I used to have a small gift shop and one thing I learned was that people don’t buy more because you have more stock. They buy from what’s there. What you want is more people who like what is there, not more product choices for the people who buy. Great video and advice!
This answered the question I've had lately because I have bursts of ideas for products. I need to think of it as a business...as in think of the customers that will buy.
I'm starting to sell my Japanese inspired French beaded accessories and am learning so much… I basically have come up with about 10 designs & swap out colours of beads. I batch prep the 5 steps for the main product.
A gold mine of advice. A lot of the worries you mentioned are definitely ones that come up when I think about how to proceed with my shop, especially letting go of products that aren't selling. Hoping they'd get noticed some day, but they're costing me more in fees if anything. Though I no longer produce more stock of them, I'm hoping to get rid of them but not waste them. 🤷♀ Will definitely come back to rewatch this video 👍
As always, sincere, honest and useful information, thank you. I am looking forward to your book. I wish I had a logical and observant mentality like yours.😊
There is a French expression that describes what you are addressing: "l'embarras du choix" = the embarrassment of choice which can lead to paralysis by analysis. Taken to the extreme, it is the tale of the hungry and thirsty donkey in front of a bucket of water and a bucket of hay who doesn't know what to do first. He ends up dying (of thirst presumably).
The funny thing is I was JUST thinking about this. I was selling separate listings on Etsy for printable & digital inserts by their size because having more is wanted on Etsy. And did the same on my site, but when I shop at other sites I HATE too many options... So now I'm like, why am I doing this to myself & others? How do people know which size they want/need? Most don't. It's also extremely time consuming for me to make so many listings on my own site. So I think I'm going to consolidate all the different sizes I offer of 1 design, into 1 listing, and raise the price by a bit that will still make a sell and make everyone happy. I still made sales, but now thinking about it, I probably would make more sales if I just had all the sizes in one. Just thinking about all the extra work I did and now have to consolidate everything it's like "Why didn't I think of this before?" Why did I do this to myself? I'm glad I'm not crazy, but now I feel stressed thinking about having to redo everything.
most of the time, for inserts, i buy letter size because I know how to resize them on my printer to whatever I need. I'm also a fan of bundles which have all the sizes.
So good! Your video resonates with me so much , you said out loud some of the points I was feeling and helped me clarify my vision. Thank You so much for sharing your knowledge and wisdom ❤️
Thanks to all your informative videos I was able to summon the courage and finally start my very own Mexican themed Shopify store! Looking forward to watching more of your videos!
don’t follow her advice guys. if you listen carefully..she had to go through what she recommends against to find success. most people do. it’s a necassary part of the process. make a lot of products. find what works, then narrow your product list as time goes on.
I appreciate your comment and understand where you're coming from! My approach might not be for everyone, and what works best can be different for each person. Thank you for sharing your perspective.
There’s no point in not listening and making it harder on yourself. She’s giving us the benefit of her experience. You’ll still make mistakes and learn anyway, but this gets you where you want to be faster.
Just try a lot of things if you want to. You don't have to list everything online. Just get feedback from people in any way and interpret their comments. I will say: the amount of effort needed to run a shop can balloon past what you expected. If you get a sense for how hard or how fun it is to maintain any of these things I think that will eliminate some options. Also, it's likely you will iterate on your products even once you've narrowed it down so there's always a need to get more and more knowledge about your customers and why your stuff is good, imo. (Wow, I really felt like typing today lol)
When you're just starting, it's normal to want to try a little of everything-it's part of the creative journey! To narrow down, start by asking yourself these questions: What excites you most? What resonates with others? What's practical to produce?
Haha, that's a great comparison! Just like in Kitchen Nightmares, sometimes simplifying things can make a huge difference. By wiping out half of my product line, I was able to focus on what truly resonates with my customers, similar to how a smaller, more focused menu helps restaurants improve their quality and efficiency. It's all about prioritizing what works best!
Such great advice!! But what about in terms of upcycling/ reworking clothes where finding the same fabric/material isn’t always likely .. should I narrow down to a specific category?? This is something I feel torn to do.
In this case, I feel like it depends on what you prioritize more. Do you want to go the easy route? Or is having the same fabrics and material crucial for your branding? There's nothing wrong with substituting fabrics and materials if you don't care for that consistency. But if you do care, then if it's not available anymore you'd need to remove them to have less products, or try a different category.
I'd say in this case, narrow down the patterns you are using, if you are not doing a custom one every time. Your materials won't be the same, but having a limited number of patterns you are using will make it seem more like it's a different color way of the same pattern. Less decision making for the customer, and stream lines your process a bit by making repeatable designs that are based on the quantity of fabric available for the design. If it's a project that you want to sell, but it's a one off, sell it as a limited edition. But keep posting those to a minimum, so that it remains 'visually valuable (?)' to your customers.
Thank you, glad you found it helpful! With upcycling and reworking clothes, it’s definitely trickier since each piece is unique and materials are often a one-time find. Instead of narrowing down by fabric or material, consider focusing on a cohesive vibe or aesthetic. This could be a specific style (like boho, minimalistic, or streetwear) or even a set of design elements (such as visible stitching, patchwork, or bold colors). This way, you have room for creativity with different fabrics, while still building a recognizable brand style.
shop where tho..........I mean I can only assume more listings on market place like etsy increase your chance of selling because you will get more eyeballs on your store.
Hmmm... but doesn't that apply to the businesses where you create your products from scratch? I refinish furniture, I work wirh what I can get (in terms of the pieces that get into my workshop), and depending on the actual piece I come up with the design. So sometimes is glam, sometimes restoration, sometimes MCM, or shabby chic, etc. Plus I get bored to death if I have to do 5 piece in a row in the same style. And sometimes I create decor out of scraps, however, I believe it's all under "home" decor and not "fresh seafood" and "books".
Yeah, sounds like it's all under home decor for you, so it works out. Plus, in your case, it's all customization based on what people give you, so it's a different method of running your business!
Great point! I think your work falls under the “home decor” umbrella, as you mentioned, and your unique touch-whether it’s glam, MCM, or shabby chic-is what ties everything together. This approach not only keeps things interesting for you but also makes your brand dynamic and versatile.
I used to have a small gift shop and one thing I learned was that people don’t buy more because you have more stock. They buy from what’s there. What you want is more people who like what is there, not more product choices for the people who buy. Great video and advice!
Thank you so much for watching and sharing your insights! I appreciate it.
This video inspired me to remove 11 items from my shop that weren't coherent with the overall theme. Amazing content as always! Thank you!
Great to hear! Thank you for watching!
This answered the question I've had lately because I have bursts of ideas for products. I need to think of it as a business...as in think of the customers that will buy.
That's great! Thank you for watching!
I'm starting to sell my Japanese inspired French beaded accessories and am learning so much… I basically have come up with about 10 designs & swap out colours of beads. I batch prep the 5 steps for the main product.
Sounds like something for my Chinoiserie bedroom 😃
That's awesome! ♥️
A gold mine of advice. A lot of the worries you mentioned are definitely ones that come up when I think about how to proceed with my shop, especially letting go of products that aren't selling. Hoping they'd get noticed some day, but they're costing me more in fees if anything. Though I no longer produce more stock of them, I'm hoping to get rid of them but not waste them. 🤷♀ Will definitely come back to rewatch this video 👍
Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts!
As always, sincere, honest and useful information, thank you. I am looking forward to your book. I wish I had a logical and observant mentality like yours.😊
Thank you so much for watching!
Such great advice and your delivery is so clear a d concise. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!
There is a French expression that describes what you are addressing: "l'embarras du choix" = the embarrassment of choice which can lead to paralysis by analysis.
Taken to the extreme, it is the tale of the hungry and thirsty donkey in front of a bucket of water and a bucket of hay who doesn't know what to do first. He ends up dying (of thirst presumably).
Thank you for watching!
The funny thing is I was JUST thinking about this. I was selling separate listings on Etsy for printable & digital inserts by their size because having more is wanted on Etsy. And did the same on my site, but when I shop at other sites I HATE too many options... So now I'm like, why am I doing this to myself & others? How do people know which size they want/need? Most don't. It's also extremely time consuming for me to make so many listings on my own site. So I think I'm going to consolidate all the different sizes I offer of 1 design, into 1 listing, and raise the price by a bit that will still make a sell and make everyone happy. I still made sales, but now thinking about it, I probably would make more sales if I just had all the sizes in one. Just thinking about all the extra work I did and now have to consolidate everything it's like "Why didn't I think of this before?" Why did I do this to myself? I'm glad I'm not crazy, but now I feel stressed thinking about having to redo everything.
The redo part is always a bit stressful, but once it’s done, it should free you up to focus on other areas! You got this!
most of the time, for inserts, i buy letter size because I know how to resize them on my printer to whatever I need. I'm also a fan of bundles which have all the sizes.
So good! Your video resonates with me so much , you said out loud some of the points I was feeling and helped me clarify my vision. Thank You so much for sharing your knowledge and wisdom ❤️
Thank you so much for watching! I appreciate your kind words ♥️
Came to get business advice first but….do you have a link to your store? Those charms look cute and I think my daughter would like them.
Here's the link to my store: tinyhandsonline.com/
Thanks to all your informative videos I was able to summon the courage and finally start my very own Mexican themed Shopify store! Looking forward to watching more of your videos!
That's awesome! Congratulations!
I didn’t realize unscented was an option in your shop. I love your channel so much! ❤
Oh thank you so much! ♥️
don’t follow her advice guys. if you listen carefully..she had to go through what she recommends against to find success. most people do. it’s a necassary part of the process. make a lot of products. find what works, then narrow your product list as time goes on.
I appreciate your comment and understand where you're coming from! My approach might not be for everyone, and what works best can be different for each person. Thank you for sharing your perspective.
There’s no point in not listening and making it harder on yourself. She’s giving us the benefit of her experience. You’ll still make mistakes and learn anyway, but this gets you where you want to be faster.
I like your advice thank you I subbed!
Thanks for the sub!
How do you narrow down when you just start and want to do and try many things?
Just try a lot of things if you want to. You don't have to list everything online. Just get feedback from people in any way and interpret their comments. I will say: the amount of effort needed to run a shop can balloon past what you expected. If you get a sense for how hard or how fun it is to maintain any of these things I think that will eliminate some options. Also, it's likely you will iterate on your products even once you've narrowed it down so there's always a need to get more and more knowledge about your customers and why your stuff is good, imo. (Wow, I really felt like typing today lol)
When you're just starting, it's normal to want to try a little of everything-it's part of the creative journey! To narrow down, start by asking yourself these questions:
What excites you most?
What resonates with others?
What's practical to produce?
reminds me of how in kitchen nightmares gordon ramsay always makes restaurants who have enormous menus a new and much shorter menu
Haha, that's a great comparison! Just like in Kitchen Nightmares, sometimes simplifying things can make a huge difference. By wiping out half of my product line, I was able to focus on what truly resonates with my customers, similar to how a smaller, more focused menu helps restaurants improve their quality and efficiency. It's all about prioritizing what works best!
New subscriber. Love this content. ❤
I appreciate it! Thank you for watching and subscribing!
Such great advice!! But what about in terms of upcycling/ reworking clothes where finding the same fabric/material isn’t always likely .. should I narrow down to a specific category?? This is something I feel torn to do.
In this case, I feel like it depends on what you prioritize more.
Do you want to go the easy route? Or is having the same fabrics and material crucial for your branding?
There's nothing wrong with substituting fabrics and materials if you don't care for that consistency.
But if you do care, then if it's not available anymore you'd need to remove them to have less products, or try a different category.
I'd say in this case, narrow down the patterns you are using, if you are not doing a custom one every time. Your materials won't be the same, but having a limited number of patterns you are using will make it seem more like it's a different color way of the same pattern. Less decision making for the customer, and stream lines your process a bit by making repeatable designs that are based on the quantity of fabric available for the design.
If it's a project that you want to sell, but it's a one off, sell it as a limited edition. But keep posting those to a minimum, so that it remains 'visually valuable (?)' to your customers.
Thank you, glad you found it helpful! With upcycling and reworking clothes, it’s definitely trickier since each piece is unique and materials are often a one-time find. Instead of narrowing down by fabric or material, consider focusing on a cohesive vibe or aesthetic. This could be a specific style (like boho, minimalistic, or streetwear) or even a set of design elements (such as visible stitching, patchwork, or bold colors). This way, you have room for creativity with different fabrics, while still building a recognizable brand style.
shop where tho..........I mean I can only assume more listings on market place like etsy increase your chance of selling because you will get more eyeballs on your store.
Thank you for watching!
I wish you would make more videos ❤
Stay tuned! Thank you for watching!
Wow! This is so helpful. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!
Great advice!
Thank you for watching!
Gems dropped!
Thank you for watching!
Hmmm... but doesn't that apply to the businesses where you create your products from scratch? I refinish furniture, I work wirh what I can get (in terms of the pieces that get into my workshop), and depending on the actual piece I come up with the design. So sometimes is glam, sometimes restoration, sometimes MCM, or shabby chic, etc. Plus I get bored to death if I have to do 5 piece in a row in the same style. And sometimes I create decor out of scraps, however, I believe it's all under "home" decor and not "fresh seafood" and "books".
Yeah, sounds like it's all under home decor for you, so it works out.
Plus, in your case, it's all customization based on what people give you, so it's a different method of running your business!
Great point! I think your work falls under the “home decor” umbrella, as you mentioned, and your unique touch-whether it’s glam, MCM, or shabby chic-is what ties everything together. This approach not only keeps things interesting for you but also makes your brand dynamic and versatile.
i make a variaty but ........
Thank you for watching!
0:33 is this ai art?
Yes
Thank you for watching!
@@CreativeHiveCo Masterful PR save right there lol