Getting Serious?!

Hullo!

So, this is my first blog post to mark the start of my first full business year, and Past Designs is starting to seem more of a reality. Since starting officially in October, I've two good IRL shows behind me and 25 sales. More importantly, the fact that people actually like my designs is still amazing.

Other than keeping an Instagram account going (and in spite of a not so successful 'advent calendar' that grounded as soon as it started due to various family issues, but that's for another day), I've not really focused on making myself visible. I've been looking to get my style and designs right, and make up the portfolio of Jewellery I currently have.

I also consumed every bit of research about setting up and running a craft business I could. Once an academic always a researcher I guess, so i read everything from top ten things to take to craft fairs, to the key things not to do, and why businesses fail. Eventually I think I'll be in a good position to produce this kind of advice myself, but I need to road test things further before I write my own. That said, my first show surpassed my expectations, as did the feedback. I am not naive enough to think every show is going to go as well, but it was such a confidence boost. The second fair, the day before my 40th birthday continued the trend, firmly cemented that this was working.

My first craft fair! November 2018

The advice I can give at this stage with confidence, is when starting out there are ways to do things on a shoestring that look professional but don't eat up too much of any profit. As such, up to now I've also pretty much done everything myself, from stall display stands and packaging, to business cards and advertising banner, logo and website (!) in order to keep the costs low at this development stage. I used free apps to design my business cards, printed and cut them out. I hand wrote all the descriptions on the product tags you see in the photo above! I 'upcycled' items to make display racks and cases. Okay, so the time cost was high, but the savings were worth it, as it meant that any cash could be put into the materials for the jewellery.

However, my better half has suggested now might be time to look at some more professional branding. I think I've actually convinced him that it's worth the investment and this could be a good idea!

The first thing is to get a banner. My hand-painted rustic job has been fine for the first two fairs, but it's cumbersome and not exactly practical. I've been researching (more research!) roller banners, so that is the next purchase. Business cards are on my mind too. There are so many to choose from now. I am leaning towards Moo as the taster pack they sent were lovely quality, which will hopefully stop them just being thrown in the bin when people get home...

The other area I'm thinking about is online selling. My next 'real' fair isn't until April and I need to start raising my game in terms of sales. But how? Is Etsy or Folksy the way forward, or a new platform like NuMonday? I've hearing bad stories about them all (too aggressive, not aggressive enough, falling out of favour, too popular, misleading traffic claims etc etc), but every site has its pro and cons. Obviously, at this stage commission fees and memberships are a big factor in decision making, but I am also trying to consider best coverage. Clearly Etsy is the one everyone has heard of, but is there a danger of being lost in the crowd? I've found that the big draw to my pieces is the historical narrative of each item, which is hardly surprising, but it's much more tricky to convey that story in a crowded market. On the flip side, go with a smaller more personal platform but miss out on the traffic.

I think i need to do some more research - in the meantime, my shop on this site is open, and some new items will be added shortly... watch this space!