Easter Series Now Available on Etsy

Remember my fan club?  Well it's in full swing but I want it to be so much more.  These things take time though.  I want to share with you my vision for the club and the steps I plan to take to realize this vision.

My Vision

1.  Community
I want the fan club to be a place for my fans and customers to meet, chat, and get to know each other.  I want members to share photos as well as their lives.  I think this is asking a lot however.  With so many clubs, social networks, etc on the internet I imagine it is going to be hard to get people to check yet another website.  I was hoping Flickr had an automatic email system which would email members when there are new discussions or replies, but I can't seem to find anything.  This is going to be my most difficult challenge; getting members to visit the club regularly.  I'm not sure I will stay with Flickr for this reason, but for now I'm going to give it a try.

On the other side of this, the community needs to be larger in order to incite more discussions.  Right now we are at 15 members.  Hopefully as the club grows more people will join in on discussions.

One thing I am hoping to start soon is contests.  My idea is that each month I will host a contest on the club.  For example I'm thinking this month (or April) will be BeBes dressed for Easter.  Members will have one week (or more) to post a photo of their Easter BeBe and then we will vote for the best photo here on my blog.  The winner of the contest will receive something from me.  I haven't quite got this month planned out yet but I'm hoping to announce it soon.

2.  Photo Sharing
Ideally I would love if every time a BeBe is adopted, the customer posts a picture to the fan club.  I love seeing BeBes in their homes, especially re-dressed or played with.  Right now I am messaging all new customers and directing them to the fan club, hoping this will happen.  I am also thinking about offering a special discount for all new members who post a photo.

3.  Exclusive
The main idea for the fan club is to offer customers special deals and offers available only to fan club members.  I want to create active BeBe Baby collectors who are excited for the next fun series, contest, or giveaway.  This is taking a lot of planning but I have a tentative schedule for the next year mapped out.  The difficulty here is having the time to make the quantity of dolls that I want for each series.  In my experience people really enjoy having the largest selection possible.  For example, when I have done craft shows, I have found that the last 1 or 2 items on the table will never sell.  Even if it is the most beautiful item in the group, it won't sell because there is nothing to compare it to and choose between.

My goal is to have at least 10 dolls per series, but as this month has shown me it will not always be possible.  Some of my series will correspond with holidays, which means I need to have them ready for adoption well in advance of the holiday so the shipping time is accounted for.  Also things like illness, my day job, blogging, shopping, etc seem to always get in the way of my sewing time.  This creates so much frustration for me, so for the time being I am trying to just make as many as I can and not let it stress me out.

Which brings me to the first series!  I was able to complete 4 Easter BeBes.  I hope you like them.  You can find them in my shop on Etsy.  AND don't forget if you join the fan club you will find an exclusive discount code in the discussions to get $15 off of the Easter BeBes.  So join today and let's make a thriving BeBe community!