Trying My Hand At Selling What I Sew

Well I did it. I listed one of my tote bags for sale today! I really don't know whether I hope it sells or hope it doesn't! I made it for myself, but I am so curious to know if there is a market for them. I could have a little side business...

Listing

Advertise My Stuff through HMN? (sewing)

Crazy Daisy is thinking again. Uh-oh. I am a member of the Holistic Moms Network, a nation-wide group of, well, holistic minded moms. Every year, this group has a big conference in NJ. I have never been to it, but am very hopeful to be able to attend this fall. I have been receiving emails about it recently. One such email listed ways for people who sell items that might appeal to the holistically minded to advertise their businesses. There are a few ways, but one particular one got my brain moving. A person can pay ($75.00) to have certain items placed in the "goody" bags that each participant at the conference will receive. Now because these folks are environmentally minded, no paper (including business cards) is accepted. (How cool is that?) But people can put logo items in, such as pens, magnets, and so forth. And that got me thinking that I could do something like that with my shop's email address on them. And of course that would mean that I would have to stock the shop with something that such minded folks would be interested in. And THAT got me thinking about ideas such as........ a Go-Paperless Kit. I would, I figure, have to stock the shop with kits that cost something. I'm not going to be able to repay myself for the up-front costs if I'm selling individual items at a low cost. That would take a lot of sales. But if I put together kits that maybe cost $50.00 each, or a variety of kits, ranging from $25.00-$50.00 or more, perhaps I could make it work. Hm. Am I nuts? There is something to lose here. For one thing, money. I could lost the cost of having the items placed in the bags. I would have to order them, of course, and mail them, too. Then if I had any sales, it would take a few to break even, then start to earn. And so forth. So it's a bit of a risk. However, I also have the regular Etsy shoppers to market to. And I have ways of promoting my shop around too. I dunno. It's also a lot of time commitment, and history has definitely shown that I lose interest in making the same item over and over again. However, that is what I had planned to do with fleece hats for a fall craft show anyhow. So. Hm. Maybe the thing to do is to take a month or two, make up a couple of kits, and see how easy it would be to make a bunch up before October. Or maybe I'm overdoing it. Maybe I should make a kit or two and see how they fare in the shop, before I invest a bunch of money in advertising something that won't sell. That feels like the place to start. I've got time. If they do well, I can proceed from there.

It keeps me moving.