The Business end of Bella Dawns Doggy Designs / asking for feed back.
 

I am in need of suggestions from those of you who are already established designers or business minded people out there in getting my small in home business Bella Dawns Doggy Designs going.

I am trying to get my small doggy clothing business going but am off to a very slow start. I really love sewing, I'm pretty good at it. I have come up with a new design which I love and made a few up and posted on my Facebook (FB) page. Other than here and on FB I am unsure on how to go about getting noticed and getting some sales or orders. My page has been up for a one month and I have gotten little response to it. I have 40 "likes" which has helped spread the word plus I take every chance I get to spread the word through BDDD updates and sharing on two other FB pages but still I'm not sure how to go about getting orders. Maybe I am expecting too much too soon!

I've only gotten two orders and sold a few of the bandannas when I first started at my garage sale. I offer xxs - large in 2 separate dress designs and the bandannas. My size chart is available plus I have lots of fabric choices listed and I add a few more as my budget allows.

What do I do ? Do I continue spreading the word, tagging, posting on FB, Do I make clothes and post for sale, do I wait for orders and than show off my work when those are finished and hope for someone to recognize my work and places an order, or what ?

I fear that if I wait around for orders that I may never get going and I am worried that if I make premade clothes that they will not be the right fit for some or any dog and I will be stuck with them. I though about listing on eBay I know how to do that. Plus thought about doing Etsy which I am not at all familiar with so any though on that would be greatly appreciated.

What am I missing here ?
What do I need to do to get started?
What should I be donging and what should I not be doing?

Below is to link to my FB page for anyone who may be interested in looking. I welcome any structured criticism and would appreciate any feed back. Plus feel free to "LIKE" my page... :)

https://www.facebook.com/BellaDawnsDoggyDesigns

So:)rry I have no advice for you, but I did like your page...

Yes I know, every little "LIKE" helps,

Thanks so much !

Ok this is just my opinion. Not everyone has a FB page so they don't see you. I don't use FB. But I love Etsy! So you might do an Etsy page. Also I see you have a weebly. Do you have a weebly where you can sale items?

I agree with you on this, however I have no idea what a weebly is!
For myself I too will be opening a small business within the next six months...I have a FB page, not too many likes on it as I'm not really promoting it yet, and also a web site that is now built, but not posted yet, as I am not open for business. Perhaps build a web site...there are free ones out there, Wix is the one I used...

It's a website. I use it with my students. Ours are free but if you are selling you may have to pay a fee. Weebly - Create a free website and a free blog

Thanks hun! Much like the one I created, I'm not selling anything, so don't think I have to pay a fee. I'm opening a mobile grooming business, that doesn't count as selling something does it?

I'm not sure. Read there rules and see. We did earthquakes lol. So I didn't have to worry. I love weebly. Easy way to set up a site! :thumbup:

Thanks again, the one I set up was a little complicated...fiancé finally set it up for me, i'm so happy with the finished (almost) product. I will post the link when I'm up and running, assuming I can figure out how to do that...LOL.:D :rolleyes:

I started a weebly site but wasn't happy with the way it was turning out so I gave up on it. I may have to revisit it and try to figure out what I need to do to improve on it.

Jaqui, Weebly is totally free.

Thanks Dawn...Wix is as well, unless you want upgrades, which I did not. I just found it complicated to set up...Mark wound up doing it for me....:rolleyes:

My daughter has an ETSY business(not dogs) and gets a few orders every week. She keeps her price low, and her customizing page up to date. The price structure is simple once you get the hang of it. Good Luck!

I really think word of mouth is one of the best ways to start selling your products. Friends, family, coworkers ect ect. If your selling a really good product people start asking other people where they got it and then from there it sky rockets. Another idea would be Church Bazaar's and Craft Fairs set up a small stand. I'm not sure how much a small stand would cost maybe $25 but it would let people know about you and see your items. I know myself I always go back to the same craft people every year to get certain unique items. Etsy and eBay are good places to sell as well. Make sure you make up business cards and when you sell something put a card in. Good Luck! :)

If you know how to do ebay, etsy is not that different. They will give you tutorials on how to get your shop started. You need to add people to your "circles" on Etsy to get noticed. It's similar to FB in a way that you have to have a lot of "friends" and always on and posting your stuff. You can make "treasuries" which you curate and then share them. You can pick your own stuff or other peoples stuff. When you curate a treasury and share it, the people's stuff that you picked will be happy and thank you, and then will notice you slowly. It's a lot of work, but it's free to do that.

When I was doing my costumes I had a ton of work lined up on etsy and ebay. Just if you find that niche you don't have to do much advertising.

Thanks ladies. I really want to get business cards printed but before I do that I want to be sure that I have all of my venues established first so that they can be printed on the card also. I think eBay may be a good place to start and than try etsy later if my sales on ebay don't do well.

If I do etst Priscilla I may have to pick your brain about how those "treasuries" work.

Good new is since I posted this I have gotten 12 more likes on my BDDD page from inviting more of my friends on my other FB sites. Yay !!