Cami's Articles
My Lonely Internet Handbag Search
Cami Roberts
While developing my tapestry handbag business, Cami’s Collection (www.CamisCollection.com), I have
received a self taught speed course on search engines, rankings, and developing strategies for people to find
my online handbag site. Through this adventure, the importance of “search terms” keeps coming back to
me. Handbags are a big business on the Internet and I was searching for a way to differentiate my business
from the rest. This lead me to thinking about all the different words for “handbags”, where these words
originated, and what segments of population use the different terms. One lonely night, after the kids were
asleep, I began my Internet search for “handbags” and I found some interesting facts which drew me into
one of my favorite pastimes...reminiscing about my past....
I grew up in a small town in Michigan. My mother and all the “grown-ups” I knew used the word “purse”
when referring to their handbag.....I remember phrases like “Cami, grab my purse”, or the even more used
“CAMI, GET OUT OF MY PURSE!” My first real handbag was a “clutch”. I picked it out after carefully
considering the older girls at the school I so wanted to be like. Kay and Dawn had perfect hair, the most
fashionable clothes, and always had the cutest clutches carefully tucked under their arms. My clutch was a
lovely cream color “almost” leather handbag that I purchased from a discount earring store at the mall when
I was 12 years old. I loved that handbag. I filled it with notes from friends and lots of tissues...because I
had nothing else to put in it, as my mother wouldn't’t let me wear makeup like Kay and Dawn’s moms did.
For the ONE glorious week I had it, carefully tucked under MY arm...Until one day, leaving it at school
because I forgot that I carried a handbag... By the time I began my college years I had given up on handbags
altogether. I needed more space and in the mid 1980’s nothing seemed as versatile as a backpack which was
especially safe for my mode of transportation....the mountain bike! After college I got married and
purchased my first official designer purse – A beautiful brown Coach. This was an amazing purse that I
was careful to hang on to. I believe I spent just under $100, which was not chump change. I frequently
took it to the Coach Store where they would put a special cream on it to make it look like new. This bag
was put into an early retirement when I had my first son. My handbag was changed to a diaper bag.
Finally, for the first time in my life, I had too much to carry! The day arrived when my boys could carry
their own stuff and I could get my own handbag back. About this time we moved down to North Carolina.
We loved the new adventure our family was on...the weather, the access to mountains and ocean, and
mostly the people. I made friends quickly because the women around me were so warm and welcoming.
As I think back, there were different words they used that occasionally made me pause and think the first
time I heard them. One such word was “pocketbook”. My neighbor said, “Don’t forget your
pocketbook.” I quickly realized that she was referring to my handbag, which was hanging from the back of
a chair at a local restaurant. I noticed many of the women in my new town used this word just as I used
handbag or purse.
This brings me to my back to my lonely night on the computer and my little (but growing) tapestry
handbag/purse/pocketbook business. When people search on the Internet for these all important devices for
carrying essential and non essential items called purses/handbags/pocketbooks what term do they “Google”
or “Yahoo”, and how does this make a difference to my business. I began to search for the origins of these
words. This is what I discovered. “United Kingdom English for the American Novice” explained the term
“purse” in this way. A purse is a noun defined in America as a pocketbook. This English reference
explained that a purse is something a lady puts her money in and then puts the PURSE into her handbag.
This means that in the United Kingdom the terms are not interchangeable. “Answers.com” defined purse as
a verb meaning to contract or gather into wrinkles or folds. I thought back to my childhood days watching
Little House on the Prairie when Ma Ingals would carry that little drawstring purse into Olsen’s
Mercantile. It went on to explain the origin of the word coming from the Latin word “Bursa” meaning sac
or sac like body cavity containing fluid located between the tendon and bone.....well, enough anatomy, back
to the important stuff! “Wordwizzard.com” stated that the word purse was used as the word for bag dating
back to 1350 and used through the 1800s. In the mid 1600s the word purse was also used as a term for
prize, which still is used now in many sporting events; “winning the purse!” (and they don’t mean Louis
Vuitton.) It wasn’t until 1960 that the term pocketbook became a common term for handbag. As I
searched, I couldn’t find the origination of the “all important” term handbag....I have come to the conclusion
that “it is what it is”...a bag you hold in your hand. Designers come up with great ideas in handbag fashion,
but the handbag can only hold as much personality as the person holding it
Cami’s Link Whine......Link Snobs to Link Gods!
Cami Roberts
One of the wonderful benefits of the Internet is the availability of small business owners and in-home sellers
to market their goods and services on a venue that allows them low overhead and a WORLD of people who
can purchase from their store.
Just like the non-internet world, where small business owners are pushed aside by large department or box
stores, we are being stomped by these giants on the Internet.
They do this by using their “money power” for effective advertising and skillfully developing high ratings
on all the search engines…. if I had the means, I would too!
My business is tapestry & fine fabric handbags (www.camiscollection.com). I try very hard to maintain a
very low overhead because each dollar I spend is one more dollar out of my very low profit margin. I have
found that when people do find my site, they return. Once I have a customer, I am able to show them, not
only my wonderful merchandise, but my one on one service, my free shipping, and great savings compared
to similar products.
The problem…People finding my site. One effective way to boost my rating is creating links that directly
relate to my business. This is a slow and arduous process. But, as I develop these links, I have gained so
much knowledge about my business, my website, and my competitors, who I now think of as comrades (us
against the big guys!) Many times a customer is looking for something that I don’t have. Because I have
thoroughly worked on my links personally, I know right where to send them. There are FABULOUS Sites
out there!!!
Through my process of linking sites I create mental images in my mind of what the people I communicate
(or don’t communicate) with look like. I know this isn’t nice, but I just can’t help myself. These mental
images have nothing to do with the merchandise they sell, rather their ability to respond to linking
invitations.
I understand that there are certain business that do not pertain to my website, so, to link with them would
do no good for either one of us. However, that being said, there are a whole lot of LINK snobs out there:
People who have a long list of reasons why their site is so far superior to yours that they would never link
with you. I imagine these site owners as those soccer moms who come to practice dressed to the nines and
a new layer of makeup. Unlike the rest of us who are lucky to comb our hair, or have a shirt on that doesn’t
have jelly stains on the sleeve. To any of you “Link Snobs” out there (and you know who you are), ITS
JUST A LINK! You receive a friendly e-mail with a linking invitation, and you find the time to respond in
a way that is degrading and mean. I actually felt bad when I received my first “Link Snob” response, but I
quickly got over it. Sometimes I receive a simple, “we are not accepting links at this time, but thanks
anyway.” I appreciate that. Its nice and to the point.
Then there are some people that I call the “Good Intention” They want to link, but they either don’t know
how or just can’t find the time. I always hope that they cant find the time because they are too busy selling
their product…boxes, tissue paper, mailing labels, all crazy like a tornado…just trying to keep up with
demand, and I hope that I am there someday.
The “Link Exchange” Scam. I think these are the people that bug me the most. They have a lovely page set
up on their site that makes it easy for you to link to them….You follow the directions, carefully adding
their detailed html to your link page, write them back with the exact location they can confirm their link….
then….you wait…and wait…and wait…sending them a friendly reminder or 2 asking them to link to your
site, but you never hear from these people. They enjoy an additional incoming link to their site but never
intend on linking back to you. I have a link exchange page on my site, but I always link back to them within
24 hours of receiving their confirmation, not to mention, writing them back with their confirmation.
Finally, there are the LINKING GODS!!! They want to exchange links and promptly add your site
followed by an email confirming the link. These people are your true friends in this wide world of Internet
commerce and when you have the chance to do business with them or send a potential customer their way,
you do it! They deserve it. These are the same people who quickly changed my URL when my hosting
company changed hands. They did it just because I asked….WONDERFUL!
When I search for links, on my own and not through a service, I like to follow my own little linking ethics
code.
1) When I find a site that I would like to link with I write to them and offer to link them up first.
2) When someone writes to me with an invitation I respond quickly to their initial e-mail regarding my
intentions to link.
3) If someone links through my Link Exchange Page, I link them back within 24 hours of receiving their
confirmation email.
Treat your link partners like customers….it's good practice, and maybe someday they will be customers!
We’re all in this together….Lets make it work!
Cami Roberts
While developing my tapestry handbag business, Cami’s Collection (www.CamisCollection.com), I have
received a self taught speed course on search engines, rankings, and developing strategies for people to find
my online handbag site. Through this adventure, the importance of “search terms” keeps coming back to
me. Handbags are a big business on the Internet and I was searching for a way to differentiate my business
from the rest. This lead me to thinking about all the different words for “handbags”, where these words
originated, and what segments of population use the different terms. One lonely night, after the kids were
asleep, I began my Internet search for “handbags” and I found some interesting facts which drew me into
one of my favorite pastimes...reminiscing about my past....
I grew up in a small town in Michigan. My mother and all the “grown-ups” I knew used the word “purse”
when referring to their handbag.....I remember phrases like “Cami, grab my purse”, or the even more used
“CAMI, GET OUT OF MY PURSE!” My first real handbag was a “clutch”. I picked it out after carefully
considering the older girls at the school I so wanted to be like. Kay and Dawn had perfect hair, the most
fashionable clothes, and always had the cutest clutches carefully tucked under their arms. My clutch was a
lovely cream color “almost” leather handbag that I purchased from a discount earring store at the mall when
I was 12 years old. I loved that handbag. I filled it with notes from friends and lots of tissues...because I
had nothing else to put in it, as my mother wouldn't’t let me wear makeup like Kay and Dawn’s moms did.
For the ONE glorious week I had it, carefully tucked under MY arm...Until one day, leaving it at school
because I forgot that I carried a handbag... By the time I began my college years I had given up on handbags
altogether. I needed more space and in the mid 1980’s nothing seemed as versatile as a backpack which was
especially safe for my mode of transportation....the mountain bike! After college I got married and
purchased my first official designer purse – A beautiful brown Coach. This was an amazing purse that I
was careful to hang on to. I believe I spent just under $100, which was not chump change. I frequently
took it to the Coach Store where they would put a special cream on it to make it look like new. This bag
was put into an early retirement when I had my first son. My handbag was changed to a diaper bag.
Finally, for the first time in my life, I had too much to carry! The day arrived when my boys could carry
their own stuff and I could get my own handbag back. About this time we moved down to North Carolina.
We loved the new adventure our family was on...the weather, the access to mountains and ocean, and
mostly the people. I made friends quickly because the women around me were so warm and welcoming.
As I think back, there were different words they used that occasionally made me pause and think the first
time I heard them. One such word was “pocketbook”. My neighbor said, “Don’t forget your
pocketbook.” I quickly realized that she was referring to my handbag, which was hanging from the back of
a chair at a local restaurant. I noticed many of the women in my new town used this word just as I used
handbag or purse.
This brings me to my back to my lonely night on the computer and my little (but growing) tapestry
handbag/purse/pocketbook business. When people search on the Internet for these all important devices for
carrying essential and non essential items called purses/handbags/pocketbooks what term do they “Google”
or “Yahoo”, and how does this make a difference to my business. I began to search for the origins of these
words. This is what I discovered. “United Kingdom English for the American Novice” explained the term
“purse” in this way. A purse is a noun defined in America as a pocketbook. This English reference
explained that a purse is something a lady puts her money in and then puts the PURSE into her handbag.
This means that in the United Kingdom the terms are not interchangeable. “Answers.com” defined purse as
a verb meaning to contract or gather into wrinkles or folds. I thought back to my childhood days watching
Little House on the Prairie when Ma Ingals would carry that little drawstring purse into Olsen’s
Mercantile. It went on to explain the origin of the word coming from the Latin word “Bursa” meaning sac
or sac like body cavity containing fluid located between the tendon and bone.....well, enough anatomy, back
to the important stuff! “Wordwizzard.com” stated that the word purse was used as the word for bag dating
back to 1350 and used through the 1800s. In the mid 1600s the word purse was also used as a term for
prize, which still is used now in many sporting events; “winning the purse!” (and they don’t mean Louis
Vuitton.) It wasn’t until 1960 that the term pocketbook became a common term for handbag. As I
searched, I couldn’t find the origination of the “all important” term handbag....I have come to the conclusion
that “it is what it is”...a bag you hold in your hand. Designers come up with great ideas in handbag fashion,
but the handbag can only hold as much personality as the person holding it
Cami’s Link Whine......Link Snobs to Link Gods!
Cami Roberts
One of the wonderful benefits of the Internet is the availability of small business owners and in-home sellers
to market their goods and services on a venue that allows them low overhead and a WORLD of people who
can purchase from their store.
Just like the non-internet world, where small business owners are pushed aside by large department or box
stores, we are being stomped by these giants on the Internet.
They do this by using their “money power” for effective advertising and skillfully developing high ratings
on all the search engines…. if I had the means, I would too!
My business is tapestry & fine fabric handbags (www.camiscollection.com). I try very hard to maintain a
very low overhead because each dollar I spend is one more dollar out of my very low profit margin. I have
found that when people do find my site, they return. Once I have a customer, I am able to show them, not
only my wonderful merchandise, but my one on one service, my free shipping, and great savings compared
to similar products.
The problem…People finding my site. One effective way to boost my rating is creating links that directly
relate to my business. This is a slow and arduous process. But, as I develop these links, I have gained so
much knowledge about my business, my website, and my competitors, who I now think of as comrades (us
against the big guys!) Many times a customer is looking for something that I don’t have. Because I have
thoroughly worked on my links personally, I know right where to send them. There are FABULOUS Sites
out there!!!
Through my process of linking sites I create mental images in my mind of what the people I communicate
(or don’t communicate) with look like. I know this isn’t nice, but I just can’t help myself. These mental
images have nothing to do with the merchandise they sell, rather their ability to respond to linking
invitations.
I understand that there are certain business that do not pertain to my website, so, to link with them would
do no good for either one of us. However, that being said, there are a whole lot of LINK snobs out there:
People who have a long list of reasons why their site is so far superior to yours that they would never link
with you. I imagine these site owners as those soccer moms who come to practice dressed to the nines and
a new layer of makeup. Unlike the rest of us who are lucky to comb our hair, or have a shirt on that doesn’t
have jelly stains on the sleeve. To any of you “Link Snobs” out there (and you know who you are), ITS
JUST A LINK! You receive a friendly e-mail with a linking invitation, and you find the time to respond in
a way that is degrading and mean. I actually felt bad when I received my first “Link Snob” response, but I
quickly got over it. Sometimes I receive a simple, “we are not accepting links at this time, but thanks
anyway.” I appreciate that. Its nice and to the point.
Then there are some people that I call the “Good Intention” They want to link, but they either don’t know
how or just can’t find the time. I always hope that they cant find the time because they are too busy selling
their product…boxes, tissue paper, mailing labels, all crazy like a tornado…just trying to keep up with
demand, and I hope that I am there someday.
The “Link Exchange” Scam. I think these are the people that bug me the most. They have a lovely page set
up on their site that makes it easy for you to link to them….You follow the directions, carefully adding
their detailed html to your link page, write them back with the exact location they can confirm their link….
then….you wait…and wait…and wait…sending them a friendly reminder or 2 asking them to link to your
site, but you never hear from these people. They enjoy an additional incoming link to their site but never
intend on linking back to you. I have a link exchange page on my site, but I always link back to them within
24 hours of receiving their confirmation, not to mention, writing them back with their confirmation.
Finally, there are the LINKING GODS!!! They want to exchange links and promptly add your site
followed by an email confirming the link. These people are your true friends in this wide world of Internet
commerce and when you have the chance to do business with them or send a potential customer their way,
you do it! They deserve it. These are the same people who quickly changed my URL when my hosting
company changed hands. They did it just because I asked….WONDERFUL!
When I search for links, on my own and not through a service, I like to follow my own little linking ethics
code.
1) When I find a site that I would like to link with I write to them and offer to link them up first.
2) When someone writes to me with an invitation I respond quickly to their initial e-mail regarding my
intentions to link.
3) If someone links through my Link Exchange Page, I link them back within 24 hours of receiving their
confirmation email.
Treat your link partners like customers….it's good practice, and maybe someday they will be customers!
We’re all in this together….Lets make it work!
