Crafters, it can be overwhelming trying to figure out where to sell your craft. Do you concentrate on selling in one location or venue or do you spread yourself over several Big Craft Markets? The answer is YES. I think it is yes to both as a general answer and then you have to look at what is best specifically for you.

If you are starting out and you don’t have any built in exposure, you need the Big Craft Markets. Markets like Bonanza, Etsy, Ebay have built in traffic already. People are already shopping at these sites. It is crutial to your business to be a part of these venues. You can list on all of the sites and just manage the stock on each one of them as items sell. If an item sells on Etsy, update your stock on the others. This does take time but your exposure is HUGE.

I am a BIG fan of websites.  I think if you have  company, you need a personal website.  It doesn’t cost hardly anything to have a website these days.  You can get a free site through WordPress and then buy your domain through GoDaddy for as little as $10 a year.  (sometimes less).  At the beginning of having the website, all you will need to do is talk about your product, share pictures of your product and link them to the Big Craft Markets that you are selling off of to buy the item.  Don’t worry about setting up a Checkout Cart on your site at the beginning.  Until you get the traffic coming to your site for your product built up, don’t waste your time, money and effort to build the e-commerce on your site.  Use the Big Craft Markets for this aspect of your business.

When you sell an item through the Big Craft Markets, pack the item out neatly and include either a flyer, business card or coupon in the package.  If you would like, this works great to offer a 10% discount for returning and purchasing again.  When you include your information, make sure your website is printed clearly and easily read on the paper.  Don’t hide it.  This is where you start to build your traffic to your site.  On everything that you do, facebook, email, flyers, business cards…. have your website clearly marked.  It is all a plus to growing your online presence.

Here are some past articles on how to get your craft business started.

• How to get started. 
• Getting Organized
• Determining how much stock you need.
• Picking your domain name

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When Mother’s day starts to roll around it really makes me want to reflect on the past and the influences that I have had in my life as mothers. God blessed me with a mother that was amazing. I can’t say that when I was growing up I realized that all the time or even verbally shared that with my mother but I hope as I grew she knew the value we had as mother and daughter. My long conversations with her over absolutely nothing of importance I miss. I miss seeing my husbands face when I hang up from my mom and not understanding how we can be in a conversation and in a split moment say goodbye. I tried to explain…. it was a ongoing conversation that just got interrupted and will pick back up on the next call. He would just smile and shake his head with me knowing he just didn’t understand the mother daughter relationship.

I was also surrounded with “other mothers” in my life. Mrs. Whitefield. She was a precious little lady in our church as I was growing up that treated me like her granddaughter. I didn’t have a strong relationship with either one of my grandparents so Mrs Whitefield was my grandparent. She taught me how to love others through sharing meals we cooked together and shared her life lessons with me through the eyes of Christ.

With me being the youngest of 4 daughters and there was a gap in age between me and my older sisters.….. well you know where this is going. I had 3 older sisters that thought they were my mother at times. I learned to accept that from them and appreciate their wisdom. The best part of this is my mom instilled in them herself so I do still get to see my mom through my sisters and their love to mother me. There is no replacing a Mother daughter relationship but I am thankful for my sisters.

They never grow up.

Being a mother of two has been the joy of my life. I look back and I am more critical of the way I raised my children than content but that is because I always wanted to measure up to my mom and the love of Christ extended to me. If I had to do it over again….. I don’t think I would change a thing. I loved my children unconditionally. Yes, I lost my temper, yelled a little too much, gave in a little to quickly and probably spoiled them a whole lot but I am thankful God gave me these two and I love each one to the point I would lay down my life for them in an instant. My husband will say candidly…… don’t wake the momma bear, you will regret it. That probably has a lot of truth to it.

Looking to the the future. God has really impressed on Gregg and I that we are not finished. This is exciting and scary for both of us. Selfishly we love our empty nest. It is amazing. Romantic , fun and freeing, but God has another plan for us. Our home is not to sbe empty when there are children needing refuge. Being a mom is not something that has an end date on it. I don’t see that anywhere in the Bible. If Sarah can be a mom at the young age of her 90′s then what excuse do I have. We are praying that God shows us the right time to open our home and take in the orphans of our community but until then, He is molding our hearts and our home to be ready for the next journey of being MOM.

Do you have any reflections on being a Mom that you would like to share?

I would love to hear them.

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Maybe spring is in the air and I want to be out planting a garden but I have been drawn to the fuit plants and trees today. I have found this tree called the Fruit Salad tree. I was skeptical at first because how can a tree grow different fruits and be the same tree….. right? I googled it and ABC news actually did a report on it and this tree is legit.

You can get two Fruit Salad Trees shipped to your door for $35.88. That is $17.94 each. They are shipped from the green house with roots attached for healthy planting.

I have planted a couple of trees from a mail order nursery and both are living and growing awesome.

Some of the links in this post contains my affiliate links. You can read my disclosure policy under the Contact Me tab.

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How fun would it be to grow your own banana tree?  I just saw this and thought to myself, the kids would have loved this when they were little to watch fruit grow and it be in our house.

From the looks of the add, the plant is actually a pretty plant so it could serve as a two fold purpose of decor and providing fruit for the family.

The cost is $10.00 or two Banana Tree plants and then  $11.90 to ship them.  I think the shipping is a little steep but it still isn’t too bad for two plants.  That would make them. $10.95 each.

Some of the links in this post is my Affiliate links.  You can read my disclosure policy under the Contact Me tab.

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Do you have a single brew coffee maker that takes the K cups?  We do and I am getting to the point that I cringe when I have to purchase new pods.  When I buy them at the store, they are around .50 cents a cup or higher.

You can use these reusable Cafe’ Cups and start making your coffee for around .05 cents a cup.  That is a HUGE savings.  Plus you can choose what coffee you want to brew.

You will get 4 Cafe’ Cups for $10.99 plus $6.99 shipping.  That is $18 but if you drink coffee everyday, it won’t take long to make that money back up and you will be saving money on your coffee.  Just another way to cut your expenses.

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Wouldn’t it be horrible if you spent two years building your craft and selling on Etsy, Ebay or in craft shows and your name of your business is starting to get recognized and you go to purchase your name for a web  address you realize that name is taken?   That would be  a nightmare!!!  It is so important to pick your domain name at the beginning of starting your business.

My sister is has just redefined her business and she poled people and searched for that perfect name to showcase her company.  As I have said it before it is KOLA Kidz Clothing.  She is not to the point of launching the website but she knows she can move forward with using that name in all the venues because she owns the web address.  What peace that is.

You don’t want to spend money on signage, business cards, tags for items,etc and then realize that you have picked a name that someone else owns. www.GoDaddy.com (I know, I don’t like their marketing either) is a great site to play around with choosing the name and also their prices of purchasing the domain name is reasonable. On www.GoDaddy.com you can use their search bar to see if the names that you want are available and if not, it will give suggestions of something that is close to what you want.

You can purchase your domain from Go Daddy for pretty cheap.  This is where I have all my domains bought and never had any trouble with their service.  I don’t use any of their hosting or email services at all.  I prefer other services that I will write about later.

I encourage you to secure your name to where you can start building your brand, building a community around your brand and also bring a bigger value to your business name.

Some of these links in the post are my affiliate links, you can read my disclosure policy under the Contact Me tab.

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I have a sister that has a Children’s clothing company called KOLA Kidzs.  She primarily does custom clothing for little boys and girls so her inventory is not massive.  But when she does craft shows or stocks in a specialty store, she has a few items that she knows is faithful sellers that she can produce quickly, easily and cost effective.

When preparing your stock, think about things that you can produce quickly and cost effectively that will compliment your items that are specialty.  For example, if you sell custom made floral arrangements you could do small wreaths .  If you do little girls dresses, maybe you can do hair bows or head bands.  Always try to find something that complements but you will be able to produce a little faster and not as expensive.

Evaluate how you are going to market your products and if it is going to be on an online venue, you can keep your stock lower. But if you are going to the market of craft shows and specialty stores, your stock will need to be higher because you restock when the your item in quantity and not by specific order.  If you sell with an online venue and your item is not complicated to make and you can turn it over quickly, you can make the items as ordered or make just a few of each style.

The post Crafters: Selling Your Craft Online {Determining how much stock you need} appeared first on A Thrifty Geek.

We are headed on vacation soon and I was in need of some new flip flops. I found this deal thanks to Crystal for Crocs Flip Flops for $11.99 with FREE  shipping.

I was able to score the Womens metallic flip flop in silver. You have the choice of silver or gold.

These shoes are regular $19.99 plus shipping.

use code: SHIP4FREE for free shipping
And
use code METAL for discount on shoe

Click here for this shoe deal
Womens metallic flip flop

The link in this post contains my Affiliate links. You can read my disclosure policy under the about tab.

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I have teamed up with some wonderful bloggers to bring you this giveaway.  You get a chance to win a set of Woolzies and also a set for a friend.  This product is a Green way to do laundry as well as a way to save money on dryer sheets.

About Our Sponsor

Soft By Nature, the company that produces Woolzies dryer balls, is a small family owned company located in the picturesque Hudson Valley region of New York State. Being very “green” and eco-conscious, they were looking to find a viable natural alternative to the dangerous chemical laden dryer sheets and liquids. They discovered how well pure wool balls worked in the dryer and decided to try and make the product available to as many people as possible.

You can purchase Woolzies on Amazon or on their web site at www.woolzies.com

Check out this video to learn more about how Woolzies can save you time and money!

The Prizes

Our winner will receive two sets of Woolzies Dryer Balls. They will also be able to choose another person to receive one set of Woolzies Dryer Balls.

Keep: TWO sets of Woolzies

Share: ONE set of Woolzies

How to Enter

The Giveaway will open up on 4/30 12:01 am EST and Close on 5/3 at 11:59 pm EST.

Complete the mandatory entries on the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out and Enter our Other Giveaways

Side note…It’s not mandatory to enter all the giveaways at each blog. Those are just great bonus giveaways for you to enter.

Mission Giveaway started with Madame Deals and her $100 story where with $100 several people received the help they needed. We are on a mission to help people help each other! We have gathered a group of bloggers that want to make a difference. Together we are Mission Giveaway!

To ask about becoming a sponsor, please contact Amee or Dawn at madamedealsmedia@yahoo.com for details. Take a look at our Media Kit to see what Mission Giveaway has to offer.

Are you a blogger that would like to participate in Mission Giveaway? Find out how you can join us.

Find our official Terms and Conditions on the Madame Deals Media page.

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