Hello beautiful people!
IMPORTANT: If you’re planning to join me for our July 23rd 5×5 Content Plan-a-Thon (a 3+ hour work-along to plan out your content for up to a whole year), hit this link ASAP to grab your spot. Your 50% off coupon code is JFDI5X5 (use this at checkout). We start at 11am that Saturday and go ’til at least 2pm. Everything is recorded for you to access after the session. There’s a fabulous workbook. There’s an area for discussion/Q&A. So much good stuff. AND, we’ll workshop your content ideas together during the live sesh!
As for our July 2022 meeting, that will take place on Friday, July 15th at 11:30am PDT at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85965793555 and its replay will live on this page within a day of the live mastermind session.
Reminder: That’s your Zoom link for all of our 2022 JFDI hotseat sessions. Keep it handy! And keep an eye on my events calendar for any changes to our dates (time will always be 11:30am Pacific). So excited for where we’ll GROW from here!
If you’d like a refresh on any of the JFDI with Bon curriculum goodness without having to comb through alllllllll the content we’ve covered since March 2020, check out this lovely orientation page over here. Yay!
As always, I love seeing you do the workout, out there. Continue the convo in the comments below and be sure you tag me and use #JFDIwithBon out on social media so we can *all* celebrate you as you build your best life!
All my love,
I’m sliding into July with official USPTO and CIPO trademark filing numbers in my hot little hands!!! We just finished up this morning with Canada, and the US yesterday. Although the price was more than quoted, and I have to extend my PO Box rental (grumble), it’s done. At this point, I’m glad I chose to have an attorney file for me- he submitted in a completely different class than I would’ve on my own (one which he felt carried higher risk of being rejected). So yay, but what’s funny is that I feel a little weird about it all. Lol. I think it’s just because no one in my family really understands the step this is. That, and the path I’m walking on suddenly feels… quiet…
On a totally different note: I hope the long weekend is good to everyone. <3
SUCH a big step! Congratulations, Stephanie!!!!
ALSO, yes. As the road gets narrower, we find there are fewer travelers on the road with us… NOT because the road has gotten narrower, but because most folks turn off at some point, having gotten far enough to call it good enough. And that’s fine!
The quiet at that point is also a BIG test of ULP games. š I know from Expansive Capacity you’re doing magical things with that work. So freakin’ proud of you, Stephanieā¢!
Yeah, itāsā¦ weird. Lol. Thank you for the reassurance. <3 Itās good lower-stakes practice, familiarization, and acclimatization. Or it feels lower anyway, because itās removed from me- itās the books rather than my own performances. Iām trying not to question this, because I know if I do, Iāll find a way to ramp up the perceived stakes exponentially.
Hereās where one little ULP test came in: by patriarchal standards, my Beta on The Corps Collection failed. I only had 3 people say they were even interested, then one āmehāed out, one decided she couldnāt do the feedback after experiencing the Collection and cancelled, and the last sent me her feedback weeeeks after the ādeadlineā. I was upset in the moment by all three, but Iām in a place now where Iām actually okay. A little disappointed it didnāt go as I had planned, but I found two ānot-my-thirdsā (which means something is close but not right about my wording the offer), and got one feedback suggestion thatās actually useful. Not enough data to make any decisions, but something to glean. Iām just going to go ahead into the next phase as intendedā¦ bringing it in with my seminar as a āpre-launchā offering (aka Gamma). The bulk of the work is already done for that phase, so weāll see how it goes. I can make a decision once I get more data.
Hi again yāall, could I ask for some eyes on these? Iāve got 30 days to the Expo (eeep!) and Iām currently prepping business cards for the event. Could you tell me which of these designs you prefer, please?
https://www.canva.com/design/DAFFd9Zh9_8/cxqAilQgIL2yp4f5FAsceg/view
Of course, I can always mix and match elements, so Iām totally open to hearing suggestions. I intend to order this week, just so I leave plenty of time for them to process/print/mail. Thanks so much!
I like the first one. There’s too much white space in the second one, and I like seeing all your socials there. I don’t care for the font because it’s kind of bland.
Thank you, Keith! This is one of the rare instances where someone hasn’t told me I’ve written too much, lol. (Yes, I know that’s more of a chip on my shoulder I’m carrying from school than anything, ha.) I think I agree with you on the font… I was aiming for simple, but yep, I see that I did lose some personality. Thanks for pointing ‘er out. š
I don’t know if they reported it in the States, but one of our major service providers went down on Friday- no internet, tv, ABMs, Interac, cell, nada across the whole country. I’m actually only just able to get on my cell data now (still no internet!) so I never got to ordering the cards. Turns out that worked pretty well here; now I can take your feedback into the mix. š
So! So! So! Excited about this!!!
Tee hee!! I have my paperbacks ready, the shirt I ordered for the event *just* arrived (itās the same pink color as what Iāve been using for the books- less on-brand for me, but more on-brand for #30SecondBalletsā¢ š ), and my notes and slide deck are pretty much ready to go. Itās pretty much just the finalizing/ordering of these cards that still needs to get done, and a few more run-throughs of my “script”. Iām a little more nervous than excited about “game day” if Iām being honest, but I also know that this energy is just two sides of the same coin. š
You’re so ready!
What????!!! There was a 50% off coupon for 5X5????
We’ve gotchuu. š IF we pass our kill number, of course. (If we don’t, you’ll not just get 50% refunded, but all of it. LOL) Let’s get those creatives registering!! Let’s DO it!!
I just have to say how buoyant and energized I felt after our Zoom yesterday… such a positive and uplifting environment we’re creating. Ahh.
It had me brainstorming ahead, and so I’m just going to pop this question here while it’s in the foreground: I’m thinking of taking the seminar I’ve built for the Expo and making it an evergreen product by self-recording. It could be a seminar-style fiesta, or it could be chunked into several modules as a course. (I also have two versions- one that’s an hour and one that’s 20 minutes). I can survey my buyers, but I’m curious if there are any inherent advantages or disadvantages y’all might have me consider, too. Either way, I’m preferring the self-record option to a live-with-replay (I’m not getting good reception to live Zoom offers at present).
Hope the weekend is off to a good start!
Yes, yes, yes! DO THIS.
And as for what style, length, chunk, format, etc., is going to work best, this is where we TEST TEST TEST and recalibrate as necessary. You’ve seen me doing this with Chart Harmony, of course.
~ discussion during the November Astrology Vision Board Party
~ on-demand chunked/recorded version put up in December (and as bonus to the AVBP)
~ IG account started in December with content flowing out at various paces
~ webinars in 1Q 2022
~ free week-long email-based training in May
~ daily IG/text message free training in June
~ ran ads at IG/FB
~ dedicated webinar in June, with replay left up for a LONG time to test time-shifted interest
~ MP3s at Discord in July
…and obvi, with MOST of that, I’m testing out free things that are meant to be free (vs. testing free to hope they translate to paid things). But the point is, I’m TESTING. And I’m watching my feedback — especially from buyers — so I knew exactly what to offer, re: year-long mentorship at $1111 less than a week ago. This wasn’t even an IDEA until 2 weeks ago!! But the a-ha of it came from all that testing and tweaking.
So, point is: GO FOR IT and do what feels good to you, what feels like a logical fit for the material, and what aligns with feedback you’re receiving (if any).
The fun part of evergreen offers is that someone can stop by every damn day and spend money on ’em. That’s the delight of the book, the non-free Teachable offerings we have up, and even our 100-day challenge except for the Zooms and comments pass-bys, right? Of COURSE I pay my team to monitor things and check for dead links/updates to info, and we’ll be doing a BIG sweep of shifts Q4 in prep for a big 2023 “Post-Hollywood Hollywood” edition… but FOR SURE, the way we get paid regularly for stuff we created in some cases many years ago is absolutely wonderful (and freeing).
So… give it a GO! š Excited for you!
Eeep! Well-detailed points, Bon. š
I’ve had a few opportunities to mention this non-existent online course/seminar thingy already this week, so I figured the next best step was to begin capturing emails. I jumped into Thinkific this morning and built a container for what will eventually be the course’s home. (I previously used this platform for that didn’t-really-sell visualization course, so it didn’t take me long to set up.) I just hit “publish” a minute ago, so it’s ready to collect those email addresses now. Technically, I could make it a pre-sell page instead, but I have zero idea what I might charge for this still. Path of less inner resistance is to make it about info-capturing today. š
I feel like the Expo is going to be a good test of what is yummiest to buyers, what’s most beneficial to teach, and what fat can be trimmed. For those reasons, I’m hesitant to jump in and record before I do that event first. But I will record eventually. Let’s say… it’ll be a thing by the end of September?
I have some time anyway, because I want to get eyes on The Corps Collection first. That’s ready to soft-launch for Expo, and the posts are ready for hard-launch mid-August. I also prepped some regular weekly posts for The Corps Collection. Not sure I want to schedule them (because I don’t love the idea of giving some random platform my password), but they are structured!
This!
Is!
So!
Great!
Proud of you!!!!!!!!
End o’ September it is! š Yay!
Circling back on this one as I’m planning and Chart Harmonizing… I scheduled myself to record next week in time with the Leo moon and the end of Leo season. But I realize Mercury retrograde is coming… and it’s going to run my own sweet Mercury right over. Again. Not a good time to launch an online course/masterclass/thingy (not sure what to call it yet)!
If I put a little sauce on, I could probably get ‘er done and released by the first week of September. That’ll be in pre-shadow, but not in the retrograde itself. Otherwise, I’ll be waiting until mid-October…
As I chat it out: Generally, I notice I feel more effect during and after Mercury retrograde than beforehand. If I launch early, I know I’ll have to return with sales copy adjustments later (since that is my main JFDI-September focus), but it’ll be out there and possibly making a few bucks. If I hold it, it can be shinier when I launch but I will have missed any residual back-to-school momentum.
So…. I’m thinking I’ll try to sauce it and see if I’m met with the energy/chutzpah to get there early. Not a promise, but a thought-share. š
Here’s what’s important to remember about Mercury retrograde: We don’t want to START projects under Mercury retrograde. Projects we’ve already started can absolutely land on OTHER PEOPLE’s radar during Mercury retrograde without a project-level snag… we’ll all have the experience of miscommunication and misunderstandings during Mercury retrograde anyway… but as for a launch meaning we’re doing a new thing, remember how much time/energy/detail work has been put into place WAY before the little planet starts its trickery!
Pretend the planets weren’t doing anything to concern yourself with. When do YOU want to launch? What makes sense in terms of your buyers and their needs AND your desire to get the thing out into the world? Let’s be sure we’re factoring that in!
Thanks for the “insert-breath-here” and the woo-check, Bonnie. I did fall into that rabbit hole, for sure. And, you’re right, there has been a lot of time/energy/detail work prior to this point… I guess I can reframe it simply as another leaf unfurling on the plant, rather than a whole new plant. š
Now that the course is pretty much ready to rock, I lit a fire under myself by posting that “just recorded” reel on IG, and because I’d like to draw in some money for fall courses I’d like to take myself, I feel a pretty large pull toward this week. I said it in August’s page, but I’m thinking/feeling like tomorrow (Friday the 2nd). Maybe this evening for the early birds who voiced interest. We’ll see how I feel in a few hours. š
And while I’m on my idea dump, lol… #AirSigningItOut
The book’s webpage is starting to get bloated, imo. And now I’m going to be adding another section with the course/seminar thingy, so I’m concerned it’s all too much. I have two solutions I’m considering right now: either use a navigation bar at the top to jump to the appropriate section, or build a landing page with all things #30, and visitors can “choose their own adventure”, click the product they are interested in, and go to that product’s sub-page. Basically, the difference between http://www.30SecondBallets.com (navigation bar at present), and https://stephaniebergeron.com/shop (landing page-ish idea).
Thoughts, anyone? I like the cleanliness of the landing page idea, but the convenience of having one scrollable page for everything… Still, leaning toward new landing page.
The downside of the clean landing page is that people have to KNOW what they want to properly choose their own adventure, once they’re there, right? The nav bar page is better at steering me toward what’s right for ME if I don’t really know yet.
My fix with this is having a landing-page-ish page like you do, but also offering WHO THE VISITOR IS as some of the buttons. We actually only VERY recently removed this from our web environment, but we had on the START page a set of criteria people could choose from, to click through and get to our recommended offers/blog posts/free resources, etc.
There was “Just Starting Out” then “On the Rise” and finally “Quality Problems.” Each of those categories described “you” as having X issues or X feelings or X qualities or whatever, and then you’re led to an adventure, rather than having to choose one.
So, should you go with the landing page version, give the option for people to self-select who THEY are and then be guided to what you want them to buy. š
FWIW, I don’t think the bloat is a problem… but then again I leave a bajilliondy words all over the internet every damn day, so it takes a lot to feel like too much to me. LOL
Ah, that’s true! Good point with the visitor not being totally sure what they want. It might be asking them to work for it in a way I don’t intend, too. (Not exactly #30Seconds.) Or they might not ever get to opening them all to self-select… I’m the one that opens all the tabs, but “Heather” has kids and could easily get distracted/pulled away. Nav bar it is.
Y’know, I think I’m hyper-sensitive to my own wordiness… Years of mean teachers bashing me for word count (despite all my words being relevant and well-formed arguments, which they admitted were integral to the pieces I wrote, gah), impatient people telling me to “get to the point” (but Storyteller’s gotta tell stories!), and yes, sometimes my own impatience with my need/want/desire to use lots of words to get to the level of detailed precision I want to import. I guess I’m carrying a bit of an ouchie around it, lol. (Hilarious- I have issues with wordiness and I WROTE BOOKS.)
So, “FWIW”- it’s actually worth a good deal to me to hear it again. (And to hear it from you, Bon.) Yes, it’s about balance and not blather, but my judge’s scale might be mistuned to someone else’s centre. Seems like the perfect time to pull in a little GiG and EC and forgive my dang self for being this way. š
Anywho, thank you for the feedback!!
In general, the things we feel apologetic about in ourselves are things someone important to us a bajilliondy years ago used words that created a need for us to apologize to THEM for our enoughness back then in order for us to survive. (Not even gonna apologize for the clunkiness of that wording; I know you get this.)
Ask yourself: Does my IDEAL buyer care that I’m wordy? And if the answer is, “Well… yeah, actually. She’s a busy mom!” then absolutely create a TL;DR version for her, so there’s no barrier to her purchase.
Remember, EVERY DAY someone spends HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of dollars on Sphere+Sundry stuff… *because* of their storytelling. To your ideal buyer, your wordiness is NOT an issue.
Yes, yes, I do. And as I read this, I was pulling detail receipts, lol. All 5Ws on the stories. Not that it objectively really matters; it only matters to me/my system insofar as I’m holding on and allowing it to. Something to tease out, EC-style. š
From a practical position, yeah, I can totally pop a TL;DR line in my copy. Didn’t even think of that. (That’s actually a planned JFDI focus for September/October, revamping some sales copy.) So, this actually feels like a perfect solution. My gut immediately likes that it let me off the hook for this supposed “flaw”, and my brain likes that we don’t have to shrink three sizes, either. Consensus is a big ol’ like for this as a next step! Thank you!
10K 10 Day wrap up. Here’s what I learned/takeaways:
-That I CAN do it.
-That I can make money “on demand” when necessary.
-How to streamline the process to save myself time and energy.
-Who my ideal client is.
-Ways to make things clearer to understand and easier for the buyer so they’re more likely to make a purchase.
-What I like do.
-What I don’t like to do.
-Total amount in sales: $760
-Total amount spent: $260
-Profit: $500
(My goal was to sell $1k in product. My realistic number of what I thought I could easily sell was between $500-$700.)
My Plans for Holiday Commissions for September.
-Email the 7 folks from 10K10day who seemed likely to purchase and give them a 1 week advantage to placing an order.
-Start posting on IG about September’s sales for the Holidays.
-Open sales to public September 1, going until I’ve hit my limit
*(limit will be 12 special/custom orders, maybe more if the orders are easy to make, will decide as orders come in)*
Here are the 3 purchasing options:
Option 1: Purchase and already-created item
Shop my Etsy store. See something you want? Itās yours. Purchase through me directly not Etsy. Ships immediately.
Option 2: Special order an item based on currently-listed products
Create something brand new and specifically tailored to you by ordering a product you like but with a different image. (Eg, coasters, earrings, clock, etc). Prices vary depending on item.
$50 deposit required at the time of order. Ships when completed (allow 2 months) $50 deposit required up front.
AUG 18th JFDI meeting
-have email youāre going to send out drafted for review
-have you game plan (below) set
-images to post for promo of what you can do
hop on a phone call to discuss exactly what you want
give them 3 options
you pick any more brainstorming costs extra
Option 2: create something brand new and specific tailored to you, ships when completed (allow 2 months) $50 deposit required up front.
1 15min phone call to discuss what you want
I provide up to 3 mock up ideas, puzzle images (using what I already have or have to purchase)
You choose what you want
If you want something else, then additional call is $xxxx
For custom orders:
keychains starting at $xx
earrings starting at $xxx
coasters starting at $zxx
etc
etc
up to what you can physically offer and have made in time
(Pricing: $50 flat fee cost of puzzle, base price of item (which includes shipping and my time to make)
Option 2
I send you 3-5 images, you choose what you want. I create mock-up of what youāll get and final cost. You approve.
Earrings starting at $zzz $50+ going rate of earring
Coasters starting at $zzz $50 + going rate of coasters
Order and Shipping time depends on product availability. Please allow 4-6 weeks.
Option 3
Create a unique, one of a kind, made to order item. Prices vary depending on item. $100 deposit required before consultation. Order and shipping time varies depending on product and puzzle availability
1 30min phone call to discuss what you want
I send 3-5 images, you choose what you want.
I send mock up of what youāll get and final coat. You approve.
HOW TO PRICE OPTION 3????
DISREGARD MY ABOVE COMMENT. IT POSTED BEFORE I WAS DONE EDITING. PLEASE REVIEW THE BELOW COMMENT.
THIS IS THE ACTAUL COMMENT TO READ (MOSTLY) AS INTENDED. THANK YOU!
10K 10 Day wrap up. Hereās what I learned/takeaways:
-That I CAN do it.āØ
-That I can make money āon demandā when necessary.āØ
-How to streamline the process to save myself time and energy.āØ
-Who my ideal client is.āØ
-Ways to make things clearer to understand and easier for the buyer so theyāre more likely to make a purchase.āØ
-What I like to do.āØ
-What I donāt like to do.āØ
-Total amount in sales: $760āØ
-Total amount spent: $260āØ
-Profit: $500āØ
(My goal was to sell $1k in product. My realistic number of what I thought I could easily sell was between $500-$700.)
Would love some feedback on the below.
My Plans for Holiday Commissions for September.
āØ-Email the 7 folks from 10K10day who seemed likely to purchase and give them a 1 week advantage to placing an order.
āØ-Start posting on IG about Septemberās sales for the Holidays in Mid-August/after the initial 7 have a couple days to think.āØ
-Open sales to public September 1, going until Iāve hit my limitāØ
*(limit will be 12 special/custom orders, maybe more if the orders are easy to make, will decide as orders come in)*
Here are the 3 purchasing options:
Option 1: Purchase an already-created itemāØ
Shop my Etsy store. See something you want? Itās yours. Purchase through me directly not Etsy. Ships immediately.
Option 2: Special order an item based on currently listed products
āØCreate something brand new and specifically tailored to you by ordering a product you like but with a different image. (Eg, coasters, earrings, clock, etc). Prices vary depending on item. (price will essentially be ~$50 above list price to cover the cost of me having to purchase a new puzzle/photo/image). Ships when completed. Allow 2 months.
$50 deposit required at the time of order.
You email me the theme your going for
Iāll provide roughly 5 images for you to choose from
You choose what image you want
I send a mock up of the final product and final cost
You approve
I make the item and ship, keeping you up to date on the process through a custom and private Google Doc
Option 3 Custom order whatever you wantāØ
Create a unique, one of a kind, made to order item. Prices vary depending on item. $100 deposit required before consultation. Order and shipping times vary depending on product and puzzle availability. Please allow 3 months.
1 30min phone call to brainstorm/discuss what you wantāØ
Iāll provide roughly 5 images for you to choose from
You choose what image you want.āØ
I send up to 3 mock ups of the final product and final cost.
You approve. If you want something else, then additional calls are $50 per 30 mins
I make the item and ship, keeping you up to date on the process through custom and private Google Doc.
Hereās my quandary, HOW TO PRICE OPTION 3???? I have no clue what the VALUE would be to the person for whatever Iād be creating. This is what I was getting stuck on during the call. I feel like Iād just be guessing at a price. I guess my next step will be doing pace car researchā¦ or once I know what the custom order is, then doing a more in-depth search to see what people are charging? Seeing how the order could be literally anything, and maybe Iād be creating something that, to some extent, doesnāt exist anywhere elseā¦. I donāt know where to start the pricing (so I sound like I know what Iām doing when I give them a quote). The $100 deposit essentially covers most of my time and energy and most of the physical items Iād need in order to get started. I’ll probably have purchase order-specific items. The dilemma is still how to price the *value* of the custom/unique/one-of-a-kind experience the buyer is getting AND, more importantly, the actual item the buyer/giftee is receiving.
Still come between now and the next zoom, the emails/posts I need to draft, and the images of my nest products to show off what I can do.
Okay. Loving this. Not gonna delete your misfire either because there’s good process/decision info in there too. This is GREAT work, Sarah. You’re on it.
My feedback, largely in the order you presented each thing here:
GREAT 10K10D postmortem. I’d love for you to add one more metric (for this and future similar experiments): “value of the lessons I learned” — it may be hard to quantify at first, but over time, you’ll be glad you do stuff like this. My example: The first time we advertised with gusto at FB/IG was Q4 2019 for GIGFTNT. I knew we were going to spend $10K-$20K between the expert, sessions with her, her doing all the heavy lifting of determining what we needed and how to execute it, and then executing it, PLUS all the ads themselves. And I knew if we made $10K-$20K in GIGFTNT enrollments and lifer upgrades Q4 2019, that was not just a break-even; it was PROFIT because now we have a system we can replicate and that’s money we NEVER have to spend again, when it comes to ads. Sure enough, here we are in 2022, new people doing the expert/executing thing, but still much of the stuff we learned that first time through is what we follow, as a gameplan for ads/marketing. And now we spend about $2500/mo. for our ongoing ads. So, I wouldn’t have known exactly HOW to value the lessons I learned back then, but I would’ve known we got not just $69,142 in sales in December 2019 alone, but also a system that would likely save us another $10K-$20K in the future. Turns out, it’s more like a savings of easily $10K a month for every month SINCE THEN. We don’t have to keep learning the thing. š
See what I mean? I’d love to know what you value your 10K10D lessons at, on top of that net sales/profit set of numbers. I’d also like you to set — for this September Holidays Commission gameplan — goals that include value of the lessons you’ll learn.
Like, right now, I’m doing this year-long mentorship in Guided Chart Harmony. I may learn at the end of the year that I underpriced it. (I know I didn’t overprice it, just based on how quickly we reached half-sold-out for the YEAR, when I let out the link to buy for the first time.) BUT, by then, I’ll have so much practice with the SYSTEM of it that I will be gaining VALUE in my business each and every time I do the work of it (in Canva, in AstroGold, in the live sessions themselves, etc.). So, even though there are still slots available, I know I’ve met my goals because of what I’ve already learned, in just 3 weeks since creating the dang thing!
Re: Your September Holiday Commissions gameplan —
Get less mushy about “maybe more if the orders are easy to make; will decide as orders come in” so you won’t be letting money/excitement help you make those decisions, at that time. This is why we set a NO line. We wanna know what our criteria is for changing a yes to a no BEFORE money is offered. So, what dictates “easy to make” about the orders? AND, as you’ll soon see, I’m going to harp a lot on customer service concerns. Not to worry you but to be sure you’re considering the cost (fatigue, time, energy, annoyance, sucking-the-will-to-live-out-of-you) of customer service all at once from 12 special flowers. (Yes, I know you won’t have ALL 12 be special flowers, but you certainly won’t have ZERO either. And they’ll get demanding, which will get old fast.)
Qs on the 1st option: Why selling outside of Etsy? Is it just to keep more of the money on your side? And do you care if they end up looking at Etsy, forgetting you’ve said NOT to buy there, then they buy there and you’re now in a customer service issue of them saying OOPS CAN WE REVERSE THAT or whatever… AND if Etsy catches you advertising in your IG posts that you want people to visit your storefront but not buy from there, are you cool with them shutting your store down altogether? Is the risk worth it?
Otherwise, I love the straightforward, “You like it, buy it” vibe on this one.
Qs on the 2nd option: Is the deposit nonrefundable? What is your plan when someone defaults/doesn’t pay upon completion? Can you have a clever “Some jackass special-ordered this and then stiffed me” area of the Etsy store where things like this are later sold at a discount with a bit of the Malicious Candle Company’s humor? If deposit is nonrefundable, what’s your gameplan for handling people who dispute the charge/fight you for it/leave bad reviews because of it? Are you the type who engages with/about the issue? Or is it just easier to do refunds? Where’s your NO line with this stuff? (No figuring out how you feel as you go, with this, for the same reason as the above NO line convo.)
LOVE the touch of the Google doc with progress updates. You may even find a fun way to tie in your IG account, so you can build up your following (with buyers) AND tease the creation process with your followers, which of course are little ads reminding them that you DO this stuff and they could be next! If they’d just place their order. š
Qs on the 3rd option: Same re: IG watch-me-create posts plus deposit/defaults/customer service issues. Especially as we get up to the “whatever you want” level, we’re inviting SOOOOOOOO many “That’s not what I meant” type things and lost-in-translation customer service issues. You’re going to get people who are spending a lot, and that means they’re potentially going to be a lot of work (that’s not ALWAYS the situation, but the ones who DO run you ragged will make you appreciate your dream buyers AND remind you why you charge as much as you do for fully-custom work).
I like that the deposit is larger for this! The phonecall will help keep the misunderstandings low, but be sure you follow up with the specs IN WRITING after the call. Consider running the calls through audio-only Zoom while letting Otter transcribe the calls, so you have the text of the convo after. Also love that you charge for follow-up calls. Not sure you’ll need a half-hour with those, so consider what you’ll charge if they only need 10 minutes with you, in case they ask to pay less. Also decide if they’re paying for those calls up front (and how).
Yes, you will be guessing at a price. Do like I did with Guided Chart Harmony‘s year-long mentorship. I looked at how much I charge for coaching (I already have a “Year of Minis” option in my coaching offers), added how much I charge for custom-made Canva workbooks/chart overviews/predictive dates, and considered how much I pay my team to field how much customer service we usually get with year-long contract clients of any kind. I came up with a price that made sure I wasn’t going to LOSE money JUST based off those KNOWN things… and then went UP to an angel number from there (because woo folks love an angel number). š
Notice what I did not do in all of that, Sarah.
I did NOT consider the value for the person AT ALL.
When you don’t know what someone’s going to order or what they’re going to say about what they received from you, everything is too new and you’ve gotta just pick a price that doesn’t make you hate your life for providing the damn thing after you’re committed to do so. And if you have an idea of some of the core components (like I do, with my business being the age that it is and the load of buyers well known to us by now), you’re creating a price based off YOUR side of things first.
AFTER you have the data of whether your clients (the ideal ones) are SWOONING over what you’ve done and would’ve been willing to pay more do you really know the value they’re getting. And, as you well know, you’ve got an extra layer of complexity in that these are largely gonna be gifts your buyers get for other people! So, are you going to calculate what the value is to the end recipient or to the buyer, who may be thrilled that they were so clever about gift-buying? Or both?
Back to how you can price this NOW (before you really get the value data back — which is what caused me to ask you to consider “value of the lessons I learned” thing, right up top), I think you’ll need to give a starting point rather than a range. What would be the lowest you would go for something 100% custom? Keeping in mind, they’re going to have REJECTED option 2, so it’ll be something OTHER than an adaptation of stuff you’ve already done, right? What’s the minimum you’d want to get for creating ANYTHING? That’s the price for “starting at…” and then of course, if someone asks for a thumbtack with a sequin hot-glued to it, you can bring the price down. š They’ll love that. It’ll build trust.
I highly recommend having a pricelist for COMPONENTS (not necessarily for your buyers’ eyes, but for your own system). Like, if they want a puzzle of X size, that’s always going to be at least X dollars. And if they want something that has moving parts (like a clock), that’s always going to add at least X dollars. And so on… so that you can — just looking at the components — calculate what it’s going to cost them to order that custom gift. Eventually, you won’t need such component-based guides, but at first, that’ll be really helpful as you build up the muscle for knowing what your buyers will spend AND what something should cost for what you’ll put into it. But that’s for ANOTHER season of offers. š Right? Now? We’re getting data! And some money, of course.
Okay, this is a ton of writing. š LOL And most of it just puts more words around what you’re already aware of and sharing here. But hopefully this gives you some backup for how you’re feeling about coming at the pricing convo. Lemmeknow!!
You are doing AWESOME work, Sarah! This is SO exciting!!
THIS IS GOLD. I’m so glad this convo is here for us to glean from.
I’ve got a few things to think about now re: pre-show voiceovers, specifically. I was lucky, I think… I did have some special flowers, but no disputing/upset/refund-wanting people this recital season. I explicitly said payment is upfront/no refunds, but energetically, this boundary is leaky. I can feel it even as I type, here. Lol. And the special flowers are one big reason I’m adjusting my pricing for the next recital season. I definitely got several!! Bon makes a good point, here. They’ll find things you didn’t even know were things to pick at. Lol.
I agree with the “Starting at $X” idea. It’s exactly what I had in mind when reading your initial post, too, Sarah. And the Malicious Candle-esque section made me giggle. It feels on-brand. I’m also pinging the pricing convo around the rhinestone hamburger purse some Zooms back… you’re not in charge of the value your buyer puts on the thing. š
I look forward to seeing where you go, Sarah!! And I’m so glad we’re able to learn from you, too.
That rhinestone burger purse keeps playing in the back of my mind. It’s both motivating and deflating, which is causing the confusion of “how high is too high” vs “am I undercutting potential profit”? Time will tell the more I do it.
Just a note on this: The extreme prices on those things aren’t what was charged when the brand was new. Tiffany’s didn’t sell a 24K gold paperclip in its first few years, right? Even with Chart Harmony, last month, I rolled out 11 year-long mentorship slots for $1111 apiece. The business is less than a year old so it FEELS like that’s really early for me to be making such a big offer… but those who’ve been behind the scenes with me know that the Chart Harmony work has been brewing for a LOONNNNNNGG time. And the next time I do year-long mentorships to a wider audience, it’ll be double the price.
All this to say, you’re gonna get pricing wrong at first in BOTH directions *and* you also can’t really know what’s going to work when you’re creating the space. Building the niche is awesome in that you have no competition (beyond the “competition” that is having to educate people on what it is that you do, since there’s no one else to point to for comparison) and it’s also fraught with missteps because you can’t know what will work ’til you try it and it works!
Hope this takes the deflating part out of things rather than adding to it. š
Oh, I completely agree. Deflating probably wasn’t the best word, but made it made it more confusing. I was aware enough, however, know that I’m too early in this to know the right price or to charge more than I am now.
Option 1 – Yes, the intent was to keep more of the profit, but in between posting that and posting this, I did think about how Iād like to see my very public Etsy sales number be higher than 1 and was already thinking about having people purchase there. One less thing I gotta deal with customer service-wise.
Option 2 – Yes. Non-refundable and it looks like I didnāt say this, but full payment is due once āyou approveā the final piece. So no working on it until payment comes in. The order form Iāve already been using for this first-go-round has a contract of what youāre getting and what to expect when you sign it. I will obviously need to add/adjust things as I go through this process to see what becomes issues. As of now, since Iāve been dealing with friendlies, Iāve been very open to ālet me know if there is any issueā even though I state everywhere there are no refunds. So Iāll have to get more clear with myself where that line is for if/when it becomes an issue.
Thank you for all of this. Love it. Great nit-picky things to figure out/fine tune. Between first reading this post a few days ago and now, I already did the pricing work on the photography end and now making adjustments on the puzzle end. This helps A LOT with the money/pricing question I was struggling with last call.
I would respond more but this is all my brain can handle at the moment, which is why itās taken me some time to actually respond. This is all great and I canāt wait to keep coming back to it as things progress. Related, and for what itās worth, be careful out there kids. I wear a mask all the time (indoors and outdoors) and got covid. Why my brain no function right now. Luckily very mild head cold. The plus side from it? Having to stay home while being okay enough to have about a week to annihilate my To Do list.
Boo on the Covid!! Glad you’re not suffering too much, but do take excellent care of yourself. Get well soon. <3
Thanks to all this (now overly annoying) downtime Iāve:
*Revamped my Etsy page (still need to update a few product photos that have more intricate set ups)
*Redone my FAQs for the sale (everything will now go through Etsy to make my life easier – I added a limited number of Made to Order (wanted to replace āspecial orderā) and Custom Order listings to purchase based on my No lines). (See below)
*Set up my price guide components (for my eyes) for Photography and Jiggy and have set on prices that Iām okay with for this sale or Made to Order and Custom Orders.
*Revamped my Google Doc link that Iāll be sending people to (similar to the last one, but with the changes made after we talked through my initial email from the 10K10days) (See below)
*My initial āyou get first crack at itā reach out will again be to friendlies, the ones who were close to biting but either deferred or wanted holiday gifts, so my email to them will be a quick, āHey, Iām opening up things in case you want in. You get first shot.ā Most of them were puzzle people, but I am including photography since thatās they easiest way for me to make money.
Still need to:
*Hyperlink 2 of my sample puzzle images after they get posted to Instagram
*Upload some new photos/items for the photography store (somewhat less pressing since most will be puzzle people)
*Create social media posts in Canva (carousel slides with call to action/sale)
Question:
*In the Google Doc that has all the info, with small images of examples, should I link directly to the Etsy/Photo stores? Is that too much? Right now everything is linked to Instagram in case they need a better view of the image. Do I need to get over myself and provide the direct link to the sales page for that particular item?
Google Doc Info page (that theyāll be receiving in the email)
Holiday season will be here before you know it! Have a friend, family member or loved one whoās impossible to shop for? Looking for a unique gift you canāt find in stores? Do you need a third question because things come in threes? I can help.
I specialize in two things: high quality photography and crafts made from jigsaw puzzles. An odd pairing you say? I donāt, because Iāve actually combined the two to make unique and one-of-a-kind items for people. How can I help you make your Holiday shopping easier?
Do you have a new table that you donāt want damaged? Order some cool coasters!
(IMAGES WITH LINKS ARE HERE AND IN BELOW TEXT)
Disney Villains Jurassic Park Boston Red Sox
Do you have a new house or empty walls that need decorations? Order a museum quality print!
(IMAGES WITH LINKS ARE HERE AND IN BELOW TEXT)
Shirley Manson Brooklyn Bridge Orangutan and Baby
Do you want something unique, custom tailored specifically to you? Order a one-of-a-kind item!
(IMAGES WITH LINKS ARE HERE AND IN BELOW TEXT)
Alice Clock Astro/Crystal Altar Personalized 3D Diorama
If youāre interested, you can check out any of the links below to see more samples of high quality photos and hand-made crafts created from jigsaw puzzles, or to make a purchase.
Getting Jiggy Puzzles on Etsy
Getting Jiggy Puzzles on Instagram
Sarah McLean Photography
Sarah McLean Photography on Instagram
FAQs
Made to Order Etsy listing details:
See a type of product you like in the store (eg, coasters, earrings, clock) but want a different design? Cool. You can purchase a made to order item with whatever design/theme you want.
A non-refundable $50 deposit is required at the time of purchase, which will go towards the final cost.
Let me know the theme/design you want and the best email address for me to contact you. If I have questions about what you want, Iāll contact you for clarification. Otherwise, Iāll email you a link to an order form with a few puzzle image options for you to choose from.
Once you select the image you want Iāll create a mock-up of the final product along with the final cost for you to approve. Remaining payment is due upon approval.
When the final payment has been received Iāll get to work on your item. Please retain the order form link; I will be updating it with my progress and all shipping information so you know when to expect your item.
Custom Order Etsy listing details:
Custom order a unique, one-of-a-kind item for yourself or as a gift for a friend or family member. We’ll discuss what you’re looking for and work together to get you your dream product.
A non-refundable $100 deposit is required at the time of purchase to secure your one-of-a-kind craft, which will go towards the final cost. When ordering, please explain what youāre looking for and the best email address for me to contact you.
After the deposit has been received weāll set up a 30 minute consultation to talk more specifically about your idea and how I can best make it a reality. Weāll work together to create something specific just for you.
Once I have a better idea of what you want youāll receive a link to an order form with a few puzzle and/or photo image options to choose from. Once you select the image(s) you want Iāll create a mock-up of the final product along with the final cost for you to approve. Remaining payment is due upon approval.
When the final payment has been received Iāll get to work on your item. Please retain the order form link; I will be updating it with my progress and all shipping information so you know when to expect your item.
Yay! So excited for you and this next stage!!
First, I’d save some if not all of the fine print for a reply email. Imagine being on the receiving end of the email as EACH of the buyers you hope will open it. If I’m a buyer for the simplest, most straight-forward thing you’re offering, you potentially lose me with aaaaaaalllllllllll the details about deposit and phone consult and final payment and having to keep up with a progress/order link and so on. It’s a lot.
Consider simplifying the email and providing a link for each type of buyer to go see what all the details are. OR, invite them to reply to “claim one of the very limited spots” or however you’d like to word it, so it drives the exclusivity of it and allows you to enter into an exchange (Ć” la the 9-word email), having been welcomed to provide all the fine print. That’ll keep you from scaring off folks who get lost in the sauce of that email’s fine print re: items they’re not even looking into.
Okay.
Wait.
Just went back up to see what the next thing was I wanted to say and I see you’ve given me headers to indicate we’ve left the email and gone to the Etsy listings. My bad. Leaving the above because it’s good advice for someone, somewhere. š But you’re good. Sorry ’bout that.
Okay, so your Q about what to link to in the Google doc… how can we keep it simple for everyone? What does that look like? Do that. š I may need you to show me the options so I can better understand what it is you’d have to “get over yourself” about with this part. Lemmeknow if there’s something I’m missing and I’ll take another stab at it.
Full Moon + new puppy = OMG no sleep.
We can talk about it on the call.
SUCKS. I’m so sorry you got it. Ugh. I haven’t peopled IN MONTHS beyond Keith and the puppy’s foster mom on gotcha day a couple of weeks ago, because I keep hearing of things like exactly what you described. This shit is bananas. I hope you’re already feeling miles better in the time since you posted. XO
The worst was over the first weekend, but I tested positive for 9 days and couldn’t do anything for almost a week even though I felt at about 90%. And I still have a lingering cough/stuffy nose (thanks asthma!), and haven’t really slept in 2 weeks, so that’s all… annoying. It really proves that masks are most effective when the infected person wears them.
THAT.
Keith got jumped Friday night and I’m like, “THIS is how we’ll get the damn thing!!!!” because luckily the people he mostly encounters (who we KNOW) are ones who mask and test and communicate if they’re ever around someone who eventually tested positive because of course that can affect so many others and so on… but so far so good. (Hilarious that of all the things that ran through my mind when I learned K got attacked, it was us potentially testing positive for COVID this week that was the biggest, “Oh, fuck!” LOL)
So glad you’re mostly okay!! Better and better and better still. Sending more good vibes!