I get emails all the time from folks that want to start an on-line shop and have it be their sole source of income so they can quit their jobs. They want to know how I did it, can I give them advice, etc. For those that are new to Besotted it might read like all I do all day is design, write this here blog, practice my lettering, take photographs and move to random cities willy nilly. Although I love the idea of illusion, (I did after all start my career in advertising), I don’t like to be a phoney baloney (technical term). So, let’s dispel some myths here and then I can get into some specifics for you. Besotted Brand was not an overnight success, it has been more like a four year and counting success (‘success’ being subjective here). It took me a good two years just sourcing all my vendors which includes my packaging. That’s a lot of work to put into a project that I wasn’t even making a dime on. I worked a full-time job 95% of the time I ran Besotted Brand, which means I worked 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (and most nights longer) and then came home tested products, designed the branding, website, wrote copy for products and eventually started packing shipments into the wee hours of the night. The weekends were more of the same, meaning I was working 7 days a week over 15 hours a day just to get going. Granted most full-time jobs may not have been as stressful as mine (or demanding) so I think if I had a ‘normal’ job it would not have felt as taxing. Of course I wanted to make money, but this project is foremost a labor of love for me, I don’t think I could have kept up this schedule if I was doing this for any other primary motivation. While I was at my soul sucking corporate job I was able to amass a nice savings, not Rockefeller status but enough to make me feel comfortable when we moved to the middle of nowhere and I was running Besotted Brand full-time. I used a lot of my savings to get me through over six months of not having a steady job. I hated dipping into my savings, just hated it but I am happy that I had it so I could continue trying to grow the business.

So the specifics: When should I quit my job to pursue my on-line shop full-time? This is a loaded question, because there are so many variables but I would suggest not quitting your job until your shop starts to turn over a regular profit, enough where you feel that if you quit your job and could spend more time with your shop that it would have a positive fiscal impact. I also suggest if you are leaving your job you consider having a savings too (at least six months worth of expenses would be ideal). Because of the timing of our move, I didn’t have the luxury of turning a profit yet thus the reason for perpetual savings dipping. You may not think it is possible to work a full-time job and run a shop, but it is, you will just have to give up things like the gym, friends, family and generally any other extracurricular activity. It’s a huge sacrifice, but not impossible. You will also have to set specific parameters for both you and your clients. In the very beginning I only shipped one day a week and eventually I moved it to three and so on. Know your limits, it’s great to be a go-getter but know what is feasible to be accomplished without sacrificing quality or customer service.

You will want to figure out how much you need to sell to survive, plus set goals over that amount (you don’t want to be working your tail off for the bare minimum, right?) Once I had that survival amount in hand (this is the amount that will keep me from going homeless + hungry) it helped me to have items in mind that I needed to sell to get to that amount. For example for me it was selling six custom stamps a day. This would not make me rich, but it would keep a roof over my head (remember to factor in your profit. I do not make the entire amount of my sale for each custom stamp–a portion goes to Etsy, a large portion towards manufacturing, cost of shipping from the manufacturer, and packaging, after all that is subtracted that is my profit). For you it could be selling 3 of your custom vases, or 2 custom 10″ x 10″ prints. It helped me to put products to this base number because it made it more accessible, ‘Sure, I could sell 6 custom stamps a day!’ Do I meet this goal? Not always, some days I have no sales, but I know I have my savings (for now) so I just keep plugging away. That is why I suggest you turn a profit before you take the plunge so you are in a better financial position than I found myself in. Do I get scared? Often! Do I love what I do? Absolutely!

I hope this answered some of your questions about taking the on-line shop plunge. Part II I will discuss a community like Etsy versus running your own e-commerce site, the pros & cons. If you have a specific question just send me an email and I will promise to try to address it in future posts. If you have anything to add to the above please leave it in the comments, this is just my experience but I would love to here yours as well!

P.S. A great small business resource is Megan Auman’s Designing an M.B.A. she has a very active newsletter that is free and she’s great at breaking down the most overwhelming business details into comprehensible bite size pieces.

When we drove cross country the first time it seemed like I picked up a vintage globe in every port.  When I was living in the City of Angels a globe like this would cost you a pretty penny, so when I found people were practically giving them away I was buying what they were selling.  I amassed quite a collection and I gave a lot of them away as I think they make very cool gifts. I have two more globes that I have no room for and I shall be giving away one each to two people!  I will announce the winners next Monday, April 22, 2013.  Because I will be driving 2500+ miles in a few weeks this question is a bit self-serving, but I am curious to read your entries and perhaps put together a little mixed ‘tape’ for our trek. To enter to win just answer the following question below:

What is your favorite driving song?

And I never did mention who I chose for the wood box storage bestowal, that would be Jessica Reed.  I loved her word–“I have always been enamored with the Dutch word Schoon. I love how it sounds and that it means both clean AND beautiful.”  When I posed that question I didn’t think that I would be getting non-English words but was pleasantly surprised!  I also like the meaning of her word as I love clean + beautiful!

P.S. Tomorrow I am going to be discussing the shop + sales, I get a zillion emails a day asking how I did it and I shall reveal my experience with you!

I love photography, I really do, but it can become a very expensive hobby–fast. I am thankful for the internet so I can easily look-up questions I may have or collect endless amounts of information for the small price of my time, (which is the best price for someone like me on a tight budget). I have a couple of resources that I have found that I have been meaning to share, the links are in The Directory (along with many others) but they are so good that I think they warrant a little more attention and today seemed as good a day as any to do just that.  The first one is Craft & Vision, created by author & photographer David duChemin, it’s a series of downloadable ebooks that are very well put together + very affordable. In their words, ‘Exceptional photography education at irresistible prices’.  Most of the books are $5 and in my humble opinion worth 10 times that amount.  You can download to your computer, but if you have an Ipad or Kindle type device it’s a bit more comfortable to crawl up on the sofa with.  I own the entire series of The Magic of Black & White, which has been an invaluable resource for me. Craft & Vision 11 ways to improve your photography is free and a great way to get familiar with their offerings and get an idea of what to expect in your future purchases. They have added so many titles since they first launched, subjects run the gamut from composition, to digital darkroom and even off camera flash. I think I am going to download a Lightroom one soon as I am still so new to using the program and could use a little help.

The second resource is a little more light-hearted, it’s a great resource for beginners, but for those that are more advanced don’t fret you too can find great information there as well. The company is called Photography Concentrate, their tagline is learn photography-faster (and funner, too). For an nominal investment they load you with video tutorials, in-depth guide books and tons of examples.  They also offer a 60 day 100% guarantee, which is pretty impressive!  They have a ton of freebies and a great blog with free tutorials + advice. It’s just a good site to bookmark if you are feeling like you want to learn more, but are overwhelmed by what is available or wish you had access to affordable photography lessons.

I hope that either of these sites inspires you to learn more or get out and try something new. I know it can be difficult to unearth all the treasures readily available to us today on the interwebs, but these two are definitely gems that are worth adding to your growing collection of photography resources!

If you are into lettering than you may have surely stumbled upon the name Louise Fili at some point.  In the graphic design industry she is legendary. Her New York based firm Louise Fili Ltd. specializes in food packaging and I am sure you may have seen plenty of her work on shelves or pinned repeatedly. Some of the alumni that have come from her studio are the uber talented Jessica Hische & Dana Tanamachi to name but a few.  She is currently getting ready to teach a master class in Typography in Italy, it has limited spaces but I do think it’s worth mentioning for anyone aspiring to be a lettering super star.

For those us mere mortal lettering enthusiasts I highly recommend some of her books, the latest one being Scripts which she co-authored with her equally talented husband Steven Heller. It has over 300 examples of beautiful golden age lettering, it is sure to inspire you to try your hand at some of the pieces.  By the by, that’s a great technique to learn, taking an existing example, tracing it to get the feel and then trying to replicate it free hand.  It’s how Master painters would teach their apprentices, by having them recreate their masterpieces.  It will help you become more familiar with how a piece is created if you try to do it yourself.  Lettering is all about practice. Allow yourself the opportunity to just give it a go and try not to judge yourself too harshly. The other night I was showing some girlfriends how to use the pointed pen + ink, they were hating their work, but the next morning they both agreed that it wasn’t as bad as they originally surmised. I think you will find that as well, if you step away from your work after practicing you will be able to appreciate it with fresh eyes the following day.  Visit Louise Fili, get inspired, buy some of her books or check them out at the library they are great resources.  And remember if you want to get better–practice!

I am just popping in really quick to let you know I am still away and didn’t have the foresight to come up with anything, charming or creative for this Monday (and Tuesday).  That’s what happens when you are in New Orleans, the real world no longer feels real, it’s as if you have slipped back in time, where the pace of life is a whole lot slower and my get up and go has got up and went. I have been wildly inspired by pretty much everything you can think of–the architecture, the history, the food (oh, goodness if I eat another Beignet..), the flora, the fauna (as seen above), just everything.  I leave on Tuesday, but Nola is high on my list of places to return to one day. I am thinking this would be a perfect spot for a future live Souvenir Foto workshop, the light here is amazing, lots of drama and moodiness, but you can also find beautiful + bright. There is also no shortage of photo-op’s!  I have been actively documenting my trip via Instagram if you are curious.  I will have more shots to share soon.

I shall see you back here on Wednesday per usual, can’t wait!