The Business of Being in Business

Well readers, it's been over a month since I've opened up Simply Wired Custom Jewelry on Etsy, and I have details to report. Some of it good, some of it so-so, but let it serve as a guide for you if you decide to start this endeavor. This won't be ALL boring biz stuff, but it is important for new sellers to be aware of. What I will try to do over the next few days (weeks?) is provide information related to tips, practices, resources, web sites, etc. that are available to you. Some of them will be my own, and some of them will be from others.

Please keep in mind that I do not consider myself an expert at this point, nor do I consider myself to be a "successful" Etsy seller as of yet. Also keep in mind that some of you may be impressed with where I am a month after beginning, and some of you may not. That's OK--we all measure success in different ways. However you want to measure yours, let the information posted here help you along your path in some way or another.

Goals

First let's do a review of the goals that I posted for myself a little while ago. The reason I listed these on my site was because I was following Christina's Perdue's Blog, where she provides insightful articles and tips for improving your shop. I credit Christina's blog with starting to set things in motion for myself. Following along and writing about my shop, even before it was open, forced me to move forward and start actually thinking about things like "goals" and "marketing" and "branding." If you haven't been there yet, regardless of whether you have started your shop or not, you should check it out.

OK, enough of my rambling. Here is what I listed way back in early October (the 7th, to be exact), along with notes related to status:

October

• Open Etsy shop: Simply Wired Custom Jewelry officially opened on October 21
• List at least one new item per day (weekdays) after opening until inventory runs out: I think I did this, but it was hard to tell because I had some sales in there. Regardless, I did list a new item each day (except Saturdays). Now, I try to list a new item each day plus renew 1-2 items each day.
• Create new items while listing so that number of items in my shop is approximately 30 (may stretch to November): This definitely stretched to November! And, not to mention, when I listed this I was assuming that I wouldn't have any sales. At this point, I've had 15 of them, and I currently have 16 items for sale. So, add them together, and what do you get? 31! So, as far as I'm concerned, I met this goal.
• Update blog every day: I've done a fairly good job at this; however, I think every 2-3 days may be more realistic for me. I was finding that I was spending too much time blogging and not enough time crafting, which should obviously not be the case.
• Sell at least one item before the end of the month: Well, I didn't make a sale before the end of October, but I did have a sale within 30 days--seven of them, to be exact. So, I consider this goal being met as well.

Long-term (within one year): I'm not going to provide an update on status yet, as these were intended to be far beyond 30 days. If, however, you see something that you like, feel free to use these goals with adaptations for your own needs:

• If sales continue to be a success, purchase a Simply Wired Custom Jewelry domain name
• Begin metalsmithing techniques, and take a class if one is available near me
• Submit my work in a jewelry contest
• Evaluate success and determine if Simply Wired Custom Jewelry can become a significant portion of my income; if so, begin business plan for brick and mortar store (may extend beyond one year)

So, back to my October goals. How did I get to where I am right now? Much, much work my readers. And much more to come. Marketing and promotions is where it's at, and you have to be ready to put your time into it. Below is a list of activities that I've completed, are currently in progress, or are on my "To Do" list. The items displayed are what I'll be presenting in my blog entries in the future. If you see one that interests you and would like to see it presented sooner than later, do leave a comment and I'll be happy to post it quickly (also comment if you'd like to see something added; I'll write about it if I feel I can provide blog-worthy input):

• Researching
• Perfecting photos
• Participating in Forums
• Making the "Brand"
• Developing business cards
• Selecting promotional materials
• Determining packaging approach
• Joining social networking groups: Flickr, MySpace (to do), Ning (Indiepublic, Skwiggler, EtsyLove [to do]), Talent Database
• Blogging/blog directories (i.e., Technorati)
• Joining Street Teams
• Advertising (Project Wonderful, paid ads)
• Volunteering/Networking

...and that's just a start. There is plenty more, but it's 9:30 and I still have to edit some photos for posting. Stay tuned for updates on each of these and more...

Many Improvements

Lots of work done over the weekend! I am on track with Christina Perdue's Blog, up to Day 8, I opened up shop yesterday, and yeah! I'm starting to get really excited about this whole shop thang.

Anyway, Steps 5 through 8 are going to be easy…because Step 5: Improve your Banner and Avatar is already finished, and Step 6: Update your Descriptions is going to be CAKE because I only have one item (Item #2 will be added in a few hours)! Plus, Step 7 is the other half of my items, which are yet to be listed, so I’ll just have to be sure to follow my own standard format when listing.

So, that brings me to Step 8: Update Your Message to Buyers. This is important for me because I haven’t really added anything to my message except “Thanks for your purchase!”, as I’m not really sure what this message is supposed to entail. So, my new one will be added as follows:

Thank you for your purchase from Simply Wired Custom Jewelry! Your item(s) will be sent to you within two-three days after your payment clears. All jewelry is shipped via USPS First Class Mail with Delivery Confirmation (unless shipped internationally), and will arrive in a lovely gift box perfect for gift giving (to yourself or to others!).

To check the status of your order, go to Your Etsy : Purchases and refer to the “status (from seller)” column.

Finally, I updated my business card, which has taken me forever to find the right cards for my printer! I finally found them…the Avery 8869s…which allow you to print to the edge (very, very important for my graphic design style) and only prints out eight cards per sheet. I’m pretty pleased with the final result; I printed out a set and the edges were very, very clean. At any rate, here’s the image I’m using for the card:

Next, I need to work on the other side, which will probably include a discount code for new customers who acquire my cards at craft fairs (thanks to all of those lovely Etsy sellers who offer to distribute these freebies!). I’d really like to include a set of earrings with each card, but my poor hands won’t work that fast.

Last but not least, I updated my blog banner! I'm quite pleased. Stay tuned, in a few hours I'll be posting a new item, plus posting tomorrow's item here.

Enjoy!

Busy Weekend

Good grief, things have been crazy. As I mentioned in a previous post, life just sometimes takes over. I did get a few components done on my Talking in Circles in necklace; however, I was working on a coiled jump ring this evening and I got one right, but the other one decided to give me grief. As a result, the tools were put away. I hate when that happens. It's almost like having to start over, with no direction on where to go next.

So this week I think I'll be at a point where I'll have some items to add to my shop. I'll have about three necklaces and several pairs of earrings, which will enable me to post consistently for approximately two weeks. In preparation for my store opening, there are a ton of other things to do, such as photograph my items, write their descriptions, figure out pricing, etc. It's a ton of work! At the same time, lots of shop information needs to be completed. Luckily, Christina Perdue's blog is helping a bunch of folks out, including me. She has this excellent plan where she's going to spend the next 30 days giving us all tips on how to update our shops. While she provides the tips, she's going to be doing the same thing.

To get me started writing and documenting what I'm going to do with Simply Wired Custom Jewelry , I'm going to post my information here, and then I'll move it over to the shop when I'm ready.

Alrighty...here goes her #1 item: Set goals both monthly and long term for your shop and business.

Mine are as follows:

October

1. Open Etsy shop
2. List at least one new item per day (weekdays) after opening until inventory runs out
3. Create new items while listing so that number of items in my shop is approximately 30 (may stretch to November)
4. Update blog every day
5. Sell at least one item before the end of the month

Long-term (within one year)

1. If sales continue to be a success, purchase a Simply Wired Custom Jewelry domain name
2. Begin metalsmithing techniques, and take a class if one is available near me
3. Submit my work in a jewelry contest
4. Evaluate success and determine if Simply Wired Custom Jewelry can become a significant portion of my income; if so, begin business plan for brick and mortar store (may extend beyond one year)

Nighty night, folks. I promise I'll also include some other fun stuff mixed in with "the biz" posts, including pics of pets, corners of my home, etc.

--Chelsea