The Junk Show - Long Beach

Forgive me for my late review, I wanted to review this and the Silver Lake Flea Market for the same post. Unfortunately, While on my way to Silver Lake, the traffic was so bad, it wasn't worth the gas to get there. But here are my photos from the Long Beach Junk Show. It was a great location and the "booths" had some good stuff. It wasn't as crowded as the Rose Bowl Flea Market but just as expensive.

It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed some pieces here and there, I would possibly sell here if I had the time, energy and help to do this. Also, not many sellers took credit cards, which was aggravating.

No Shopping Challenge : How did I do?

As you may have read in a previous blog post here I was working on myself and some challenges that I was doing. Paige from Little Nostalgia posted her experience with the No shopping challenge. I will say that I did shop twice. I bought an outfit for a holiday work event and then another for a vacation in the snow and I live in Southern California, thus I own no sweaters. Because I went shopping, I decided to extend the challenge two extra days, so it ended on January 3rd instead.

I did pretty well, however I did do A LOT of online window shopping! I emailed myself links of things I'd like, I used Pinterest a lot too. So what have I purchased so far? A sweater on clearance at Target for $7.00 and the most amazing boots! As you can see below, they are adorable and match my purse quite well. I've been looking for black leather boots for work and I finally found some that weren't too expensive at Macy's. I was willing to spend between $80 - $100 on some if I really liked them, and boy was I surprised when he cashier told me they were half off!!! Seriously, I got some boots for $45.00 total. I feel pretty good about waiting until after Christmas to do some of my shopping. It all seemed to work out and I'm pretty thrilled about it.

Create and Thrive Challenge - January

I was answering the Create and Thrive Challenge on my instagram, but the questions were too involved to answer with a photo a day, so I thought I'd answer them on my blog instead. (the first 12 are on my Instagram).

12. How many new collections/products are you going to release in 2015 – and when?
 I'd like to post at least 1 a month. In January I've added 5.


13. What sales venue will you be focussing on in 2015, and why?
I'm just focusing on Etsy and selling in-person somewhere, though I'm still researching where I'd like to sell.

 
14. How much time can you realistically devote to your business each day/week in 2015?
Most of my time will be during the weekends. About 4-6 hours total a week.

15. When you look at your main product photo compared to other people's similar products, does yours stand out?
They standout, however I'd like to create a better photo studio and background.

16. What's your marketing strategy for 2015?
Blogging at least once a week. Posting a new product once a month.


17. Which single social media are you going to focus on in 2015?
Bloglovin/Blogger.

18. How are you going to track and measure your progress this year?
Sales and posting views.

19. What planning tools are you going to use to keep yourself organised and on-track this year?
 Calendar, notebook and lists.


20. What are you going to start doing in 2015 that you've been putting off?
Researching flea-markets by going to them and checking them out before I apply to sell. 


21. What are you going to stop doing in 2015?
Being so lazy with my photography.

22. Who is going to help you with your business this year, and how?
Maybe some of my friends (a a friend) would be able to help me with set up, but I have yet to ask.

23. What one strategy are you going to use to ensure you're taking care of YOU first this year?
Trying to take time to do nothing after work except blog and not work on my store.

24. When are you going to take a break this year? I'm not sure, I should really think about this, even when I was on vacation I did some Vintage shopping for the store.

25. What do you need to systematize to make things flow more smoothly this year?Post office time, I always underestimate it.

26. How are you going to make your customer service exceptional this year?Giving them up to date information on their purchase through online media and my thank you note.

27. What will your mantra be when the going gets tough?How can this day go right?

28. How are you going to celebrate your achievements/milestones during the year?After the purchase of one item, post another within that week.

29. Who is your crafty business role-model, and why?Well my Vintage business role-model are Dear Golden and Cut and Chic Vintage. Although I don't sell much vintage clothes I do enjoy the way these businesses use social media and photography to create a style that I know and love.

30. If you reach your ultimate goal for your business, how will that change your life?I'd like to sell everything I've had in storage and maybe start again with more financial backing.