Business Tips - Packaging and Tagging

I know, I'm sorry. I just don't give you enough tips for you business anymore. After all, who wants to hear about the crazy lady next door ripping open her garbage and throwing it all over the yard, or see pictures of the tree that fell on our house. You want to see better ways to sell your wares, right?

I had to share this one, because I'm very proud of the idea. I've been wanting to wholesale, because I really hate craft shows, but online just doesn't get the traffic I need. If only I could sell what I make at the winter holidays, all year round. But to be able to wholesale, you have to still have a profit with a hefty discount, and I didn't have many items that could support that.

Recently I started making bow ties. They're very popular and material cost is decent. Time needs to be worked on, but I see ways that making larger quantities can cut that down. My bow ties are easy to use and can be sold at a pretty decent price for bow ties.

The problem with wholesale is packaging. You can't just tissue wrap and tie with ribbon. Smaller items need to be carded or window boxed. I ordered clear pillow boxes, but those still need cards and the cost is bout $.25 each.

Then I thought that Post cards might do the trick. They're about the right size I could match them to my business cards, and have info and care instructions on the back.

Here's the front and back of the card. The bow will be on the front and the ribbon band will wrap across the middle of the back. I can reasonably make custom cards for the seller too. And I can whole punch the center for hanging.

There was a sale. So the cards cost about $.10 each and they are nicer than if I printed my own, which with ink, could cost more. Click to enlarge. I got them at overnightprints.com. Their quality is pretty good and I like their postcard size better than Vistaprint.

My daughter uses business card to print little tags, by having 3 tags printed across the vertical card. She cuts them in strips and uses a swift tagger to tag them on a seam of her clothing. Merchandise can't be returned to her if the tag has been removed. Another clever idea.

When you buy business cards on sale from vistaprint.com, they are incredibly reasonable. Much better than printing your own tags.

I'm also considering making fabric labels at spoonflower.com. Their quality is much better than my printer printed labels, and at $15 a yard, I can get a LOT of fabric tags made. I think I can use a spray fabric stay to keep them from fraying too.

Hope this gets your creative juices flowing. There's a lot of innovative ways you can use the resources available to you. Why you could make cute tags for your jewelry boxes from those little business card strips, couldn't you? Oh and of course you can make business cards or post cards too.

Biz Buzz - Should I Close My Shop?

Dr Who Bow Tie

I know I'm not the only one who has ever considered closing up their handmade shop. I hear it all the time. The depression when you go for a week or two without sales. Imagine what it's like for sellers who have been forced off of Etsy, and believe me, there are a lot of us now.

Helleborus Necklace

Actually there are a lot of sellers who do very well on other venues. Sometime you just have to find the right one. I do very well with my genre Aprons and Accessories on Artfire, but my felt flower jewelry sales is very slow. Although the sales have doubled from last year, they still are not enough to do much more than pay for materials and shop fees. If I was on Etsy, with the changes I've made, I'm sure I would do very well, but I'm not on Etsy, so I have to be more flexible.

Ao I've been considering closing my akaCINDERS Artfire shop. I might try another venue. Not sure yet. I've written more details about the where and why on my other blog in the post A Few Months Later. Maybe it's because I've had no sales in the shop this month, although I had a decent amount last month, but when you compare the $0 in sales on a slow month to the $800 in sales on a slow month in my other shops, what choice is there?

Putting it Together - Four Months - A Diary of Progress

Some of you may know that I've  been writing a blog called Four Months - A Diary of Progress for ... well ... almost 4 months now. I started to write it to keep me honest about making a plan to improve my income by either selling my jewelry wholesale or going back to product design. See, my daughter Poppy, is sick and tired of sharing her tiny house with me and wants me out of her living room, so I feel inclined to oblige.


My plan is to prepare my jewelry business for wholesale by:

• Increasing my product line
• Rethinking my current product and approach
• Calculating profit by spreadsheet to get a better handle on worth
• Making a Website geared toward wholesale clients including wedding
• Revising packaging for retail stores
• Creating a brochure for wholesale
• Making a Press Kit
• Reading Posts on improving my business
• Utilizing social networking 

I planed to work on my potential Product Design business by:

• Designing a Portfolio website for potential clients
• Improving my Design skills
• Adding new Open Designs to my portfolio
• Making updates and adding contacts on linkedin
• Contacting potential Clients

I've been working very hard on both plans and the idea was to decide between the two businesses. It turns out that my work has increased my business already, And I hadn't planned to put it all into action until May. I just added product to my jewelry, that has attracted attention, and I updated my linkedin account and that got clients calling.

In March my total income (not profit) increased by $800. $400 was for product design, and nearly $300 was for jewelry. I think I didn't sell that much in jewelry in 2011 altogether. I reinvested a lot of that profit into my plan. I sold more on Etsy, but since the move to Artfire, I haven't had that much traffic. Now with the boost from sales increases and the extra promotion (wanelo and pinterest) I rank higher and get much more traffic there.

I made daily posts on the blog, so there are a lot of posts, but there is a lot of ideas and links to where I got my ideas. If you are really interested in improving your business, you might get some great tips there.

Bizz Buzz - Handmadeology

There are so many great resources for handmade sellers online. Handmadeology I think is one of the best. OK so maybe they are linked with Etsy at the hip, and as many know, I have issues with Etsy, big issues. But as you also know, I love my Etsy friends. I actually even buy from Etsy sellers.

Back to Handmadeology. Even though the site is primarily designed to give information to Etsy sellers, most of the advice can be used by any handmade sellers, for that matter, artists and vintage sellers can benefit from many of the tips on Handmadeology.

Not only will you find selling tips, but craft tip, creative ideas, packaging, socializing and the list goes on. The information is all inclusive and resulting from guest bloggers who are able to get more exposure for their shops by posting.

Stop in and take a peek. If you have something to say, you might want to consider guest blogging yourself. Get your shop a little extra exposure too.

Bizz Buzz - Storm Kit

I had a really bad two week period of illness. It came and went, but mostly came. My daughter was very ill to, so when I was OK, I had to help her with her kids. It kind of put a damper on my new design progress. I was lucky to complete orders I had and I really hope they were OK. There were days I was sewing, that I could barely see.

I thought today, that I have an emergency "Storm Kit" for the house in the event we get stuck here, or the power is out for a few days.I have water stored, and fuel stoves to cook the abundant canned and boxed food with. We have enough to keep us going for probably a week if needed. I could figure a way to run the lake water through our sink filter if we need more. But what about my business?

I'm really not prepared for an emergency with my business. We do have the phone to go on the internet to talk to buyers, but that won't work to list new items. I can't even really drive my laptop to a hotspot without a car. The most important thing is to stay in communication with your shops or websites.

I like to have a supply of most things I am selling on hand so I don't have to run to the store. I'd love to have a backup plan for product. My daughter could make most of my sewn items for me, but she can't make my jewelry. There are some in stock already made. Maybe I should tag them in stock, so that she could deactivate the jewelry I didn't have in stock.

Another great idea, is to leave a few details about your business for your family. I mean, you could slip on a muddy rock and hit your head and not wake up for a few days. Your family could package the things you have ready to go. I guess a detailed note would be a good addition to the "Storm Kit"

Think about the possibility of disaster and what you can do to keep your business storm proof, Are you Ready?

Putting it Together - Organizing for the New Year

I'm spending a little of my time organizing my life. Don't know if I'll be successful, but I'm going to try. Every day I'm planning to do something to to reach certain goals. The problem is I have too many goals. Well not really, the goal is to make enough money to live independently. Cheaply, but independently.

I've given myself a deadline of 4 months to decide what I am going to do to earn that money, and I'm documenting it in a mini blog. Four Months - A Diary of Progress I'm really hoping it will be progress, not failure. Join me at least on occasion, to see how I'm doing. 


There are a few things that I'm doing to reach my possible goals. The first was to create my website akacinders.com. I told you about that one a previous Putting it Together post. I made a website for my daughter too. When I buy Weebly Pro, I can have up to 10 websites, and while I was putting together my product designs, I decided that I should make a site for those too. A password protected site that has files only a potential client can review, so they don't take my ideas. I can do that on Weebly too.


I also came across this great seminar by Scoutie Girl. Wish I could take it because I'm not very good at emailing to raise awareness. I am going to start emailing more and try to get people to sign up for my emails. I use MailChimp and I did send out ONE email this year. I have to work on that a bit. I will be having bits of advice and web specials if you want to sign up. It's right over there --->
Oh and Tara is a person to watch. She has some pretty great advice.


I also applied to be a featured artist and I will try to make spectacular pieces and try to find some magazines or contests I can enter them in. If anyone knows of a place I can put my work, please let me know, and when I hunt a few down, I will post them here for you. 


Hope you all have a great week and spend a little time organizing your craft and your life too.

Sharing - Keeping Busy Crafts

I've recently become obsessed with crochet. I made the cutest cupcake hat for Luna and learned a new stitch. I have loads of yarn sitting around an loads of time, so as long as I don't get distracted trying to watch videos and crochet, Luna will have lots of sweaters/booties this winter.

How about you? Have some time on your hands and want to try something new?

Try these cute DIY Rope Bracelets from honestlywtf.com - cute.

Ever want to try those Rolled Fabric Flowers? jonesdesigncompany.com has a tutorial for you. Gonna have to try these myself.

How about sprucing your house up a little. I love these Vintage Wall Art Shelves found at Better Homes and Gardens, sooo much. I think I'm hunting in the room next door for some.

Hope you have a wonderful New Year and I'll bring you more ideas to spruce up your home next week.

Sharing Time - Holiday Gifts 2011 Part 1

I was trying to get volunteers to post their craft tutorials here, but silly me, it's so busy this time of year. So to help you with your holiday making, I'm linking to some of my favorites.

Oversized Beach Tote - at MaidenJane blog This HUGE tote is not only perfect for the Beach, but also for hauling around those great piles of gifts and goodies for family Holiday parties. Don't want to make it yourself? You can buy it at MaidenJane.etsy.com

Jane also has more wonderful Tutorials, check out her blog.




OliveBites is another great Blog. Cat, of Polarity and Uncorked loves to upcycle. This tutorial is for a Upcycled Ruler Picture Frame. Too cute! Comb through her blog for more great ideas.

I found this Great Doily Lamp Shade tutorial on Pinterest I want to make it so bad.

How about a delicious Sugar Scrub? Find the recipe here. I love to make homemade Bath and Cosmetic gifts, they are so appreciated.

I absolutely Adore Adore Adore this Treat Stand, and plan to make one for us and for gifts this year.

Pinterest is a GREAT place to find tutorials. Search DIY, but please click through to see if they are really tutorials or pins of Handmade Seller items.

I'll bring you more next week too. Happy Crafting

Bizz Buzz - Oh My Handmade Goodness

I have so many things on my plate right now I can Hardly find which Fork or Spoon to eat with and don't we eat the peas with the Butter knife? (the butter helps keep the peas on, yes?)

I love to share tips with you, but sometimes I just don't have the time to share my advice, so I wanted to share with you a truly wonderful site, if you haven't already started reading it. Sellers please subscribe to the Oh My Handmade Goodness daily emails, you will not be sorry.

The Blog is the work of a loving and sharing team and it is just full of wonderful ideas to make your business more successful. Please stop by and give it a look today.

Biz Buzz - Fond Farewell and Marketing Tips?

I wanted to dedicate this Bizz Buzz to saying a fond farewell to the Clown that Ran Etsy But You can read about it at the Inc article or the Great Farewell that Etsy Bitch wrote HERE

I would also like to note that with what has happened in Norway, everything we do here seems so small. So many children lost at the hands of a Madman.

I decided instead, to write about something that came to mind after a few events this week. It has to do with your audience. Who are you selling to? I was trying to come up with search terms for my jewelry. Because it was unique, I wanted to come up with some terms that the average person would use to search. I was thinking about my product and I was thinking of all the other handmade product. I'm not including vintage here, because they have a greater chance of people searching for their items than handmade sellers do.

I thought about all the lovely handmade products and artwork, I and I thought about all the nice things that people had said about my flowers. I thought about how we are pushed by ourselves and our sites to create something so unique that it stands out against our competition. And I thought that if it is so unique, how will people find it. If you designed handkerchiefs for Elephants, that would be unique. Maybe useful (they would have to be pretty big) But who would search for it.

It popped into my head, that the people who are looking at my work, or your lovely work, are mostly artists, or people involved with or admirers of the arts. Is that my target audience? Wouldn't it be nice if the average person, or at least a percentage of the overall population would like my work?

I pass QVC sometimes and see things that are not as lovely as our handmade craft, but mass produced, sell by the thousands. I used to work for a company that sold to QVC and it was not our usual lovely inventory. But that's another story.

And then there was something that Poppy said this week. She was listing a biker T-shirt that had previously sold for $250, and she was debating weather to list it auction, or buy it now on eBay. She was discussing how much to list it for and I said was it too much in this economy. She said people with money have money and they don't really care, they buy what they want. She's right you know. We struggle to sell our beautifully hand crafted wares for under minimum wage and someone pays $1800 for a Lego Millennium Falcon still in the box. (I'd rather have it built for that price).

We work our tails off at the craft we love and yet we could take a $1 t-shirt we found a the thrift store and turn a $200 plus profit on it.

My point isn't despair. It is, how the heck do we get the guy spending $250 on a T-shirt to spend a few bucks on our handmade? How do we inspire the "want monster" (I hate that term and wish it would go away and die forever) to absolutely love handmade. What we really need is not a clown but a Marketing Genius to help us out. Barry Manilow will you write us a handmade product jingle for the new millennium? There is more to marketing than just good SEO. SEO does not inspire desire. How about "I'm wearing Handmade Today" "I just hung Handmade on my walls, did you?" "I'm cooking in handmade."

Putting it Together - Spool Knitting

Most of you must know what this is. We used to make these out of wooden spools and 4 nails when I was a kid. You make a rope or tiny knit tube with yarn and this little gadget.

I got this for Poppy's 7 year old. The fascination was short lived so I swiped it thinking I could make some nice neck chains for my Felt flowers. The other night I thought I would experiment with it. I "watched" a Dr Who that I had already seen and worked on the chain. I say watched, because I found that I had to keep my eyes on the craft constantly, otherwise I might not "pick up" all the bottom threads. I've seen some homemade ones that use little paddles instead of posts and I'm wondering if that might be easier to use.

Not only was this more concentration intensive than I imagined, after the 1 hour show was over, I had only 12" of chain done. As I have said in yesterday's post, at an average of $6 an hour for minimum wage (I know, not all states are the same, and I wouldn't want to live in Kentucky), that's not great money. I'd need a much longer piece for what I wanted to do, long and doubled, at least 60 inches. That's 5 times my original piece! At that rate the chain alone would be $30 not including material or other fees involved.

Maybe it was me. I could make it faster, I'm sure! So I tried it again, and again and still the same results, no matter what I did. I'm pretty fast at crafting too. I would probably have to charge at least $35 for that darn 60" rope chain with nothing on it, just to make minimum wage. Would you buy it?

I think I'm going to try some more timing experiments like this. Would you like to see more? Let me know if you can do this faster.