2021 desktop calendar - marketing thoughts?

I just designed and ordered a bunch of desktop calendars for 2021

I'm really excited about these.  I got a bunch for gifts and a bunch more for selling on my Etsy store.

I'm not sure about the pricing yet.  I was thinking $12 CAD, but when I search on Etsy most of the calendars are over $20 CAD.  I suppose I could put it at $19 and then have a sale to bring it down to $12 for the first month?  

I'm also going to need some sort of image for the first etsy thumbnail to grab attention.  But I'm super tired today so I'll think about that later.

Something else to think about - maybe I should do some pre-sells?  It will arrive at the end of the month, it might be nice to pre-sell some at a discount?  Half price?  Half of 19 is 9.50?  Is this a good idea?

OoooooOooooh, my daughter has been into calendars, and I've been thinking I should get one for her (good for school, too!)

Do we know what shipping would be like to the US? I'm thinking it's probably painful like most shipping cost, unless they print on demand in both countries.

I like the idea of a discounted presale price!

Shipping on something that size to US is about (CAD) $9 plus $1 for the packaging, $1 for the time to process the order, and $1 insurance (because it is the only country that regularly loses my mail). That's $12 (Canadian which is approx USD9) or $2 if shipping with something else.

r ranson wrote:I'm not sure about the pricing yet.  I was thinking $12 CAD, but when I search on Etsy most of the calendars are over $20 CAD.  I suppose I could put it at $19 and then have a sale to bring it down to $12 for the first month?  

I think you have the right idea here.

(Also, I love the calendar)

Give one to your local bookseller and offer them to the bookseller, on consignment. They'll probably need to net probably 40% each to make it worth the square footage it will take up... depending on the sale price.

I've been digging a bit more into shops that sell calendars on etsy.  It looks like most of them are using a print-on-demand service which means they pay a lot more per unit, so $20 looks like a good place for the standard profit margin in this area.  

But I am getting a small print run, so the price per unit is much better.  This makes the $12 CAD mark obtainable.

Jennie Little wrote:Give one to your local bookseller and offer them to the bookseller, on consignment. They'll probably need to net probably 40% each to make it worth the square footage it will take up... depending on the sale price.

I didn't print enough for the local booksellers because their calendar shelf space is reserved for specific publishers and they only take consignment from small publishers like mine.  The consignment terms are terrible.  

But you know, I might approach a local yarn shop to see if they want to carry it.  I often sell things there and their doors are open again.  

If I did this right, I have made a listing for the pre-sale of the calendar: https://www.etsy.com/listing/868435585
The price will automatically go up at the end of the month.

Love the calender. Might want to setup at a farmer market or co-op and sell them their too. $12-$20 seems like a very good price point. DM a message and I'll link your etsy store in my live stream channel.

Cheers

Great calendar!

Do the math, but if you're able to make the price an even $15.00 each all included (tax/shipping) it's affordable and you'd likely pocket a bit more, and might be able to make a two or more price of $12.00.

I'm a Business Advocate that works with small businesses and marketing...best of luck!

Do you follow any bloggers who might be interested in one? Maybe someone with goats, sheep, or chickens? If they like it they could feature it on their blog (easy content for a tough week when they don't feel like typing a long post), and let people know where they can buy one for themselves. Just an idea.

I only buy calenders where there is room to write notes on each date. The numbers would need to be smaller so there is room to write.
Love the photos!

Very sweet! Are the photos from your own farm? I love the idea. I hope you sell a ton! I'm thinking about getting one but I don't trust my mail service right now...I'm still waiting on a package lost somewhere in the USPS mail---I'm in Florida, it shipped from Florida, and it's now in Puerto Rico, according to the tracking number. Shoulda been here weeks ago. -_-

Marcy Powers wrote:I only buy calenders where there is room to write notes on each date. The numbers would need to be smaller so there is room to write.
Love the photos!

Thanks.

I know what you mean about taking notes.
To get larger ones printed at a decent per-unit cost would mean I need a print run of at least a thousand.  That's way too many.  So I'm doing this smaller test run to see if there's enough interest in physical calendars to justify a bigger calendar next year.  It means I have less control of the calendar part and I couldn't put as many international holidays in it or lunar cycles, but it's affordable enough to use as a test run.

My break-even place is selling 20 copies (which I hope is an achievable amount given that I got this finished so early).  I don't know yet what my "it's worth investing more effort and money next year" mark is.

Mostly, I've been wanting to make a calendar for years but worried about not getting it perfect.  But I also know that the best way to learn is by doing.  So I saved up a bit of cash and decided to take the risk and do it imperfectly this year with the goal that I can learn and do it better next year.

Thanks for the feedback.  

Isabella Love wrote:Very sweet! Are the photos from your own farm? I love the idea. I hope you sell a ton! I'm thinking about getting one but I don't trust my mail service right now...I'm still waiting on a package lost somewhere in the USPS mail---I'm in Florida, it shipped from Florida, and it's now in Puerto Rico, according to the tracking number. Shoulda been here weeks ago. -_-

Thanks
Yes, all my photos taken on my farm.  

Mail in the US is pretty ... unpredictable right now.  But my loss rate is still at about 1% of the parcels I send, but the delay rate is about 20-50% with some parcels taking over a month longer to get to their destination. But it seems to be settling down.  

I recently heard a report on Public Radio here in the States about a very popular trend on Instagram called Cottage Core. It's for all things nostalgic about county life. That would be a good place to advertise and perhaps sent people to your Etsy page. Your calendar is very nice.

Camilla Fitzgerald wrote:I recently heard a report on Public Radio here in the States about a very popular trend on Instagram called Cottage Core. It's for all things nostalgic about county life. That would be a good place to advertise and perhaps sent people to your Etsy page. Your calendar is very nice.

I saw something about that online recently. I don't remember if tags are used on Etsy, but if they are then #CottageCore would be a great one to use for this calendar!

Cottage Core added to the keywords.
Thank you for the suggestion!

The calendar is great!  The pictures are awesome.  I think there are some great ideas in here for you...  what I was thinking (add in shipping/tax) was already mentioned.  The other thing is you might want to put price in USD as well for those who don't do the math.  Best of luck.  I'm sure they'll sell.  Christmas is coming.

Theresa Bush wrote:The calendar is great!  The pictures are awesome.  I think there are some great ideas in here for you...  what I was thinking (add in shipping/tax) was already mentioned.  The other thing is you might want to put price in USD as well for those who don't do the math.  Best of luck.  I'm sure they'll sell.  Christmas is coming.

Great points.

Etsy should automatically be showing you the total with shipping and taxes in Us dollars (or your local currency).  But each state has its own tax, so I don't know what that total will look like.   And Etsy has an interesting habit of running experiments - so everyone gets a unique view.  Basically, what I see when I look at the listing (even incognito) isn't a guarantee that you guys will see it too.  

Would anyone from the US (or not Canada), like to pop over to the listing and let me know if it shows up in your local currency?  https://www.etsy.com/listing/868435585

I checked it.  It shows in USD.  

Theresa Bush wrote:I checked it.  It shows in USD.  

Happy!
Thanks for checking!

Don't short-sell yourself or your product.

Discounting up front is a poor choice.  People shop on value, NOT price. At least the loyal fan-based type of customers you want to attact.

Etsy isn't a discount site, it's a site to feature handcrafted items. Handcrafted things made with love and intention bring a premium price!

A pre-sale is a good idea, just remember the "pre" in pre sale isn't about disconting, it's about connecting with those customers who "want to be first" and or ensure they getone before they're gone. This is a limited run calendar announcing a pre-sale is a way to let potential customers know they need to act NOW before the calendars are gone... (sales come in Jan-Feb, if you have anyleft after the calendar year has started.)

Make sure you get digital contact info for all buyers so you can send them other offers and info about the farm. When you like farm-life but can't or don't live on a farm, your calendar is a way to build an audience and for non-farmers to join in the adventure of farm life!

FYI - I work as a small Business Advocate and Marketing Coach and am a vendor for the SBA, so this info isn't something I'm just guessing at. - All the best!

Hi Raven,
I just placed an order for one of your calendars, that shipping and handling is a sticker-shock-moment.
I was thinking of sending one to each of my four sisters, two in Iowa, two in Arizona, but at 40 dollars for shipping.... Not too sure now.
You evidently need a method of getting orders fulfilled on this side of the border.
.
On marketing, I always have ideas there.
My mind just went off a tangent... Seems to me one of the permie people's was a contributor to Mother Earth magazine.
On that idea, I was thinking an interesting article talking about the hurdles of money-making down on the farm might pique an editor into publishing it. Hence getting your products in the limelight. Same with that Grit magazine.
.
I am always going back to Jay Abraham's host-beneficiary relationships. Your products, someone else who has the counter space(maybe a few at your local convenience store), the customers, the rabid buyers.
My niece has a blog where she features items she likes, or has been sent for her to hawk.
There's countless blogs, and businesses that might like to trade their mention for a percentage of the profit.
.
In the meantime, I want to skip the Etsy middleman, deal directly with you. How do I send you the $$ for 8 of these, and I will ship from here... Maybe at book rate.
I'm the West Virginia order on Etsy.

Thanks for your interest in my poor effort.

Mike Feddersen wrote:Hi Raven,
I just placed an order for one of your calendars, that shipping and handling is a sticker-shock-moment.
I was thinking of sending one to each of my four sisters, two in Iowa, two in Arizona, but at 40 dollars for shipping.... Not too sure now.
You evidently need a method of getting orders fulfilled on this side of the border.  

Etsy is set up so that it combines shipping.  If you order one, it charges the base shipping rate.  Order more than one in a single transaction, and it should be adding only a couple of dollars per extra item (amount varies per item).  

Did it not do this for you?  

Can you test it without checking out?  Depending on how Etsy is feeling that day, you may be able to increase the number in the product page, or you may have to do it in the cart page.  If you could test that it does this, it would be a huge help.  If it's not combining shipping, then I'll have to report it to Etsy as a bug.


As for paying separately, I haven't found a way to take payment that has fewer fees than selling through Etsy.  Also, buying through Etsy helps give my shop a boost in the Etsy SEO so I like to take advantage of that.

Give us a test and let us know if it worked.  We'll find a solution from there.

Andy John wrote:Don't short-sell yourself or your product.

Lots of great points in here from Andy. Generally calendars only ever get offered for a discount after the year has started.
As a musician, I get great results from presales - it's always at full price, and I might not sell out from it - but the point is so that the diehard fans can claim their copies while the records are in production. Maybe some of your previous etsy customers want to show their support for what you do by paying full price for your calendar, or add it to their wool orders for winter knitting!

Anyways, Raven, this is a gorgeous product and your photos are wonderful! The font choice for the titles are especially beautiful. Now, if I may make my design snob suggestion: The days and numbers need a font that is just as lovely. I know you probably picked Calibri for its legibility, but to me, it makes it feel less special/considered since it's a default font for Microsoft Office/Windows. There are other sans-serif fonts that could compliment the design really well, and carrying the same font throughout the headers and numbers could also work. I know you're probably not here to get design notes (because the worst thing on the planet is design by committee) but I just wanted to put my two cents out there for next time, since I think it's a lovely item!

P.s. I love that I wrote all that stuff about using default fonts and here I am writing in *gasp* a default font.

I've been thinking about the discount and I'm going to keep the pre-order discount but the price will go up the moment the calendars arrive.

I want to show people who pre-order that I appreciate them because it really does help me out.  

Calendars are a perishable product, so I don't like the idea of having any leftover come Christmas.  I would rather make less and sell out sooner than make more and have to unload them after the holidays. I don't anticipate having a discount later.  So it's the opposite of 'normal' but that's me.  

Thanks for the feedback.

Hayley Stewart wrote:
Anyways, Raven, this is a gorgeous product and your photos are wonderful! The font choice for the titles are especially beautiful. Now, if I may make my design snob suggestion: The days and numbers need a font that is just as lovely. I know you probably picked Calibri for its legibility, but to me, it makes it feel less special/considered since it's a default font for Microsoft Office/Windows. There are other sans-serif fonts that could compliment the design really well, and carrying the same font throughout the headers and numbers could also work. I know you're probably not here to get design notes (because the worst thing on the planet is design by committee) but I just wanted to put my two cents out there for next time, since I think it's a lovely item!

You summed up my feelings very well here.  

Because it's a sample to test the market, I went with the most affordable, quality printer I could.  Which means, I had very limited input into the calendar part of the design.  The font they use made me sad, but it was the best I could do at this cost.  

But if this is successful enough to try it next year, I'm excited to work with a local printer and designers to build it from scratch.  

Raven,
I never thought about testing the buying more than one, I did think it would be great if it would.
It did seem to make a bit of a difference.
Since I want you to succeed, I went ahead with the order. Money in your pocket can make a guy dangerous.
.
Best of luck with your endeavors.
.
P.S.
On money changing hands, I owed a friend some money. Ed showed me Zelle, a bank to bank platform that had zero charges. I don't know if it would work for you, I am sure you would need cash in hand before sending products, I would.
.
Mike

Yeh it worked!

Thank you so much.  It's very much appreciated.  

I'm amazed by how well this is going.  It makes me feel that it's worth investing a lot more time in the wall calendar project I want to do.  https://permies.com/t/102217

I'm really glad I did this sample run.  

They have arrived!  

And early too!



That bodes well for 2021 - I'm looking forward to the end of this year.  

But alas, it means that the pre-sale sale is at an end.  Thank you everyone who bought the calendar already.  I'm at the break-even point before it arrived which gives me huge hope for next year's project!  And thank you all for helping with the marketing ideas.  There are some fantastic ideas in this thread!  

The good:
The photos rendered beautifully.  I was a bit worried by the mockup as some of the images looked terribly pixilated and this printer is inconstant with quality control - mostly because they farm out the work to different small printers around the world.  I never know if it will be printed in town or in Barbados.  

But the calendar and the photos look fantastic!

The "things I learned for next year":
There is lots of room for improvement for next year.  But I did this as a proof of concept so I'm happy it's done as well as it did.  

But next year I want something that is more functional for writing things in - without glossy paper on the calendar part.  I'm still thinking wall calendar.

I also want to print it locally so I have better control over the paper choice and quality.

The not good:
This next bit is a big disappointment to me.  I know it doesn't affect the useability of the calendar, but it grates against my aesthetic sensibilities.

The printer plastered its logo on the back of every single page.  

Sigh.

At that price, I can see why.  They get me to pay to advertise for them.  

What I was expecting from what the mockup showed was the logo to be discretely printed on the back page.  My plan was to cover it up with a sticker with my logo.  But they out schemed me.  

But the price was fantastic!  So I'm going to live with this and chalk it up to a learning experience and move on.

At the time of writing this, there are only 14 left to sell.  I don't think I'll be printing any more as I figure I should be sold out by Christmas.  
You can pick up your desk calendar here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/868435585/

I forgot to mention, post office day is on Friday (we only go twice a week due to social distancing), but I might make an exception and go out today so I can get these out of the house and on their way.  

r ranson wrote:They have arrived!  

This next bit is a big disappointment to me.  I know it doesn't affect the useability of the calendar, but it grates against my aesthetic sensibilities.

The printer plastered its logo on the back of every single page.  

At that price, I can see why.  They get me to pay to advertise for them.  =

At the time of writing this, there are only 14 left to sell.  I don't think I'll be printing any more as I figure I should be sold out by Christmas.  
You can pick up your desk calendar here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/868435585/

HELLO R.RANSON & ALL:
This may be preaching to the choir for some of you, however, many people do not recognize the significance of the dpi (dots per inche) resolution for commercial printing jobs.
IF you ever make another attempt at publishing another calendar you have at least learned what to do and what NOT to do on the next round.
FOR ALL:  Any literature, with photos, that you attempt to publish should go through a couple of extra hoops BEFORE sending to a PRINT SHOP:
     1. is your work going to be in Color or B/W?  Some gurus are now working with B/W in photos as it is catching attention - because it is DIFFERENT!
     2. Are ALL of your photos at a minimum of 300 dpi? IF NOT, make them so! Higher resolutions may also be appropriate for your Pub! But, if you do not have your photos at a
              minimum of 300 dpi you will have very grainy graphics on your Project.

              There is one possible way to check for how your photos will look when printed. Assuming that you are
              using something like MS Publisher or another Publishing tool, check your photos in that FIRST! Then SECOND print your article as a PDF FILE and this is where you begin to see
              the differences between 150 dpi, 200 dpi, and the minimum 300 dpi for Print Shop Printing. In fact many Print Shops will ask that you convert your article to the PDF format so
              that it comes to them in a non-changeable format. IT really can be changed in an emergency, however, basically what you see is what you get from the Print Shop when you
              view that PDF File on your computer.

And one last suggextion/thought for all of you! IF you want to see articles about your work in PRINT try sending your write-ups and photos to "The Farm Show" magazine, "Mother Earth News" magazine, "Grit" magazine, or "Countryside & Small Stock Journal" magazine. They are always looking for good articles to put in their editions - although this is NOT saying that your article will get published - but take a chance on it. YOUR article in ANY one of these pubs should increase sales, if you're selling, or further educate the public about your project.

Oh, I agree.
I usually go with 300 or higher dpi because that's what my software defaults to.  

The problem I have with most printing is that the software they use to resize and render the images often corrupts it.  The bigger and better the image I submit, the worse the finished product.  Finding out from the printer what their ideal dimensions for the image are is an exercise in frustration.  

That's a big reason why I like to go with a local printer - the printer's proof.  I can go to the shop (or most of the shops come to my workplace at lunchtime) and see how it will look.  Then we can make changes before it goes to press.  But I need a lot more initial capital to go this path.  This might need a Kickstarter for 2022.  But Kickstarters are risky and a lot of work, thus this proof of concept test.