So you wanna be an e-tailer?
December 7th, 2006
I’m not an e-commerce diva, nor do I play one on TV. (Though I did interview several interesting e-tailers for my book, including the women behind Supermaggie and Diva Deals.)
In the past week, I’ve attended a couple craft shows, one at the holiday fundraiser for this fine nonprofit organization, as well as this weekend-long craftacular event. And now I’m even more impressed and in awe of anyone who can make a full-time living selling their handmade wares, online, in person, whenever and wherever.
I mean, all I do is sell words. I don’t have to buy things wholesale and spend hours assembling them and then hawking them in cyberspace or from the trunk of my car. (Though I will probably revise that statement in a couple months when my book is out.)
So if I ever wanted to become an e-tailer, I would soak up the ultra-informative suggestions that Grace Bonney of design*sponge makes on this week’s Slate BizBoxBlog, like a, er, sponge. There are about 101 suggestions in her latest column — how to track inventory, the cheapest/easiest ways to ship, how to give good customer service, and on and on and on. There’s also lots of advice on what not to do.
Even though I’m mainly a service provider, I relish hearing how this self-employed design diva makes a go of it and seeing that many sole proprietors and small business owners share the same concerns. Definitely an article worth bookmarking.
Entry Filed under: She's the boss
2 Comments Add your own
1. ddv | December 7th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
hmmm….all you do is sell words. I’m sorry, but I bet in your writing you spend a lot of time sitting and thinking of how to construct/put together a sentence, paragraph, chapter etc. sure you don’t require glue, a soldering iron or mitre, but you hands and your brain work together to create something that you then sell. You just don’t have inventory to manage (though if you are writing an article with a word count target, you do have an inventory of words you must utilize in order to be successful.
You aren’t as far off as the craftsmen (craftspeople?) you write about. And I mean that as a compliment!
~ddv
2. Michelle Goodman | December 7th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
craftswomen! (yeah, is craftspeople a word? i guess so.)
and, thanks, ddv. i guess i was just being modest. i didn’t mean to imply my work is always easy because it’s not. not by any stretch of the imagination. but i’m also happy that i don’t have to pay for physical materials and track inventory and orders. managing invoices and emails from clients, and making my quarterly trip to office depot, is plenty for me!
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