November 11, 2024 • 25 mins
In this episode, we explore the enchanting yet complex world of fiber advent calendars. These holiday treasures bring joy and nostalgia to makers, but they also pose challenges for small fiber businesses creating them. We discuss the potential for overconsumption among buyers and the heavy production burden on sellers, all while asking: Is the excitement worth the cost? I share insights on finding balance, sustainability, and profitability, plus some creative ideas for advent calendars that prioritize purpose over trend. If you’re ready to rethink the holiday craze, tune in for some valuable perspective.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome back, or welcome for the first
time.
I am so happy that you havedecided to spend your time with
me today.
The dragon that is the fiberadvent calendar is it magical or
is it a monster, or perhapsboth.
There's a lot of adventcalendar stuff going on.
(00:23):
Whether you are in fiber craftsor not, it's everywhere.
And today I want to kind of mixand match the perspective from
the maker and the perspectivefrom the seller of said
calendars.
Of course you already have alittle vague feeling of where
(00:46):
I'm going to go with this, butbear with me, you never know, I
might surprise you.
So I've been working with acouple of different fiber
businesses over the last fewyears Shops, dyers, designers.
Last few years, shops, dyers,designers, different kinds of
people in the fiber craftbusiness.
(01:08):
And in the way that we worktogether is that at one point
they took my course and theYeovil Business Circle course or
program it's program coursepotato, potato and after that
they landed in the businessmembership and what that means
(01:30):
is that every month we'll gettogether and we'll have a wins
and woes session.
We talk about the things thatwent well, the things that
aren't going so well, and wetalk to each other and learn
from each other and shareexperiences that we can all
(01:51):
learn from.
And I have different roles inthat.
In a way, I am a mentor, I'malso a coach and I'm also really
standing on the side andletting the conversation happen
and kind of steering it in somedirections in order to get some
real insights from theseconversations.
So the advent calendar has comeup so many times because for
(02:18):
you as a maker, it might justrevolve around the moment that
you buy it and the surprisingmoment that you get it months
later.
But for a lot of makers, let'sjust focus on yarn dyers or
fiber dyers.
At this point I'm going tofocus on that, but I'm well
(02:40):
aware that there are other waysthat we can do Advent calendars,
but I'll just focus on the yarndyers for now and so talking to
them over the years.
They are working on this.
Some of them, almost, areworking on this for a whole year
(03:03):
.
It's a lot of planning, it's alot of work, there's a lot of
things going on behind thescenes and as a business mentor,
slash coach, I have opinions.
Yes, I do.
As a crafter, I also haveopinions because, oh my gosh, it
(03:26):
is so fun to open packagesevery day or every week leading
up to Christmas and it's soexciting and it takes you back
to the feeling of being a smallchild and that Christmassy
feeling and the birthday kind offeeling that is so hard to get
(03:47):
when you're an adult.
It's really hard to get thatkind of feeling.
The Advent Calendar will getyou that kind of vibe.
So I've done a little bit ofresearch around it, but I'm
mostly speaking from theexperience of talking to these
business owners and how theyhave experienced working on
(04:12):
Advent calendars and sellingthem.
So there's a bunch of thingsgoing on right.
So let's focus on the makerfirst.
Let's focus on the maker first.
The sales points where you canstart buying a calendar are so
(04:32):
early on in the year that yourmind is not even at Christmas
yet.
But because the business ownersneed time to prepare, to dye
all the yarns or fibers and packthem and do all the marketing
around it and everything.
That's why it's so early on inthe year.
(04:54):
So there's this moment usuallyin summer, but sometimes it's as
early as spring where youalready have to decide.
Do I want to invest in this, inthis magical thing that I have
to wait on for months to come.
And I say invest, because theyare not cheap.
(05:18):
So there's that.
Now let's say that you enjoythat kind of thing so much, you
have the budget, you want tosupport these makers, the dyers,
and you are all in.
This is your thing, and you'reso excited or perhaps you are
excited at the moment when youbuy it then you forget about it
(05:40):
and then you get that that rushof excitement again once it's
time and once they start sendingit.
Now, sometimes you even theyeven send the calendars quite
early.
That's another thing to keep inmind, like, do you want to sit
on it and wait until it'sDecember or do you want to
(06:05):
receive it at the last moment?
And then that is kind of a riskfor the dyer again.
Okay.
But focusing now on makers, onthose people that buy an advent
calendar.
The fun of it is definitelyvery, very important, the joy,
(06:28):
everything I just told you about, everything I was just saying.
But there's another part of it.
There's another side to it,because there's a little bit or
perhaps a lot of overconsumptionumption going on.
You buy an advent calendar forthe fun, for the joy of it.
(06:51):
Hardly ever because you quoteunquote need it.
Now we can say this for thewhole of our hobby like, how
much do we actually need thestuff we buy for our hobbies?
Actually need the stuff we buyfor our hobbies.
So that's a whole thing initself, and last episode I was a
(07:11):
little bit so boxy on thattopic, so I'll keep quiet on
that for now.
But even if you're not focusingon making what you need so much,
the overconsumption part of itis the fact that you'll get
small amounts of different kindsof yarn or fiber and sometimes
(07:37):
you'll get a pattern that goeswith it and you're excited about
the pattern.
Sometimes you don't know whatthe pattern is and it's just all
a big surprise.
Sometimes the little packages,what's inside, are matching and
they build on top of each otherinto something that is a
coherent amount of fiber,coherent in the way of how how
(08:05):
should I say?
Vibe, color, style, um, fiberitself, fiber matter, um.
Of course it can be that, butsometimes you don't know.
So there's a choice you canmake there.
If you don't know what it'll be, if it's completely a surprise
and it's going to be, you don'tknow if it's matched or not then
(08:31):
you'll have all these differentkinds, small amounts of fiber
in your stash?
And if you don't get a patternto go with that?
And even if you do, are yougoing to be making that?
Or is it just about the joy ofwrapping, unwrapping the
(08:52):
packages and seeing what's inthere?
Now there's something else aboutthis that I truly enjoy and is
definitely on the positive sideof all of this.
If you think about an adventcalendar as a way of using
(09:14):
different materials to learn andto evolve in your craft for
example, if you have spinningfibers, you can use them to
learn different techniques.
If it's yarn, you can learndifferent stitches you can give
(09:34):
yourself an extra level offunctionality or consciousness
when you get a calendar, so youcan use it as a learning journey
in a way.
So there's definitely a lot ofpositive things about it.
And then, of course, there'sthat consumption fiber waste.
(09:58):
Are you going to put that inyour stash and how do you feel
about that?
Because if you feel great aboutthat, that's fine.
Of course it's fine, but ifyou've listened to me before,
you know that I'm all about.
Do you, but think about whatyou do and think about if it
(10:19):
matches your values and all ofthat.
So now going over to the otherside.
If you're listening, you'remost probably somebody that
either wants to start a business, already has a business or is
super interested in what happenson the other side.
And deciding to make an adventcalendar for your customers is a
(10:46):
huge thing because it's so muchwork and there's so many
decisions to make and there'ssuch a there's kind of pressure.
There's pressure from the otherbusinesses in the field that
are doing the same thing and aredoing it in ways that look so
(11:07):
professional and so beautifulthat it's just a huge thing.
But even if you've done it foryears and you grew into it
because it's kind of a trend andit's still growing every year,
it's bigger and there's more,bigger and there's more and if
(11:32):
you've done it for a couple ofyears, I'm wondering how that is
going and what is it askingfrom you as a business owner and
what is it giving?
So what I hear a lot is the ideathat being part of this is it's
connected to FOMO, like if Idon't have an ad fund calendar,
I'm missing out on theopportunity.
(11:54):
The others are doing it.
So then so should I, and Idon't think that is true.
I think we have to be realisticand look at your numbers.
Are you looking at your numbers?
Are you actually making moneywith them?
If you look at the cost of theproducts, of the materials, the
(12:18):
hours that you are working onthis, if you look at all of that
and be honest, is it profitable?
And if it is, is it in a waybalanced in profitability
compared to other things you cando in your business to grow
your business?
And that could be anything LikeI can give examples, but like I
(12:41):
don't know building a newwebsite or starting workshops or
whatever.
Just looking at the wholepicture of this, because all the
time that you spend makingthese Advent calendars is time
that you could also spend onsomething else that might be
(13:02):
more profitable.
And let me just remind you onceagain that if this is a business
, it's not a hobby, and you'rein it for the money.
Even though it feels awkward,that's what you're doing.
If you run a business, you'rein it for the money.
Otherwise, it's just a hobby.
I need to remind people of this.
So sometimes I'll just throw itin there.
(13:22):
So okay, we're looking at that.
Throw it in there.
So okay, we're looking at that.
And then people go and they saywhat about the exposure?
Isn't it true that if you dothis, if you are into the advent
calendar thing, that you get somuch exposure and I would argue
(13:43):
no, not really, because you canpost about it when you start
selling it and sell it, and thatis the moment where you should
get most of your exposure.
But what a lot of dyers arethinking about is the fact that
(14:05):
once people get their calendars,they'll open it and take
pictures and they'll show it onInstagram and other socials and
then other people will see it.
That's true, absolutely true.
It'll be so fun to look at allof that, but that's not the time
that people are buying.
(14:26):
So that is just fleetingexposure that is not bringing in
sales, and you are effectivelyasking people to remember last
year's calendar when you startselling it again.
So there's something to thinkabout.
(14:46):
Could you do something withthat?
Once people are sharing, canyou collect emails from people
that might be interested in away for the next one?
But remember that at thatmoment, those moments of
exposure will not translate intosales, except perhaps if you do
(15:09):
something with your existingoffers.
So, let's say, if you have miniskeins of yarns that you sell
now and people are showing themoff from the advent calendar.
Perhaps what you could do isshare a cute picture or a pretty
picture that somebody shared oftheir mini and then use it in a
(15:33):
way to sell your full skins,something like that.
But be conscious about that.
That's really important, Ithink, if you want to be part of
the solution in offeringmaterials for people so that
they can make their own clothesand accessories instead of
(15:54):
buying fast fashion.
It's also important to go backto your value system and to look
at how does something like thisfit in there and can you
perhaps do it, but in adifferent way?
Or just be creative.
Think out of the Advent box.
How can it be a sustainable wayof crafting?
(16:18):
Could you perhaps connect it toI don't know, emails that are
about mending and you use yourminis to mend your things and
you mend along alongsidealongside it, and every, every
day, you mend something usingyour minis or whatever.
I'm just just off the top of myhead here.
(16:40):
But how can you connect thisthing that you're afraid of
letting go of because you wantto be riding that magical dragon
?
I hope that is not a metaphorfor something.
I'm sure it is.
Well, let's just roll with it,because I totally see that
(17:02):
there's lots of FOMO around this, but there's also lots of hours
and hours and hours of workthat might not get enough return
.
So the time investment versusthe return might not really, if
you're honest, be viable.
(17:23):
Also, looking at quantity andquality, perhaps you can think a
little bit more about that.
Do a little less, perhaps not20, what is it?
(17:43):
24, 25 days, but weekly and alittle bit.
The amounts can be a little bitmore, something like that.
The amounts can be a little bitmore, something like that.
Purposeful things, focusing onlocal fibers and making it yarn
tasting and offering moreinformation about the yarn and
about where it's from, so thatwhen somebody makes a larger
(18:03):
project they immediately thinkabout this great local yarn that
they can use.
Or perhaps do think aboutrestrictions.
Offer a calendar for localswith local yarn, or offer just a
certain amount of calendars sothat you know that you don't
(18:27):
have to spend months preparing.
We also talked about planning alot and how can you make sure
that this is not taking overyour whole year?
Just thinking backwards, howmuch do you need to sell to make
it worthwhile and how much timedo you need to dye those yarns
(18:51):
to, to pack those packages,really just reverse engineering
the whole thing and thendeciding is it worth it or not,
because there's one big thingthat I kind of want to end with
here is that it is so mucheasier to keep the customers
(19:12):
that you have to make aconnection with customers and
build on those connections thatyou've already made than to
continuously trying to reach newpeople in an industry and even
if it's such a niche right, thefiber craft industry small,
(19:34):
small, small, but even therethere are so many advent
calendars and you have to do alot of work to find all the
customers that you need and, inthe end, how many of those
customers, and you should beable to look at your numbers and
(19:56):
your information on the backend of your website.
And if you don't have thatinformation, that is something
that we'll talk about soon,because you need to see if
people are buying it again, andI bet that a lot of people will
just have one experience of anadvent calendar with you and
(20:19):
then they move on to the nextone, the next business.
So is that worth all of thattime?
Worth all of that time?
Or is it more important tofocus on the people that are
already in your community and inyour client list.
This is just something I wantedto talk about and I cannot wait
(20:43):
to hear your reactions aboutthis.
I'm sure you have opinions, sogo to the show notes link.
The link is in the show notes.
You can go to the website andthere's a recorder button and
you can record a message to me.
And I'd love to hear yourthoughts about Advent calendars.
Is it magical or is it amonster?
(21:05):
And how do you, as a business,deal with this?
But just give us a little bitof insight about how you do
these things.
And you could be super, superprofitable and have figured out
a way that you are not workinghours and hours and weeks and
months on this.
And if you are the sharing kind, it would be amazing to hear
(21:29):
from you.
And if you don't want to sharewith everybody and you are up
for sharing it with a smallergroup, then why don't you become
a member of our community?
Go to patternshiftfm to find outmore.
For a small, small, small amount, you'll be part of a community
of makers and sellers that wantto change the world one stitch
(21:54):
at a time.
I'd love to hear from you beforeI forget, if you go over to
patternshiftfm, you'll get apop-up and you can download my
door wall calendar for 2025.
And you can print it out aslarge as you like.
It's free.
And what you could do is printit out a little bit smaller and
(22:18):
then use it to plan your Adventcalendar year, because it's one
year on one page.
It makes it very clear veryquickly how much time you spend
on a project like this.
So if you make loads of moneydoing this, by all means it
brings quite a bit of fun topeople.
(22:40):
But also think about your valuesystem as a business, about
conscious use of materials, andperhaps do something extra to
make it part of somebody'slearning journey or make it more
sustainable, or do somethingthat shows off lots of different
(23:05):
makers.
Connect it to what you think isimportant and don't do it
because everybody else is doingit.
That has never been a greatreason to do anything.
Bye.
Hello and welcome back, or welcome for the first
time.
I am so happy that you havedecided to spend your time with
me today.
The dragon that is the fiberadvent calendar is it magical or
is it a monster, or perhapsboth.
There's a lot of adventcalendar stuff going on.
(00:23):
Whether you are in fiber craftsor not, it's everywhere.
And today I want to kind of mixand match the perspective from
the maker and the perspectivefrom the seller of said
calendars.
Of course you already have alittle vague feeling of where
(00:46):
I'm going to go with this, butbear with me, you never know, I
might surprise you.
So I've been working with acouple of different fiber
businesses over the last fewyears Shops, dyers, designers.
Last few years, shops, dyers,designers, different kinds of
people in the fiber craftbusiness.
(01:08):
And in the way that we worktogether is that at one point
they took my course and theYeovil Business Circle course or
program it's program coursepotato, potato and after that
they landed in the businessmembership and what that means
(01:30):
is that every month we'll gettogether and we'll have a wins
and woes session.
We talk about the things thatwent well, the things that
aren't going so well, and wetalk to each other and learn
from each other and shareexperiences that we can all
(01:51):
learn from.
And I have different roles inthat.
In a way, I am a mentor, I'malso a coach and I'm also really
standing on the side andletting the conversation happen
and kind of steering it in somedirections in order to get some
real insights from theseconversations.
So the advent calendar has comeup so many times because for
(02:18):
you as a maker, it might justrevolve around the moment that
you buy it and the surprisingmoment that you get it months
later.
But for a lot of makers, let'sjust focus on yarn dyers or
fiber dyers.
At this point I'm going tofocus on that, but I'm well
(02:40):
aware that there are other waysthat we can do Advent calendars,
but I'll just focus on the yarndyers for now and so talking to
them over the years.
They are working on this.
Some of them, almost, areworking on this for a whole year
(03:03):
.
It's a lot of planning, it's alot of work, there's a lot of
things going on behind thescenes and as a business mentor,
slash coach, I have opinions.
Yes, I do.
As a crafter, I also haveopinions because, oh my gosh, it
(03:26):
is so fun to open packagesevery day or every week leading
up to Christmas and it's soexciting and it takes you back
to the feeling of being a smallchild and that Christmassy
feeling and the birthday kind offeeling that is so hard to get
(03:47):
when you're an adult.
It's really hard to get thatkind of feeling.
The Advent Calendar will getyou that kind of vibe.
So I've done a little bit ofresearch around it, but I'm
mostly speaking from theexperience of talking to these
business owners and how theyhave experienced working on
(04:12):
Advent calendars and sellingthem.
So there's a bunch of thingsgoing on right.
So let's focus on the makerfirst.
Let's focus on the maker first.
The sales points where you canstart buying a calendar are so
(04:32):
early on in the year that yourmind is not even at Christmas
yet.
But because the business ownersneed time to prepare, to dye
all the yarns or fibers and packthem and do all the marketing
around it and everything.
That's why it's so early on inthe year.
(04:54):
So there's this moment usuallyin summer, but sometimes it's as
early as spring where youalready have to decide.
Do I want to invest in this, inthis magical thing that I have
to wait on for months to come.
And I say invest, because theyare not cheap.
(05:18):
So there's that.
Now let's say that you enjoythat kind of thing so much, you
have the budget, you want tosupport these makers, the dyers,
and you are all in.
This is your thing, and you'reso excited or perhaps you are
excited at the moment when youbuy it then you forget about it
(05:40):
and then you get that that rushof excitement again once it's
time and once they start sendingit.
Now, sometimes you even theyeven send the calendars quite
early.
That's another thing to keep inmind, like, do you want to sit
on it and wait until it'sDecember or do you want to
(06:05):
receive it at the last moment?
And then that is kind of a riskfor the dyer again.
Okay.
But focusing now on makers, onthose people that buy an advent
calendar.
The fun of it is definitelyvery, very important, the joy,
(06:28):
everything I just told you about, everything I was just saying.
But there's another part of it.
There's another side to it,because there's a little bit or
perhaps a lot of overconsumptionumption going on.
You buy an advent calendar forthe fun, for the joy of it.
(06:51):
Hardly ever because you quoteunquote need it.
Now we can say this for thewhole of our hobby like, how
much do we actually need thestuff we buy for our hobbies?
Actually need the stuff we buyfor our hobbies.
So that's a whole thing initself, and last episode I was a
(07:11):
little bit so boxy on thattopic, so I'll keep quiet on
that for now.
But even if you're not focusingon making what you need so much,
the overconsumption part of itis the fact that you'll get
small amounts of different kindsof yarn or fiber and sometimes
(07:37):
you'll get a pattern that goeswith it and you're excited about
the pattern.
Sometimes you don't know whatthe pattern is and it's just all
a big surprise.
Sometimes the little packages,what's inside, are matching and
they build on top of each otherinto something that is a
coherent amount of fiber,coherent in the way of how how
(08:05):
should I say?
Vibe, color, style, um, fiberitself, fiber matter, um.
Of course it can be that, butsometimes you don't know.
So there's a choice you canmake there.
If you don't know what it'll be, if it's completely a surprise
and it's going to be, you don'tknow if it's matched or not then
(08:31):
you'll have all these differentkinds, small amounts of fiber
in your stash?
And if you don't get a patternto go with that?
And even if you do, are yougoing to be making that?
Or is it just about the joy ofwrapping, unwrapping the
(08:52):
packages and seeing what's inthere?
Now there's something else aboutthis that I truly enjoy and is
definitely on the positive sideof all of this.
If you think about an adventcalendar as a way of using
(09:14):
different materials to learn andto evolve in your craft for
example, if you have spinningfibers, you can use them to
learn different techniques.
If it's yarn, you can learndifferent stitches you can give
(09:34):
yourself an extra level offunctionality or consciousness
when you get a calendar, so youcan use it as a learning journey
in a way.
So there's definitely a lot ofpositive things about it.
And then, of course, there'sthat consumption fiber waste.
(09:58):
Are you going to put that inyour stash and how do you feel
about that?
Because if you feel great aboutthat, that's fine.
Of course it's fine, but ifyou've listened to me before,
you know that I'm all about.
Do you, but think about whatyou do and think about if it
(10:19):
matches your values and all ofthat.
So now going over to the otherside.
If you're listening, you'remost probably somebody that
either wants to start a business, already has a business or is
super interested in what happenson the other side.
And deciding to make an adventcalendar for your customers is a
(10:46):
huge thing because it's so muchwork and there's so many
decisions to make and there'ssuch a there's kind of pressure.
There's pressure from the otherbusinesses in the field that
are doing the same thing and aredoing it in ways that look so
(11:07):
professional and so beautifulthat it's just a huge thing.
But even if you've done it foryears and you grew into it
because it's kind of a trend andit's still growing every year,
it's bigger and there's more,bigger and there's more and if
(11:32):
you've done it for a couple ofyears, I'm wondering how that is
going and what is it askingfrom you as a business owner and
what is it giving?
So what I hear a lot is the ideathat being part of this is it's
connected to FOMO, like if Idon't have an ad fund calendar,
I'm missing out on theopportunity.
(11:54):
The others are doing it.
So then so should I, and Idon't think that is true.
I think we have to be realisticand look at your numbers.
Are you looking at your numbers?
Are you actually making moneywith them?
If you look at the cost of theproducts, of the materials, the
(12:18):
hours that you are working onthis, if you look at all of that
and be honest, is it profitable?
And if it is, is it in a waybalanced in profitability
compared to other things you cando in your business to grow
your business?
And that could be anything LikeI can give examples, but like I
(12:41):
don't know building a newwebsite or starting workshops or
whatever.
Just looking at the wholepicture of this, because all the
time that you spend makingthese Advent calendars is time
that you could also spend onsomething else that might be
(13:02):
more profitable.
And let me just remind you onceagain that if this is a business
, it's not a hobby, and you'rein it for the money.
Even though it feels awkward,that's what you're doing.
If you run a business, you'rein it for the money.
Otherwise, it's just a hobby.
I need to remind people of this.
So sometimes I'll just throw itin there.
(13:22):
So okay, we're looking at that.
Throw it in there.
So okay, we're looking at that.
And then people go and they saywhat about the exposure?
Isn't it true that if you dothis, if you are into the advent
calendar thing, that you get somuch exposure and I would argue
(13:43):
no, not really, because you canpost about it when you start
selling it and sell it, and thatis the moment where you should
get most of your exposure.
But what a lot of dyers arethinking about is the fact that
(14:05):
once people get their calendars,they'll open it and take
pictures and they'll show it onInstagram and other socials and
then other people will see it.
That's true, absolutely true.
It'll be so fun to look at allof that, but that's not the time
that people are buying.
(14:26):
So that is just fleetingexposure that is not bringing in
sales, and you are effectivelyasking people to remember last
year's calendar when you startselling it again.
So there's something to thinkabout.
(14:46):
Could you do something withthat?
Once people are sharing, canyou collect emails from people
that might be interested in away for the next one?
But remember that at thatmoment, those moments of
exposure will not translate intosales, except perhaps if you do
(15:09):
something with your existingoffers.
So, let's say, if you have miniskeins of yarns that you sell
now and people are showing themoff from the advent calendar.
Perhaps what you could do isshare a cute picture or a pretty
picture that somebody shared oftheir mini and then use it in a
(15:33):
way to sell your full skins,something like that.
But be conscious about that.
That's really important, Ithink, if you want to be part of
the solution in offeringmaterials for people so that
they can make their own clothesand accessories instead of
(15:54):
buying fast fashion.
It's also important to go backto your value system and to look
at how does something like thisfit in there and can you
perhaps do it, but in adifferent way?
Or just be creative.
Think out of the Advent box.
How can it be a sustainable wayof crafting?
(16:18):
Could you perhaps connect it toI don't know, emails that are
about mending and you use yourminis to mend your things and
you mend along alongsidealongside it, and every, every
day, you mend something usingyour minis or whatever.
I'm just just off the top of myhead here.
(16:40):
But how can you connect thisthing that you're afraid of
letting go of because you wantto be riding that magical dragon
?
I hope that is not a metaphorfor something.
I'm sure it is.
Well, let's just roll with it,because I totally see that
(17:02):
there's lots of FOMO around this, but there's also lots of hours
and hours and hours of workthat might not get enough return
.
So the time investment versusthe return might not really, if
you're honest, be viable.
(17:23):
Also, looking at quantity andquality, perhaps you can think a
little bit more about that.
Do a little less, perhaps not20, what is it?
(17:43):
24, 25 days, but weekly and alittle bit.
The amounts can be a little bitmore, something like that.
The amounts can be a little bitmore, something like that.
Purposeful things, focusing onlocal fibers and making it yarn
tasting and offering moreinformation about the yarn and
about where it's from, so thatwhen somebody makes a larger
(18:03):
project they immediately thinkabout this great local yarn that
they can use.
Or perhaps do think aboutrestrictions.
Offer a calendar for localswith local yarn, or offer just a
certain amount of calendars sothat you know that you don't
(18:27):
have to spend months preparing.
We also talked about planning alot and how can you make sure
that this is not taking overyour whole year?
Just thinking backwards, howmuch do you need to sell to make
it worthwhile and how much timedo you need to dye those yarns
(18:51):
to, to pack those packages,really just reverse engineering
the whole thing and thendeciding is it worth it or not,
because there's one big thingthat I kind of want to end with
here is that it is so mucheasier to keep the customers
(19:12):
that you have to make aconnection with customers and
build on those connections thatyou've already made than to
continuously trying to reach newpeople in an industry and even
if it's such a niche right, thefiber craft industry small,
(19:34):
small, small, but even therethere are so many advent
calendars and you have to do alot of work to find all the
customers that you need and, inthe end, how many of those
customers, and you should beable to look at your numbers and
(19:56):
your information on the backend of your website.
And if you don't have thatinformation, that is something
that we'll talk about soon,because you need to see if
people are buying it again, andI bet that a lot of people will
just have one experience of anadvent calendar with you and
(20:19):
then they move on to the nextone, the next business.
So is that worth all of thattime?
Worth all of that time?
Or is it more important tofocus on the people that are
already in your community and inyour client list.
This is just something I wantedto talk about and I cannot wait
(20:43):
to hear your reactions aboutthis.
I'm sure you have opinions, sogo to the show notes link.
The link is in the show notes.
You can go to the website andthere's a recorder button and
you can record a message to me.
And I'd love to hear yourthoughts about Advent calendars.
Is it magical or is it amonster?
(21:05):
And how do you, as a business,deal with this?
But just give us a little bitof insight about how you do
these things.
And you could be super, superprofitable and have figured out
a way that you are not workinghours and hours and weeks and
months on this.
And if you are the sharing kind, it would be amazing to hear
(21:29):
from you.
And if you don't want to sharewith everybody and you are up
for sharing it with a smallergroup, then why don't you become
a member of our community?
Go to patternshiftfm to find outmore.
For a small, small, small amount, you'll be part of a community
of makers and sellers that wantto change the world one stitch
(21:54):
at a time.
I'd love to hear from you beforeI forget, if you go over to
patternshiftfm, you'll get apop-up and you can download my
door wall calendar for 2025.
And you can print it out aslarge as you like.
It's free.
And what you could do is printit out a little bit smaller and
(22:18):
then use it to plan your Adventcalendar year, because it's one
year on one page.
It makes it very clear veryquickly how much time you spend
on a project like this.
So if you make loads of moneydoing this, by all means it
brings quite a bit of fun topeople.
(22:40):
But also think about your valuesystem as a business, about
conscious use of materials, andperhaps do something extra to
make it part of somebody'slearning journey or make it more
sustainable, or do somethingthat shows off lots of different
(23:05):
makers.
Connect it to what you think isimportant and don't do it
because everybody else is doingit.
That has never been a greatreason to do anything.
Bye.
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