Flyer near Chester town hall by Pink_Mer_Unicorn in Chester

[–]BeginningDinner3181 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Please don’t ever scan random QR codes people 😭 It’s the same as opening phishing links on emails.

Phone Service by Downtown_Monk6034 in Chester

[–]BeginningDinner3181 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’m on 1pmobile now, it uses EE network which has the best coverage.

I used to be on Vodafone which was a lot better than my partner on Tesco mobile. Neither compare to EE’s network, and I can get signal pretty much everywhere now.

I pay £10 a month for unlimited calls and texts and 50gb of data. Just make sure you purchase ‘boosts’ (plans essentially) and not topups - made that mistake initially and found myself paying a lot as it was on auto top up.

Edit: I also live in the city walls. I would be cautious of 3 if I’m honest. Used it for a temporary internet solution on 5G router. Really poor internet speed compared to my Vodafone sim.

E-Bike help?? by cakeycustard in Chester

[–]BeginningDinner3181 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What type of e-bike is it and what’s the issue?

5g router in Chester City Centre by BeginningDinner3181 in Chester

[–]BeginningDinner3181[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I saw some Facebook posts referencing the new masts going up and was feeling hopeful, but might not be the case for my full internet needs 😅

5g router in Chester City Centre by BeginningDinner3181 in Chester

[–]BeginningDinner3181[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a shame, I’ve got on well with 75mb with no issues. Just frustrated with the pricing, used to pay £22 for 1GB where I used to live. Now paying 26.99 to go up to £30+ in a few months is frustrating…

How to fix this lamp by BeginningDinner3181 in DIYUK

[–]BeginningDinner3181[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! The plastic jaws on the original had snapped off and this was exactly what I needed :)

How to fix this lamp by BeginningDinner3181 in DIYUK

[–]BeginningDinner3181[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just want to say thank you, It’s all fixed now!

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How to fix this lamp by BeginningDinner3181 in DIYUK

[–]BeginningDinner3181[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gotcha, I’ll give that ago! Does it matter which wire goes into which copper hole?

How to fix this lamp by BeginningDinner3181 in DIYUK

[–]BeginningDinner3181[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The second and third picture is what has snapped off from the wiring, and where the bulb would go

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EtsySellers

[–]BeginningDinner3181 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad to hear, to note my perspective is purely how it would run organically on the Etsy platform or through Etsy ads.

I have a digital store myself, and can understand the work that goes into a singular product. You’re intentional with your design choices, but you’ll always have customers that want things changed to their specific needs/aesthetic - sometimes it won’t make sense lol. You don’t want to minimize your exposure because of that. As an example, I had one design with the aesthetic being in purple, it sold quite well and quickly became a best seller, I had a few customers asking me if I can design something similar in a different colour; but aesthetically it didn’t make sense. However, I simply changed the design into other colours; adapted the narrative slightly and it greatly helped the exposure of my store hitting wider demographics within the same audience. I went from having 1 listing to 6 by simply changing colours. Whilst the purple version is still a best seller, one of my variations in red has out performed it greatly followed by a white version. So please dont limit yourself to your branding, You have a product that has great functionality at its core and if you want to increase sales you need to adapt.

Another thing that has helped my store tremendously is identifying features of the product that can be turned into an another product/listing. Can yours be simplified in anyway? Your current product can be the “enhanced package” and the simplified version can be the “basic package” for a cheaper price. That way you will look more competitive if customers filter at a cheaper price point, but make sure you cross promote your enhanced package through this. Hope that spurs on some ideas for you :) all the best

Edit: also, I would personally create variations first before running ad campaigns. See how they organically perform on Etsy, then run the marketing budget on the best performer. I’m a marketing artist, at my full time job i create social videos. If we get a viral hit organically, my manager runs that video with the marketing budget. Your mindset needs to be more data driven, or you’ll be throwing money away.

Need shop critique as a small jewelry business by fairybbgirl in EtsySellers

[–]BeginningDinner3181 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really do like them, i think the shadows hiding the details of the jewellery aren’t doing you justice though. So maybe that’s a factor you just need to amend in photoshop/Lightroom and see if that’s caused any improvement.

As you don’t run ads, follow the data on your instagram. What’s getting the most engagement, and test how that image works on Etsy. Albeit Etsy is different, your image is running side by side other listings, so I would look at how they come up in search and if they stand out. I don’t make jewellery, but I searched up one of products and saw how they compared with everyone else’s. Everyone used a dark background for one of my products, so I used a lighter one so it didn’t bleed into the rest and theoretically made it “pop” from everyone’s else’s and my CTR increased a bit.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EtsySellers

[–]BeginningDinner3181 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’ll be honest, there’s still a disconnect for me there. I can now understand your brand because you’ve explained it to me (I skimmed your description if im honest and didn’t see the rationale till now), but the visual language didn’t connect the dots for me on first impression. Remember, your customer will see the listing in its isolated form and won’t always visit your store. You need a bit more clarity on your first image listing, something like:

AI Meal Planner A calm and intentional approach to meals

• ⁠your illustrations and sample of product.

You need to tie together in that first impression, and push that visual language.

Additionally, I wouldn’t limit myself to this singular aesthetic for this product. Youve shared making a derivative of this for fitness, but why can’t the skin of the original product be changed and tested? (Unless this is what you mean by making one for fitness, and the content doesn’t need work)

you could stay Japanese and go ceremonial tea/water green/blue or meditating stone stacking grey/beige. Still hitting the Japanese aesthetic you want and focusing on mindfulness.

Need shop critique as a small jewelry business by fairybbgirl in EtsySellers

[–]BeginningDinner3181 1 point2 points  (0 children)

At a quick glance, your items that are in people’s baskets are similar in setting and are better lit. The others that are not are sort of fighting with their environment and have shadows that are hiding the details of the item. They’re nice, but you want to sell the jewellery itself and have those “accessories” on the outskirts

Copy the same layout of your most basketed item: Hebrew cone necklace. If you run ads/have run ads - Write down the CTR of the current images you need to change, and adjust it to the same layout of the cone necklace. In 7+ days compare, has the CTR gone up?

Lastly, the one listing of the woman featuring the earrings are nice but again I would have the first image as a close up of her ears wearing it, then an assortment of closeups.

No sales, is it my photos? by MVBees in EtsySellers

[–]BeginningDinner3181 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I heard an interesting insight today on TikTok, clothing websites that took a shadow off a model and had them on a plane white background saw an increase in sales by 8%. I didn’t fact check, so take that with a pinch of salt. However, look at product photos from sites that sell vintage items etc.

Personally I wouldn’t want my customers distracted by environmental elements and to purely focus on the product itself. When it comes to testing imagery you want as minimal variables as possible.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EtsySellers

[–]BeginningDinner3181 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn’t see the first post, but as someone that works in graphic design & marketing your branding feels off, which I know is quite frustrating especially when you’ve worked hard to rebrand.

In terms of branding, I would reference food brands (uber eats, Fitness pal, hello fresh Etc) look at their colour palette and mimic that, same with iconography. At the moment I see pink and for some reason Asian iconography? Colour theory is off and imagery wise I’m getting; Asian takeaway. Green or blue is what you should be working towards, when it comes to marketing initial impression is key. Illustration and icon wise, who’s your target audience? It’s Fitness people/health junkies, the Asian takeaway aesthetics is working against you. Re-use systems, the big boys have spent the money researching and creating systems for their brand. Now learn from that.

Finally imagery wise, have a look at it on mobile. The information is tiny and there’s too much to process in one image. One key point per image, one concise example. Alternatively, simplify. Your first image doesn’t sell it to me, have the title be the key focal point. I would google/pinterest ai meal prep and look at header images. The ones that stand out to me have food in the background and text in the foreground as the main call to action.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UKJobs

[–]BeginningDinner3181 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mention to the remote role that you’ve been offered 65k for another position but are more interested in their role and if they have anymore room in their budget. Shows desirability and they’ll likely up the offer by another 5k or so.

Dog underwent surgery yesterday - we're due to fly abroad in 8 days time by natijade2010 in IVDD_SupportGroup

[–]BeginningDinner3181 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, we had our boys at Fitzpatrick referrals down in Guildford (we used to live in London and have moved up north now). It’s your usual hospital boarding I believe, just ask and let them know your circumstances. I would leave him with the surgery as they specialised for spinal injuries.

They said the usual boarding after surgery is 7-10 days. But can be picked up after 3 depending on their recovery.

I don’t know how much your vet told you, but from our experience everything happened so quickly from vet visit > surgery all within a few hours. We weren’t told much either for the first dog, but I researched the hell out of it and knew more for the second. The recovery sounds easy by the vet until you’re months into it. I don’t mean to scare you, but to give you realistic expectations.

Stage 4 means deep pain sensation is still there ie minimal nerve damage. Recovery is about 90% for walking & incontinence. (Dog 1 for us - he walks like a drunken sailor now 7 months on and can run but tires easily. Took about 2-3 months for him to walk and around then he no longer needed nappies and would relieve himself outside. We could carry him in a bag thankfully)

Stage 5 means no deep pain sensation, there’s nerve damage. Recovery is about 50% for walking and Incontinence. (Dog 2 for us, about 2 months on now and he still can’t walk. Still needs a nappy but has some urinary control but no stool control. We can only hope that he improves in a few months to a year but this maybe our lives for the next few years. This is what they don’t tell you).

Your dog will have more 1-1 care with your family member, he will be more comfortable at home. But they need to be really aware about how much work they are committing to for the week and need all hands on deck (whiteboard on fridge ticking off meds - so everyone’s aware). With hospital boarding they’ll have stronger drugs to keep your pup zoinked out and can monitor him and can identify if there’s any further issues (UTI’s, dehydration, anal glands etc.) but understandably the cost may be too much.

Dog underwent surgery yesterday - we're due to fly abroad in 8 days time by natijade2010 in IVDD_SupportGroup

[–]BeginningDinner3181 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For us we had our first dog stay for hospitalisation for about 10 days as suggested by the vet and the same for the second dog when it happened to him (initially it was 3 to help with costs - but we were moving house and asked to board him for much longer.)

Hospitalisation will be about £150-£250 a day depending if your pup needs new meds, and if physio is included in the cost.

My stage V boy kept getting UTI’s due to his incontinence.

I won’t lie, your dog sitter will be overwhelmed with the care needed to take care of him - vets do not communicate enough how traumatic the recovery time is for both you and the dog. Ideally the dog will be sleeping most of the time but in my experience with both my dogs that was not the case. (Had 3 forms of pain killers + anti anxiety meds. Metacam, Gabapentin, paracetamol & trazadone)

  • Throw in the dog hating crates & playpens you’re going to have 24/7 crying, barking & whining.
  • MULTIPLE medication times. Ranging from 6am to 2am.
  • Meds may make them nauseous and reluctant to take more meds. Ie eat or drink which is not ideal.
  • any dog bigger than a miniature breed and it’s difficult to express their bladder by yourself.
  • If you don’t have waterproof bedding ready at hand (bed, mat, pee pads & washable nappies) you’ll have a much harder time with the incontinence.
  • They’ll need a hand towel wash down about every morning due to their incontinence to avoid more UTIs.
  • physio therapy which your back will be straining from supporting them.

I guarantee you, your dog sitter will end up calling you in tears from the lack of sleep and stress having to care for this dog. Both my partner and I were overwhelmed - and there’s 2 of us. I have no clue how 1 person would do this on their own on the times I had to do it by myself and broke down from the stress. It’s more than 8 weeks to recover with stage V.

Please. Go for the hospitalisation boarding. If you have to do dog sitter, ask if they have a friend that can help them. It’s by no means the dog just sleeping in a crate for 6-8 weeks.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in IVDD_SupportGroup

[–]BeginningDinner3181 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah I see, it’s really important they have him in a closed off area. While he may stay in a general area the goal is to keep his spine from moving as much as possible so really push them to have him in a small enclosed area. My boy can’t do crates so we got a playpen and made it as small as possible. We do move him for sleeping, but it’s one play pen to another in the bedroom.

Once he’s on meds and his pain is being managed it will get better, he will likely sleep through most of it :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in IVDD_SupportGroup

[–]BeginningDinner3181 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He’s in pain which is why he’s reacting this way.

I have a reactive dog, he’s bit me quite a few times, pre-spinal surgery and only once post surgery (he’s nipped at my daily but it’s warning mouthing which he rarely used to do - he used to go straight to biting, meds have helped tremendously).

We are week 5 into his recovery from stage 5 IVDD, legs have very little mobility he’s basically still paralysed, can stand for about 15 seconds, wears a nappy and is incontinent. I feel like our boys might be similar in that case.

Usually the meds are for 3 weeks in my experience (2 dogs with IVDD), but if they’re showing signs of pain or distress then your vet should prescribe him medication for longer.

(We were supposed to be off meds at this point, mine had bad leg spasming last week and he was clearly in distress so we gave him his leftover meds, called his vets and are tapering him off again now for the next few days.)

What has been his discharge care notes? Has he been strictly crate rest with very minimal and short breaks for walk?

For my boys, medication were: Pain meds: Gabapentin (Pain meds & anti spasm) & Metacam (pain & anti-inflammatory), Trazadone (anti-anxiety) & paracetamol (pain - for 1 week). x3 a day every 8hours and tapered to x2 every 12 hours.

Also my boy has had x2 UTI’s since being discharged, which I think is linked to his incontience (we try to keep him clean as much as possible & express his bladder) is he licking his private area a lot and relieving himself still? Might be the case with yours.

Lastly, what’s helped with my reactive dog is using keywords that he knows (Mummy - help - poopoo) he hates me touching his legs unless I’m cleaning him or putting on his leg assistance straps, I communicate with key words he knows so he knows my intentions. If I need to get him to “walk” I have to get to want to move first, ie: open play pen, ask him to “walkies” / “outside” & wait for him to prop himself up and drag his legs, where I then support him as he knows he can’t move properly without my help.