January 08, 2014
One of the projects I tackled over the holidays was to edit and revamp my wholesale catalog. (For more background on creating a wholesale stationery catalog, visit this post.)
For the National Stationery Show this past May, I used my existing catalog and created a flyer with new products that could slip inside. This worked well at the time, but as I released more new products in August and early December, I could no longer justify having multiple inserts and knew it was time to revamp my catalog.
I didn't do this sooner for two reasons. First, I knew I'd be releasing a bunch of new cards at the very beginning of 2014 and wanted to wait so these could be included in the new catalog. Second, catalogs are quite expensive to print and I wanted to hold off as long as possible!
Here were my guidelines when revising my catalog:
- Maintain the catalog's existing format. My first catalog was very clear and easy to navigate. I received many compliments on it, remained happy with the existing layout, and knew I didn't need to reinvent the wheel.
- Eliminate slow sellers or tired designs. After two years in business, it's become quite obvious to me what designs sell well and what don't. There were a handful of older designs I really didn't like and I was very ready to remove them from the catalog!
- Make minor revisions to terms and ordering details.
- Add new products.
It was a tedious process, but not nearly as onerous as I thought it would be since I was building off of the skeleton of the existing catalog.
Since this is a relatively quiet time of year, I was able to quickly get these printed from my trusty local printer and ready to send off to retailers! If you are a retailer interested in receiving a catalog, please contact me at hello{at}happycactusdesigns.com to have one sent your way. You can also view the catalog digitally here.
May 15, 2013
Happy Cactus is off to New York City for the National Stationery Show. We are beyond excited to be back for our second year and to debut a number of new products. If you are attending the show, please come visit us at Booth 2240!
April 30, 2013
I'm in the home stretch of preparations for the National Stationery Show with only a few weeks to go. A lot of major tasks have been completed and now I'm working through a list of many small yet equally important items on my to-do list. One of the most important tasks is to remember to take some time to chill out, reflect, and take a mental break. It's hard to not feel overwhelmed at this point, but I'm trying my best to remember to just breathe!
April 22, 2013
April 03, 2013
April 01, 2013
March 26, 2013
It's crunch time here at Happy Cactus Designs with the National Stationery Show coming up in less than two months. I have a number of new products in the works that I can't share here just yet, but I'm very excited about them and hope to be able to show you what they are soon!
Above is a snippet of what life is like these days: tackling an enormous to-do list, figuring out what color my booth walls will be, and sorting through a sea of cards. This year I am moving to a corner booth (#2240) and have been spending hours figuring out its design. This week my focus has been on finalizing my pre-show mailer that will be sent to retail shops, designing the packaging for new products, and figuring out how my products will be displayed in my booth. I can't wait to see how it all comes together!
March 25, 2013
January 30, 2013
When I launched my company and joined the stationery industry, one of the most pleasant surprises was how friendly, kind, and welcoming other members of the paper world have been to me. I guess I originally expected that people would be competitive and not willing to share their experiences navigating this industry, but I have found the exact opposite to be true.
Preparing to exhibit at NSS for the first time is an especially daunting adventure. One of my key pieces of advice in the months leading up to the show is to get to know others in the stationery world - vendors, retailers, and, of course, other designers.
- Be active on Twitter and use the site as a platform for networking with with others. Don't be afraid to respond to others' tweets, compliment designers on their work, and ask questions. #nss and #stationeryshow tend to be the most frequently used hashtags for organizing tweets around NSS. Twitter has been the first place I've met many paper friends!
- I participate in Tradeshow Bootcamp (read more about my experiences here) which has become an amazing support network comprised of other designers to share experiences, ask questions, and get feedback on problems you may be having.
- Don't hesitate to email designers directly about their experiences. Be sure to visit a designer's contact page to see if they have specific instructions for the best way to make contact. Keep your emails fairly succinct and don't worry if a designer doesn't respond right away. In my experience, I've found that many designers are more than willing to share their tips.
- Read blogs and comment on them! Just like I attempt to do here, there are many other designers who have blogged about their NSS experiences. One of the best ways to locate designers' posts about NSS is to check their blog archives. Usually between the months of March and June you'll find NSS-related posts.
- Find others in your own town that are planning to be at NSS! There's nothing like getting together face-to-face with other paper people who live in your city and bouncing ideas off one another.
The best part of all of this networking is when you get to meet each other in person at the show! It's one of the rare times when all of your paper friends are in one place at the same time.
January 07, 2013
All of a sudden it's 2013, which means the National Stationery Show is mere months away. I'm beyond excited to be heading back to New York in May for my second NSS. While I've heard your first year is often your toughest (for all of the obvious reasons), I'm anticipating year two will take just as much grit, creativity, energy, etc. etc. if not more. I'll be sharing some of the lessons I learned from my first NSS experience here on the blog as well as general tips and info. When I was prepping to do the show for the first time I learned so much from other designers wiling to share their experiences and hope to help new exhibitors in the same way here.
So my first really big tip is to get organized and make a to-do list.
Buy a very large binder (mine from 2012 is above) and make sure to keep any and all Stationery Show-related documents here. In my binder, I include everything from contracts and official show documents to brainstorms I have and inspirational pictures and ideas. Start printing out important emails and put them in the binder. Trust me, this will save you time come April and May when you realize you need to bring hard copies of your important emails like correspondence with the show managers and travel confirmations with you to New York.
I use a large color-coded spreadsheet to track my to-do list. I prefer to create spreadsheets on Google Docs so I can access them from anywhere. For my to-do list, I make it pretty simple and uncomplicated. There are only five columns: 1) task, 2) due date, 3) actual date completed, 4) notes, and 5) any related URL to the task.
But with so many things to think about, where to begin?!
I start by adding in all concrete deadlines to my to-do list. This includes things like payment deadlines to various vendors, ordering deadlines for items like lighting and walls, and editorial deadlines set by print and online editors/bloggers.
Then, I break it down by major categories: Product, Marketing, Booth Design, Branding, Travel Plans. I work backwards and think of all of the sub-categories for these bigger ones. For example, with Branding, sub-categories may include items like business cards, website development and maintenance, and product photography.
I then go through and set tentative due dates for specific tasks. For example, I may set a due date of May 1 to have my new business cards ready in hand. Then working backwards, I'll set dates like April 1 to have brainstorming done, April 8 to have design prototype completed, and April 10 to have price quotes from different vendors done. I need to include room for printing and other factors, too. I break each task down like this. Yes, it leads to a super long and detailed to-do list, but my goals are to make sure I'm not forgetting steps and to reduce surprises.
With the spreadsheet, I make sure to enter the date the task was completed. This obviously ensures I know the task was completed, but it also makes me feel good when I get a task done ahead of the actual due date!
I tend to visit my to-do list multiple times a day (okay, sometimes even hourly) as I plan and prepare. I'm just getting started on the 2013 to-do list and it's already filling up! Feel free to share your organizational tips below!
December 20, 2012
As we wind down 2012, I thought I'd share a compilation of the small business related blog posts I shared on this blog over the year. I hope other small business owners have found these posts to be helpful. I'm planning even more small business related content for 2013!
Making Things Official
Making Things Work
Jump Start Your Tradeshow Experience with Tradeshow Bootcamp
Making Things Look Good
Essential Components for a Website
Making Things Social
Using Social Media Tools to Grow Your Small Business
Using Facebook to Promote Your Business and Build Brand Awareness
Using Twitter to Promote Your Small Business and Connect with Colleagues
Using LinkedIn to Connect with Industry Colleagues
Using Pinterest to Find Inspiration and Promote Your Small Business
July 16, 2012