Tech Crunch Feature

I was so pleasantly surprised and excited to discover that my blog post on Heartsy was featured on Tech Crunch today! First, it was featured through the Handmadeology website, which got cited in today's Tech Crunch article. I'm curious to see what people think!
I'm also in the process of offering a discount deal to my Etsy shop through Heartsy. If it goes through, I'll definitely follow up with another post on the math using actual numbers. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, please feel free to comment and let me know what you think. If you've already had your shop featured on Heartsy, I'd love to hear about your experience!

In the Kitchen - Crêpes

Crepes were always a common item on my mom's menu when I was a kid. She used to make them at least once a week, and when I moved to the States, I was really surprised to discover that they weren't as popular here, but were replaced by pancakes and french toast.
Throughout the years, I've tried different recipes for crepes but I found one recently that really made my taste buds do the happy dance :)

Creperies here offer a large selection of fillers, and the savory crepes seem to be the most popular, with lots of meat and veggies. When I was a kid though, there was only one way to eat crepes, which was the best of it all! With strawberry (or any other type to your liking) jam and feta cheese. Yes, feta cheese! 

And then, we also had a special way to fold the crepe - very similar to folding a burrito: 

Mmm...mmmmm...good! If you've never tried this sweet and savory combination for your crepe filling, here's a chance to be blown away! As I always like to say, everything is better with feta :) The only other filling that's pretty high on my list is Nutella of course, but that deserves another post in itself.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1 cup flour

3 tablespoons melted butter
butter for coating
Preparation:
Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and pulse for 10 seconds. Make sure everything is well mixed. Place batter in the fridge for about an hour to allow the bubbles to subside. You can also keep the batter for up to 48 hours.
Heat a non-stick pan (I use a 8 or 9-inch pan) and add some butter to coat. Pour about 1/3 to 1/2 of a cup of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook the other side for another 20 seconds - or until ready. It will be pretty obvious when the crepes are ready. Continue until batter is gone. Depending on the size of your pan, the batter can make up to 20 crepes. It's always a little tricky to figure out the perfect amount of batter for one crepe, so you can test it out for the first couple of crepes and see what works best for your pan.

Bon Appetit!

The benefits of coupon codes

Etsy has added a lot of improvements to their website lately, one of which is the ability to create coupon codes for your customers. This is a great tool because not only does it help you increase your sales, but it also saves you a lot of time that used to be spent on updating invoices and sending refunds through PayPal. Here are some great benefits of using discount codes.

New customers. I love coupons, and I'm always on the lookout for good deals and discounts. More often than not, I'll make a purchase because I had a coupon code that saved me some money. And I know I'm not the only one who thinks like that. Coupons give you an advantage over other sellers with similar products and can attract new buyers looking for a good deal.

Increase sales. The more customers you get, the more sales you'll get. Each customer is also likely to buy more than the usual amount because of the discount offered.

Increase profits. More sales could bring more profits, even with a discount. Of course, this may not apply to all types of businesses, but if your marginal costs are close to zero and you're sitting on a lot of inventory, you should think about offering a coupon code. It sounds a bit counter intuitive, but let's look at an example. Say you have an item that sells at $20 and on average you get 5 buyers per week. This will give you $100 in sales. If you offer a 20% off discount ($16), you expect to get 8 buyers, which gives you $128.

Gain more repeat customers. Offering a coupon code to customers who've already purchased from you and are pleased with the product can incentivize them to make another purchase.

Help you track your customers. You can customize your coupon codes for different customer groups or discount amounts. Tracking how often buyers have used any of those coupons can help you figure out better who your customers are, which groups to target more, and even come up with a better pricing model for you products.

Coupon codes for a limited time frame create scarcity. Scarcity is good for your business. Seth Godin, founder of Squidoo, has talked a lot on this topic - you can read about it here and here. In short, scarcity creates value. Scarcity creates fashion. People will want something that is available only for a limited amount of time.

If you have an Etsy shop but haven't tried this feature yet, check it out. You can find it under Etsy > Your Account > Coupon Codes. Coupon codes can me made for either free shipping or a percentage discount off the price of an item.

Once you have a coupon code, there are numerous outlets and places where you can promote it for free. Here are a couple of examples:
- word of mouth
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Your shop newsletter
- http://www.etsycoupons.com/
- http://etsysaver.com/

I'd love to hear about your experiences with coupon codes, so please comment below!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I never really celebrated St. Patrick's Day until I moved to the States. Through my travels, I've met so many great Irish people, that this day isn't just another occassion to have a drink, but it always reminds me of them and their wonderful culture.
And with that, I'll leave you with a few green items from my shop :)

   

Martini Olives Earrings

Russian Amazonite Petal Earrings

Peridot and White FWP Earrings

March 14 - Learn About Butterflies Day



Papilio Necklace by pepidesigns

 Did you know that...
...butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature falls below 86 degrees, so they often absorb heat through basking in the sun.
...butterflies can see red, green, and yellow.
...butterflies can taste leaves through their feet on contact, to determine if those leaves are potential places for them to lay eggs and provide food for the caterpillars.
...two butterflies flying together are a symbol of love in Chinese culture.

Pepi's Picks

White Cocktail Dress by aftershowershop

Vintage Maroon High Heels by zwzzy

Purple Haze Smokey Eye makeup by TheCopperBee

White Mother of Pearl Necklace by EmeraldMoonDesign 

In the Kitchen - Sunday Brunch

This weekend I decided to do something different for brunch. In addition to our usual eggs and bacon meal, my boyfriend suggested biscuits and gravy, and since I'd never had it before, I took the challenge. I made everything from scratch and...voila!

Although this might be a very popular breakfast dish in many households, and especially in the South, it was a completely new experience to me, so I wanted to share the recipe :)
Ingredients:
1 package buttermilk biscuit mix (I used Bisquick)
2 Italian sausages - the spicy ones give the gravy a nice kick!
1/2 cup diced white onion
1/2 tsp minced garlic (2 cloves)
3 sprigs chopped parsley
4 tbsp white flour
4 cups milk
salt and pepper to season
Preparation:
In a large skillet, saute the onions and garlic till slightly crispy and add the sausage to brown as well. In the meantime, follow the package directions to get the biscuits started. While they're baking in the oven, mix the milk, pepper, salt and flour in a bowl and whisk. Once the sausage is done, keep whisking the mixture as you pour it into the skillet. Turn the heat up to high and keep stirring the gravy until it starts to bubble. Turn the heat down to medium, add the parsley and continue cooking and stirring until the gravy thickens - it only takes a few minutes. The biscuits should also be ready around the same time.

Bon Appetit!

Doing the Math on a Heartsy Deal

A few days ago, I came across the handmade version of Groupon - Heartsy. Similar to Groupon, Heartsy connects with sellers on Etsy and offers their products at a discount of at least 50% off. While Groupon splits the proceeds of the deal with the retailer, Heartsy’s services are currently free but they are planning on incorporating a transaction fee in the near future as they grow.

After I discovered Heartsy, I was curious what the Etsy community thought about it. I searched through the forums and found many sellers with mixed emotions. Those featured on Heartsy before had only great things to say about it, but others felt that such a huge discount would leave them with nothing while giving their product away for free. Being a math person, it really made me wonder if they were right. This reminded me of an article I read in the New York Times last year about doing the math on Groupon and figuring out whether participating in such deals is good for your business or not. So using a similar model, I decided to do the same for Heartsy.


There are nine key factors that an Etsy seller should consider:
1. Incremental cost of sales - how much does it cost you to make an item to get one additional sale? This doesn't fixed costs. If you are selling vintage, it could be 30%; jewelry might be 50-60%; bath and body products might be 40%.
2. Amount of average sale - will buyers stick to the total amount offered in the coupon, or will they spend more than that?
3. Redemption percentage - the percentage of people buying the coupon and actually using it.
4. Percentage of coupon buyers that are already your customers.
5. Percentage of coupon buyers that will become regulars.
6. What is the advertising value of promoting your business to 500 people - how much do you spend on ads on Facebook or other blogs for example?
7. Cost to acquire a new customer
8. Etsy fees
9. PayPal fees.
[For simplicity purposes, this model assumes that a customer buys only one coupon.]

So now let's go through an example. Suppose you offer $19 for $40 store credit (53% discount) and you sell 40 coupons. Following the list from above, let's say your business numbers are:
1. 50%
2. $45 (buyers spend $5 more dollars than the coupon value)
3. 100%
4. 0%
5. 10%
6. $25
7. $5
8. 3.5%
9. $0.30 plus 2.9%

Coupons redeemed = 40.
Revenue: 40 x $19 = $760
(this will be different if Heartsy starts charging a fee)
Additional revenue: 40 x $5 = $200
Total revenue = $960

Expense: 40 x $45 (average sale amount) x 50% incremental cost = $900
Etsy fees: 40 x $45 x 3.5% = $63
PayPal fees: 40 x ($0.3 + 2.9% x $5 (additional value over coupon)) = $18
Total expense = $981

In this example, the net revenue is -$21, which means it cost you to participate in the deal. However, it's important to look at other contributions to your business - how many new customers will you get? Assuming the return percentage is 10%, you get 40 x 10% = 4 new customers. This costs you roughly $5 per new customer, which is exactly what you were spending anyway (item 7). The overall cost is also similar to your current advertising cost. So now the question is whether it was worth going through this for just 4 new customers. In my opinion, yes, but you can make your own decision.

Of course, the end results could be drastically different if any of these key inputs change. For instance, if the amount of average sale was $50, or $10 over the coupon value, then you'd actually be making $66 in profit and still getting those 4 new customers. In another example, if your incremental costs are only 30%, then you'll be making $339 in profit. And of course, the opposite can happen too - if your costs are 60%, then you'll be paying $200 to participate in this deal.

You can really help or hurt your business, so it's really important to know your customers, your costs, and your limits. In the case of handmade products, it's also good to have a good inventory of items, especially if you're expecting people to go over the coupon value, as well as being able to accommodate a cluster of sales at the same time. But most importantly, make sure you price your items well. Heartsy's current model is similar to wholesale, but there are still sellers (and also due to the unique nature of some handmade products) who find it very difficult to achieve wholesale prices, if at all. If that's the case with your business, then you know the answer.

Now that I've done the math, I'm really curious to hear from sellers who were already featured and actually know what the exact numbers are.

In the beginning...

Welcome to Pepi Designs blog!

I'm starting this blog to keep my family and friends up to date with my handcrafted jewelry and life on a daily basis. I've always been a "numbers" person and writing is not one of my fortes, so hopefully this will also motivate me to write more often and share more of the things that excite me on a daily basis with anyone willing to read. I also hope to introduce you all to the wonderful world of handmade.

Stay tuned for my inane musings.