Working from "home"

[Dawn309]

Hi everyone! Sarah (Bluepinecones) told me I needed to jump in on this one. Thanks, Beth, for the shout out. I know I hardly ever pop in anymore, but I do try to keep up with everyone.

I had been in the same boat, wanting something to do that I could make a little extra money at and not take up much space in my motor home. I was talking to a friend on the phone one day. She asked me what I was doing. I told her making a sweater for one of my little dogs. She made the comment "You should sell the dog clothes you make" and that was how the idea was born. I am just getting started at this. I have set up an Etsy site and a FB page to show my wares. I am now doing what I have always loved to do most in the world. I get to sew, knit, crochet and embroider. I am in the process of getting my work spaces figured out in my rig. I use my dining table for my cutting and ironing station. I have a small table I can pull up to myself while sitting on the couch to hold my machines. A man who does wood work, is making me a thread and bobbin holder I can hang over one of the french doors in my living room area. It will hold 100 spools of thread and 100 bobbins and not take up any floor space. I love that I can go from my computer desk to my couch to work on my latest item for my shop. I have also put up storage shelves in my living room area with fabric bins to hold my supplies and finished products.

This was the best solution for me. We have all heard the statement "do something you love to do and you will never work another day in your life". For me, this is proving to be really true. I am never happier than when I am creating something new like this. I have been like this since I picked up my first set of knitting needles at 7 and got my first sewing machine at 8 years old. Eventually, when I have a good build up of samples I have made to photograph and post, I want to take them to craft shows to sell. I am not there yet. I am also enjoying doing the marketing to get my sites going. I am enjoying getting my branding up and going also. I have purchased the domain name for my brand, but haven't done anything with that yet. That is for the future, when I get my list of things I want to make and showcase done for my shop. All this being said, I agree with Beth about it being hard to get started with online selling. I also have my dogs dressed in the clothes I am selling. I talk up what I do with everyone I can. I also pay for clicks to my Etsy shop and FB page right now. In any kind of sales, it is the numbers that count. You need the "traffic" to get the orders. I have paid two different artists also. One for my logo I decided to use and another to do the banners for my Etsy shop and FB page. Artwork is not my forte and definitely not something I wanted to spend my time on. Not everyone does this and are still successful. Only you know what your strengths are and what you can afford to spend your money on. I do custom work based on the size of the individual dog and the orders I have had, have come from people who have seen my work in person. I am planning on building from that.

Below are links to my Etsy shop and my FB page.

www.facebook.com/dawnsdoggyduds
www.etsy.com/shop/DawnsDoggyDuds

There are still people who make a living through the internet. Find what you love to do and concentrate on that. It has been my experience, if it is not something you love to do, you won't enjoy it long term and it will become a "job". Good luck and have fun with whatever you plan on doing.

[BirdbyBird]

Where is Karen West......I can see Sophie modeling your duds in the future at campground around the country..... You will have to speak with Audrey yourself when we get to FL this winter......

[Dawn309]

Tina,

I will definitely ask Audrey when y'all get to FL.

[JudyJB]

I am not very artistic or crafty, but I learned in business how to market stuff without spending much money, and I am willing to offer free advice to any woman on this site who wants to start a business.

The training company I worked for in the 1990s had a very small marketing and advertising budget, so my office in Detroit sent me to some seminars on how to market stuff without spending any money. I had a lot of fun doing it because it was such a challenge. Understand this was before the internet, but some of the techniques are still valuable. Here are two examples of free advertising:

• We used to send out press releases to trade journals about how we would send a free brochure to anyone who replied. (As if anyone would charge for a free brochure! We had a lot of laughs at this one, but people would respond like crazy.) We used to get maybe 4 out of 20 journals print our offer and we'd get maybe 400-500 people asking for a brochure each time. We'd add them to our mailing list and send out brochures and newsletters. We'd even make calls to them sometimes. Today, we would send out an email with a brochure attachment.

• At conferences, we'd have a big bowl of tootsie rolls in our booth. You could help yourself, but you'd have to give us your address or business card in return. Those names went into our mailing list as well. (Never put your business card into a fishbowl to win a free pizza unless you want a lot of junk mail They sell those business cards for money.)

• Newsletter, even online newsletters, are great marketing tools. After 5 years of doing the above and asking class attendees to fill out cards for our newsletters, I had an 8-page, quarterly newsletter with a subscription list of 10,000. That is big and expensive of course, but not in these days when you just send out email blasts. I used to include some articles which were clearing marketing but other that were informative about what was happening in technology in factories, which were our customers. If you make it all ads, no one will read, but if you include stuff like information about vaccinations for dogs, people will be glad to get it and really read it.

Dawn, you could get pet shops to gather names and emails of people who wanted to know about doggy clothing. You could pay them maybe 25 to 50 cents per name and email or maybe just give them a free ad on your website for a month. You can also buy lists of people who attend dog shows, but this does cost money and the names are almost always a one-time use agreement. However, if you send things to everyone attending a dog show, you send them an offer (free brochures?) where they have to give you an email. Then you legally own their email and name!! How about bowls of dog biscuits at a dog show? Or sponsoring a doggy dress-up day at a county fair and getting names and emails of those who dress up dogs and give them a free outfit???

Dawn, don't forget to charge shipping and handling to your orders. A lot of those companies on TV make most of their money from the handling fees they charge, not the products they sell!!!

[Bethers]

Glad to see you jumped in Dawn and I suggest you show some of the marvelous pictures of your doggie clothes - maybe on the pet page, or the craft page ... bet you might find some interest here, also.

[BirdbyBird]

The dog show catalogues have the addresses of the owners of all the entries....unfortunately they don't have the email addresses.....

[JudyJB]

You can always send out postage paid post cards with some check boxes and spaces for an email address so they can just indicate if they want more info.

[Dawn309]

Thanks JudyB, Tina and Beth. Those are some great suggestions. I will add links to the pet page and the craft page.

I already have an email blast system I used to use. I will be setting that app up on my Etsy page and my FB page. That is on the agenda for next week. I am thinking about running a monthly contest where everyone signing up for emails from me will have a chance to win a free sweater each month. I will get to pick the pattern each month. I am hoping this will generate buzz for my shop. Each month, one lucky winner will get a custom made sweater for their dog and I hopefully will get good reviews to add to my sites. The blasts (newsletters) I send out will be articles of interest about dogs and dog ownership. It will not be the same as the what I have posted on my sites. It needs to have value to the readers, not just ads.

Thanks again for all your suggestions. They sure gave me lots of ideas.

[dayspring39]

I would think warm coats for dogs would sell in Fl during the winter months... Shadow got infested with fleas last winter and the groomer shaved him so low I had to buy him a sweater it was very chilly and he shivered without it... the pet store did not carry very many...
The first year I was at Wandering Oaks in Ocala there was a beautician... she had to get permission from the owner first... however she is not there anymore... I would think that would be a good business as most people are transient so they do not have regular beauticians...
It seems like organizing a craft bake sale would be a once or twice a season idea... charge for the space and clean up afterwords...
My talents are gone by the wayside so poor house here I come... often wonder what the poor house looked like...

[BarbaraRose]

My talents are gone by the wayside so poor house here I come... often wonder what the poor house looked like...

According to the media, it looks like an RV!

[Dawn309]

According to the media, it looks like an RV!

Too true.

[MandysMom]

Maybe as long as we can keep the media deluded like that our boondock spots,will remain less crowded. If everyone knew how much fun, how much less,impact on environment, how wonderful it is, it might get really crowded and of course they would not sell as many sticks and bricks.
Velda

[Excel]

Don't know if this will help anyone, but it's a good idea nevertheless....Saw on tv yesterday of a company that sells doggie cage coverings... They had a variety of patterns (bright & cheerful) that covered the top, sides & rear of the cage. A roll up drop down curtain for the front. Inside was a matching pillow case with pillow that fit the whole inside of the cage. The sizes were pretty standard (large, med. etc.).... I immediately thought Wow! I could use something like that as I now cover Missy's cage with towels to keep the draft out. What shocked me was the price....$240.00 and up. Now, having sewn a great deal when I was young, for my kids & myself, I know darn well that's a pretty hefty price....lots of room for profit. Also, they offered 'custom' sizes....
Just thought I'd share this idea, especially for those on the road that may have a sewing machine....The original thought can certainly open up other 'personal' ideas....

[grammynmaggie]

What kind of cages the wire cages or... the ones used to tote. your dog around in or cat?

[TxJohnnie]

I was interested in RN phone triage, they want bilingual around TX and I can't do much in Spanglish.