I created a simple spreadsheet of my giveaway posts. The purpose of my giveaways is twofold - to clear out products I don’t use and to increase my Instagram follower count. On the question of if giveaways increase follower counts, I can definitely say yet. My follower count increased on average by 3.78 with each giveaway. The best one increased the count by 15. Given that I currently have 697 followers, that’s significant.

About a month ago I applied to join the Kat Scrappiness Influencer Team. I’m super happy to report that I was accepted! I’ve even submitted my first order with my influencer discount. I’m looking forward to receiving it and getting stuck in!

Blog posts for Influencer Team projects will be clearly labeled as such. In those, only Kat Scrappiness products will be named and linked. Normally I link all products, including those that I don’t have affiliate links for.

This giveaway celebrates that I’ve reached 500 followers on Instagram. Super happy about that!

This was my first tax season as a small business owner. Unfortunately I came to the conclusion that I need to get a paying job. So I’ve spent a lot of time updating my resume and portfolio site. My timing isn’t great, so it may be a while before I find something. The San Jose Mercury seems to have articles about more Silicon Valley layoffs a couple of times per week.

I made a little more than $1,000 from selling my cards last year. That’s actually more than I thought. It’s still not enough to pay even one monthly mortgage. 😭

I need to stop trying to sell my cards. It’s a distraction and the ROI is terrible.

My next craft fair is at Fairwood Explorer Elementary School here in Sunnyvale on Saturday.

I’ve started my giveaways. Here’s the first announcement post. You have until Sunday to comment to win.

Stay tuned to find out what I’m going to do with the destash items. It may involve a giveaway or two…

Tomorrow, Saturday October 7th, I’ll be at the De Anza Flea Market in booth O45. I hope to see you there! For this market I’ve changed my pricing structure to hopefully sell more. I’ll report back if it worked.

Silicon Valley in-person shopping

• Unique Boutique is open 10.30 to 2.30 Monday through Friday at the Sunnyvale Senior Center

• De Anza Flea Market: October 7th, next and probably final day.

• Unique Boutique Craft Fair: November 3rd - 4th, Sunnyvale Senior Center

Top of mind, for obvious reasons, is my surgery that is scheduled for 11.30 Pacific tomorrow. Any positive vibes or prayers would be appreciated!

Now that I’ve done the early August flea market, it’s time to look at my priorities for the rest of the month. The next De Anza Flea Market is on September 2nd.

This week I’ve been busy preparing for the De Anza Flea Market on Saturday. Attendance should be better than last month, because it’s not a holiday weekend and it’ll be less hot. I’ll be in the same location as last month, O45.

The Unique Boutique is actively looking for new vendors. They jury new products on the second Wednesday of every month, except of October and April. So right now is a great time to apply!

I’ve signed up to sell at the De Anza Flea Market in Cupertino for the rest of the year. I’ll be in the same booth number all the time - O45. The August date is on the 5th. I’d love to see you there!

The bottom line is that I made back the fee I paid and then some. So I reached my goal. That feels good. I also learned a ton.

My booth number is O45. That’s under the solar panels closest to the Food Court and the ATM. Yay! The star marks my spot on the map.

As expected, pretty much everything is about preparing for my first flea market day right now. The big day is Saturday July 1. There’s a lot riding on how well I do there. If it’s profitable and sustainable, I’m going to buy a six-month pass. The six-month pass doesn’t give you a discount, but you’re assigned a booth for the duration. That’s going to be more important in the run-up to the holidays.

I’ve signed up as a vendor for the De Anza Flea Market on Saturday, July 1st. If you’re in the area, come by and say hi. Entry and parking are free!