Hiiiii Internet. It’s been a while but it’s great to be here. Since my last post things have changed but my goal still remains in tact – take my products wholesale. The past month or so I’ve been seeing everyone’s posts about their preparations for NSS and realize now that I definitely would not have been ready (or even close to ready) by May. I’m so glad that I decided to wait and get some accounts under my belt before taking the plunge to exhibit. I knew it was the right decision for our business.
So let’s recap on my goals from the previous JTW posts:
JTW No. 1:
– Inventory all my cards and reorder as needed: INCOMPLETE 🙁
– Organize my office for a better work environment: INCOMEPLETE 🙁
– Get my catalog together: Brainstorming in progress! I need to break down this goal into smaller steps.
JTW No. 2:– Product photos: CHECK! 🙂 This was a huge triumph for me because I felt like nothing would happen if I didn’t have good product photos. I’ve found a system that works for me. My goal was to improve my photos and have a more clean and professional look. All it took was some foam core, nice natural light, a little bit of Photoshop, and my iPhone!
– Compile my mailing list: CHECK! 🙂 This is obviously going to be an ongoing project as I want to add retailers regularly, but I’ve got it started.
– Catalog (again): IN PROGRESS. Let’s get more into detail with this one
In the past week I’ve made leaps toward achieving my goal. I was approved to be an Etsy Wholesaler last week. YAY! Etsy has done so much for our business. We’ve reached people that we never would have been able to otherwise and I hope we have the same success with their wholesale platform. I actually applied for Etsy Wholesale a while ago, even before they released it but my application got denied and I wasn’t sure why. A couple weeks ago I decided to contact them and just ask to reconsider us or give me feedback so that I can improve on it. They replied back and notified me that it was because of my product photos. I improved on them and they approved me! Goes to show that you shouldn’t be afraid to ask. The worst thing that will happen is they’ll say no. Here’s a before and after of one of our product photos.
The photos are so much brighter, the colors are more vivid, and my thumbnail isn’t making an appearance in the corner haha!
So in this installment of Journey to Wholesale I want to:
- Work on my Holiday Line
- Create template pages for my catalog
- Create my order form
- Send out a 2nd email to prospective retailers