Make It

The Benefits of Being Small

Thanks Moop, for sharing the story of your small biz and this great link to a Harvard Business Review post about the value of small businesses. (The strap on my bag that I've used for the past 3 years recently disintegrated and now I'm dreaming of replacing it with a moop bag.)

Resources for Etsy Sellers

In the past couple of days, I've stumbled upon two new-to-me sites that were created to aid Etsy sellers.

Craftcult - Type in your shop name and the site will let you know what items are hearted in your store, and if you've recently been in a gift guide or the front page.

Craftopolis - Type in your shop name to find out if you're currently featured in a treasury.

Both sites are incredibly addictive. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Grand Opening + Special Discount!

Alright, it's all there! My Etsy shop is now fully stocked with soaps, plus a Mother's Day gift set, plus a mini-soap sampler with a 2oz size of each of my six soaps.

As a thank you for you blog readers who have been very encouraging and supportive throughout this whole process, I want to offer a little discount of free shipping on the purchase of a 6 mini soap set. When you purchase the set and checkout, enter the code MakeIt in the Notes to Seller section. Then, wait for me to send you a revised invoice reflecting the new price before you go to Paypal to pay.

This offer is for domestic and international blog readers and is my way of saying thanks for your continued support of Rifferaff! This offer will expire on Saturday, April 4. (Free shipping is only for the purchase of a mini soap set, one purchase per customer please)

Yellow Stripes

Here's the color combo I decided on for the Sweet Almond Cookie soap.

Slowly...

I'm slowly listing things in my Etsy shop. I'm still on target to reach my goal of being fully stocked by April 1, but as of now there are a few items available with more to come soon.

Photography in process

The image above is an overview of what it looks like when I'm taking product photos. I pile a bunch of stuff on the ledge underneath a window in the bedroom. Then I rearrange things and play with angles and close-ups to come up with something more atmospheric. Lately I've been playing more with negative space in my images.

Creative Re-use

Like many of you I'm trying to build a business on a budget. One of the key ways I do this is re-using and re-purposing items I already own and not purchasing anything unless I absolutely have to. I'm quite proud of my latest idea. After selling off and giving away the bulk of my costume jewelry collection before moving last year, I was still in posession of two hanging jewelry organizers. I no longer had the jewelry to fill them but I hung on to them in the hopes they'd come in handy down the line.  And you know what, they finally did. The small pockets are perfect for holding mini soaps. And the clear plastic allows me to see my inventory at a glance. It all hangs on the back of my closet door; a perfect storage solution for my small apartment.

Deadlines

Going through a little bit of a motivation drought lately. I've got some deadlines which should get my butt in gear this weekend. I've gotten good feedback from a couple of my testers so I'm still planning on an April 1 Etsy shop re-launch. Additionally, I've decided to participate in the Detroit Craft Revival Fair on April 18th, so that is another deadline for which I need to prepare lots of inventory.

Wise Words

I think it's time for a new graphic inspirational poster to take the place of the ubiquitous "Keep Calm and Carry On." This one by Amos Kennedy gets my vote. The story behind the print.

Thanks, Artfire

Make It is blog of the day at Artfire.