March 2018
26/2/18 - 4/3/18
26/2/18 - 4/3/18
- I had a conversation online about using commas in Etsy listing titles and I'm still confused about it. I told another shop owner that I found it better when I started using commas to separate my keywords, rather than having no punctuation. I've heard that pipes | or dashes - can work too. Then I tried looking into it to see if there was a definitive answer and found lots of people saying you don't need punctuation at all. I still don't know! I should probably experiment by trying a few different methods out?!
- I had a custom order for some bridesmaid mirrors with orchids on instead of my usual flower. It was fun to draw an orchid and I loved the finished result, I will have to make some more to put in my shop.
- March includes #MarchMeetTheMaker on Instagram, so I started taking and uploading daily photos to my @giftingmoon and @happyscatter Instagram accounts. I saw an increase in followers and 'likes', and it was great to check out other people's photos too.
- SNOW! WE hardly ever get good snow in Dorset so it was very exciting to get some. The kids had 2 snow-days off school and we went sledding on one of them. So I didn't get much work done at the end of the week, but it was so worth it, and totally one of the reasons I like working for myself!
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| Some of my #MarchMeetTheMaker photos |
- The week started with me frantically finishing World Book Day costumes for my two kids - it had been postponed because of the snow but I still barely finished them in time!
- I had a custom order request for a stencil from another Dorset Team Member which was exciting, I love helping others turn their ideas into a reality.
- I had lots of orders for bags and mirrors this week which kept me busy.
- The week ended with Mother's Day. I didn't get as many orders for Mother's Day as I did last year. I know that a mug of mine was shared on buzzfeed last year which really helped, so next year I maybe need to look into advertising? I spent Mother's Day eating pancakes and playing monopoly!
12/3/18 - 18/3/18
- I found out I'd made it into the Dorset Team Spring and Christmas fairs, and a Rainbows and Stars Market Night on Facebook (all with my Gifting Moon shop). It made me feel super excited as it's always good to have things to work towards! I also wanted to design some new things for them so it made me do lots of drawing this week!
- The positive feeling encouraged me to start a brand rep search on Instagram, something I'd been wanting to do for over a year. I was basically asking if anyone wanted free stuff in return for posting photos on Instagram which I could also share on my social media. I just had to hope someone would apply...
- The end of the week was taken over by party preparations for my daughter's 10th birthday. We were planning games and crafts, and cleaning the house, and shopping, for days!
- It also snowed again at the end of the week, so we had some more fun playing outside in it!
19/3/18 - 25/3/18
- The 19th was actually my daughter's birthday, and my sister was here for it. We played board games and ate too much!
- Okay, don't judge me, but A LOT of this week was spent binge-watching Stranger Things on Netflix. We watched 2 whole seasons in about 4 days, me and my sister even stayed up until 3am on the last night she was here so we could finish season 2. Warning: this programme is addictive! I kept up with my orders for the week just fine, but I didn't get much forward-planning done.
- This is also the week I completely failed at #MarchMeetTheMaker. I decided not to worry about it too much, and not to try and catch up, because it would just stress me out.
- I made a snap-decision to try Fiver Friday for the first time, offering a mug for £5 instead of the usual £8. I didn't get any orders from it though. I will need to try again and maybe build-up to it a bit more beforehand.
- I made (with the help of my husband) some new stock for The Etches Collection in Kimmeridge. It was t-shirts, which is something new for us to make. They were hard to make but looked awesome in the end.
26/3/18 - 1/3/18
- This week my Etsy shops seemed to have tumbleweed blowing through them - just 4 very small sales. This wasn't too bad, as through my Happy Scatter shop I had lots of stencils to cut for the Lollipop Box Club, a craft subscription box that regularly ask me to make items for the kits.
- When I wasn't cutting stencils I was spring-cleaning the house as we had family visiting for Easter. I even cleaned the oven and scrubbed lots of corners of cupboards and the shower and things. My house looked quite shiny by the time our guests arrived!
Don't forget to join us next week for the next in our Business Branding series!
