ADAMJK

You raised a smidge more than you needed for your Kickstarter for Unsolicited Advice (over 16x your goal). Was there a winning combination you used to secure that?

Kickstarter is all about telling your honest story, being upfront about what backers will help create (and receive themselves!) and planning reward levels that encourage backers to fund your true costs. You can’t make magic happen if all your backers are selecting a $1 “shoutout” or $5 “postcard.” Actually, writing and mailing postcards is probably more time consuming than actually shipping your product! Just keep it simple and direct.

It’s really hard to get through your products without pausing to laugh at each one (love that “You Tried”pin). How do you decide what gets a small batch versus becoming a mainstay?

I let everyone else decide! Every item starts as a small batch, based on ideas that pop into my head, both funny and sincere. If something is selling quickly, then I know to order more. Sometimes an item sells out quickly and I have already moved onto the next thing, so it just never comes back, or it gets reprinted a year later. My shop isn’t my primary job, but an art project turned e-commerce shop. The intention was always to make the things—sales & distribution is more like the necessary work to get them out into the world.

How has the integration with Big Cartel treated you so far? Is that what introduced you to ShipStation?

The new ShipStation integration with Big Cartel has completely changed my entire process, and just in time. Big Cartel’s community is all about small scale artists and makers, sometimes with just a few items to share. But as I keep growing, I knew it was time to start seriously thinking about my workflow. ShipStation has features I didn’t even know I wanted, and there are lots of small touches that help customers feel more confident about trusting a “weird artist guy from the internet” with their money, even when it’s just $10.

With the holidays very much here, how is ADAMJK preparing for the onslaught?

The fun thing about ADAMJK is that it’s just me, and everyone knows it. There’s a level of transparency that allows me to tweet things like “BLACK FRIDAY SALE: save up to 100% on your order at http://shop.adamjk.com by simply not buying anything today” – which is exactly what I tweeted last year.

How has ShipStation helped you with your business?

Uhhh now I don’t cringe if I see 100 orders waiting to go out? I do this all myself out of my apartment, and while growth has been a blessing, I’ve also kind of hoped for a little less of it. Now I’m just like “OK LET’S PRINT SOME LABELS!!!!”

What’s your favorite ShipStation feature?

Automatic shipment notice emails that I can have sent only AFTER packages hit the USPS mail stream. No more “hey is my tracking link broken????” emails from customers. They get the email, they click, and they immediately see progress. Also, batch label printing changed my life this week. I was able to process 900 Kickstarter packages in TWO DAYS. Sure, they were long days, but I never could have done it before ShipStation.

Adam J. Kurtz

Artist & Author

I do this all myself out of my apartment, and while growth has been a blessing, I've also kind of hoped for a little less of it. Now I'm just like "OK LET'S PRINT SOME LABELS!!!!"