Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The little engine that could Etsy shop...
Photo from MishasMunchkins
In the past year my shop has gone through many changes, and I've learned so much from Etsy's Virtual Labs, chat rooms, and The Storque. My favorite is the Quit Your Day Job series. The shops featured in those labs have similar stories. I've found that having a successful Etsy shop is very much like the story The Little Engine That Could. We all start that long laborious trek up the mountain. We try, and try, and try. I know it's a long road. I know it's a lot of work. We all say to ourselves I think I can! As we go we pick up little things here and there. We learn how to take better pictures of our work. We learn how to write an amazing item description. We learn the most effective way to use our tags. We develop great customer service. We learn how to price our work . We learn the ins and outs of the postal system. We learn how to market ourselves in a way that is effective to our brand. We work and work to get up that mountain. And just like the little engine that could, we reach the top and we start to pick up speed & it gets a bit easier. And easier. And easier. Until we are powering down that mountain at full bore and building up speed so nothing or no one can stop us! That's how I feel about my shop. I can feel it, I am cresting that mountain. I see the horizon. I will always have to work and be a good little engine, but I know that I can see the horizon and that I am The Little Engine That Could! I say to all of my other Etsy colleagues... keep trying, keep chugging along. You WILL get there. I have faith in all of you that as a wonderful handmade community we can all achieve our dreams! And if you ever have doubts, or troubles, or questions... you are in good company. There is always someone to help, to pick us up, and get us up that mountain!
I've added links throughout this post that may or may not be helpful... Etsy is so full of information for us, I hope I have at least pointed you in the right direction.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Featured Etsian... SweetsNStuff!
Please welcome... Morgan of SweetsNStuff!
Sally: What brought you to Etsy?
Morgan: I have always been creative and into making things especially Hair Accessories (I am a licensed cosmetologist). Well I made enough for other people/friends and everyone kept telling me to sell them! So I thought about it for a while then decided to just go for it, it's been a slow road to start but I believe that with any company it takes time! Just paying my dues like anyone else and getting the word out about my store as much as I can.
Sally: Who or what inspires your creations?
Morgan: My inspirations comes from a lot of different places, I am kind of all over the place with my style personally and it reflects in the store as well it's a little bit of the pin up era, vintage-inspired, mod, dark/gothic, retro, with some brights (think 80's early 90's graffiti, betsey johnson, cyndi lauper, prince :) )and bohemian tossed in there too :) I am a bit smitten with the pin up era and the vintage/vintage inspired stuff actually VERY smitten, but a lot of the products on the market that I have found are either very high priced (beautiful and worth it, but not on many people’s budget unfortunately) or look a bit cheap. I wanted to make items that were well made, attractive - you can wear it anywhere and with anything, and budget friendly!
Sally: What time of day do you work best and why?
Morgan: I seem to work well either really early in the morning or really late at night. Insomnia and a restless 2 year old makes for late nights and early mornings. That is when my house is the calmest and I am really able to dive into projects. I also get a lot of work done during my sons infusions (we are stuck in a room for anywhere between 8 hours and 2 days) because he is either sleeping or sitting in my lap asleep :)
Sally: Who do you market to? Who do you see buying your work?
Morgan: I thought when I opened the store up that I would be catering a lot to the alternative crowds (pin up, lolita, goth, mod, moddish mayhem, bohemia, etc) but I have people order from the store and custom orders from all walks of life people buying for their children, for newborns and much more!
Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?
Morgan: I really love making it all. It is all a lot of fun from the hair accessories to the jewelry to my altered items! I've recently really gotten into jewelry making, ironically it was never an intention to sell jewelry but it's becoming one of my best sellers! I'm enjoying seeking out new techniques to learn!
Sally: What is your favorite beverage while you work?
Morgan: Typically it's something very caffeinated I'm a big fan of overly sweet drinks as well perhaps it's the Texan in me but I LOVE sweet tea, sweet espresso and things of that nature! All cold too, I'm not a big fan of warm drinks.
Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?
Morgan: Pricing? Isn't that all of our downfall? LOL I really love the look of stamps/stamping but I really stink at it so that's something I'd love to learn or be able to do better.
Sally: If you could interview your main influence who would it be and what would you ask?
Morgan: hmmm that is a tough one because I wouldn't say my stuff inspired by one specific person, but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to meet Betsey Johnson she is a huge idol of mine and I absolutely adore her work!
Sally: What do you listen to while you work? While you don’t work?
Morgan: A little bit of everything literally I love freestyle, rock and roll, country, Christian rock and gospel, a little bit of hip hop/rap but most of that is underground stuff, and hard house.
Sally: Do you have any deals or promos to share?
Morgan: I do!! I decided to start my black Friday - cyber Monday sale early (we started Nov. 23rd) so everything in the store is 25% off all you have to do is enter the word "trunk" at the time of checkout in the comments box. Once payment is received I will credit the discounted amount back to your account. Sale ends Nov. 30th at 12 pm PST
This Etsian is a great support to other sellers and a wonderful joy to see on twitter everyday!!! Thank you, Morgan, for being a part of my blog and being there whenever someone out there needs to get picked up :) Readers, thank you, and I hope you find her shop as wonderful as I have! http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetsnstuffSally: What brought you to Etsy?
Morgan: I have always been creative and into making things especially Hair Accessories (I am a licensed cosmetologist). Well I made enough for other people/friends and everyone kept telling me to sell them! So I thought about it for a while then decided to just go for it, it's been a slow road to start but I believe that with any company it takes time! Just paying my dues like anyone else and getting the word out about my store as much as I can.
Sally: Who or what inspires your creations?
Morgan: My inspirations comes from a lot of different places, I am kind of all over the place with my style personally and it reflects in the store as well it's a little bit of the pin up era, vintage-inspired, mod, dark/gothic, retro, with some brights (think 80's early 90's graffiti, betsey johnson, cyndi lauper, prince :) )and bohemian tossed in there too :) I am a bit smitten with the pin up era and the vintage/vintage inspired stuff actually VERY smitten, but a lot of the products on the market that I have found are either very high priced (beautiful and worth it, but not on many people’s budget unfortunately) or look a bit cheap. I wanted to make items that were well made, attractive - you can wear it anywhere and with anything, and budget friendly!
Sally: What time of day do you work best and why?
Morgan: I seem to work well either really early in the morning or really late at night. Insomnia and a restless 2 year old makes for late nights and early mornings. That is when my house is the calmest and I am really able to dive into projects. I also get a lot of work done during my sons infusions (we are stuck in a room for anywhere between 8 hours and 2 days) because he is either sleeping or sitting in my lap asleep :)
Sally: Who do you market to? Who do you see buying your work?
Morgan: I thought when I opened the store up that I would be catering a lot to the alternative crowds (pin up, lolita, goth, mod, moddish mayhem, bohemia, etc) but I have people order from the store and custom orders from all walks of life people buying for their children, for newborns and much more!
Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?
Morgan: I really love making it all. It is all a lot of fun from the hair accessories to the jewelry to my altered items! I've recently really gotten into jewelry making, ironically it was never an intention to sell jewelry but it's becoming one of my best sellers! I'm enjoying seeking out new techniques to learn!
Sally: What is your favorite beverage while you work?
Morgan: Typically it's something very caffeinated I'm a big fan of overly sweet drinks as well perhaps it's the Texan in me but I LOVE sweet tea, sweet espresso and things of that nature! All cold too, I'm not a big fan of warm drinks.
Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?
Morgan: Pricing? Isn't that all of our downfall? LOL I really love the look of stamps/stamping but I really stink at it so that's something I'd love to learn or be able to do better.
Sally: If you could interview your main influence who would it be and what would you ask?
Morgan: hmmm that is a tough one because I wouldn't say my stuff inspired by one specific person, but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to meet Betsey Johnson she is a huge idol of mine and I absolutely adore her work!
Sally: What do you listen to while you work? While you don’t work?
Morgan: A little bit of everything literally I love freestyle, rock and roll, country, Christian rock and gospel, a little bit of hip hop/rap but most of that is underground stuff, and hard house.
Sally: Do you have any deals or promos to share?
Morgan: I do!! I decided to start my black Friday - cyber Monday sale early (we started Nov. 23rd) so everything in the store is 25% off all you have to do is enter the word "trunk" at the time of checkout in the comments box. Once payment is received I will credit the discounted amount back to your account. Sale ends Nov. 30th at 12 pm PST
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Giveaways Begin!
On December 17th will be my one year Etsiversary! I am celebrating with giveaways for you! Here are the dates for my giveaways:
December 3rd
December 10th
December 17th
The first giveaway will be a set of mini chopstick journals and 10 hearts.
What you need to do to participate:
: : Follow my blog, and leave a comment.
: : Follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/nightowlcraft and tweet the giveaway. Don't forget to leave a comment.
: : Comment on an item in my shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/nightowlcraftworks
Each comment will be counted as an entry and I will use a randomizer to pick the winner.
In awe of my daughter...
My Emily is one of the sweetest kids you'll ever meet. She has a knack for including everyone in what is going on around her. She has been waiting, and waiting, and waiting, to be able to open her very own Etsy shop. I have a shop and my 12 year old daughter has a shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlelelly). So when my husband started his shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/lamplightpottery) she was very disappointed. She has helped all of us with our shops, whether it's getting packages together, playing with the baby for 5 more minutes so I can get something glued, or pounding out clay for buttons.
She made a drawing last night and handed it to me and said, mommy you can put this on your Etsy shop to make your shop better. She did it! She hit the nerve that sparked action! It probably helped that she put her little hand on the small of my back when she said it. That always gets me, when she tries to comfort and empathize with me. It always reminds me how quickly they grow up, and how we NEED to cherish every single moment with our children.
As soon as she was tucked into bed I listed her print... then I twittered the listing... and I hoped and prayed that some kind person would want my little girls beautiful piece of artwork! Then it happened... my twitter BLEW UP! And I'm not talking any little thing. I could've stayed up all night reading all the nice things people were saying about my little girl! It didn't take long before someone bought it! Then I had people getting upset because they wanted the print also, so I decided that if we did limited edition prints that it would make everyone happy. I only wanted to do 5, because at 99 cents I think I'm probably losing a dollar or two :) She wanted to sell her picture for 99 cents, so that's what we did and this was more about her than my pocket book. Tonight we will be talking about pricing her work. So as I was printing out the sold items I checked my twitter one last time... ETSY TWEETED HER LISTING! I almost fell over! I walked away from the computer with my jaw to the floor! I did not sit back down at the computer, because like I said I could've talked about her all night... and I would've had to walk around today with a coffee IV.
So, after all was said and done she sold 3 and we are trading 2. When I woke her this morning and told her that she sold her print, she says to me. Well I better get to work! The kid cracks me up! Every morning it's a struggle to get her going and ready for school, but this morning I just watched everyone flit around me and get ready for school.
While they were getting ready I had a few seconds to sit down and check my Google Analytics (the thing that tells me who visits my shop and other great info). It is amazing the hits my shop page got! In just a few hours the shop got 19 times the views it usually gets! I was yelling at my husband to come look! So I said to him, look at all of these views and I didn't get one sale! I should've known better! Right before she left for school she said to me, are you jealous because you didn't sell any journals? Aww, I know! Cute, right! I told her that I was jealous, but that I was very proud and happy for her!
She skipped off to school with stories to tell, a note in her book bag telling all the states he sold prints in, and loving that she has her own "shop" section in my shop. She'll be adding more this afternoon. We are truly an Etsy family!
She made a drawing last night and handed it to me and said, mommy you can put this on your Etsy shop to make your shop better. She did it! She hit the nerve that sparked action! It probably helped that she put her little hand on the small of my back when she said it. That always gets me, when she tries to comfort and empathize with me. It always reminds me how quickly they grow up, and how we NEED to cherish every single moment with our children.
As soon as she was tucked into bed I listed her print... then I twittered the listing... and I hoped and prayed that some kind person would want my little girls beautiful piece of artwork! Then it happened... my twitter BLEW UP! And I'm not talking any little thing. I could've stayed up all night reading all the nice things people were saying about my little girl! It didn't take long before someone bought it! Then I had people getting upset because they wanted the print also, so I decided that if we did limited edition prints that it would make everyone happy. I only wanted to do 5, because at 99 cents I think I'm probably losing a dollar or two :) She wanted to sell her picture for 99 cents, so that's what we did and this was more about her than my pocket book. Tonight we will be talking about pricing her work. So as I was printing out the sold items I checked my twitter one last time... ETSY TWEETED HER LISTING! I almost fell over! I walked away from the computer with my jaw to the floor! I did not sit back down at the computer, because like I said I could've talked about her all night... and I would've had to walk around today with a coffee IV.
So, after all was said and done she sold 3 and we are trading 2. When I woke her this morning and told her that she sold her print, she says to me. Well I better get to work! The kid cracks me up! Every morning it's a struggle to get her going and ready for school, but this morning I just watched everyone flit around me and get ready for school.
While they were getting ready I had a few seconds to sit down and check my Google Analytics (the thing that tells me who visits my shop and other great info). It is amazing the hits my shop page got! In just a few hours the shop got 19 times the views it usually gets! I was yelling at my husband to come look! So I said to him, look at all of these views and I didn't get one sale! I should've known better! Right before she left for school she said to me, are you jealous because you didn't sell any journals? Aww, I know! Cute, right! I told her that I was jealous, but that I was very proud and happy for her!
She skipped off to school with stories to tell, a note in her book bag telling all the states he sold prints in, and loving that she has her own "shop" section in my shop. She'll be adding more this afternoon. We are truly an Etsy family!
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