Hello Crafties and Happy New Year!
Today I'm writing to inform you all that I've started implementing desired changes to the brand here in 2023. I made a lot of year-end announcements on steps that I'd be taking to further advance the health of my brand and I guarantee you that none of these decisions were made lightly.
Currently, I have over hauled the pricing in the handmade shop. The prices have increased on most physical items as I've evaluated the actual expenses and time involved in their creation. I mentioned the raise of shipping costs also, which is out of my control as everyone is fluctuating in this current economy. However, I did state that the minimum purchase price would remain the same. So, all orders of $125 or more will have free shipping automatically applied, no coupon needed.
I am still not ready to pursue international shipping. To be honest, it feels a little daunting and while I know of many makers that have taken that dive, I don't think that I am ready to take on the nuances of that process. So, shipping is still limited to domestic, USA orders.
The pattern prices in the shop also remain the same with the exception of my older patterns. I am currently working on updating them with video tutorials. So, if you do enjoy the pdf version of my free patterns, I would recommend downloading the ones you want now because I am slowly going through them to incorporate videos into them and convert them into paid content. I'll still have a free version of these designs on my blog but, you'll no longer be able to download it. The blog versions of my designs will include varying degrees of ads in order to support the website.
I've decided that this is the best route to take in order to get this space to start breaking even, while still catering to my audience. This year, it has come incredibly close and I was at risk of losing my website and domain. That's not the greatest feeling in general but, especially after only having the site for two years after working on it for 4+ years. So, while this new formatting may not be ideal, I'm trying to compromise.
I am currently working on video content for the YouTube and Rumble channels in this time period where class is still out. Likewise, there will be a few new items hitting the handmade shop over the next few months as I add new colorways, patterns, and ceramics to the collection.
The merch shop will also be getting revitalized! I've been working behind the scenes with some designers in order to cycle out some of the old designs. There are some ideas that I'll have to hash out on my own but, I do like commissioning other freelancers (supporting small businesses and all that). I'm really excited by the results and these new designs will have a slow roll out with the bulk release taking place sometime in the summer. I've recently connected said shop to the YouTube channel so, fairly soon y'all should see the merch shelf at the bottom of my videos.
Back in the day, you had to wait until you amassed 10k subscribers before you could do that. TeeSpring and YT recently lowered that threshold but, I was aiming for 10k anyhow so, I've held out til now. This will be another way to support all the content and I hope you'll all love the new designs I have to offer!
Also coming soon...
I've been doing some behind the scenes work on the site to better suit all of our needs. I'm working on these updates bit by bit to ensure a smooth transition and I anticipate doing the mass update in February.
With this update, I'll be rolling out the PayPal option ( I thought it'd been available tbh) for checkout on the site. So now you'll have more options when shopping here!
There are some visual changes that are happening to the home page to better reflect the direction in which I'm trying to take my business. It is also more condensed than in previous years. There's also new visual representation for the revitalized work shop. When you click the title or the images, it will redirect you to my dropshipping merch store.
There is now a separate ' About Me' page being constructed for those who care about my and Infiniti Crafting's history. There is also a new page for potential sponsors to view information and submit inquiries. Going forward, I'm trying to better diversify how I make an income because while it has been a blessing to this point, ads just aren't putting food on the table. In doing that, I'm opening up for potential brand collabs and sponsorships as they relate to yarn and the fiber arts.
The blog page has also been cleaned up and re-organized. This update is mostly visual with some fixes to broken affiliate links. The lightbox pop-up is also gone and has been replaced with a banner at the top of the page. There's also a gold arrow pointing directly to an additional affiliate disclaimer on the right hand side. The subscriber form for the email list is located in two places 1.) at the bottom of all site pages, 2.) in a pop-up form on blog pages.
I've also added a feature where you can rate blog posts when you leave a comment!
My social media page has been in need of an upgrade for a LONG time. I've now embedded the carrd site that is linked to the QRC my special business cards. My list of active social media is now sleek and uniformed. The best part is, whenever I made updates to that site, they'll reflect on that page also.
In the Handmade Shop, I've updated the review banner as 2022 ended with quite a few of them from the Etsy shop. Now when the page loads, the review slider will play automatically and I'll continue to update this as more reviews from both sites begin to trickle in.
Though I've released this update, I'm currently working on updating my art web page! This is going to be a slow work in progress through the spring as I etch out how I want to display my artistic pursuits!
I think that covers about everything for now...though I can't help but to think I'm forgetting something...
Ah! There it is. In a rather sudden turn of events, I decided to shut down my Etsy store. In short, it just wasn't beneficial to my business model any longer. So, hopefully, I can direct more of my traffic here to this site where I am better supported as an artist and small business.
ICYMI: Channel Chat 110 explains more of it.
Thanks for reading! This is the last post for today, I promise.
Happy Making!
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