Lemon curd

I stubbled across this recipe which reminded me of the days in the summer I use to spend at my gran parents house.

Ingredients:
Finley grated zest and juice of 3 lemons
3 large free range eggs
2 free range egg yolks
175g caster sugar
100g unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Method:
In a bowl, whisk together the lemon zest and juice with the eggs and yolks.
Stir in the sugar, the add the butter.
Put the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water.
Stir frequently until thickened (about 15 - 20 minutes).
While hot, spoon in to hot sterilized jars and seal. Leave to cool and label.


To sterilize jars place them in a pan of cold water and bring it to the boil for 10 minutes. Leave the jars to cool and dry naturally up side down.
Another method is to sit the jars on newspaper or a baking tray and heat in a moderate oven ( between 180 and 160 degrees or gas make 4) for 20 minutes.

A Simple Formula for Pricing Your Work

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/a-simple-formula-for-pricing-your-work/?ref=fp_blog_title

Imagine this: a beautiful jewellery studio, a soldering station, an anvil on a nice old worn wooden stump, a handmade jewellery bench, and on top of all this lie piles of finished pieces. Behind the bench sits a jeweller who has yet to sell a single one of her creations. What’s holding this talented artisan back? From my years of listening to your stories, putting a price on your work is one of the most intimidating first steps to selling, and delays many from opening their shop. I’m here to share my favourite pricing formula with you, and to break it down so you have the confidence to get out there and sell!

Know the Formula

Here’s my favourite formula:

Materials + Labour + Expenses + Profit = Wholesale x 2 = Retail

I picked this up from the amazing Megan Auman. What I love about this formula is that your profit is properly accounted for!

Now let’s go through every part of this formula and break it down.

Materials

Make sure to cover all your material fees. Often forgotten: the little things like the cost of thread, and the bigger things like the cost of packaging. If you’re going to “guesstimate,” err on the higher side!

Labour

If someone wanted to hire you and they offered you $7 an hour, what would you think of that deal? Be a good boss to yourself and do a bit of research. How much does a seamstress make in San Francisco? Find out! (Also remember, you’re probably more than a seamstress – you are the designer, the marketing department, the accountant, the janitor, and the administrative assistant, too.)

Expenses

Bubble wrap, that ebook purchased at 3 a.m., studio rent, bus passes required to make it to the studio every day, a new scale for your shipping station. How the heck can you fit all these things into the price of a single item?

Here’s a way to do that:

1. Jot down every expense you can think of — for example, include your Etsy fees, office supplies, rent or utilities.
2. Next, come up with the number of items you’d like to sell a month. Divide that number into the total expenses.

Tip: Start doing two things to help you come up with an even more exact price:

1. Track your expenses carefully so you can come back to this as you learn more about selling! I suggest trying out Outright – a free online accounting tool.
2. Start figuring out the big investments. How many items can you get out of that sewing machine? How long will that postage printer last before it needs to be replaced?

Profit

Think hard: where do you want this business to go? Do you want to quit your day job? Do you want to pay off a student loan? Accounting for profit now will help you get there. This number really depends on what you are selling, and will make up for someone like a printmaker, whose material costs are low, labour hours might be low, but should be paid for their unique talent and point of view! I leave this up to you. I’m trusting you here — don’t disappoint me with a low ball number!

Bringing It All Together

All right, this gets us to our wholesale price. Some of you might wonder if you can use the wholesale price in your Etsy shop. Wouldn’t this be a a great way to offer your work at an affordable price? No, no, no. Here’s why I’m going to beg you to double your wholesale price and sell your work at a true retail price:

1. Selling your work at a wholesale rate undervalues those who price their work at the proper retail price. When the majority of sellers in a category price their work thoughtfully, the entire category benefits.
2. Customers will wonder, “Why?” Why is your work so much lower than everyone else? Is it because it’s not handmade? Is it because you’re using cheaper materials? Your price tells a story: make that story a good one!
3. You’re putting yourself at a disadvantage. Let’s say a big catalogue reaches out to you and says, “We’d like to buy 100 of these items! Please let us know what your wholesale prices are.” This is a big opportunity; an opportunity you can’t afford to take.

Did you just come up with a price that you are sure the market won’t respond to? Here’s the trick: if the item is priced too high for the market, it’s not the price you need to alter, it’s the design or the way you produce your work. Get creative and see how you can adjust the item to reduce your costs. Can you buy your materials discounted in bulk? Can you produce the work in multiples, reducing the labor? Don’t take the easy way out by slashing your prices. Remember, the right prices will allow you to reach your small business goals.

Spring is all go here in the UK. The grass is looking much greener and full of yellow and white as the daffodils, primrose and snow drops poke through and come into bloom. The cherry blossom and Hawthorne is all go too, with the magnolia not far behind.
A week ago I was leaving Aberystwyth with the crocus's up round the bottoms of the trees along with the yellow daffodils and white snowdrops the only sign of spring. However in Pontypridd the cherry blossom and magnolia was out along with all the daffodils. Then up near craven arms, cherry blossom and Hawthorne were everywhere you looked. Daffodils were rife too. Last night i saw a beautiful white bull calf, who would be with me on the train back to aber if I knew I could get away with it. today I have seen so many lambs including some of my favorite colours, all black, black spotted and brown spotted. I always did love the colour of an animal and its character over its breading.
Spring has got me crocheting in browns, creams, greens and yellow. Spring is most definitely here and its won't be long before the full vibrant colour of summer is here. Oestra is the next holiday here and I will be decorating and crafting in yellow and light greens showing the promise and warmth of summer to come.

How frequently should you contact customers?

http://www.royalmail.com/small-medium-business/smart/useful-extras/research/frequency-communication

How often should you contact your customers? Communicating, whether it’s face-to-face, via direct mail or through an online campaign, means you build a relationship and establish your brand with your customers.

Research conducted by Royal Mail reveals that successful SMEs are those who get the balance just right. The research defined success as SMEs that increased their number of employees, turnover and profit, or at least one of the three. Roughly half of the research sample (473 out of 922) fell into the ‘successful’ category with a similar number (449) classified as not successful.

Here are six tips on how best to contact customers:

1. Frequency is key
   The research confirmed that successful companies use media with greater frequency than their less successful counterparts. In total, successful companies communicate 33 times per year (compared to 25 for their less successful counterparts).
2.  Use a wide range of mediaSuccessful companies, as measured by increases in number of employees, turnover or profit, use a wider range of media and spend more on communications and advertising. The research found that this was especially true for smaller companies with up to 50 employees, and that they were more likely to have increased their customer base and generated more positive attitudes towards the use of mail for customer acquisition, retention and re-engagement.
   
3. Shout louder in a recessionBecause of the economic downturn, your instinct may be to cut financial corners and slash marketing budgets. In fact, this is the time you need to work harder to keep existing customers happy, while still actively seeking new ones. The research found that successful companies were the ones who had been focusing on their marketing output and planned to increase communication and advertising budgets in the next year, despite the economic environment.
   
4. Invest in advertising and communication…
   From the companies profiled, the average annual spend on advertising and communications was around £44,000. However, for successful companies, this was £55,000 and for unsuccessful companies, it was only £31,000.
   
5.  … but spend it wisely
   The research found that most successful companies spend most of their marketing budget on retaining their existing customers and then focused on the acquisition of new ones. Third on the list was the re-engagement of lapsed customers.
   
6. Maintain your customer database
   It’s official – successful companies are more likely to have a customer database, so get your data in order. According to the research, 87% of successful companies have a database.

Thank You!

Just signed into blogger to see I have over 1000 page views. I just wanted to say thank you for reading my nonsence and I hope some of it is actually helping someone out there.

Quit Your Day Job: Maejean Vintage

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/quit-your-day-job-maejean-vintage/?utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=What+was%C2%A0Maejean+
Vintage%27s+biggest+small+business+mistake%3F&utm_content=etsy_success
_020211&utm_campaign=etsy_success_0202



Tell us about your shop and the idea behind it.

Our shop is MaejeanVINTAGE, it is run by my sister and me. Our shop carries an assortment of vintage fashion, accessories, supplies, and décor!

Tell us how you discovered Etsy.

My sister and I discovered Etsy a few years ago from one of her friends who raved about it. We decided to list this adorable 1980s black jumper to see what the selling experience was like here. The jumper sold in about a month and we were instantly hooked on Etsy! We sold on Etsy for a few years as a hobby, under a different shop name, then we opened MaejeanVINTAGE in May 2010.

What steps did you take to prepare for transitioning into full time Etsy selling?

My previous job was teaching full-day kindergarten at an urban school in Pennsylvania. I loved it, but last June my position was eliminated. Many schools in PA (and throughout the U.S.) are laying off teachers due to budget cuts. So I began substitute teaching full time, just as I did right out of college, which felt like a big step backwards. However, since I didn’t have all the grading and lesson plans to tend to in the afternoons and evenings, I started putting a lot more time into our Etsy shop. The results were amazing! I couldn’t believe the amount of sales and traffic our shop was starting to get. Our listings were being featured in countless treasuries, and we even had items showing up on Etsy’s homepage. So, I made the decision to stop substitute teaching and see what things would look like if I worked full time on our Etsy shop. After a few weeks, I made the decision to permanently take my name off of all the school’s subbing lists and work full time on our vintage Etsy shop. Our shop just kept on getting busier!

The transition felt very natural. I didn’t prepare for it months in advance, but my sister and I consulted one of our family members who is a certified public accountant to assist us with making the jump from selling on Etsy as a hobby to selling on Etsy as a full-time business. He was very helpful with explaining bookkeeping and legalities. We are also fortunate that our mother has tons of bookkeeping experience. She makes sure to lovingly nag me at least every week to make sure I am keeping up with all the paperwork. It is good she stays on my case, though!




What is your favorite part of the process in sourcing and selling vintage goods?

Oh my, we love it all! It honestly doesn’t even feel like “work.” One of our favorite parts of this is probably going to estate sales and public auctions. The hunt of vintage and antique items is quite a thrill!

What is your favorite era to score finds from?

To us, each decade has its own special appeal. I have been into early 1900s art deco jewelry recently — probably a little too much because I have been keeping most pieces for myself! My sister Amanda is really into 1980s short floral dresses. She also has a soft spot for fascinator hats.

Any tips for hunting down great vintage items?

We have had some of our best vintage finds at estate sales, public auctions, thrift stores and yard sales. No matter where were find our treasures, there is a lot of digging involved. I think remaining patient is essential for finding vintage goods. Sometimes we spend an entire day at an estate sale. Typically, when we go to thrift stores, we spend a minimum of two hours searching. Unfortunately, sometimes you go home empty handed, but next time you could be going home with a car full of amazing items.

What are your best marketing tips?

Utilize social networking sites! We have had plenty of customers who joined Etsy and made a purchase from us because they found us elsewhere.
We are big on customer service. We both have the Etsy app on our cell phones, so we try to answer customers’ questions immediately.
We offer a discount to all return customers. Many of our customers do come back and shop with us again! We love repeat customers and actually getting to know them.
We spend time analyzing our shop statistics, looking at popular keywords, which items are getting the most views, trends in sales, and so forth. It is helpful to know which items are in the highest demand and try to meet that demand.
We also try to stay active in Etsy Teams. We ended up being featured on Etsy’s homepage and Etsy emails a few times, due to being involved in Etsy Teams.



What’s been your most popular item or line of items to date?

Our best sellers are vintage costume jewelry, mid-century jewelry boxes, and retro purses. The vintage jewelry boxes are in such high demand, it is hard to keep them in stock!

Made any business mistakes you regret?

A business mistake I have made several times is underpricing our goods. I really love giving customers awesome deals, but I have to be fair to myself also, especially since this is my full-time career. I recently sold two Lucille de Paris crocodile purses for about a fourth of what their retail value is. My sister was on my case about that one! We have also made a few uh-ohs at auctions by accidently bidding on different lots than we intended to. We have ended up with some very interesting items from this, as well as some lofty donations for Goodwill!

What is the biggest challenge you face during your daily schedule?

I have a fairly short attention span, so staying focused can be an obstacle for me. Sometimes I will list a few items, then get distracted with something unrelated to the business. I now use a stability ball to sit on which helps me focus (a trick from the teaching world!). The exercise ball forces me to sit upright, engages my muscles, and when I need to, I can bounce around on it.



What’s the hardest part about running your own business?

Although we love being entrepreneurs, sometimes sales will plummet for a few days and it can be a bit discouraging. However, things always come around again and we keep figuring out more efficient ways to do things. Additionally, being self-employed has been a lot less stressful than any of the 9-5 jobs I have worked, hands down.

What do you enjoy most about not having a day job?

I enjoy virtually everything about not having a day job; there are countless perks! I oftentimes work in my PJs, and sometimes even with a green tea avocado mask smeared on my face. However, my favorite part is the flexibility. I can see my friends and family more, volunteer, play with our chihuahua, and spend more time with my wonderful boyfriend. I do try my best to work 40 hours a week, but it is amazing to pick exactly when I want to work. Of course, it is also amazing not having a boss to report to!

What is the most exciting thing that has come out of selling your goods through Etsy?

Hearing the heartfelt stories from customers we have done business with. It is so fulfilling to hear how meaningful items from our shop are to customers. We have had customers buy vintage jewelry that their great-grandma used to have. We have even worked with customers who lost a precious piece of vintage heirloom jewelry and were able to replace it with a virtually identical item from our shop. We have also worked with individuals in charge of costume and design for major films and theatre productions. The customers we have worked with are so friendly and grateful!

What advice would you give someone considering a similar path?

I would suggest trying it as a hobby or part-time job, and seeing what it can expand into. Check and gauge if it is something you could see yourself doing every day. It takes a lot of self-motivation and passion! Luckily, there is demand for vintage and antique goods and I don’t ever foresee that changing. I also think that selling online (especially on Etsy!) is a lot more cost-effective than opening an actual storefront downtown. In the last few years, it seems more and more individuals are doing their shopping online.

What goals do you have in store for the future of your business?

A short-term goal we have is to have at least 500 items listed in our shop by February. A long-term goal is for my sister Amanda to start working with me full time after she graduates from college. She will have a degree in business, so she will really help take our business to the next level. Another short-term goal is to do more advertising — my sister is already working on this! We are also considering opening a second shop which would specialize in vintage supplies: beads, repair jewelry lots, mismatched earrings, findings, and so forth.



Anything else you would like to share?

I have a wooden plaque right on my work desk that says “dream.” Every morning while drinking my coffee, I look at that sign and smile because my dream has become a reality! Furthermore, we want to give a huge thank you to Etsy for providing an awesome online marketplace for handmade, vintage and supplies!

Noted: Brown Is the New Green

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/noted-brown-is-the-new-green/?ref=fp_blog_title

My freshman college days were spent frequenting a sandwich shop near campus, where fresh, local ingredients could be had between two slices of wheat bread, all for just $4. When one of my friends started working there, the deal became even sweeter. However, this friend soon became an informant; the day she revealed that the shop’s wheat bread was exactly the same as their white bread, save for a few drops of food coloring, I was crushed. This was my first inkling that color, even in food consumption, is a powerful selling point for consumers. My deli-centric experience proved that our associations with colors often lead to blind assumptions — just because the bread was brown instead of white, I assumed I was making a healthy choice. It doesn’t stop with my faux wheat bread; an article on GOOD reveals how brown is the choice color when companies seek to convey a wholesome, eco-friendly message.

If you want proof of this trend, just take a look at fast food restaurants, where disposable napkins, once blindingly white, are now oatmeal colored. The Wall Street Journal highlights Seventh Generation, a company who adds brown pigment in the process of making disposable diapers. “[It's important] not so much that it’s brown, it’s that it’s not white,” says Louis Chapdelaine, who directs the fibers department of the company.

For a while, “greenwashing” was the buzz word du jour, wherein companies would repackage a product to appeal to eco-conscious consumers. Everything from tote bags to cleaning products are now smacked with green-colored labels, insinuating an environmentally friendly product. When we so heavily depend on visual cues to make shopping decisions, this is extremely misleading — how do we know when green, or brown, truly indicates an Earth-friendly product?