The Learning Curve

When the concept for Pass It On Plates first started brewing, I had no inkling that it would turn into such a huge new idea. I also did not know that there would be such a steep learning curve to getting these plates out there. With a product this fresh and new I can't put up a few nice pictures and hope someone will come along and buy one. Thousands of talented people on Etsy and other crafty shopping sites are able simply to do that, some with great success. These plates, however, are a totally new animal to be tamed and trained.

My search for a user-friendly plate diary introduced me to the world of blogging. I'd heard of it but thought it was just for political discussions. Politics bore me, so I had never taken the time to check it out. Turns out blogging is currently my best format for the plate diaries, and it wasn't long before this blog (The Pink One, as I refer to it) was born. (It is pink today. An upcoming mini makeover may change that; we'll see.) Nowdays, I love blogging and reading blogs.

The learning didn't stop with setting up a few blogs, oh no no no... Along with the blogs I've set up an Etsy store, sewed and painted up and glued and packaged an inventory of plates to sell, wrote up some marketing and promotional pieces, and built the main website that ties everything together. Whew, that's a lot of new stuff to learn! I still have business classes to take so I can learn more about what to do with all the paperwork I'm making for myself, but at least Pass It On Plates is officially "off the ground" now.

I've gotta say, though, that most of it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Starting a business and getting it registered was a lot easier than I thought. Ditto for pretty much everything in the above paragraph. If you are reading this and wanting to switch from casual crafting and turn your talent into a full-fledged business, check back here often. I'm going to start sharing some tutorials and tips to help you get your own business "off the ground," too.

As for what's the next step for Pass It On Plates, everything is in place and a big production goal has been met, so it's time to start introducing the world to Pass It On Plates. This means another learning curve: figuring out how to get the word out there.

And getting the plates out there.

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