I am not one that usually sets goals at the start of a new year. Not because I am agaist them, but because I usually forget what my goal was to begin with. Even if I write it down, I forget where or what it was for. So this year I have decieded to share my goals with all of you and to keep track of what they are and when I hit them and any background info on them. I will keep you posted throughout the year as to how they are coming and any new news.
So here is my TOP 10 list....in no particular order.
1. Build up business (ok so this is like everyone else's goal too if you own your own business, but it is a goal)
2. I would like to take some business classes, to learn more about marketing and the actual business side of owning and running a business
3. Get more customers/clients (since I have 2 seperate businesses, my ETSY Store and my freelance and can get the word out twice as much, just by letting one know about the other)
4. Get new products designed and listed (I would love to set up an system for keeping everything in order, but that is another goal)
5. Get organized (I think that is self explanitory)
6. Get to more Art and Craft shows this year (It's all about getting your name out there)
7. Get more involved in the community (Another great way to get your name out there and you feel great helping out others!)
8. Get in more stores (I have product in 2 stores right now! But would love to get into more)
9. Make money and be a contributor to my family's expences
10. Make enough moeny that we can afford to buy my new MacBook Pro!
So what are your goals this year. What do you hope to accomplish? Please share...maybe we can help each other reach some of our goals!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Did get what you want?
It's so time consuming to drop hints in the month before the holidays as to what you want and instead of being rewarded by all your hard work, you still didn't get what you wanted! Well instead of waiting for someone else to act on your behave go ahead and reward yourself for all that hard work.
If you have not already checked out my shop, now's a great time to do that. I will have new items arriving daily throughout the month of January and if that's not enough I will be taking custom orders on just about everything.
Still not sure, I will be listing things from my store on EBAY as well to gain a little more exposure and to help out my customers as well. All things I list on EBAY will start well below the price listed in my ETSY store. The first items are on there now...The Faith, Hope and Love Mirrors. These are my best seller and most loved. Check out the auction now...start bidding and enjoy them for the New Year!
If you have not already checked out my shop, now's a great time to do that. I will have new items arriving daily throughout the month of January and if that's not enough I will be taking custom orders on just about everything.
Still not sure, I will be listing things from my store on EBAY as well to gain a little more exposure and to help out my customers as well. All things I list on EBAY will start well below the price listed in my ETSY store. The first items are on there now...The Faith, Hope and Love Mirrors. These are my best seller and most loved. Check out the auction now...start bidding and enjoy them for the New Year!
Sunday, December 30, 2007
End of Year Sale
All Holiday Items are at least 50% off until Jan. 10, at which time they will no longer be available.
My Mirror sets are $25 until Jan 15 at which time they will be $40 due to the rising cost of materials. I have several available so if you are interested in more than one set please convo me.
Hope, Joy and Peace Mirrors
Faith, Hope and Love Mirrors
All custom orders are 10% off until Jan 15 as well. When you convo me for details on your order please reference code NEWYEAR and I will make the adjustment!
Hope everyone has a happy new year!
My Mirror sets are $25 until Jan 15 at which time they will be $40 due to the rising cost of materials. I have several available so if you are interested in more than one set please convo me.
Hope, Joy and Peace Mirrors
Faith, Hope and Love Mirrors
All custom orders are 10% off until Jan 15 as well. When you convo me for details on your order please reference code NEWYEAR and I will make the adjustment!
Hope everyone has a happy new year!
Monday, November 5, 2007
First Monday Sale
Hello to all this fine Monday Morning
I am offering 10% off in my store today! Plus free gift wrapping
This includes custom orders (not included are the accordion books)
Happy shopping!
TP Design
I am offering 10% off in my store today! Plus free gift wrapping
This includes custom orders (not included are the accordion books)
Happy shopping!
TP Design
Friday, October 26, 2007
Etsymom's Say Thanks to a SAHM of 6
For those of you apart of Etsymoms you should already know about the promo basket that we are putting together for Dawn, a mother of 6 and author of the blog Because I Said So. If you are not in the group let me fill you in. Dawn has begun to receive national attention from this blog containing crazy stories about her life and the battles of being a mom to 6 kids. She first gained recognition from an Ebay auction that she listed for a pack of Pokemon cards that her kids slipped into her basket at Walmart. Nothing special about the cards other than the hilarious story that accompanied it. The cards sold for over $100. And her fame has gone on from there. Newspapers from all over the country as well as national tv stations, like ABC, have picked up on the story and are telling the world about it.
Dawn, much like the rest of us stay at home moms, was looking for a way to get some extra income for her family when a friend suggested blogging. Well it paid off she announced recently on her blog that she just signed a book deal and Hollywood is calling for her to write a sitcom based on her life's misadventures.
Anyways one of the Etsymom members, crochetmaggie, came up with a great idea to send her a promo basket, filled with goodies from the Etsymoms. As a thank you for making us laugh and to remember to laugh at ourselves every once in a while too.
Now when I first took this on I thought great idea, but what are the chances that we will get this to her let alone get some kind of response back. Well I took a chance and emailed her, letting her know about Etsymoms and the basket that we wanted to send to her. I also let her know that I was going to be in town for Thanksgiving (yes I am originally from Chicago) and was wondering if I could meet with her then to deliver the goodies. Amazingly enough she emailed me back and said she was flattered and would loved to meet with me! Yeah, she shoots, she scores! The crowd goes wild! Ok, the Etsymoms go wild!
Oh wait, I didn't get to the good part yet. Not only did she want to meet with me but she asked if I, and the Etsymoms, would be interested in having our products being reviewed on her blog! Now we can do the happy dance! Yes we will be reviewed on her blog if we can work out the details, but I don't think it will be to hard to work it out.
I am so excited about this opportunity for me and my friends in the Etsymoms group. Wish us good luck on this adventure and pray that this brings a little exposure to us. I know we could all use a little extra help!
If you would like to know more about the project please email me or wait for the updates that I will be posting here and on the Etsymom Blog.
Dawn, much like the rest of us stay at home moms, was looking for a way to get some extra income for her family when a friend suggested blogging. Well it paid off she announced recently on her blog that she just signed a book deal and Hollywood is calling for her to write a sitcom based on her life's misadventures.
Anyways one of the Etsymom members, crochetmaggie, came up with a great idea to send her a promo basket, filled with goodies from the Etsymoms. As a thank you for making us laugh and to remember to laugh at ourselves every once in a while too.
Now when I first took this on I thought great idea, but what are the chances that we will get this to her let alone get some kind of response back. Well I took a chance and emailed her, letting her know about Etsymoms and the basket that we wanted to send to her. I also let her know that I was going to be in town for Thanksgiving (yes I am originally from Chicago) and was wondering if I could meet with her then to deliver the goodies. Amazingly enough she emailed me back and said she was flattered and would loved to meet with me! Yeah, she shoots, she scores! The crowd goes wild! Ok, the Etsymoms go wild!
Oh wait, I didn't get to the good part yet. Not only did she want to meet with me but she asked if I, and the Etsymoms, would be interested in having our products being reviewed on her blog! Now we can do the happy dance! Yes we will be reviewed on her blog if we can work out the details, but I don't think it will be to hard to work it out.
I am so excited about this opportunity for me and my friends in the Etsymoms group. Wish us good luck on this adventure and pray that this brings a little exposure to us. I know we could all use a little extra help!
If you would like to know more about the project please email me or wait for the updates that I will be posting here and on the Etsymom Blog.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
My First Craft Fair
Well I survived my first craft fair this past weekend! I was beat tired after it, but I learned a lot of do's and don'ts from it. While the fair itself was a bust, it was a good stepping stool for my next ones.
This craft fair, I was told had about 900 people at it last year...this year was closer to 200! And that included the vendors! I was so disappointed, but I did make some sales, some good contacts for future sales (I hope) and manage to make a profit after the booth fees and various other materials I needed to buy to create my booth. So all and all I guess it wasn't too bad. Let me give you the run down of what happened.
First, they let us set up the night before the show started. Thank Goodness! With the 2 hours they gave us the night before and the 2 hours the day of we just barely finished setting up in time for the show to start...of course most of this is because my friend and I are perfectionists and we hate things that are just thrown together. I shared the booth with a friend of mine that makes amazing fold out greeting cards with scriptures and quotes. The two of us work really well together.
Out of all the booths we probably had some of the most unique items there. Most of the booths were pretty general items that you expect to see nothing really unique. Of course this is probably why we did so well, compared to everyone else. I think I was more disappointed in that then the turn out. I was really hoping to see some unique gifts that I could get for my family or to get ideas from. But not really.
Now I don't want to make you think that this craft fair was a total waste, in fact just the opposite. I am actually grateful that the turnout was terrible, it gave me a chance to think about what to do better next time. So here are some things that I came up with to think about when getting ready for your next craft fair.
First, be prepared. Do an inventory checklist, know what you have and how much. If someone wants to buy several items, know how many you have for them. Keep your inventory together and categorized. If you keep things that are similar together it makes it easier for loading and unloading, not to mention if you have extras that are not out for the customer to see you will be able to find it quickly. Label everything, know what's in what bins for easy access and quick recovery. Remember time is money so the more time you waste trying to find something under the table the more sales you will lose, people don't want to wait around for something. Most people at craft fairs buy on impulse. They are not looking for something specific, just something unique. Also know your venue. Know what other vendors are around, know where the bathrooms are, the water fountains and the food. People will come back to you to ask questions but as they do, something might catch their eye and presto a sale. Plus it makes you look more professional and knowledgeable.
Also know your products! This is pretty self explanatory and I thought pretty straight forward, but you would be surprised at how many people I talked to that had to look up a price or look to someone else on how something worked. Why? If you have someone helping you out, make sure that they know your items as well as you do. You look very unprofessional when you can't answer a question about your own work! If you offer different colors, papers, sizes; know all this and let the customer know if they are not all out. They can't read your mind, they don't know that your underwater basket weaving comes in 3 sizes if they are not all out or you didn't tell them.
Think like the customer! Walk around your booth what jumps out at you? What doesn't? Does everything make sense? What questions would you have? Price, color, custom orders or do you take CC? All things that they are going to want to know so how are you going to let them know?
Offer CC sales! If you are not sure how to do this go through ProPay. They seem to be the easiest and cheapest way to offer them, plus you can get a mastercard linked to your account so you don't have to worry about transferring money back and forth between accounts! More than half of my sales came because I offered this, plus I made connections with other vendors. So many of them didn't know how to go about offering CC and they came and asked me how I did it, 1 of them bought something from me and 4 took my card for the future.
Next look at your booth set up. When you look at your booth is everything at the same level? Or did you build it up so things have a sense of hierarchy? This was a huge thing I noticed at the fair. There were several booths that just laid things out on their tables, no levels, and no real sense of order either. There are several things that you can do to "add levels" to your table display. First, look at what you have to display. What might get lost or what do you want to show off most? Use empty shoe boxes, paint cans (small and large), plastic bags/newspapers or anything else that will give height to your table. Then use a table cloth to cover them up and bunch it around the items, don't make it form fitting (you don't want to give away your secret). Once you have things were you think they need to be start adding your items, your boxes and paint cans may need to move slightly in order to fit the actually items but at least you have a starting point. Once it is all set, Ta Da you have hierarchy! And a table that will attract attention from passersby.
Make friends with the vendors around you. More than likely if they are from that area they have friends that will be dropping by to say hi and if that is the case, they will probably point out something in your booth that they fell in love with and can't live without. I had 2 sales because of this. Not that that sounds like a whole lot but I only had 7 sales total...I recommend going around and introducing yourself to as many vendors as possible actually, this way if they have a break during the day they might come over and say hi and look at what you have plus they can send people your way if they find out you are selling something close to what that person is looking for. Word of mouth is a great tool at craft fairs! One of the booths that the craft fair this weekend had cake mixes that you make in a coffee mug complete with frosting! A great invention, anyways she sold out of almost everything because of word of mouth. All the vendors were talking about what a great idea it was, especially for teacher and secret Santa gifts where you don't have a lot of money to spend. Well one vendors spoke up and said she was starting to run out and that started a frenzy of buyers. Buy the end of the day I think she only had 3-4 types left out of the 14-16 that she was offering. Remember as you are walking around too to be handing out business cards, even if they don't get around to seeing you during the day they may take a look at your sight later.
Another thing to consider is participating in a silent auction, if it is offered. Not only does this get you exposure but sales. I had 3 sales because people were bidding on my Faith, Hope and Love Mirrors and didn't win. Plus the lady who won took my business card to tell others about my store!
One last thing, enjoy yourself. Engage in small talk step outside of your comfort zone. People are more willing to linger if you get them talking about a subject they enjoy talking about. not sure how to start it...look at what they are wearing, complement them on the jewelry, hat or top. Ask where they got it or if their is a story behind it. If they are wearing a sports team talk about that. Ask what or for who they are looking for gifts, sounds dumb but it works every time.
Follow these simple guidelines and you will do great and have a great time with less stress.
This craft fair, I was told had about 900 people at it last year...this year was closer to 200! And that included the vendors! I was so disappointed, but I did make some sales, some good contacts for future sales (I hope) and manage to make a profit after the booth fees and various other materials I needed to buy to create my booth. So all and all I guess it wasn't too bad. Let me give you the run down of what happened.
First, they let us set up the night before the show started. Thank Goodness! With the 2 hours they gave us the night before and the 2 hours the day of we just barely finished setting up in time for the show to start...of course most of this is because my friend and I are perfectionists and we hate things that are just thrown together. I shared the booth with a friend of mine that makes amazing fold out greeting cards with scriptures and quotes. The two of us work really well together.
Out of all the booths we probably had some of the most unique items there. Most of the booths were pretty general items that you expect to see nothing really unique. Of course this is probably why we did so well, compared to everyone else. I think I was more disappointed in that then the turn out. I was really hoping to see some unique gifts that I could get for my family or to get ideas from. But not really.
Now I don't want to make you think that this craft fair was a total waste, in fact just the opposite. I am actually grateful that the turnout was terrible, it gave me a chance to think about what to do better next time. So here are some things that I came up with to think about when getting ready for your next craft fair.
First, be prepared. Do an inventory checklist, know what you have and how much. If someone wants to buy several items, know how many you have for them. Keep your inventory together and categorized. If you keep things that are similar together it makes it easier for loading and unloading, not to mention if you have extras that are not out for the customer to see you will be able to find it quickly. Label everything, know what's in what bins for easy access and quick recovery. Remember time is money so the more time you waste trying to find something under the table the more sales you will lose, people don't want to wait around for something. Most people at craft fairs buy on impulse. They are not looking for something specific, just something unique. Also know your venue. Know what other vendors are around, know where the bathrooms are, the water fountains and the food. People will come back to you to ask questions but as they do, something might catch their eye and presto a sale. Plus it makes you look more professional and knowledgeable.
Also know your products! This is pretty self explanatory and I thought pretty straight forward, but you would be surprised at how many people I talked to that had to look up a price or look to someone else on how something worked. Why? If you have someone helping you out, make sure that they know your items as well as you do. You look very unprofessional when you can't answer a question about your own work! If you offer different colors, papers, sizes; know all this and let the customer know if they are not all out. They can't read your mind, they don't know that your underwater basket weaving comes in 3 sizes if they are not all out or you didn't tell them.
Think like the customer! Walk around your booth what jumps out at you? What doesn't? Does everything make sense? What questions would you have? Price, color, custom orders or do you take CC? All things that they are going to want to know so how are you going to let them know?
Offer CC sales! If you are not sure how to do this go through ProPay. They seem to be the easiest and cheapest way to offer them, plus you can get a mastercard linked to your account so you don't have to worry about transferring money back and forth between accounts! More than half of my sales came because I offered this, plus I made connections with other vendors. So many of them didn't know how to go about offering CC and they came and asked me how I did it, 1 of them bought something from me and 4 took my card for the future.
Next look at your booth set up. When you look at your booth is everything at the same level? Or did you build it up so things have a sense of hierarchy? This was a huge thing I noticed at the fair. There were several booths that just laid things out on their tables, no levels, and no real sense of order either. There are several things that you can do to "add levels" to your table display. First, look at what you have to display. What might get lost or what do you want to show off most? Use empty shoe boxes, paint cans (small and large), plastic bags/newspapers or anything else that will give height to your table. Then use a table cloth to cover them up and bunch it around the items, don't make it form fitting (you don't want to give away your secret). Once you have things were you think they need to be start adding your items, your boxes and paint cans may need to move slightly in order to fit the actually items but at least you have a starting point. Once it is all set, Ta Da you have hierarchy! And a table that will attract attention from passersby.
Make friends with the vendors around you. More than likely if they are from that area they have friends that will be dropping by to say hi and if that is the case, they will probably point out something in your booth that they fell in love with and can't live without. I had 2 sales because of this. Not that that sounds like a whole lot but I only had 7 sales total...I recommend going around and introducing yourself to as many vendors as possible actually, this way if they have a break during the day they might come over and say hi and look at what you have plus they can send people your way if they find out you are selling something close to what that person is looking for. Word of mouth is a great tool at craft fairs! One of the booths that the craft fair this weekend had cake mixes that you make in a coffee mug complete with frosting! A great invention, anyways she sold out of almost everything because of word of mouth. All the vendors were talking about what a great idea it was, especially for teacher and secret Santa gifts where you don't have a lot of money to spend. Well one vendors spoke up and said she was starting to run out and that started a frenzy of buyers. Buy the end of the day I think she only had 3-4 types left out of the 14-16 that she was offering. Remember as you are walking around too to be handing out business cards, even if they don't get around to seeing you during the day they may take a look at your sight later.
Another thing to consider is participating in a silent auction, if it is offered. Not only does this get you exposure but sales. I had 3 sales because people were bidding on my Faith, Hope and Love Mirrors and didn't win. Plus the lady who won took my business card to tell others about my store!
One last thing, enjoy yourself. Engage in small talk step outside of your comfort zone. People are more willing to linger if you get them talking about a subject they enjoy talking about. not sure how to start it...look at what they are wearing, complement them on the jewelry, hat or top. Ask where they got it or if their is a story behind it. If they are wearing a sports team talk about that. Ask what or for who they are looking for gifts, sounds dumb but it works every time.
Follow these simple guidelines and you will do great and have a great time with less stress.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Another New Venture
I have been asked to write a branding/marketing post on the EtsyMom Blog once a week. I am so excited to be doing this. EtsyMoms are a great group of moms who own shops on Etsy and a lot of them have become great friends of mine. I am hoping this new outlet helps get the word out about EtsyMoms and Etsy itself, one of the greatest sites for finding handmade gifts and with the holidays coming up there is no better place to shop. Check out both sites and share the love.
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