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I’d like to share my most recent project with everyone….tell how it got started, and ask suggestions. The following is also a decent explanation of why I’ve been scarce here recently.
For the past five years, I’ve been sculpting tentatively….It never brought in a lot of funds, but it at least paid for itself, plus a bit extra on occasion. I never worried that it wasnt enough to pay the bills because my husband was very well employed, and brought in more than enough. My main job was to homeschool our three children, and keep the house in order, which can be a fair bit of work on it’s own. Sculpting and doing art on the side was a dream that I continually hoped would grow, but never particularly worried that it didnt, I loved it anyway.
We thought Chris was in a job where he was safe from layoffs……we were wrong. A year ago the company he worked for showed him the door, and the company itself barely exists anymore. No chance of return there….. So, he went from bringing in a generous amount of funds as a roofing construction estimator to being on unemployment…which even at the maximumum was just a third of our needed income.
Soooooo, begin the job hunts! I was still very optimistic at this point, thinking surely with my husband’s skills, and my past work experience, it’d be no problem to find work. Urrrm…..optimisinm rarely lines up well with reality. Months go by of searching. He finds absolutely no one able to hire him in his past work experience, or anything close. When the economy fell, so did all of the construction industry.
I found similar prospects on my quest for out of home work. The bakery where I used to cake decorate had been downsized, and those displaced workers had promptly dispersed to all surrounding bakeries that might have had positions open. I tried restaurant work, but had a hard time getting hours worth the travel time. Eventually I signed on as a substitute cook for the county schools in this area, and although it’s excellent work and pay, sadly the hours are sporadic, and even at being called every day is only 20 hours a week. Again, not enough.
On top of this, our neighborhood has become an increasingly unpleasant place to have kids…..We had a knife fight in front of our house last summer, and teenage kids tried to set fire to an old couch set out for trash near a dumpster next to our backyard just last week. Several small children have been sexually abused by a boy (only 12 years old) that lived at the apartment complex next door….that boy was taken away to foster care, but his father still lives over there, whom I suspect may have been the originator of that abuse. A pair of rowdy teenagers just last fall ganged up on my 8 year old son and beat him up when he tried to defend one of his friends from their vicious teasing. More than once small kids have been ‘invited’ in to some of the apartments alone. What a horrible time and situation in which to find yourself wanting to move, eh?
My attention then turned to my sculpting, which I viewed with a sad eye. Should I give it up? go a different direction? I decided to continue sculpting and keeping my pieces offered for sale, if just for the small amounts it does bring in. At least it pays for itself, and on occasion brings in extra….I’ll keep it going even if just a labor of love.
In the meantime, my daughter was still struggling with her eczema, and the expensive products we were buying for her came in such small portions. Plus, Aurora would regularly ask if she could ‘smell pretty’ too….her innocent way of complaining about the distasteful..or nonexistent scent of these products. So, I started researching, and decided I’d make what she requested. It’d probably cost less if I put it together at home, right?
I felt the key to keeping her eczema breakouts at bay is to moisturize without irritating her skin. Most skin moisturizing products contain alcohol…which is the last thing you want on any cracked skin. Ouch. Talk about irritating. So I started out by making her a ‘body butter’ (a realy thick lotion) that smelled like chocolate covered cherries. The fragrance oil doesnt seem to iritate her, I suspect the alcohol in most products that are used as a ‘scent carrier’ was the true source of her problem. She loved it, and it did what we needed. She still has occasional stubborn breakouts, but they’re less often, and at least not triggered by the moisturizers anymore.
Well, that single product grew into a plethora of other items, as I recieved suggestions or special requests from friends. One friend suggested soap, another suggested a certain scent….I personally wanted some nice perfume. As I added items..or new ideas… I soon found myself with an entire product line, with a few who knew and enjoyed them.
I’d love suggestions for scents, or ideas….or even if you think the photos need improved……In recent months I’ve turned some of my attentions back to making ‘working at home’ actually work…with hopes that this can be more than just a side project that includes friends, and possibly possibly eventually become an income which can help us when the unemployment runs out…..
Even now, Chris is working, but it brings in even less than the unemployment, and we know that eventually, when the unemployment runs out….we’ll really be in a mess if we havent found a way to bring in the income we need to keep our house and care for our kids. Moving is a dream we’d love to see happen…but honestly I dont see how it can happen anytime soon. We’ve cut back on what we eat, minimized our bills down to the bare essentials, and we’ve nothing left to cut to make this work.
So, here’s putting a feeler out there….hoping for suggestions, ideas, or any other information I could possibly use in our situation.
PCApothecary page on my website
http://www.purplecat-creatives.com/#!pcapothecary
Etsy (where all the stuff is actually at….)
http://www.etsy.com/shop/purplecatcreatives?ref=si_shop&view_type=gallery
Hey! So glad to see you again, but sorry about all your troubles. 🙁
All of your things look lovely! I still adore your sculptures and treasure my pink snaildragon (dragonsnail? I have one of the first ones). Do you make the griffins anymore?
For me, with these sorts of products, I always go for the very lightly scented or non-scented varieties, and always with fruit instead of floral. You have some really beautiful sounding scents!
Beauty products are a great way to make a living – they’re a renewable source (customers run out) and you can do it at home. I know some people who have a full income selling products like that, but they’re basically distributors, they don’t make their own.
I think you have an awesome idea! Now the harder part will be to market your products…
And I need one of them owls…
The twittergriffin is still grinning at me, the tatzelcat’s sleeping tightly and the phoenix is guarding my room. 🙂
Read my books! Volume 1 and 2 of A Dragon Medley are available now.
http://www.sarahjestin.com/mybooks.htm
I host the feedback lists, which are maintained by drag0nfeathers.
http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmI think you have done a wonderful job with your photography and a lot of your offerings look very interesting. When I have some extra cash (car insurance on the Mustang is due in a couple of weeks, that’s going to wipe me out) I think I’ll spring for some.
Might I also suggest putting some things up on Artfire (artfire.com) and seeing how goes there as well? They have a Basic account, which is free, and a Pro account, which is $10 a month and offers tons of tools which some people swear by, but I haven’t tried the pro option for my collars yet.
If you have locally owned boutiques, you might also see if you can get them to carry your things in their shops, or find art and craft festivals to attend if you have the time.
The best of luck to you and to your hubs!
Thank you guys….I’ve just recently found myself at that impasse where you get discouraged and just arent sure what the next step is. And of course…whether you’re doing the right thing at all, or doing something wrong, or looking at your problem the wrong way.
I know doing the work at home thing is more of a financial risk, it always has been….if something doesnt sell, it stays here and the expense is out of pocket. I sometimes wonder if by gambling that the expense will pay off…am I putting my family in more financial risk? Especially with such a cruddy economy right now.
Plus…I’ve been told several times marketing scented products online is a tricky venture at best…..people have to see a very professional display before they can be lured into trying something that they havent smelled yet. Hence my worry over the picture quality. I really wish there were a few places around that would carry my products, the few that would will only pay 50% of the retail cost, making it so that I’m making almost nothing at all.
I cant even begin to express my gratitude at people who have purchased my work in the past…whether it was two weeks ago or two years ago that they bought something…..You guys are the reason I’ve been able to continue offering my art, and it was also money from that art that grew into the scented products I do now.
If it hadnt been for you folks…I wouldnt have been able to afford the supplies to make a better skin product for my daughter, and that just means a LOT. Her skin has gotten easier to manage as she’s gotten older, but it’s still an everyday battle.
It looks fabulous. One thing you might want to do is increase the font on your apothecary page of the website. It’s a bit tiny.
A few brainstorms:
Some people that are into this sort of thing are really looking for ‘green’ products, which you have. Consider offering an incentive for people to return (recycle) the containers, which look to be metal and glass, and can be sanitized. 10% off one item or something if they return empty containers to you. This is win win… you get to re-use the container which saves you a little money, you pass the savings onto the customer, and it means that they are back for more. Not to mention environmentally friendly!
Re: local shows and arts/crafts show. See if your county or area has an arts community/association. It really varies but sometimes arts associations will loan tents and set up materials for low cost or free to members. It’s the only reason I can do local shows, here, myself. The $30/year I pay to be a member pays for itself. A nice looking display is not too hard; try the craft store and pick out some material that is not too busy and will offset your products well (studies indicate that people are often attracted to warm colors over cool ones). Use tables and some sturdy boxes to create tiers to your display, and decorate with natural items like you have in your online photos. Crystals, sprigs of herbs, things that are pleasing and natural.
If you are selling items in such a way that your retail price is the same as the ‘wholesale’ price you are offering to local businesses (and thus could not discount it further), you might want to consider raising your prices a little. I know this is hard– we feel that if we raise prices people will stop buying. Sometimes this is true. Finding a real balance for selling home made items (when they are your sole income!) is very hard and sometimes takes years to do. This is why, sadly, most home base businesses will fail in the first three years if they are going to fail. It’s hard! If you are unable to take this risk (increasing prices) then consider still searching for a job, and doing your beauty product line on the side. I’m not trying to be harsh, and I know how heartbreaking this all can be. I am facing this decision myself…
Anyhow, the idea about local marketing is of course people get to see, smell, etc the product, which for what you are selling is probably THE selling point! Even if you make slightly less money on local retail shops, the idea is to get the product in the customer’s hand, get them loving it. Maybe they’ll buy from the shop again or maybe they’ll contact you directly from the label information. Either way, it’s good… if the shop gets the message that your stuff sells well, they might carry more and might not turn up their noses when/if your prices go up.
If your prices are high, explain the benefits of your product. Your soap or body moisturizers are more expensive than what I can get at walmart. Why? Well, the benefits far outweigh the chemical laden crap you buy on the shelf at a store! As you said, most products contain alcohol (amongst many other things sometimes) Of course you don’t want to say this, but really sell your items on their strengths. If people can JUSTIFY the costs they are more willing to pay more.
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My art: featherdust.com“Anyhow, the idea about local marketing is of course people get to see, smell, etc the product, which for what you are selling is probably THE selling point! Even if you make slightly less money on local retail shops, the idea is to get the product in the customer’s hand, get them loving it. Maybe they’ll buy from the shop again or maybe they’ll contact you directly from the label information.”
And once people know they like a product, very often, being able to simply ordering it online and having it delivered is a much better option than going out to the store to get it.
Read my books! Volume 1 and 2 of A Dragon Medley are available now.
http://www.sarahjestin.com/mybooks.htm
I host the feedback lists, which are maintained by drag0nfeathers.
http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmThank you for the suggestions!
Oh, my containers for the butters are plastic, though i chose ones that are suggestive of apothecary glass bottles, because I enjoy that look. I do not believe the plastic could be sanitized thoroughly enough for me to feel safe reusing them for marketed product…though they are a recyclable plastic, and I do refill my personal ones at home. The solid perfume tins are metal though.
The fluid perfumes I’ll be working with once their cure time is finished will be in glass bottles….which the recycle/reuse option may work well with that, if I can find a way to purchase the spray mechanisms separately. The bottles themselves could be reused…but the thin pipette and spray mechanism would not because scent contamination would affect the scent of any other product sprayed through it. I’ll have to talk to my suppliers…
I may do a couple of local shows, plus I’d love to try a renfaire someday. There’s one up north in Bristol I’ve been looking at for a couple years now….However travel itself can be difficult when we have no family for babysitting three children, and it would require chris ask off from work, when shows are held on weekends primarily, and that’s also when restaurant workers get their hours.
I doubt I’d raise my current prices…though possibly I can find a shop or two that would let me do consignment, or give a better percentage for resale. I dont want to pressure the few customers I have established by raising prices when I know how hard it is for them to purchase good quality ‘luxury’ items in the first place. Even if they are green, and wonderful products….it seems you read the same story in so many places, and many folks are also short on their funds, so I’m humbled each time someone spends on my products in the first place.
My current retail pricing in my store is what I feel I can market these products for and are ‘fair’ when compared to other items of the same type. They do bring in an acceptable amount of income when sold at that price….it’s taking less for them that becomes a problem. A few of the shops I’ve tried to work with in the past have looked up what I sell them for, then will only pay half of that to me for them wholesale…then in a couple cases I’ve seen them undercut my prices slightly to take away from my direct customers, hurting my income in the long run. I’m wondering if I just caught a couple bad eggs in those particular shops. I have to admit those experiences have made me a bit leary of dealing with storefront owners, though it may be time to try again.
A few of the shops I’ve tried to work with in the past have looked up what I sell them for, then will only pay half of that to me for them wholesale…then in a couple cases I’ve seen them undercut my prices slightly to take away from my direct customers, hurting my income in the long run. I’m wondering if I just caught a couple bad eggs in those particular shops. I have to admit those experiences have made me a bit leary of dealing with storefront owners, though it may be time to try again.
I think you have some bad apples with those shops. The shop should take the item for whatever you sell it for, and then mark up to their retail price on top of what you sell it to the retail shop for! What they are doing is not fair and not normal in my experience. In the future, maybe consider setting up a simple contract where they agree not to price the items less than $XX.XX dollars unless they are running a sale which effects their other merchandise, too.
It’s hard (very hard, I know, I’m really shy in person and NOT confident in my work) but you have to present your product with confidence and be gently firm enough that you can still make a net income. Net income = / = gross income.Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comAh, it would be soooooo wonderful if I found a few shops who would work with me with that sort of arrangement! I may have to check around and see what shops are new in the area, and see which ones I havent tried yet.
The couple shops I had worked with it felt like they were bending my arm to lower my prices, and acting disgruntled that I would charge so much…when I put a lot of time and effort into figuring up fair pricing in the first place. Then when they got the wholesale pricing they wanted, and undercut me…..I was really hurt by it. Granted, that was with my sculpture work…the PCApothecary thing is more recent and I havent tried putting that into storefronts at all yet. Perhaps body products will be easier on that point.
I can be really direct and forthright with people I know…but when it comes to ‘new’ people, I tend to be reserved and more shy. To be honest I’m a bit of a homebody, and rarely socialize at all. I find store owners to be a bit intimidating, and I know a good portion if it is my own fault.
I can be really direct and forthright with people I know…but when it comes to ‘new’ people, I tend to be reserved and more shy. To be honest I’m a bit of a homebody, and rarely socialize at all. I find store owners to be a bit intimidating, and I know a good portion if it is my own fault.
Trust me, I understand! I’m the same way. I realized, though, that no one will sell my work except me. So when I am feeling intimidated or really shy, I try to put on my “retail” face that I learned how to do when working in busy, stressful retail customer service. And then when it’s over I go home and shake for an hour!
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comi really like what you’ve done with your new stuff. the photos are great! it is a scary time for a lot of folks out there right now, but i think you’re on the right track and wish you a ton of luck!! if i didn’t just quit my job, i would have totally bought a bunch of stuff. but maybe soon.
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