** Long blog post alert, but it’s worth it.
Happy new year to all my Glitter Whores! I wish you all good health, happiness, and all the sparkle your hearts can handle in 2022!
I don’t really do resolutions, but I do set goals. At the beginning of 2021 I had only been in business for 6 months. I set a goal to be committed to spending the entire year putting everything I had into growing the business. Everything. All my time, all my money, all day, every day, TGWS was my first priority. I rarely took a day off. I forgot what weekends even were, and half the time I didn’t even know what day it was. I have a roll away bed in the store, and I’ve used it. It’s that level of commitment.
All this was to try and set myself up for keeping TGWS open long term. I definitely held myself accountable to that goal, and it did indeed pay off. It was an exhilarating, exhausting, rewarding year. 🤪
I am thrilled to report 2021 was a pretty fantastic year for TGWS! Here are some highlights:
* We gave TWO Tip Share gifts in 2021! We raised money through the sale of our custom blends, Tip Share Warm, and Tip Share Cool, as well as donations from me and from others. In August we gifted $500 to Misty at Alice’s Restaurant, and on Christmas Eve our biggest gift to date, we gifted $750 to Dominique at Ballyhoos. The total Tip Share gifts we’ve given is now $1,900!
*We saw the innagural BIG Box take shape in June. I offered 200 boxes, and they sold out in an hour and 40 minutes!
*We got a 2nd BIG Box off the ground in September! That round I offered 300 boxes and they sold out in 4 days! I’m learning more about how to make them even better for you with each box.
*We added some shapes, and lots of beautiful new glitter colors, and started adding custom mixes as well!
*Aprons! We have aprons with our girl Pinky prominently displayed on the front!
*We implemented the text alert program, which helps you guys with reminders of important sales, and notifies you when big restocks happen.
* I finally got brave enough to re-vamp the website. Tech stuff is not in my skill set. I got a lot of positive feedback about how much easier the site is to navigate now, so I’m thrilled, but still scared to do it again. 😂
*In September we added mica powders to our line up, and I’m really excited to grow that line with more color options, and chameleons!
* For the second year in a row I was able to absorb the USPS temporary holiday rate increase, and pass that savings on to you. Unfortunately USPS (just like last year) is implementing a permanent increase on January 9th, so you will see a slight increase in shipping costs, from all business.
*Our TikTok account has enjoyed some success this year, growing by over 20k new followers, to total over 31k followers now! The daily lunchtime lives have become something I look forward to so much! Eatting lunch with my “co-workers” really helps keep my moral up on those days when I’m doubting myself, like we all do. After lunch I pack orders and show off all the colors, sometimes we’re filling shakers, and sometimes we even go on field trips! But we switch over to IG for that because TT doesn’t like you to move around. 😎
*We where noticed by a couple of big name influencers this year who showed off our glitter, none were paid, We don’t do affiliate programs, so you can trust any time you see a review it’s honest and from the heart. They do it because they love our products, not because of a kickback. Those honest reviews resulted in record breaking sales this November.
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As you know, I am a small, one person operation. I do the best I can with the resources I have, but being small does mean my site and the products I offer will expand a little more slowly than the big companies with big company budgets and buying power. I appreciate you all showing such patience as I grow. I owe any success I have to all of you. ❤️
Even with that being taken into consideration though, I do have some pretty exciting new ideas for this year, and I can’t wait to roll it all out but by bit!
Sadly the referral program is not working out, and will be ending next week. I gave it a full year, but it’s costing me more than it’s brining in. If you already have a code from someone using your link, your discount will still work, but there won’t be any new codes.
The next BIG Box will be in the spring, I’m hoping for early March, but stay tuned for a confirmed date. It is directly affected by how quickly/slowly the items arrive at the store, most items are already in house though so there’s some good news!
The Ultimate Crafter’s Phone Stands have arrived! I will be testing each one to make sure they work before sending them out. The pre-orders will go out first, the rest will be available Friday 1/7/22. A text reminder will go out Friday when they go live. There will only be approximately 50 available, and they will not be reordered, so if this is on your wishlist, don’t wait!
In closing, I want to thank each and everyone one of you for continuing to support my small business. My dream come true. Even if you can’t buy from my store, the shares, likes & comments all help to get the word out. I owe you guys everything, and I’m so, so very thankful for you. ❤ If you’ve read through this far, you deserve a reward. Please use promo code FEELING22 now through midnight EST 1/6/22 for 22% off any purchase over $25.