I start the day by once more logging on to look at emails. Etsy Orders, a BOMC account query and some pattern pieces from Graphic Designer Friend Ben in Samantha’s personal work account. Order confirmations and a contact form enquiry in the business account. I filter and sort the orders out and the open the customer contact form:

“Hi. I really love your patterns. I want a pattern for a shoe bag. Can you make me one? I need it by next week but I can pay you $40 for it.” 

I politely respond, thanking the customer for their message but unfortunately disappointing them, telling them that it would take far longer than 2 weeks and cost much more than $40 to design a new pattern from scratch. However, I say, I will pass the idea on to Samantha for future pattern ideas. 

Wednesday’s regular task is Analytics. I look at Google Analytics, FB Insights and download my own data from Etsy and Mrs-H.com. Google Analytics tells me how many people are visiting this blog and the Etsy store. The most consistently popular posts on the blog are new and original content – guides and tutorials. Humour gets quite a good audience as well, but the more useful a blog post, the greater the popularity. Today shows there was a large, unexpected leap on the blog yesterday. No new posts have been out the last couple of days, so I take some time to find out where the leap has come from. The most frequent landing page on the blog yesterday was the post "How to make an adjustable purse strap with two clip ends". The main source is Facebook. Eventually I track it down – a bag maker in Shirakawa has shared the post with her sizeable fan base. Who knew Samantha’s posts would travel all over the world! 

(From Samantha - now I want to know what the blog post is that we don't mention....)

Next I download data from Etsy and Mrs-H.com so I can see how many patterns were sold last month, and how that compares to the previous year. In November of this year Samantha has sold patterns with an increased value (compared to last November) of a whopping…………...33 pence! The most popular pattern changes from month to month, although since it has been released the Gentleman’s Wallet has reigned supreme every June, in the run up to Father’s Day, and especially in the run up to Christmas! 

It’s time to email Samantha. I include the idea about the shoe bag, summarise the key points of the analytics and tell her the good news about pattern sales income increasing by so much! It’s the end of another day and I’ve not managed to reduce my to-do list. But, I have made some pretty graphs!

**As you may have already guessed, I have used artistic licence for these blogs but EVERYTHING is based on something that has actually happened within my last few months as Samantha’s Office Manager, and some of it's more true than you could ever imagine.**

Thanks Amanda. Don't miss part four coming up tomorrow!

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