Planning for 2009...

Now that the holiday shopping season online is winding down, I am starting to think about 2009. I can't believe it is really almost here, first of all... Where did this year go?!? Seriously?!?

Ah well, there's nowhere to go but forward, so I've been trying to point myself in the right direction for the new year. That means deciding where I will be directing my energies, what my priorities are going to be, and where I would like to be at this time next year!

Here is what I have come up with so far:

Vintage Goodness

Right now Vintage Goodness consists of three online shops (one eBay store and two Etsy stores), eBay auctions, this blog, and half my house. It's the half my house part that is causing me the most trouble - I'm out of room!

I can't expand any more with the types of items I've been selling. It's just physically impossible. So I am going to focus the next couple of months on expanding into a few areas that I have been putting on the back burner for a while now...

Costume Jewelry

I have a huge stash of vintage jewelry waiting to be listed - easily 100 pieces or more. It's small, easy to store, easy to ship - exactly the type of item I need to be working with! So I have a plan... I am going to list them in my main Etsy shop, and cross-list them into my Vintage Goodness booth on Bonanzle.

Bonanzle is a great new selling venue, and I have loved becoming a part of the community there through doing the Brainstorming Bonanzle podcast with Walt. Listing is free, so I won't be out a dime giving it a try! Gotta love that...

Children's Books

I have a huge stash of vintage kids books too - I can't pass them up when I find them! They are destined for my 2nd Etsy shop, if I can ever find the time to get them listed! I will - think positive, right? - because they are also easy to store and easy to ship - and again, those are the two most important criteria right now!

Ephemera

The other thing I have a TON of is paper ephemera - I've experimented with listing some of it in my main Etsy shop and it has done pretty well, so it is definitely on the to-do list to get some more up there. And there is NOTHING easier to store and ship than paper - a big thanks to the USPS for offering cheap 1st class shipping and flat rate Priority envelopes!

The Vintage List

My little vintage shop directory that could is growing, slowly but surely. I've finally nailed down the membership pricing and structure, and the blog is gaining a bit of traction - just the other day Ina from AuctionBytes linked to it in her NewsFlash article! I was doing cartwheels. ;)

I've also made a couple of great partnerships, with the RubyLane blog and with RetroRenovation.com - both of which should really help getting some good quality traffic to the site!

My goal for 2009 is to devote more time and energy to the blog, and to continute to forge relationships that will grow traffic for the site!

Podcasting

If you check out my sidebar you will see two fancy new widgets - one for the AuctionWally show, and one for the Brainstorming Bonanzle show. Both are now on TalkShoe - it's a great platform that works well, and allows people to sign in and chat during live shows, follow their favorite shows, and access all past episodes in the archive. We can also upload recorded content, which is a big plus!

I think 2009 is going to be a fun year for both shows, with lots of great content and guests - stay tuned! ;)

Figure8Jeans.com

My non-vintage side project - selling plus size women's jeans - is coming along, I should hopefully be ready for an official launch sometime in the next month or so! I was debating on where to have my main storefront, but I've decided to put it on BuyItSellIt.com - it's a great platform that has everything I need to run a professional stand-alone store.

I am also going to do a blog, focusing on the business as well as on plus size lifestyle issues in general - fashion, media, health, etc. I am pretty excited about it, it will be fun to blog about something new that interests me (being a curvy girl myself!). I am trying out Typepad for that blog, hopefully it will do everything I want it to do...

BooksFYI.com

I think I have mentioned here before that I have taken on a freelance project getting some local dealers of antique and collectible reference guides up online. It has been quite an adventure, and we are coming along quite nicely - the website is up (on BuyItSellIt, using it for this project and liking it is what swayed my decision to put Figure8Jeans there!) - booksFYI.com - and we are listing on eBay, Amazon, and a few other book sites.

I would say it will be growing in leaps and bounds over the next several months... It's been fun learning more about the online bookselling market, and I'm excited to help them grow their online presence!

Hrm, is that everything?

Oh yeah - I guess I'll need to find some time to eat, sleep, and shower... Wish me luck!