A Look Back at 2022
This year we set some realistic goals for ourselves and our business. Some of these goals were easily attainable and others we knew we would have to work for. Without struggle, there can’t be progress they say and well, whoever “they” is, they were right.
A few of our goals for this year were:
1,000 Instagram followers
2,000 Facebook followers
100 TikTok followers
Continued monthly blog posts
Get our products into other shops
Host an event as Sage & Oak
Rank higher in Google
Participate in 10-15 markets
So let’s start from the beginning and see how far we’ve come. We started the year with about 1,500 Facebook “likes,” 600 Instagram followers, and we didn’t have a TikTok until the end of the year so we’ll say 0 TikTok followers. We hit our goal of 1,000 followers on Instagram earlier in the month! We were so excited and we really appreciate all of the support! We have 1.9k followers on Facebook so we’ve almost doubled and hit our goal there too! We even hit our goal of 100 TikTok followers! Admittedly, we don’t use social media as much as we should so this goal kind of got tossed to the side to focus on our own personal mental health and being more productive in crafting. It’s still really cool to see that when we did our best and gave ourselves some grace, we still hit most of our goals. Always give yourself breaks when you need them. It’s so important to focus on your mental health as well.
We have continued our monthly blog posts as we had hoped we would. Although we weren’t always prepared and definitely had to rush a time or two to get it done, we have successfully written a blog post for the last 2 years! From business tips for your own business to personal life updates, we love writing content that you enjoy and find useful so we’ll continue for at least another year. We are already thinking of ideas of what to write for next year! If there’s anything you’d like to learn about specifically, please feel free to reach out and we’ll add it to our list of topics!
Glass Can Cups, Stickers, and Earrings that were available when we first brought our products to Scout’s Cafe in Springfield, Ohio
2022 has been a great year for Sage & Oak’s growth. We’ve added our stickers to a lovely shop in downtown Greenville, Ohio called “The Hive Collective.” It features a wide variety of handcrafted and local goods that everyone will love. There are just so many unique items to choose from. We also recently started selling a small selection of our glass can cups, polymer clay earrings, and waterproof stickers at Scout’s Cafe in Springfield, Ohio. It’s our favorite coffee shop in Springfield (and probably all time) and we’re so happy to be there. We change it out periodically and keep our products stocked so be sure to check it out next time you’re in the area! We are working on adding a larger variety of items there in the coming weeks!
As someone with anxiety, events are hard. Forcing yourself out of your shell to communicate with people is hard and can be extremely tiring. We wanted to leave our comfort zone to host an event this year to see if that would help make events easier. Over the summer, we co-hosted a First Friday Makers Market with Sip & Dipity Paint Bar where we invited other local makers to sell their goods in the North Marketplace alley in downtown Springfield. We met so many other incredibly talented artists and makers and even provided some of them their very first opportunity to present their goods to the public. It felt so good to be able to make a difference for people and that’s why we’re going to host these markets again next year, but we’re going to make them even better.
Taylor set up at our very first vendor event, the Champion City Holiday Market in 2021.
Speaking of events, we recently celebrated the first anniversary of the first market we’ve ever done! It was the Champion City Holiday Market and that opened up so many doors to us. We learned a lot from the very first market and we’ve improved each one since. By the way, we have surpassed our goal of 10-15 markets. In fact, we’ve more than doubled it! All summer long we were set up during the Springfield Farmer’s Market, we set up at the Gem City Gardening Gals Plant Swap & Shop, Springfield Pride, Springfield’s Wizarding Weekend, the Market at Mother’s, etc. We’ve grown so much as a business from each market we do and we hope to continue to grow as we participate in more in the coming months. Shoutout to everyone who has given us the opportunity to set up and sell our products at your event. You’ve helped us so much along the way and we really appreciate it!
DIY checkout stand we made from 3 wooden crates.
Over the summer we got tired of not having room to put our checkout materials without scattering it all over the table so we decided to brainstorm ways to make it more streamlined. We came up with the idea to make a DIY checkout stand because we couldn’t afford to buy something we could use because it wasn’t cost effective. When we figured out our blueprints, we figured out the best way to make it happen. We basically just attached 3 wooden crates together and stained them. The top of the stand is where the iPad goes, the top cubby is where the cashbox goes, the middle is where we store our glassine and organza bags. The bottom shelf has random tools and things we might need. We even attached hooks to the outside so we can hang our bags from. The stand is so convenient and it keeps our tables from getting super cluttered. The best part of it is that during the whole process, we made a step-by-step tutorial (which just so happened to be one of our first serious videos). This video was more popular than we thought it would ever be and it’s still getting views, likes, and saves. We’re so happy to help others come up with simple, cost-effective, and useful ideas to help make life easier.
Planned Parenthood Donation - 53 Stickers $220 August 1, 2022
Strong. Capable. Female. Sticker in collaboration with Elisabeth Ashliegh Photography
In April, we were approached at a local event by a photographer who recently designed some stickers but didn’t totally love their original design. She asked for our help in redesigning something that more suited her and of course we said yes! This special sticker was a collaboration with Elisabeth Ashliegh Photography and we were so happy to bring her ideas to life. Her message is an affirmation that no matter the season you are in, you are a powerful force. You have the strength and ability to grow, to be what you want to be, to overcome. Perfect as a reminder for yourself or as a gift for another strong, capable, female in your life. These stickers launched mid-April and we're so thankful to have added them to our collection. You can get one on our website or at one of our upcoming events. Wanna know something even better? Elisabeth receives 1/2 the money spent on each sticker so you’re supporting 2 businesses with the purchase of one sticker!
March 1 we celebrated our second birthday. It’s been a tough ride with all of the ups and downs but we’re so happy we’re still going strong and that we didn’t give up when that seemed like the easiest option. We’ve spent much of the last year struggling with things beyond our control so it’s been pretty discouraging at times. We thought we’d just give up and some of our problems would solve themselves. Fast forward to several months later and we’re so glad we’re still here.
Also as a special thank you for reading this blog, take 10% off your next order with promo code: “BLOG10”!