Hosting Headaches

The shopping cart I use has been having issues. Very upsetting and I may be changing soon.

Great Tips for Easter Shopping

Easter is another special reason to shop for clothes. If you're in the market for nice and affordable girls Easter dresses this season, here are some suggestions:

Shop Early
Wise shoppers don't buy on impulse, rather shop a few weeks earlier than most people. Find time to compare prices and customer service. Think about choosing the right styles and colors for the season that best suit her personality. Ask your daughter what style she likes. Choose dresses that come in vibrant colors.

Shop Wisely
Purchases need to be well thought out so spend wisely. Consider buying girls easter dresses that are a size bigger so your daughter can wear it again next year. Don't hesitate to compare prices. Find time to compare prices and customer service. Read product reviews. These can help one make a better decision.

Shop Safely
Shopping for an Easter dress is specially convenient nowadays, thanks to more and more trustworthy stores like EliteDresses.com that have presence on the Internet. But be sure to be aware of bogus sites that steal your you know what. Verify that the website is legit. Look for the seal of approval or a trust seal whenever you shop.

How to Enjoy Weekends with Your Daughter

Weekends are great. Well, friends, it’s almost a weekend again and we all know how fun it gets. Guess what? Your daughter loves weekends too! And she looks forward to having fun moments with you. Busy working moms (like me) need to remember how important it is to spend quality time with our little girls. I constantly remind myself to set aside work to make myself available to her. Weekends are truly a great time to bond with her.

Make weekends memorable by doing fun activities with her. Sometimes you have to let her direct your weekends by what she wants (spoil her a little!). For a change, let her choose a dress for you when you go shopping together or let her pick her own Chinese girl dress herself when you shop here at Elitedresses. (Chinese New Year is around the corner again!!!) You can also enjoy some out-door fun games. Read books to her, learn a new song together, or simply watch fun family movies with her. Whatever it is, have fun!

Your little princess constantly needs assurance that though you keep a busy schedule, she will always come first. Express your love for her by being around her more and making her Saturday and Sundays exciting and special. She’ll greatly appreciate it.

The Gift of Giving

Moms, as Christmas draws near to us, let's not forget to teach our little princes a thing or two about the value or importance of giving out of love. I found a nice article I wanna share with you.

Teach your kids the gift of giving

And speaking of giving and value, Elitedresses gives you the best value for your money every time you shop. Check out our Clearance Page where you can find amazing deals on beautiful holiday dresses and high-quality girls Chinese dresses (Qi paos).

A Thanksgiving Poll

What are you thankful for this year?

Health Family Friends Career

View Results Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Shopping! Shopping! Shopping!

Shopping is probably my number high. Why not? Shopping, as long as it's within the realm of normal, is a wonderful and really fun way to release stress. Yes, shopping is fun and shouldn't cause you stress. Speaking of shopping, here's a good read for all shoppers out there.

The Ultimate Insider Black Friday Guide


Please don't forget about the weekly sale EliteDresses has for you!!!

Back to business

Hi guys!

I'm back from vacation but I feel like I'm more tired than before. Must be the unpacking and a minor reorganization of body clock and do I have to say the start of classes for my daughter eats most of my time? I'm sure you know what I mean.

Anyway, your orders are on your way as soon as I stepped foot on my office last Sunday so I'm guessing you already have it by now. :)

If there are any problems, please feel free to contact me so we can talk about it.

I have a new dress to introduce after I catch my breathe so please watch out for that! Thanks for your continued support!

Comments and suggestions are very much welcome!

What to look for when shopping online for girl's dresses

For a start, make sure that the online seller is reliable and that your will be transaction/s is 100% safe. Because of the economic crunch you can't afford to lose money on shopping online and there are plenty of ways to know if the online seller is reliable or not such as the security seal, testimonials from previous clients, product reviews and yes, Google the seller's reputation. The ABOUT US page could be very helpful too. Make sure that the seller state their name, address and telephone number so you can contact them anytime. When none, it could be that the seller is trying to hide from you.

Then important things follow:

1. An up-to-date, current web site. A legit online store updates information everyday and continuously adds products and eliminates those that are being discontinued.

2. Customer care. Great customer service doesn't end after the order has been done. It should continue until the customer received the order. Immediate response to your concerns thru chat, emails and telephone is a must. Since you rely on what you see on the website, the online seller must be willing to answer all queries regarding the product he/she sells.


3. No hidden charges. Make sure that what you get your money's worth. And that the total cost of the transaction is clear. Confirm first the exact amount before pushing with the purchase.


EliteDresses gives you all these and more. We make sure that you rely to us like your close friends and family. Our company is created by a family for families. We aim to care for our clients as we care for our own family and friends.

To assure you, we have provided information so you can contact us if there are any questions or problems. It's on our Contact us page above the website. About us page is also up and you might want to read it a bit so you will know a little about the history of EliteDresses, the why and how it was born.

Product reviews are also upgraded. Now you can post your photos along with the review you did. PLus it's very convenient to use.

The Uniform Project

I came across a beautiful blog for a cause. It's called The Uniform Project. One lady pledged to wear seven dresses of similar design (one for each day of the week) for 365 days. The proceeds of her blog earnings and donations will go to an organization that sends Indian children to school.

She also accepts accessory donations and style suggestions! Go over at her website and surprise yourself :)

The Uniform Project

For frugal moms like me, this could give us inspiration to make use of what we have in our closet and just spice it up with accessories!

But for our kids who usually outgrows their dresses, it's wise to spend less but make sure the quality is also good because your younger kids might still be able to reuse it.
This is precisely why EliteDresses aims to provide you with affordable yet good quality dresses.

Happy Shopping!

New Month: Fresh start, new girl's dresses

Where did July go? Soon it'll be Christmas. Uhmm, okay so that's taking it too far. Anyway, I like the beginning of each month because of the fresh feelings it brings. It somehow makes you feel hopeful of the coming days. Even if that coming days would mean being busy and crazy with your kids' school schedule, your husband's work schedule plus your altered ME time. (Hey, every Moms deserve to have ME time to keep them sane, right?)

I am specifically happy because soon we are going to add another style on our girl's dresses that Iam sure Moms and kids will love. Your kid could wear it as a party dress, flower girl dress, or even as pageant dress.

So watch out for our new dresses! :)

Service upgrade

In our desire to serve our dear clients better, EliteDresses has now an 800 number!

Call us at (800) 689-1218

Happy to serve you!

Sign up on our Newsletter and Win a prize!

We're giving out free 10% off coupon, a choice of your own dress and $25 gift certificate per month on our new subscribers! So be part of our certified EliteDressers!

Visit EliteDresses and scroll down, on your left you will see our Join here button,
Sign up and receive our weekly fun to read ED newsletter :)

Pre-marriage prep from the Eskimos

I'd just like to share this, read about this from a book on wedding traditions around the world.

Did you know that Eskimos have a pre-wedding custom that is very practical and admirable?

For Eskimo couples who want to wed, the groom is required to either 1) stay at the bride-to-be's home and live with her family for a year. Or 2) he can send in advance a year's supply of food for the family.

I am particularly impressed with the wisdom behind no. 1. The reason for this custom is for the family to truly get to know the groom. It also lets the groom try how to be a family member with his bride's family. In parenthesis, the bride and groom also get to see each other in the true light of how it is to stay in one home. They will see how each one copes with family concerns, whether these be happy or problematic times. And since they are staying with the bride's family that can "supervise" them, it can be considered as "family life in training wheels".

I admire how this practice helps view potential marriage partners in a realistic light.

* * * *

Announcement: Some of our designs now have S, M, L and XL for infants. Please do drop by our store if you need infant flower girl dresses or party dresses for baby.

Dress Layout on Category Pages

Hmm, how should I do it.

Should I do the Columns or list, where it's like this:

a Girl's Dress
b. Girl's Dress
c. Girl's Dress

Chinese Cheongsam Qipao - the usual way.


Or should I do a grid like this:

a. Girl's Dress b. Girl's Dress c Girl's Dress

d. Girl's Dress e. Girl's Dress f. Girl's Dress

Ao Dai Cuoi Vietnamese Girls Dresses has a grid.

Girl's Dresses Photos

It's so easy to just click the button on your camera to take a picture! I do it all the time. My hubby shows off with his iPhone, when our daughter has not borrowed it to take pictures.

So what is so hard about taking girl's dress photos? Getting colors correct is a challenge! As well as getting a background that has a nice contrast.

Three options I can think of:

1. Just cheat is just hire a professional photographer...
2. Butter up a super user photoshop user daughter to help fix some photos.
3. Take lots of photos till I find a really good one.

Major Photo Project

I am going through all my Girl's Chinese Dresses, Flower Girl Dresses, and Vietnamese Dresses seeing which pictures need work, which product descriptions can be better.

I have finished with the Girl's Chinese Dresses and the pages are so much better. The Flower Girl Dresses I need to retake some pictures. Taking a picture of an all black dress has challenges on getting a focus, I guess how the camera works. And of course there is the color correction, to make sure the picture looks the right color. There is so much into color including the monitor issue (each monitor displays color a little bit differently unless calibrated).

Customer Service Part II

So the customer who's package could not be delivered per the USPS, that both packages were delivered today. This is after I call the USPS yesterday and was told the other package could not be delivered. So I sent a next day at my expense. At least the customer was really impressed with my customer service.

Some Days

Sent out order via Priority Mail, 2-3 days. Shipped Monday. Customer called today to check on it. I looked at the status, return to sender? Confirm address with customer. Send out another package via Express Mail (next day) at no cost to customer, because they need it by Monday. And of course USPS won't reimburse me for their mistake. I am glad it's rare for problems, but when they happen it's annoying. My thought is do whatever is necessary for the customer.

Last time was the Express Mail next day package that did not arrive next day, so then I sent it via FedEx early morning (no cost to customer) so it got there in time for the school performance. I got back the original postage, but the early morning FedEx was not cheap. I did get a wonderful picture of the customer's daughter in the dress, it was for a play and looked wonderful!

Christmas Day

It's nice to have today off, but tomorrow I need to get going on QiPao's for Chinese New Year. And getting my darling daughter to do another graphic before she goes off to school. Such is the life of a Mother and business owner.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Why I need to learn Photoshop

Do you realize how hard it is to get a amazing, wonderful 14 year old girl to do a Christmas Graphic?  It's challenging.  At least the finished product, still incomplete, looks great!

Feedback Appreciated - Coloring Pages

I would appreciate your feedback and suggestions on my coloring pages. Are there any other Wedding related, US or Chinese, coloring pages I should have done?

Thanks in advance,

Lillian

Wedding Coloring Pages that are free and Printable					Chinese Wedding Coloring Pages that are Printable!
			Wedding Coloring pictures including Chinese Dress, Ring Boy, and Flower Girl					Wedding Coloring Pictures of a Chinese Wedding including Cute free coloring pictures from engagement to the ceremony to the wedding banquet from EliteDresses!
Coloring Pages | Chinese and Vietnamese Girl's Dresses					Coloring Pages | Girl's Dresses
			Wedding Coloring Pictures of a Chinese Wedding including Cute free coloring pictures of an AoDai Vietnamese Dress, QiPao, Chinese Dress, and Flower Girls.					Cute free coloring pictures of a Dressy Dress, Party Girl, Piano Dress, Church Dress, Flower Girl

Another Day I learn something New

I found out something about my e-commerce system I did not know on the settings that were affecting one dress in clearance (which explains why it never sold), so now I know and the customer whom pointed out the ordering problem can now buy the dress they want so there is a happy ending.

200th Post!

This is my 200th post! Writing this blog sometimes is the easiest thing in the world, and other times it's pretty hard. My goal is to write about things that would be of interest to my customers, which is often about weddings. I should write more about pageants, writing about an area is a great way to learn more about them.

Comments are always appreciated!

Next Day Shipment Problem

I don't do a lot of Next Day Shipment, but when I do it needs to be there next day. Last two times for EliteDresses the USPS took 2 days, so I refunded the customer the shipping for the last one. For the one before, I sent a second dress FedEx Early morning because it was needed for a play. Two happy customers, but I just want things to work! USPS is convenient since I use Priority Mail, but I may need to change my next day to FedEx (not as convenient, but I have never had issues with them).

New Products Pictures

I plan on taking some pictures tomorrow so I can finally get up some new products, like the black dress and the Boy's Ao Dai. M-F just get so busy!

Improved Review Visibility

I improved the visibility of reviews today by moving the sizing chart to a tab. Here is an example of a revised page:

Girl's Red Traditional Chinese QiPao Dress

On many dresses I had the sizing chart at the bottom, but then you would miss seeing the reviews below this. Now I need to worry about customers not finding the sizing chart :-)

Reviews - Why people can't find them

Another day, another E-Mail from a customer who loves their dress, but can't find where to do a review.

Tracking of Packages now online

You can now track your packages online at EliteDresses. Every day try to make the site a little better.

I am so embarassed - Typo on Newsletter

Some days it just feels like I should have stayed in bed :-)

I had a typo on the subject line of my newsletter. Embarrassing. And I don't want to send out a second newsletter, because people don't appreciate getting two many E-Mails. May be in a day or two I will send out another with a special deal as an apology.

Reviews

More headaches, so I am just ending the contest tomorrow. I will come back and work on it later.

Reviews - Getting closer to the end

I am so tired of review issues, but I am so glad that it looks like reviews are finally going in the right direction after a lot of hard work! Now if my hubby can take care of the next step when he gets back to work on Monday.

Working with my Daughter

My dear, sweet daughter was a little upset I had not used her wonderful looking template for my blog this morning. I mentioned to her how it was missing favorite posts as well as a list of older posts. And how I had used her other graphics (like the top of my main page, the header graphic). Nice picture of some cute flower girls in dresses. I appreciate her work, but it needs to be what I need, not what she wants. Some days it's just hard to work with a 14 year old, who does not yet understand the customer (me in this case) is always right.

Review Headache

There is a problem with customers finding the link to do a review. It's toward the bottom of the page, after the measurements. Hmm... Trade offs, since nobody is looking below the measurements. I could put them on another tab, but measurements are so important since almost every dress is a little different, especially the Chinese ones.

Web Down

Customer Service can be challenging

I messed up on my inventory system and a customer ordered a Chinese Girl's Dress I did not have. So I went to my supplier to try to get one. They did not have it at their store, but they said they would have it at their warehouse. So I finally got to their warehouse, and surprise, they don't have it. I did get some items for another customer! So I went back to their store in downtown and started going store to store looking for it. I finally found one and I paid retail for it, since my goal is a happy customer. So I get back, ready to ship it, and when I test the zipper... Any guesses? Yes, it broke. So I eMailed the customer asking what to do. I should have tested it in the store. Another learning experience!

California Earthquake - business as usual

'Jaded' Californians see quakes as part of life - yep, that's us! 5.6 Magnitude

Minor shaking, checked to make sure my documents were saved, and kept on working. I stopped by my home at lunch to check nothing had been broken. Cell Phone network was overwhelmed for a while (everyone calling to see if their family and friends were OK).

Blogging and getting the right format

My favorite, and only daughter, just gave me a new template. Unfortunately since she's busy with studying to get ready for next year, she did not have time to do some final touches. So I was trying to do that working on adding in things that were missing (like a title, couple of old posts, width was not right, etc.), and I gave up on that and thought why not try to edit my existing template. Looks like the colors are done using gifs as a background color. Anyway, it's not going to happen tonight.

Girl's Dress Photography Challenges! What a Day!

I had a couple of orphan girl's dresses that I had no pictures for. Orphan Dresses are those that I will not be getting in the future and I only have a couple, may be only one dress left so I put them in my girl's dresses clearance section. So I was taking pictures of 7 dresses including front, back, waist, bow, details, etc. So I went to the computer to upload the pictures, and something happens to the memory chip! I then go to download a computer utility to save the file, but it won't unless I register it. So I look back and see, sponsored search results. So then I download another one and that does not work! So I am about to start pulling my hair because of all the time I will lose. So then I go shopping to buy a new memory card along with a few other things- the danger of going shopping...

Then today, I thought why not, and I contacted the memory vendor to see if I can return and get an exchange under the warranty. It's looking pretty good right now, they paid for the return postage and I just dropped it off at FedEx today. Wow on the customer service! The company is Kingston that I have heard good things about. A former co-workers daughter worked there and loved being there.

Slips - Are the disappearing?

Pardon Me, Your Slip Is Not Showing from the WSJ about how slips are disappearing and getting pretty hard to find. It's on my to do list to track down a slip supplier, since they make my girl's dresses look so nice and fluffy.

Size 14 Girl's Dress Day

Today was the day for selling size 14 girl's dresses. It could be related to the minor error I fixed where size 14 accidentally got deleted for a while, but that was a while ago. It's amazing how complicated this E-Commerce thing is! And I just found another error. Some days it feels like all I do are clean up and organizing. The good thing is it makes the next day so much easier when everything is organized!

Live Chat - It actually works!

The live chat is about half way down the page on the right, and it does work. Since my hubby is online way to much of the time, you will probably get him. He chatted with two customers tonight. His goal was to catch up a bit, Mondays are like that, but chatting with a customer always has higher priority!

Saving Gas with shopping Online!

This sounds hopeful and makes a lot of sense - To Save Gas, Shoppers Stay Home and Click I have found it takes a lot of visits to many stores to find the right Girl's Dress, and with the price of gas so high shopping online makes sense. Especially with free shipping that I now offer.

Customer Service - Being Fair

It's a balance that I try to error on the side of the customer. The idea that the customer is always right is important, but sometimes it's challenging. Since I reduced my shipping charges for girl's dresses I am not getting the calls and E-Mails asking for a lower shipping amount, I am getting praise for having low shipping rates. That looks like it was the right move. I had one customer ask for a 50% discount on a girl's dress that is already in clearance, I explained that would not be fair to me because I would lose money. They then went down to 15%.

I have exchanged so many E-Mails with this customer, and they still have not bought the one dress they are interested in. It's important in my opinion to have great customer service, but 13 E-Mails so far about a $19.95 purchase is a bit much.

Dresses and Books

My husband runs another site the sells Learning Chinese children books and I have noticed there seems to be a difference between buying a girl's dress and a book. Buyers are much more careful about buying a girl's dress than books. May be because it's worn, the fear of returns over the Internet, or ? I am not sure. I do have a 100% dress guarantee.

The Techno Savvy of 10 Year olds

I was E-Mailing today back and forth with a customer about what girl's dress would be best for them, and I just found she is 10 years old. Wow! I had no idea. It came up because they had placed an order via Paypal and her Mother needs to finish the transaction.

Finally - My Newsletter is out!

There always seems to be one thing or another that has come up recently blocking me from finishing my newsletter. The good news as each challenge gets solved, it improves EliteDresses.

So this morning I decided no matter what, I am finishing it. I am also getting some articles and pictures done! That was last nights project.

Orphan Dresses - Frustrating...

Sometimes I just have a few dresses left of a particular style. So some customer wants to buy a size 6, but I only have a size 14 left.

It's annoying and I need to do something about it.

Reduced Shipping

I just reduced how much I charge for Next Day to $29.95, saving $7. A customer ordered a Girl's beautiful Blue sleeveless formal dress for a play their daughter is in. Another Dress I shipped out next day was a Girl's beautiful sage sleeveless formal dress. Both customers loved the dress prices.

My First Blog Post!

My goal with this blog is to have posts that are interesting to my customers! Such as about new products, articles, and related topics.

For example, my wonderful, talented daughter just redid the banner on www.elitedresses.com at the top. The pictures of two cute girls in the banner do give it a nice feeling, but there is no tag line telling what EliteDresses.com does, as my current one - Beautiful Girl's Dresses for your Little Princess.

Unfortunately she did not tell me before uploading it. I gave her permission to create a new one, but I don't remember the permission for uploading :-) Her Spring Break just ended so she won't be sharing the office with me again for a while.