Good day, Crafties! We're yet again at the end of the year, which means that businesses/content creators are already thinking about how to make next year great! This has been a wild year for me
personally and also for my content.
Every year I set out this list of goals for the brand to try and project some growth. In some cases, I reach these goals but, I've been failing in one area in particular. Reaching my financial goals for Infiniti Crafting Co. has been nearly impossible. I've had a fairly low goal of $1k in sales for the last couple of years now and I have to say, 2020 was the closest I got, reaching 13% of that. It's just one
of those annoying parts of running your own business. And of course, I love what I do and if money wasn't a factor, I'd continue to do what I've been doing.
The reality is though, I do need the money. 😅 In addition to all the hours and resources spent designing and putting out videos, there's the person behind the brand. If it's not regular bills and such, it's medical emergencies like with my teeth or book costs for school. And a lot of people are in the same boat, right? I get that.
I am definitely grateful to those who continue to visit the blog, watch the YT tutorials, and use my affiliate links because that's the only reason that I've been able to skate by. I am continuing to tweak my marketing methods and such for the Handmade shop and all the items and patterns that live there.
It was my aim to have this website to be self-sustaining by now but, that's also not come to fruition as of yet. My wells are essentially dry at this point and I know that I cannot continue to run Infiniti Crafting Co. like this unless I want to face bankruptcy in the near future.
That being said, there are some changes that will be taking effect after New Years.
For one, I'll be removing the free patterns page from the site and instead, hosting free designs strictly on blog posts with ads. When I launched this website, I took joy in providing the free PDF patterns but, sadly that doesn't mean much for the engagement side of things. People see the freebies, download them, and never look back. In the least, if I'm posting those designs to the blog, they can share the pattern on their social media and/or they'd have to come back to that post to finish the project or ask questions.
Secondly, as you all know, inflation is bad. It's been tough to make ends meet, let alone going on yarn hauls. Some pattern designs/releases have been put off entirely because I simply cannot afford to do it. Nor can I go further into debt when I still need to consider other necessities. Unfortunately, now I'm faced with a decision and I've decided to make it. After Dec. 31st, 2022 all physical items in the Handmade Shop will have a price increase of about 9 - 11%.
I think that I've long under priced my products anyhow. I'm not a machine, nor do I employ a bunch of worker bees to mass produce my inventory, it's just me. I'll continue to use shortform content to boost awareness of my makes and see where that goes.
This also means that I'll be testing new things in social media posts as I attempt to locate my target audience once more. I love all the fellow Crafties that follow me for my designs. However, I do need a more blended audience that will also convert to pattern sales and such to keep the brand alive.
Next, I'll be revamping the Hey Craftepreneur! subscription program. I was so excited and nervous when I started this podcast program! It was right after I got monetized and my viewership was higher than it'd ever been so, I though that the time was right to release my new brain child. However, what it turned in to was me thinking up random topics about running a craft business and having no one to share my ideas with. Is it because it's a paid subscription?
Maybe so. I got pretty demotivated by that and things started going to the wayside, especially after this February. I've edited episodes 24 - 26 and am working to get them uploaded to the server soon. Next year, I'll be re-evaluating the benefits I wish to offer there to make it more appealing.
In the recent weeks, I put out some polls and questions about YT memberships and your answers really opened my eyes and proved some creeping suspicions. Nonetheless, I'll strive to offer some awesome perks to those who want to help support my dream on a monthly basis and I'll be putting out posts and newsletters about that late.
Last but not least... patterns. Love 'em, hate 'em they'll always exist! In addition to revamping how I release free patterns, I'm also going to go ahead and implement my new idea. for a long time now, I've been debating whether I should add video tutorials to my written paid patterns. At first I shot it down because I figured that those buying written patterns would only be there for the written words. I also thought about the tremendous amount of extra work and time that would need to go in to something like that. At the time, I didn't want to really charge for my patterns like that, and then I got this website and the idea began to gnaw at me.
In recent weeks I've asked my various communities on YT, Twitter, and Truth Social about this and most people liked the idea. I'm battle hardened enough to know that doesn't necessarily convert to sales but, it is a good idea nevertheless.
That means that this year, I'll slowly but surely start recording tutorials for existing patterns and upgrading those patterns in the Handmade Shop. It also means that I'll be increasing the prices on those patterns, unless I've previously put a tutorial out for free on the channel. Personally, I think that this gives my consumer a more comprehensive product for their dollar and would drastically lower any confusion.
That being said, my website will likely remain
the most affordable option for my patterns because my transaction fees are lower than those of Etsy or my Ko-fi shop.
Over all, the paid patterns will have more pictures and a companion video. As aforementioned, I don't intend to update patterns that have free YT tutorials. I took a chance on a few of my simpler patterns, believing that would convert but that too, failed. Due to my recent polling, I've come to learn that there seems to be a general consensus that things that go on YouTube should remain free for all. This is a valid idea and I understand it so, it's really just a matter of pivoting how I release content.
This new stipulation means that pattern releases will be even less frequent as I hone in on quality over quantity.
This has been a lengthy post so, let me summarize it here
Moral of the Story: I still fully plan on running Infiniti Crafting Co. full time, as it is my God-given dream. However, I cannot continue to run things as I have over the last 4 years if I want to survive financially and physically. I'll be making lots of great improvements while taking in more feedback from my community.
