Norm

This software is fairly easy to use if you have played around with MS paint, but as you get into doing the more advanced things, the learning curve can get bigger and bigger. http://paintdotnet.12.forumer.com/viewforum.php?f=15 This is the tutorial section for the software. Try not to approach this software thinking that you want to learn all the functions first, rather try to find what you want to do with it, and then search through the tutorials to find the one that does what your looking for. The instructions are fairly straight forward and there is a forum to ask questions in case the tutorials are of no help.

I noticed quite a few people have posted that they need help with their websites and graphics. I am a Graphic/Web Designer, and I am willing to give free advice, tips, and some artwork for those that are stuck. I only have a couple free hours to devote to this a day, so depending on the volume of requests I will do what I can to help. In the short time that I have been a member of this community I have had the benefit of the information, advise and tips of this site and so I would like to give something back. I should note that I am currently not taking on any new clients or building any websites from scratch... I am simply willing to help if you get stuck. I am not able to PM yet, however my email address is in my profile if you need me. P.S. I spend my weekends with my family and I am usually not online, only during the week.

I like the tips for craft fairs area... lots of stuff I never took into account before a show. http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4789

I'm still too new to PM yet, but that's what I do for a living... what are you thinking about?

I never paid a commision at any of the shows I went to. It almost makes you want to hike up your prices 12%.

Free Business plan templates and resources... http://www.score.org/template_gallery.html

How search engines work... http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2168031 A little thick, but quite valuable. Keep in mind that Google has the market share for search engines and they recommend, as I said before, a good site map and as many links to your site elsewhere on the net.

I find Avery software easy enough to use and it is good for printing and such, however I would recommend designing your own labels in another piece of software and then importing them into the avery templates. Paint.net is a great freeware image editor for those that want to go beyond the usual templated versions that Avery supplies. It has an interface similar to MS Paint, but lets insert layers and gives you tools to manipulate your label to your exact specifications. http://www.getpaint.net/download.html Create your label in Paint.net, then import it into your avery label template and you have a completely unique, customized label. I find that Paint.net has a lot of the function that paintshop pro and photoshop elements have, without the $100.00 price tag... but you will need to go into your add/remove programs to see if you have Microsoft .net framework 2.0 to make sure it is installed. If not, paint.net has an option to download the 2 together.

When choosing a domain name the rule of thumb is to keep it as short as possible, easy to spell and easy to pass on verbally. However your business name and domain name don't have to be identicle, but should be similar. The content of your pages and how they comply to the search engines' catalogueing criteria is what is going to give you a better ranking and more traffic on your site, not the domain name. So if you incorporate the blahblahblahcandlessoapstartsandeverythingunderthesun.com into your domain name it will not help people when they do a search. A good site map will get you a better page ranking then a good domain name.

Well, lets try one more thing... try this http://www.download.com/ColorPic/3000-2191_4-10395604.html?tag=lst-3-1 it is a freeware product that lets you see the hexidecimal RGB value of the color you are looking at on your screen.

oops... to check out the chart go here. http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_colors.asp

Web colors chart. 216 colors are standardized between all browsers on the market, however this is an old standard, from back in the days when most graphics cards displayed only 256 colors. And remember not everyone is going to see the same colors as you do on your screen. 000000 000033 000066 000099 0000CC 0000FF 003300 003333 003366 003399 0033CC 0033FF 006600 006633 006666 006699 0066CC 0066FF 009900 009933 009966 009999 0099CC 0099FF 00CC00 00CC33 00CC66 00CC99 00CCCC 00CCFF 00FF00 00FF33 00FF66 00FF99 00FFCC 00FFFF 330000 330033 330066 330099 3300CC 3300FF 333300 333333 333366 333399 3333CC 3333FF 336600 336633 336666 336699 3366CC 3366FF 339900 339933 339966 339999 3399CC 3399FF 33CC00 33CC33 33CC66 33CC99 33CCCC 33CCFF 33FF00 33FF33 33FF66 33FF99 33FFCC 33FFFF 660000 660033 660066 660099 6600CC 6600FF 663300 663333 663366 663399 6633CC 6633FF 666600 666633 666666 666699 6666CC 6666FF 669900 669933 669966 669999 6699CC 6699FF 66CC00 66CC33 66CC66 66CC99 66CCCC 66CCFF 66FF00 66FF33 66FF66 66FF99 66FFCC 66FFFF 990000 990033 990066 990099 9900CC 9900FF 993300 993333 993366 993399 9933CC 9933FF 996600 996633 996666 996699 9966CC 9966FF 999900 999933 999966 999999 9999CC 9999FF 99CC00 99CC33 99CC66 99CC99 99CCCC 99CCFF 99FF00 99FF33 99FF66 99FF99 99FFCC 99FFFF CC0000 CC0033 CC0066 CC0099 CC00CC CC00FF CC3300 CC3333 CC3366 CC3399 CC33CC CC33FF CC6600 CC6633 CC6666 CC6699 CC66CC CC66FF CC9900 CC9933 CC9966 CC9999 CC99CC CC99FF CCCC00 CCCC33 CCCC66 CCCC99 CCCCCC CCCCFF CCFF00 CCFF33 CCFF66 CCFF99 CCFFCC CCFFFF FF0000 FF0033 FF0066 FF0099 FF00CC FF00FF FF3300 FF3333 FF3366 FF3399 FF33CC FF33FF FF6600 FF6633 FF6666 FF6699 FF66CC FF66FF FF9900 FF9933 FF9966 FF9999 FF99CC FF99FF FFCC00 FFCC33 FFCC66 FFCC99 FFCCCC FFCCFF FFFF00 FFFF33 FFFF66 FFFF99 FFFFCC FFFFFF

Start with a blank Word document. Insert a table with the number of rows and columns that will fit your chart. Add the colors/names to the individual cells and then go to save as web page. Now select and then copy your table and paste it into your web page where you want it. Word converts the table to an html table. Now I would not recommend building an entire website in word, but tables are fine if you don't have web authoring software. If you wish to convert your word or excel file to a jpeg there are software options that do this, however you can simply get a free screen capture utility that takes a picture of whatever you have open on your desktop. Irfanview is a free image editor/viewer that has this function built in. http://www.download.com/IrfanView/3000-2192_4-10608664.html?tag=lst-0-1 open your captured screen and then crop it down to the size you need.

I had something very close to that happen to me. I met a Japanese exporter who became pretty much my sole client. I made dip n' carves that I would meticulously wrap in cellophane, place my label on the bottom, then stirofoam paper and I would pack them in boxes with foam peanuts and inserts. He used to pick up the boxes and I would never see them again. This one time I had to go drop off a couple boxes at his warehouse and when I went in I noticed that a few of my candles were unwrapped and just had white tissue paper on them. I was a bit shocked because of the care I would take to wrap them for that long journey to Japan. I asked him why they were like that. He told me how they shipped better that way and they had to put Japanese information on them anyways in order to sell them. I could not believe that they were writing whatever they pleased on my hard work. I was choked, so I asked him what happened to my label. He assured me that it was on there and just a label that said cut candle and his shipping company information was on it. I asked to see it and he said he would have to get one sent to him as they were put on in Japan. I told him that from now on my label would be left on the candle and if he wanted I could get it translated into Japanese, but I still wanted to see the other label going on it. He agreed. When you have a buyer that is buying a large quatity of your candles that means they are making money and will want to continue that relationship. The fact is, that it is your intelectual property, your blood, sweat and tears and you have every right to claim it as yours. Subsequently I learned quite a bit from that experience. From that point on my label was always attached to the bottom of my candle itself (a no brainer but I'm blonde), and I always made sure that people would know it was mine. I got the other label and it was as he said it was and I appreciated his honesty, but still. The thing is that if he had taken off my label from the beggining of our business relationship and he ws my primarary client, then the entire time that I had been selling to him my name was gone. I had no exposure, there could be no other potential clients. Further, this guy would be getting the credit. Still makes my blood boil.

This from there too. Burning ice : BURNICE This is a floating candle. It looks like ice cube but it's not.