Business Information | Gourmet Birthday Gifts

Internet Bullies or Genuine Jerks

March 18, 2019

by Loni Shaw with No Comment Business Information Small Business Tips

I started posting to gain exposure for the business. It is relatively easy because running a small business brings Joyful, stressful, chaotic, and even maddening situations.

Many people have Blessed us with their replies. So I decided to continue blogging to encourage others because it’s a struggle to accomplish something Good.

Unfortunately , For every encouraging post there are at least sixty malicious posts. Hackers work very hard trying to infect our website. Some have positive comments with pornographic URLs. Others are very long paragraphs with spam URLs and fake email addresses.

Thankfully WP Engine does not automatically publish blog replies.

In addition, BrightCloud provides a free URL and IP lookup tool. Anyone can copy and paste URLs in their search engine to find out if a website is safe. Plus FreeEmailValidator.com verifies email addresses. I’ve spent countless hours authenticating URLs and email addresses because it’s necessary to publish the Loving replies.

This life is short. Why would someone waste time trying to hurt others? I barely have enough time to do my laundry.

Evildoers have been around since the beginning of time. However, I wonder if the internet (which started as the ARPANET) has created a desensitized world. It happens all of the time. A wonderful invention is eventually used for evil. The internet has brought us closer ……………………..and cruel people can hurt strangers for fun.

No one has to see the side effects of their hateful actions anymore.

I just don’t understand. We all share one need……..the desire to be Loved. I think more people would practice the Golden Rule if they couldn’t hide behind a computer monitor…..don’t you?

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What do you do when hard work doesn’t pay off?

January 29, 2019

by Loni Shaw with No Comment Business Information Encouragment Small Business Tips

I was advised several times to move our eCommerce site from WordPress.

After days of researching different eCommerce platforms, I opened an account with Big Commerce. They provided wonderful support. In addition, there were a lot of great features.

I spent weeks learning the new platform and uploading our products. Then I discovered we had to pay extra monthly fees for a good looking website. Plus our blog would have to stay on WordPress.

We could afford it, but our mission is to help others in need. I guess this is how the rich get richer 😐

My second attempt was with Volusion. It’s a great company with a very nice eCommerce platform.

I uploaded all of our products and started to design the site. The page builder was easy to use. Google Shopping and weight based shipping with discounts were also included.

However, using the essential apps had more additional fees. I wanted to start singing the chorus of Donnie Iris’s “Ah Leah” when I found out they didn’t support blogs.

Just like Soundgarden I “Fell on Black Days” too. Why can’t life have a remote control?

I wasted almost two months trying to accomplish something positive.

This is just a small business scenario, but it happens all of the time.

Sometimes hard work doesn’t pay off.

When we fail, how do we fail forward? How can we make lemonade out of lemons? I think one way is to forgive, don’t give up, and share our failures to help others succeed.

Of course this is easier said than done. Nevertheless, if we would Gift this type of Kindness, wouldn’t everyone be successful?

Wouldn’t we have more time to enJoy each other?

For all of my WordPress/WooCommerce colleagues:

If you have been using WordPress/WooCommerce for a while, keep it.

Woo Commerce has a Google Shopping plugin.
Use the plugin Gift Up .
In our opinion, Elementor Pro is the best page builder.
The Mega Menu Pro will add style to your navigation.
The Grid Kit Pro plugin creates easy to configure catalogs.
Use the SNAP Auto Poster plugin to reach a broader audience with your blogs.
Don’t forget to use cache cleaning plugins.
There are a lot of weight based shipping plugins.
Last but certainly not least, use WP Engine as your host.

I hope this saves someone time and money 🙂

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Can I call 9-1-1 too?

December 11, 2018

by Loni Shaw with No Comment Business Information Encouragment Small Business Tips

Public radio recently reported a nine year old called 911 because her parents were trying to make her clean the bedroom. I couldn’t help understanding her frustration. Sure this is minor for adults, but it’s not minor for a child. She had a stressful situation. Why not call 9-1-1?

I wanted to call someone because of our most recent small business problem. We’ve been using WordPress for years. WP Engine (our host) has been a Blessing. However, in order for the business to grow, the website must move to Big Commerce. This is a huge problem because moving will take a lot of time and effort to accomplish.

I didn’t want to do it. There are SO many things small business owners have to do. Why would I create more work for myself?

When I finished whining and complaining like a nine year old girl, I created an account in Big Commerce. I couldn’t find reasons to keep our WordPress site. 🙁

Big Commerce has Google Shopping, better drop shipping integrations, and other features like Printful.

Thanks to Printful, we will soon be launching our Eat Some, Wear Some collection.

I still want to keep the comfort of WordPress. Plus I’m sure the nine year old wants her room the way she likes it.

Nevertheless, we will both become better people by exercising Self Control. This will be the last post until our Big Commerce store is ready.

I guess it doesn’t matter if a person is nine or ninety. We only grow to the threshold of our discomfort. It’s the True way to experience the Goodness in life.

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Well this is unbelievable……

September 20, 2018

by Loni Shaw with One Comment Business Information

Five years ago we hired an intellectual property attorney for our recipes. A food industry can not patent ingredients, but it can patent how the recipe is created.

They researched the patent office and did not find any recipe like ours. So we submitted our application.

Two years later we were patent published.

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They have a luscious fusion of real orange and cream.

However, the examiner made us choose one of the four published recipes for the patent. We submitted our choice.

Three months later, the examiner issued a patent published “rejection” notice. It was the same patent she published. It turns out there are different rejections for a patent publication. She classified ours as a level three.

To paraphrase….. level three means: If random people would’ve met and thought about making our pastrie-s, they could have made the same thing.

I know what you’re thinking. Now what…..right? We had to pay for a rebuttal case because abandoned patent publications become Prior Art.

I needed to find the reason for her irrational behavior. We found out patent examiners get bonuses for rebuttals.

For five years we’ve been submitting rebuttals to the same examiner. For five years, the examiner issued a level three “rejection.”

I couldn’t help wondering why the examiner loved money more than helping people succeed.

Eventually our attorney advised us to appeal the examiner’s “rejections.” We won our appeal, but our case went back to the same examiner to process the appeal decision.

She decided to find a different reason to give it a level three “rejection.”

This time a bonus wasn’t involved.

My frustration turned into sadness for this patent examiner. For five years she’s done everything in her power to hurt people she doesn’t know. She hates herself more than she loves money. It’s clear the examiner doesn’t have True Joy in her life.

Thankfully we have options to protect our patent publication and get our patent.

More importantly, my heart has changed. I will not get angry at people who actively hurt others because their lives are full of darkness. I will choose to show Love and Kindness.

It’s the only way to help them heal.

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