Natural Amber Designs Crafty Corner

ETSY Promoting 101: ETSY Mini

2009-06-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

Are you using your ETSY Mini to showcase items from your ETSY shop? If not why aren't you? The mini that ETSY provides sellers is a wonderful way to attract people to your shop, whether you post it on your social networking site, or as I have above, use it on your blog. What can it do for you?

* bring new customers in
* build a visual portfolio to convince people to see what you have to offer
* great and easy way to point to potential wholesale and retail clients a quick glance at what you have to offer
* a great way to glance at your own shop and see how your pictures stack up!

Promotion is the key to attracting new clients and customers, and the ETSY Mini is one small and simple way to do that.

Etsy 101: Promoting Your ETSY Store

2008-11-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

Setting up shop online, on ETSY, can be a lot of hard work and especially at the beginning. I have been a successful jewelry artist with my customers that I see at jewelry parties, or talk with on the phone, and the online world for me was a little scary and overwhelming. I was so used to the word by mouth and referral customers that I didn’t know where to start when it came to selling on ETSY, and I am still learning day by day. I hope the information I provide is this blog can help steer you the right way.

1. Have Business Cards With Your Etsy Shop On Them. Some of the most business you will get will be from who you know, and who knows you. A great step to getting your name and your ETSY shop out in the open is to hand out business cards that have all your company’s information on them. I have had a few people call me that I met while out on Karokee night, who said they absolutely love my stuff, and will be purchasing in the near future. You may not have immediate sales (also since it is summer, slower shopping season) but when they are in the market for a nice gift they’ll think of you and that card you gave them.

2. Start a Blog. Starting a blog is a great way for people to get to know who you are and helps potential customers find you. People love content, and they love knowing the artist behind the shop. Plus, it is a great way to educate people on what you know. Advice can go a long way in gathering new customers, so share what you know and you would be surprised how many people will just love you for it! I enjoy writing in my blog, it makes me feel more connected with people interested in jewelry.

3. Market Yourself Through Social Networks. Social Networking Sites are a great way to market yourself online and also a great way to make a close niche of friends who have the same interests as you. It is also a great tool for marketing. There are intems on ETSY, such as ETSY Mini, you can add to your blog on MYSPACE or send out as a bullentin to all your friends. You can submit pictures on your site of some of your newest creations as well as blogs on your current projects in the pipeline.

4.Get Involved on ETSY! I think one of the best ways to get yourself known on ETSY is to be involved and make friends through Virtual Labs, Chat, and the Forums. Offer advice, and ask questions. These places are here to help you, as well as get to know you. Just remember sellers are also buyers, and the more they see your AVATAR in the forums the more likely they are going to see whats in your shop. There are also great places to go and promote yourself on the forums! They are one of my favorite places to visit on ETSY.

5. Showcase and Treasure Yourself. It is a great way for people to find you, especially if you are in the jewelry business and find your listings getting lost among the other talented artists.

Some other useful sites that I like to use:

http://www.myspace.com/
http://www.indiegroup.com/
http://www.projectwonderful.com/
http://www.lunacrafts.com/

http://www.twitter.com/

Have fun, promote, and get yourself out there. Having ETSY shop is suppose to be fun, but also remember to market yourself so people can find you.

Love the item above? Come see my Blue and Orange Butterfly Wrap in my shop!

Handmade Holidays 101: Don't forget the Customer Service

2008-11-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

With the holidays just around the corner, buyers are getting ready to buy their gifts. As a seller you want to make sure that you leave a lasting impression, a positive one, on your consumers so you are remembered after the holidays. So what can you do to make a memorable experience for your shoppers? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Offer gift wrap with your order. Often times people may not want the item wrapped, but would appreciate gift wrap being sent with the item, and the item put in a nice little box. I know if I was buying I would opt out of the free wrapping but would love to have some beautiful wrapping paper sent with the order!

2. Offer a discount card for the buyer and the receiver. Perhaps 10% of their next order.

3. Set their expectations. Let your customer know by quick conversations that their order will be shipping by a particular date, that way they are in the loop for the entire transaction. The holidays are hectic, so put some of those stresses to ease with a simple note to them.

4. Offer a small free gift. I have been adding free earrings with my recent purchases. Something small is always appreciated and they may be able to keep those for themself, or give them as a stocking stuffer for someone else.

5. Send a Thank You. Small gestures are sometimes the most special, even better send a Christmas card.

6. Send Your Orders Promptly. I ship the next business day, if the holidays are busy I may need to extend that one or two days, but I am hoping to keep it at one day. Customers love that instant feeling, and especially during the holidays when they are excited about their purchases.

Have fun, be courteous, and remeber that the holidays can be a stressful time for buyers. Ease their mind, and their concerns, and they will think of you later down the road when they are buying for themselves instead of a loved one.

Love the piece above? Come see my Handmade Holiday Earring Greeting Card currently for sale!

Handmade 101: Let Them Know You're Not Walmart

2008-11-01T13:31:00.001-07:00

The handmade community is huge, and more and more people are understanding the value of buying handmade over retail, but there are people who do not understand the value of handmade pieces, and often times will compare them to the over-manufactured product lines of retail giants like "Walmart". To those artists who spend hours making beautiful crafts by hand, a consumer who rolls there eyes in disgust and says "Wow that is overpriced" in front of other potential customers can be very dis-heartening. What do you do? Do you just let them have a fit and walk away or do you try to show your value and show the products value? There is never anything that is cut and dry on this subject, but how you handle it is definitely important. Your image as an artist is always being watched and you don't want to waste your time tarnishing it on people like this. Some helpful tidbits:

1. Have Simple Handouts at your Booth or Party. Let customers know about your work, the materials used, and the process that is used to make them. Often times reading these materials and seeing how you pick out the best high quality materials, and you have a slow process to strive for high quality handmade goods will help the consumer understand the back end and truly the amount of time, money, and care that goes into the handmade process.

2. Know Your Product. If a customer starts looking at your work and wanting to try them on, mention something about how the product compliments the customer. "The gemstone turquoise goes really well with your blue eyes, and the blue shirt your have on" Something simple, something that will catch their attention. I know that people say I look good in green, so I often times make more green jewelry for myself then anything, and I am more prone to wear a green shirt, or other earth tone colors.

3. Just Let Them Walk. Sometimes, and all artists usually have had one experience with this kind of customer, you just need to let them walk away. Often times the other customer there will wait until they leave, and say something down the lines of "Wasn't she rude. Your work is great, shes just ignorant." Honestly a comment like that after a rude customer is always a quick me upper.

Just remember to value your work, and don't undercut yourself because someone who does not understand the handmade value is. It's not worth it. As an artist you got to be proud of your work, there will always be little thorns like them, it's how you choose to handle them that's important.

Love the ring above? Come See The Green and Vintage Wire Wrapped Ring in my ETSY store.

ETSY 101: Conversation Etiquette

2008-10-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

ETSY etiquette is essential to making and retaining customers, and one of the most important aspects of the selling process is making sure you are on top of your customer service and conversations. There have been several threads in the forum addressing the lack of communication from several sellers, from buyers who are either interested in a custom order are just wanting to know what the status of their package is. I am stressing the importance of customer service, please remember that your customers are vital and important, without them where would your business be? Please remember this etiquette while operating your small handmade business:

1. Always respond timely to your conversations. If you are having a high volume of sales and are having trouble responding, you may want to consider hiring someone to help you part-time.

2. Keep the lines of communication open. Let your customer know when items shipped, when they are planning to ship, and how to contact you if they have any questions or concerns.

Remember the holidays can be fun, but also stressful for many buyers.

Please remember to keep the line of conversation open to relieve those stresses.

Love the item above, come see the Black Pendant in my shop!

Jewelry 101: Incorporating Improvement into Your Small Business

2008-10-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

Being a jewelry artist you must know that to be successful you must learn and grow from ones own mistakes. I know that it's not easy to realize that all the hard work you did isn't paying off, but realizing this and making improvements and changes to your small jewelry business (or other crating business) may pay off big in the long run. There is always room for improvement to your online webpage, to your ETSY shop, and even to your offline customers and sometimes it's better to sit and re-evaluate your strategies every few weeks then find out 6 months down the road you need to do some major overhaul to your business. So what can you do to make improvements today?

1. Focus on Your Pictures. If you were a customer would you buy the item? Are any of the pictures blurry or boring? Do the pictures grab you and make you want to click on the picture to learn more about the item for sale? If not you may want to re-evaluate the pictures you have. Find a consistent and creative way to show-off you work without taking away from the product. Taking pictures takes alot of trial and error, I know in my own shop I have revamped them time and time again, and I am still looking to add improvements.

2. Would You Buy Based on Your Descriptions. Read through your product descriptions, are they too vague or too wordy? Do you list the materials you use? Have you added a unique touch to your descriptions, perhaps the significance of the particular gemstone you are using or where you bought your materials? Sometimes just a quick re-wording can trigger people to buy what you are selling.

3. Are Your Product Titles Too Creative, Vague, or Wordy? Pictures and the Title of your item are sometimes the only things a customer will see and look at, and if your title doesn't say what they are looking at they may not want to look at what you are selling regardless to how good your description of the product may be. This is something I recently did, and I re-hauled all my Product Titles realizing after I uploaded them to Google Base the titles that were more of a play on words were not getting any google hits. Customers are not looking for Dancing Autumn, but more suitable Title would be Autumn Gemstone Necklace.

There are many other things you can look at when attempting a shop makeover or adding improvement to your online craft store. What is important is to find your niche and run with it. Even seasoned sellers find there is always room to re-event and improve.

Love the piece above, please see it in my shop: Autumn Gemstone Necklace