Goals and Craft Show Update

I made 3 goals for the year back in December, and haven't updated them lately. So here goes:

1. I would like to double my Etsy sales to 104 for the year. That's essentially 2 a week, or 8 a month. In those terms it seems much less daunting.
As of today, I have sold 13 items on etsy. 6 items to friends/coworkers, and 2 items at a craft show. Not doing great on this goal at all, but hopefully the holiday season changes things for me.

2. Participate in at least 4 craft shows.
So far I have participated in 1 craft show. I applied to a second show, but was not accepted. Now I'm trying to pick myself up, and dust myself off, and move on to find other shows.

 3. My goals for creating products is a tough one. I will say that I need to dedicate 5 hours a week to product creation only.
This one has been extremely hard to do, as well as keep track of. The last two weeks I have probably spent 5 hours a day creating. The month before I probably spent about 5 hours a week. Before that, none. I was working 8 hour days, and commuting 3 hours a day, so I was burned out and not motivated. I also needed some adjustment with my meds, which have really helped. I'm hoping to be more dedicated on this point for the rest of the year. Creating really makes me feel better, so I should make it a priority.

 Craft Show update.
I used my square credit card reader on one customer at the craft show. I was paranoid it was going to pop out or something, so I had difficulty swiping it so it would read. But once it read, it was easy!! I set it to automatically add sales tax to orders. I didn't have to do math!!! And the customer just had to sign and it was sent through. The show was on Saturday, and the money was in my account on Monday. Awesome.

On the not so great side, I only made 2 sales at a 7 hour show. Unfortunately, I was invited to this show, so I figured they knew what would sell, and I didn't research it. It was not in an area where people had lots of disposable income. So even if the people did recognize the quality, they couldn't justify spending money on jewelry. It was also too early in the season for people to start Christmas shopping. It was also a food truck show, and I think everyone spent their money on outrageously over priced fried food.

I did however change my earring displays from my last craft show, and I love my new displays. I think they are classy, while still showing some of my personality. I also bought some bracelet and necklace displays, as well as pillow gift boxes from nilecorp.com The price was super reasonable, and quality was great.



My Handmade Earring Displays- I can actually hang 4-5 cards across.




My Handmade Earring Displays- I can actually hang 4-5 cards across.




Smaller Necklace Tree (on left) from Nilecorp.com



Pewter Bracelet Display from Nilecorp.com