Sunday, 29 January 2012
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
What is faq?
faq stands for Frequently Asked Questions and is often found on many online stores. It basically lists the most common questions customers and potential customers have asked a particular business. As a business it is great way of providing your customers with enough information about your products/services for them to make a well informed decision on whether they will buy from you or not. It’s also a time saver for both you and your customer.
The most common questions found on and faq page are:
1. What are your delivery fees?
2. Do you deliver to xyz?
3. What form of payment do you accept?
4. How long will my delivery take?
faq pages should be updated and added to regularly to ensure your customers can find the answers they need quick and easily - as a rule we seem to have a lot less patience online and want things asap. Try and provide this for your customers, we do at Rainbow Designs!
The most common questions found on and faq page are:
1. What are your delivery fees?
2. Do you deliver to xyz?
3. What form of payment do you accept?
4. How long will my delivery take?
faq pages should be updated and added to regularly to ensure your customers can find the answers they need quick and easily - as a rule we seem to have a lot less patience online and want things asap. Try and provide this for your customers, we do at Rainbow Designs!
Friday, 26 August 2011
Quiet Week at Rainbow Designs HQ
Warning! This post may (does) contain ramblings of a struggling (whiney) small business owner! (but it ends well)
Wow, what a quiet ol’ week it’s been so far, especially considering Father’s Day is just around the corner (Sunday September 5). It has meant that I have been able to do a bit of tidying up and reorganising but there is only so much of that you can do everyday! I’ve even caught up on my filing, goodness it MUST be quiet!
Last week* I added some new gifts to the range to include some yummy gifts suitable for people with special dietry needs plus the week before I included a new Peppermint gift box but unfortunately, so far, they are proving to be a very underwhelmingly popular (insert ‘fail whale’ picture here). Which has given me time to think (and eat!), what’s going on? Am I targetting the wrong people? Do people want to buy gifts full of lollies and chocolates? Is this the slow demise of Rainbow Designs? I told you I had time to think!
I’m not giving up though, I do believe people still LOVE lollies and LOVE chocolates (I know my family and I certainly do) and even if we are being more ‘health conscious’ it certainly doesn’t mean we have to give up the not so healthy foods. Lollies make people happy, chocolate makes you smile and they’re great to share (or hide!).
So, what’s going on? Why aren’t people sending more Big Lolly Boxes and Mini Multi Mixes? Who wouldn’t love to receive a ‘I love you more than chocolate‘ teddybear with a box of chocolates? When you’re feeling a bit down or had a slight mishap what better way than to add a bit of sunshine to your day than a bunny slipper wearing teddybear and his half kilo box of lollies!
Facebook is a great way to interact with our customers and has helped us spread the Rainbow Designs lolly love but I don’t think I’m making the most of it. Our ‘liker’ numbers has stalled, just can’t seem to get passed the 1064/65 mark - what do they want, what do they expect. These are things I’ve been thinking about, what can I do to engage people more plus get them to buy. hmmmmm
I send out a newsletter each month but I know I’m underutilising this also. another, hmmmmmm
Something I don’t want to do is exand our range too much. I want to keep it to the basics of boxes of lollies and boxes of chocolates. Nothing too expensive. I have deliberately keep our gifts a low/lowish prices because that’s what I look for. I want to be able to send presents to people but don’t really want to have to spend $70, $80, $90, $150 Sure you’ll have extra special occasions (or people) that you don’t mind spending a lot on but not for everyone, all the time. I believe the prices I’ve set for our gifts are very reasonable and make it so much easier (and affordable) to give more often. Shipping is pretty much the biggest expense so it can limit how low we can make a gifts, with shipping starting at around $11 it is very hard to price gifts lower than $25 without losing money (especially if we have to redeliver parcels due to incorrect delivery addresses or people being discharged from hospital early! There’s another $11). Plus everything just keeps going up!
Wish you ran your own business now Don’t get me wrong, I do love it and would hate to have to go back to being an employee but, at times, I think it would be easier and less stressful to go and work for someone else. At least then I knew I would get paid each week!
So I guess all I can do is use this quiet time to work ON my business and improve my business and maybe eat some chocolate!
I also want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has ever order from me, without you Rainbow Designs would not be here, in cyber space (and Port Macquarie) and I wouldn’t be running my own yummy business.
* To be fair, it hasn’t all been doom and gloom here, we did complete a huge order last week It just doesn’t happen all the time!
Wow, what a quiet ol’ week it’s been so far, especially considering Father’s Day is just around the corner (Sunday September 5). It has meant that I have been able to do a bit of tidying up and reorganising but there is only so much of that you can do everyday! I’ve even caught up on my filing, goodness it MUST be quiet!
Last week* I added some new gifts to the range to include some yummy gifts suitable for people with special dietry needs plus the week before I included a new Peppermint gift box but unfortunately, so far, they are proving to be a very underwhelmingly popular (insert ‘fail whale’ picture here). Which has given me time to think (and eat!), what’s going on? Am I targetting the wrong people? Do people want to buy gifts full of lollies and chocolates? Is this the slow demise of Rainbow Designs? I told you I had time to think!
I’m not giving up though, I do believe people still LOVE lollies and LOVE chocolates (I know my family and I certainly do) and even if we are being more ‘health conscious’ it certainly doesn’t mean we have to give up the not so healthy foods. Lollies make people happy, chocolate makes you smile and they’re great to share (or hide!).
So, what’s going on? Why aren’t people sending more Big Lolly Boxes and Mini Multi Mixes? Who wouldn’t love to receive a ‘I love you more than chocolate‘ teddybear with a box of chocolates? When you’re feeling a bit down or had a slight mishap what better way than to add a bit of sunshine to your day than a bunny slipper wearing teddybear and his half kilo box of lollies!
Facebook is a great way to interact with our customers and has helped us spread the Rainbow Designs lolly love but I don’t think I’m making the most of it. Our ‘liker’ numbers has stalled, just can’t seem to get passed the 1064/65 mark - what do they want, what do they expect. These are things I’ve been thinking about, what can I do to engage people more plus get them to buy. hmmmmm
I send out a newsletter each month but I know I’m underutilising this also. another, hmmmmmm
Something I don’t want to do is exand our range too much. I want to keep it to the basics of boxes of lollies and boxes of chocolates. Nothing too expensive. I have deliberately keep our gifts a low/lowish prices because that’s what I look for. I want to be able to send presents to people but don’t really want to have to spend $70, $80, $90, $150 Sure you’ll have extra special occasions (or people) that you don’t mind spending a lot on but not for everyone, all the time. I believe the prices I’ve set for our gifts are very reasonable and make it so much easier (and affordable) to give more often. Shipping is pretty much the biggest expense so it can limit how low we can make a gifts, with shipping starting at around $11 it is very hard to price gifts lower than $25 without losing money (especially if we have to redeliver parcels due to incorrect delivery addresses or people being discharged from hospital early! There’s another $11). Plus everything just keeps going up!
Wish you ran your own business now Don’t get me wrong, I do love it and would hate to have to go back to being an employee but, at times, I think it would be easier and less stressful to go and work for someone else. At least then I knew I would get paid each week!
So I guess all I can do is use this quiet time to work ON my business and improve my business and maybe eat some chocolate!
I also want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has ever order from me, without you Rainbow Designs would not be here, in cyber space (and Port Macquarie) and I wouldn’t be running my own yummy business.
* To be fair, it hasn’t all been doom and gloom here, we did complete a huge order last week It just doesn’t happen all the time!
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Tough Day, week actually!
It’s been one of those weeks and I’m a little bit over it, sigh. Thankfully todays orders are done and with the courier. I’m going to do some filing (long overdue!) and make up a few more packing boxes. Be still my beating heart!
I’m trying not to let things get me down but it oh so hard. One of my main bug bears (or is it bares?) at the moment is people not reading our Delivery Information page. It’s not hard. It’s set out easy enough (isn’t it?) to understand. We even have it during our checkout page but so many people just don’t read it. Why is that? Especially if you are expecting something delivered superhumanly quick (like that same day, in WA?). I know some companies can deliver same day but they state that. We can’t so we state that.
Anyway, enough whinging it’s not helping my headache.
I think I might put some music on while I do the filing. Music often soothes the mind (1st up is PokerFace - Lady Gaga)
For those interested here is our Delivery Information page
ps: I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter!
pps: How do you wake Lady GaGa up in the morning?
I’m trying not to let things get me down but it oh so hard. One of my main bug bears (or is it bares?) at the moment is people not reading our Delivery Information page. It’s not hard. It’s set out easy enough (isn’t it?) to understand. We even have it during our checkout page but so many people just don’t read it. Why is that? Especially if you are expecting something delivered superhumanly quick (like that same day, in WA?). I know some companies can deliver same day but they state that. We can’t so we state that.
Anyway, enough whinging it’s not helping my headache.
I think I might put some music on while I do the filing. Music often soothes the mind (1st up is PokerFace - Lady Gaga)
For those interested here is our Delivery Information page
ps: I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter!
pps: How do you wake Lady GaGa up in the morning?
Monday, 29 November 2010
I Like Myself
We all go through days, even weeks, of not liking ourselves, not liking what we do, what we’ve done, how we did it, who we are, we compare ourselves with others (and never stack up), we don’t feel good enough or worthy enough, our self belief can take a battering and it’s so often from ourselves, we just become too critical and any small thing can set us on a downward sprial - we’re just too darn hard on ourselves!
So here are seven fabulous ways to help ‘like yourself’ all over again:
1. Don’t compare yourself with other people. You were designed to be yourself and nobody else. There is no “normal.” There is no “average.” If you rate yourself by other people’s standards, opinions and abilities you will always come up short. You are at your best when you are comfortable being yourself.
2. Stay in line with your conscience and your own moral standards. It is almost impossible to like yourself when you feel guilty. Guilt comes from doing things you personally believe to be wrong. So get in touch with your own values, and live by them.
3. Forgive yourself. When you have broken your own principles, forgive yourself completely. You’re human. You make mistakes.
4. Separate personal worth from performance. You are not your work. As Wayne Dyer said, “If you are what you do, then when you don’t, you aren’t.” So build your self-worth on your infinite value as a magnificently designed, intricately crafted, human person. Your ultimate value comes from being human. And you are a human being, not a “human-doing.”
5. Accept compliments from other people. Don’t say, “Well, it was really nothing.” Instead say, “Thank you very much.” Receive compliments and allow them to build you up. Savor them.
6. Give yourself compliments. Mark Twain said, “When I can’t get a compliment from anyone else, I pay one to myself.”
7. Use this affirmation: “I like myself.” Say it with feeling. Say it in your mind throughout the day. Say it out loud when you are alone. Say it 10,000 times over the next year. Soon you will fully feel it.
from: SellingPower.com
So here are seven fabulous ways to help ‘like yourself’ all over again:
1. Don’t compare yourself with other people. You were designed to be yourself and nobody else. There is no “normal.” There is no “average.” If you rate yourself by other people’s standards, opinions and abilities you will always come up short. You are at your best when you are comfortable being yourself.
2. Stay in line with your conscience and your own moral standards. It is almost impossible to like yourself when you feel guilty. Guilt comes from doing things you personally believe to be wrong. So get in touch with your own values, and live by them.
3. Forgive yourself. When you have broken your own principles, forgive yourself completely. You’re human. You make mistakes.
4. Separate personal worth from performance. You are not your work. As Wayne Dyer said, “If you are what you do, then when you don’t, you aren’t.” So build your self-worth on your infinite value as a magnificently designed, intricately crafted, human person. Your ultimate value comes from being human. And you are a human being, not a “human-doing.”
5. Accept compliments from other people. Don’t say, “Well, it was really nothing.” Instead say, “Thank you very much.” Receive compliments and allow them to build you up. Savor them.
6. Give yourself compliments. Mark Twain said, “When I can’t get a compliment from anyone else, I pay one to myself.”
7. Use this affirmation: “I like myself.” Say it with feeling. Say it in your mind throughout the day. Say it out loud when you are alone. Say it 10,000 times over the next year. Soon you will fully feel it.
from: SellingPower.com
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
A Typical Day!
If there is such a thing!
1. start up the computer and printer
2. turn on the kettle (have to start the day with a coffee!)
3. once orders have finished printing, sort them, confirm payment has been received, write out gift tags (yes we hand write each one) then update order status online (got to keep the customer informed on the progress of their order)
4. make a list of gifts needed so far for the day, groan when you realise you’re out of Snakes so need to make a mad dash to the supplier (luckily they’re not too far away)
5. go through emails, reply to urgent ones (aren’t they all) - highlight ones that can be answered later
6. see what bills need paying today, pay said bills
7. make another cup of coffee
8. deliveries arrive, unpack, check everything is there (ring supplier/courier and chase up missing carton)
9. do orders up plus process new orders
10. check emails again, reply, file, delete etc
11. box and satchel orders
12. update customers order status
13. enter orders into myob then file (or put back in bottom tray for filing later!)
14. make daily trip to Post Office
15. answer final emails
In between this we also, answer the phone, place orders, check advertising, put together newsletters, write blog posts, chasing up delayed customer deliveries, explain to 5 different people that we do not wish to advertise with them, use their Google Adwords program (no we DO NOT wish to be on the front page of Google for a cost of $5/click - anyone can do that!), donate 10 of our gifts to a worthy cause, buy their compatible ink cartridges or look after their $50,000,000 for them!
Yes, anyone can run a business but that doesn’t mean it’ll be successful, you’ll enjoy it, you’ll have customers (happy ones even) or that you can just sit in front of your computer and watch the money roll in! Owning and running a business is rewarding but also very demanding, don’t make flippant comments about ‘being able to watch Oprah, go to the beach everyday, sleep in, go to bed early, go shopping everyday, go on holidays whenever…..) it may look easy but looks can be decieving, money and customers don’t grow on trees!
Rainbow Designs - stressful oneday, perfect the next
1. start up the computer and printer
2. turn on the kettle (have to start the day with a coffee!)
3. once orders have finished printing, sort them, confirm payment has been received, write out gift tags (yes we hand write each one) then update order status online (got to keep the customer informed on the progress of their order)
4. make a list of gifts needed so far for the day, groan when you realise you’re out of Snakes so need to make a mad dash to the supplier (luckily they’re not too far away)
5. go through emails, reply to urgent ones (aren’t they all) - highlight ones that can be answered later
6. see what bills need paying today, pay said bills
7. make another cup of coffee
8. deliveries arrive, unpack, check everything is there (ring supplier/courier and chase up missing carton)
9. do orders up plus process new orders
10. check emails again, reply, file, delete etc
11. box and satchel orders
12. update customers order status
13. enter orders into myob then file (or put back in bottom tray for filing later!)
14. make daily trip to Post Office
15. answer final emails
In between this we also, answer the phone, place orders, check advertising, put together newsletters, write blog posts, chasing up delayed customer deliveries, explain to 5 different people that we do not wish to advertise with them, use their Google Adwords program (no we DO NOT wish to be on the front page of Google for a cost of $5/click - anyone can do that!), donate 10 of our gifts to a worthy cause, buy their compatible ink cartridges or look after their $50,000,000 for them!
Yes, anyone can run a business but that doesn’t mean it’ll be successful, you’ll enjoy it, you’ll have customers (happy ones even) or that you can just sit in front of your computer and watch the money roll in! Owning and running a business is rewarding but also very demanding, don’t make flippant comments about ‘being able to watch Oprah, go to the beach everyday, sleep in, go to bed early, go shopping everyday, go on holidays whenever…..) it may look easy but looks can be decieving, money and customers don’t grow on trees!
Rainbow Designs - stressful oneday, perfect the next
Sunday, 9 November 2008
What! You don't know how much you're making?
Have you calculated everything that it costs you to run your business? Not the cost of products or postage or packaging but the actual cost of being in business. Do you know what your monthly spend is to keep you business doors open? How about how many products you need to sell each week just to break even? If you don’t know this how do you keep your head above water?
It might be easy to look at the sales figurs each day/week/month and think ‘woohoo - look at all those sales!’ but did they make you any money?
We’ve being going over our accounts this month to find out exactly where Rainbow Designs is at and I tell you it was quite an eye opener! (Good and Bad) We are certainly growing and increasing our monthly orders but so are all our expenses, everything is going up from petrol and delivery costs to ink cartridges and cardboard boxes but we haven’t had a price increase since we open our doors in 2004!
This made me think ‘how can we possibly be making a profit’? So the only way to do this is to sit down and go through all the comings and goings of the business. How much does it actually cost for each gift, not just the physical items in the gift but the generally everyday costs that need to be met to keep the business running. There is so much I have to admit that I missed plus I don’t factor in my time running the business and simply ‘doing’ the orders.
Running your own business is rewarding but it is very hard contrary to what some people like to tell me! You NEED to know what products are worth selling and what aren’t, what profit each one makes but also look at the time it takes you to do each gift - are they still worth doing?
Advertising, marketing & promotion plus all the other bits and pieces that are part of your costs must be calculated into each product you sell to get a true reflection of how profitable they actually are.
Some of the things you need to take into account when working out the running cost of your business:
* electricity
* ink cartridges/copy paper
* telephone/mobile phone
* bank fees/merchant fees/eftpos fees/paypal fees/credit card and cheque fees
* internet/computer/laptop
* website hosting/domain name(s)
* newsletter program
* business insurance
So do you know what your business is actually making (or losing!).
Something else to think about: You can earn 8% on your money just by it being in a savings account, sitting there doing nothing. So work out your margins, how much higher than 8% is it and how hard have you had to work to get those margins? Makes you think doesn’t it!
It might be easy to look at the sales figurs each day/week/month and think ‘woohoo - look at all those sales!’ but did they make you any money?
We’ve being going over our accounts this month to find out exactly where Rainbow Designs is at and I tell you it was quite an eye opener! (Good and Bad) We are certainly growing and increasing our monthly orders but so are all our expenses, everything is going up from petrol and delivery costs to ink cartridges and cardboard boxes but we haven’t had a price increase since we open our doors in 2004!
This made me think ‘how can we possibly be making a profit’? So the only way to do this is to sit down and go through all the comings and goings of the business. How much does it actually cost for each gift, not just the physical items in the gift but the generally everyday costs that need to be met to keep the business running. There is so much I have to admit that I missed plus I don’t factor in my time running the business and simply ‘doing’ the orders.
Running your own business is rewarding but it is very hard contrary to what some people like to tell me! You NEED to know what products are worth selling and what aren’t, what profit each one makes but also look at the time it takes you to do each gift - are they still worth doing?
Advertising, marketing & promotion plus all the other bits and pieces that are part of your costs must be calculated into each product you sell to get a true reflection of how profitable they actually are.
Some of the things you need to take into account when working out the running cost of your business:
* electricity
* ink cartridges/copy paper
* telephone/mobile phone
* bank fees/merchant fees/eftpos fees/paypal fees/credit card and cheque fees
* internet/computer/laptop
* website hosting/domain name(s)
* newsletter program
* business insurance
So do you know what your business is actually making (or losing!).
Something else to think about: You can earn 8% on your money just by it being in a savings account, sitting there doing nothing. So work out your margins, how much higher than 8% is it and how hard have you had to work to get those margins? Makes you think doesn’t it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)