Farewell, 2012

As the year sweeps to a snowy end, there are a whole slew of phrases and issues that come to mind as I attempt to discern what I can take with me from this year moving forward into the next one. Here are three of the more glaring ones.

1. I Need To Get A Spacephone So That I Can Use My Square Card Reader - this one is pretty self-explanatory. Without the use of a card reader, I am only able to accept cash or check at a craft show. This used to be common practice, but it is rapidly becoming inconvenient. Some folks do come prepared with cash, but people who happen upon a craft sale are much less likely to have money with them that is not in card form. And seriously, who carries checks these days?

2. I Need To Do Some Serious Display Testing - At each of my shows this past year, my display has been changed up and tweaked and adjusted and pruned. A few of my craft show neighbors suggested that this behavior is fairly normal, that their own displays usually change up a bit with each show, and at the time of my shows my displays seemed to me to be pretty decent.

But I can't afford to be decent. I need to be more WELL HELLO THERE YOU PRETTY LITTLE THING...

Granted, I pretty much dove head first into this craft sale thing without much prior planning, but now that I'm out of the woods of the busy season it is time for some hours to be spent on actual display design.

3. It Is Going To Be A Long Road Pricing My Work - This is something that everyone thinks about a little bit differently. There are so many things to take into account when I am deciding on a price for my work that it is easy for me to become overwhelmed. How clean and crisp is the design? Who am I selling it to? How long did it take me to make it? How much did it cost for me to make it? Do I even want to sell it or could I do it better? What are others selling a similar item for? What kind of value do I personally place in it?

I have become aware that it will probably be some time before I am very confident in my pricing ability. For the time being I just have to do it and stick to it, see what works, and go forward from there. I am often torn between my own sense of frugality (from the perspective of the consumer) and the fear of selling myself short (from the perspective of the artist/person who needs to eat food).

This is the issue, I think, that will eventually spell out whether or not I am a savvy businessperson - I have more confidence in the other aspects of business, I am organized, and I am disciplined, but I have such trouble with pricing.

Things I need to work on aside, I have met some really spectacular people in just this one season, my first season of craft shows, and I have no doubt that there are a great many more very friendly and talented people yet to meet. It also actually astounds me for some reason that my friends and family are so responsive and excited to support me and watch me succeed. I wouldn't be where I am now without my awesome network of people, but I guess that's what friends are for! Thanks guys, and Happy New Year to all!