Thanks For Your Patience

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I just want to thank you all for you patience with my lack of posting fresh ideas for you over the summer.

Things got a little crazy with our move and figuring out the details of  our new life.  We arrived safe and sound last week and I’m already back to work on my listings and getting posts ready to share with you.

I hope your summer was fabulous!!!

Summer Sales Goals

Setting and accomplishing goals is one of my favorite things to do when it comes to running my business.  No matter where you are in the process, setting and reaching goals is an important part of growing any business.

Goals can be anything you choose.  You can set listing goals, shipping goals, sales goals, feedback goals, or all of the above.

Maybe your goal this summer is to get your storage area organized, or to shop less and list more.  Whatever your goal is, once it’s set you need to determine HOW to reach it. Then start working toward your goal.

I like to work on goals that I set in small steps.  For instance, if my goal is to increase my sales by $300 per month, first, I would analyze my current situation and decide:

*Do I need to list more items?

*Do I need to sell higher priced items?

* Do I need to run a sale on my current items?

*Do I need to promote my current items on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

*Do I need to branch out and start selling on other sites?

*Do I need to learn about new or different products to sell?

*Do I need to brainstorm with other sellers?

Once I’ve identified which area I need to work on to increase my sales, it’s time to get busy and decide my first step.  I don’t usually have a large block of time that I can work on things all at once, so I try to work on my goals a little bit each day.

I might set a goal to tweet or pin 5 items out of my store each day.  That only takes a few minutes, right?

Another goal might be to list at least 3 items per day, even on days when I didn’t plan to list. If  I have the pictures ready, it shouldn’t take too long to list 3 items per day.

Something that I did a few years ago was identify the time of year when my sales are low (at that time, it was typically February thru May) and decide what I should list in my store to carry me through that time of year.  For me, it was listing things like rain boots, swimming suits, shoes, capri pants, sandals, etc.

Regardless of what your goals are, make sure that you make the something that’s a reasonable goal for you so that you can see progress in the right direction. Don’t set  a goal that will leave you  frustrated about your work.

If you’re selling $300 a month online right now, setting a goal to get to $3,000 a month, doesn’t sound to me like a reasonable goal for you, at least not as an immediate goal.  It might be your long term goal, but take small steps to get to it.  If you’re selling $300 a month right now, what can you do to get to $500 a month?  Eventually, you’ll reach your BIG goals, but you have to start small and take it one step at a time.

I’d love to hear your summer business goals.  You can either drop us a line via email or leave a comment.

Summer Days

I love being self-employed, and I love my lighter schedule.  It gives me a lot more time to get projects done that I’ve been putting off, like scrap booking, and sewing.  It gives me a chance to swim, go for walks and go on road trips

Summer is also a great time  to spend more time on my listings, and get my store ready for the Christmas season.  It really is just right around the corner.

In the summer, I like to set aside one day a week to focus on my listings.  My laptop comes in handy, because we can put on a movie and I can list from the comfort of my reclining couch.

I don’t spend the entire day listing, but several hours.  I do take breaks, but I don’t plan anything else for that day.

Usually it takes me a few hours. I’m able to list everything in my current bin that I have pictures of. Then we go do something special like swimming, get a pedicure, or go to dinner.

Everyone’s schedule is different.

Some people have a hectic summer  but  fall or spring is more laid back.  Utilize the time of year when you don’t have as much going on to focus in on growing your business.  You probably won’t see it grow over night, but if you keep trying to grow your business, over time it will grow.

Rachel’s Top 5 Picks on eBay

I’ve been on a listing spree for the last few weeks, and some things are selling as fast as I can list them. Thisis a great problem to have, but it also means that some of my new faves have gone out the door before I post them for you.

This week, my faves center around summer.

It’s getting gorgeous outside and I’m super excited about pulling out swimming suits, flip flops and sunglasses

#1 Is the cutest pair of swimming shorts I’ve ever seen, by Hanna Andersson. I have them available in both size 70 and 80.

#2 Is an awesome pair of Birkenstock sandals size 36.

#3 Here’s a gorgeous pair of White House Black Market capri pants. I have them available in size 0 and size 14.

#4 These flip flops from Hanna Andersson completely say “summer” to me   I have them available in both orange and pink in sizes 4/5 (girls) and 7/8 (infant)

#5 This Miche shell “Jayne” is perfect for summer!

Summer Time

This is the last week of my school year teaching schedule.  Next week, starts my summer schedule, and I’ll be teaching piano lessons all day Tuesday and Wednesday during the summer.  I can’t wait!!!

We already have a playdate set up to go swimming with some friends on Monday.  We also have swimming lessons and violin lessons on the schedule for this summer.

Normally, I’m on vacation the first few weeks of June, but Lizzie and I have a nephew that is due to be born at the end of August, so we’re waiting to take our vacation till then.  It’s already starting to get hot here, so we’ll be setting up our backyard pool this week.

Over the summer, I plan to get completely caught up on my eBay listings with the help of my eBay assistant.  I also plan to explore selling on a few other online selling venues that have been recommended to me.  I figure, now’s the time to get them set up so I’m ready for this Christmas shopping season.

I’ve also been doing well with a few of my items on Etsy, so while I have more time over the summer, I plan to get some more Etsy projects made and listed.

What are you doing this summer?

Next Page »