Tag: money

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Manual Focus

Note: The images below link to a book on amazon.com. This is not a paid promotion or review. Any opinions expressed are entirely my own and do not reflect upon the author of the book.

So freelancing fell by the wayside in the last year and a half. OOPS! It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the work. I got caught up in landing a day-job that I turned out to absolutely love. That turn of events actually reinvigorated my desire to sell what I make. If it means I need multiple platforms then that’s what I’ll do. Jumping further in, unsatisfied with free resources online, I found a book – while working said day-job – and it’s going to be another tool in my arsenal to keep trying and making this thing work.

No lie: I’ve been a failure a great deal on this journey. Go back to the beginning and count them. I’ve had two day-jobs in that time and discovered that I am actually really good at customer service! That’s a very good thing since it’s been a weakness of mine since I was born. Treating my depression was the beginning of my new life. I wouldn’t give it up even if I go broke trying.

I don’t want to actually go broke. Please, Powers-That-Be, save me from THAT. 😛

The book I bought, was gifted by my mom, is called Mind Your Business: A Workbook to Grow Your Creative Passion into a Full-time Gig by Ilana Griffo. What I like about it most is the focus on creatives. It’s not a “business book” (it totally is though). It’s a guide that says, “Here’s something to think about, and then do it!” I’ve only read the first few pages. It’s written in plain English with very little jargon to get in the way.

Not only that, but it’s written by a typography lover, so there’s always something interesting to look at. That’s really how I found it in the first place: the beautiful cover!

Just paying through it, I can tell there’s a lot of exercises and thoughtful nudges in the form of list-making, brainstorming, and graphics that illustrate business ideas visually. YES! A CREATIVE AUTHOR THAT GETS IT! I mean, check out this glimpse of a cake diagram to fill in about branding:

Anyway, I’m going to read some more and hopefully learn something new!

Take it easy and remember to smile!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

An Informal Poll

…of my family members shows me that most of them would prefer buying ready-made products. This is one of the reasons I made a move to have a second, independent shop on my website. While Etsy has the advantage of a large audience, it isn’t in the spirit of Etsy to sell commercially produced products as the mainstay of an Etsy Shop.

I did, however, post one of my Pitbull Life shirts to see what would happen. I’m just leaving it there for anyone to find, but not advertising it like I would my other listings. It’s an experiment.

I’m not sure yet what will do well in my shop. I do have some data on website traffic, but until I get some actual buyers, it’s pretty hard to know where to focus. So I keep doing what I like and hopefully that means someone else will like it too.

I ordered myself a shirt so I can see the quality for myself. Printful offers a few options in terms of technique. If I don’t like the quality, I can restrict what I offer to the products they make with only certain techniques. To shorten the story, I’ve heard of, and seen, some pretty shoddy examples of Direct-to-Garment printing, and I don’t want to offer it if the price isn’t right for the quality. I do know that many of the apparel choices are from Bella Canvas which is much higher quality than the Gildan brand and thus worth the extra money to buy.

As always, still learning, still journeying.

Take it easy and remember to smile!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Aggressive Prices

I had to make a big decision about my shop. How much should I charge for a service?

It’s a question as old as time for artists. How to price your service or products within reason but also aggressively enough to earn meaningful amounts of money for your work. Since I’m still an e-commerce amateur, I’m sticking to the less-expensive side.

Logos cost $200. If I’m doing all the legwork, then this is a threshold I can’t go below. There is a process. I think it’s a value for the money. You start with 3 options to mix and match, and you are an important part of the design decisions. Communication is key to good design. Remember that a good logo can make your business rememberable at a glance.

Need a logo? Get Yours Now before the prices increase. 😉

Take it easy and remember to smile.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Officially Open: The Silver Stitchery Stand-alone Shop

You may have seen notifications from me if you follow my blog the last few days. That’s because I upgraded my plan and opened a store!

The Silver Stitchery

I wanted to see if opening a separate store that I run myself would add to my profitability. Etsy has the advantage of being a well-established, large business who can play as middle man when things go wrong. However, competition there is so steep that it’s difficult to get started. Etsy charges fees for their service as well. I want to grow. So it makes sense to branch out and try all the different options open to me.

Take it easy and remember to smile. And visit my shop. PLEASE!?

Posted on by

Unnatural Disaster 

This past week has been bad. Everything that could go wrong did. Too many projects due at once, printer screw-ups, and difficult to weed designs made my work schedule horrible. Due dates had to be flexible whether or not they actually were. 

I survived it. My employer even gave my coworker and I a $50 bonus for getting through it mostly. We did save a couple of due dates! Ok, so it wasn’t a disaster, but it was stressful and changed my schedule to accommodate it. It felt worse than it was I think. And this was a pay week. Silver linings…

Take it easy and remember to smile. 

Posted on by

Short and Long

First the short story: the apartment my husband and I are currently renting is going to be renovated and the new price is more than we can afford to pay every month. We love the apartment building we live in, but money is money. We have to be out by August 31. 

Now for the long bit.

As anyone who is reading this blog knows I started a new job a week and a half ago. Most apartments want 2 pay stubs to prove how much you make. Well there’s a caveat. I’m self-employed. That means my pay stubs and taxes aren’t straight forward like the W2 checks you get through a corporation. I have to take out 20.25% on my own for state and Federal taxes. It’s a lot less than typical taxes, but it’s also not paid to the government until next April (tax time). So how do I prove that I have a full time job that pays enough to prove that my husband and I together make 2x’s the rent? 

Here’s my plan. 

Im going to draw up an excel sheet showing my voided check and the amount set aside for taxes. I’m lucky since I have been paying taxes for at least 10 years now so I don’t have to worry about estimated payments. I just use the current Self-employment rates and pay when I file my taxes. I’m hoping that will be enough to prove that I started part time and have moved to full time. Also I’m going to tell them to call my boss because she can confirm that I’m full time at $10/hr. I will have a second heck next Friday. Maybe we can put down a security deposit to hold any apartment while I get paid and can send them my second check. I’d hate to miss a good apartment because I happen to be new at my job. This can’t be a strange circumstance on the whole. I have enough for a security deposit but my husband and I will have to share the first month’s rent for that to work out in the timing. I hope the security deposit will hold the apartment until At least mid-August when I’ll finally have the money for the first month’s rent and then have the same deal I had before. Where the second month is going to be like 10-15 days before the third-twelfth months go back to die on the first.

Man! This stuff is confusing!!!

Take it easy and remember to smile.