Holiday Shopping

Where has the time gone?  I cannot believe that I haven't blogged in two months!  What was I thinking?

Well I have been trying to find a job to supplement my small business since any new business takes some time to grow.

Lowery's Loft LLC is a wonderful place to find unique gifts for the holidays.  I do combine shipping and have many items that are priced to sell.

What types of products would you like to see in my store?

I tend to deal in smalls.  That is items that are fairly lightweight and easy to ship...

Jewelry is my favorite item to sell both handmade and vintage costume jewelry but I am open to selling a wonderful variety of items.

I will be listing like crazy so check my eBay store often in the coming weeks.

Super Savings Sale!

Now through September 15th, 

Save $5 for every $25 you spend.  

Lowery's Loft LLC on eBAY

If I get a huge response, I might continue the sale... Please share.

Shipping Frenzy after eBay Auction Frenzy

Well I had hundreds of auctions starting at two dollars and some change.  Most sold at that so it was a little disappointing but at least I can turn my inventory over.  Many of the items had been listed for awhile.

Over this long three day weekend over fifty items sold.  I was so thankful that the post office was closed on Monday for Labor Day because it gave me more time to pack and ship.  I did three two hour increments...so it took me about six hours to pack over fifty items.

I'm proud of myself.  Of course, I need to increase my speed and up my auctions.  I still don't know how to make a living doing this but I keep trying new strategies.  I hope that sales pick up with the increased auctions and that the approaching holidays help too.

Fellow eBayers - Do you find that your auctions bid up or do you items sell at the initial listing price?

I find that a few items bid up but not to where I would like them to...Most sell at the initial price.  I will keep studying key words and categories to try to find the "secret."

In the meantime, visit my eBay store because you are bound to find a great deal!

Auction Frenzy

In an attempt to increase traffic to my eBay store, I have hundreds of auctions going on right now.

The starting prices are low!  Most auctions start between two and three dollars.  This is an opportunity to score amazing deals!

Please visit my eBay store and share it with friends.  You can either click the link or go to www.lowerysloft.com and click the link there.

Thanks so much!

Instagram Marketing

I don't know where I've been but luckily my friend/cousin-in-law Amanda shared with me the power of Instagram.

In addition to eBay I have been creating my own handmade jewelry (mostly earrings).  I just opened a small Etsy store but have low traffic.

Amanda told me about Instagram and how easy it is to add photos.  You can add information about your store in the description...

So I downloaded the app and tried it out!  I love it!!!  I am able to photograph my jewelry and add it to my Etsy store using that app and then use one of the photos in my Instagram app and share about the piece I added.  What a useful tool!

It's just another way to get your business known.  Right now I am only using it for my handmade art rather than my eBay items.  I might look into setting up a separate account for my eBay store.

As you can tell I am trying to have multiple streams of income.

Please share how you have used Instagram with your business.

Click Here to Visit Lowery's Loft on Instagram

Questions-Reflecting on my Goal

After reflecting on the next steps even more I've decided to narrow down my plan even further.  I keep asking myself, "What do I want to accomplish?  How can I make what I made? How can I make even more?  How can I manage my time so that I have a balance between work and being mommy?"

Here is my attempt at answering these questions:

• What do I want to accomplish?  I want to earn a living from home so that I will be more accessible to my child and other wonderful family members if they need me.  I want to be able to manage my time so that I enjoy life fully and take nothing for granted.  I want to get ahead and not tread water all the time.  I want to have many happy returning customers and steady orders.  I want success!  More importantly I want freedom...
• How can I make what I made?  Now this is perplexing... I am not going to say what I made outright but with over a decade of experience in the classroom and a Master's Degree I made a decent amount.  I've always wanted more that what I made because I spent a lot on my classroom and had a lot of debt so I always felt like treading water.  Right now I feel like I am sinking so to make what I made it is the first goal.  To accomplish that I want to have at least 20 orders a day since I do not have a lot of "higher priced" items.  Either than or change my inventory to a higher price point and sell at least 10 items a day.  In order to increase the number of orders, I need to list my items consistently and have at least 30-40 listings end each day.  My concern about this plan is the listing/eBay fees. All this additional activity would equal additional expenses.  Would that cancel out the profits?
• How can I make even more?  I don't know.  I want to have multiple streams of income that is why it is a dream to learn how to properly monetize websites through blogging as well as continuing my eBay business.  I want to become a skilled artisan and make high end jewelry.  Right now I am starting out with costume/fashion jewelry.  As my skills grow, I hope my profit grows too.
• How can I balance my time between work and being mommy?  Again a tough one... I have to work when she's asleep.  What I am finding is that I'm tired too.  I think I just have to push through and make a priority list each day of what needs to be completed.  I don't rest until it's done.  Raising my daughter will always be number one on that list.  I can also include her in some of the activities.  It's so cute that she pretends to bubble wrap her toys and takes them to the post office.  She helps me already get the labels off the printer and puts the packages in the bag to take to the post office.  She even gets the receipt from the postal workers at the post office when we drop off the packages. Oh and she goes with me when I am hunting for treasures to sell.  I just need to be more productive with squeezing in listing time and accept that I cannot have a long expanse of time to just work.  It needs to be broken into smaller chunks.  (Please note this is very hard for me so it is a work in progress.)

There are even more questions bouncing around in my head.  The worst ones are "Can you even do this?  Are you going to give up?  Are you failing your family by chasing your dream?  Are you being selfish for wanting this?"

To these questions I say "Choose Joy!" That's my mantra this year.  I am trying to push out these negative thoughts as fast as they pop in my head.  I keep praying to the Lord for guidance and praying that I will see the doors He opens for me.  I pray that if he wants me to change paths he makes it abundantly clear.  I am listening hard for the Still Soft Voice and I am putting my life in the Lord's Hands.  I hope I am not being selfish.  I pray that I learn from any lessons He places before me...

On that note, I better get to working this plan!  

Coming up with a Business Plan...Can I Do It?

There is no question that starting your own business is a challenge...

Learning how to drive traffic to your site is a process...

I keep going over and over what I should sell...

Should I stay on this path or change directions?

I'm doing well but I am not earning a living yet and I want to grow, grow, grow my business.

Always the overanalyzer, I have been reflecting on what I can do better.  I've determined that I am trying to do too much at once. 

• I want to add more listings to my eBay store.
• I want to make more jewelry and add it to my new Etsy store.
• I want to create products for my Teachers Pay Teachers store. (I need to update my store too!)
• I want to keep www.LoweryLoft.com updated.
• I want to expand http://llbookreviews.blogspot.com and link it to Amazon products.
• I want to continue to blog at http://lowerysloft.blogspot.com about growing a small business and about some of the interesting things I am learning about vintage products.
• I want to add more blog posts about Teaching with Everyday Objects on http://groovyeducator.blogspot.com and eventually turn it into a book with accompanying activities.
• I still want to write children's books.
• AND right now I am trying to find a part/full time job to supplement my income while this business grows.  
• AND I am trying to be a good mom and spend as much time with my wonderful little girl.  AND I am trying to keep up the house.  
• AND I am trying to be a wife who is not distracted by all of these things so my husband doesn't feel neglected.

I feel pulled in so many directions.  

I need to be proactive and make some tough decisions.  I've backed out of my booth at the antique mall and I have backed out of my booth at the flea market because it was just too much!   There are only so many hours in the day. 

I want to do some guerilla marketing with my business cards and make flyers but I don't know if I have enough products in my eBay store to keep people interested and the Etsy store needs to be build up more too.

With it being so close to the beginning of the school year, I should be making some items for TpT.  

I keep bouncing around from one want to the next.  

My current plan is as follows:

• Post office= Every Day! Mon-Fri.
• Monday-eBay all day!Please note when I say eBay all day I am referring to listing.  I need to grow my store and all day is not all day.  I still am mom in the morning until 9 and then mom again at 2 or 3.
• Tuesday-Family Day with e-Bay during "nap time" and after "bed time"
• Wednesday-Family Day with eBay during "nap time" and TpT brainstorming at bed time
• Thursday-TpT / Groovy Educator all Day!
• Friday-Treasure hunt and eBay, eBay, eBay
• Saturday-Family DayDuring nap-time=catch up time (Possibly a trade school, craft fair, or flea market)
• Sunday-Family Day - Squeeze it what I can when I can.

I will still periodically add to http://llbookreviews.blogspot.com and do quick updates to the blogs but I needed a plan.  Oops the jewelry making was left out.  I can always fit that in during Family Time since my daughter is very interested in the process.  We can each work on our own projects.

Notice there is a lot of family days because family is important!  I want to enjoy as much of my daughter's early years as possible.

In the mean time I have to keep searching for additional work.  I just don't know how this will all come together but I am putting it in God's Hands.  

I don't know if I am putting too much of an emphasis on eBay but it is where most of the income is coming in.  I would love to sell new products too.  I have a product line in mind but I have to keep it on the down low until I get the capital to invest.  I have some ideas for teaching apps and products but I will only pursue those if I am am successful and get ahead.  I watch Shark Tank and just wonder how do people do this?  How do they come up with all the money?  I don't feel comfortable asking people to invest in an idea.  At least not now because it is just a pipe dream right now.

Times like these I miss my Dad.  We would always bounce ideas off each other.  He was a wonderful listener and then always came up with some super insightful comments.  He was always encouraging and inspiring.  

If you have any thoughts or suggestions I would greatly appreciate them.  I am so used to the structure of my teaching career and right now I have limitless directions I can move and I am not quite sure what to do with all this freedom.  With teaching there always has to be a plan as with a business there needs to be a plan.  Am I trying to do too much?  Not enough?  

As with life, just keep going...don't quit.  Never quit!