Let the Holiday Shopping Begin!!! :o)

It has been a busy month of poetry writing, crocheting and candle making at my house. 

I sold my first batch of candles through my enthusiastic friend in Bakersfield.  They wanted more Red Currant, Pumpkin Spice, Green Tea, and (by special request) Lavender.  I was able to squeeze in the time for four candle sessions in 5 days to send their order the following weekend.  If you are in that area and would like to see my samples, send me an email and I'll let you know where you can find them.

The other good news of the month is that one of the candle samples I sent out in October has turned into an order.  Homemade by Hoyt pillar candles are now available at the Santa Barbara Winery tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara.  I discovered about a year ago how yummy their wines are and have been dropping in for a visit every few months since then.  (I highly recommend it as a Saturday or Sunday leisure outing.)  It probably helps that I have a friend that works there, both for getting me to visit and for getting my products on the shelf.  But, you get it, right?!  I'm willing to drink as much wine as it takes to sell my candles.  Haha.

The final good news of the month is that I was contacted about being included in the holiday shopping guide for Child Style Magazine.  I'm not really sure when it is coming out or where to see it, but... they thought my Frappuccino candle was pretty nifty.  I hope they can send me some holiday customers!  My website could use the advertising help.

Winter Preparations Part 3: Samples, Etsy and Interruptions

The past few weeks have been a complete whirlwind. I only have two to three weeknights free lately which I can devote to my candle business. The stress knots in my neck and shoulders are proving to me that it's not enough time. I'm working on figuring out which regular commitment I can cut back or cut out, but for now... It is what it is.

The good news is that I'm a little more busy than expected because a few of my friends have been out there promoting my candles. Despite being delayed by an apartment covered in roof gunk (fell through the ceiling cracks during re-roofing), I managed to make enough candles to keep up with the amount I want to post online for Christmas and to hand out samples to a few local store owners who heard about my candles from friends. I got the information printed out for the store sample bags just moments before my computer was overtaken by a virus. Thankfully, none of my files were destroyed. I just had to live without a laptop for a few days.

I cheered myself up about the computer virus by saying the timing must have been good luck for wholesale candle orders. I still haven't gotten any call backs, but will try ringing them in a few days if I still haven't heard.

Winter Preparations Part 3: Direct Sales Strategy

I had an absolute blast this weekend crocheting mug cozies and watching TV. So, you can expect to see a bunch of them on my website before Christmas. I have piles of leftover yarn from beanies, scarves and little clutch purses I've made for myself and family since I re-took up crocheting about 8 years ago. This is the pile I've decided to start with for my mug cozies. There is plenty more where that came from, but I'm still hoping to turn those basketfulls into something beautiful for me at some point... when I'm not crocheting to make a little extra money. Hmmm... I wonder when that is going to happen?

I'm really starting to get excited for the winter. I may not have gotten samples to local retail stores in time to get extra wholesale orders this winter, but I am confident that my two loyal vendors, Midnight Sun and Hempwise, will place orders and I think I have some good ideas for increasing my direct sales both locally and online. First of all, I've been fortunate enough to receive some free advertising from a local e-news source in exchange for weekly submissions from my new poetry blog and some free candle and soap prizes for their readers. Google Analytics has taught me that the ad is indeed working... people are visiting my site. Now I just need to have a more plentiful product line for them to choose from... at least that is my theory on why there haven't been any purchases yet. Also, it's not quite winter aka candle gifting season.

Speaking of candle gifting season, I may have a pseudo sattelite salesperson in Bakersfield this winter. I am just starting to figure out the details, but a very kind Homemade by Hoyt fan has offered to take a few samples around to show her friends, take orders, and call me with the details. Naturally, I offered her my 15% referral discount on anything she wants to order and said there will be gifts involved as well if the orders are plentiful. If you are reading this and are interested in doing the same... contact me. I'd love to have your help spreading the word about my products!

The last thing I plan to do is out of pure optimism that increased online presence truly does mean increased sales. I created my first treasury last week on etsy. It is a collection of coffee related items I thought would make a nice gift with my frappuccino recycled jar candle. You see, I'm starting Christmas shopping super early this year in order to spread out the cost... so I thought I would encourage you to do the same... and to buy from the artists on etsy. So, I plan to create a new treasury at least once a month to inspire my customers' Christmas shoping.  I figure it must be good karma at the very least... people include me in theirs sometimes, so it's about time I do the same.