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A Heart of Gold 黄金之心

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This artist has her hearts in the right place – the web – for successful sales  艺术家把心用对了地方，在网络缔造销售佳绩

Lockets long held a special allure for Lauren Bradford, all artist, photographer, entrepreneur and amateur web designer. Her family had introduced her to the nuances of the jewelry trade, and her varied background prepared her well to start a business of her own. Yet, as she prepared to take that step, she wondered: Was there a large enough market out there for lockets?

对身兼艺术家、摄影家、企业家和业余网页设计者等多重身分的萝伦．布莱德孚来说，悬垂在项链上放纪念物的饰盒，长久以来一直拥有特殊魅力。她从家人处学习到珠宝业的种种细微层面，而她那多才多艺的背景也让她作好充分准备，足以自行创业。不过，正当她准备跨出创业的那一大步时，心里却不由得纳闷着：垂坠饰盒的市场商机够大吗？

“I wasn’t sure at first,” she said. “But with the web, you’re really drawing from the entire country and beyond. Today, I send lockets to England and places around the world. We once even shipped to someone working in the Arctic Circle.”

「起初我还不太确定，」她如此说道，「不过，透过网络，你的生意就可以遍及全国，甚至远至海外。如今，我寄送饰盒的地点，包括了英国和世界各地。我们有次甚至还邮寄给一名在北极圈工作的人。」

Her customers typically keep photos of family members in their lockets – or, in some cases, fingernail-size images of pets. Others tuck away some of their loved one’s ashes. One of Bradford’s own lockets contains a tiny bit of loose mortar she collected while touring the Christian catacombs in Rome.

布莱德孚的客户一般都用饰盒来装家人的相片，有时也用来装指甲大小的宠物相片。有些人则用饰盒来收藏挚爱的骨灰。布莱德孚自己所拥有的其中一个饰盒中，装着她到罗马参观基督徒地下墓地时所收集到的一丁点松散的灰泥。

Jewelry with significance  意义非凡的饰品

The company’s website, Heartsmith.com, offers several hundred of the hinged charms, to which Bradford gives names such as Veronica, Celeste, Camelot and Peapod.

公司的网站Heartsmith.com推出出了数百款这类系在项链上的小饰物，布莱德孚为它们取的名称包括了维洛妮卡、莎利丝特、卡美洛（译注：传说中的亚班王国所在地）和豌豆荚等。

Two part-time employees help handle marketing, inventory and shipping out of Bradford’s 650-square-foot office. Things get busiest around Christmas, Mother’s Day and now, the run-up to Valentine’s Day.

布莱德孚公司办公室面积有六百五十平方呎，雇有两名兼职员工，协助处理营销、存货及出货。每到圣延节、母亲节和像如今情人节前的这段期间，业务最为繁忙。

Heartsmith has attracted a following among members of the U.S. military, who place about 10 percent of its orders, Bradford said. Some of the e-mails she’s received from them stay pinned to her cubicle walls.

布莱德孚表示，她的「心匠」公司相当受到美军喜爱，来自军中的订单就占了所有订单约百分之十。她把军人寄给她的一部分电子邮件印出，钉在办公隔间板上。

One Army major thanked her for the locket he now wears around his neck, containing a photo of his daughter. Another serviceman recalled a long wait to use his ship’s phone to order a gold locket for his wife.

有位陆军少校谢谢她制作的饰盒，他现正用它装女儿的相片、挂在脖子上。另有位军人还记得曾在服役的船舰上排队很久等打电话，只为了订购一个要送给妻子的金质饰盒。

“It’s heartening to be able to read that people are touched by what we do,” Bradford said.

「看到客户的来信表示对我们的努力深受感动，让人深受鼓舞，」布莱德孚说道。

单词发音

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locket [ˋlɑkɪt] n.（悬于项链下的）纪念品小盒; 盒式项链坠

nuance [njuˋɑns] n.（色调，音调，意义，见解等的）细微差别 a quality of something that is not easy to notice but may be important

trade [tred] n. 行业

varied [ˋvɛrɪd] adj. 各种各样的；不相同的

draw [drɔ] v. 吸引；招来

tuck [tʌk] v. 把……塞进，把……藏入

ashes [ 'æʃɪz ] (pl n) 骨灰 what is left of a human body after it has been cremated

mortar [ˋmɔrtɚ] n. 灰浆，灰泥；黏合物 a mixture of cement or lime or both with sand and water, used as a bond between bricks or stones or as a covering on a wall

catacomb [ˋkætə͵kom] n. 地下墓穴 a series of underground passages and rooms where bodies were buried in the past

hinged [hɪndʒd] adj. 有链的

charm [tʃɑrm] n. 链条（或镯子）上的小饰物

Veronica [vəˋrɑnɪkə] n. 维罗妮卡（女子名）; 耶稣面像，印有耶稣面像的织物

Celeste [səˋlɛst] n. 西莱斯特（女子名，涵义：最幸福的人）

Camelot [ˋkæməlɑt] n. 传说中阿瑟王宫廷所在地; 灿烂繁华境界

peapod [ 'pipɑd ] n.（豌豆的）豆荚

following [ˋfɑləwɪŋ] n. 崇拜者，拥护者

major [ˋmedʒɚ] n.（美国）陆军（或空军、海军陆战队）少校

serviceman [ˋsɝvɪsmən] n. 现役军人

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Making it work  全力以赴

Bradford started the business in her home in 1999 while taking care of her three children. She planned things so that she would have more time to devote to the business once her youngest grew up. She shunned conventional wisdom and went without a business plan.

布莱德孚于一九九九年在自家创业，当时还得照顾三名小孩。她把事情安排妥当，以便等到最年幼的孩子长大后，就能挪出更多时间来投入事业。她避开传统世俗的做法，并没有事先订定营业计划。

“I tried to do it but kept falling asleep,” she said. “In a way, it’s maybe good I never took business courses in college. I might have felt stymied. I just said to myself, ‘I’m going to do this because I know it’s going to work.’”

「我原本也试着想订出计划，但中途一直忍不住想打瞌睡，」她说，「就某种层面来说，我大学时没修过商业课程或许是件好事，不然我可能会觉得自己陷入困境。但我当时只是告自己，『我一定要坚持下去，因为我知道这一定会成功。』

She bought her initial inventory with a few thousand dollars, using eBay to sell each piece of jewelry for a modest profit. Her brother, a fellow entrepreneur, came up with the name for her business during a brainstorming session in early 1999.

她花了几千块美元买了第一批存货，然利用eBay拍卖网站来贩卖每件饰品，赚取适度利润。她和同样也是企业家的兄弟在一九九九年初一次脑力激荡的讨论中，想出了公司的名称。

“The really weird thing was that the [web address] was available,” she said.

「很奇怪的是，那个网址居然还没有人注册，」她说道。

Bradford taught herself basic web design to get the site going, then hired a developer to help update it two years ago. She also hired a copywriting company to create pages on her site heavy with key words such as “heart locket.” Search services pick up the terms, helping to drive more people to the site. Last year, sales growth topped 40 percent, Bradford said.

布莱德孚自修基本的网页设计技能，以便维持网站的营运，两年前又雇用了一位研发人员来协助网站的更新。此外，也聘请一家广告文案公司在她公司的网站上制作大量充斥如「心型饰盒」等字符串的网页，如此一来，每当搜寻服务选到了这些字符串，就有助于增加网站的浏览人次。布莱德孚表示，公司去年的营业额成长率就超过了百分之四十。

“Running a business on the Web is like standing on shifting sand,” she said. “There are waves of technological changes that you have to keep up with or you’ll be left behind.”

「在网络上经营事业，就像站在流沙上一样，」她说道，「科技变革一波波席卷而来，你必须能迎头赶上潮流，否则就会遥遥落后。」

Bradford believes she’s well-positioned should a recession occur. “There will always be special events in people’s lives, and jewelry brings with it the feel-good knowledge of giving a sentimental but substantial gift.”

布莱德孚认为，即使未来发生经济衰退，她也已经掌握了良好商机。「人们的生命中总会有特殊事件发生，而珠宝饰品能带给送礼者良好的感受，因为他们深知自己送出的礼物既富有情感意义，同时又具有实质价值。

−by Douglass Crouse

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devote to 将...奉献给;  致力于, 专心于

shun [ʃʌn] v. 躲避；忽视

in a way 在某种程度上

modest [ˋmɑdɪst] adj. 不太大（或多）的

fellow [ˋfɛlo] adj. 同伴的；同事的；同类的

copywriting company 广告文案公司 a company whose employees write the text that is used in advertisements

copywriting [ˋkɑpɪ͵raɪtɪŋ] n. 广告文案写作; 撰稿

heavy [ˋhɛvɪ] adj. 大量的

drive [draɪv] v. 驱动; 推动

shifting sand 流沙

should [ʃʊd]  v. aux. 助动词（表示语气较强的假设）万一

recession [rɪˋsɛʃən] n.（经济的）衰退；衰退期

sentimental [͵sɛntəˋmɛnt!] adj. 情感上的

substantial [səbˋstænʃəl] adj. 真实的，实在的

单词发音

Vocabulary Focus

(somebody’s) heart is in the right place 心怀真情(或善意); 心地好 someone is a good and kind person even if they do not always seem to be

allure [əˋlɪʊr] n. 诱惑力，魅力 attraction, charm or excitement

tuck away【口】将某物存起来或藏起来 to put something valuable in a safe place

run-up [ˋrʌn͵ʌp] n. 前奏; 预备期 the period before an important event

heartening [ˋhɑrtnɪŋ] adj. 鼓舞人心的，令人振奋的 making you feel happier and more positive

conventional wisdom 传统观念或世俗认知 something that is generally believed by the public to be true, but might actually be false

stymie [ˈstaɪmɪd] adj. (colloq) 受阻的 to prevent something from happening or someone from achieving a goal

brainstorming session 脑力激荡的讨论会 a meeting where a group gathers to suggest a lot of ideas for a future activity very quickly, before considering some of them more carefully

well-positioned 掌握了良好商机的 being able to satisfy customers’ needs with a product they desire

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