DAY 2

[TOMgirlApparel]

Day 2: Clean your computer desktop, organize your business documents and pictures. Download business plan template here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10mxselKUZakAIJt5OCGHaPkoYVRTw3If8NfEzv3G-eg/edit?usp=sharing (Or copy and paste it from below). Download it only, do not fill out yet. We will be adding to it throughout the 30 days.

For cleaning your desktop, consider the actual physical space surrounding your computer and the actual files on your computer. Is everything Etsy related in a folder? Is it mixed in with your personal stuff? Do you have old pictures floating around that you won't use again? Organize everything business related into a folder and delete unnecessary documents/photos.



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Business Plan Template

(Value Proposition) One sentence description of your business. This is your mission statement.

(Your Solution) A description of your products, define them and what makes them unique.

Big Scary Goal:
(Target Market) Answer this question in as much detail as you can.

(Sales Channels & Marketing Activities) How will these customers find me?
Advertising, marketing, Etsy search, social media strategy?

(Market need) What problem does this product/service solve for the customer?

(Competition) Who else is out there and why is yours better?

(Financials: Budgeting) What tools or materials I need to produce this product/service?

(Financials: Forecasting) How will I make money? What is your pricing formula? Does it allow for wholesale? What is your profit margin? Are you paying yourself?

(Future Expansion) What other stuff could I sell these customers later?

(Funding Needs & Use of Funds) Expenses. Are these one-time or recurring?

(Execution) Timeline for tasks to be completed, plan for improvement.

(Milestones) How will I know it’s working? Example: I will have ____ sales by ______.

What do I need to worry about? What potential issues should I be aware of? Anything I am not doing now that I should be soon? Business license, seller’s permit, DBA, business bank account, federal tax id, etc.

Next actions:


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Looking ahead: Day 3: First day of titles and tags. Gulp.

[Former_Member]

Thanks, Amanda!
Tomorrow is my first Wednesday off from my day job. I am now able to stay home Wednesdays and Fridays to work on Id & Ego Creations! I'm so excited. I made a schedule for myself, and I set aside a nice, 2-hour chunk of time to organize my computer files. I have a feeling I will need to schedule more time for this, although it will certainly be a great start, and a much-needed activity for me to do, especially now.

Thanks for posting the business plan template! I'll check in tomorrow.

Good luck, everyone!

[Former_Member]

That's great Heather! My computer files are fairly organized. All photos are organized by date taken and titled with necessary info. I will backup all my photographs though since I have not done that in a few months and delete some of the unnecessary photos that I no longer need. I will also take a look at my email folders...

[Maiook]

My computer files are quite organized, physical space around my computer is another story though. I will go through all my files and folders and organize whatever is out of order and make a backup of everything.
I also have a pile of paperwork that needs to be filed and I need to sort out my paperwork for June.

Thank you for the business plan template, Amanda.

[Akamatra]

Some months ago I had some time and used my freakish organisation skills to make a dedicated partition of my hard disc for Akamatra. So now I enjoy folders for listed items shorted out by category and status (active, ooak sold, expired, etc) with their reciprocate photos and descriptions into text files. I also have folders for my blog and a few for the facebook photos I upload in case they are different from the listing ones.

It is rather easy to navigate through this data and I save a lot of time when I need to find something, especially after having 170 active and 70 expired listings.

What I really need to do somehow is delete all the convos from etsy both here and in my e-mail!!!!!

My workspace needs work especially in the days I make new stuff.

[KaroAteliers]

Oh dear... this may take me quite some time. My physical space will need several hours (if not days) of work. My computer files are not to bad but could use a quick going over. I'll get started on this after I get home from work today.

Have a lovely day everyone!

[Former_Member]

Computer - good to go. Everything is in folders and easy to find. Deleted old crap.
Physical - paperwork has its own space in my desk, all sorted.

However, where my computer is is a family space. It's always crazy but it won't get better until the kids stop using it.

[Former_Member]

Plan downloaded.....

Looked ahead to Day 8 - crap - gonna need a few days to do that one.

[Former_Member]

Business Plan is downloaded.

Computer files are organized for both shops.

Physical workspaces:
Weaving studio is good to go all the time.

The other shop:
The soap supply cabinet needs a going over and I need to print out my supply checklist to make supplies easier to reorder.

[ThePartyDeeva]

Downloaded the plan

Deleted old files on pc and working on cleaning out email folders on Etsy

Physical work area is good / Packing and photo area is where I will be working next

[Former_Member]

BP downloaded and printing.

My computer cleanup has been on my to-do list, for months now. Yes!

I have to say about the tags and titles thing: Mine is 12 per day. I know that this is less than a lot of others on the team, but honestly, I have never managed to sit in front of a computer screen long enough to work on more than 4 or 5 per day( max!). Not saying that 12 won't be my goal, but to be realistic, I am going to do a few per day even when this task is not assigned,

[Former_Member]

what is on my computer is fine, as it get rid of extraneous stuff all the time.
.
what is around it needs a little work

[FifteenMagpieLane]

I have one question...how long should we keep photos of items sold? And how long should we keep convos from buyers?

[AlasseArt]

Business plan downloaded.

Computer is organized, not much to do there as I already had all my pictures in folders, and all my written materials are in my google drive. I have a drawer my filling cabinet for all my paper documents.

[ShoppeDeziLu]

Business Plan downloaded.

Computer and desk space were recently cleaned and organized - YAY!!! So, I'm spending some time today to print and organize new orders received while my shop is "on vacation", so I can start making them the minute we return from the lake next week.

Mary, I also have the number 12, and I've never done more than about 10 listings in one day. They take me FOREVER! Besides photography, this is the hardest part for me. I'm hoping that by the end of this month, this step will be much easier.

[TOMgirlApparel]

You guys are amazing! My physical space around my computer is tidy, but I need to go through and delete old documents and photos that I will never use.

F&B, I think if you will never be able to remake the item, then delete the picture. If the pictures are horrible and need retaking anyways, delete them. That will force you to get better pictures. I don't save any etsy convos in my gmail account, but I never delete convos on Etsy, so they are on Etsy if I need them.

[Former_Member]

Business Plan is downloaded!

My physical space: my studio area is nice and tidy. I need to clean up my area in the house tho.

Computer: Files are mostly organized. I'll go thru them tonight and finish up the organization.

[KinAndCaboodle]

I think I'm a file hoarder. I keep photos and descriptions for items I no longer offer, just in case it comes in handy sometime. I don't need any of it! It just represents work, and it's difficult to let it go.

[ThePartyDeeva]

Ok packing and photo area is done and I tackled 2 shelves in my studio labeling and sorting my clear bins. 3 more shelves to do and that task for today will be done!

Cleaned out old emails both in google mail and on Etsy (like treasury notification ones and donation requests).

[IntuessaJewelryCo]

I keep my desk area neat and I already filed all my paperwork for June.
Gmail inbox is now clean.

For those of you using Gmail who receive emails (like shipment confirmation, etc.), which go into your inbox, you can create filters to have them bypass the inbox and have them automatically filed away with the appropriate labels.
I just set a couple of filters up and they were easy to do. Here is the link if anyone is interested: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6579?hl=en&ctx=mail

Now on to pictures :)

[Former_Member]

i have around 25000 photos on my machine, but i do have the important ones in their own file.

[BalsamrootGlass]

I am definitely a file hoarder! However, there have been times where my hoarded files were really important - so I tell myself that I can have as many files as I want, as long as they are well organized.

My workspace, photos and emails are all spiffed up, I just have a bit more to do on my document files, both on my computer and in Google Docs.

[myBeadedEarth]

Cleaned out and better organized my Etsy folder holding all my files/pics.
Workspace is good; added shelving & reorganized a few weeks ago. Added new photos for 3 items.

Need to organize my seo/relevancy folder, but reading through the articles first along with past threads and jotting down some notes. I haven't figured out exactly what to keep track of as far as keywords, how many listings a single keyword should be in, etc.

[MagicMoonPottery]

Gmail all cleaned up and organized.
Kitchen table (aka, My summer desk) de-cluttered.
Pictures are all good. I have a hard drive with folders organized for every month/year.

In progress: Eliminating 2 year backlog of convos in my Etsy in-box. Down from 29 pages to 19. My brain is jello. Stepping away from the computer for a while.

[urbancottage1]

Clean studio area, all supplies organized, all computer files, Etsy, photography organized. Spreadsheets updated. :)