Sapheyerblu Review

The following is a guest post from Leonard Phelps

One of my favorite things to do is shop for unique art online. I’m a real film buff and I enjoy looking through online warehouses for old movie posters or signed autograph photos. Once I even found a framed acrylic painting of Humphrey Bogart – it’s the centerpiece in my living room! I recently got wireless from CLEARWIRELESSINTERNET.COM because a friend of mine told me that the service allowed me to get online pretty much anywhere in town. I’m now able to stay abreast of online auctions as they happen and I’m never without service…it’s really nice. Using my connection ha! s been great, too, in that I’ve met other film buffs in the area. We’re planning on getting together soon to screen some old silent movies at my place, which should be really fun! I’ve currently got my eye on an old screen projector – it would be absolutely perfect in my theater room. I can’t seem to get enough of the old timey movie stuff and being online all the time has only made my “obsession” worse!

Facebook has announced that they are no longer going to allow bloggers and publishers to post about their giveaways on the social network.  I think that sucks.  So, I’ve just created a brand new forum called the Wanna Win Forums as a place where those who are holding giveaways can still have a place to post away.

Now at the moment, this is still a work in progress and I’m sure it will take me some time to get anyone to join up.  But I’m hoping to make this forum a place where anyone who has a blog and hosts giveaways will have a good time and can feel at home.   There are also categories for those who have online stores and need a little extra exposure and can even tell others about things they have one sale.

I’ve also added a section for various freebies from around the web and a place where you can step in and introduce yourself and a place where we can all just sit and discuss the topics of the day.  I have some other ideas for the place, but I kinda want to step back and see if anyone joins up first.  LOL

So you are all cordially invited to my new site.  Tell us about your giveaways or your shop, or find some places that you didn’t know existed before.  In time, I hope this is a place where we can all have fun and win some cool stuff.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve come to love the world of online shopping.  The biggest problem I’ve got is in the amount of time it takes to find exactly what I’m looking for.  Though I can go to just about any search engine and type in what I’m looking for and hit the “shopping” button, it might still take hours to find what I want.  Then I found this cute little site called Become.com.  I might just make all my shopping ventures a little easier.

The nice thing about this site is that I can find just about anything from clothing to jewelry to a new sleeper chair.  The site gives me an entire list of that particular item from different shopping sites around the Internet.  They showcase major retailers such as Kmart and Sears, as well as online only shops such as Overstock.com.  Plus, they tell you right up front how much the item is, whether or not it’s currently in stock, and how much of a savings you’ll get if any.

Now because I live in such a rural part of the country, I don’t have physical access to some of the more upscale shopping centers.  I thought that this would be a great way for me to find some of those things I’ve always wanted but could never find around these parts.  One thing I did go looking for was some Chenille bedspreads.  I remember my grandmother having one in the spare bedroom and I loved that thing.  So I typed it into the search bar at Become.com and sure enough, there was a whole list of options to choose from.  I had no idea there were so many styles or some many different colors.  It all comes down to a person’s budget and personal preference.

So as I was playing around on the site, my daughter came in and thought it would be cool to look up something in her taste.  Now mind you, my daughter is a teenager and a very punk rocker outlook on life.  She wanted me check out if there was any zebra print wallpaper.  Now I don’t see my husband ever allowing her to put this up in her room, but it was fun to see just how many variations there are in the zebra print world.  I figured there might be a couple, but there were several and they came in both vertical and horizontal linings.  There was even one that had a swirl pattern.  Now there’s a zebra I’d love to see in the wild.

So the next time you think you want to do a little window shopping but don’t feel like leaving your house, check out Become.com.  I had a ball on this site and I guarantee that I’ll be-come-ing back again and again.

As an online business owner, I’m always looking for ways to bring new customers to my site.  The problem isn’t so much getting people from other states or countries to check out my business, but those who live right here in the same town I do.  That’s why I’ve been thinking about different ways of getting local people to check  out my sites.  And one of the ideas I’ve come up with is to order some custom imprinted pens with my company logo on them.  I see business pens all the time and always wondered if they were a good PR tactic or not.  Guess this is a good way of finding out.

There are other ways of attracting some of the locals.  One way is to send out letters to other business owners using stationary with my business name at the top, and complete the ensemble with some custom envelopes.  I don’t know if it would work, but it would sure look cool.  I’ve always been a fan of custom stationary and letterheads.  I’ve found some of my favorite places this way, so I know it works.  Well at least for me anyway.

Finally, I thought about putting ads in the local papers.  Now I know paying for advertising can get VERY expensive, but there are ways around it.  Rather than taking out ad space, I can always put a quickie piece in the want ads.  It’s a lot cheaper and more people will actually see it.  My local paper also has a section for small business owners to put in their business cards, so that might be another option.  But whatever I do, I still think I’m going to get myself some of those engraved pens.  I always wanted to see my own business on a pen.  LOL

One of my favorite giveaway sites is Mint Green With Envy (who btw has a killer new blog theme happening). Somehow this lady manages to offer some of THE most gorgeous items for her giveaways and this one is no different. She is giving away a large yellow and white striped tote from Bayan Hippo.

I’d never heard of this shop before this giveaway, but I fell in love instantly. It’s a handbag/tote shop and I love these types of items. I make my own totes, but not like these. In fact, the main entry into this giveaway is to check out the site and leave a comment on MGWE as to what your favorite item is. That’s when I found this beautiful Frilly Bag In Black.

There are a lot of ways to enter this one, but checking out the sponsors site is mandatory. This giveaway ends on April 27th and the winner will be drawn on the 28th. I’ve become a huge sucker for a good giveaway and if you want some of the best, you’ve got to check out Mint Green With Envy. She’s a giveaway diva!!!