Respect and trust: an ecommerce business model to consider

Tomorrow marks my two year anniversary selling on Bonanzle. I joined Bonanzle while still in beta, along with a few dozen hearty refugees from ebay, all of us willing to build a new online marketplace venue which valued community in ways we watched ebay fall short on.

Two years later, although many fun features have been added, some key elements are still left wanting and they create real barriers to sales. Despite ongoing functionality issues I have had some success there albeit was a frustrating experience for many of my long-time customer friends and especially for my international clientele. I no longer keep merchandise there in my Oshun Spirit store, but I do maintain a storefront in which I offer a few services. In my heart of hearts, I wish nothing but the best for the community of sellers there, especially the dedicated few who are also celebrating their two year marks in late August and in September.

All in all, my experience at Bonanzle has been extremely positive: I have made great –lifelong– friends and I have learned e-commerce marketing skills that have been transferable to my own website and to  other venues. But one day I realized that it was time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change and that wishing for something to happen was different from working toward making it happen. 

I decided to be true to my truth and to take care of myself and my business first...

I began reassessing and redefining who I am and what I really stand for. I believe that it is truly in giving that we receive, and that there is powerful joy in creating and contributing. But I also stand firm in my conviction that principles such as honesty and integrity are not outdated ideals but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which I must build my business, and my life.

And why I closed my shop on ebay...

We all deserve to be treated with kindness, sensitivity and respect... and I won't settle for less for myself than I give to others. It's called sustainability. I now take more time to laugh and to play. It's called balance. I will cater to the needs and desires and the convenience of my customers. It's called service.

Yes indeed, all in all, my experience has been extremely positive: I have learned great –lifelong– lessons. I have turned my attention to my own website and other endeavors which are in alignment with my own values.  It's called good business, right livelihood, and as an eco-friendly, socially-mindful venture I can be nothing less.

So as I reflect on my two year anniversary selling on Bonanzle I'm not sure we did what we set out to do at all, but we did build an awesome community of professionals that value each other, no matter where we are all selling now. It's not the venue, but the values that bind. We're still talking on Facebook, tweeting each other's treasures, and shopping from friends we've grown to love, respect, and trust.

Respect and trust. A powerful business model, don't you agree? I know who you are and you know me, because we've been very open about our values. I love that about you, you speak your mind. And so I trust you, and I'll support you. And to that end, I promise to keep my chin up, shoulders back, boobies out, and work joyfully with others who share my ethics and ideals, I'll stay open to every wonderful possibility. And there are many, I see!

And, I am very, very thankful.

May you also be blessed!

I turned fifty and had a facelift

On September 11, at 7:31 pm I celebrated my fiftieth birthday. It's true! So I had a facelift yesterday.

But, before I go into detail I do want to take a moment to express my most sincere gratitude for the outpouring of birthday gifts and greetings and messages I received via email, ecard, twitter and on facebook from my customer-friends, colleagues and on-line community members. My online e-commerce endeavor has gifted me with a loving, lovely extended family. I am blessed to have found abundance and true wealth through the unchartered, unexpected twists and turns my professional practice has taken over the past several years. So a word of wisdom here: if Spirit ever urges you to quit your job and become an ebay psychic, do it. And be ready for the ride of your life. Don't resist the seemingly absurd, just go with the flow...

At fifty, I see that has become a way of life for me now. I am comfortable accepting change without getting too anxious, angry or frustrated. I'll take what life gives me with gratitude, trusting, rather than try to mold circumstance to be as I think it should be. But I am a Virgo, a scientist, a thinker and a perfectionist. How did this happen? Maybe its an Oshun thing... the water, the movement...

In the temple I call a kayak, I meditated.

Once upon a time I realized that I can’t control everything. That was the beginning. I realized that things will happen, not might happen, but will. There are things that I cannot control that will affect every aspect of my life, and I must must must accept that, or I go crazy. No, thanx.

And, somewhere along the journey I became aware. I learned that you can’t change things in your head if you’re not aware of them. You have to become an observer of your thoughts, a self-examiner. I have learned to take a deep breath to calm down and get perspective. I have learned to take a step back. I have a technique: You know how you’re watching a movie and the camera zooms away and you can see much more of the world on the screen than you could before? How it goes from closeup to a larger, panoramic view of things? That’s what happens in my mind’s eye. I start to zoom away, until I’m pretty far away from things. Then whatever happened doesn’t seem so important. A week from now, a year from now, will this matter? Probably no one will care, not even me. So why get upset about it? Just let it go, goodbye.

I learned to laugh. I try to see "things" as comical, or at least incedibly interesting, rather than frustrating. It requires a certain amount of detachment — you can laugh at the situation if you’re above it, but not within it. That detachment is a good thing, beacuse life isn't always about me, sometimes "things happen" so I will be in a particular place at a particular time to be there for someone else. When I am delayed, I always wonder who is waiting for me.

I realized that I can’t control others. This was one of my biggest challenges as a mother and healer. I finally realized that even the people I love and I am tyring to help are acting according to their personality, according to what they feel is right, and that they are not going to do what I suggest all of the time. I have to accept that. Accept that I can’t control them, accept them for who they are, accept the things they do, and send a blessing rather than a curse when they need it most.

I accepted change and imperfection. I accepted the fact that the world is constantly changing, and I am a part of that change. Also, instead of wanting things to be “perfect” (and what is perfect anyway?), I accepted that they will never be perfect, and learned to accept this moment instead.

And so, I've had a facelift. It's a parodox, isn't it.

I've learned to enjoy life as a flow of change, chaos and beauty. What is perfection? It’s actually a very interesting question. Does perfect mean the ideal life and world that we have in our heads? Do we have an ideal that we will try to make the world conform to? Because that will likely never happen. Instead, I will try to see the world as perfect the way it is. It’s messy, chaotic, painful, sad, dirty … and completely perfect. The world is beautiful, just as it is. And so am I, with my turkey neck and lip lines, crows feet and sunspots.

My facelift? No, not a surgical procedure on my body, but certainly a change in my "image." My facelift is my commitment to continue to go with the flow for the next fifty years. You'll see it on my web pages at my Bonanzle and ecrater stores and on my website. There's a river running through them now, and the lotus avatar has been replaced with the face of Mother Oshun.

Life is not something static, but a flow of change, never staying the same, always interesting, sometimes funny, always beautiful. There is beauty in everything around us, if we look at it as perfect.

May you be blessed!

Why Bonanzle Sudzle is more than just a bar of gourmet soap

As many of you know, I have a new storefront on Bonanzle.com Bonanzle is a brand new e-commerce and social marketing site that reached a million listings in 6 months, and was recently voted the best ebay alternative according to Examiner.com. It's a grassroots effort, championed by a growing base of forward-thinking veteran sellers, who share a community-centric, cooperative spirit. Management is responsive, accountable, hands-on, and creative.

There's team spirit at Bonanzle, a refreshing change for sellers migrating from ebay who have felt that they had become more like spectators watching their on-line marketplace storefronts being managed more and more by the venue and less and less by themselves. While Bonanzle expects business owners manage their own businesses, they simply provide the venue, albeit a venue that listens, really listens, to the wants and needs of the sellers who are setting up shop there. How?

A few weeks ago it was announced that sellers who met certain criteria could be "approved" to create and sell Bonanzle-branded merchandise. Why? Well, who wouldn't want that cool Bonanzle logo emblazened across a T-shirt or a coffee mug? It's well known that orange is a happy color, and green, is, well, green, the mantra of the moment for that other grassroots movement that is trying to help save the planet! But there's more...

Scrub everything that's extraordinary!

At Bonanzle.com, you can find everything but the ordinary, including Bonanzle Sudzle soap. No where else, just at Bonanzle. Did I mention that this is a very grassroots effort? Bonanzle members are helping to fund the very features that they vote for as "next up site improvements" by offering branded merchandise. Did I mention that management is incredibly responsive, accountable, hands-on and creative? And that sellers really believe in future of the site?

So, I'm in with Bonanzle Sudzle Bubblz! One dollar from each bar supports Bonanzle site development.

Blended with highest quality ingredients including Ylang and Sandalwood essential oils and soy, coconut, and olive oil, Bonanzle Sudzle soap has a gender-neutral fresh, green, woodsy scent that is calming and relaxing. On the skin, ylang oil has a soothing effect and corrects over-dry as well as overly-oily skin by balancing the secretion of sebum. Sudzle is very luxurious and will leave your skin soft and beautifully conditioned. You can even use it as your shaving soap.

So, Sudzle is really good for you, and really good for Bonanzle, too!

Each hand-cut bar weighs about 2.5 ounces, and measures 1.5 x 3 x .75 (+-) inches. And each bar puts a dollar in the Bonanzle big ideas fund. And this site has lots of big ideas!

So, scrub yourself silly with Bonanzle Sudzle Bubblz! It's more than a bar of soap, it's a little piece of a community of experienced, trusted, forward-thinking, cooperative spirits that you'll enjoy meeting and doing business with. Do visit Bonanzle today!