More Whole Foods Woes

Why oh why is Whole Foods so hard to work with???

Just when I thought I'd licked the systems issue, it now turns out that I'm not "set up electronically" so buyers still can't order through IRMA even though all my information is there.  Once again, I have contacted Julie to resolve the issue and I hope she can do it soon.

I'm frustrated and discouraged, but persistent.  I've invested way too much time and energy to give up now.  Plus I'm getting very positive responses from the stores!

My first WFM order - thank you, Chapel  Hill!

I think I should have sent my UPC labels and I forgot to do that (no wonder, since it's been over a year-and-a-half since I got the information about that).  I'll need to call Rebekka on Monday to see what to do about that.

Persistence pays!

One and a half years after getting the green light from Whole Foods' southern region, I'm finally fully in their systems and made my first sale yesterday!  Thank you, Rebekka from  Chapel Hill!

Got the contact list from Vince so was able to contact everyone by email; I think that's their preferred means of communication, they're all so busy and even buyers and team leaders are on the floor with customers.  I didn't expect any sales at this point; I was going for meetings with the Atlanta stores and samples to the rest.  What a great surprise it was to receive a sales order the very same day!

Needless to say, these are going to be the best sandwich bags I've ever made.

Just goes to show, persistence really does pay off.  So many times I just wanted to let it go; I couldn't stand the thought of contacting the systems people one more time; attempting to contact the stores one more time only to be told, again, that I wasn't in the system...This is validation and motivation to keep pushing.

Launching 2012 - but it's not easy

I finally took my etsy shop off vacation mode and put most of my remaining items on 50% off sale.  Have sold 5 items so far, not bad for January.  Would like to unload more of the bags, especially the shoulder bags that I'm no longer going to produce.

We are in full relocation mode so have not been able to prepare much of anything for February and specifically for Valentine's Day.  Well, there's always next year...

The machines will go to Ohio on Monday so I'll be able to set up the workshop there, hopefully in a more organized and efficient manner.  Then I can start planning my work and working my plan.

Great Holiday Season

I'm having a terrific holiday season on etsy this year.  I'll do a year-to-year comparison once it's over, but clearly the level of activity is way up.  Question is, why?  Is my stuff better?  Are my photos better (yes)?  Is the economy finally coming back?  Are people more into handmade than mass-produced?  Lots of questions; so far, no answers, but I'll be looking for them.

Wholesale-wise, on the other hand, I totally missed the boat.  Should have been touting my wine bags back in October; not sure why I wasn't other than the distraction of Oberlin.  I admit that I found it virtually impossible to conduct any business while I was there - mainly because we were working on the house from early morning to evening.  Have made myself a marketing/sales/production/administrative calendar so I don't get caught again.  At least I learned that Valentine's Day is the next viable opportunity for wine bag sales, so that'll be the push in January.  If I can find the time away from the house.

Business card case sold

I should go out of town more often; seems like I always sell something.  This time it's one of my brown striped business card cases:  Brown with cream stripes - sold!.  Unfortunately, I think it's one that I sold as part of a wholesale order so I'll have to make one - if I can.  Hopefully I have more of that particular fabric.  I'll get on that on Tuesday.

Aha Connection inquiry

Got a call from someone inquiring about custom embroidery pricing, having seen my listing in the Aha Connection!  She thought she'd have several items in the next few weeks.  It's a start...

iPad Keyboard Dimensions

Had an inquiry this morning on etsy as to whether this iPad bag would accommodate a wireless keyboard.  Do you think I could find the dimensions anywhere?  The best I could do was thickness, but no other dimensions were available, even on the Apple website.

Anyway, don't think it's a problem since this bag is an inch wide.  My sleeves are a snugger fit, however; I wonder how many people are purchasing keyboards to go with their iPads? 

Etsy Search Ads - Discontinued

After 30 days, the verdict - for my shop - is in:  etsy search ads aren't worth it.

Statistics as follows:
- Spent $14.65 for 14,165 impressions, a little over $.001/impression
- For that, I got 56 views, 2 "favorites," and 1 sale for $23, or $3.82/view, $7.33/favorite, $14.65/sale

By contrast, in the same period for the non-advertised portion of the shop, I had 1,400 views, 36 "favorites," and 7 sales, for which I paid nothing.

The ROI on search ads is clearly not acceptable.  To be discontinued, immediately.

Quick update:  ads re-started yesterday so will continue until Oct. 26.  Damn!  Yet another reason not to like these search ads.  Hope you got a nice infusion of cash, etsy - I have a feeling these won't be around much longer.

Search Ads cont.

Now up to $3 in spend with still only 1 sale.  This idea is looking less good every day.  Have tried searching using some of the top key words - after looking at the first 10 pages, I saw only 1 of my items.  Not impressive.  Was planning to try this out for a month but may stop soon unless sales (not impressions, not views, not favorites) pick up.

Back to Work

Just back  yesterday from 2 weeks spent in Oberlin and Paris.

I should go away more often:  I had 4 sales while I was gone.  One was a sleeve that I had to embroider and send in time for it to arrive tomorrow.  Meaning that I spent $17 on postage for something that I collected $29 on.  But as it was one of the NGTC returns, I'm just happy to get it out of inventory.

Have a business card case to make, but the main activity this afternoon will be the mock-up passport cover for American University.  The logo embroidery looks good on the screen, but only a sew-out will tell if it's really ok or not.  I hope so, because although they were very nice about delaying the sample by 2 weeks - thanks to Qdigitizing not meeting their commitment - I don't want to to have to put them off any longer.

Speaking of Qdigitizing, this is the second time I've had issues with them from a timing standpoint.  I'm going to have to try someone else, next time.

Paine College

Back in the saddle after trips to Oberlin and Natapoc and a visit from Sarah.

To my great chagrin, I never got around to canceling the one-woman vendor show at Paine College in Augusta.  I reluctantly agreed to sell directly to students, then immediately regretted it and planned to explain that this was not my current business model to the bookstore manager there.  However, I didn't get around to calling so I was stuck.

Despite the fact that it was a 5-hour round trip drive for 3 hours of selling, it wasn't a bad day.  It wasn't a great day, either, but I did make some sales and the students were very enthusiastic.  Antoinette has asked for suggestions of how to move forward and I plan to propose the following:  She buys 12 sleeves from me (my minimum order) to have in the store.  If students want to buy shoulder bags or have more variety, she will direct them to my etsy shop.  I will provide a coupon code that will discount the etsy items to match her retail price.  She will also link her web site to the etsy site and provide the coupon code.  Seems like a win-win to me...

Friendly, nice, polite students!

My Catalog

I called about 5 wine stores yesterday and had interest from 2.  Not a bad rate, actually, although so far they've only asked for information.  As usual, it's one step forward, one step back, as I realized I needed to update and reformat my catalog.  That took me off sales and into marketing, but it was a necessary step as I'd promised my catalog to Pearson's.

It's done, at least as much as it needs to be to send to wine store buyers, because I guess they'll only care about those 2 pages.  (I do need to get some more samples made, though.)  But I feel like it needs a total overhaul before I go back to the bookstores.

I really want to get back to the original vision:  colorful, simple, and cheap.  Student budgets, right?  I want to refocus on a single layout - vertical, no shoulder strap - with crazy color and pattern combinations.  That's what's going to differentiate my sleeves from the others out there.  What I need is 2-3 samples in each size so that the buyers get a feel for the design, which they will then order by size and quantity.  No more trying to duplicate ones that I've already made with fabric resources that are often very limited.

Unfortunately, the samples in my catalog don't reflect this vision at all.  It's a hodge podge of old things that never sold and new things that I've made with the etsy market in mind.  There's kind of a unifying design - flap tucking into a front strap - but even that isn't 100% consistent and I have some with velcro, some with buttons.  Plus the combinations are too tame.

So, I think the plan is this:  I need to continue calling the wine stores and I should make up 2 more samples:  wine is the answer, and happy 21st birthday.  This I will do today.

Then, I need to make 10-15 sleeve samples with the new (old) design in 5 standard sizes:  ereader, ipad, netbook, notebook, and large.  These will go into the front of the catalog.  In the back, I'll put the old stuff which can be ordered, of course, but only in quantities of one.  I've got some time for this because back-to-school (BTS) ordering doesn't begin until June or July.  Making a bunch of them now, though, will let me find out what my rock-bottom wholesale price can be and still make a little money.

Too bad I already cut up so much material, and mostly for bags, not sleeves.  (The sleeves have to be wider because they don't have straps to provide additional width.)  Well, I can just cut down a larger size to make the smaller size; I don't sell many of the really large laptop sleeves anyway.

And what about etsy?  I guess I'll keep some stuff out there but really it's just too massive.  I posted a 25% off spring sale on FB (which goes to Twitter) but I'll be amazed if anyone uses the coupon code.  I'd like to get out of retail sales altogether.

Working on the Sales

Have decided to abandon the college bookstores for the time being and am really focused on Whole Foods.  So far most are positive although there is one that doesn't quite see the tie-in, and one that I absolutely can't get a hold of.  But that makes 5 good prospects including the one that seems committed.  (She'd better be; I already spent the big bucks for the UPC company code.)

Also threw out a couple of feelers to sites selling wine accessories for my wine bottle gift bags.  One of them is The Wine Enthusiast; a long shot, I know, but what the heck.  What I need to do next is visit some local wine stores.  Seems that Pearson's in Buckhead is a good place to start.  Also that place over on Sandy Springs Circle.  I need to pick a day, map my route, and hit the road. 

Not to procrastinate, but tomorrow is Sunny's vet appointment, Thursday is my networking meeting, and it seems that Friday might not be the best day to visit a liquor store.  I'm guessing that Mondays are quiet, though, so I'm going to target next Monday and spend today figuring out my route.

New Sandwich Bags

I'm very excited about my new sandwich bags - I feel I've finally nailed the design.  It's more consistent with the rest of my shop, with its tuck-in flap, plus it encases the plastic layer between two layers of fabric so it never touches the food directly.

I recontacted all the local Whole Foods stores and have an appointment with a buyer tomorrow!  Three asked me to send information, two are interested for back-to-school so will recontact in May/June, one was not in, I'll give her a try back this afternoon.

How cool would it be if Whole Foods picked these up???!!!

Should I ban UK customers?

My first UK customer didn't know about customs fees - neither did I, my bad - so I ended up refunding $22 that I shouldn't have.

My second UK customer decided she didn't like the black material used for her sleeve, and felt that the padding wasn't protective e nough, although the type of padding was clearly described in the product listing.  so I have to refund her money plus shipping, which puts me $10 in the hole.

I'm starting to get a bad taste in my mouth about our friends in England.

Wine & Jazz Festival

Against my better judgment, I have decided to participate as a vendor at the Atlanta Wine & Jazz Festival (click on the post title to go to the web site).  I initially turned down the "invitation," but later reconsidered when they lowered the fee and pointed out the prime demographics of the attendees - affluent, educated...

Still not convinced that it will be worthwhile but I'm willing to be proven wrong.  I've asked Muriel of mumuboutique to join me again, and we're going to strategize our product offerings this Thursday.  Worst case, I'll get to listen to my favorite music.  Best case, I'll have some good sales.  Somewhere in the middle, I'll give out some business cards and hopefully get email addresses from some likely customers.

I don't know; I never buy stuff when I go to events like this.  But then again, I'm not normal when it comes to shopping.  Guess it's worth a try; but if it doesn't work out, this is the last time!

A(nother) New Start

Feeling very motivated today to get things done - after essentially 2 weeks off - and get cracking on the sales.  Always helps to have sold something on etsy, as I did today - and of course, the fact that it's one of the returned sleeves is icing on the cake.  About to head down to my studio to finish the 2 iPad bags I started and customize the sleeve; this afternoon will be dedicated to wine bags (more about that in another post).

"Re-inspired" about Networking

On Saturday I dropped off 7 bags at Re-Inspiration, a store in west Atlanta that specializes in art and items made from recycled materials.  Kind of right up my alley, doncha think?  Owners Brooke and Julie could not be nicer, and I love the display they did.  (Photos were taken by phone and don't do it justice.)  Best of all, their one-year-anniversary open house is this coming weekend so hopefully there will be lots of traffic.

And here's the beauty of networking.  How did I find out about them?  Well, a couple of months ago I was asked to participate in a focus group for WCLK, my favorite jazz station, at Clark Atlanta University.  Each of us had an opportunity to introduce ourselves at the beginning of the session.  At the session was a young woman who was helping the facilitator by taking notes.  Afterward, she asked me if I was familiar with Re-inspiration.  I wasn't, but she encouraged me to look them up.  And I did.  If all goes well, I'll have another great networking story to tell.

My other story, of course, is how I linked up with a fabric manufacturer here in Atlanta from whom I get all kinds of wonderful fabrics.  Started with Sandra in my Dunwoody Coffee Connection networking group, who suggested I contact Sustainable Pattie about blogging about me, who did, whose blog was read by Lisa, who is the office manager for the fabric company.  Out of the blue she contacted me and a partnership was formed that enables them to responsibly dispose of their remnants, samples, and discontinued fabrics while providing me with a free source of really excellent fabrics.

I hate to network but, dammit, networking works!

Vendor Show - Worth It?

Whether the vendor show at the Alabama College Bookstore Association (ACBA) meeting yesterday was worth it or not from a sales standpoint remains to be seen.  What I believe, though, is that it's got to be more valuable to meet people in person and to show interest in their group than to pick up a phone and cold call.  Ok, that's a no-brainer.  Still, it's good to reinforce platitudes with experience from time to time.

Other vendors kept coming over and asking if I'd written any orders.  I didn't expect to take any orders - I didn't even bring order forms!  For me, it was an opportunity to show my stuff, hand out my card, give a little gift (a card wallet), collect cards, and talk to people.  Did all that, and more:

• One person did give me a custom order (although he didn't pay for it yet)
• A potential customer gave me an idea for a new product, perfect for the military student body at her school
• Another person wants to organize her colleagues to buy 12 items for Christmas giving in order to get the wholesale prices.  Fine with me!  I don't care what they do with them.
• A vendor, who shall remain nameless and blameless, offered to send me her database with college store contact information
• Another vendor is going to put me in touch with a mid-states conference organizer
• Made some great contacts at NACS, based in my home town of Oberlin, and heard a very inspirational story

So was it worth it?  Absolutely!  What would I do differently?

• Work harder on my display, in advance.  Dom rigged up something with coat hangers that was ok considering I asked him to do it the night before he was going out of town.  With more time, though, I'm sure he could have done something better.
• Maybe bring some order forms?  Doesn't hurt to give people the idea that the stuff is for sale.
• Bringing the iPad with a pdf of the catalog was a good idea that worked well, but need to get a stand for it.
• Could have skipped the opening night dinner, especially considering that I had to drive home that night to take care of the chickens and be back the next morning by 8.  Was going to blow off breakfast but the cheap side of me vetoed that idea as I'd already paid for it.  Good thing, too, because I had the opportunity to introduce myself to the entire group at once and talk a bit about my company and products.  Would have appreciated a little advance notice on that, but it was fine.

Otherwise, I think I did all right.  Looking forward to the Georgia equivalent (GACS) next week.