~Business Plan~

After selling on Etsy for about 2 months, I am feeling pretty overwhelmed. At first, I thought, I just have to make some things, take some pictures, post them on Etsy and Voila! I have a business. But, of course, I was just being naive. After I started reading in the forums, I realized that, duh! It's going to take a lot more than that to be successful! How can people buy your stuff if they don't know you exist? Why would they buy your stuff with so many other stores? Did you know that jewelry is "oversaturated" on Etsy?

Then, I see all these posts about advertising: participate in forums, chat, blog, flickr, twitter, myspace, facebook, stumbleupon, thenext, project wonderful, teams, business cards in library books, giveaways, blah blah blah! Oh yeah, don't spam! How am I going to have time to make anything when I have to do so much advertising. What's too much? What's too little?

I started signing up for everything, but.....I am stopping now. Time to take a step back. I decided, I am going to have a plan. And I'll try to stick to it and try not to get distracted by every new marketing idea that comes along. So here it is, with all of you as witness, my plan:

Off-line promo:

• Business cards, moo cards, stickers for packaging
• Design and make little gifts for customers
• Send business cards and some products to my best friends to get the word out
  

On-line promo:

• Flickr
• Facebook (update page)
• Blog
  
• Forum
• Chat

Shop Appearance:

• Settle on a consistent theme for pictures
  
• Write better descriptions and tags
  
• List at least 5 days a week, target everyday
• Update banner with new logo
  

Products:

• Start a bridal line
• Start making hairpins
• branch out to other materials to mix with Swarovski crystals

Business:

• Organize inventory and bills

Goals (setting it low for now):

• 1 sale a week for the till June
• 6 sales a month by September
• 2 sales a week by December

I am going to be looking at this every now and then to remind me of my goals and plans. This picture here is also going to remind me why I started to do this in the first place: Because I love it!

This is the first bracelet I made and this is why I picked up jewelry making again :)