Thinking it Might be Time to Change Roads

[Jake_]

I found MJs work about 3-4 months ago and am learning a hell of a lot.

I started the business I've been building about 8 months ago when I decided to take my love of sculpting with clay and create a product with it. I figured, "okay, I love sculpting and I love ancient art/mythology so I'll model candles that have ancient mythology carvings on them (entirely self-interest, I know - pay me to live my dream, not the right approach)." The shift from consumer to producer was an incredible mind bending experience but I wasn't thinking about the needs of others and what problems I can solve to make people feel better or help them with their lives. Unfortunately I've been seriously struggling to sell any of these things and it's making me think that perhaps it's starting to get to the time for me to change roads and develop an app or a website that adheres to the CENTS model, not to mention as MJ warns in Fastlane it did actually lower my enthusiasm towards making art for the moment which is a bummer to say the least.

I've been spending time on reddit looking for subreddits wherein people complain/rant and also listening out for people complaining in general. I've been taking their problems and mentally constructing CENTS based businesses to solve them, just training myself to understand the process. I know though that ideas are a dime a dozen and execution is king, it's just hard for me to let go of the business I've been working on and prepare myself to commit entirely to creating something new.

If interested here's the link to the business I built:
candleearth.com

Thanks for reading and I absolutely welcome any advice!

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Don't be mesmerized by the internet. You don't have to create an APP or a SAAS website to be "Fastlane". I'd keep looking for a way to transform your skill into a scalable venture.

Welcome to the forum.

If interested here's the link to the business I built:
candleearth.com

I really like the talent here and you might need just to pivot/adjust your product and execution.

Don't give up just yet. Perhaps custom creations and target an affluent market who is willing to pay $250 for a candle set instead of $25?

 

[mdot]

Holy smokes! Those are some nice looking candles!

This post reminded me about a Trends article I read recently that showed this graph of the egyptology subreddit... The subscriber numbers are still small but the growth seems to be speeding up. The article mentioned it in the context of growing interest in mythical and spiritual topics in the past 3-4 years. You could be early to the party!

 

[Jake_]

Don't be mesmerized by the internet. You don't have to create an APP or a SAAS website to be "Fastlane". I'd keep looking for a way to transform your skill into a scalable venture.

Welcome to the forum.



I really like the talent here and you might need just to pivot/adjust your product and execution.

Don't give up just yet. Perhaps custom creations and target an affluent market who is willing to pay $250 for a candle set instead of $25?

Awesome thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it. Within hours after making my post I got 3 orders on my site after weeks of nothing but tumbleweeds. Funny how that works, I'll get to work on adjusting course and see if I can snowball it.

 

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[Jake_]

Holy smokes! Those are some nice looking candles!

This post reminded me about a Trends article I read recently that showed this graph of the egyptology subreddit... The subscriber numbers are still small but the growth seems to be speeding up. The article mentioned it in the context of growing interest in mythical and spiritual topics in the past 3-4 years. You could be early to the party!

Thanks, I appreciate that
That's super interesting, this is the sort of reignition I needed for this project.

 

[peterb0yd]

Who might be your ideal customer for this product?

I'm thinking yoga studios, meditation retreat centers, art galleries, classy restaurants that serve ___ ethnic food (not sure which but maybe)...

You might have more luck targeting a specific niche with a bulk offer like MJ suggested.

That way you can update your website to speak directly to your niche and then even do some targeted outreach rather than just sit and wait for purchases.

 

[Miketing]

Are you on etsy? That's good for handmade stuff, right?

Maybe you can put your candles on there. They look cool.

Or even search other people's candles to see what's selling well and give you ideas.

Maybe there's a demand not being filled in the candle market. Try searching for candle-related keywords on google, amazon, and etsy (if that's possible). See what people are searching for.

Otherwise you could use Google Trends to see which topics are trending right now. Maybe there's some popular topics that you can use as ideas for carving.

Or get ideas from a similar type of business. For example, t-shirts. How do people come up with ideas for that? What t-shirt designs are popular lately? Can you put that on a candle?

Or maybe there would be a market for your designs if only you found the right audience and marketed to them in the right way. Have you done much research into that?

 

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[Gabbe18]

Perhaps a newsletter in combination with a YT channel where you show how you make these candles could be something?

If you get a few sign-ups to the newsletter you could send out an email with your newest products and get sales that way.

 

[WJK]

I found MJs work about 3-4 months ago and am learning a hell of a lot.

I started the business I've been building about 8 months ago when I decided to take my love of sculpting with clay and create a product with it. I figured, "okay, I love sculpting and I love ancient art/mythology so I'll model candles that have ancient mythology carvings on them (entirely self-interest, I know - pay me to live my dream, not the right approach)." The shift from consumer to producer was an incredible mind bending experience but I wasn't thinking about the needs of others and what problems I can solve to make people feel better or help them with their lives. Unfortunately I've been seriously struggling to sell any of these things and it's making me think that perhaps it's starting to get to the time for me to change roads and develop an app or a website that adheres to the CENTS model, not to mention as MJ warns in Fastlane it did actually lower my enthusiasm towards making art for the moment which is a bummer to say the least.

I've been spending time on reddit looking for subreddits wherein people complain/rant and also listening out for people complaining in general. I've been taking their problems and mentally constructing CENTS based businesses to solve them, just training myself to understand the process. I know though that ideas are a dime a dozen and execution is king, it's just hard for me to let go of the business I've been working on and prepare myself to commit entirely to creating something new.

If interested here's the link to the business I built:
candleearth.com

Thanks for reading and I absolutely welcome any advice!

Your candles are beautiful. They would be wonderful gifts.

Could you use those skills and design themes to make candle holders where the wax candle and wick are replaceable so they won't burn up your art? Since they are classic types of designs, I can see them in a translucent, marbled, jade green colored material. Or how about something that looks like a rosy quart? I'm thinking of a material that will allow the light of the candlewick to create a wonderful glow to set off your art.

Another market I thought about is the "white witch" and "new age" market. You must explore what symbols are popular so you know what they like. The reason I thought about that is that my assistant collects ocean-washed rocks from the beach here in Alaska. She sells them online for $20 for a small flat rate box. And she takes orders for what kind, size, and color of rocks they want -- as long as they fit into the box. I am amazed at how many boxes of rocks she sends out.

About your thinking concerning business -- when you get in tune with the basic concepts -- you will see opportunities all around you. Then you can craft and vet those opportunities around those parameters that you are learning.

 

[Jake_]

Your candles are beautiful. They would be wonderful gifts.

Could you use those skills and design themes to make candle holders where the wax candle and wick are replaceable so they won't burn up your art? Since they are classic types of designs, I can see them in a translucent, marbled, jade green colored material. Or how about something that looks like a rosy quart? I'm thinking of a material that will allow the light of the candlewick to create a wonderful glow to set off your art.

Another market I thought about is the "white witch" and "new age" market. You must explore what symbols are popular so you know what they like. The reason I thought about that is that my assistant collects ocean-washed rocks from the beach here in Alaska. She sells them online for $20 for a small flat rate box. And she takes orders for what kind, size, and color of rocks they want -- as long as they fit into the box. I am amazed at how many boxes of rocks she sends out.

About your thinking concerning business -- when you get in tune with the basic concepts -- you will see opportunities all around you. Then you can craft and vet those opportunities around those parameters that you are learning.

Great ideas, there's alot to play with here. Cheers

Can't believe your assistant is selling rocks like that, amazing. Reminds me of MJ talking about the pricing strategy of designer purses.

 

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[Jake_]

Perhaps a newsletter in combination with a YT channel where you show how you make these candles could be something?

If you get a few sign-ups to the newsletter you could send out an email with your newest products and get sales that way.

Awesome, having that video content would be great

 

[Jake_]

Who might be your ideal customer for this product?

I'm thinking yoga studios, meditation retreat centers, art galleries, classy restaurants that serve ___ ethnic food (not sure which but maybe)...

You might have more luck targeting a specific niche with a bulk offer like MJ suggested.

That way you can update your website to speak directly to your niche and then even do some targeted outreach rather than just sit and wait for purchases.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Jake_]

Are you on etsy? That's good for handmade stuff, right?

Maybe you can put your candles on there. They look cool.

Or even search other people's candles to see what's selling well and give you ideas.

Maybe there's a demand not being filled in the candle market. Try searching for candle-related keywords on google, amazon, and etsy (if that's possible). See what people are searching for.

Otherwise you could use Google Trends to see which topics are trending right now. Maybe there's some popular topics that you can use as ideas for carving.

Or get ideas from a similar type of business. For example, t-shirts. How do people come up with ideas for that? What t-shirt designs are popular lately? Can you put that on a candle?

Or maybe there would be a market for your designs if only you found the right audience and marketed to them in the right way. Have you done much research into that?

I'll get after that, cheers!

 

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