My Failed Launch and What I Learned - Real Life of A Creative Business
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video, I'm going to share with you one of my very recent online releases that generated 0 sales. If you're subscribed to our channel already, you know that we keep it real on this channel. We're not claiming to be experts of all things, just real people who are building a creative business that aligns with our values.
This video is to humanize the creative entrepreneurship experience. Often times we hear other business owners share their failures years after the fact, after they've made millions of dollars, but I believe it takes real humility to share our failures almost in real time, when the battle wounds are still fresh. We think this fresher analysis will bring a helpful perspective for those of you who are in the trenches and figuring things out.
00:00 Short intro
01:10 My launch and thought process
04:37 What worked and what didn't
07:38 What I would change in the future
09:13 Answering questions from the last video: Why I Stopped Doing Art Commissions
If you find this video insightful or relatable, don't forget to check out our other videos and subscribe to the Easy Sunday Club channel.
Pretty badass to share a launch with 0 sales and have a positive mindset about it. 🙌👏
Part of the process and makes success feel so much more earned :)
“...No, I’m already home” -2021 quote of the year. 😂 I appreciate your humor, as well as your candor. Thank you for sharing your journey and your growth so we can learn alongside you.☺️
I appreciate the support from this community. It is nice having a safe space to share and learn together!
This is awesome!!! Not enough people talk about their failures! You guys rock
Thank you Clare!
I truly admire you both! Most people do not share the 'failures'; which is a part of learning and essential for growth (for all). I am learning so much from you. Thanks again.
Yes, I hate custom. I only rarely do it for friends/family but its soooooooo annoying, even if they are semi-easy to work with. It made me feel trapped and unhappy and I have such high standards it took me like 4x as long as doing something that came freely. I know everyone wants dog custom portraits but it was a nightmare.
Haha glad we can commiserate together! Yes Part of this process is learning to say no and creating boundaries :)
Oh boy do I relate to this
Thank you for your honesty and for all you do!
Yay for your courage and integrity.
Thank you so much for being brave and sharing your honest experience. When you said "just because it doesnt sell on one type of product, like a print, does not mean that it wont sell well on something else" yes! Good food for thought indeed! Thank you Kathy!
Thank you for modeling courage! Sharing a failure to help others learn denonstrates your generous heart. And it is badass!
Harkin Strong!!
I love your work! ❤️. Everything has a season. Thank you for sharing the info and beautiful work.
Thank you for the support Theresa!
I absolutely love your channel. This is the first and only honest art channel / business I've seen - thank you!
Thank you Jessica Carrots :) Have a good and safe week!!!
You are the best...thanks for being open to share and share in an honest non-perfect way.
Thank Cumberland! Its perfectly normal to be non-perfect! : )
Never clicked so fassssst, thank u for uploading this 💓🙌🏽
Hilarious Happi! Have a good week!
Not finished watching but I like your analysis and have subbed. Worth my time to listen to you guys. Realistic and human
Thanks for subbing! we do try to keep it real :).
Thank you so much for sharing
I so appreciate your transparency and furthermore sharing your insight on the "why."
The content of this video in & of itself is a "success."
Thank you :)
Good point! I think making a video out of a failed launch was more needed/informative than sharing a success. A lot of "sold out successes" we see are not replicable by anyone, but almost everyone can relate to a failure.
Thanks for sharing. I’ve learned so much through your videos from both of you and love your matter of fact ways.
Thank you Eva. We try to get to the point. We know the art community have businesses to build so no time to waste!
You’re an amazing mentor. I have thoroughly enjoyed your videos even when things go sideways. I feel you are the most authentic You Tuber I’ve seen in a very long time. You have so much confidence in your own work, you aren’t afraid to share your knowledge successes and failures. As a wise person once told me, there are plenty of customers in the world for everyone. Also, good karma will take care of you. Off to watch more of your videos! Thanks so much! ❤️
thanks so much for your kind words on several of our videos! Yes trying to earn those karma points and universe will be kind :).
Outstanding content!
Thank you ❤❤❤
This was great! I definitely had this image of your company in my mind that everything you do is successful because you've been doing it for a while. Really nice of you to share a failure. It encourages me to keep trying and to remember that one failure (or many in my case😅) doesn't mean that I can't earn steady money from my artwork.
Correct! And yes, perception is not reality. The struggles help us appreciate the victories much much more. Thank you for the support!
Thanks for sharing so honestly and candidly. I really appreciate your videos and have learned so much~
You are so welcome Saleh! It's important to find like minded people on this journey.
Your art is beautiful!
love your channel guys, always so informative!
Thank u :)
I appreciate your honesty so much! It gives me hope!
I'm so glad! You got this.
Hey Cathy, thanks for sharing! Congrats on your calendar success! As you continue to grow, you will get more eyes on those prints and they'll be snatched up. I also wonder about catabolizing sales across product offerings. Only trial and error will tell. -Kali
thanks for the encouragement! The prints have been selling in my retailers but it’s interesting to learn how the same product performs differently in different time and places. The trial and error makes it interesting process for sure!
Hi Cathy, I’ve been watching so many of your videos the last week or two. Really helpful. Did you make a video about designing your calendar? I’ve been toying with that idea for a couple years now
Thank you for posting this! I also launched my 2021 spring collection and only 2 sells, but was friends😞 I got very discouraged and sad
Thanks for sharing so openly too! I totally understand that feeling when only friends purchased. No one wants to admit it when their sales flop, only when they experience sold out success. We should normalize all the ups and downs.
i was thinking, make the calendar of art from previously released works the year before or so,… and give the new art pieces at least a year of sales as large prints before becoming calendar works. That’s one idea to keep them separate and not canabalize the large art pieces.
Thanks Carol, good idea to experiment!
Hi Cathy, just saw your ig post and thought to let you know you are doing great work! Thank you for sharing the story of this launch. It's so relatable and it's true that some ideas work while others dont but that's just part of the learning process. I really love your channel and often visit for business advice. Your ig post is really inspiring. Thank you for encouraging people to embrace failure and to learn from it.Your actions are heroic. You are truly inspiring.
Thanks Faryal for coming here to watch this video and for sending the positive vibes! The endless trial and errors makes it challenging and fun :)
hi! we answered this comment in our latest q and a video. thank you always for the feedback :) th-cam.com/video/PPvZPVO0Loc/w-d-xo.html
Hello. Just stumbled upon your account on youtube for greeting cards and just wanted to say thank you so much for the knowledge. I love doing creative stuff, i started with card games and my first product was a success. My 2nd was a major fail, but i keep trying to be the best and will keep trying. Your videos motivated me to look on my own experience and learn from my mistakes. Wish you the best of luck. Thank you again.
You have the right spirit and mindset, and you’ve already experienced success. Each failure is just one step closer to finding something that works for you :). Good luck!
This was GREAT! I remember my first print launch I only sold 2 prints 😬 and thank you for the QnA. It was very helpful. Currently thinking of increasing my price 50 cents per square inch to make commissions a bit more worth it for me.
Make it .50 cents or even $1 and see what happens! Always good to test and experiment :)
Thank you for the vid. Sometimes folks feel like they cannot talk about failure but only success. But failure is apart of succeeding. I know you have learnt from your failure. Blessings
thank you so much Nakeisha! I had the fear too that if I share a recent failure people wouldn’t be interested in hearing what I have to say anymore, but I did it anyway :). I think often people share their failures many years after the fact, it doesn’t feel as personal because it’s soo long ago.
@@EasySundayClub It is always important to share failures, that can be a reminder to you to try harder or why you are doing every thing you do. Also it help others to understand that not everything is instant gratification, and there is no trials or error in getting to where you are. With that being said, they can continue to go forward when they hit a speed bump or some negativity and not give up. A least i hope so
Another Great video, THANK YOU! I really need to find my niche!
Yes! I did a video on finding your niche. Check it out on my past vids :)
Thank you for sharing!
sure thing!
"No! I'm already home! " That was really funny!
very fitting for that time of our lives 🙃.
Ahhhhh subscribed, bless you folks!
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing
You’re welcome!
Thank you for sharing good information
You're welcome JJ. Be well!
Your work is very pretty.
YESSS!! Failure queen right here. Thank you for this video.
all success bae's originate from failure queens :P :) we are a mighty tribe!
Thank you for this
Always J!
Many thanks. You have another subscriber here.
thanks for the sub!
well, your painting of the rocks, pine trees, and so forth was really a pleasure to see (I paused it).it put me in mind of my boy Winslow Homer. I never took a shot at watercolors. very interesting. I know someone whose calendar is on my wall. she doesn't refer to herself as an artist, but I was impressed. I'm thinking about drawing 12 pictures for a calendar. but I have (I live in New England)a pessimistic view on weather, and I know it'll be funny but not necessarily fun. I will mull it over, tho. thanx for this!
I think it will be funny and the locals might enjoy it or find it “comforting” :).
@@EasySundayClub thank you, Cathy.
I love your positive attitude. Have you considered that the lack of sales is due to the current economic situation in our countries? So many have been out of work either for a short time or permanently. If they haven't, they may be afraid it may happen in the future. Or they may be helping family members. If I was of working age, I wouldn't be buying art right now. These are scary times.
Online sales has been strong actually since last year and this year as well :). It’s specific to my landscape collection so I didn’t consider macro factors like the economy.
So many art calendars look cheap, but yours looks pretty impressive. I assume you hired the production out to a print shop? I can’t image you bought the equipment needed to produce calendars. Good video; thanks.
Yeah we used a printer our artist friend recommended in Michigan. Made sure quality was good but still nervous it wouldnt sell through. Also had to figure out shipping logistics :) might make a how i made my calendar vid in the future if interested.
I am lmao with that confetti quote. 🤣
🤪
First I love your videos and your honesty. My question may be. A bit off topic but your works have inspired me to want to get into some form of artistic expression, my question is what resource would you recommend for someone who wants to draw/paint but has no precious experience in drawing and would need to start at the beginning.
Thank you Brian! I'm happy my work has inspired you to start your creative journey! I made a video on start up materials for watercolor beginners but honestly TH-cam is a great free resource if you search for any creative skill you want to develop: drawing, painting, etc. Start here :).
Thank you for a great and informative channel! Is there any envelope recommendations you have? Also I cannot find the Epson expression printer anywhere.. any similar recommendation? Just started my own greeting card company and would appreciate the support and exchange of ideas!
I made a video re: high end greeting card set up. It has envelope and printer recommendations.
Thank you for sharing. I am going to look through your videos but my step daughter wants to sell and does not know how to price her art, as prints (I guess). Any video suggestions/advice.
Thanks i let my wife know this was requested. More to come!
Thanks for sharing this. I just had a flopped launch as well. Whomp whomp lol. Did you keep the pieces in your store?
Congrats on surviving a flop, you're in good company :). I did keep the pieces in my store but will be trimming down the collection, only because I'm trying to curate down my collections in general to minimize buyer overwhelm.
Thank you for sharing your journey.. 😊😊 I'm an artist and thinking of diving into art licencing busines also. Can u tell me how to find # or how can I reach to the purchaser or buyer's..
Thanks for sharing!! Do you sell 5x7 cards & 5x7 art prints? How do you price if a card can also go in a frame? Thanks big!
I used to. $15 online and $10 in person. Only art prints though. Some people framed my A2 sized cards but those prices stayed consistent. $5/each.
I feel like I'm getting so much valuable knowledge from your content. Random question: how did you come up with your business name? I've been struggling. (If there is a video where this is discussed I would love to know which one!) ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Here u go ty!!! th-cam.com/video/XKir2owU_N8/w-d-xo.html
@@EasySundayClub YES! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!
It seems like you put the cart before the horse, as they say. Your prints look like they could be a beautiful set of cards. The kind without anything written on the inside. What about a planner? Coasters (print glued to cork backing)? They are beautiful. They could be used in many ways. Hardly a failure.
Thank you for the support MM. yes always a silver lining and other products these paintings can be used for :)
yes! you turned that loss into a win. thanks for sharing your reflections. everyones worst fear but good to know its survivable 😂 duh
It is absolutely survivable, and with each failure, it takes less time to recover emotionally and get back up on my feet :).
Same...
Hi Cathy, I am curious about the process with finding and hiring an assistant. How do you negotiate hours and scope of work for an assistant and the wage? It's not a career path I see most common, and if they do it on the side as a side gig, what should we be using as a "standard" to make sure they're receiving fair pay and we are also not overpaying as independent creators?
Jasmine
Hi Jasmine, it's hard to properly address this in the comment section so I'll add it to a future video topic. Generally speaking, start with the easiest tasks to outsource, or ones you dislike doing the most. Ask around friends and family, local FB groups etc., you'd be surprised how many people are open to part time side gigs.
@@EasySundayClub Thank you!! 🥰
Addicted to your videos :) can you tell? 😁👍
Thank u Phil. Let us know what topics u r curious about :)
@@EasySundayClub ill have a think :) x
So thankful for all your super helpful videos! I've been binge watching your videos and I love your honesty and transparency :) I recently started on shopify, and I was searching everywhere for an answer to HS (Harmonized System) Code, I can't seem to find it anywhere what people put for the HS code for art prints? (491199?)
You’re welcome! Re the hs i dont have the answer but Def something a customs agent would know. Cheers!
@@EasySundayClub Thanks so much for a responding :) I will look into that!
I don't remember this email 🤔
I didn't get it- let me make sure I'm on the email list
:) If you have gmail, it might be hiding in the promotions folder 🤦🏻♀️. Please let me know if that’s the case!
Not to be mean about this but when your higher priced art doesn't sell, but your lower priced art does you aren't cannibalizing anything.