After finally getting someone who could help us sort out our financial side to the whole go to the hospital and think death is knocking at the door thing, today we are feeling a lot better about progress, and where we can get help that is actually helpful. We also got a report back saying things are looking on the up and up for Missus, and on top of all that, she seems to be feeling generally a bit better, though there are still problems that she has to overcome to feel 100%. It has been a struggle, that’s for sure. I can’t think of anything so scary or worse that didn’t result in someone ending up dead after. This has been harrowing.
We got some things sorted and then went to the store to buy a few things for the pantry, then came home and I soon went to pick up the girls from the bus stop. Home again, some chores done, and some firewood brought in, and I made them burgers for their tea. Missus got up from a short nap, and I made her the Chinese that we picked up at the store only a little while before. Tomorrow, I need to check in about a job I have applied for, I think, and maybe look up a few more to try out.
The heart of the problem for us seems to lay in marketing our businesses. We don’t know how to drive traffic through the door, as it is commonly said. We don’t know how to get interested people to come and see what is on sale, and what we have to offer. So that is something we either have to work out on our own, or I need to pay out to Zuckerberg for advertising, and trust in his algorithm that has already shown bias to me by preventing posts on my business page from being seen by even the people who subscribe to it. It all seems so out of human control and feels so wrong to me. For example, I don’t know if you have noticed it or not but spellcheck has gotten worse on the computer. Mine, at least. It seems that when I spell a word wrong by a letter, spellcheck offers almost every imaginable correction except for the right one. It used to always include the right word in the suggestions list. And to think; these people who write programs want us to ride in their cars driven by these machines. Not me. Not yet. So I don’t trust algorithms. I’d rather put up a sign.
I want to build a few prototypes and jigs for making production work out of what I prototype, so I can make something the moment it is ordered, or in batches. Then I want to put images of the prototype up on the website and offer it for sale. I’d be great with selling a couple of chandeliers and a few other objects per week, for example. I could probably live off that. I could at least pay my bills to some degree! Then I could branch out even more prototypes and more offerings. But again, I need to drive people to the website where things are for sale. Maybe that is where Etsy comes in? Maybe I risk too much in the way of idea theft there. Have you also noticed? Everything we make is being copied in China now. They scour the web and find things that they can make and sell, and they steal it, right down to the images sometimes, and then sell it from there. That is destroying the online small business culture in America right now, and none of our politicians are doing anything about it. The only thing we can really do is keep our stuff offline and only allow it to be seen by those who come to the shop. But as I said, we need traffic through the door. It is all very difficult.
Well, I may work on finishing my current prototype tomorrow. I would like to put together some sort of advertising. It would be great to find that careful balance. I see a QR code coming in our future. And some signs for the local shop bulletin boards.
But for now, I foresee bed, and a good night’s rest! I sure didn’t get that last night after I woke up at 2AM and could not get back to sleep.