As you may know, I am fairly new to the blogging world as well as owning my own business. This means that I am basically learning as I go. I have been crocheting for 12-13 years and have made crochet gifts for most of the people in my immediate family, but only started to sell items about 3 months ago. I know that “winging it” really isn’t a good business model, but hadn’t really put that knowledge to full use. Let’s put that in a better perspective: I have a very active and energetic 3 year old boy who recently decided that he was going to switch from taking daily 3 hour naps to sometimes nothing. Shot my original ideas straight out of the window. So basically, I had to squeeze everything into as little time as possible.

I needed guidance, I needed a plan. Luckily, when I was feeling very overwhelmed, a new blog post from Tami over at Tanglewood Knots popped into my inbox. You can read it here. Basically, she writes a post at the beginning of the month that outlines her goals for the month. I immediately wrote out my list of goals for May, and following Tami’s example, here they are.

DON’T BUY ANY YARN UNLESS COMMISSIONED!

Yes, on my list it is all capitalized. On May 7th I had to remind myself numerous times when I was at Ben Franklins NOT to buy yarn.

This is just a portion of my stash. A lot of it already has a designated purpose, I just haven’t made it yet. I really don’t need to buy more yarn. Is there a 12-step program for yarn? I might need to go.

Build Inventory

If I really want to sell my products, I need to have a standing inventory. I want to do local shows and markets, but I don’t have enough products for people to actually shop. I have plenty examples of my work, but people want something in hand when they leave. So I created a list of projects: 12 mug collars, 12 coffee collars, and a new American Girl dress. Some of the stash above is really scratchy and doll clothes were the main thing I could think of; I wouldn’t want to wear it, so I really don’t think anyone else would either. If you want to check out my site, here’s the link. Please feel free to send me feedback if you take a look, I am always looking to improve.

Make a UPC Label for Inventory

Following the idea of selling at shows, I thought it would be a really good idea to create a label that could be pulled off of an item when sold. A lot of patterns I use come from a variety of designers and the items made from those patterns need to give the designer credit. Also, if I want to track which items sell well, it is a lot quicker to pull a tag off than to write it down.

Make 2 Mug Collars for Jay

My husband Jay, on top of all the wonderful things he normally does, volunteered to essentially be a walking advertisement. He meets some friends every week at a coffee shop and uses a mug from home. He asked me to make him a collar so he could show it off. He also carries my business cards with him. He is wonderful, and I’m not just saying that because he follows my blog. I wanted to make him two more collars so that he can have some variety and hopefully attract more attention.

Add Collars and Headbands to Online Store

In trying to find more efficient and quicker projects to do that I can sell at lower prices, I decided to make coffee collars and headbands. I even sold some collars to my local coffee shop (I was ecstatic!), but I had not added them to my online store.

Add Watermark to all Facebook Pictures

Like I said before, I was pretty much winging it when I first launched. I posted a ton of pictures of my work, but it didn’t have my name or logo on it. That needed fixed ASAP! If people like my work, they need to know who did it.

Make a Light Tent Box

My photography skills need some improvement. I read about light tent boxes and how they can help improve the quality of your photos. I searched on Pinterest and found this. Do you have any photography advice or blogs you follow? Let me know in the comments!

Post on the Blog Once a Week

I think this one is pretty self explanatory. I have so much to get done, I am not going to try to post every day. Once a week should, hopefully, be attainable.

 

Keep crocheting, and hopefully, you’ll see another post in a week!