Last Updated on March 7, 2020 by Taylor
Here’s a scenario for you: it’s midnight, and you’re finally dragging yourself to bed after packaging 27 orders, responding to 3 customers about shipping issues, and scarfing down 10 saltine crackers because you forgot to eat dinner. Your back aches, and when your head finally hits the pillow, you reach up to find a piece of tape stuck in your hair. Sound familiar?
Your experience may not be quite as dramatic as that, but these are some of the struggles any physical product seller faces, no matter what you sell or which online medium you sell it through.
Being a product seller can be tough (especially during the holidays)! Here are some tips to get you through it.
1. Set a shipping deadline & share it everywhere you can
Set a date that customers need to place an order by to get their items before a specific holiday. You’re not guaranteeing anything (wouldn’t it be nice if we could control the postal service?). You’re just giving them the information they need to decide if they have time to buy a gift from you.
There’s nothing worse than buying a gift for someone and having it come late! This way, the customer can try to avoid that as much as possible.
Once you’ve established a date, share it in as many places as you can. Add it to your Instagram stories and Instagram posts. Send it as an email to your email list. Share it on your blog and in your Etsy shop announcements.
Don’t worry about oversharing this – I promise your customers won’t see it as often as you think they will!
2. Enlist help
If you can, ask your friends or loved ones for a little help. I know it’s hard to let go of processes you’ve been doing yourself all this time, but trust me: it will save your sanity.
Try setting up a packaging assembly line. Or, see if someone in your family is familiar with social media, photography, or graphic design. Maybe they can help check a few things off your to-do list.
3. Give yourself a break
If you’re anything like me, you probably have way too many things you want to get done in the next week. But when you’re struggling just to keep up with orders, maybe it’s time to put business growth or blogging on the backburner just for a little while.
Determine what is absolutely essential and focus on that for the time being. And when you come back to your grand plans, you’ll feel even more excited and rejuvenated to dive in than you were before.
4. Remind yourself why you started your business in the first place
Bring back that passion for your art, or whatever it is you sell. For me, I set my shipping deadline, and then decided to take the week after that off so I could spend time with family and actually get some reading time in.
Because, as a bookseller, it’s just silly to be surrounded by so many books and not have time to read any of them!
Just remember: someone is going to be absolutely thrilled to open that beautiful product of yours, and to incorporate it into his or her life. Think of the joy on their face. That should help keep you going during the busy holiday season. 🙂
If you need ideas for how to package your lovely products so your branding is clear and your company stands out in a memorable way, check out my post on creative ways to package your products!
