I think that it has been more than proven over the last several years that I have a bad case of the Gremlins.
Tech Gremlins.
They started by crashing the server where my website was originally hosted, causing mine, and Randy's various sites to go down. So Randy got himself his own server. Sadly, my site was never the same as I lack the know how to make it look like what was in my head and the money to buy a template. BUT, at least I had an @bubblycreations email address. Then this blog, then twitter. Then facebook. And now, a website that I can update easily which is hosted on Artfire. Phew!
But no sooner did I have that website up and running but my email went down. And I lost all the awesomeness that I had stored in there. Again. Right in the middle of negotioations with a potential custom paper company who porbably thinks I have flaked out compeltely. Not so. I just lost his number. After waiting awhile for the envyds site to start working again, I decided to go the ghetto route and use gmail. I can now be found at gina.bubblycreations@gmail.com.
The Gremlins have struck again. They went mobile and the sim card on the bubble phone went bad. It doesn't ring often but maybe it would if it worked. Sigh. That phone number is everywhere. I'm going to see if the AT&T store can fix it, and if not, I'm going to research pay as you go options so that I'm only paying for actual use of the phone, and so that I can have a text plan (I love to twitter by text!!). I'm already going to buy Captain Caveman out of the contract so he doesn't have to deal with it anymore.
I suppose I could have more complicated problems, so I am thankful that they are fairly minor. It's just difficult, in this tech savy mobile, internet driven society to maintain an active presence when the gremlins keep sneaking in.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Utilitarian Soap
There is a reason for this. I want you to use my soap.
I firmly believe in my product. I use what I make, and I make it to be used. While I wouldn't laugh at you for desplaying the pretty packaging (coming soon!) for a little while, what I really want you to do is to take it into the shower and rub it all over.
Because it's soap and it will clean your body. It smells good and is a little bit scrubby.
It would make me sad to come over to your house and see you saving the soap I made for a special occasion. Or displaying it for your guests to see (covered in dust). It would bring me great joy to see my soap sitting in your shower, half used and eagerly awaiting your next bath.
I make it to be used. Feeling Dirty?
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Research into online soap sales
Whew!
I have been busy. Not just life busy, but when I am able, soap busy.
Sadly, this time I'm not busy creating, I am busy researching!
So much to learn, so little time. I thought that if I finally had a website I wasn't afraid to hand over to people (which I did once, but it died) then I would sell, sell, sell! No so. It turns out that I need to wiggle my butt into the online world of soaping as well as just have a site available.
And, I need to find my nitch. I know that I have a wonderful product. There are a few things holding me back and I know that only I have the key to changing them.
I have been busy. Not just life busy, but when I am able, soap busy.
Sadly, this time I'm not busy creating, I am busy researching!
So much to learn, so little time. I thought that if I finally had a website I wasn't afraid to hand over to people (which I did once, but it died) then I would sell, sell, sell! No so. It turns out that I need to wiggle my butt into the online world of soaping as well as just have a site available.
And, I need to find my nitch. I know that I have a wonderful product. There are a few things holding me back and I know that only I have the key to changing them.
- I don't like to give out my business cards. I know, it's silly. and really dumb.
- I still haven't put my stickers on my car. WTF? That, right there, is a 10 to 50 mile per day advertising opportunity and I don't even have to pay for it!
- I have samples promised, and never sent. Once again, a, I trying to undermine myself?
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Who am I?
I frequently check the interviews on Etsy and Artfire about the people who are successfully running a craft based business from home. The ones that have made the leap and are doing what I would like to be doing.
It's scary. It's intimidating. It's ok.
THOSE people have travelled the world and lived in interesting places. (I rarely left California before I moved to Nevada) They have supportive husbands (if there's one of those hiding in my house, I have yet to find him). They started building the eiffel tower out of toothpicks when they were two. They have college degrees in design and art and live in seattle where they grow all their own organic veggies for the winter...
Well, they just aren't me.
If I were the discouragable type, I would feel discouraged. At two, I was busy chewing up the upholstery in my mom's car (see? I had a love of fabrics even then!) I was going to be an astronaut! (I'm still a little spacey...) I was going to be a scientist (all those chemistry sets. See? I liked experimenting with chemicals!) I was making happy faces with my food.
The point is, that sometimes I feel like I am nothing like those successful people busy making their dreams come true. I don't grow organic veggies, hell, I throw seeds in the garden box and try to remember to water. Sometimes my dog pees on people. How can I even compare?
I can't. Like everything I do, I have to do it my way. It might take me longer to get there, but I am enjoying the journey. And BC is not my life. Just like I stopped making Roller Derby my life because when it becomes all consuming, it's easy to forget to hang out with people and go outside to smell the flowers. I would like to continue to be a recovering workaholic. No desire to relapse.
I can be successful in my own way on my own time frame.
It's scary. It's intimidating. It's ok.
THOSE people have travelled the world and lived in interesting places. (I rarely left California before I moved to Nevada) They have supportive husbands (if there's one of those hiding in my house, I have yet to find him). They started building the eiffel tower out of toothpicks when they were two. They have college degrees in design and art and live in seattle where they grow all their own organic veggies for the winter...
Well, they just aren't me.
If I were the discouragable type, I would feel discouraged. At two, I was busy chewing up the upholstery in my mom's car (see? I had a love of fabrics even then!) I was going to be an astronaut! (I'm still a little spacey...) I was going to be a scientist (all those chemistry sets. See? I liked experimenting with chemicals!) I was making happy faces with my food.
The point is, that sometimes I feel like I am nothing like those successful people busy making their dreams come true. I don't grow organic veggies, hell, I throw seeds in the garden box and try to remember to water. Sometimes my dog pees on people. How can I even compare?
I can't. Like everything I do, I have to do it my way. It might take me longer to get there, but I am enjoying the journey. And BC is not my life. Just like I stopped making Roller Derby my life because when it becomes all consuming, it's easy to forget to hang out with people and go outside to smell the flowers. I would like to continue to be a recovering workaholic. No desire to relapse.
I can be successful in my own way on my own time frame.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Can't I just send it to you?
This world of online sales is hard. HARD. So much to remember. So cold and difficult to reach out to a customer. They have to come to me, not because they saw my store when they were out and they were intrigued, but because they saw my ad and it caught their eye on some website i may never have even heard about.
I have to worry about banners and websites and referrals. Blogging and tweeting and posting everywhere just to get my name out there and THEN, maybe they might consider buying if I have good enough PICTURES and descriptions. I have to learn to network with other crafty sorts and plaster my information all over the web in hopes that someone will follow the link. I get more referrals from chickie's blog (http://www.skitteringthoughts.com/) than anywhere else!
The descriptions are ok. They could be better, but I take pride in my writing and while I'm sure I could use some tweaking, I've never questioned my ability to describe well. I rewrite my descriptions frequently.
I am not a photographer. I try. I have a lot to learn. Sometimes, I come out with something passable but overall? My pictures look like crap. I have been reading up on product photography and have been trying to follow the suggestions. I bought a photo tent. I set up a little vinette.
Sadly, I don't have the patience to take a hundred pictures. Then go through them and pick out the best ones. Then adjust them in photoshop. I just want to make soap. With limited resources, this is not really an option. I HAVE to do everything because right now, I can't afford to pay someone else to do it!
Being a sole proprietor is so much more than just being able to make something. And I have to adapt to that in ways I never expected when I started Bubbly Creations. The marketing world has changed completely since I made my first bar. Sure, I am still going to get my best sales from farmers markets and craft shows; it is there that my customers can meet me, the soul behind the soap. They can pick up and smell and chat with me about what they want in a specialty bar of soap. Or just chat with me.
We live in an online world. I may like the security of catalogs and stamps, samples in the mail and little warm fuzzies every so often. But the truth is that most of us (myself included) do the bulk of our shopping online when we should be working. And with twitter, facebook, and all the various options out there in the cyber world, we have more opportunity to get in front of a large audience than I ever could with my little catalog.
Over the next year, I would really like to find a balance between the two. Start generating sales from my website while developing a personal relationship with the people who buy my product. I just don't think that a thank you note in the box is enough. I want to be able to talk and communicate. To reach out and touch every so often. I know that is what blogging and tweeting is all about, and I am trying to use Facebook as a tool more often. I also know that the Secret Crafters project will help, especially when we start sending out samples. The world wide web just seems so cold sometimes. And although I can talk all I want here or on twitter, I can't say that I am being heard above all the other buzz.
Hmm. Stand up. Stand out. Be heard.
All I have to do is figure out how.
I have to worry about banners and websites and referrals. Blogging and tweeting and posting everywhere just to get my name out there and THEN, maybe they might consider buying if I have good enough PICTURES and descriptions. I have to learn to network with other crafty sorts and plaster my information all over the web in hopes that someone will follow the link. I get more referrals from chickie's blog (http://www.skitteringthoughts.com/) than anywhere else!
The descriptions are ok. They could be better, but I take pride in my writing and while I'm sure I could use some tweaking, I've never questioned my ability to describe well. I rewrite my descriptions frequently.
I am not a photographer. I try. I have a lot to learn. Sometimes, I come out with something passable but overall? My pictures look like crap. I have been reading up on product photography and have been trying to follow the suggestions. I bought a photo tent. I set up a little vinette.
Sadly, I don't have the patience to take a hundred pictures. Then go through them and pick out the best ones. Then adjust them in photoshop. I just want to make soap. With limited resources, this is not really an option. I HAVE to do everything because right now, I can't afford to pay someone else to do it!
Being a sole proprietor is so much more than just being able to make something. And I have to adapt to that in ways I never expected when I started Bubbly Creations. The marketing world has changed completely since I made my first bar. Sure, I am still going to get my best sales from farmers markets and craft shows; it is there that my customers can meet me, the soul behind the soap. They can pick up and smell and chat with me about what they want in a specialty bar of soap. Or just chat with me.
We live in an online world. I may like the security of catalogs and stamps, samples in the mail and little warm fuzzies every so often. But the truth is that most of us (myself included) do the bulk of our shopping online when we should be working. And with twitter, facebook, and all the various options out there in the cyber world, we have more opportunity to get in front of a large audience than I ever could with my little catalog.
Over the next year, I would really like to find a balance between the two. Start generating sales from my website while developing a personal relationship with the people who buy my product. I just don't think that a thank you note in the box is enough. I want to be able to talk and communicate. To reach out and touch every so often. I know that is what blogging and tweeting is all about, and I am trying to use Facebook as a tool more often. I also know that the Secret Crafters project will help, especially when we start sending out samples. The world wide web just seems so cold sometimes. And although I can talk all I want here or on twitter, I can't say that I am being heard above all the other buzz.
Hmm. Stand up. Stand out. Be heard.
All I have to do is figure out how.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
GRR!
I'm having trouble with my email again. Sigh. The fellow who has been helping me with webby stuff just had a baby so I hesitate to mention it. So. I will be using gina.bubblycreations@gmail.com for a bit till I figure out why the site hosting my email has been down for maintenance for the past month...
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