As the fall turns in to winter, we're creeping up on Thanksgiving and marching towards the Holiday Season. The stores are (and have been) chock full of Christmas decorations and frankly, it's causing me a fair amount of stress. As a one-woman show - what's adorably called a micro business - that means it's up to me to:
a) Go treasure hunting and uncover fabulous goodies. This is my very favorite part of my world! I'm blessed with 30 years of treasure hunting and working in the luxury world.
b) Bringing home said treasures and assessing them; at the very least it's hand washing and drying them in the case of barware or hard surface items. More specifically, when it comes to purses, the initial surface cleaning is just the start of their journey. We'll save *that* for another blog post though. Then I add the items to inventory.
c) Photographing said treasures. Provided it's a nice day out, and I don't have pearl stringings or real life to work on (you know, adulting. Doctors, vets, groceries, all that fun stuff).
d) Editing the photos. No matter how great the natural light is, all photos need edited; straightened, centered, brightened, color corrected, shadows minimized... all that jazz. Then I pick the best 10-14 of each one to post.
e) Research the piece. Even though I can spot quality from across the room, that doesn't mean I know what it is. Or if I do know what it is, I'm infinitely interested in knowing everything about it... The company history, the materials used, the designer behind the piece. Everything. This part probably takes the longest (with the exception of refurbishing a Coach bag); hours of reading, falling down a rabbit hole of information, and SO MANY open tabs. This is my second favorite part of the process, truly.
f) Uploading the photos and writing descriptions. Measuring, weighing, talking about the features, history, and condition, as well as any processes that have been done to the piece. I do wish I could get away with writing less about the items - I know that would speed things up so much - I just can't. Can't not talk about what you're looking at. I need people to understand what it is and feel comfortable thinking about shopping with someone they don't know and buying something they can't touch.
g) Oh yeah. Adding #Freshfindsvm to my Instagram. That can take up the better part of my day. I *know* you're supposed to do it to share your process, your treasures, to engage with your followers, to make Reels to grow your base, all that stuff. I love doing it, but MAN is it time consuming!!
h) Once every 2 months I go over my sales and do the math to donate 15% of my sales to a charity that is near and dear to me; be it the International Rescue Committee (www.IRC.org), We Wield The Hammer (https://www.wewieldthehammer.org) , or my favorite local rescue, Paw Patrol Animal Rescue - where 2 of my 3 rescue dogs have come from; they are the hardest working, most caring group of angels for the South Florida dogs who have been dumped or are lost, and right now they're completely under water with vet bills for these poor souls (https://pawpatrolanimalrescue.com).
So that's what makes me stressed about the Holiday Season zooming towards me. This year though, I'm ready!!
I created a teensy Holiday shop!
I also want to offer my subscribers a thank you coupon for sticking with my erratic schedule of uploading new-to-you goodies that will be valid through the end of 2022. It will have no limits on use, it's just a big thank you for believing in this little micro business and supporting my dream! Stay tuned for your coupons code, subscribers, it's being emailed in a jif...
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