May Day! May Day! SOS (Save Our Stella)

Here I am in May 2020 confined to my home quilting quilts.  For me, I’ve been practicing social distancing since early March, so it has not been too much strain on me.  During this time of COVID-19, I’ve given people a 20% discount on E2E services as a means to assist finances during this crisis.  I have enough people who have taken advantage of this discount, but my queue ends around the third week of May, and southwest Florida’s Season is over. This leaves me full-time residents and possibly interior designers.  If more orders are forthcoming, I might be able to survive until the next Season.  If not, then the belt will need a new hole punched to tighten it a little more. I won’t qualify for any government assistance, and truthfully would not seek it as an option.

Being a small business, the primary obstacle is gaining new clients and developing a healthy backlog of work.  For me, I wish I could keep a running queue lasting three months or more. My queue as of today is dwindling to 3 weeks. In my discussions with customers, their quilters up north or other areas of the country have a turn-around time of 6 months or more. So bring me those completed UFO’s and current projects from the quarantine confinement that are ready to quilt so I can fill up my slower summer months ahead.

With the means of meeting people in person taken away, the effort shifts to attracting new customers through digital communications.  This has become my biggest challenge as the algorithms of the Internet are not conducive to websites that do not have traffic and reviews.  I can post pictures on Facebook and Instagram every day and get numerous likes or comments, but they still do not drive orders or new business.  I need reviews and referrals, but asking has seemingly fallen on deaf ears. I don’t want to be intrusive, but I cannot do this without your assistance, provided I have done good work at a reasonable price for you.

Much of my research focused around successful quilters I know or have met.  I know pricing is important, but trust me I am not getting rich quilting.  It’s been five years since I purchased my Gammill, and I am just now recouping that investment.  Therefore, I am reaching out to you for suggestions.  Jenny Doan charges 3 cents for E2E, $105 for hand binding, but offers free shipping if an order exceeds $100. But, that’s Missouri – ground zero for quilters.  Relocation is not an option for me at this point, so what does it take to increase my business? I know my location here in the country is not convenient, so would FREE pickup and delivery work?  One of the long arm Quilters I follow has processed over 900 E2E quilts in 2019, I did 130+.  They have customers mailing in tops and paying $7.50 for return shipping if an order less than $50, and FREE if over $100.  Will that work for you? We are willing to expand our pickup and delivery once weekly to Ft. Myers quilters, will that work for you?

Reach out and let me know how I can increase my business with you, a friend, or referral. (Hint – I give referral discounts!)Let me know if you are even reading this, that alone will give me new confidence. All suggestions are welcome. I love what I do and just want to keep quilting with you!