I’m looking for offline venues for selling my cards. Here’s what I’ve found so far. If you’re aware of other low-barrier-to-entry options, please let me know.

The way affiliate programs work is that if you as a shopper click on an affiliate link, your browser saves a cookie. If you buy anything from the affiliate site within the referral window, the affiliate (blogger) gets a percentage of the sale as commission. The length of the referral window differs from merchant to merchant, but 1-3 months is common.

Said and done, these codes are now live:

• TWO20: Buy 2 cards, get 20% off

• THREE30: Buy 3 cards, get 30% off

• FOUR40: Buy 4 cards, get 40% off

These codes are very generous. I’ll probably adjust them in a month or two.

The weather is finally getting warmer here in the Bay 😎 Area. I celebrated by going for a swim in the community pool. It’s been such a cold and wet winter, we’re all longing for sunny days. 🏝️

I’ve opened the shop here on ValleyOakPaper.com. Currently there are three boxes for sale. This is a bit of a soft launch, because I’m still setting things up. But it’s important to get stuff out there well in advance of the holiday season.

There are things I can spend money on that help my shop. Like a remote control for my phone that will make it easier to take video and photos. There’s still so much to learn and improve on the photography front. Like taking good photos and videos of cards with a lot of glitter and sparkle.

The next reveal is on Sunday. The theme is “Single layer spring.” It was a bit of a challenge for me because I like my layers.

Usually I post a crafty tutorial on Tuesday or Wednesday. But business is top of mind for several reasons. So I’ll blog while the iron is hot, so to speak.

Most succesful Etsy shops have a specific niche that they cultivate. It can be a product category such as jewelry or clothing. Some specialize in a material or manufacturing process, like resin. Still others sell a wide range of products but they cultivate a specific audience such as art deco lovers or gamers.

I know this headline is going to get some people’s hackles up, but hear me out. In my situation doing things for exposure actually makes sense. My fledgling business needs all the exposure it can get. Everything is a marketing opportunity for me right now.

Newsletter sign up, spring collab and crafty sales…

I added an option to select packaging on one of my fairy cards. Then I ran a survey on social media about it. The results were mixed.

Today did not go as planned and I was in a time crunch.

When you do research, you always want to start out by casting a wide net.

New insights, new approaches, new tools

A fine birthday present

New product design for Equinox cards

How I pack my Etsy orders

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