I have been putting this post off for at least a week now. Writing for the world feels a little overwhelming for this anti-writer! I contemplated my topic for hours trying to figure out what I could possibly say that would interest someone. Well, here it is - My First 2 Months as a Business Owner - Setting up Shop!My First 2 Months as a Business Owner - Setting up Shop!
If you don't already know, I opened my bath and body shop, Sakura Bath & Body, in February. It was both exciting and overwhelming to put it mildly. There were so many little things to consider - written descriptions of the products, pictures, and promotion to name a few. For this post, I am going to briefly describe my experience with these completely new aspects of my life.
Writing Descriptions
As you have probably guessed, writing my descriptions has been one of the more difficult aspects of selling my products online. I am not a "fluffy" kind of person, especially when it comes to writing. I must have missed the discussion on creative adjectives in high school. I will keep working on my descriptions, but if anyone has tried one of my products and would like to take a stab at writing a description - feel free! I will send you a full-size product if I use your description!
Taking Pictures
Producing quality pictures is yet another obstacle and one that I will be working on for a long time to come! I made a simple light tent using this tutorial before I opened my shop. It wasn't difficult to make, but it is difficult to get pictures as good as the ones shown! I also have a great camera, but I have no idea how to use it. I keep seeing posts in the Etsy forum to read the manual. Now that sounds like a brilliant idea, unfortunately, I have tried that and have no clue what any of it means! The good news is that I am getting better - mostly because I am taking 20-30 pictures of each product rather than 5-10. Somewhere in that 20-30 are 3-4 decent pictures.
Promotion
I currently sell my products on two online venues, Zibbet and Etsy. Although they are both similar, Zibbet is a much smaller online market, but it is gaining ground quickly! I also use Twitter and Facebook to help promote my new products. Promotion is the area I have neglected the most. With a full-time job and 3 kids though, I can only do so much! My hope is to increase my efforts as summer approaches - 3 months off baby!
I spend more time on those three aspects on some days than I do creating and making new products! Hopefully, as I learn a little more and have a few more months under my belt, they won't take up so much time.
One last point I'd like to make. I have met some great online business owners through Twitter and the market forums. The forums have been a great source of information as well as a time-waster (I need to stay away and get more work done sometimes!) I have included two great shops today, if you have a chance, you should definitely check out their shops as well!
Mimi's Babies - my very first customer!
A family run business that loves to create very special gifts for very special babies and more!
Portable Graffiti - a fun and energetic business owner!
Over 1,000 buttons -badges - pins - Something for everyone!
Excited to be your first follower, and I wish you many more to come. I've been blogging for years...I still do not know how to make a photo have a link to the item. So you are doing very well as I see my coexist mirrors link right to the mirrors on my Zibbet shop.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has not used the duckie soaps I bought from your shop yet as she said, "They are too cute to use." And since she is 20 years old now I can't make her take a bath with them. I might just sneak one out of the jar and use it myself. ; )
Thank you so much for linking to our Etsy shop. One thing I love about Etsy is getting to know some great people!
ReplyDeleteYour products are FANTASTIC and I am in LOVE with Be Delicious. I think I might need to order some more. :)
Can't wait to get to know you more and follow your blog and shop in the future.
Charissa @ Mimi's Babies