The wind is howling, the weather wet. This is the limbo time, the time when nothing but reflection is possible and all the fears and fears of the previous year hang heavy on your mind trying to crush you with their weighty self-importance.
The shed, the gas tank, the bank balance, and the glass, the glass, the glass…
Yes, with Christmas and the Christmas glass-rush all over and finished I am left feeling as flat as the proverbial fart. No, flatter. For a while there, with all my orders and the fun and worry of getting them all out before Christmas Eve, I felt as if I was riding the crest of a wave.
And I must have been because now that wave has come crashing down and I’m bobbing around in a cold and empty ocean just waiting for… well, whatever comes next I guess. A hungry shark would be preferable to a slow death through hypothermia though. (Please God).
Oh, I’m still sure that I have a great product that people want and I do believe that I am good at this malarkey, but at the end of the day it’s a numbers game and I need to generate the volume I require. The volumes aren’t massive, in fact the volumes are very achievable, but I ain’t gonna get them by sitting on my arse and waiting for people to wander into my shop and buy from me. It ain’t Christmas time any more.
And just why am I saying ‘ain’t’? Have I suddenly turned into some sort of glass gangster or something? Maybe I’ve spent too long being a trader (whatever that is) already, already. Oi vay!
Yes, I really wish it could be Christmas every day. I really don’t mind the late finishes, the 5.30 am starts to bake the glass, the cars, the funny faces, the Christmas Eve panic trying to rectify a mistake on that glass at the last minute (well, Greg can be spelt with two g’s apparently).
I did it though. I genuinely believe in offering great customer service and I have the Christmas day texts, e-mails, and the three customers who popped in to thank me today to prove it.
All I have to do now is make like Christmas every day.
The answer would appear to be online. These days all answers appear to be online, but even with my experience I find myself ill-equipped to make it happen. If I have one resolution this year, one necessity that is - I must take my glass online.
For those online wizards out there – all help gratefully accepted.
If I ever needed help I need it now.
Liam Reeve WooThemes just released a great 'shopping cart' theme for Wordpress called "slider" which should be very easy to set up. http://www.woothemes.com/2011/12/sliding/
ReplyDeleteSliding | WooThemes
www.woothemes.com
Sliding is a clean and simple theme for WooCommerce, designed by Chris Rowe and ...See more
11 hours ago · Like ·
Colin Tickle I've just finished setting up a site on Magento http://www.prettylittlething.com/ if you want something like that (with payments made through paypal) I can help you. Kieran has an eBay store, I've never set one up but I can't see it being a problem.
PrettyLittleThing.co.uk
www.prettylittlething.co.uk
Pretty Little thing, retailer of fashion bracelets.
11 hours ago · Like ·
Colin Tickle I expect waht you'll want initially is an eBay store, the customers are there already. Possibly migrating to a Magento site later. If you do go the ebay store route, take a look at http://www.auctiva.com/ it'll make things a lot easier and save you on eBay fees.
eBay Auction Management, eBay Templates, eBay Tools, and Image Hosting
www.auctiva.com
eBay auction software providing eBay auction management tools, templates, image ...See more
11 hours ago · Like ·
Kieran Goodwin EBay stores are easy but the fees can be a bit of an issue, but you do receive discounts on listing fees for having a store and further discounts based on the amount you sell, the turnover and your feedback and seller ratings. Sounds a bit complicated but its simple :D
10 hours ago · Like
Colin Tickle Looks a lot cheaper on auctiva kieran?
It might not be 'Christmas everyday’ yet there are plenty of other selling opportunities throughout the year which could provide you with the uplift in volume needed to make your business more sustainable. How about these...
ReplyDeleteFeb – Valentines day. You could be selling this stuff now. How about a cupid designed glass which comes filled with chocolate hearts, or matching ‘his’ and ‘hers’ branded glasses in a gift set.
April – Easter. The supermarkets are already on this one. How about glassware for kids – easter bunny designed – with a chocolate easter egg included. On another thought, can you get glass egg cups?
June - Queen's Jubilee. The stores will go mad for Union Jack branded merchandise in June (as they did for royal wedding).
June – Euro 2012. The 14th European Football championships begins in June. Both England and Eire are there. Pint glasses for blokes to use when watching the games. You could have player specific glasses i.e Rooney number 9, Lampard number 8. Makes them kind of collectable, maybe even for kids, like trading cards. Or just country designed ones.
July/Aug – The Olympic Games. Could utilise some of the designs from June. From around April of this year, the UK will go Olympics crazy. There will be merchandise everywhere based on London 2012 and the Olympic rings. You could even design your own unofficial logo!
October – Halloween. Has now officially over taken Easter in retail sales and is the 2nd biggest sales opportunity after Xmas. As scary as you can get!
Hope that helps.
For what it's worth I agree that you need an on line presence; also agree that Valentine's day should be exploited.
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