarketplace.com, a gateway to my EBay store and an ETsy store named Flatrock Marketplace. Those sites sell stuff from my Estate Sale expeditions and other eclectic items that you would not usually find on Amazon.

 

 

 I also have Facebook pages for Robert Eiferd, Brownstown Marketplace, and a new one that outlines my latest political cause --

 

Facebook page 51 is enough advocates the end of the U S Senate's 60 vote rule for ending debate on an issue -- ie,  the filibuster rule - If it was returned to a simple majority, ie, 51 votes, the Senate could get something done.

 

 

Walk to live!

bob eiferd
www.brownstownmarketplace.com

www.flatrockdeals.com

Ebay - Brownstown Marketplace
Etsy - Flat Rock Marketplace
Facebook - Robert Eiferd
Facebook - Brownstown Marketplace

Facebook - 51 is enough

Antique Research -- 2 marks

Patricia and I vsited an estate sale a few weeks ago and found a lovely Demi Tasse set. We are trying to find treasures to offer in our Ebay store. The cups and saucers were marked on the bottom with a crown over a stylized "OH" over the word Prussia.

The beautiful matching pitcher had a different marking - the same crown over the stylized "OH" and the words Silesia and Alice.

The set is cream colored porcelain china adorned with rose backgrounds and lovely roses.

We purchased the set and brought it home. Using the search facilities provided by Google, we were able to determine the origin of this set, estimate the age, prepare a proper description for our store, and finally assign a value to the set.

I thought both the search process and the information collected was interesting and I wanted to share it as an entry in this blog.

We researched porcelain marks from either Prussia or Silesia. We found a site called www.porcelainmarksandmore where we found a link to Silesia. Looking through all the entries on that page, we found the link below which contained the two marks we were looking for.

http://www.porcelainmarksandmore.com/silesia/niedersalzbrunn_1/00.php

Using the company name associated with the marks, we were able to find the following information.

Used around 1920, the crown over the stylized 'OH' over 'SILESIA', found in blue or green green.

No date known, crown over stylized 'OH' over 'PRUSSIA', usually in a green.

Silesia / Niedersalzbrunn (today Sczawienko):

[1] : Porzellanfabrik Hermann Ohme (1882 until 1930)

The factory is often incorrectly claimed to have been located in the town of Waldenburg (today Wałbrzych), but Hermann Ohme only had a decoration studio there and his main factory actually was in Nieder-Salzbrunn (today Sczawienko). Niedersalzbrunn was part of the town 'Bad Salzbrunn' (today Szczawno-Zdrój) that included the town areas 'Obersalzbrunn', 'Niedersalzbrunn' and 'Neu Salzbrunn'; Bad Salzbrunn itself is located in the former Waldenburg district.

Ohme mainly produced full dinner sets which were available in two distinct types of porcelain. The so-called 'Clear Glaze' and 'Old Ivory' wares were both made from the same quality of porcelain but the 'Old Ivory' type received an additional light ivory colored matte glaze. The 'Clear Glaze' type, decorated with a wide variety of floral and geometric patterns, was produced for the European and the U.S. market; it was also the most produced type as it was also sold as undecorated (or 'blank') porcelain in great numbers.

The customers for these blank products were not only hobbyists, large numbers were purchased by commercial decorating firms such as Pickard and Stouffer. For the U.S. market the 'Old Ivory' type always carried the 'Old Ivory' brand name; other genuine 'Old Ivory' items (comparison mold/decoration) can be found without the 'Old Ivory' mark and were mainly for the British market. Blanks were also issued from this type of porcelain, but they are quite rare.

In 1913 the company was owned by Hermann Ohme, E.M. Bauer and Hermann Ohme jr. and together they further increased production for the export market which later proved to be a fatal decision. Ignoring the first signs of what later should become the World Financial Crisis the company tried to further expand and in 1930 the number of employees reached a total of 400 people. As the company had only concentrated on export alone, business suddenly dropped in the same way the financial market collapsed and the company was forced to file for bankruptcy the same year.

We researched the term Demitasse and found the following informaton.

The History of the Demitasse Cup & Saucer

The Demitasse (pronounced-"dem-i-tas"), originated in France in the 1800's. Demitasse means "half-cup", due to it typically being half the size of a full coffee cup. The purpose of the smaller half cup is for drinking stronger coffee's such as espresso, cappuccino & Turkish coffee, typically served after dinner. The Demitasse cup & saucer is the next size in the cup & saucer family ( also referred to as a "Demi cup" or "Child's size" cup & saucer ). Today's average cup measures approximately 2-2 1/2" tall & the saucer measures approximately 4- 4 1/2" in diameter.

 History of Silesia:

Wałbrzych [ˈvau̯bʐɨx] ( listen) (German: Waldenburg, Czech: Valbřich or Valdenburk) is a city in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland, with 120,197 inhabitants (31 December 2010). From 1975–1998 it was the capital of Wałbrzych Voivodeship; it is now the seat of Wałbrzych County. Wałbrzych is by far the largest city in Poland that does not itself form a separate county (powiat), having given up that status in 2003. (The next largest such town is Inowrocław, population 77,313.) Wałbrzych lies approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) south-west of the regional capital Wrocław, and about 10 km from the Czech border.

History of Bohemia

Bohemia (Czech: Čechy;[1] German:  Böhmen (help·info); Polish: Czechy; French: Bohême; Latin: Bohemia) is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague. In a broader meaning, it often refers to the entire Czech territory, including Moravia and Czech Silesia,[2] especially in historical contexts, such as the Kingdom of Bohemia. Bohemia is a historic country of central Europe that was a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire and subsequently a province in the Habsburgs’ Austrian Empire. Bohemia was bounded on the south by Upper and Lower Austria, on the west by Bavaria, on the north by Saxony and Lusatia, on the northeast by Silesia, and on the east by Moravia. From 1918 to 1939 and from 1945 to 1992 it was part of Czechoslovakia, and since 1993 it has formed much of the Czech Republic.[3]

Our final description:

Vintage Hermann Ohme 1920s Silesia Alice Prussia Demitasse Set 13 Pieces

Hand painted roses adorn this elegant Demitasse Tea Set. It features hand painted cream flowers with green foliage and gold highlights.

The pot measures approximately 7" by 5", the cups are 1 3/4" in height by 2" in diameter and saucers are 4 3/8”. The base of the pot is marked with the Hermann Ohme crown over the stylized ‘OH’, the words Silesia and Alice.  The cups and saucer are marked with the Hermann Ohme crown over the stylized ‘OH’ and the word Prussia. The set is in perfect condition with no chips, cracks, or marks of any kind.

This set was found at an Estate sale and would make a wonderful addition to a collector's trophies or provide an elegant way of serving Demitasse after dinner.

Check out our Ebay Store and Website - www.brownstownmarketplace.com

Estate Sale and Birthday Party

Aug 18, 2012

Patricia and I hosted a birthday party for our two grand daughters yesterday. Although we see them often during the year, we don't see them with all their friends. Surprise, they are all growing very quickly.

Alexis is 11 and about to enter 6th grade. I had Mrs. Fields for 6th grade and she impressed on me the necessity to work hard to excel. When my corrected essays were returned, I always found lots of red marks. Thank you, Mrs. Fields.

Chloe received a bicycle for her birthday and rode off, like she had been riding for years - with training wheels, of course. There are days when I think I need training wheels.

The soon-to-be 6th graders know the words to every song on the top 20 list. One young man said, "although I know the words to all the songs, I find it hard to remember my phone number and teacher's name".

Today Patricia and I went to another Estate Sale. Lots of people were there looking for treasure. We found some great Items that I now have to research and list in my EBay Store.

Estate sales pull at my heart strings. In one way, it is sad to walk among the possesions of someone who has passed away - especially with a crowd of strangers. I noticed that I must not be alone in my feelings because everyone walks and talks softly. Perhaps they are worried about breaking something. When I find a treasure that I want to rescue, my thoughts change - now I am going to provide a good home for a prize possession of the deceased. In a way, their spirit lives on in someone else's hands. I hopefully will also make a profit in the transaction when I sell their item in my EBay Store.

I met a member of the Flat Rock City Council yesterday. He is the father of one of Alexis's friends. I told him I was in the midst of adding a community information page to my Website. He asked if I would mind promoting the Flat Rock Riverfest on September 15 & 16. I said I would love to do that. Hopefully that will drive more traffic to my website and subsequently to my EBay store. We shall see -- I am new to the Internet Marketing - Social Networking game. I will take every chance I can and try every avenue to increase traffic.