Doing my Accounts

Source Deco Deli

I'm doing my accounts all day today and tomorrow. This is my definition of hell! I have a box of receipts, bills, and my market notebooks and it's in complete chaos. I am not an organised person, I've just about trained myself to be disciplined enough to run my business, but my Achilles heal is the financial side. I always put it off to the last minute, and then each year I promise myself to have a better system, to not do this to myself again next year. 

Oh well, I'll just have to get on with it, wish me luck!

(At least the dulcet tones of Dominic West are keeping me company as he reads The Remains of the Day)

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Packaging Orders

As much as possible I try to make systems for all of my work so that things run smoother. I'm not naturally inclined towards being organised so I've spent years training myself to do this to try to make running a business less stressful. When I first started selling on Etsy getting orders was both very exciting and hugely time consuming. The first few orders I got, I had to walk down town to buy packaging, then spend ages rooting out the Sellotape. Thankfully things have changed, now I have what I like to call my 'postal station', which has:
Pens
Markers
Envelopes of multiple sizes
Thank you notes (see my how-to here)
Business Flyer
Return Address labels
Wide Tape that never leaves this basket so I always know where it is.
Craft freebie magnets(see here)
Bubble wrap
Velvet gift bags
Zip lock bags

Having all these things easily to hand makes life so much easier, especially when I get a few orders in the same day. Also I've kept the colour scheme consistent with my logo, the blue is carried through from the flyer, thank you note, the sticker on the envelope with my logo, the logo on the promo magnet and even the blue in the return address labels. This is to reinforce my brand and also to give a slick professional appearance. I make sure to keep these extra touches to a minimum though so that it doesn't hike up my costs. I've bought lots of stuff on Etsy over the years and it really makes a difference, the shopping experience becomes even more special. Bonzie and Magpie and Button are two people who pop into my mind who went the extra step and really personalised their packaging. If this is a selling point in your pieces it wouldn't be a bad idea to put a photo of your wrapping/parceling in your last listing image like Balanced does.

Balanced's Beautiful Packaging

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Changes in My Etsy Shops

StoreyShop Laser Cut Card

I had to make a tough decision with my Etsy shops the other day about my shipping prices. On most of my items I had free shipping or very minimal costs, in an effort to encourage more international sales, this was somewhat cost effective until recently. I send out my orders in little brown bubble wrap envelopes, which to my mind are only small. But at the post office recently the lady behind the counter has started charging me for a small parcel instead on an envelope. She guiltily mentioned this change, and I understand her position that she has to go by the rules. The jump in prices is pretty huge though, it had been €0.85 to send a badge or small bag of buttons internationally, now because she deems it a parcel not an envelope it it €2.70! I know before I was getting away with it fairly lightly, because whenever I went to any other post office I always had to pay for a parcel.

So you can see why some decisions had to me made, most of my items are fairly low cost, and any possible profits were being gobbled up in this shift in expenses. For example the other day I dropped off a few orders, I'd say with a total sales of €20, but the shipping cost me €12.50, it was after this happened that I knew I had to do a major shipping price overhaul in both my shops. Now my prices are:

Ireland €1.00 (Secondary Shipping Cost €0.00)
United Kingdom €1.50 (Secondary Shipping Cost €0.00)
European Union €2.00 (Secondary Shipping Cost €0.00)
International €2.50 (Secondary Shipping Cost €0.00)

TerranceandPhillip Thank You Cards

So to buy just one item if you are living outside of Europe it a bit more expensive, but I have kept the secondary shipping cost at €0.00 to encourage people to buy a few items. I brought down the prices of my mirrors and badges, in an effort to balance this out. When I looked at the rest of etsy most mirrors were cheaper than mine. I had kept the same price from when I ordered my mirrors rather than making them myself, which is more economical for me. Now my mirrors are €4 or 3 for €10, and the badges are €2.50 or 3 for €6.

Making all these changes has been incredibly time consuming, I've had to individually edit each of my 140 listings, and while I was at it I tweaked some tags and item descriptions, a bit of a listing Spring cleaning so to speak. I've also made sure that all my badges are linked to the mirror versions and visa versa, and also giving links to the wholesale special offers. I haven't even started on my supplies shop yet, but this will be tackled over the next few days.

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Nice Day Designs; A Year in Review

January
I lost my part-time job in the first few day in January, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I started feeling human for the first time in years, now that I had free time again. With all this extra time I was able to make new products, like my now very popular Shrinky Dink earrings.

February
February was kind of a quiet month, I concentrated on getting more items listed in my etsy shop, taking new photos and I invested in this home photography studio. I got a good hike in sales for my facebook Valentine 'I like You' badge, as it was featured on lots of blogs and treasuries.

March
In March I took a long hard look at the results of all my extra work on my etsy shops, and came to the conclusion that it won't make me a millionaire anytime soon but \i#ll stick with it anyhow. I also gave my first ever lecture, which was terrifying but a lot of fun.

April 
In April I started my Hotty but Notty series(which I may take back up in the new year when I think of new candidates). It was also when I went for an allergy test and discovered that I'm allergic to the world. This let to a complete lifestyle overhaul, which in turn let me to losing about 2 stone(happy days!). I also had fun making stickers for card making with this sticker paper I got in the 2euro store.

May
In May I got a four page feature in national magazine Prudence, and in the process I made my house look very pretty. I also set up and ran a pop up shop in Bourkes with some of the other crafty ladies from Etsy Ireland-a mammoth task but a great experience.

June
June seemed to be taken up with my birthday and Johns brother getting married, I posted what I thought was a filler blog post about weddings, but it turned out to be be one of my most popular posts ever. I also sorted out a catalog of designs that people could order hen party badges from, which out to be a tidy little earner for me over the Summer.

July
July was a busy month as I was preparing to go to the RDS horse show. I wrote a review on the Mooncup which has been a really popular post, although I'm sure a few people were a little squeamish about it.

August
I started off the month with this Angry Rant which struck a cord with a lot of other crafters. My friend Emmet had a great Mad Men themed 30th birthday party, for which we got all dolled up.

September
After a long time talking about it I brought out a range of As Gaeilge handmade cards, which have proved to be great sellers. Another thing I had put on the long finger for ages was sorting out this website. I did a major overhaul and changed my address to .org too. It's been a few moths since I implemented these but I've noticed a huge jump in my traffic, this is also probably due to my increased regularity of posting too.

October
In October I began my dangerous Pinterest addiction, there is no going back now! I think this led me to start posting tutorials on my blog, I did a shrinky dink brooch how-to,thank you notes, a guide to photoshop brushes,and a make your own stamp, I also started my 'What I'm Wearing' posts, which are really growing in popularity.

November
I started out the month with an in depth look at how I made my Klingon Halloween costume...a must read for any Star Trek nerds. It was a busy month spent making xmas stock for my stall, there just weren't enough hours in the day.

December
Busy Season went into overdrive, thankfully we had great weather and I wasn't frozen to death at my stall. One year on I expanded my Shrinky Dink jewellery line to necklaces and brooches, and the were very popular stocking fillers in the last weeks of December

Thanks to everyone for reading my ramblings all year, I blog because I love it, but it's nice to know that someone is listening too! Here's hoping that next year will be just as packed with activity.

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Le Groan, Le Sigh, I'm Doing My Accounts

I'm doing my most hated thing at the moment; my accounts. It's pretty much the definition of hell for me, and as I gather from other crafts blogs, hell on earth for all crafters. I'm hideously disorganised; lots or receipts and scraps of paper with no rhyme or reason to them. I'm reminded of the scene in Dodgeball when Vince Vaughns character shows the tax inspector a closet that looks like it hasn't been opened in years piled high with his 'accounts', that's me.

I wish I could clone myself right now, that daydream will just have to sustain me through the next few days. It's time now for lunch, a cup of tea, and an imaginary biscuit(today I'm deeply regretting my embargo on sweet things!)

Selling on Etsy

At the start of January I decided I was going to rejuvenate my Etsy shop, I'd had it for years, but I was never able to get sales moving consistantly. I started putting items in it other than my pocket mirrors, things like brooches, buttons rings and earrings. I spent time, and money on a photography studio improving my photos and also took note of things like craftopolis and view counters. I shared more of my items on facebook, which is also linked to my twitter account. On top of that I've started blogging again which I'm sure helped a little too.

The results being that for February I double my etsy sales from an average taken for the previous few months, which is pretty good going since they were over xmas. I also more than doubled the amount of unique visitors for the month.

At the end of all this I'm still unsure if it's worth the effort, as these takings are still only a small portion compared with what I sell at the market. But I suppose in these 'interesting' times we are in at the moment the idea is to take whatever I can get, mush it all together and hopefully at the end it amounts to an income! It's satisfying to be able to make something at home, and within a half an hour I've taken photos and listed it online, ready for the open market. It is very time consuming though. Also on the down side I seem to have dropped the ball when it comes to my supplies shop, I don't seem to have the brain space to run the market and two etsy shops. How do the rest of you feel who are working/selling on etsy?

Ponder Ponder???

Mmmmm....decisions decisions! I've just been researching a button press machine, which would enable me to make my own pocket mirrors instead of designing them and getting them made in the US. The press also make keyrings, badges,bottle openers and magnets. This would also mean that I would be able to offer the service of making custom made ones, or letting people design their own. It's a fantastic opportuniy and I don't think there is much competition for it in Ireland. People are always asking me where I get them and I makes great business sense to make them myself. But it's a large investment at the start, I'd need to ship two small machines from America. Decsions decisions!!! I'd say I'll go for it, but I just need to get saving.

I'm MOO! happy

Yey my Moo cards arrived. If you have heard of these cute little darlings go check out their website.They are a London based print firm that deal with all you business card need. They are affordable and offer lots of uniquely tailored products. I heard once you catch the moo bug that's it, you're hooked, I now know why, they send you loads of discount vouchers for your next order. I must admit I'm a sucker for lovely packaging and design...check out what I opened up this morning. I'm a happy lady. I'll be usng these to distribute free badges, on the back of the card there are images of my clothes and on the front all of my details. I give them to people who are browsing at the stall, or I include them as a little gift with my online sales, and I give them out at a local music venue. It's cheaper than paying for ads in magazines and papers and I think it's far more effective.

Bad Day at the Office

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I was in two minds about whether to write this post or not, but this an account of the good and the bad of my business, not just a sugar coated ad in disguise. As my previous post mentioned I was selling at Baker Place last night at the launch of Crude magazine. I was a quiet start to the evening, and we thought that the cold would keep everyone at home with the radiators and a bollte of wine. But a crowd gathered eventually, and the music was pretty rockin'. The launch for the magazine seemed pretty successful, but I'm not convinced a loud sweaty pub is the place to be selling clothes. On one hand it makes sense, go out and meet the exact people who would buy my stuff. Unfortunatly the demographic that likes distressed colourful, button laden clothes, tend to be poorer that church mice, and in the choice between beer or clothes; beer won.It's the first time I went to any market and sold absolutly nothing, and it was a bit depressing to wake up after a hard days preperation with nothing extra in the wallet. On top of that I even got abuse from a few people! I suppose mixing beer with peoples frustration at their lack of money can make them pretty irrate. I thought it was a bit much shouting at me like I was a fat cat business man, really the reccession is not my fault I swear.
On the upside it did push me to make 5 mens t-shirts, which I'll convince my boyfriend to model, and hopefully I'll have some photos by the middle of the week.
At their next Crude launch they said they would advertise the clothes bit a lot better, and apparently they will have live tattooing, so that should be pretty cool. I think I'll give it one more shot, it's always worth giving things a second chance. If I gave up after a few crap days I would never have gotten this business off the ground in the first place.

Past the first round of Judges

Yey I'm so excited I made the long list nominations for The Irish Blog Awards 2009,but there is a catch Im nominated in two catagories and apparently I have to chhose which one I want to go for the next round of judging. I've been nominated in the fashion section and in the business section. Which one do I pick? The fashion one had pretty tough competition with some fantastic blogs in it. Help I need advice please!!