10th Sale Celebration ~ Plus a New Halloween Bow!

I just crossed another couple of items off my 101 in 1001 list.

#6

Fulfill 1 custom order.

#9

Reach 10 sales.

I am so excited to finally be crossing these ones off my list! It was a big week for my humble shop! I had my first international sale, my first custom order, and my 10th sale all in the same purchase. It was such an awesome learning experience, and I am so happy to finally be seeing my sales in the double digits too! This is what I sent out:

This bow was already listed in my shop, but she asked if I could make her a 2nd one, which qualifies as a custom order! Not only that, it was sent to the UK! How awesome is that! Because of this I also discovered that my shop's international shipping rate was grossly inaccurate and had to change it. Whoops! Well, like I said - this was definitely a learning experience! My lovely customer also told me that these bows are being used by 2 excited bridesmaids at an upcoming Halloween wedding! So cool! I hope she sends me a picture!

So, since this bow was finally purchased, I realized I have NO Halloween products left in my shop! That is just outrageous - Halloween is one of my favorite holidays after all. So, of course, I had to whip up this beauty:

Candy corn bow! Hooray!

I think it turned out pretty stinkin' cute. Have you ever seen those little candy corn witch costumes for little girls? SO cute! I think this accessory would look really cute with something like that.

Well I guess that's it for now! I hope to be putting more Halloween bows up in my shop soon, as well as some CHRISTMAS stuff (yay!) so remember to keep checking out my shop which can be found on the right sidebar over here ------>

Thanks for stopping by!

What You Made Wednesday #3 with Linky

Welcome back to What You Made Wednesday, everybody!! I look forward to this day every week. Let's start off with what I did today.....

Duct Tape (Duck Tape) Headband!

I know, you're probably sick of me saying it, but I have to...... - I'm pretty much in love with it. It is made ENTIRELY out of Duct Tape (or as most people call it, Duck Tape..... I still call it Duct Tape, call me old-fashioned) and also Electrical Tape. Electrical Tape is great for the headband because on the off-chance that the headband size you order is too snug when you receive it, electrical tape can be stretched to your desired size! I still have a few more touches to add (maybe rhinestones? We will see....), and some model photos to take of it before it goes in my shop, but when it does it will be going for $4!! Such an awesome deal in my opinion.

And now for What YOU Made. Last week we had 7 entries, but the one that got the most likes was.....

Toeless Yoga Socks by Made by Meg!

Click the photo above to be taken directly to the listing. She has some other really neat stuff - ceramic tiles coasters, super cute coffee cozies, etc. So go show her shop some love!!

And now it's YOUR turn! Show me what you've been working on all week, I love looking at them. Remember that this Linky will be open until April 10 at 11:59PM, so if you don't have something to share yet you can always come back later in the week to share your stuff! Just remember to follow my blog -------------------> so that you can find your way back here later on. Also remember that the link-up with the most likes gets a special mention next week just like Meg did today, so tell your friends to vote for you!

'Til next time, thanks for reading! <3

~*~Gela~*~

Etsy Success Symposium

Well, originally my plan was to wake up on Friday morning, eat breakfast, then let the hubby take care of the kids while I bust out my notebook and watch the symposium all day.


........That didn't happen.


Life happened instead, and the hubby had one of those rare days where all he wants to do is spend time with me ( =O ), so I had to take him up on the opportunity and ended up spending most of the day with him. Not complaining! But because of this (and 2 screaming kids) I didn't catch as much of it as I would have liked. But this is what I caught.....

Storytelling: I don't know how much this relates to my product. I sell bows...... Not much of a story behind that other than maybe the decision that got me to choose to fabric and the style of the bow..... Not very interesting. I do think I need to go into more detail about how the bow is made though.  Like.... how I heat-seal all my bows' edges by hand from a candle to avoid fraying. That's important! It means that it's going to LAST. I should be telling my customers that. Definitely something to think about.


Prices: People don't buy into the "I'm selling amazing items for super low prices". I was selling bows for about $5 a piece..... That was almost no profit. But I thought to myself "I'm just starting out, people won't want to buy my stuff if it's too expensive, maybe I'll raise the prices later when my shop gets busier." ......But honestly, my customers are probably looking at my prices and saying "Wow, this bow must have been stapled together for that price." So I went back and repriced EVERYTHING. I gave them prices equivalent to how hard I worked on them instead of how much they costed to make. I need to start paying myself fairly. And you know what? I went back later and looked at my inventory in my shop with the raised prices, and magically felt BETTER about my work. I was definitely shortchanging myself. I also need to be able to hold sales and give out coupon codes without worrying about losing money on it. They need to be at a price where I will still be making profit even if I sold it 25% off or something. One person at the symposium pointed straight at the camera, and said something like "YOU ONLINE. Go to your store and double your prices right now. I'm serious." So I took that to heart, and I feel like my prices are more fair to me and also give proper credit to my bows and their quality now.


Photos: .......Oh my lord I have been over-exposing my photos to light. They all of a sudden look terrible to me!! One person at the symposium mentioned that if you're not sure if your photos are up to par, you should take some frequently Front Paged items and put them all in a treasury with one of your items to see if they blend together nicely. Mine totally don't. I feel like my bows are really like... IN YOUR FACE close to the camera. No bueno. Also, there was a little "commercial" between sessions that teaches you how to take proper and professional photos. I was already doing most of her techniques, but she said "Don't be afraid to experiment with props." And that is something that I haven't really done. I generally put the bow on the white paper, take a bunch of different angled photos, then slap it on my daughter and take some more photos. I should be trying them on teddy bears or in the foreground of some pretty jewelry that could work with it or something. I need to play around with it more and have fun with it.


Pinterest: ......Apparently a lot of Etsy traffic comes from Pinterest. I just barely joined this site myself.... And I still barely know how to work it. I need to figure it out. Seriously. If anyone has any tips or tricks about Pinterest, or just wants to teach me how to use it, I am open and thankful for your advice.


Craft Fairs: I really am interested in doing these some day, and those folks from Crafty Bastards really helped me see what will and won't work when that time comes for my business. How to decorate your booth, what to plan for, what to bring, what's important and what isn't, etc. I wish I had written down more notes about it to refer to later when my 1st craft fair comes up, but I didn't because I was busy holding a baby in my arms while watching. Bummer!! But hopefully with their guidance, my first attempt will be a fairly successful one. There are no craft fairs around these parts (I sound like such a hillbilly right there), but there is one in SLC every year. The deadline is coming WAY too soon for me to participate this year, but maybe next year I will attempt it. It should be a good starter fair before I (hopefully someday) move on to Renegade or even the Crafty Bastards showcase.


Well, I learned a lot. If you didn't catch it they still have all the videos available on the online labs page on Etsy, so you should check some of them out. Hope they help you as much as they have helped me so far!!


Remember to join me again tomorrow for Made of Money Monday #2!! I have some great stuff lined up. Thanks again for reading~! <3


~*~Gela~*~