Amazon - What To Do

Fun Jaws Quilted Pocket Clutch

I have been reading and thinking about Amazon, and how to use it to help my little personal business.

First, I should say, I am one of Amazon's best customers. I use them for many, if not most of my purchases. I find them so very convenient.

But for my business, which option is best? Advertise, actually sell on Amazon as an individual seller or become one of their 'Handmade Artisans' and like an individual seller, list my products on Amazon?

So many things to consider. First and foremost, I have a very limited inventory. It's just me, and what I can produce by hand. As an individual artisan, I can make one bag a day, sometimes two bags in a long day...

Maybe I am moving to fast. Maybe I need to wait, and see how the Google advertising affects my business. I will give it two weeks. If it's not working, then I will revisit the Amazon options. And when I do, I should probably start slow. Try advertising first, and then, after a set period, try selling on Amazon. Then, when the dust settles, I will know which options are best for my little business.

In the meantime, there's lots of other work that needs doing, and I don't mean creating new bags. I need to start learning about the nitty gritty stuff, like how taxes will affect me, and building my business plan. There's always so much more to do.

Fingers Crossed

My First Google Ad

I have completed a bit of research, and with that, I have built my first Google ad. I built it with a very broad demographic base. I selected English speakers in the US as my audience.

Of course, it's built on the expectation that it will be served based on a users search parameters, and starting out, I didn't want to restrict it to any one demographic group, other than location. I hope to learn more about audiences this way. As I learn who's interested, I will probably whittle it down to to different user groups. and test other ads against the different possible sets of user groups.

It was very easy building the ad, with Adwords even supplying keyword suggestions, for the search ads on Google.

It may help that I purchased my Domain name (my url, if you will) from Google Domains. I  then built my first blog site on Blogger (a Google tool), and have built my 'static' front end using Blogger as well. And yes, it's all connected in the back end to Google Analytics.

None of it is finished. I have lots of work to do, creating better images, all of one size. I have to spend some time thinking about whether I like the fonts and colors I have selected. And then there's building better content. But these things can evolve, I can take them one step at a time. They are 'hopefully' good enough to get going with. To bring people to my content, introduce them to my product, and 'fingers crossed' start selling it.

Next stop, advertising on Amazon, but that involves a lot of research first...

Building a Web Site - FAST!

What did you do over the Christmas and New Year Holidays? I researched, crammed and built a quick web site!

That's right! I had purchased a domain in the first week of December, and looked at beginning to build out this blog site, but got side-tracked with everything going on. When I came back to review my Google advertising on my Etsy site, and saw that it hadn't worked, I hadn't attracted thousands of Guests, bringing all the shoppers to my site to buy my products, I made another direction change. I fast-tracked a personal web site, that would allow me a bit more control over the marketing.

Here it is, and here you are. Once I got up the bare bones, the very bare bones of the blog up, I decided that I needed to I started working on getting a 'site' to front the blog, with links to the shop. I have spent about 40 hours so far, including working some on Christmas eve and more on Christmas Day, to build this very beta site, but I think it's finally enough to push out, and start advertising. It helps that I am not completely new to web sites, but working so fast, it's not where it should be.

I will be spending lots of time in the new year working working on this site, so you should see it changing and evolving, and hopefully getting better as time goes by...

Now, out to Google, to purchase some advertising, and see what kind of difference this will make to my business!

Changing Direction - More Online Presence

All this will fit inside, and it's only half full! See the image below!

Being new to the Craft Fair circuit, I asked around and learned that many who had been participating for a while, were not seeing the same results this year as in the past.

In fact, since October, one vendor shared that she hadn't seen sales on any weekend above $50. In many cases, that's what it costs to take part, so that is not a sustainable as a life-style, and would not support me, but actually cost more. Maybe good if I were a weekend crafter, but when would I have time to sew, and participate, assuming I wanted to keep working full-time, too?

Giving it some thought, it would seem that the answer would be advertising online. I had dabbled in Facebook advertising, and that had lead to more views, but no sales. I was only going in small, because my very exclusive product has a very finite inventory. Yes, I can make more, but they can take the better part of a day to make one, so, there will never been a big inventory. This is what allows my product to be unique, distinctive, and special.

I decided to advertise on Google, through Etsy, as that's where my 'store' is. I had found the Etsy/Google a week before, and put out a very modest $1. a day advertising, to see how it might affect my views / sales, but now I went back and upped that amount, to see if I could make a difference with Google. It's December, my product would make great gifts, it seemed like the right decision. I couldn't go a lot bigger (Etsy has strict limits on what you can spend a day) but I hoped for great things. Getting traffic, interest and sales.

The Etsy site advised it would take a week or so to ramp up, and they advised not looking at the results for a month. I couldn't do that, I kept a watch on what was happening, and it seemed to be happening pretty slowly. Coming back to check around Christmas, when I expected to see that I owed a debt to Google, I found that in fact I didn't. It didn't look like my product had been sent to Google often to be advertised there.

Which suggested to me that I needed to get my own web site up and running. I would still use Etsy to process sales, but I needed to be able to advertise, to get myself out there, to be found by folks looking to buy. Which is why I pushed out this site, before it was really ready to go, to start sharing my journey and these experiences along that journey with you.

All that is now inside, and look at all the room that's left!

Going Bigger - A Community Arts & Crafts Fair

Just because my first Arts & Crafts Fair was a bust, I wasn't loosing hope. I got on the computer and looked for a bigger event, something that looked like it was established, and didn't cost and arm and leg to apply/participate. Some of the shows listed on the Arts & Crafts participation sites are in the multiple hundreds of dollars. I don't have an inexhaustible set of funds, so I need to be smart with the money I am spending.

I found the '23rd Annual Christmas Under the Palms' was taking place on the next weekend, and a quick email to the organizers let me know I could still apply and participate if my products were indeed a handmade craft item, not a flea market product. The price to participate - $65, plus you must bring your own awning, tables, set-up, business cards and placard with your business name. I got on Amazon and purchased an awning, filled out the application, and was on my way!

My sister and I left the house very early, to get to the location with time to set up, and were very optimistic that this was going to be the beginning of a great business adventure. Along the way, we were surprised that we didn't see one sign advertising the event, until we got to the parking lot for the event (and that only advised where Guests should park), but assumed they would go up once the Arts & Crafts fair was actually open.

We were wrong. Once again, the retiree's from the Church (whose lot this event was held in), came out in number, for a day out and a hamburger or hot dog from the food vendor. Unfortunately, they also had a 'flea market' area in the church, and many of the older folks who did purchase something, did it in the flea market area buying used goods with their dimes and quarters.

While it's true we did better than almost all of the other 100 or so participants, we didn't make as much as the cost to take part. An organizer came around with a survey late in the day, and I asked her 'where were the signs guiding folks to this event?' She advised they didn't put any up. In the past, folks just 'knew' to come to the Arts & Crafts Fair after the local Christmas parade. My next question was, 'where did they advertise?' Well, the answer was they didn't, that would have cost money, and they weren't spending any for the  Arts & Crafts Fair. She acknowledged that she knew most of the 'vendors' had had a very disappointing day.

Chalk another one up to a lesson learned. Even if it looks like it's the real deal, it may not be at all.

Walking Dead Weekender / Carry-on Bag

My First Neighborhood Craft Fair

Disney Character Filmstrip Weekender / Carry-on Bag. The filmstrip is a pocket.

My mother told me that her neighborhood has an annual Craft Fair in December, and that it's so busy and well-visited, that you can hardly move.

Sounded like a good place to launch my bags to the public, so we 'bought a table'.

Running up to the fair, I finished as many bags as I could, so I would have enough stock to be sure I had 'something for everyone.'

When the fair day came, it was not at all what we expected. We learned that the folks running it had decided that they didn't need to advertise. In years past, there were signs everywhere you looked, for days and weeks ahead, but not this year. The only signs posted could be seen only if you entered the neighborhood. Needless to say sales were really disappointing for all the 'vendors'. The only attendee's were retirees who lived in the neighborhood. Many stopped, looked and commented, and then moved on to a 'Flea Market' stand at the back of the building, where they would buy used things for a quarter.

Making a Momentous Decision

"Going Visiting" bag with a roomy outside pocket on one side.

As I started making the many different bags and things, I was still working a full-time job. That meant having a couple hours each evening (maybe), and time on the weekends to create, as well as do errands, house cleaning, pet time, visit folks... Not a lot of time.

My day job has been less and less fulfilling, and more stress filled over the last year or so, and no horizon that looks sunnier at work. So, right around Thanksgiving, I decided to quit my day job (retire from it as I have been there 22 years), and see if I can't make a go at this 'making bag' business.

I am not wealthy, I don't have a second income, or someone supporting me financially. I may have to amend my plans, in a couple of months and get a job. But for now, I am going to try to make this business grow and go.

"Going Visiting" with an attached pillow case and blanket straps.

This is the new journey I am on.

First Steps

The first bag I made in early 2016

This past winter, someone close to me shared that she had been harassed in a fast-food location, over a bag she was carrying.

She had fallen on hard times, and was carrying an open, square shaped, recycled material supermarket bag. The fast-food location had decided that the bag she was carrying made her look like she was homeless, and they didn't want any homeless folks in their location, which is an issue all it's own.

With her birthday fast approaching, I thought I could help remedy this issue by finding a pattern, and making a bag like no one else owned. Something I hoped would stand out as special and beautiful. I found inspiration, and an idea was born. I made the bag pictured above, and gave it to her, and she hasn't been harassed about her bag again. Of course, she's never returned to that fast-food location either. None of us has.

The bag was such a hit, that I made several for family members and friends. Then I decided that if it was so well liked among my circle, I should see if I could make and sell them. So, over the summer and fall, I have made several bags, and not just the big carry-on/weekender style. I have made several different types, and this fall, I put them up on Etsy and created a Facebook page, to see if they would sell.

What you can't tell, is this bag is approximately 21" wide, and 16" high. It's a quilted fabric, for strength, and has an inset zipper. The carrying straps sit next to a pocket on each side of the bag, just over 8" wide and about 11" deep, also of quilted material. It has a gusset of about 10". So, it will hold several days of clothes changes, and more. The pockets on the outside are big enough to hold devices, as well other items that might be needed to access quickly.

Getting to Here from There

At 12, as so many of us did, I started babysitting on weekend evenings. By 14 I had lost my summer vacations, babysitting for the Roberts children (3, 5 and 7ish) from 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday, in addition to weekend babysitting stints. In next to no time, I was also doing all the house cleaning there too, as Mrs. Roberts pointed out, I was just sitting all day, I might as well do something useful. I didn't make a dollar an hour working for the Roberts...

At 16, anxious to be paid more and treated better, I applied for and got a part-time job at our local McDonalds. There are lots of stories for those years, but that's for another time. After graduation I went to work, full-time, for a local department store, and from there I worked full-time, somewhere, until just a few weeks ago. I am not old enough to retire, and I want to do something different, so I am trying to re-invent myself as a small business person, making hand-crafted products and hopefully selling them. This is the story of this journey.

How it all began

The Journey began for me, as it did for everyone. I was born. For me that happened near the Pacific ocean. We moved back home shortly after, to the midwest, where my siblings were born, and where we were raised. It was a while back, we are of the last 'mother was a house wife' generation. Today, I am a bit older than the image here portrays, with a lot more experience of life. But more about all of that later.

Today, I am beginning a new journey, and inviting you along.