CREATE 2014 + getting back in the craft fair game.

as youve probably heard about a million, billion times on instagram and twitter, we (i almost typed i, but really poverty luxe is a family affair and james and alice deserve credit here too) did our first craft fair with poverty luxe last weekend!

now, this wasnt my first craft fair ever, id actually done quite a few when i was in college with my old etsy shop. but, none of those really went all that great, and after taking SUCH a long break (during which, i obviously analyzed and overanalyzed everything i did wrong and how to address it) , i was really happy to finally have a chance to put all these really important things i know now (like, um, branding, customer service, and displays that are actually functional). and i mean, $50 craft fair, RIGHT DOWN THE STREET FROM MY HOUSE? sold. 

even though i had booked the fair a couple MONTHS ago, i (obviously) totally procrastinated and didnt really do any preparations until the last couple of weeks before the fair, but thankfully, everything got done. i made somewhere around 100 new bows (several new fabrics will be coming to the shop soon!), and james helped me make a super cute display for them: 

(p.s. that awesome white cubby thing? i found that IN THE TRASH just a couple days before the fair, how perfect is that?)

even though it took a couple of very frustrating trips to the hardware store, we did get my rack built, and its awesome and i love it: 

also, i painted signs, which dont look like much but im really proud of them because i do. not. paint. and they came out pretty cute. 

but seriously, how stinking cute are all my skirts all lined up on my new rack? i mean really:

and of course i had a couple clearance bins of pieces from my old shop that I'm just not sure what to do with (but seriously, what am i supposed to do with this stuff?):

and after weeks of stress and panic and frustration and tears and feeling like a failure because i couldnt get the freezer paper printing on fabric thing to work (spoiler alert: james did, everything has labels now), we had achieved something i had never been able to do before with  my old shop:

and attractive, functional booth/display, filled with a carefully curated collection of well-constructed pieces that all go together and reflect a consistent brand image. that alone was an amazing feeling. 

but after all that blathering about the booth and the process and all that, im assuming what you actually want to know is how the fair itself actually went. 

and well, im not sure how to answer that question. obviously, the most important part is that i did it and poverty luxe is henceforth able and prepared to do more craft fairs in the future, and the second most important part is that i didnt lose money on the fair (mainly thanks to my completely insane business model). 

but the event itself? meh. dont get me wrong, the girls running the fair worked very hard, they picked a great location, a great mix of vendors, and did a great job about promoting the event as a whole as well as spotlighting the individual vendors on instagram. however, i didnt realize that the girls running the show were like, 18, and maybe not super experienced with running a full-blown craft fair (and maybe this is just me being snobby from having been involved in several real, serious craft fairs in the past), but the day-of operations? those were kind of a mess. and attendance? well, lets just say that if each individual vendor had simply brought 10 friends/family members (like i did), and nothing else, the attendance would have been awesome. and sales? my sales covered my booth fee (plus a little left over to sponsor a blog giveaway coming up), BUT all of that, except for one $5 purchase, was from people i know. 

but instead of focusing on those things, id rather give us all pats on the back for just doing the fair, and appreciate the cute new prints and tardis skirt that i got from other vendors. 

and you know, i actually wrote a blog post, so thats cool. 

bluff cove olive oil company.

wednesday we got to do something really special. we got to go to the grand opening of bluff cove olive oil co. obviously i was super excited about this, because if theres one thing i love more than fancy olive oil stores, its fancy olive oil stores owned by friends (and staffed by my mom!). 

this is the owner, jessica:

shes a church friend of ours, and also the owner of this wondrous place:

which not only features impossibly cute and cozy decor, thats just begging you, "please, stay here forever and taste all of the delicious oils":

but also carries literally dozens of THE most amazing olive oils and balsamic vinegars:

dozens of them. ALL OF THEM EVEN MORE DELICIOUS THAN THE LAST. 

and did i mention that my mom works there? well, she does: 

she taught us how to properly taste olive oil. and life will never be the same. 

now, maybe im a little biased, because generally speaking im really into this kind of fancy foodie stuff, and the store is owned and staffed by good friends (and my mom), but you have NO idea how hard it was to not buy one of everything in the store. and really, one bottle would have taken up our whole "completely frivolous food items" budget for the month. i did NOT want to pick just one. 

thankfully in addition to full bottles, bluff cove does custom mini-bottle gift sets, which allow you you mix and match four (or six!) miniature bottles, so we could pick four flavors instead of just one. 

which, granted, picking four flavors out of what felt like a million (and they were all delicious) wasnt really that much easier, but eventually our dear friend michaela was able to help us pack up our four choices:

(we ended up choosing tuscan herb, garlic, and while mushroom and sage olive oils, and a peach white balsamic vinegar, plus some truffle salt, because, truffles)

so, if youre in the south bay area, and youre into fancy olive oils, you probably already know that the closest olive oil stores are in santa monica and long beach. WELL NOT ANYMORE. bluff cove olive oil co is here for all your oil and vinegar needs. we will be back. at least nine more times (i mean, gotta get that free bottle, right?). 

(and no, i was not paid or compensated in any way for writing this post. i did pay for everything i bought and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. i just really love olive oils, ok?)

my jamberry business launch party ( + a giveaway!)

remember last week when i announced my new business adventure (a term i just coined that you are more than welcome to start using and make a thing) as a consultant for jamberry nails. and i didnt really say much more than that because my official business launch was for another day. 

well today is that day! my facebook business launch party has been going for a couple days now (thats how jamberry does things, real life parties and facebook parties), BUT the lame thing about facebook events, is well, i can only reach the folks that im friends with on Facebook and its really, really difficult to reach a wider audience (which is truly a shame because as far as im concerned, jamberry is the second best thing ever, after cheese, obviously). so, im inventing something right now: blog parties for jamberry nails. 

as far as i know, this is the first one thats ever happened (jamberry is still a baby company, only about three or four years old), so im kind of making this up as i go, BUT i think its going to be really fun. heres how its going to work:

first, im going to take a few minutes to tell you about what jamberry nails are, what makes them so awesome, and why i love them so much. second, im going to talk about all the ways that YOU can get in on the jamberry action (more options than you think). and last but not least, im giving away a FULL SHEET of jamberry wraps to one lucky winner!!!! so stay tuned to the end because you definitely dont want to miss that. 

alright, so lets get started: 

what are jamberry nails? well heres a handy little graphic that has everything you need to know:

now, let me reiterate a few of my favorite key points:

1. theyre heat and pressure activated vinyl nail wraps that cause NO damage to the natural nail. unlike acrylic and gel nails, you DONT have to sand the nail bed in order to get them to stick. 

2. there are something like 300 different jamberry wraps so there is literally something for everyone. also, new designs are added with every catalog AND if youre the artsy type, you can design your own jamberries in the nail art studio. 

3. they last for-freaking-ever. the "lasts up to two weeks on fingers" statement? thats actually a very conservative estimate. let me show you. heres a picture of my nails right after i did them:

and here they are yesterday (ELEVEN days later!), still perfect (this is an especially big deal for me because regular nail polish lasts literally one day on my nails):

4. they are super simple to apply and in about 15 minutes you can have total pinterest nails (with the added bonus of no mess or risk of wrecking them before they dry). heres the official video of the application process:

5. they are way, way cheaper than getting your nails done at a salon. each jamberry sheet cost roughly what you would pay for ONE very basic manicure at a salon. but heres the thing, each sheet gives you AT LEAST two pedicures AND 2-3 manicures. CRAZY. it gets even better though, jamberries are ALWAYS buy three, get one free. meaning for less than $50, you get EIGHT pedicures and EIGHT TO TWELVE manicures. im serious. what does this come out to per application? thankfully somebody else already did the math for me:

(and thats totally not counting all of the leftover bits you can save to mix and match later)

so youre totally stoked on jamberry now, right? and youre all like "tell me how i can get them!"? of course you are. and the answer is simple, just place an order through my jamberry page, and it will be shipped directly to you, none of the usual direct-sales middleman nonsense. its fantastic. (oh, and if youre feeling skeptical and want to give jamberry a try before committing to an order, just shoot me an email at wifeofmeyers@gmail.com and ill get you some samples). 

but wait, you want more? you want to tell everyone you know about jamberry and score some FREE jamberries? host a party! just hit me up and we can make arrangements to do your party on facebook, on your blog, OR (if you happen to be in the la/oc area) in real life. its really up to you!

oh, is that not good enough for you? are you (like me) totally obsessed with jamberry and want your own piece of the action, making money AND earning free product by selling a ridiculously awesome product (that honestly, basically sells itself)? become a consultant! like i said earlier, jamberry is a little, baby company, and there really arent a whole lot of consultants (especially on the west coast, there are currently about 50 reps in all of southern california), so now is DEFINITELY the time to get involved. 

so lets do a quick review here:

1. jamberry nails are the awesomest.

2. $45 gets you four whole sheets (basically a lifetime supply of adorable nails). 

and 3. if you want even MORE, its totally easy to host a party or become a consultant. 

oh, and one more thing, to celebrate my business launch with all of blogland, im giving away a FULL SHEET (two manis and two pedis worth) of my favorite black and white chevron design: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

have you heard of jamberry nails before? what do you think? do you have any questions? ask away in the comments!

2014 business goals + craft fair inspiration.

i know were two and a half months into 2014, so maybe its a little bit weird to be talking about business goals right now. 

but really, january comes right after SO many birthdays and holidays, so i needed a few weeks to decompress before digging back into this book:

which, to be completely honest, i havent really been using as a planner. but really thats because every time i think i get into a semi-structured workflow with the shop and blog, something comes along and throws it WAY off and im back to square one (as far as day-to-day operations are concerned). 

HOWEVER the productivity/goal setting prompts in the beginning of the book? those have been a lifesaver as ive been working on building this little business of mine while also doing way too many other things at the same time (though, thankfully its starting to look like a few of those other things can go away now). 

my favorite part of this book though is at the very beginning. the first prompt is to list your top 25 all-time goals, and the second is to refine that big list down to your top five priorities for just this year. since my first list was really all over the place (get a fashion degree! open a brick and mortar store! sell sewing patterns! get featured on a beautiful mess or something equally as huge!), figuring out the second list was very, very difficult. 

but i eventually got there. and in the interest of staying transparent in my growth as a business owner (and the interest of i havent talked about the shop in a long time and i wanted to make sure you didnt think id given up on it), i thought id share my top 5 business goals for 2014:

1. reach 1000+ bloglovin followers. even though this blog isnt strictly business related, it is my biggest platform for talking about my shop and reaching out to potential customers, so id like to continue steadily growing my following. 

2. reach/maintain 1000+ daily page views. in a similar vein, in addition to increasing my followers i also need to work on increasing my traffic, because in my year of blogging ive learned that though followers and page views seem similar, they are actually two completely different things. 

3. get/maintain 100+ listings in the shop. ive been doing a lot of research on running an etsy business (because thats what i do, i research things), and one of the big tips that ive seen in a LOT of different places is that in order for people to really get into your shop, you need to have options. and not just a few options, pages of options. so this year my main focus is to get my inventory to that point, and keep it there. 

4. bring in at least $1000 of combined blog/shop income. basically this means actually keeping income/expense reports like i never did with my first etsy shop. now, i say income here rather than profit because i know its unrealistic to expect things to just take off right away and pay all our bills. but we have to start somewhere. so if i can just bring in $1000 while still sticking to my business plan and not losing any money, ill be stoked. 

5. save up for/assemble a great craft fair setup and do at least one craft fair. this is the big one. i LOVE doing craft fairs, but since the past few years have involved a lot of moving and downsizing (and not to mention a pretty significant rebrand), im not exactly equipped to start doing events. i do have a table, and tablecloths, and hangers, and some small display pieces, but i still need a tent, rack, folding chairs, and some appropriate signage (plus maybe some better display pieces). 

since i just made custom bow ties for my friends wedding, i actually do have a bit of capital to invest back into the business, so of course ive been scouring pinterest for cute craft fair booths. here are a few of my favorites:

this display made from boxes is PERFECT for housing all different sized items (which i totally have):

source

this ladder shelf looks really practical and simple to make (though finding a ladder that fits in my hatchback may be an issue):

source

i LOVE these pennants hanging across the front of the table as opposed to a typical sign:

source

and while this isnt exactly the presentation id like for my hair bows, i think i could improve the concept into something a bit more, you know, me:

source

so, thats what ive been thinking about business wise, in case you were wondering. 

do you do craft fairs? what are your go-to display pieces? do you have a good source for clothing racks (im serious). 

how i monetized my blog (and what I've learned so far)

one thing I've been asked a few times by real life friends that aren't into blogging is "so how exactly do you make money from your blog?" which is usually met with a very long and nerdy answer from me and then followed up with, "so, are you making a lot of money?" at which point i start laughing hysterically and they have no idea why. 

but after having this conversation a few different times, i thought id take some time to talk about how I've monetized my blog, how its worked (or not worked) for me, and what I've learned in the process. because, as you probably know, monetizing your blog (that is, using it to make money) is a pretty big thing. 

when i first started blogging, i thought it meant, like, throwing up some adsense ads and could NOT comprehend how so many people were making a living (or even a part-time income) from their blogs. 

well, after spending nearly a year now blogging, and reading a LOT of "how to make money blogging" posts on pinterest, I've learned that this is very much not the case. I've also (obviously) tried to implement some of the expert bloggers suggestions and try to turn this little blog into something that at least justifies how much time i spend on it. and so far, it hasn't been a total failure. 

but it hasn't been easy, and like i said, its almost been a year. and you know what? i haven't made a lot of money (i have made a heck of a lot more than i ever thought i would, though). but I've certainly learned a lot, and since i basically want to learn as much as i can about as many different things as possible, thats fantastic. 

now, I'm not claiming to be an expert here, AT ALL, but i really do want to talk about the different methods that I've used to monetize, because too many of the "how to make money blogging" posts I've read are too broad and overwhelming with the sheer amount of information there is about ALL THE DIFFERENT ways that bloggers can make a little cash, without giving much detail and insight about what exactly has worked well for them. because there are tons and tons and TONS of ways to make money blogging and not everything works for everybody. so far I've really only been using three:

1. google adsense

2. skimlinks

3. passionfruit ads

each of these works differently, and thats important, because apparently the key to making a successful blogging income (just like any other business) is to develop multiple streams of income. sort of like how a person with money to invest would invest it in several different things rather than putting all their eggs in one basket. 

so google, skimlinks, and passionfruit are the three that I've chosen, and i want to take a minute to talk about how each one works and how they've worked out for me. 

lets start with google (because thats what i started with):

google adsense is great because its free and completely passive. meaning, once i put the little widget up on my sidebar i didn't have to do anything every again and the money would start rolling in. but the thing is, i have no freaking idea how it works and why some days i have 90 page views and make 45 cents and other days i have 150 page views and make 3 cents. also, its slow as molasses and I've made about $10 in a year (and they don't pay out until you make $100, so....). i realize that i have a little teeny baby blog and that as it gets more traffic adsense will generate more money (and I've already seen it happen a little bit), and since i don't have to, you know, do anything, ill leave it up there to do its thing. 

now, when i realized that simply slapping up some adsense ads wasn't going to pay our rent anytime soon, i did some research and found out about skimlinks, and it turns out skimlinks is pretty cool:

what Skimlinks does is called affiliate marketing, which is its own whole thing where bloggers talk about things and then make a commission when people buy things through special links. but whats awesome about Skimlinks is that it automatically makes any applicable links into affiliate links. it also crawls my posts for keywords and turns those into shopping links to, but that part is kind of weird. 

also, their affiliate network is HUGE and almost every website I've ever talked about is an affiliate with Skimlinks (amazon, target, modcloth, macys, zenni optical, asos), so i don't have to specifically tailor my content to try and make affiliate income (which is great, because I quickly figured out that I'm just not into writing about product) AND some of the partners even pay per click. specifically modcloth. (always click on the links when i talk about modcloth). 

also also, they have a super rad referral program, where if someone joins through my link, i get 35% of their earnings for a year, AND their minimum payout is only $10. the only thing that sucks though is that commissions take FOREVER to clear (and by forever i mean about two months). really most of the money I've made through Skimlinks is from when my mom remembers to make her amazon purchases through my blog, but hey, I'm not complaining (plus, you know, everyone i know could just start making all their amazon purchases through my links and that would actually be really awesome). 

the most recent addition to my blogging portfolio has been passionfruit ads:

if you don't know what passionfruit ads is then you must not read a lot of blogs so I'm really impressed that you've found yourself here. passionfruit is a company that does ad hosting, so that bloggers can sell ads (or services, or any number of things) through their blogs in a way thats SUPER user friendly for all parties involved. 

this is BY FAR the most difficult and labor intensive way to make money blogging but it turns out that its also been my most rewarding and lucrative channel. why? well mainly because I'm working directly with the people that purchase my ads, and every new sponsor instantly becomes a new friend. even though it is extremely time consuming (and i STILL haven't figured out a good system of keeping everything i need to do straight), offering sponsorships is a CONSTANT learning experience and its almost always fun (except those times when I'm trying to implement some kind of record keeping/organization system). 

now, i do feel the need to clarify that i jumped into offering paid sponsorships COMPLETELY UNPREPARED because i won a free year in a giveaway, so... learning exactly how to do a good job is something that I've been learning very slowly and painfully (and to be completely honest I still don't think I'm very good at it), BUT that doesn't stop passionfruit and paid sponsorships from being my FAVORITE way to make money from blogging. 

so far, i really like what i have going on as far as monetizing is concerned, and i feel like it has a really good balance: adsense is completely passive, Skimlinks is semi-passive (meaning, it does its thing on its own but i can tailor my content to include more affiliate links), and passionfruit is very, very active. but the main lesson that I've learned is that just like everything else in blogging, its a slow and steady thing, I'm not going to become a millionaire overnight, and I'm totally ok with that. 

yes, there are other ways to make money blogging, but most of those revolve around doing product reviews and sponsored posts and (at least right now) i don't feel like that would be a good fit for poverty luxe, so id rather focus on what I've got going now. 

now, I'm curious, blogger friends, have you monetized your blog? if so, how, and whats worked best for you?

new skirts! (shop preview + weekly wishes)

happy monday everyone! i was hoping to have something fun to share from the weekend, since we were basically busy non-stop, but saturday night we went out to dinner and i ended up being sick all day yesterday (and still a little bit today). but the good news is that i did some research and I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to msg, and as long as i don't eat at restaurants this probably won't happen again! (sarcasm)

anyway, for the most part, were back to monday as usual (or at least, as usual as possible with a lingering migraine), and while i don't have pictures of the super adorable bake sale my mom put on for the upcoming mission trips at church, i do have pictures of all the new skirts that I've been working on (and should be up in the shop sometime tomorrow)!

i was going to wait until they were actually listed before sharing them with you guys, but you know what? I'm WAY to excited about this bunch to not show them off.

first, there were a couple new toddler skirts:

then i have a few longer, plain (pocketless) skirts:

these two are actually plus size (they're pinned to fit me, but I've had a few requests for more plus-size skirts):

of course, most of the batch was pocket skirts, since i think those are really my bread and butter. theres one in the jungle print to match the toddler version (perfect for mother-daughter matching!):

then not one, not two, but THREE power puff girls skirts!

but thats not the best part, i also managed to find this FANTASTIC rambo fabric:

actually, i lied. thats not the best part either. this is the best part, i have TWO of the most absolutely positively amazing BATTLESTAR GALACTICA skirts that are quite possible the very best thing I've ever made (I'm allowed to say that about myself, right?):

 like i said, these lovelies aren't in the shop yet, but they will be very soon. however! if there is something that you NEED to get RIGHT NOW, let me know in the comments and we can make special arrangements. 

now how about my progress on this months goals? so far were doing pretty good! i filed our taxes on tuesday (all by myself, too!), so next up i want to do some research on what types of papers are important to keep (and for how long) so that i can gut the file box. 

also, I'm basically done cleaning out my clothes. theres about three trash bags or so, that need to go, just from my side of the closet. which is totally weird because i know i did not buy three trash bags of clothes since last time i cleaned out my closet (about a year ago), but i guess i did get a lot of hand me downs. now i need to sort out what might be sellable and what just needs to go to goodwill, and also go to ikea for some skirt hangers because I'm way short on those. 

and! as an added bonus, james was in a furniture-moving mood today (not really my favorite mood of his, but oh well), so now the living room is squeaky clean! oh, and i have a super awesome new workspace, but mostly everythings super clean!

the other stuff, like alices things, the kitchen, the computer things, and my crafts, i haven't gotten to those yet, but those should be easy compared to the closets/living room clutter. 

so, what do you think of the new skirts? which ones your favorite? what kinds of fabrics would you like to see in the next batch?

new skirts, new photography, and a little insight into my new prices.

happy saturday everyone! i am super, super happy that this week ive managed to get back on our normal non-holiday schedule and that ive been able to get back to putting  more work into the shop side of things.

ive got two new pocket skirts up in the shop, one striped (which might look familiar, i made one for myself and wore it in my most popular post ever):

and floral:

and in addition to these two, ive also been spending a lot of time prepping and cutting fabric for a whole new round of skirts (and i think this may be my best crop yet). so im really excited about the work im doing right now. 

but thats not what im here to talk about. 

so, remember januarys theme and how i said that ive been working on bringing some fresh new content to the blog? well one thing youre going to be seeing a lot more of is the etsy shop. not just superficial glances like my weekend update series, but a real, honest look into my process, my business decisions, and the lessons im learning as i try to make this my full-time gig. 

i want to be more open and transparent about my business so that maybe i can inspire and encourage other new or struggling etsy sellers by letting them see what running a handmade business actually looks like, and that im right there with you. i promise youll here more about this later but for today i want to talk about the latest changes ive made to the poverty luxe etsy shop:

1. the photography. ive really been struggling with product photography since re-opening the shop. because i know exactly what i like (simple, well-lit, straightforward photos on a clean, white background), and i have not been able to replicate it at home. taking product photos in front of my ugly apartment screen door was not doing it for me. i hated it, but i thought it was the best i could do. until about last week when i realized that early in the morning my bedroom is basically a light box and as long as james gets up with me at 7 i can get the exact pictures i had in my mind. so im really happy about this change. 

2. the prices. i mentioned earlier that i was going to raise my prices with the new year (dont worry, everything that was already in the shop will stay at the same price, its just the new listings that will be at the new prices), but at the time i announced it i hadnt quite figured out what that price was. 

well, obviously since i have new skirts in the shop i must have figured something out, right? right. the new skirts are $45. which i realize is a huge jump from the previous price of $35, BUT it was very much necessary, and i think this is the perfect opportunity to share what ive been learning about business lately:

in a nutshell, the retail price of a handmade item needs to 1. cover the costs associated with making the item (in business speak, COGS, or cost of goods), 2. pay the person making it (for obvious reasons), and 3. provide a profit with which to grow the business (note: wages and profit are not the same thing). 

when i first priced the skirts at $35, i sort of followed this method. i determined my cost of goods (per skirt) to be between $2-3 depending on the fabric, that it takes me approximately two hours to make each skirt (from cutting, sewing, and finishing to photographing, listing, and mailing), and that id like to earn $10 an hour (depending on where you live this may or may not sound like a lot of money but we live in los angeles and that is just pennies more than i make cutting fabric at joanns). 

that meant that my total overhead costs per skirt was about $22.50 (give or take), so i rounded up to $35 because that sounded like a nice number. i could pay myself back for making the skirt, and have $12.50 left over to invest in growing my business. it felt like a good price. 

but upon closer inspection, it wasnt quite right. the $22.50 in overhead only pays for that skirt that i already made. it doesnt account for things like making more skirts, purchasing (and replacing) the non-consumable supplies that i use, advertising, research and development of new products, craft fair fees (and the supplies needed to do craft fairs) etc. etc. etc. each skirt only provides $12.50 towards these things. and well, thats not really enough to facilitate any kind of long-term growth. 

so i did lots and lots of research and came to the conclusion that a 50% profit margin was more appropriate for my needs. so that meant doubling my overhead costs ($22.50), resulting in the retail price of $45. 

what this all boils down to, is that by raising the retail price of each skirt 28%, i can DOUBLE my profits on the business end (NOT my hourly wages), to better facilitate sustainable long-term growth for poverty luxe. meaning, that i wont have to work myself to the bone and burn myself out just trying to stay afloat. 

now the reason im sharing all this is twofold, one, im a huge nerd and im really excited to share what ive been learning about running a business, and two, i just wanted to fill you in so that youd understand that these new prices are NOT me trying to be greedy, im just trying to grow a healthy business. 

the end. 

thanks for sticking around, and have a great weekend!