First, it really is a hobby for me more than it is a business. I am not at the stage where I am ready to put a lot into advertising and getting as much business as possible to make a huge profit. I do it because I love it, and I love being able to add that special touch for those happy occasions, not because I need to make an income off it.
Second, I am a designer not an accountant, and I really detested the bookkeeping part of it. It really took some of the fun out of it for me. And on top of that, the state made some changes to the system that makes it a lot harder for me to do what I'm doing.
Third, in the process of organizing and decluttering my home, I am also prioritizing things in my life, especially with a new baby coming. I do tend to take on too much and have already cut way back on how many ministries and activities I am involved in this year. I know what my priorities are, and I need to eliminate or refine the rest so I can focus on those. So I am restructuring the services I am offering to reflect that.
So here is what I have decided:
1. I am still offering custom card designs and will charge an upfront, flat fee that will cover my time to consult and create a digital image for each occasion. Right now I feel that $30 is a fair price for my time to do this.
2. I will only be dealing with digital images. I will no longer print or ship hard copies of the cards, nor provide envelopes. I will only be creating the custom digital image, which would be received by you as a final, printable version in an email. The digital image would need to be saved to your computer and uploaded to your favorite online photo processing company (Snapfish, Shutterfly, Walmart, etc). You would order your own 4x6 matte prints, which run about 8-10 cents per print. I can also provide a complimentary, "email-friendly" version of the image if desired.
3. At this point, I will not have a separate website available specifically for this. It will be more of a word of mouth and friends and family kind of thing. I will probably set something up eventually and will let you know - it will take me awhile to go through my site and change it over. In the meantime, feel free to pass on my contact info if you know of someone interested in a design or contact me yourself! I am still taking orders - it will just be a little different than before.
* I will have my "design" link on the sidebar here linked to a portfolio gallery of sample designs for those interested in viewing my work or considering ordering. I will still have a selection of designs available to choose from as well, and hopefully will be able to add new designs over time, which I will set up for viewing here as well in the near future.
* I will look into incorporating a button on the side of my blog that will allow you to click and pay my fee through PayPal if you are ordering a digital design.
4. I am still open to doing blog designs as a part of this, but I still haven't worked out the details of that yet. If you have ordered a blog from me in the past that needs updating, I am more than happy to work with you on that, so please contact me.
If you have any questions about these changes, please let me know. I love designing and I hope to continue working with those of you who have been such awesome, supportive customers over the last 2 years!
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