Valentine Madness
I’m fairly certain I had Valentines just like this in Elementary school. Photo courtesy of The Nostalgia Hunter
The busiest time of the year in my Etsy shop is November - December.
The second busiest time is from about January 14 - February 14. The time when parents everywhere start looking for Valentines for the kids to take to school.
I’m being honest when I say I love those little Valentine cards. As a kid I loved choosing the perfect design at Target and preparing each tiny card for each friend in my class. I loved the small erasers, red and pink pencils, and of course the sweet candy!
So, it’s probably no surprise that I love designing Valentine cards as an adult. It’s fun to draw adorable pastel animals and think of ridiculous puns. And nothing thrills me more than knowing that there are kids out there who are happily preparing my cards for their friends. Seriously, it makes me smile so big. Check out some of my designs available as digital downloads on Etsy:
Setting Smart Goals
As 2020 comes to a close, my mind has turned to where I want to take my business in 2021. It’s important to set goals for your business or side hustle if you want it to grow. When I set goals I use the SMART method to make sure that my goals are not just wishes thrown into the abyss. Let’s go over how to make SMART goals together.
Making SMART Goals
SMART is an acronym used for goal setting. It stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. If you keep all of these ideas in mind when setting your goals you’ll have a much better chance of seeing the success you’re trying for!
Specific
The more well-defined your goals are, the easier they will be to work towards. To help make your goals specific, it helps to think of 5 questions:
What do I want to accomplish?
Who is involved in this goal?
Where will the work be done?
When do I want to achieve this goal?
Why do I want to achieve this goal?
I listed it last, but sometime the “why” is the easiest question to answer and it helps guide your answers for the other questions. Answer the questions in whatever order makes sense to you.
Example of a general goal: I want to earn more money with my Etsy shop.
Example of a specific goal: I want to earn an additional $50 per month this year with my Etsy shop by making 4 new listings each month, and using sponsored listings. $50 extra dollars a month will make a nice Christmas savings account so I can start shopping in November.
Measurable
A measurable goal is something you can track so that you know if you are succeeding or if you need to take additional action steps to make your goal a reality. Some of this may have been answered in the specific section but it’s important to review. To make a measurable goal ask yourself:
How many? How much?
How do I know if I’m making progress?
How will I know if I reached my goal?
Using the previous goal example:
How many sales will you need to make to earn $50 extra dollars per month?
You can divide the $50 per month goal into a weekly number to help track your progress.
Some months may see less than $50 but if other months have more you could still reach your ultimate goal. How will you measure that?
Achievable
You want to think big when setting a goal but not so big that you can’t succeed. This can be a hard balance to strike especially when your business is new and you can’t look back on past years. To help make your goals achievable, answer these questions:
Have similar businesses done it before?
Do I have the resources, time, and support to work towards my goal? If not, how can I get them?
Realistic
This is really similar to achievable but it’s important to consider if your goals are realistic. Are you setting yourself up to fail or are you putting yourself on a path to success? Ask yourself:
Are my goals within reach in the given time frame?
Am I committed to reaching these goals?
Timely
Your SMART goals have to have a start and end date so that you have the motivation to complete them. Goals without deadlines are just wishes in space. Make sure you set a deadline for achieving your goals!
Using our previous example again: Starting the week of January 1 you will commit to making 4 new Etsy listings per month (about 1 per week) in order to earn $50 by January 31. Rinse and repeat each month for a total goal of $500 by November 1.
Make your goals SMART!
I hope this has helped you make your Etsy/small business goals for the new year. Goal setting is so important for creating success! Remember to keep your goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely and you’ll be sure to go far!
How to download an Etsy file
I’ve been selling instant downloads on Etsy for years and I know it can be challenging for new customers to navigate the download process. I hope this guide will help you purchase and download with confidence!
Step One: Make your purchase. I hope this will be pretty clear. Etsy makes purchasing easy with a couple of clicks.
Step Two: After your purchase is complete, you want to navigate to “Purchases and Reviews” on Etsy. It can be found in the upper right-hand corner of the page by clicking on “You”
Step Three: Find your download purchase in the the list and click on the black button called “Download Files”
Step Four: Depending on your purchase you may have up to 4 files or folders to download. Click on the white buttons to save each file/folder to your device.
Step Five: You have successfully downloaded your new files! If they were compressed into zip files you will need to extract them before use. This process will depend on your device. On my PC, I right click and choose “Extract All”
That’s all there is to it! Your files will continue to be available on Etsy as long as Etsy lives in case you need to download them again.
Go forth and download!
*Sarah
Free Coloring Page
Making coloring pages is one of my absolute favorite things to do and I’m so happy to be able to sell them as instant downloads on my Etsy shop. It’s fun to see how they get used at home and in classrooms all over!
My first coloring page: Unicorn Rainbow
I know that it can be a little nerve-wracking to purchase, download, and print a file from Etsy for the first time. So, I’m offering a trial coloring page for free. This will help you with the printing aspect. If you want more information about downloading a file from Etsy check out my post: How to download an Etsy file.
Download your own copy of the Unicorn Rainbow Coloring Page by clicking the button below. This file is 8x10 so it will print perfectly on standard 8.5x11 paper or cardstock.
Printing Tips
Use a laser printer if possible. This will guarantee a smudge proof experience and sharper lines.
If using an inkjet printer allow the page to dry for 24-48 hours before coloring to help prevent smudges.
I recommend printing on at least 65# cardstock. Normal printer paper can be too thin even for crayons - and especially when kids are involved.
In most cases you won’t need to scale the image before printing unless...
If you’re having problems with edges of the page not printing you may need to choose “fit to page” to shrink the image a bit. Some printers have bigger margins than others.
I hope this helps ease any worries and I really hope you enjoy coloring my zentangle inspired unicorn!
Best of luck,
*Sarah
I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
I’ve had this song stuck in my head for a few days now and I finally had to draw it out. It gave me a laugh and I hope you enjoy it too! My personal favorite is the little crocodile. Which is yours?
