Growing and Changing

Moving Day It has been longer than we would have liked to update our blog, but so many changes have been taking place the last few months, the largest of which has been relocating from the back bedroom of my home into our own office and workshop within the mill that we have been working with the last year.  It has been a great working relationship, and now that we are on the same property, it makes working that much easier.

Direct Check Out

After we got a bit more settled in to our new place, Etsy came out with their direct check out program.  Customers no longer have to go through PayPal to make their purchases unless they choose to.  We signed up for this direct check out option even though it meant not getting paid until the item shipped.  Once we set up direct check out, within a week or so, our sales nearly tripled!  We were overjoyed as well as overwhelmed.  What was a barely manageable amount of orders with the two of us and one laser, was now becoming unmanageable.  We had to consider other options.

Growing the Business

We chose to invest into another laser to double our production.  We were very lucky to find the the same type of laser we currently use  sitting in a warehouse in Colorado having never been used.  Epilog sent it ASAP and we had it within 3 business days.  It was a blessing that it came when it did because we were drowning in orders for Mother's Day.  We decided to name each laser....

Looking Ahead

Sales have maintained and we are expanding in directions we have wanted to go.  We are very busy and now are looking to take on a part-time worker to help with the boxing and shipping of our items.  We have come to the realization that we are no longer the small home based business we started out as, and it is time to have some help.

All in all, the last two months there have been a lot of changes, all good, but challenging at times.  Each challenge brings opportunity to learn and grow to become the company we want to be become.

Customer Showcase

This holiday season was hugely successful for us.  I can honestly say we were totally unprepared, and have learned the hard lessons to be better prepared next year.  When Cyber Monday came with an abundance of orders, we realized we had more than we could handle to fulfill orders in time for Christmas.  One month out, we could no longer promise Christmas delivery.  That was a hard pill to swallow, but we never want to make promises we can't keep.  We aren't a Best Buy or a Macy's where we can afford to take your order and then send an email two weeks later saying "sorry, can't fulfill your order."  We are small and every promise counts.  We hope those of you that had wanted to order with us, but were unable to because of our Christmas cutoff, will come back for future gift purchases. That being said, we did produce some amazing gifts for people, a lot of which were customers own creations.  I wanted to showcase some of these fun and amazing designs on our blog!  These are just a few, and I will have more to show later.

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Thanks!

Belinda

StylishHome Catalog

One of our cutting boards was selected to be featured in the Stylish Home Catalog which showcases Etsy sellers for home decor aficionados!  Please download their catalog and look through the many great items they offer!

Click here to download their catalog StylishHome Winter Collection Catalog

Thanks!

Perfect Realtor Gifts for Holidays and Closings

We recently completed a job for a Realtor in Austin, Texas.  She ordered 30 - 9 x 12 Hickory Boards.  On the front side (cutting side) we engraved her logo in the lower corner, and on the back side, we did all the boards with our "Alphabet" design, which has the family name (or couple name).  We thought they turned out amazing, and made great gifts for Ashley to give to her clients!

If you, or a Realtor you know are interested in giving our cutting boards as gifts for the holidays or for closings, please contact us at engravemylife@gmail.com.  We do discounts for bulk orders, and once we have your design into our system, we can keep the cost low.

Thanks Ashley Austin Homes and The Creative Cup Marketing!!

International Shipping and Howard's Butcher Block Conditioner.

This last week we were noticed on a Canadian wedding forum, where one of our customers, LulieDecorDesigns, gave us a plug.  We were caught off guard with the response.  We hadn't really done too much research into shipping to Canada or elsewhere.  I had read on some Etsy forums that for most sellers, Canadian buyers make up about 25% of their total sells, so I knew this was a market we needed to tap into, but wasn't quite ready yet.  As they say.....when opportunity calls....  It was a bit of a scramble trying to find out the best way to ship to our Canadian friends.  Unfortunately for us, a lot of our products make shipping internationally financially unviable.  That doesn't mean people don't do it, but I think the overall cost is just too much for most.  Our only reprieve is our small boards, 9 x 12, can fit in a USPS flat rate envelope and ship anywhere around the globe for $15.  When it comes to the large boards, $38 was the lowest we could find.  That $38 price is for up to 3 cutting boards which we can fit in a single flat rate box.  It works for those buying multiples, but maybe not so much for the single board buyer.   Prices have really gone up for international shipping since they got rid of surface mail and made all international shipping air mail.  And for a small business like us, those cost really make it hard to hit that international market. Starting next week we will be offering Howard's Butcher Block Conditioner for sale at a price that is lower than you can find at your local Home Depot and other hardware stores.  This is a product we use and recommend to be used regularly to maintain the boards we sell.  Their product EXCEEDS the FDA's requirements for food safety, so we feel safe in applying it to our boards and recommending it to our customers.  In addition, with the purchase of one of our boards, there is no additional shipping cost.  We feel this is a great product to sell with our cutting boards as it provides the customer with what they need to protect the beautiful wood cutting board without having to go out and find someone who sells it at a much higher mark up.

igoyougoblog

We are giving away a freebie on a lifestyle blog!  All you  have to do to enter is go to the blog and leave and comment under our post ad here, and go to our Facebook page and become a fan of our page.  You will be entered into the contest to win a free 12 x 15 white oak cutting board with one of our 9 design options!!  Pretty great deal!