Thursday, January 24, 2013

branding for 2013

One of my goals for 2013 is to maintain consistency for my craft fair booth and my business in general. I ran through most of my business card stash at the end of the 2012 holiday season. It seemed like a good excuse to get a new logo together and develop new business materials with it.



Some of you have already seen the first image on Facebook. I posted a couple different versions of it in progress. It was extremely helpful to get feedback from family and friends on this design. Thank you! This final version here is very close to the last one that I posted there. I also developed the second more simple version for some round stickers that are approximately 1" in diameter.

I ordered everything except my notepads and shopping bags from Moo. I did not get any sort of endorsement to mention them in this post, but I do love their products. I was very impressed with everything that I got this month. I can't wait to start distributing these cards. They are so many times more impressive than my old cards.

I ordered my shopping bags through ULine. I didn't shop around a lot for bag prices, but I know a number of sellers and shops who use their bags. I order a number of other products through ULine and have always been impressed with their quality. The bags didn't disappoint. I decide to order the stickers separately because it was considerably less expensive than getting the bags printed.

I'm keeping the same jewelry boxes for 2013. I've been printing my own stickers with text only for the boxes the past year or so. I decided it was time to step it up and get stickers printed that match my other new materials.

I like to include a handwritten note in my Etsy orders. Since I got back into making greeting cards, I've sent a lot of handmade cards. This simply isn't cost effective for me. Ordering printed folded or flat cards wasn't a very cost effective option either. I ended up settling on a note pad. I ordered this through Vistaprint. As you can see, the alignment is a little skewed. It won't be hard to cut off that extra white strip. It's a little irritating but not a big deal.

For the past year or so, I've been including free shipping and contact information cards with my Etsy orders and in my craft fair purchase bags. I've been printing these myself and backing them with card stock. With the number of shows that I plan to do for 2013, this isn't cost effective. What you see above is the front and back sides of a single card that I can use for both Etsy packages and shows. Moo offers two sided printing at no extra charge for all business cards so I spent the same on these cards as I did for my new business cards.

Adjusting My Shipping Costs
I've had the same shipping rates on Etsy since...2009? I was long overdue to update them. Ordering all of these materials was a good wake up call for me to reevaluate and adjust accordingly. I know that a lot of Etsy sellers keep their packages to a bare minimum and as such, as able to offer really low shipping. However, I truly believe that the extra touches are worth it. Hopefully customers will think so, too.

I did my shipping adjustments before I found out about the new increased shipping rates and ended up making a further adjustment for international rates. If you haven't checked out those rates yet and you ship any kind of packages on a regular basis, I highly recommend checking it out ASAP.

Finally, if you haven't taken advantage of the free MOO cards for Etsy sellers offer yet, it's still going! Check out all of the details right here!

Have you ordered new materials for 2013? Share your plans!

20 comments:

  1. That looks fantastic! After baby comes I'm planning on going through and revamping my branding with some changes so I'm also looking forward to ordering new materials.

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  2. I like your new business cards and "branding" - it's bright, which I like! Stickers on the shopping bags is a smart economic solution - years ago I worked in a small independent store and that's what we did - stickers on plain white shopping bags...You are a smart marketing lady!

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  3. I really like it! Colorful, but still very streamlined with all of the white backgrounds. My branding for my wedding shop has stayed the same since I started (which is fine with me) but the other shop has changed a couple of times. Apparently I can't make up my mind!

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  4. I love your business cards-- really colorful! I don't see the skewing on your notepad, but I love the idea.

    I get my business cards for free from Zazzle, because I've been designing there since 2005 and I always have credit in my account there. I do like the quality of them. And I had to adjust my shipping prices yesterday... unfortunately, with the dramatic (and ridiculous!!) price increase to Canada, I had to drop shipping heavier items there. As for my other items, I charge what we pay online, because I put freebies into my shipments, and I work hard to make my products, too. I just can't afford to lose money on my items.

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  5. The business cards look great! I love those bags and the stickers too!
    I have been thinking of re-branding my shops.

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  6. Your new cards look awesome! I love the photo you chose and think it represents your business very well. And the stickers and notepads are a great addition as well.

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  7. I haven't used Moo yet, because there's always something that gets in the way of my uploaded photos...I'll have to give it another try, though, because your new cards look fabulous! Everything looks great.
    I've heard about the shipping rate increase, and I'm so sad about it. Not cool.

    ~Kim
    http://2justByou.blogspot.com

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  8. Cute! I love that you have everything professionally matched! I also agree that the photo you choose is absolutely perfect for your shop.

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  9. @ 2justbyou - Moo rocks! I love my Moo cards.

    I really like your consistent branding. I basically gave out all my old cards at craft fairs, too, and I've been working to create a more consistent image. I haven't gone so far as to get custom bags yet, though!

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  10. The new design(s) look awesome! I love that you have stickers for all of your packaging- great idea! I really need to do this too- I'm almost out of business cards and some of the info has changed anyway, so it's about time! I'm hoping to get time to work on this in a month or so.

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  11. Your business cards look great! The photo is so colorful and attention getting! Love the idea of a notepad! I don't use stickers on boxes though since they can't be re-used for other gift items. I have a couple here with other people's stickers and it messes up the box to remove them and I certainly don't want to give it with the sticker if it's not from that shop so I feel it's a waste.

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  12. You're an inspiration, Rose! I love your new stuff and I can tell that that camera is really doing you justice. Your pictures have always been stunning, but the colors and clarity are just awesome! Nice! :)

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  13. I think the stickers look great! I have some leftover boxes from my jewelry days, and was thinking of using them for storage in my work place. They were very expensive at the time of purchase, so I can't just toss them! I like the square look of your boxes... {:-D

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  14. Rose, I love your design....everything looks so cute! That bright, pretty button bracelet just really pops. I think it looks awesome. I've been meaning to stop back by your Etsy shop...so will do that soon :)

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  15. Rose, they look wonderful. Everything!

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  16. Your new packaging looks great!! If I ever use all the pretty notepads I acquired from my pen palling days, I hope to get a custom one made for orders.

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  17. Love your new cards and stickers!! Packaging is important, and thanks for the shipping info!

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  18. I really like your new business card and label design--love the way the bracelet wraps about the text, really sharp! That was definitely a good idea to order bags from Uline and then paste the labels on them.

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  19. Rose, your cards and marketing materials look fantastic. I love how colorful and bright everything is. I love Uline too, I think they have the best prices.
    Valerie
    Everyday Inspired

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