Monday Challenge: Get Ready for Camp!

 

Baby Booties by

Little Brown Bird Studios

Okay teamies, it's Monday and hope you are all ready to gear up for the 2012 Holiday Season!

For the next ten weeks, we will participate in Etsy's Holiday Boot Camp 2012 and our Monday Challenge will follow the Boot Camp lineup.

Etsy's Boot Camp weekly post (with tips and advice on the week's topic) will go live on either Tuesday or Thursday, so we will be a little off-kilter with the schedule. Our Monday post will be about the previous week's Boot Camp topic giving us time to read, digest, and get started on the previous week's topic before team discussion.

After the challenge is posted in our forum each Monday, the posting thread will serve as the weekly discussion and progress thread. Our goal is to help each other prepare, and stay motivated and on schedule for successful holiday selling!

The first topic is "Get Ready," and that is what we are doing now. Here is the team Get Ready Checklist:

1) Post in this week's thread to let team members know you will be participating.

2) Read Etsy's "Get Ready" blogpost.

3) Sign up to receive the Etsy newsletter.

4) Prepare for next week's topic: "Stocking up for the Holidays. Are you stocking your shop with items that will appeal to shoppers this holiday?" You should receive the newsletter discussing this topic sometime this week!

So everyone put on your boots ------- we are going to camp!

 

 Cap'n Kathi

Monday Challenge

We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
 
It is a little early for Christmas carols, but not too early to prepare your shop for the upcoming holiday season.

From The National Retail Federation:

Each year, about 40% of consumers begin their holiday shopping before Halloween. While most retailers do not begin holiday advertising until at least October or November, they recognize that many people like the idea of shopping early to spread out spending over a longer period of time. As a result, many retailers are putting holiday merchandise on the shelves in September – specifically decorations....

TheBakersDaughter

and greeting cards,...

AnneN

...which many people buy months in advance.

As this will be the first holiday season for my shop, I don't feel qualified to give advice or tips on how to prepare for the holidays. But I've found these articles to be most helpful in getting started:

Prep for the Holidays During the Seasonal Slowdown
Etsy Success: Stocking Up for the Holidays (2011)
Holiday Boot Camp: The Fast Track (2011)


Our challenge for the week is to start preparing our shops for the 2012 Holiday Season if you haven't already! Please share any ideas or tips you have in this thread.


fa la la la la.... la la la la

 

 Cap'n Kathi