In My Studio: Updating my Packaging

So Handmade's New Packaging

In January I decided to give my packaging a much needed update. Getting the right packaging can benefit your craft business in many ways. I decided to go with these recycled boxes and mailers from EcoEnclose.

By spending a little more time and money on the end product could have a big difference in your brand identity at the end of the day.

Great packaging can:

1. Get your products 'noticed' in a sea of vendors at a craft fair or in the Etsy search pages.
2. Increase the perceived value of your products, enabling you to increase your profits
3. Be informative- giving the customer info about the product and your company for potential future orders.
4. Make your line of products more cohesive
5. Elevate your brand and make it memorable

Great Packaging from The Pudgy Rabbit

In order to achieve this the packaging should:

1. Be thought of as an integral part of the product and not just an afterthought.
2. It should reflect or complement your brand, your ethos and your style
3. Be easily replicated for future items
4. Affordable
5. Not too time consuming
6. As green as possible

Some different ideas for creating your own unique, eye catching and memorable packaging could include making your own stamps or block prints, printed materials, stickers, fabric bags and ribbons or even including a small 'freebie' with your product.

I posted on this blog a little while ago a tutorial to make your own fabric labels. This technique could be applied to making your own packaging ribbon and labels. Click this link to access the tutorial.

Also adding a gift wrap option in your listings can help customers who would like to send the purchase direct to the recipient and its a great way of adding value to your shop.

Adding a Gift Wrapping Option is a great way to add value to your Etsy Shop

Good luck and Good Making!

Good things come in small packages!

Sarah Omura - SO Handmade

In My Studio: Things I am loving this month

I wanted to share with you some of the things I have been loving in this the month of May:

My new Etsy Shop banner made on Canva

1) CANVA: I discovered Canva through recommendations and have been using it to design my new Etsy shop banner, new business cards and instagram posts. Canva is a website that enables you to create all manner of social media posts, etsy banners, facebook icons and also gives you the ability to create an image to your own custom size. It will give many different options to create the image of your choice, loads of different fonts and templates. There are many free templates and some which you can purchase for a couple of dollars. After your image is completed you are able to download it for free and use it whenever you need. It makes creating your shop branding fun and very easy.

Lucky Break Consulting

2) LELA BARKER on Periscope: I have been enjoying Lela Barkers periscopes this month. Lela Barker from Lucky Break Consulting is a business strategist for makers and designers. During May she has been doing a 10 day Periscope marathon talking and answering questions all about wholesale. Whether wholesale is right for you, pricing your products to succeed and pitching to a retailer. All her content is superb, very down to earth and useful if you are thinking of going into the wholesale market. All these periscopes are available to watch free from her website www.luckybreakconsulting.com/periscope

Some of my labels made on Avery 

3) AVERY: Yes the label people! I have been printing out lots of labels recently for packaging by products and I have discovered the Avery template website is incredible! After you purchase your Avery labels go to this page and input the code for your new labels. Use the website to design your custom labels or use the free templates. You can even download your Canva design. The website will then populate the whole page for you and you can print them out and save them if you might need them again.

                                 

                                        

4) DEAR SUGAR RADIO: Lastly I have loved been listening to this podcast recently. On this podcast Steve Almond and Cheryl Strayed give listeners advice to their varying problems. I love the sensible, empathetic and pragmatic advice they give using their own lives and experiences to help. 

Good Luck and Good Making!

Sarah

So Handmade

In My Studio: Craft Fair Preparations

Hudson Valley Etsy Team Holiday Craft Fair in 2012

This time last year I was frantically trying to get products together to participate in my first ever holiday craft fair with my business So Handmade. The plethora of holiday fairs start as early as October and happen almost every weekend until Christmas. These holiday fairs can be the most lucrative time of year for selling and can also provide a great opportunity to network and market your business. I learned some valuable lessons starting out on this circuit last year so want to share some of challenges and tips for any new sellers out there:

1. Which Holiday Fairs: Choosing the holiday fairs to participate in is the first challenge. Balancing the sometimes high cost of a spot with the potential for earnings. Wondering if doing the local church/ school fair would be beneficial or a waste of time. As a newbie to this scene I don't have any great advice for choosing your fairs but have found that talking to fellow vendors is a great way to gauge which fairs are good and which to avoid. Don't overstretch yourself by applying for one every weekend between now and Christmas, pace yourself. On the weekends in between go and visit local fairs to see if doing them the following year might be worthwhile. Look at the other potential costs involved of doing the fairs such as the distance away from home, hotel costs if it's a two day affair etc.
      
2. Plan your space. Once you have decided which fairs to do look at the size and shape of the booth you have been allocated, mark it out on the floor of your house with masking tape. Arrange your booth furniture in the space allocated making sure that you are aware of where the flow of people will come in and out making your space easy to negotiate. A booth that's too cluttered will put people off from entering, make sure it's open enough to entice customers. Does your set up require an electrical outlet and where will it be?
   Remember to give yourself a designated space and a chair to sit, the fairs can stretch on and on and on and being comfortable is important. Take photos of your mock up so you can easily replicate it on the day. Finally make sure all the booth furniture is manageable and will fit into your car, doing extra trips costs more and wastes precious set up time.
   
   
3. Tablecloths: Make sure you have tablecloths that cover the front and any visible sides of your tables all the way to the ground. This makes your space look more professional and also gives a great storage space for things you don't want to be on view. Choose the color wisely to best show off your products.
   
   
4. Presentation: Work our beforehand where your products are going to go and if you need special stands/ baskets for them. Play around with the layout and once you are happy take photos so you can remember. Keep your products clean, ironed  and stored carefully, presenting dusty, creased products at the fair will not help your sales.
   
   
5. Branding: Label your stand with your business name as visible as possible. Banners are a great way of doing this, Staples and other stationary stores are often giving good deals on printing them. Keep business cards easily accessible to visitors and put one in every customers bag. Donating an item to the obligatory raffle  is also a good way of getting visibility for you business. Remember to have a visitors book for e-mail addresses so you can start to build up a mailing list.
   
   

   

   Banner for Rockerbox Garlic

6. Price your products with labels that are easily visible, do this before the show to save time but also remember extra labels for any products you missed or for any changes/ discounts you want to make on the day.
   
   
7. Payment Options: Remember to bring with you a cash box with as much petty cash as possible, at least $50-$100 in a variety of different denominations and change. Look into ways that you can accept non-cash payments, this might be on a smart phone or ipad with a square register or similar but be aware of the additional costs. Remember to add the states sales tax to every purchase made, bring a calculator to easily work this out. Register online to file these payments.
   
   
8. Be your own advertisement: If possible wear one of your products (if it's jewelry or apparel) and remember to tell people that its available. 
   
   

   

   Me wearing one of my half aprons at a holiday craft fair

   
   
9. Don't Forget:

• Plastic or paper bags for customers purchases and packaging such as bubble wrap or tissue paper if needed
• Business cards, banners and other branding items 
• Calculator, receipt book and notebook to keep track of sale
• Pens, pins, safety pins, scissors, string, tape, small sewing kit 
• Food and drink to keep you going and a book for slow times 
• Extension lead for electrical supply if needed

10. Network: Lastly don't forget to tell people where you will be at the weekend, make sure all your family and friends are going to visit the holiday fair and especially your booth. Post details of your schedule online and encourage visitors with promises of cookies!

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.

Alexander Graham Bell

Good Luck and Good Making!

Sarah Omura

So Handmade

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SOhandmade1

Packaging : Part I - INSPIRATION

If you're a frequent Etsy shopper I'm sure you've received purchases that arrived in packages almost too pretty to throw away.    Since most Etsy sellers almost never meet their customers in person, the way you package and ship your products says something about your shop - make sure you're saying something amazing!

Providing nicely packaged orders will help make your shop appear professional, promote repeat business for your shop, and increase the value appearance of your products.

In this weekly 3-part series we will look at examples of nicely packaged orders, discuss how to evaluate your own packaging, and provide resources for packaging materials.

Packaging Inspiration from HVNY Sellers

How you package your items will depend on what you have to deliver, but don't be afraid to get creative with supplies and use this as an opportunity to show off your brand.

Below you'll see examples of using promotional post cards, pin-back buttons and stickers to customize otherwise standard packaging supplies.  We also show a few examples of how to present jewelry using traditional jewelry boxes and others using less conventional containers. 

Wicked Mint

Tickled Pink Knits

Sweet Olive Jewelry

Anjali Creations

Esthera Guirre

Tink's Treasure

Charms of Faith

Next week we'll discuss how to evaluate your current packaging situation and think about ways to make it even better.

Have you made any Etsy purchases and been thrilled with the presentation?  We'd love to hear your stories and ideas.