It has been a long time since I’ve given the shop a good, long look, but this has been on my mind for quite some time. When I delivered my course on Print on Demand this summer for the second time, I had some very big plans to do an overhaul to go along with it, and document my process so my students could learn from it as well.
Things got very busy, and I hit some health issues that made it challenging to get that done on the timeline I wanted. But that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. So here we are.
I’m actually writing this from a plane back from Crete by way of Munich, because it has given me the right combination of uninterrupted time, slow internet, limited communication with the outside world, a very small screen, and a whole lot of white noise, so I have the ability to really dig into the changes I want to make.
I might have started on the plane, even, but I have 2-Factor Authentication set for my shop, and I can’t get the text!
First Things First— Navigation
I have gotten some feedback that the shop is difficult to navigate, so there is an organizational revision I want to make.
There need to be browsable categories by both theme and product line. I’ve gone back and forth about which is better for my shop and I’ve decided both are really what I need.
Product Lines
I want to revise and trim down my product lines into just my bestsellers and the things that will allow me the most agility while I’m building the brand back up. Right now I’m looking at:
- T-shirts (adult and youth sizes)
- Blankets
- Art Prints
- Enamel Pins
- Resin Figures (drop model only)
- Tea Towels
- Digital Products
And I’ll have the theme categories loosely divided into:
- Animals
- Cryptids
- Space
- Bestiaries/Manuscript
These should overlap, because I’m working towards a little more unity in my art practice. We’ll see if I hold to that.
One of the tedious things about this overhaul is going through all of the existing products and making sure my print providers are still stocking the shirt bases, making sure the prices are updated, and getting all designs onto all the appropriate product types.
Bonus points would be being able to really have the cross-sell system set up well so that a customer knows that they can get the snail on a shirt in adult and kids’ sizes, and there’s an enamel pin to go with it. Or, if they are looking at one heraldic beastie, they can see others on similar products. This may cost me for a more robust cross-sell solution than the one I’m currently using.
More Art!
A long time ago, I wanted to make this my job, remember? So I would have time to make art. I still want to do that. I don’t mind if it’s not my whole job, but I still want to ensure that I have time in my week to draw.
The shop has got to buy me that time. But in order for it to buy me that time, I have to make time to freshen up the offerings.
Marketing Strategy
I have been pretty reliant on organic marketing and savvy trend spotting up to this point. I did a few ad campaigns for visibility several years ago that did a lot for building my fan base, and I should look to do that again.
This is one of the reasons I’m dropping mugs from my shop, though— I need to sell products with wider margins in order to make a paid ads strategy viable.
We’re getting close to the holiday shopping season as I write this, and that’s going to mean the buys are going to be higher now. But the returns are always better this time of year.
KPIs— Just Stay in the Black
I want the Sharptooth Snail of 2024 to be an earner. I have been doing this for long enough to believe I should be able to keep it profitable with POD if I’m careful with my ad spend and keep my eye on my products.
This year, I’m in the black but just barely, as a result of a few wholesale orders, and not having many expenses.
A modest goal of $1000 a month in gross sales is a good place to start. I think I can do that by the end of 2023. In 2024, I can start shifting towards profit goals.
Future Goals
Six months to a year of stable profit will give me some space to look toward growth. Things that will help me grow the brand in the future are, in no particular order:
- Hiring team for administrative stuff
- Volume production and warehousing of stock (when it becomes more financially advantageous to do so). “Warehousing” might actually mean a garage, or a storage unit. We’ll see.
- Vending at more shows and events
- Expanding the product line back out
- Continuing to document and report on this process for the purposes of improving the course material.
The Head Stuff Cannot Be Underestimated
It’s well past time for me to treat this shop like the business it is. There’s no reason I couldn’t make this into as strong a brand as Gingiber or Calamityware. I know what I’m doing. I have taught people to do this, and I have let my own shop go by the wayside.
I’m not particularly interested in the question: “why haven’t I, before now?” That line of questioning is only a means of self-punishment. I didn’t because I couldn’t. And I know I couldn’t because I didn’t (astute readers will point out that that’s a tautology, but when the aim is self-compassion, you’re allowed a few logical fallacies. Yay therapy!)
This is a lot, if I look at it all at once, but if I break this down into little chunks and develop the shop day by day, I will make progress.