Barnegat High School Holiday Craft Fair

On Saturday, Nov 23, I attended the Barnegat High School Holiday Craft Fair.  In my ongoing craft fair reviews, I am posting how it went.

First, I should say that the organizers did a great job at least in organizing the event. They were very responsive by e-mail, and it was easy to sign up and register.  On the day of the event they had the tables set up and ready to go, with unloading right by the door.

It ran from 9 am - 2 pm, had my table set by about 8:30.  (This is my wonderful sister Kati who helped me out with this one!)

When 9 am rolled around, Kati and I started playing the game so people would see how much fun it was.  It worked right away as the vendor in the booth next to mine came over and played, and bought 2 games!  It seemed the day was off to a good start.  10:00 came without too much traffic, but I figured on a chilly suburban Saturday, people might come later.  11:00, 12:00 and still not much.  

I finally got a few more people to play the game - 4 in total played, and I made one more sale of 2 games.  So the good news was that of the people who walked by, many were interested, those that played really liked it, and half purchased it.  But no one was walking by!  

I'm not sure what marketing was done for the event, but there was never much foot traffic.  If I had to guess I'd say there were about 100 people total who came to the event, probably more vendors than customers!  Luckily I broke even, but I would not do this one again.

Vendors on the other side reported that there was a regional high school craft fair the same day, which may have gotten a bigger crowd.  Even worse, Kati is from Brick, and when I drove her home, we went past Brick High School which was having their art fair and it was packed!  People were parked on the lawn because there were no parking spots (at around 2:30, and it lasted until 4 pm).  

But I still think I could do well with more people!  Next events I'm trying are the Birchwood Manor fair on Wednesday, Dec 4 and the Bizarre Bazaar in Maplewood on Dec 8.  But bottom line for Barnegat is to avoid unless the marketing improves.

Amazon is not friendly for small business

I have found Amazon very difficult to work with as a start up business, and as a result will no longer be using it.

I recently started a company, Get Well Games, selling card games with healing topics.  The first card game is Back Up!, where the object in the game is to get rid of back pain.  Before I ordered the games, I investigated selling it on Amazon.  Most people are very comfortable purchasing on Amazon, so it appeared to be a good platform for me.

Fees
Note these are the fees for my product, it may vary for yours
Back Up! is a lower end retail product, priced at $11.99.   For any Amazon product, you have to pay either a fee of $1 per product or $40 per month.  My monthly target is much higher than $40, so I opted for the monthly fee.  In addition, you also pay 15% of the price of the product (varies by product category).  It is a little hefty, but well within my profit margin, and seemed worth it to be on the platform.

Next, I investigated using Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA), where you send your product to Amazon's warehouse and they ship for you.  Being a one-person business, this model was very appealing.  Amazon not only ships, but handles invoicing and returns.  However, it is costly for a lower end product.  In addition to the fees above, I would also pay $2.42 for various order handling charges. (Also a monthly storage fee, which was minimal for a smaller product.)  My margin was shrinking fast!

Instead, if I shipped it myself, I would avoid the $2.42, and I would receive the shipping fee ($4.71 for Back Up!).  My costs for shipping (postage, envelopes, labels) run around $3.50, so I would get an additional $1.21.  Much better for the bottom line, so I proceeded using this option.

I was very disappointed in the way Amazon handles shipping - it seemed to me that they should make enough with the $4.71 to cover their shipping costs and order handling, and they should not charge me what is an exorbitant fee given the cost of my product.  It felt like being penalized for using FBA, when it would be in both of our best interests for me to be there.  Perhaps it is just to encourage only higher end retail products where the fee would be a much lower percentage.

Listing
I went ahead with Amazon, still believing it would be the best way to get people comfortable buying from a new company.  My next disappointment came when I created my listing.  I make the product, so I am the only seller, however when I listed the product it came out looking like there were other options:

Buyers would need to click on that button, see Get Well Games as a vendor, and then add it to their shopping cart.  I contacted Amazon to try to change it, a process they call winning the buy box. To win the buy box you have to be a Featured Merchant, and steps to becoming one were very vague.  You need to have a certain amount of sales, but they are creating a barrier to people buying it!    Still I pressed on.  I ran a Twitter campaign to drive traffic to my page, but after 70 hits, I had no sales.  I updated the picture and encouraging people who had the game from other sources to write reviews, and planned on ways to drive more traffic.

One very effective method for me would be to add a video showing how to play the game or even of people playing the game.  However, Amazon only allows videos for products they sell, another barrier in the way of small business.

Advertising on Amazon
One of the ways I had hoped to use was advertising on Amazon.  With a new product, I had hoped to gain exposure and get in front of people who were looking for get well gifts.  I set up the campaign, and it seemed to be running, but then noticed that I was getting no impressions.  When I looked into it, it turns out that only Featured Merchants can pay to advertise.  Yet another barrier!  Still I pressed on, trying to improve sales so that I could become a Featured Merchant.  With holidays coming up, I have Back Up! being listed in some holiday guides and also getting some press coverage, all with links back to Amazon for purchasing.

The final indignity
Which leads me to today, Nov 14.  I received a notification from Amazon that I would not be allowed to sell anything in the Toys and Games category during the holiday season, which they define to start on Nov 19, only 5 days away!  I needed to have sold a certain number of items by Oct 31, and at least one by Sept 19. I can understand that they want to ensure quality, but they should informed me when I added my product on October 21 of the blackout period.  Now during the busiest time of the year to sell my product, I will not be able to do it on Amazon.

I have moved sales to my own website using PayPal (see www.getwellgames.biz), which will improve my margins, but I will lose any network effect from being on Amazon (sales rankings, etc.). I will also lose the customer reviews.  However, I have no choice.  I really don't see going back to Amazon - what is the next thing they will do to stand in the way of my business?

Selling Back Up! at Clifton Flea Market

For the holiday season, I am taking Back Up! to vendor fairs and flea markets in the area. Part of my motivation is that I've noticed people are much more likely to purchase if they can play the game and see how much fun it is!  So in person, I can persuade them to try it out.

When I was looking at fairs, it was quite difficult to find information on what they were like.  I thought it might be useful to catalog my efforts and thoughts on them for others who might be considering attending in future.

The first one I attended was on Saturday Nov 9, the Clifton Flea Market.  As it will be in November, it was a chilly day - highs in low 40s, and cloudy for most of the day.  So that may have influenced the turnout.

First, there is no pre-registration, you just have to show up on the day and hope there is space.  Having attended, I think this is probably the choice of most of the vendors there, who don't want to have to deal with anything online.   Arrival was between 6:30 and 8:00, I got there at 7:30, and people came after me who still got spots.  Although it turned out the better spots were on the sidewalk, and perhaps those went to vendors who showed up earlier.  I gamely set up my table.  I had high hopes that I could get people to play the game by giving a prize, and also that I could get people on an e-mail list or liking me on Facebook.

It is hard for me to gauge how many people were there, but never really felt busy.  The sun did break through the clouds for a little while, and was as pleasant as you could hope for November.  Again, seemed a bit busier on sidewalk, I was in the middle, and there was not a good flow of people.

I did get some interest, but usually waned quickly when they learned of price ($11.99).   Most of the other vendors' items were priced from $1 - $5.  If you have items in that price range, or perhaps items that people are familiar with, this could work.  In general, it seemed like a pretty low income crowd, so wasn't good for my price point.  Also not good for e-mail list or Facebook.  All of the transactions I saw were cash, didn't seem to be a very tech savvy crowd.

The other issue that I didn't consider was that there were quite a few non-english speakers.  Not an issue if you are selling clothes or jewelry, but a huge issue for a card game in English!  That easily took out half of the people walking by.

Still, spending time with people looking at the table and asking some questions was useful.  As I was describing the game I realized it would go much better if they could see the cards, so I put them out on the table.  (Was windy, so I had to have the cardboxes to hold them down!).   I also learned to have a look at where you are placed before you set up and try to move if you don't like it!

For most of the morning, the only people with a genuine interest were other vendors.  I got one to play the game, but was hesitant to buy, and claimed no to have e-mail (sadly, I believed him).

Finally in the afternoon, I had questions and more interest.  However, couldn't get anyone to play the game.  I did get one person to play finally, which led to a sale!

So at the end of the day, while I would not do this one again, I am hopeful that it could work with better circumstances.  The next one I have lined up is in Barnegat High School on Nov 23!

Lessons From a Successful Kickstarter Project

I have a great product, and when I show it to people in person, they like it a lot.  However, I had a lot of trouble translating that into support on Kickstarter.  (Kickstarter project at http://kck.st/160GGTK)

My product is Back Up!, a humorous card game where the object is to heal your back pain.  During the campaign, I had a prototype that I could show people.  (For more detail, visit www.getwellgames.biz)

 Based on reactions I had received, I set my goal at $5,000 in 30 days.  I set a $20 goal to get the game, thinking I could get 250 people to join up.  While I did hit my goal, it was only with 50 people thanks to some generous donors. Check it out at http://amzn.to/1d2Untb

What worked
1. Facebook friends

• I sent a personal message to each of my FB friends (over 400) asking them to spread the word.  This lead to the bulk of my contributions.  As expected, my closer friends were much more likely to contribute, but there were some great exceptions.  A high school friend that I hadn't seen since graduating over 20 years ago was my first contributor!

2. Linked In Contacts

• Again, this involved sending a personal message to all of my contacts (close to 500).  I asked them to contribute on Kickstarter, like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.  I got many contributions this way, but the surprising part was how long it took.  Some responded right away, but I am still getting responses almost a month later!  So my advice is to start Linked In early in the process.  I did not send until the second week.

3. In person party

• I had a party to play the game and asked people to contribute to Kickstarter instead of bringing anything.  This was successful both in terms of contributions and in building some momentum and showing people what a fun game it is to play.  Some of my strongest supporters are from that night.  However, I had hoped to get about 50 people to attend, and it was only 20, about half of whom had already contributed.  I only gave 10 days notice, so it might be better to plan ahead to do something like this halfway through your project so you can spread the word earlier.

4. Multiple reward tiers

• I initially launched with only the $20 gift, and added a $40 signed copy about halfway through.  After I added it, about 50% of the contributions were for the higher amount.  I probably should have had lower tiers for the game that would sell out also.

Limited effectiveness
1. Friends of friends

• I had hoped that word of the Kickstarter campaign would spread through Facebook.  I did have friends re-post and about 60% of donors posted after they contributed.  However, I only got one contributor from all of the activity.

2. Last minute Kickstarter deals

• I had also hoped that there would be some positive press or recognition from being on Kickstarter, but that did not occur until the final day.  I received 2 contributions from people who found me from searches on projects about to expire.

3. Video updates

• I posted about one video per week, while these got some hits, I don't think they lead to any contributions
• Videos were initially straightforward, receiving less than 20 views
• I did a more fun one: http://bit.ly/17Q7r1a  that got around 50 views and picked up by a blog

What didn't work
1. Press release

• I used PRWeb to do a press release with 4 days left in the project (http://bit.ly/GGSWTj).  While I did not get a single contribution from the release, it did get picked up by another new source who did an interview and article (http://bit.ly/19Wzcb2).   This was expensive, about $300.

2. Twitter

• I ran a Twitter campaign, which yielded 50 clicks, but no actual contributions.  Also no contributions from my own tweets, primarily around back pain.  At least it was inexpensive, around $10.  And I did get a lot of impressions, which could help in the future.

3. Blogging

• I created an infographic that I thought would appeal to my target audience (http://bit.ly/1f6EjY3)  Only 21 clicks on bit.ly, and no contributions resulted.

4. Flyers

• I posted flyers in local area thinking that people might want to help a local business.  However, no contributions resulted.  I deliberately did not post them in my key demographic as I wanted to save it for the live product.

5. Linked In groups

• No contributions from posting on Linked In groups from special interests I belong to.  I'm not even sure who reads these posts, I don't see any of them myself.  

6. Google Crowdsourcing groups

• These groups are akin to a bunch of salespeople all trying to sell each other their products.  A bunch of salespeople with limited funds!  The idea behind the groups is to support each other, but most of the posts are just campaign pitches.  

7. Google Special Interest groups

• I also tried in some groups around back pain, but also not successful.  The groups were fairly small, so that could have played a part.

What I failed to consider was my target audience's comfort level with Kickstarter.   The process was a barrier for friends and family as well as people coming to Kickstarter from other sources.  I had several people that I had to walk through the process, and a few others that tried, but didn't complete it before the funding period ended.  I have no way to measure how many people visited the site and didn't join, but I did get 177 clicks on the Bitly link I created, so there were many in that category.

If I were to do it over again, I would get friends and family support lined up before I started the project.  I would also have video updates already prepared for some aspects of the project.  I do think it may be worth spending the money on a professional video.  Again, no way to measure, but I feel that the low quality of video may have turned some people off.  And I would be sure to plan an event at the midway point to rally support.

Still, I did achieve my goal, and the product is now live on Amazon!  Check it out at http://amzn.to/1d2Untb

For future projects, I am on the fence about whether the effort was worth the outcome.  I did come out ahead, but not by a whole lot.

Back Pain Information

I noticed on Twitter quite a few people in their 30s feeling old because they were having back pain.  I did some research and found in one study 50% of 18-20 year olds had already had some back pain!  I learned a few other interesting tidbits too, so put together this information.   If you or someone you care about has back pain, you should check out my Kickstarter project, Back Up!

Get Well Games Party!

Everyone had a great time at the Get Well Games celebration.  We got together on Saturday night for food, drink and playing Back Up!  

This is me playing with Karen and Steve

Karen and Steve couldn't stop playing!  Here they are with Rob and Ric.

We raised a lot of money for Kickstarter project, but I still have a long way to go!  Check out the project here.  For those who don't know, Back Up! is a fun, humorous game where the object is to get rid of your back pain.  It is my first commercial game, and it will be available on Amazon at the end of October!  It makes a great get well gift for anyone with back issues.

My first blog post!  For now, I will cover my backstory, then will post with updates as the company progresses!  You can visit at Get Well Games

In 2013, I had back surgery and knee surgery, and I was laid off from my job.  But it has turned out to be one of the best years of my life!

In January, after years of being pain free, I coughed after getting out of the shower.   I felt a pain in my back that I had never felt before, different from the sciatic pain I had in 2004, when I required 2 microdiscectomies.   My right thigh muscle seemed to turn to jelly overnight, and if I stood on it the wrong way, I fell down.  Meanwhile,  after earning an MBA from Columbia, I had spent years in the corporate life with some success, but my current job was managing a product that was fairly unimportant to the company.  Add on a 1 hour commute in heavy traffic, and I was pretty unhappy.

For the back pain, I tried physical therapy and chiropractic care, and was able to alleviate it somewhat, but the muscle weakness was getting worse.  Even rougher, I managed to injure my knee in one of the falls caused by my uncooperative leg muscle.  After an MRI revealed a severely herniated disc causing nerve damage, my orthopedic specialist suggested a discectomy as soon as possible.   I had the procedure and went out on medical leave.

Recovery was rough.   While my leg nerve was no longer being impinged, it did not get better right away.  Walking was difficult due to my knee injury and the pain from the surgery was severe.  Still, I dragged myself on walks and my parents drove me to physical therapy, so I slowly recovered.

As I healed, I realized that I didn't want to go back to my job.  I had lunch with a neighbor, and he told me a story about a woman who had struggled with depression, and helped herself get better by creating a board game around battling depression.  It helped her to have her avatar in the game overcoming obstacles she had in real life.  I've always loved games, and I had plenty of free time, so I decided to make a game about healing back pain.

Initially, I thought of some type of board game that involved the pain scales you also see in doctors' offices.  The goal of the game would be to move yourself down the pain scale until your pain was gone.  I was thinking about the game while taking one of my many walks through a local park, and I realized it would be hard for me to play it.  At this point, I could only sit up for 15 minutes or so before experiencing a lot of pain.  I tried to think of ways to play it lying down, when I came up with the idea of making it a card game.  I began to develop the idea in a notebook, which I could write in whether I was sitting, lying down, or standing up.

As I slowly improved, I was able to walk a little farther to a local pharmacy where I purchased a pack of index cards.  While lying in bed, I used a pencil to create the HEALTH, PAIN and ACTION cards.  Initially, they just had numbers on them, I added the explanations later.  My daughter and mother both love card games as much as I do, so they were my initial testers.  We spent many hours lying on my bed playing the game.  At first, there were too many HEALTH cards, and it was too easy to win.  Then there weren't enough and it was too hard.  I eventually settled on a good ratio, but still found the game needed something more.   I started adding in the explanations while I thought of a solution.  As I looked at the HEALTH cards, I realized something:  getting prescription medication, joining a gym, having surgery and many other cards would require resources to use in real life.   I added in the MONEY and INSURANCE cards, and then the game was a lot of fun.   Not too easy to win, but not impossible either.  I came up with the name Back Up, and my good friend Mark suggested adding the "!", so Back Up! was born.  I'm planning on creating other games around healing, so decided to call the company Get Well Games.

It took 3 months, but I finally recovered from my surgery.  I went back to work on a Thursday, and was laid off that Friday!  Still, I can't say I was too upset.  At first, I thought of looking for a more traditional job, but I decided to give myself a few months of working solidly on Get Well Games and Back Up! to see what I could make of it.  I registered Get Well Games as a company, and dove in to working on Back Up! It has been the best work experience of my life!  I love to be able to do everything from design, to copyright registration, sales and web development.  Back Up! debuts in October 2013