What's my Story?

Over the past year and a half, I feel like I've read a lot of advice online and in book form, about how to sell stuff. It doesn't mean I know everything, by any stretch of the imagination, but one little advice nugget, I'm starting to slowly jive to. Which is, "What's your story? How is your shop different than someone else's down the street?" Initially my inner voice would answer, "Nothing, except that I make pretty things". The problem with that answer is that it doesn't help me to get that hook. Something that will drive customers to even want to bother seeing what it is I have to offer. 

It only hit me yesterday, as I was sanding down some new clay bowls, that when I make something, it's not a perfectly manufactured looking product. You can see my finger prints in the clay, the parts where I've pinched down the sides, making it thin. Or on my jewelry, where I've curled gold wire into some funky swirly just to make it secure around a jump ring. 

Could this be what separates my shop from someone elses? Maybe. I'll look into it further and see how it can indeed become my story. Because nobody's perfect, and there is beauty in the imperfect.

Thanks for reading,
Vanessa

Holy Moly, Domain Mess!!

Where do I begin? My last post here was in March. Yes I know, that is beyond delinquent! But honestly, there's just too many things happening. So while I was living life, somehow, I let my domain expire. And in that time, a bot or someone, scooped up my domain name and is now offering it in an auction?! Sigh, can you imagine all the time and effort it would now take to change everywhere I have used "Vanpinni Designs" if I were to change this brand name? Yes, people do it. And it's not like I have a huge following. "But sweet baby jesus!!" I love that quote, btw.

Apparently, last year, when I signed up to get a domain name, I decided to save money and not automatically renew. After one year, I'd know wether this was a hobby or a new company. cough* cough*, a year goes by quickly.

So now I'm faced with, do I change the name, simply taking off the "s", so it's not a crazy change? Do I pay the auction? I'd say no on principle. or do i do nothing now, till I really deal with maybe getting a stand alone website away from Etsy?

Help me. What would you do?

And now, mid-March, already?!

Can you hear it? The sigh of "where, oh where on earth, does time go?" Guess what? I still haven't finished my Pinterest Power book I bought at the end of this summer!! But, I am right at the end. The juicy part I probably should have skipped to, instead of reading it cover to cover. I didn't want to miss anything.

What have I learned so far? That Pinterest is definitely one of the best ways to get eye balls to your store or site, indefinitely. Each time a new product is posted to my store, I do try to remember to post it on Pinterest also.

It's a tiny start, to getting your products out there. The Facebook groups I used to look at daily, and comment on, adding my store link and playing the "Follow Game", became tiresome. Did it really help in the long run? I don't know. Didn't feel like it. It all started to feel like a lot of work for little reward. So I stopped.

Now I have some items listed in my Etsy Wholesale page, but each time I see the 50% wholesale price, from the retail price, I feel mildly nauseous. I understand the concept. If it took me a year to sell one item at $50, but I sold 10 items at $25, all in one fall swoop, isn't that a better use of my time? I guess so. Time will tell.

So, I continue to have visions of new products to make, new artwork to produce, like a fever, I can't stop. I just wish the days didn't fly by, the way they do.

Soon, it'll be summer break, and I'll have even less daily "free time". I better make the most out of my school days now.

Oh, and I still haven't approached a few local stores I've had on my radar for the past year!! I kept telling myself I didn't have the right products to offer just yet. I know, I know! "JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!!" Ever see that hysterical video with Shia Labeouf actor? Google it, it's cra-zeee! Here's the link, 'cause I'm gonna watch part of it again, just to get my giggle for the day.

https://www.google.com/search?q=shia+labeouf+just+do+it&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS515US515&oq=shea+la+bouef&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l5.8645j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Next time I write a post, it will be with some items accomplished towards getting into the retail market. Gosh darn-nit.

Mid February Already!?

Ok, what happened? A month went by already since my last blog post. It's hard. I'll say it. There's a million things you should be doing, you want to be doing, and things you actually get to. This past month, I feel like I've learned a few little nuggets of shaping my business. I finished the "Etsy Empire" book, with some good things to try. But I think the most meaningful take away was this:

You need to express what makes your shop/goods so special. 

This makes sense if you think about the materials you're using. For me, I'm seeking out 14k gold filled, sterling silver, and now Argentium silver, which is a higher quality silver that is tarnish resistant. But everyone else under the sun, or so it seems, is designing jewelry using gold and silver. But, not Argentium! So, taking baby steps, since it is a more expensive metal, I bought some materials to make 2 necklaces. Then I started creating Collection names for the shop. Not just "Jewelry" or "Stone Clay Bowls", but named Collections that can be branded and featured when approaching boutiques.

We'll see where this all takes me.

Onwards! and Upwards!

Enjoy your day out there.

What I've Learned So Far, Reading, "Etsy Empire"

I'm almost through reading "Etsy Empire". Now, mind you, I haven't read the absolute beginning part still, but before I put the book down, I'll definitely look at the preliminary pages. So...have I learned anything mind blowing? Um...no. I've dog earred a few pages with info worth going back to. Let's look now at some of them.

Pg 23: "Sell stuff that people already want to buy"
So here, they're suggesting you take a look at what's coming up in the search fields of Etsy. That makes sense. For me, I see a lot of personalization in ring dishes as popular items. Jewelry, I haven't tuned in yet to a BIG seller, because it's so huge. Maybe birthstone options. And that's an area I'm looking into by creating January Birthstone Garnet pieces. 

Pg 73: "Tags and additional SEO"
Tags are super important. You get about 30 chances to use good ones on Etsy. Mentioned in this chapter is a tool that can help compare 2 similar tags for popularity, views per day and relevance. Pretty helpful right? The link is: http://www.tools4etsy.com/tagwars

Pg 106: This page is talking about Pinterest for Etsy Sellers. It breaks down the demographic for Pinterest users. They both share a common core user group. Over 68% are women between 25-45.

Pg 109: Here are various website links that help you out with pinterest tips.
>> http://amylynnandrews.com/pinterest-tips/
>> http://youtube.com/watch?v=Lia0HR_duJU
>> http://blog.etsy.com/en/2013/how-to-promote-your-etsy-shop-with-pinterest/

Pg 117: Just some Facebook banner sizes. Cover image is 851x315 pixels.

Pg 120: Various Facebook apps for Etsy sellers. Will check them out before posting links.

Pg 123: Twitter tips link. I don't do much with twitter, but I might check this out.
>> http://blog.etsy.com/en/2011/etsy-guide-to-twitter

That's it for now. Ta-ta, till next time, which should be next week. Hold me to it!!

-Vanessa

Etsy Empire, Almost Free Money, Vol 6

Hellloooo! Yes, I know, I've been delinquent with writing these blog posts every 2 weeks, let alone every month. Sorry about that. 

But, right now, at 8:05pm on a saturday night, (yes I roll like that, crazy right?) instead of thinking, "oh yes, I should write a post tomorrow", I'm doing it right now. So while my daughter is climbing on my back while talking to Siri on my phone, I am writing to you, my beloved reader. Boy, sometimes a little body weight on your back, feels soooo good.

For Christmas I got the "Etsy Empire" book, by Eric Michael. I skipped to page 20 or so, because I've had my store open for a year now, and figured I don't need to read the absolute basics right now. 

So one thing I looked up, was a link to a site where it calculates your Etsy fees, and gives you an estimated profit based on calculations you enter. Check this out: http://feesnap.com/etsy.html.

A lot of sellers underprice themselves, especially for handmade items. Which makes it hard to compete against. And then there are sellers who sell items that aren't made very well, and yet people are buying their stuff. So maybe they don't spend much time on their goods, and feel they can charge less. Not sure you can accurately price according to the competition because of this, but you can average it out. I hope my items for sale are in the ballpark. I think so.

Will write more on my findings with the book in the coming weeks. 

Happy NEw YEar!

Pinterest and hashtags?!

Ok, guess what...I'm still reading that Pinterest book, I blogged about over the summer. I know, it's terrible, right? There is just so much information overload out there. I sit here typing away, staring at 21 tabs on my laptop! These are tabs holding little nuggets of information, I just can't get through this second. So it's saved for another day, which seems to go on forever. Little by little I get to close a tab, which means I have visually digested the info on the page. 

So...Pinterest...are you using hashtags now? I heard today, that if you post on Pinterest, your post will be found in about 3 months, but if you now add hashtags to your description, you can be found instantly. Stop the bus, I wanna get off! Phew. So much is changing. I need about 10 hours a day, to fully get to my to do list on marketing my baby biz. Alas, I only have about 2-3 hours, possibly.

How are you handling Pinterest and Hashtags?