That's it I give up. My website has met its end untimely maybe but I feel so much better for getting rid of it. To be frank it was like that blessed albatross round my neck. So it has gone! I may foray into cyber world again sometime in the future but not now I just don't get it!!!
Gonna concentrate on beadies for now and sorting out my technique a bit more and developing my skills.
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Saturday, 22 March 2008
woo hoo only 4 days since my last post!!!
wow! 4 days since my last post not bad eh!!! STILL not got into studio to do some bead making but have managed to get 3 items of jewellery made!! and priced them. so much better now I have got precise stock lists with unit prices on them! I have broken down stringing equipment to price per cm some of em work out stupid at 0.001p per cm but as my hubby says I gotta cover my expenses.
The thing I am finding hard is what to mark up prices to in order to sell! Initially I though I would just double stuff so if it cost a fiver to make then sell it for a tenner keep it simple. Then I saw a discussion on Frit Happens that suggested three times price to make and with perfectly good rationale for this mark up! This does not make me comfortable though for many reasons! For example I bought a chain maille kit from Tania at maille queen just to have a go and I made a gorgeous byzantine bracelet that I do not take off at all I love it but I digress....it cost me about £25 to buy the kit so working on principle of triple I would sell it for £75 people just would not buy this at that price. I know it is handmade an all that but £75!!!!!!!!! I think now that pricing is all about having a principle and then being flexible within that principle. It is about having an idea of what the competition are selling their work for and not undercutting them cos I should value my work as well but it is also about not pricing myself out of the market. This is one business that is not going to make anyone a millionaire, in actual fact all I want to do is make enough money to keep my in equipment!!! and upgrade occasionally! Goodness pricing is one thing I do not like doing!!!
One other thing before I sign off for the night.....I think I am about to take the plunge with the website thing. My BIL designed my site for me and I am totally grateful cos I am not techie minded etc. He has done a fab job but I have got to the point where I want to be able to change things and revamp bits etc and I can't do html....and on top of that he has decided to charge me for the service! Not a lot but it will soon add up and I refuse to use my personal money to do this that is why I got a business account! Anyways I found mr.site takeaway and although there appear to be glitches (what hasn't) I have decided to give it a go. Haven't had the guts to speak to my BIL though he is going to be pee'd with me and I don't want him to cos I am genuinely grateful but I have learnt stuff and want to do things myself!!!
Oh well I will sort this out, better go for now ranted enough!!!
TTFN
The thing I am finding hard is what to mark up prices to in order to sell! Initially I though I would just double stuff so if it cost a fiver to make then sell it for a tenner keep it simple. Then I saw a discussion on Frit Happens that suggested three times price to make and with perfectly good rationale for this mark up! This does not make me comfortable though for many reasons! For example I bought a chain maille kit from Tania at maille queen just to have a go and I made a gorgeous byzantine bracelet that I do not take off at all I love it but I digress....it cost me about £25 to buy the kit so working on principle of triple I would sell it for £75 people just would not buy this at that price. I know it is handmade an all that but £75!!!!!!!!! I think now that pricing is all about having a principle and then being flexible within that principle. It is about having an idea of what the competition are selling their work for and not undercutting them cos I should value my work as well but it is also about not pricing myself out of the market. This is one business that is not going to make anyone a millionaire, in actual fact all I want to do is make enough money to keep my in equipment!!! and upgrade occasionally! Goodness pricing is one thing I do not like doing!!!
One other thing before I sign off for the night.....I think I am about to take the plunge with the website thing. My BIL designed my site for me and I am totally grateful cos I am not techie minded etc. He has done a fab job but I have got to the point where I want to be able to change things and revamp bits etc and I can't do html....and on top of that he has decided to charge me for the service! Not a lot but it will soon add up and I refuse to use my personal money to do this that is why I got a business account! Anyways I found mr.site takeaway and although there appear to be glitches (what hasn't) I have decided to give it a go. Haven't had the guts to speak to my BIL though he is going to be pee'd with me and I don't want him to cos I am genuinely grateful but I have learnt stuff and want to do things myself!!!
Oh well I will sort this out, better go for now ranted enough!!!
TTFN
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
Bad at this already!!!
I knew I would be bad at keeping a blog I kinda forget I got it but I am trying to make a concerted effort to keep it going.
So anyways where are we. It is Tuesday morning and I am supposed to be at work but my eldest daughter has spent half the night being ill and I had a very dodgy day yesterday so I am at home for a little while but gotta go to work shortly. Fortunately I am doing my linking stuff today so the hospital is only a 10 minute walk up the road and my neighbours are home so she will not be abandoned. Working full time and having kids is quite challenging to say the least and made harder by the fact that it is nearly always me who has to take time off when one of the kids is ill cos my OH loses money if he has a day off to be at home! Still hey ho thats life eh!!
I haven't made it into the studio for about a week now because of various things so the bead making has ground to a halt. Hoping I can tonight cos I am getting withdrawal again, saying that once I get up there I keep finding myself at a loss of what to make. I am taking part in a few challenges on the Frit Happens forum which help me to focus but I am lacking imagination and skill. I bought some dichroic glass and used it for the first time the other week and successfully got some dichroic and lots of scum!! aaargh!!!! what am I doing wrong! I really need to book in some more tuition with Sarah but money is a bit tight again (isn't it always though!) so that has got to wait.
I have got a party booked for 25th April for a friend of mine so I really gotta get on with making some beads and getting some jewellery together for that. I will take orders but I also want a decent amount of stock that I can sell.
The website is up and running there are some challenges I can't really discuss at the moment but one thing I really need to focus on is advertising. I need to get people onto my site and get some orders coming in, I need to build up some money so I can buy more stock and make more stuff to sell etc etc!
Anyway I suppose I had better go! things to do people to see and all that malarky. See you soon
So anyways where are we. It is Tuesday morning and I am supposed to be at work but my eldest daughter has spent half the night being ill and I had a very dodgy day yesterday so I am at home for a little while but gotta go to work shortly. Fortunately I am doing my linking stuff today so the hospital is only a 10 minute walk up the road and my neighbours are home so she will not be abandoned. Working full time and having kids is quite challenging to say the least and made harder by the fact that it is nearly always me who has to take time off when one of the kids is ill cos my OH loses money if he has a day off to be at home! Still hey ho thats life eh!!
I haven't made it into the studio for about a week now because of various things so the bead making has ground to a halt. Hoping I can tonight cos I am getting withdrawal again, saying that once I get up there I keep finding myself at a loss of what to make. I am taking part in a few challenges on the Frit Happens forum which help me to focus but I am lacking imagination and skill. I bought some dichroic glass and used it for the first time the other week and successfully got some dichroic and lots of scum!! aaargh!!!! what am I doing wrong! I really need to book in some more tuition with Sarah but money is a bit tight again (isn't it always though!) so that has got to wait.
I have got a party booked for 25th April for a friend of mine so I really gotta get on with making some beads and getting some jewellery together for that. I will take orders but I also want a decent amount of stock that I can sell.
The website is up and running there are some challenges I can't really discuss at the moment but one thing I really need to focus on is advertising. I need to get people onto my site and get some orders coming in, I need to build up some money so I can buy more stock and make more stuff to sell etc etc!
Anyway I suppose I had better go! things to do people to see and all that malarky. See you soon
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