Monday, October 26, 2009

Fun at SAFF!

Just returned from a beautiful weekend in Asheville. Belva, Susan, Amanda and I do a girls trip to the mountains each year and we couldn't have picked a better weekend for amazing fall colors! Aren't our leaves gorgeous this year?

The Southeast Animal Fiber Festival was busy! Friday is our day to shop SAFF and to see friends like The Unique Sheep and Miss Babbs and The Knit Witch. This year we saw a few changes as the event continues to grow. The alpaca barn was a new vendor area. Several vendors who we used to see in the barns were inside as new vendors took their places. And probably glad to be inside as a misty rain held steady on Friday. But fiber lovers are resilient, right?!

Saturday we woke up to a chilly, sunny fall day; perfect for walking and shopping. We hit a huge shoe outlet and the Asheville mall. We stayed in The Biltmore Village so walking the village is always a delight!

The drive home was fun-plenty of good conversation and more yarn and fiber (and shoes) than we could almost fit in the car.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Wag more, bark less

This morning, I am reading an article about small businesses in The New York Times Small Business page.

In the article, I learned about a site called Yelp.com. The article encouraged business owners to seek out customer review sites (i.e. Yelp.com) and respond to them. If they are good, then send a thanks. If they are not so good, then try to resolve the problem and usually the poster will update their review.

Okay...off I go to Yelp.com. I was surprised to find 3 Knit Picky reviews. And very pleased that they were good! The first was posted in Jan 2008 (now there's a savvy computer girl knitter!). The others were in 09 and I and thank all of you for posting about the shop.

One reviewer said they didn't get help as fast as they wanted even though the person behind the counter wasn't busy. I'm wondering if this was me, maybe deep in thought trying to figure out how to blog! Another reviewer stated she goes to Knit Picky whenever she cannot find something online. Hummmm.....how can we reverse that to say....I shop at Knit Picky all the time, supporting my local business economy, and when I cannot find what I want there then I shop online. But the overall impression I got was positive and that's terrific!!

The NYT article also said to encourage your blogging customers to blog about the shop they have grown to love. Positive energy travels fast in cyberspace. And anytime you have problems or suggestions or good, kind words, I encourage you to share them with me. Email me at knitpicky@bellsouth.net. I think about customer input when I make shop decisions and I appreciate your input!

Wanna see this site? Here's the link so you may visit Yelp.com. It really is an interesting site but I wish the name was Wag.com (positive doggie spin vs negative doggie spin) Aahaa!! Guess what? There is a Wag.com - check out their website. They have coasters with cute dog faces! I just requested some for the shop.

Happy Sunday,

Jo