"If you could put this much energy into something that actually works, you could have a much better life." So says my dad regarding the magic spells business.
This is probably true, but the issue being that to date nothing else works at all. Magic works as a business -- just, barely. Right now I'm getting very very few customers... some recent changes might have harmed instead of helped. For example, I might go back to my old pricing system. I had dumped it because it was too complicated for most people (basically, it was based on exact price of ingredients plus a set price for the number of days' work; so you first had to have a consultation with me in order to find out what it would cost. But people seemed to imagine that "consultation" meant 'just write an email asking how much it costs' which was annoying and tended to waste a lot of time as I had to keep explaining the process to just about every person -- and then, even though I posted the typical price range all over the place on the site, even people who did go through with the consult routinely seemed to be shocked at the final price, and usually wouldn't buy anything anyway.) I had moved to a flat-rate system but, in order to ensure I wouldn't risk losing money or wind up doing things with too little pay, I had to just base it on the highest likely price for a spell... which means most people now *really* can't afford it. (Example: a spell that would have normally cost about $350 on the old system costs $900 now.) Particularly as my new model is to stress "Don't buy a spell you can't afford" -- that makes things hard.
Admittedly, that I should be particularly trying to get rid of idiots and lunatics hurts business too, since those are practically the only ones who ever bought anything. They're such unpleasant customers though -- I noticed that I'd spend day after day fretting and hoping to get a customer and yet, when I would get one, I'd still be miserable because working with them was just a nightmare. I don't want to deal with anymore desperate fucking people who are using a spell as their final hope (and most of the time are spending their last dime on said spell, adding even more pressure.) I'm trying to draw well-grounded weirdos who can actually afford a few hundred dollars worth of services (comparable to things like gym memberships, private music lessons, buying fancy coffee every single day, and so forth), who understand certain basic concepts of science and the English language so that I'm not ripping my hair out trying to understand what they're saying, or stuck trying to explain why it's not possible to turn them into a goat or whatever.
Anyway... in addition to all that, I've figured out how to make a knockoff of my favorite fudge from Scotland and I hope to be able to sell it somehow. Maybe that will bring some income. I just need to figure out HOW to sell it, since it doesn't have a long shelf life. Making it is fairly easy -- I'd just need to rent a commercial kitchen.
In other gripes, my teeth hurt. My teeth didn't hurt in 6 months in Scotland but started again almost soon as I came back to the US, so there's something around here that's causing the problem. The water maybe?
This is probably true, but the issue being that to date nothing else works at all. Magic works as a business -- just, barely. Right now I'm getting very very few customers... some recent changes might have harmed instead of helped. For example, I might go back to my old pricing system. I had dumped it because it was too complicated for most people (basically, it was based on exact price of ingredients plus a set price for the number of days' work; so you first had to have a consultation with me in order to find out what it would cost. But people seemed to imagine that "consultation" meant 'just write an email asking how much it costs' which was annoying and tended to waste a lot of time as I had to keep explaining the process to just about every person -- and then, even though I posted the typical price range all over the place on the site, even people who did go through with the consult routinely seemed to be shocked at the final price, and usually wouldn't buy anything anyway.) I had moved to a flat-rate system but, in order to ensure I wouldn't risk losing money or wind up doing things with too little pay, I had to just base it on the highest likely price for a spell... which means most people now *really* can't afford it. (Example: a spell that would have normally cost about $350 on the old system costs $900 now.) Particularly as my new model is to stress "Don't buy a spell you can't afford" -- that makes things hard.
Admittedly, that I should be particularly trying to get rid of idiots and lunatics hurts business too, since those are practically the only ones who ever bought anything. They're such unpleasant customers though -- I noticed that I'd spend day after day fretting and hoping to get a customer and yet, when I would get one, I'd still be miserable because working with them was just a nightmare. I don't want to deal with anymore desperate fucking people who are using a spell as their final hope (and most of the time are spending their last dime on said spell, adding even more pressure.) I'm trying to draw well-grounded weirdos who can actually afford a few hundred dollars worth of services (comparable to things like gym memberships, private music lessons, buying fancy coffee every single day, and so forth), who understand certain basic concepts of science and the English language so that I'm not ripping my hair out trying to understand what they're saying, or stuck trying to explain why it's not possible to turn them into a goat or whatever.
Anyway... in addition to all that, I've figured out how to make a knockoff of my favorite fudge from Scotland and I hope to be able to sell it somehow. Maybe that will bring some income. I just need to figure out HOW to sell it, since it doesn't have a long shelf life. Making it is fairly easy -- I'd just need to rent a commercial kitchen.
In other gripes, my teeth hurt. My teeth didn't hurt in 6 months in Scotland but started again almost soon as I came back to the US, so there's something around here that's causing the problem. The water maybe?
abadon:
you are beautiful 
franie:
I hope you get your business sorted out. 