Yesterday I started the blog and told you how long it's been since I touched my store. Today I pulled out my handy notebook and tried to figure out just what I do or want to do. I want to make elegant jewelry that a lady would wear for it's beauty and the sentiment behind it. That means I'm marketing elegant jewelry as gifts. Hm, marketing directly to a buyer is hard enough. How do I convince a lady that this necklace is exactly what she's looking to buy her sister, friend, or daughter? I'm not even thinking of how I'll market to husbands, sons, or boyfriends. However, I finally managed to get what I think is a basic mission statement, of sorts. The point of this step was to create an explanation of what I plan to sell to whom and why they should chose me over a competitor. I know that this part of the branding process will change a few times before I put anything online, but it is a good idea to sit down and think first. I knew that what I had in the store wasn't what I wanted to work on for a long period of time (I barely lasted a month working on that store). I also had a basic idea of how I wanted my product received and the basic materials I want to use. I just had to figure out a basic target audience. I may have an awesome product but if I'm marketing it to the wrong set of people or trying to market to everyone, the people who are likely to buy my product aren't likely to see the ads. The lucky sighting resulting in a buy every few months (given my budget and the other steps in the buying process, I'd get lucky with that if marketing to the wrong group), isn't worth skipping the step of figuring out a market likely to buy your product. I'll go into this more when we get to the Target Market step. Now I just want a very brief idea of who I'm selling for. At the moment my target market is a lady looking for a lovely handmade gift for her elegant friend. I'll add age, hangouts, hobbies, and more later. For now I can easily say what I do and who should care as well as why they should care.
Now I'm ready to go to the next step of explaining what my products are, how they're made, what they're priced, and other product descriptions I need in order to feel comfortable with my product plan. Knowing roughly what price I'll use will help me decide target market, what quality my supplies will be, how much time I should spend on a piece to make a profit, and a few other production costs. Don't undervalue your time. If you are on Etsy you are creating one of a kind products others don't have the time or skills to create. Be proud of what you create and price it accurately.
Tip: the generally accepted pricing guide is to add up the time spent on a design (the actual time spent perfecting a piece or plan may be divided and split out over the whole line instead of putting the design time all in the first piece) along with the materials and add those two up. Then add some money for overhead (the cost of advertising, web fees, utilities at your studio, maybe rent, and office supplies are spread out throughout all the products) and a small profit. That should give you what is called the wholesale price. If you ever sell to a wholesaler, that is the price you give them. That way you still make a profit but they get it for cheaper than retail. For the retail price, or what you would sell it on Etsy for, double the wholesale price. Here is the article from the Etsy Blog explaining it better.
With the first two steps jotted down on paper, it's time to get my notebook next to my computer and figure out who my competition is and how I'm different from them. I'll explain that more next time. A very important part of these steps is to have that notebook. If you want to have a document of the computer or a bunch of post-it notes to write on, that's okay. The point is that you write down your decisions as you go. It's true that you will probably rewrite the early decisions a few times during the process, writing down your thoughts clarifies them and helps you remember them in the future. The more things you have written down, the better your foundation and understanding you will be as you work through the rest of these questions.
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