Paintguru

8 hours ago, Quentin said:

In fact, I'll wait till the morning and see what natural daylight does for it, but I'm going to take one now using the light in this room.

If you focus on the flame, the rest of the image will be very dark without added lighting, so the daylight should help.  

I think I've tried them all.  Most were reasonable once I found the right size, and likely would have been fine.  I actually liked the Ecos, but from my reading online, it appears that many 4630 folks prefer zinc core, so I went with that.  If you prefer a particular series, grab a sample pack and just run a few tests on different sizes.  

I've gone to zinc core with 4630.  I'm using 44-32-18 for containers around that size.

9 hours ago, Quentin said:

How do you take a picture of a burning candle with all that glare? I'm guessing you use some sort of filter over the lens?

Either meter off the flame or manually increase your shutter speed.  You may need to post process the image a bit.  

This place looks interesting for a free, no fees online business account:

www.azlo.com

39 minutes ago, GailC said:

 

Two of my best selling candles are Lemon Pound Cake and Spiced Apples & Peaches from FB.  

Do you do Apples/Peaches year round or just in the fall/holidays?  I'm not sure which way to go on it.  

Right, and it isn't like you're taking out a loan...you're just opening a checking account and putting YOUR money into it.  

I hate the bank thing.  They like charging all sorts of fees for business accounts.  Right now I don't have one, but that may change, especially if I can find a free one online.  I did the LLC, but in Michigan it is easy ($25-50/year, simply file online).  I need to do the HSCG thing yet, and did apply for my sales tax info, which is taking longer than I thought it would.    

Just got the order.  Some interesting OOB smells.  I particularly like the Lemon Pound Cake, Mulberry, November Rain, Spiced Apple/Peaches, and Lavender Sage.  We'll see how everything performs in wax. 

I will say the Smores reminds me of Hot Cocoa from NG.  I smelled both next to each other and I'd say the Hot Cocoa is a bit more cocoa-y.  I don't get much toasted marshmallow from the FB Smores.  

Ugh, I kinda want this as my larger size container, but I'm planning to put a round logo label on the lid of my candles, and I'm not sure how that will look on a hammered top.  Hmmmm.

58 minutes ago, Forrest said:

Aztec Blackberry Sage is a must have FO. Their Rosemary Pepper is great for Lavender blends, but just use a little.

Is Aztec good for herbals?  That is a zone I seem to have trouble finding good FOs for, but it sounds like from the two you listed that Aztec may be a good option.

2 hours ago, Sunday said:

I don't see a problem hahahaha ....have you tried any of them before Paintguru or are they all new to you?

All new and just 1 oz sample sizes.  Just what I needed was another FO supplier though!  Trying to narrow down my final candle lineup with a good selection of diverse choices, and it looks like plenty of folks here like them, so I figured I'd give them a shot.  

Just ordered these with their sale.  Clearly I have a problem!! 

Cinnamon Broom Fragrance
Cucumber Melon Fragrance
Lemon Pound Cake Fragrance
Mulberry Fragrance
Mulled Cider Fragrance
Spiced Apple and Peaches Fragrance
PEACE FRAGRANCE
Vanilla Ice Cream Fragrance
Iced Cranberry Type Fragrance
November Rain Type Fragrance
Pumpkin Pecan Waffles Type Fragrance
Gaia MW Type Fragrance
Sea Witch MW Type Fragrance
Lavender Sage MW Type Fragrance
Fall Festival MW Fragrance
Bergamot Tobacco MW Type Fragrance
Goddess MW Type Fragrance
Spring Meadow by BBW Type Fragrance
This Old House Type Fragrance
EXONERATED FRAGRANCE
BLONDE MOMENT Fragrance
Smores Type Fragrance

What does everyone use for padding within the shipment?  Peanuts?  Brown craft paper?  

Even worst case, these are still nice, large advertisements that aren't as easily lost as standard sized business cards and cost almost the same.  

1 minute ago, TallTayl said:

What is interesting about that, @MilosCandles, is they will keep a post card with info on it for a very long time. I would be inclined to print my online order packing list on the back to ensure it gets filed away and kept on hand for at least the current tax year.

 

 

That's an interesting idea.  So the front is logo/image with contact/website/social media info and the back is the packing list for each order.  Plus it would help them remember which scents they ordered from you in the past.  Plus plus, 4x6 printing is in theory easy to do in Word.  I like it.  

And there is @MilosCandles with a unique and clever way to do things!!  Thanks; great ideas!

Maybe I skip the phone number and address and do the social media stuff.  I guess it depends if it is meant so customers can contact the person or just find and order and follow the shop itself.  

Nice!   Crap I forgot my twitter, FB, and Instagram!  

Here's what I've come up with thus far:

Front:  

Back:  

Anyone have any examples of their business cards?  Just curious if people do standard formatting (Company name, your name, URL, email, etc.) or something different?  Thinking of going with a circular one for uniqueness, even though they are a bit pricey.  

6 minutes ago, Quentin said:

I think the "Square account and going with their free web store to start (along with Etsy/FB)"  is a good, sound plan. I wish I had started out smaller instead of the way I did. Now, I'm feeling overwhelmed to the point of inaction.  I jumped right in without giving it much thought. Unfortunately, that just seems to be my nature.  To say that I have a limited knowledge of things internet and e-commerce would be a gross understatement and would be a much more generous thing to say about me than I deserve. After reading what you, @Paintguru , have posted over the last few weeks I sense a caution on your part that I wish I had. 

Ha, well I did have a Wix account for a year that I never did anything with, so I totally get the overwhelmed into inaction point.  Plus, with the cost of insurance what it is, I need to prioritize where my investment goes at the start.  And don't get me started about bad football teams, I went to U of Illinois...I'd just be happy with a good basketball team!  

1 hour ago, birdcharm said:

If you're selling on etsy and you want to use a website to draw people to your etsy shop, then you could create a very simple site using a template or creating your own html/css.  You could also use Paypal payment buttons for any items shown on the site if you don't want to get fancy.  The traffic generated on a simple page may not be so great though with only a page or two, however, as the search engines seem to prefer content.  I could be wrong, but I think websites that are mostly shopping carts may not get picked up as much by the search engines as pages that have regular pages, articles, etc. with lots of keywords and content.

Right, or do you just have a URL that points to your Etsy store and call it a day?  I assume the main point of having your own site is to save on the listing fees that Etsy charges, and of course, the ability of someone to stumble across you via "Googling".  Perhaps it depends if one plans to generate business locally via craft fairs, farmers markets, etc., where customers can reorder via the website, or if one plans to simply run online and generate customers from Etsy/Amazon.    

11 hours ago, TallTayl said:

FWIW, I’ve never once been asked if I have a Square store.  I am asked regularly if I’m on etsy. People know and trust etsy. 

 

Mot sure what Square does to promote its sellers, if anything.

 

given the choice between Shopify and big commerce I would choose the latter only based on what I’ve kicked the tires on for the last several days. Why pay the same for fewer features? 

 

 

The Square store replaces the Shopify/BC part of things, not Etsy.  It is a very basic one page store, which for candles, may not be bad.  It is free, but again, has very limited features compared to Shopify/BC.  Decisions decision!

8 hours ago, TallTayl said:

Totally get it.  I wanted "free" at first in exchange for the IT knowledge I already had.  In the end, I'm convinced it harmed my online sales. A crappy web site does not help instill confidence in my customers...

 

Do check out how easy shopify is to work with.  Point click, drag drop. super user friendly.

 

The USPS and credit card discounts also help defray the monthly costs.

So you'd still go Shopify vs. Bigcommerce for newer folks?  

8 hours ago, Quentin said:

I feel your pain. However, the "inexpensive side" may not get you any business at all. It's possible it may never get noticed at all by the consumer. Therefore, you might end up spending more in the long run. Let me say though that Milos's approach of starting with a Facebook page then adding Etsy and linking the two together is good sound advice. I would add my own suggestion to get signed up with Square, buy their card scanner that plugs into your cell phone. That way you have a method of taking payments at remote locations such as shows, flea markets, etc. They only charge you when you take a payment, but paying them something is better than losing any sale.

Yeah, I have a Square account and was thinking of going with their free web store to start (along with Etsy/FB).  I guess it depends what your future customers expect.