More Adventures in Business Owning

I would have assumed that this holiday season would be less stressful for me than years past.  After all, I only work outside the home at a part-time job (as opposed to full-time), and I'm back living in my home state.  Unfortunately, I am MORE stressed this year than in years past - which is how I managed to go three weeks between blog posts.  Between shopping, working, improving the shop, getting ready to wholesale, craft shows, and prepping for the arrival of my in-laws - I'm surprised I've found free time at all!  Are the rest of you feeling like you're pulled in too many directions this holiday season?  *takes deep breath*

I did want to report back on my 2nd craft show from last weekend.  I took everything I learned at the first show into consideration, and made several changes to my display's appearance.  I think it actually went quite well, and I've got a few new tweaks planned for next time.

My main goal was to get shoppers to realize that PinkyCrafts is more than scrapbooking. 



Loving the new banner!

First, I changed my banner (thanks to Vistaprint's wonderful email deals) to say "Party Accessories & Scrapbooking", as opposed to "Scrapbooking & Party Supplies", and added my tagline.  I love how it turned out!  I wasn't able to put my banner on the wall behind my booth, where it would get seen the most, but I think it still made an impact on shoppers. 

I also learned something that may have been obvious to others: always bring table cloths!  My first show provided them, and I didn't even think about bringing my own to this one until the last minute.  I grabbed what I could find, but I would have liked to use something prettier!

I think it turned out perfect.

Second, I revamped my drink glass tag display.  I added rustic-looking crates to the middle of the display to hold each glass, attached only one style tag to each glass (to avoid confusion - although it still existed, more later)!, and added tinsel and a battery-powered votive candle to draw the eye to the display.  I also made new signs for each item - and I made the sign for the drink glass tags the largest one.  I hoped this would make it very easy for folks to tell what I was selling.


My mom - the best booth helper ever!

 I also worked to organize my display into three separate sections, with the scrapbook section first, followed by the party accessories and drink tags, and finishing up with the framed pages section.  Shoppers will naturally glance at a table from right to left, so I wanted to give their eyes something non-scrapbooking to see right after they noticed the scrapbooks, so they realized I was more than just that before they walked away.

So with all the changes, what was the verdict?  It worked.  I didn't hear one shopper say "Oh scrapbooking.....I have all the stuff to do that" and walk away like the first show.  People actually stopped and looked. The drink glass tags display was very eye-catching, and several folks commented on how beautiful they thought it was.  I didn't do too badly in sales, but I could have done better.  I took a custom order and seriously discussed some large scrapbook orders with a few others. 



Creative business card display!

 Its worth noting that (come to find out), the local newspaper had printed the wrong times for the second day of the show.  It printed that the show ran 5:00-8:30pm on Friday and Saturday; the show actually ran from 5:00-8:30 on Friday and 9:00-4:00 on Saturday. Traffic was slow on Saturday, but the signs out front still drew some folks in, and the school's parents already knew the real hours. I had several folks tell me they stopped by Saturday evening, only to find the show closed.  BUMMER!  This makes it hard to judge my true success, but I still felt I did well.

Now that I fixed my first problem of showing shoppers that I was more than just scrapbooks, I came up with some new tweaks to try next time to solve a new problem - folks were still a little confused with my drink glass tags.  I had some customers ask if I was selling the wine glasses (despite the "Drink Glass Tags" sign right in front of them).  Others were confused because the tag packs weren't on the table - as they would have really cluttered it - and they didn't understand that the samples indicated which styles they could purchase in larger sets (again, despite the sign in front of them!).  On the second day, my mom suggested that I put some of the packs on the table, so it was clear what would actually be purchased.  I think this helped, as folks would rather be presented with the facts, rather than read them on the sign I posted.  Next time, I'm going to use large binder clips, and clip the tag packs down the side of the crate display.  This way folks can see what they're purchasing, and hopefully it will make more sense. 

All in all, it was another success.  I'm moving towards Crafter Utopia, and I'm hoping these latest tweaks will help get me there! 

Here's wishing everybody a very happy holiday season - may you take the time to enjoy the most wonderful time of the year with friends and family.  See you all in 2011! 

Hoppy Holidays from Pancakes the Bunny!

Business Tips

I read an article today from At A Glance Graphics, and wanted to pass it on. It talks about some of the realities of running an online business, such as learning not to depend on the internet to automatically provide sales and learning to create products that sell instead of creating products that you're in love with.

Check it out and let me know what you think! Do you have any additional tips you feel are important?

Click here for the article!

Time Management

This is something I'm thinking so much about: Time Management. I'm working just as hard at my stay-at-home job than I did at my former "real job". I lived by my Outlook calendar at my former job, and I'm realizing that its just as necessary now, even though I'm working for myself.

This is a great post I found via MommyTheMarketer (http://www.facebook.com/mommythemarketer), and its so relevant to my life right now! Here's the partial article, you can find the entire post at http://etsymomentum.com/2010/06/16/time-management-101-for-creatives-amber-jordan/:

First off, congrats for being brave enough to open up this post. This signals that you do know the importance of time management and how it directly relates to your small business. I thought I would cover a couple of strategies and time savers that I do to keep my world in check. If you follow me regularly you know a little about my history and my previous “corporate life.” Not surprisingly, a lot of those skills cross over into the creative world and can help you out as well. So hang on..let’s go!

You could say I am a true cross between left/right brain. I’ve always landed straight down the middle on any test of this kind. I can dabble in technology and order or swing the other way into pure creative bliss. I’m a rare creative that can also manage a well tended desk. Yes, it can exist. However, being organized comes down to more than having a clean desk it starts with your approach, goals and tools.


1. Calendar. There are plenty of options when it comes to keeping a calendar, you can have an online one such as google, microsoft office or ical. You could also go old school with a day-planner or white board. Personally, I keep (1) very simple weekly/monthly planner on my desk and take it with me everywhere I go. Having too many calendars..in too many places tends to lead to disaster. If I am sitting at my daughter’s school in a meeting, my white board isn’t exactly handy. Given our track record on flushing phones, I’m not going to be signing up for a blackberry plan anytime soon. I am in panic mode at the moment because I realized last week that my planner ends in Sept. I think the publishing companies are plotting against us and forcing us to buy the next year’s calendar 4 months earlier. Anyway, besides this little blip I would be lost without this coffee stained and well scribbled on time saver. I plan everything. I even write in reminder notes to email follow-up questions to past clients and to check in on them. Today’s note: buy new calendar that still believes in Oct-Dec.

Now, just owning a calendar doesn’t quite classify you as being organized (yet). The key to the calendar is to really work it. You only have so many hours a day, week and month. How do you want to spend your time? How do you need to spend your time for your business to survive and grow? I start by writing out what I need to get done that week. I put notes next to each task for an estimate on how long each task will take. Example: New Blog Post Etsy Momentum-3 hours.

2.Schedules. Once my “list” is complete I open up the weekly section and see what day/times are open for each task. Sometimes, I have to break up tasks between days. My rule is to schedule no more than (2) business related tasks a day. Now, that may seem like a very small number but keep in mind that I know approximately how long each of those tasks will take me. If I planned accordingly, I will get them completed on time and on schedule. If I get them done sooner..then bonus! I have free time to start on the next day’s goals. For example, I know that on Wed. Evenings we have choir practice..I will have zero computer time after 5pm that day. So on Tuesdays I plan in “Extra” time to get caught up on emails or to schedule more articles to go out for the week. You have to know your work load and how to balance it. Your customers are relying on you for timely delivery and top-notch customer service. If you have “made to order” items..know exactly how long that process takes. Your shipping page lists 24-48 hours before your product ships. Is that truly accurate? Is that 24 hours of scrambling like a crazy person to create said product and running into the post office in a full sweat to catch the last shipment of the day?

One of the hardest things for a small business owner to establish is accurate lead-times. If you are already swamped, please, please, put your shop on vacation mode and get caught up on your work. If your lead-times are not coming through as originally promised, contact that customer right away and notify them of the delay. No one likes to wait in line. Customers rarely like to hear that they are the last in line for a 3 week wait. Don’t put that kind of stress on yourself, and don’t put your customer in that position. Turning away orders may sound crazy, but by referring clients to someone else..they might even respect you more. If they are willing to wait, then fantastic but be sure to email them often and update them on your progress. Never assume that they are ok with only one email telling them you got the order.

3. Reflect. Once you get into the habit of using your calendar and schedules daily..go back through at week’s end and reflect on what you planned. Did it work? Were your time estimates accurate? Did you remember to add in Commute time? Family Time? Me Time? Workout Time? Now, I can read your mind. Most of you super creatives are glaring at me through your computer screen. “You CAN’T schedule creativity.” Well, my answer for you..is YES you can. Maybe perfectly boxed out 2-4 hours spots is just not your thing. Fine, then only schedule all your “non-business” tasks. Dinner with the family-6pm-7:3o pot roast/green beans, Lunch date with Mom-11:30-12:45 La Madeline, Order Birthday Card for Aunt Sue 10am. Leave open space and write in FREE. So there you go, you have freedom to roam, freedom to scribble outside the lines and freedom to create. Point is, you know where that time is going. If you know you need 6 hours of studio space then plan it. Our brains can only process so much information. If you are relying on sticky notes and your memory to get through the week..I’m sorry, but at some point that glue starts to un-stick and you will be left with lots of colored little squares flying around your office. Details will get missed and you may find yourself burned out, overwhelmed and simply out of steam. That calendar doesn’t sound so bad now does it?

Again, the entire article can be found here: http://etsymomentum.com/2010/06/16/time-management-101-for-creatives-amber-jordan/.