Inventory

I have found that when you own a craft business it is almost impossible to track inventory. Recently, I bought Quick Books Pro 2011.  This product is great! Although it takes some getting use to, the robust software allows you to track inventory levels and expenses. In addition, you can create a wide variety of reports to help you accurately gage the health of your business.

Give Aways

Giving away from products, coupons, or gift certificates is a great way to attract new customers to your store. Decide what you want to give away and the parameters surrounding it. Then go to random.org; this site will automatically pick a selection, eliminating bias. Example: Homegrown Accents is giving away a $25.00 gift certificate for free when we hit 500 Likes on Facebook. www.facebook.com/homegrownaccents

Etsy

I have had items posted on Etsy for about a year and a half, unfortunately, I haven't made a single sale. Last week I decided to really focus on Etsy; which left me with the question, "where do I start?" As I looked through sites I noticed some people were extremely successful and some were in my boat, no success. I chose a few sites that were extremely successful and started a convo with them via Etsy. I asked for tips on how to improve my sales on Etsy. To my surprise, people were more than willing to share tips to improve sales. Among these tips there were three that many people repeated: pictures, key words and circles. Apparently, shoppers are often turned away from buying products if they are displayed with a black background. Who knew? Turns out people want to see more natural looking pictures and pictures from all angels. Which I could not accomplish with the static black background picture I have been using. Second, my key words. I'll admit I struggle to find key words that will bring people to my Etsy shop. My sudeo mentors advised me that I should be using all tags and more descriptive terms versus my broad generic ones. Finally, get your name out there. One of the best ways of doing so it to get added to circles. While it can be time consuming to add people to your circle, in most cases people will add you back, instantly increasing your visibility; and as well all know visibility=sales:)

 

While there is a lot to do to implement these changes I have started out slow, increasing my circles, went from 2 to 135 in a couple of days. In addition, I have increased my FB exposure by asking people that add me to their circle to "like" me on FaceBook. (Having other companies "like" you on FB works out well for both companies. While their new products appear on your page, your appear on theirs which can easily double your exposure!). This week I am going to tackle my second step, changing my pictures. I will let you know how it goes. :)

Preparing for the Holidays

It seems like this year has flown by, and all of the sudden the holidays are here. HGA is going to be in the Summerville, SC Holly Days festival this year. I can't wait. I am ramping up on new items and weeding out items I don't think will do so hot. It is a strange business though, crafting that it is. What one person finds to be unique another can find to be ugly. I often have to remind myself that even if I don't like it, someone else may.  I am thinking of other crafts that I can sell as well. The problem is time. I must admit with a month away,  it would be a little late in the game to start trying to put new crafts in my line up. 

The Holidays Are Near

We have reached fall, the air is coolier, the days are shorter and the leaves are changing. It is a great time of year. It is also the time of year that people begin to think about Christmas shopping. For HGA that means we are ramping up our inventory and preparing for the Holly Days festival in Summerville, SC. With lots of vendors, food and fun, Holly days will make preparing a lot easier.  Don't forgot, you can save 10% now by entering coupon code SAH10. (expires 12-31-11)

Taking photos

Broke down and bought a photo box this week from Amazon. Man am I glad I did, the pictures are incredible. They look so much better than without it.

Bad Day

We all have bad days, whether they are caused by work, home or someone rubbing off on you. Though, how we handle them is up to us. I hate the feeling of being down, frankly it is depressing. So I look for the silver lining, I try to take whatever caused my bad day and turn it into motivation. Didn't get that promotion, I'll work hardier to be more qualified. Didn't sell any jewelry at the craft show; I re-examin my items and see why they didn't sell. Was it the quality, price or was my crowd different than my targeted demographic.  In short no matter why you had a bad day, you can turn it around.  What do you do to turn it around?

Do you ever have times when your inspired and not near a computer? Yeah pen and paper are always handy but if you want to share your thoughts what can you do? Text it! Awesome, I love technology :)

Ideas

When designing new products I often hit a wall. I know what I like but it is really hard to figure out what others like.  I have tried contest on HGA's Facebook page and while there were some good ideas for marketing I did not receive any ideas for designs.  O well, back to the drawing board.  But I must admit one of the things I love best is working with a customer to design that perfect piece of jewelry. It brings a smile to my face when I present the finished product and I can tell it was what they wanted.

Help CF

Since the CF Foundation is such a great cause I have decided to donate 10% of all sales! Wanna help CF and get awesome stuff go to www.homegrownaccents.com

Help Fight CF

My brother-in law is 11 and has cystic fibrosis (CF). His condition has made me aware of what a harsh disease this is. So, I want to help..I want to raise money to help fight CF and give people like Nate a long life.  From now on 15% of all sales at http://www.homegrownaccents.com/ will go to the CF Foundation.

Your Passion

We know working is a part of life, for some people that is their motivation. Others like myself, get motivated by creating things. So tell us what makes you tick? Is it creating a new painting? How about a new necklace? Whatever it is we want to know.

Welcome!

Hi, welcome to my new blog. The goal of this blog is to encourage people to follow their passion (mine is all things crafts) and to learn from others.