Welcome to Valley Oak Paper
I design handmade greeting cards.
Sales tax time
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. 😭
August Priorities
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.
Getting Traction
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.
Product Photos and Etsy Ads
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.
Steady as She Goes
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.
Defining My Niche
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.
Packaging Dilemma
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.