EB Friday Hotlist: All Good Things...

(I know it's not really Friday, but I sure wish it was!)

As you've seen, I have not been updating my blog lately.  If you've stopped by my shops, you also know that I'm not listing new items and I'm letting all of the current items expire.  I have made the difficult decision to shut down Elle's Beads.  I won't be updating the blog again any time soon, if ever, for the same reasons.

If I could give a crafter some advice about starting a business online, it would be to determine upfront how much time you wish to invest in building your business and how you will measure success.  Back in 2009 when I started Elle's Beads, I thought I wanted to run my jewelry business as a full job.  It didn't take long for me to realize that the "Quit Your Day Job" lifestyle wasn't actually what I wanted.  Instead, I decided it would be a lot more fun to make whatever I wanted to make on my own time without the pressure of needing to bring in extra income.  That worked really well for me.  Through blogs, Twitter, forums, and teams I met tons of interesting people from all over.  I am grateful to have had these experiences.

However, as I've said in previous posts, part of the calculations you should do when you're making business decisions is a cost/benefit ratio.  You have to be mature enough to define what success means for you and then evaluate whether or not what you're putting out is worth what you're getting in return.  In other words, you have to decide at what point you need to step back from the business or shut it down altogether.

For me, the other things I have going on in my life are more important to me than running and promoting Elle's Beads.  I work full-time at a day job, and starting tomorrow I'll be working an additional part-time job in the evenings and on weekends.  I'm doing all this so that I can be in a better financial position when I start law school in the fall.  The school I'll be attending is 4 hours away, so in between work hours, I'll be spending a lot of time packing, cleaning, and getting ready to move.  (Not to mention that I'll be looking for a place to live up there as well.)  Additionally, since first-year, full-time law students are strongly encouraged not to work even part-time during the first year, I'm relatively certain I won't have time to make things, photograph them, edit the photos, and list them online.  I am completely sure I won't have time on top of that to do any promoting of my shop whatsoever.  Since my future career opportunities are more important to me than my beads, my cost/benefit analysis is telling me to quit while I'm ahead.

I want to thank each and every person who has posted comments here, bought jewelry from me, or has given me support in other ways.  While it's possible that I'll come back next summer or in a few years down the road, returning isn't in the cards right now.  My Etsy account will remain open, even after the last item has expired, and I paid out the nose for a lifetime Zibbet account, so I'll have a presence over there as well.  Be sure to keep in touch!

Until next time,
Elle

EB Friday Hotlist: Five Tips for Avoiding or Reducing the Stress of Running an Indie Small Business

When I sat down to write this post yesterday my first thought was: Wow, what a long and stressful week!  I don't know about you, but TGIF has taken on a whole new meaning for me this week!  Ironically, that thought gave me the inspiration for today's Hotlist post:

Stress Reduction Kit by
Programwitch, Used Under
Creative Commons License

Whether you are making 50 sales a year or 50 sales a week, you know the meaning of the word "stress."  You probably also know that reducing this stress as much as possible helps you not only have a better quality of life, but also helps you run a better business and create a better buying experience for your customers.  This time of year can be difficult for people, albeit in a different way than in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  There is a lot of anticipation and frenzied preparation in December, only to be followed by a (typically) slower January and potential disappointment over the way things went during the holiday buying season.  Whether you've got the pre-spring blues or you're struggling to keep up with orders, I think it's time for a brief refresher course in stress reduction.  Here are five basic tips to help you deal:

* Engage with others.  Maybe you're on a site like Zibbet, which makes it easy for you to connect with other people through groups and forums.  These people are trying to do the same thing as you - run a profitable online business.  Not only can enjoying the fun conversations about any and everything be a relaxing experience in itself, but engaging with other business owners will allow you to use them as a resource in the future.  When you don't know how to do something (i.e. ship packages to customers in Taiwan, create a coupon code, resize photos), it's great to be able to consult other indie business owners and get constructive feedback instead of stumbling along in the dark all by yourself.  Oh and if you're not on a marketplace website, there is still no excuse for not engaging.  Join a site like Creating the Hive and get involved in the conversation!

* Know your season.  People often feel that January and February are the worst months for their handmade businesses.  The Christmas/holiday rush is over and people are out of cash to spend on non-necessities.  This can make a seller feel like their shop isn't up to par, when really there are other factors in play.  Don't beat yourself up because your shop views dipped one day out of 30 or freak out on the Etsy forums over a short-term dip in your Google Analytics charts.  Also remember, different seasons are different for different sellers.  A business selling thick wool scarves and knitted beanies is not likely to have a rush on orders in July, and a custom swimsuit shop may not have a Christmas rush at all.  Keep things in perspective and know that ups and downs in sales are natural for a business.

* Stay organized.  I've always been an advocate of keeping a schedule but that's not the only way you should try to be organized.  Keeping your accounting up to date, your crafting room in some semblance of order, and your shipping supplies in one place and ready to be used when orders come in can help keep you from feeling so overwhelmed.  Check out the second article in the suggested reading list for more information about this strategy.

Photo: Yoga In Nature's Way
by Tony George, Used Under
Creative Commons License

* Take a breather.  Seriously, it's okay!  There is no reason to let the stress of running a handmade business overrun your life.  Are orders (or the lack thereof) just driving you nuts?  Go take a walk, eat a snack, do some yoga - then come back recharged and ready to get back on the grind.  It's important to make sure you're taking time for yourself and your friends/family on a regular basis.  You wouldn't work 12 hours a day, 365 days a year at a regular day job, right?  So why do you think you have to just because you're running a handmade business?  You do have to put in a lot of time, but one of the best thing about having a your business online is that you can put it on hiatus whenever you want.  Schedule yourself some time and take a vacation (or "staycation" if you're broke).  Whether you take a break for a day or a year, the market for goods and services will still be there when you are ready to tackle your next project.

* Evaluate yourself.  Whether you're just starting out or you've been in the game for a while, the handmade business world is not for the faint of heart.  Just see the first blog on the suggested reading list for a little perspective.  At many day jobs, if not most, supervisors conduct yearly or quarterly evaluations of their subordinates.  These evaluations can determine whether or not that employee keeps their job.  Since you don't have another boss to do it for you, you should make self-evaluation a regular part of your planning.  Taking stock at regular intervals of what's working for you and what isn't will make decisions like changing product lines or closing up shop all together much easier to determine.

As you can see, these tips for stress reduction aren't new - I've been supporting these ideas for ages and they certainly weren't my own original ideas!  Sometimes though, it can be beneficial to be reminded of the basics! Be sure to check out the links below for great insights on this subject.

Suggested Reading List:

Blunt Business Advice for the Handmade Market: If you're thinking about taking the full-time handmade business plunge (known on Etsy as "Quitting Your Day Job"), this is a must-read article.  MinervaLi doesn't hold back in this blog post and can help you understand exactly what you're getting into.

Improve Your Productivity and Lower Your Stress: In addition to being a fabulous example of how to do a guest post, this article by Celeste gives you tried and true tips for getting more done in less time with minimal fuss.

15 Ways to Reduce Your Stress Level at Work: This article was written to help B&M business owners and employees have a less-stressful work environment.  Let's face it though - many of these suggestions can be clearly and easily applied to your online business as well.

Until next time,
Elle

EB Friday Hotlist: Postling

I get asked frequently how I manage to update my various social media accounts with fresh content on a regular basis.  While life does get in the way sometimes, I am able to minimize disruptions by scheduling things in advance and working hard to get as much done as possible when I do find a few free moments.  One of the tools that helps me do this more efficiently is Postling.

Postling is a scheduling website that lets you post things to your various social media sites from their portal.  You can add a variety of social media accounts to your "brand," including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn and Blogger.  Once you've added the social media account, you can use Postling to update it, either by an immediate post or a scheduled one.  You're also able to check your "stream" or the feed of posts that come from those you follow on a particular network.

I prefer to update my Facebook and Flickr accounts manually, and I use TwitterFeed and Hootsuite to schedule my Twitter posts.  I signed up for Postling primarily to deal with a problem I've encountered with Tumblr.  Tumblr can be a great marketing tool and I'm currently using my micro-photo blog there to promote my brand name, the indie community, and Zibbet.  However, I have had a problem with Tumblr's internal scheduling feature.  I would set a few photos to be posted over the course of the coming week and check in a few days to find that they hadn't posted.  Ack!

Postling eliminates my need for concern.  I simply create posts in much the same way I would in Tumblr.  I add tags and set the date and time I want my posts to appear.  I can confirm that the posts are set up the way I want them to be by checking the "Drafts and Scheduled" section (pictured below).  I typically set up about two weeks worth of posts at once, and it takes me about 30 minutes or so from start to finish (depending on how long it takes me to find the pictures I want).  I then set a Google Calendar alert to remind me when my posts are running out so that I can redo the process when necessary.

My understanding is that Postling has a variety of other features for paid members.  As I only utilize their free service, I can't recommend those features.  I will say that Postling has helped me keep my Tumblr consistently updated and for that reason I recommend checking out their free service if you're looking for a post scheduling service.

Have you used Postling?  What are your thoughts on it?  Have any other schedulers you use?  Let us know which ones so we can check those out too!

Until next time,
Elle

EB Friday Hotlist: Why People Should Buy From You and Not a Big Box Store

This week I want to talk about the indie movement in general.  Regardless of whether or not you sell online or at craft fairs or both, regardless of whether this is a hobby for you or a business or both, you are selling your items so that people will buy them from you.  Your motivation may be different from the next person, but the basic goal is still the same - sales.

Stories by vasta on Flickr
Used under Creative Commons
license

How do you get sales?  At the most basic level, getting sales requires 1) having a product and 2) putting it out for sale.  To make a sale, you also have to set a price for the product and pricing your work can be a somewhat contentious issue among indie sellers.  Some businesspeople lament the hobbyists who can charge less for their work because profit is not their motivation.  Some hobbyists lament that their work is seen by some as inferior because it is frequently (and incorrectly) assumed that price is directly correlated with quality.  No matter where your items fall on the pricing continuum, and no matter what criticism you receive (i.e. your prices are cheap so you must have Walmart quality items or why buy from you when I can get the same thing 75% off at Walmart) there is still a huge difference between your crafts and the similar items people buy at Walmart.

So why should someone buy a (insert name of craft here) from you as opposed to Walmart?  I can get cheap, trendy jewelry there for a fraction of the price of some I see on Etsy.  I can buy crocheted cozies, dyed scarves, and trendy shoes all in the same place without paying shipping or walking around a dusty farmer's market in the heat/cold/rain.  What makes the handmade or vintage items you sell better than the mass-produced beauties in stores like Walmart?

Stories by normalityrelief on Flickr
Used under Creative Commons license

Only you can answer that question specifically.  Maybe you've spent weeks combing over thrift store shelves and antique malls to find those perfect dresses and brooches and silk ties for your vintage shop.  Maybe you fire up the kiln every other night to finish up the pottery you take to the local market each week.  Perhaps the beads you use in your jewelry came from your grandmother, who is the one who taught you how to bead 40 years ago.  Everyone's special selling point will be different, but the point is that every indie shop, handmade or vintage, has a story behind it.  Telling this story in a compelling way is what will draw people to your shop instead of the big box retailers.

This week's suggested reading list will give you some ideas on how to figure out what your story is and how to turn that story into selling points to present to potential buyers.



Suggested Reading:

Buy Handmade: Why Buy Handmade? - Article with some of the reasons why people are choosing to buy handmade.  Check out the list of links for ideas that may help you with developing your story and deciding why your indie shop is unique.

Etsy Blog: How to Sell Your Story with Johnny B. Truant - Article with great ideas on how to incorporate your story into your item listings to get people more interested in buying your items.

Etsy Community: Etsy Shop Makeover Challenge: Storytelling - Step-by-step article that helps you define your story, develop it, and turn it into a compelling artisan/shop profile, from the talented storyteller whose YouTube video I've embedded above.

Until next time,
Elle

P.S. My six word story is: Strength is the will to overcome.  What's yours?  Leave it in the comments after checking out Suggested Reading article #3.

EB Friday Hotlist: Rethinking Your Handmade Business' Brand in 2011

Topics about branding have been popping up again all over the web, including in the Etsy Blog, over the past couple of months.  When the year starts winding down or the new year starts gearing up, people tend to reevaluate their goals and decide where they want to move next.  While it's certainly true that this type of reflection can happen at any point during the year, the start of a new year for many people can feel like a new beginning - a fresh, clean slate.  In light of this, here are a few questions you should be asking yourself about your business:

Photo by Angie Torres
Used under Creative Commons License

1. What were my goals last year and how well did I meet them?  Were these realistic goals, or perhaps were they either overly ambitious or not ambitious enough?
2. What are my goals for the new year?  Where do I want my shop to be in 3 months?  6 months?  12 months?  How do I plan to go about achieving those goals?  If I'm not sure, how will I decide on the best approach to try?
3. Where do I see my business in the long term?  2 years from now?  5 years from now?  Do my goals for the next year help me move forward towards my long term goals?

In order to really answer these questions, you need to keep your brand in mind.  If you can't clearly articulate your brand in a few short sentences, it's time to stop and really think about what exactly you're attempting to accomplish.  Here are some questions to ask yourself in order to define your brand:

1. What am I selling? 
2. What need does this product fill and for whom?
3. What makes my product unique from the others on the market?

Those last two questions are really part of a larger question: Why should someone buy what I'm selling?  Once you've figured out the answers, you can start branding your shop.  You want to make sure that your business, from the shop front to the final package in the customer's hands, reflects the answers to those three basic questions.  If you're able to consistently fill a need with your product and you are somehow distinctive from other people selling things to meet that same need, you've got a unique selling proposition (USP).  Your goal at that point is to share your USP with your target market.  Everything from your packaging, to your communication with customers, to your shop's graphics should be a reflection of your USP.

Photo by John O'Nolan
Used under Creative Commons License

Perhaps your goal for 2011 should be developing your USP and figuring out your branding.  Perhaps you should be tweaking your branding or focusing on new ways to reach your target market.  Maybe it's time to make the tough decision to separate items into two shops that simply can't be effectively branded in the same shop.  Or maybe it's time to focus on the visual - making your shop graphics and product photos tell a coherent, attractive story.  Whatever your goals for 2011, be sure to keep your brand and USP in mind, so that any changes you make are in sync with the needs of your target market.

Suggested Reading:

Etsy Blog: Shop Makeover: Creating a Brand Identity for Your Shop - Article in the Storque about defining your brand, complete with a USP worksheet and tips for how to make your brand consistent at every point of the sale (before, during, after).

The Bookshop Blog: Bookshop Branding - Your Store Is Not Your Own - Article for B&M booksellers, but when taken as a metaphor, it works beautifully for online sellers as well.  For example, when he talks about the backdrop (paint, shelving, etc.), think shop banner, avatar, color scheme, photo props, etc.

Brand Studio: 6 Tips for Branding Your Business Freebies - Great ideas that can be adapted and applied to online businesses.  As the title suggests, this article is specifically about extending your branding to your freebies, i.e. business cards, magnets, pens, discount cards, etc.

Until next time,
Elle

Mini EB Friday Hotlist: Three Quick Tips for Getting Sales During the Online Holiday Shopping Season

Photo by the justified sinner on Flickr
Used under Creative Commons license

Online shopping tends to pick up this time of year as people start buying gifts for loved ones, friends, coworkers, teachers, secret santas, holiday parties, and more.  From Black Friday (today) and Cyber Monday through the day-after-Christmas sales, our consumer culture tends to kick into overdrive - even during a recession.  If you're working on growing your business, it would be a mistake not to capitalize on this.  Here are some quick tips for maximizing your business this holiday season:


Tip #1 Make sure you utilize your social media tools effectively.  If you're on Twitter, tweet an item a day and tag it with #handmade, #shophandmadethisholiday, #cybermonday, #(etsy, artfire, zibbet, etc.),
#(product type), etc.  Make sure you send out an email to your mailing list and/or a Facebook post to your fans letting them know about any holiday-specific sales or great gift items you have.  One fun idea is to do a 12 Days of Christmas sale with a new item on sale each day, announced that day.  It generates buzz and keeps people coming back to your social media sites...for at least 2 weeks anyway.  It's important though to remember to keep promoting on social media even if you're not having a big sale.  See Tip #3 for more information on that.

Tip #2 Check out what your selling venue provides.  Every year the major selling venues have item tags and special twitter hashtags to use to promote the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.  There's much more available though every year, so do your research.  Did you know that Etsy now has % off coupon codes and Timothy Adam now has a site where you can promote them?  Or that Zibbet has gift guides to which premium sellers can add their own items?  (Yes, they are now live.)  Or that you can now put all of your items on sale at once in your Etsy shop via a third party site?  Do a little research on the newest features of your venue so that you can maximize your use of them this shopping season.

Photo by SSSasky on Flickr
Used under Creative Commons license

Tip #3 Offer perks for shopping with you.  Maybe you can't afford to slash prices 40% and offer free shipping just to get a few sales.  Supplies cost more than ever and, let's face it, shipping isn't free.  If you're not doing a sale, that doesn't mean you slack off on promoting until all of the % off, free shipping, BOGO frenzies are over.  Be proactive by focusing on what you can offer instead.  Maybe you're willing to ship directly to a gift recipient, making it easier for someone to buy a last minute gift.  Maybe you can provide free/low-cost gift wrapping, fancy and festive packaging, a free handmade gift tag, or options for expedited shipping at the customer's extra expense.  Get creative.  Everyone has something to offer.

I hope these three tips will help you as you take on your holiday selling adventure.  Best wishes for many, many sales!

Happy holidays!!
Elle

EB Friday Hotlist: More on Microblogging and How to Keep a Positive Brand Reputation Online, Part 2

This is the second part of a two-part article on Twitter mistakes for handmade businesses to avoid.  You can read the first half here.
 
Continuing on with our discussion, it is important not just to control your own content but also to control what content written by others you publicly share.

Be mindful of what you favorite and retweet.  

In other words, pay attention what other people say and make a determination on whether or not passing the tweet along has the potential to hurt your business and/or your credibility.  Twitter has some concrete ways that you can show your stamp of approval and disseminate content to others.  Making use of these tools can make you a more interesting person to follow, but they need to be used carefully and thoughtfully.

This is an example of a retweet.

Lets define our terms first.  Retweeting can be done in two ways - by using the retweet button or by typing RT, the person's @ name, and the text of their tweet.  It basically allows you to take someone else's content and share it with your followers, while still giving credit to the original speaker.  People appreciate when you share their content and may return the favor when you post something cool or interesting about your business.  Your followers will appreciate seeing what you retweet because they may benefit from the information or simply find it interesting, and may even have a new contact to follow thanks to you.  Retweeting and being retweeted can increase your status in the Twitterverse because people will find following you worthwhile.

Favoriting tweets on Twitter is quite different.  If someone tweets something you like, find funny or interesting, or for any other reason you want to keep it bookmarked, you can click a clear star that appears next to the tweet which will then turn gold.  You can go to your favorites list via the Twitter website or a third-party application and it's just like clicking the drop-down menu on your browser that lists all of your bookmarked webpages - all of your favorite tweets are right there.  While these two features are obviously very different, the advice is pretty much the same for both of them:

• Never recommend a tweet you haven't read.  For all intents and purposes, retweeting a link means you recommend your followers take a look at it.  If you're going to share content with your followers you need to make sure that it's legit.  Check the original poster out (if that information is still with the tweet) to make sure they aren't a scammer or sending people viruses.  If you don't trust that you can click on the link without causing harm to your computer, don't share it with anyone else, please!  (We all thank you in advance.)  If you trust the link, click it and read the web page, article, photo caption, or whatever is being shared.  Make sure you're really okay with sharing the content.  Not clicking just because you trust the original twitter can cause you to spread false or misleading information, information that isn't really relevant (titles can be misleading), or just offensive material.  Here's an extra tip I read recently - show your followers that you're intelligent, well-versed in your subject matter, and interesting enough to continue following by adding your opinion in as well.  Don't just link drop.  Instead tell your followers why you cared enough to RT and why they should care enough to click (most people don't).  Can't do it in 140 characters?  Try this.

• Never favorite something you haven't read and aren't prepared to justify.  I will qualify this by stating that until writing this post last Saturday, I didn't even know my favorites were available for the public to see.  I actually got the inspiration for this blog post after seeing this controversy surrounding Sarah Palin hit the blogosphere.  (skip down to Update 3 - the information before that is irrelevant to this discussion).  Anyway, I'm not suggesting that the news media is going to report what you favorite on Twitter, because you're probably not as famous as Gov. Palin if you're reading my blog.  Remember, I'm showing extreme real life examples to show you that it's always crucial to think then act, even though it's "just" the internet.  

  

  See the star?

  Now I also totally get that it's possible that you would want to bookmark something you disliked, disagreed with, or found offensive so that you could reference it later.  Be aware though that the word "favorite" is generally associated with "like."  Your potential customers might be offended by that adult-themed cartoon you found hilarious or turned off by your seeming interest in controversial social movements, regardless of whether or not you sympathize with said cause.  If you want to favorite something that might make a customer second guess supporting your business, just bookmark it in your web browser or on a site like Google Bookmarks.  Do the same thing if you don't have time to check out a link from a tweet now, but you want to later.  If your customer checks out your favorite tweets and gets a virus from a link you seemingly like, they might not ever go back to your Twitter again...or your store.  By the way, you can bookmark tweets in your browser too.  Find the link to an individual tweet by clicking on the date/time stamp (i.e. "24 seconds ago" or "4:21 PM Nov 5th"). 

What I hope you'll take away from this post is a goal to make sure you're not ostracizing your current or future clients by acting considerately and thoughtfully in your use of social media.  Stop and think about the implications of a message before you hit the tweet button.  Social media should boost your business, not hurt it.

Until next time,

Elle

I hope you have a safe and happy holiday season!

EB Friday Hotlist: More on Microblogging and How to Keep a Positive Brand Reputation Online, Part 1

This is the first half of a two-part article about how average users' mistakes on Twitter can be learning tools for handmade businesses looking to establish their social media presence.  I encourage you to check out each linked article and to check back on November 19, 2010 for the second part of this story.

Check out HautTotes on Twitter.

I've written about Twitter before and it still remains my favorite social media tool.  Since I'm currently on a semi-vacation from my jewelry business, my Twitter has definitely become more of a personal and less of a business account.  I comment back and forth almost daily with fellow fans of my favorite TV shows as they air, read hundreds of tips and tweets about the LSAT (December 11 is fast approaching!), and react to current events (midterm elections, anyone?)...all more often than I get to talk about handmade.  My Twitter started as a personal account anyway and really only developed into a business tool after starting Elle's Beads.  I really wanted to start a new account to match the all of my other branding, but the name @ellesbeads was already taken and Twitter won't let users snatch up inactive names.  I decided to stick with the commonly given advice that primarily talking about things other than your shop can actually drive business to your shop, so my @ellexmarie Twitter became a part of my marketing strategy.  Time will tell if that was a good idea for me.  I think Haut Totes is truly the master of "Twitter for handmade businesses" with almost 30,000 followers to date.  From what I notice in my timeline, she seems to have a nice mix of work and personal life, with the bulk of her tweets focused on encouraging followers to engage with her brand.  It goes to show that what some social media experts say and what actually works for each individual business doesn't always mesh.

If you're like me (i.e. not really at the 10,000+ follower level or even in shouting distance) and don't already have a strong customer base or online following to funnel into Twitter, you're probably reading forum posts, blog articles, and e-newsletters written from these aforementioned social media experts about how to navigate Twitter and increase your followers.  There are tons of them out there - and by them I mean both articles and self-declared experts.  For this blog article, I'm taking a different approach than I did last time.  While I still stand by my advice that using hashtags effectively and filling out your profile information can increase your following, not doing those things will probably not keep people from buying from you.  The things that will are the focus of this post.  I want to talk about how you can keep the followers you already have and avoid damaging your business with your tweets.  This is based on what the experts say, actual real life situations, and my personal experience using Twitter both primarily for business and primarily for social interaction.
 

Be careful with what you say.  

Obvious, right?  I didn't say these tips would be rocket science. :) Whether you're running a business or just chatting for fun, what you say on Twitter can really come back to bite you in the butt.  Don't think so?  Remember when Facebook started and then slowly expanded and became more popular?  Remember when law enforcement, employers, and school officials started accessing it and then started holding people

Photo by edvvc

accountable for what they posted (text, pictures, video...even outright confessions to crimes) by arresting them, firing them, or not accepting them into their universities?  If you weren't around when this all developed, that's okay.  Technology has progressed significantly over the past few years - I'm pretty young but I remember using pay phones at school because personal cell phones (the small ones that could now fit in a purse) were a luxury.  Forget the iTouch - I was so unbelievably excited to get my first portable CD player because it didn't require cassette tape rewinding like the Walkman.  And yes, if I wanted to keep a recording of a song I either had to wait for it all day on the radio and hit the record button on my radio-cassette player (aka "boom box") at just the right moment or I had to get my mom to take me to the store and purchase the tape or (by the time I got to middle school) the CD.

Anyway, now I'm digressing and feeling nostalgic.  If you don't remember the advent of the home computer, the internet, and the subsequent social media explosion dominated by MySpace and Facebook, here's a recent (as in this month) story for you to relate to: Check out what happened to this student who posted a comment on Facebook that landed him in jail, barred him from finishing college, and is basically killing his dreams for the foreseeable future.  While I doubt you or the average Facebook user will ever have these kind of consequences for what you post, it's important to bring up because there are more common, lesser consequences for less egregious behavior as well.  There are tons of personal problems you could encounter, but for the purposes of this discussion we'll focus on the repercussions for your business.

Alex Payne's tweet caused considerable backlash.

Twitter is a social media tool just like Facebook and, just like Facebook, text and photos (think TwitPic for example) as well as links to anything and everything are posted all the time.  It's easy to get complacent in the midst of all that information sharing, especially considering the fact that a very small percentage of tweets are replied to or shared by other users.  However, if you're running a business you're likely including your Twitter link on things like your mailing list emails, your Facebook fan page, your blog, and your shop.  If you want it to be a useful tool for business, you need new people to follow you and share your content.  To facilitate this, your timeline is probably "unprotected," which basically means that all of your tweets are public and users don't need your approval to view them or to follow you.  What this all means practically is that potential, current, and former customers as well as fellow artisans and competitors are following you or finding links to your tweets through your shop, mutual contacts, or even search engines like Google.  Yeah that's right - public tweets are indexed, included in searches, and sometimes show on the search page in real time via a scrolling widget (see screenshot below).  Here's what you don't want to have them see:

• Anything absolutely stupid.  Again, if it has the potential to get you in trouble with law enforcement, your boss, or your school, just don't mention it on Twitter.  Go old school and do what I did before Xanga and Live Journal became cool - write it down with a pen in a real-life paper journal and keep it off the internet.  Remember too, it's not always the case that an offending tweet is inherently stupid and it may even be something you'd say out loud to a friend in real life.  Just take a few seconds to think

  

  Did you know that your tweets are in Google and Bing?

  ahead about how people may react to it or take your statement personally.  And most importantly, just like anywhere else on the internet, people can take screenshots of comments they see online, access search engine caches (i.e. images of your deleted tweet) for days and sometimes weeks, and even get around your password protections if they're really savvy.  Do not ever make the mistake of thinking that having a protected account is the same thing as privacy or that deleting an offending tweet will erase all traces of it instantly.  The internet doesn't work that way.  Think before you tweet.

• Criticism directed towards a customer.  This is dangerous for two reasons.  The first should be obvious.  That person could come across your rant and decide to do everything they can to oppose you if they haven't already - from leaving scathing feedback to starting an active online campaign against you (I've seen it done).  Alternatively, if they are a reasonable person and would have accepted your genuine attempts to correct their dissatisfaction, you pretty much end all chance of that working out when you attack them on Twitter.  At best, you've just lost a customer and lost any business that customer might have referred to you.  The second reason is also pretty easy to figure out.  People are generally turned off by that kind of negativity.  A potential customer is going to think "Gee, look at the way she's talking about Customer X.  I don't want someone talking about me like that!  I bet she has poor customer service if that is how she treats people!"

• Controversial topics.  Now this is going to be different for different people.  While I originally stayed away from tweets like these, I do now post about my support for LGBT issues, women's rights, and progressive political causes.  I've probably lost a few followers for that, but I don't mind.  My support
  
  
  for different issues, especially those affecting LGBT persons, is clearly reflected in both some of my work and in some of the charitable causes I'm involved in through Etsy.  If you are someone that has a problem buying from someone that holds these types of convictions, you're not going to purchase from me whether or not I'm tweeting.  And for the record, I seem to have a diverse group of Twitter followers who have all types of different belief systems.  So there is nothing wrong in theory with voicing your personal opinions on your business twitter, but keep it calm.  Don't attack other users for their views, don't bully, and try not to alienate large portions of your potential customer base.

The rest of this article is scheduled to post next Friday.  After that, the Hotlist will be on hiatus as I will be enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday studying like a mad woman for the December LSAT.  I will likely spend all of December finalizing law school applications and waiting impatiently for my test score.  Weekly BEST features will still be posted each week, but they will be scheduled in advance.  I still encourage you to post your comments!  Thank you for your understanding and I look forward to learning from and with you in the new year.  Have a safe, happy, and super profitable holiday season.

Until next time,
Elle

EB Friday Hotlist: It's Not Too Late to Advertise for the (Handmade) Holidays

September and October came and went pretty quickly this year.  Lots of the handmade gift guides finish accepting submissions during those months, but that doesn't mean you're totally out of luck if you didn't already act.  I have a few ideas for my crafty but procrastinating readers to make a last minute effort to promote yourselves during the biggest shopping season of the year:

If you've got something handmade, unique, and beautifully photographed, you can submit to the Handmade Gift Guide at any time for free.  If selected, your only "cost" is adding the Handmade Gift Guide button to your blog and promoting your feature - gee, shouldn't you want to do that anyway?  Go ahead and submit now and you just might have your item featured in time for the shopping season.

Are you a member of an Etsy team?  Get your fellow members involved with Handmade Spark's Handmade Holiday Gift Guide.  Sure they've already featured tons of teams, but since they stated that there was no deadline for submissions, you should hurry up and talk to your team leader about this opportunity.   Don't wait - you don't know how many teams may already have posts lined up!

Also, if you're a premium (paid) member on Zibbet, you can put the items of your choice into any of several gift guides.  The problem?  Customers can't actually view them yet.  When you click the front page graphic advertising the gift guides, it takes you to a "Coming Soon" page at the time of this post.  I have no idea why they already have a link up for a feature shoppers can't access with no apparent ETA, but hopefully they will post them ASAP.  And by ASAP, I'm hoping within the next week or it won't be worth much this season.  I don't recommend upgrading to access this feature because I don't know what it will look like or if it will even be ready in enough time to matter this year, but if you're already premium it costs nothing to add a few items.

Some other ways to get noticed this holiday season include:

• Submitting your craft project ideas to blogs and indie sites that are posting tutorial collections for Thanksgiving or one of the religious holidays this winter
• Posting and promoting your own holiday gift guide on your blog or website
• Guest blog for someone who is taking time off this holiday season and help keep their content interesting for readers
• Consider investing in paid advertising on websites featuring holiday gift guides that are already full, because quite frankly, that's where the handmade-minded shoppers will be
• Consider running a Black Friday or after-Christmas sale.  Participate in the sales promotion opportunities provided by your selling venues.

Do you know of any other last minute places to submit your work this handmade holiday season?  Any suggestions for next year?  Let us know in the comments!

Until next time,

Elle

EB Friday Hotlist: How to Maximize Returns After You Make the Sale

*I'm in VA for the weekend, so I apologize that this is a little late.  I promise it's worth it. :)

There was an interesting thread on the Etsy forums that I discovered through the most recent Etsy Success email.  I only click on those links every now and then but the title of this particular thread caught my eye: "10 Ways to Make the Most Out of Every Sale."  Think about that for a minute.  Once you've already gotten the sale, there are definitely some things that you can do to try and maximize the situation - namely in gaining a repeat customer and/or referral.  The artisan who authored the thread is Lori of  Risky Beads (who just so happens to be from my town).  She was kind enough to let me repost her 10 Ways here on the EB Blog.  Check out the "Cliffs Notes" version below, complete with comments from yours truly, and be sure to visit the original thread for more details on how Lori implements her own suggestions:

1. Send a freebie along with each order.

This can be an effective technique.  I've seen it work for bath and body sellers who include a tiny soap sample or candle makers who include a mini tea light in a complimentary fragrance.  Risky Beads emphasizes that the freebie should be something that people want.  It can sometimes be hard to guess what that might be.  Easy to use samples like the ones I mentioned are a pretty safe bet.  


For jewelry sellers like me, it can be a little trickier.  Her suggestion to use sustainable marketing items is probably the best idea.  Some people will throw away a magnet or keychain or business card, but it never really hurts to include one, as long as it's cost effective (read: include the cost of the promotional item into your pricing calculation).  

Yep, if you want to make money, freebies that you send out with every order shouldn't really be "free" - the money has to come from somewhere.  Giving people items that you would have just thrown out in the trash is not a good way to encourage repeat business.  That means supply sellers - don't dump your misshapen, crazy drilled, beat up beads in a plastic baggie and write freebie on it.  And non-supply sellers, never send your customer unsolicited "supplies."  9 times out of 10 they are going in the trash.  If the person wanted to make a similar item they would buy the supplies from a supplier not the finished product from you.

2. Invite customers to join your mailing list.

Okay, so I'm really bad about doing this.  I really need to push my mailing list more and I also really need to write a newsletter again.  It's been a couple of months.  I blame the LSAT.

It takes time and effort to build up a mailing list, but you definitely should suggest it to people that have already demonstrated an interest in your shop by buying something.  If you offer exclusive discounts, first access to new items, and other information that benefits the customer, they'll actually read the newsletter too.

3. Send a coupon for their next purchase.

I do this each time I make a sale.  So far, no one has taken me up on the discount BUT I do not have an expiration date for the offer.  At first, I included information about the discount in my thank-you notes.  Now I use my little mini Moo card collection with different pictures of my items.  On the back of the card is my "Customer Appreciation Discount" complete with the important information: shop URL, shop name, discount %, and secret coupon code.  Sometimes I drop in two in the hopes that one will be shared with a friend.  However you decide to offer a repeat customer incentive, I think it's important to remember to include your shop URL with the message about your offer.  I've gotten some before that just say "10% off your next purchase" and two months later I've forgotten who sent me that piece of paper.  I can't use your discount if I don't know which store it's for!

4. Send a brochure with FANTASTIC pictures of other products you sell.

This is a great idea for beauty products, as Lori describes in her thread.  I've decided against this idea for my jewelry business for the time being, but I have given some thought to developing a brochure with information about booking me for home parties.

What you should take away from this, regardless of whether or not you decide to try a brochure, is that pictures sell.  I choose to put pictures of my products on my regular Moo business cards and my mini-Moo cards.  Give your customer something they'll want to keep on their fridge or give to a friend.  Visual appeal is important.
 
5. Invite your customer to a future secret sale--not too far in the future, say 2-3 weeks max AND/OR unveil a secret product and offer it early to your existing custom base.

This is another interesting idea.  You might leverage this idea into more newsletter sign-ups - i.e. "sign up for my newsletter and receive exclusive information about my upcoming secret sale."




6. Send along your Twitter and Facebook links...either on a card or via a convo/email when notifying about shipping.

I think it's always good to encourage customers to sign up for your social media outlets.  I personally choose to put other contact information on my business cards (phone, address, email) and this info simply wouldn't fit.  Instead, I have my one URL listed there: http://elles-beads.com.  Once a customer goes to that site, they can find my Twitter, Facebook, and more links than they'd ever be able to keep up with.  I also use Mad Mimi for my newsletters and they have a great setup for you to add clickable icons in your newsletters to take customers to these social networks.  However you go about doing it, definitely encourage people to follow you - as long as you're providing them with worthwhile content, of course!

7. If you have a significant customer base, send out a customer service/product survey and offer a nice coupon for customers that complete it.
  
This is an interesting idea and wouldn't cost you anything but the time it takes to set up a free online survey.  I imagine the feedback gained would be more than beneficial for you as a seller.

8. Send samples of a new product and ask for feedback. This can be a great way to try out a new scent/flavor/color of something.

Great idea for those who make candles, bath and body, and other similar products.  I'm not sure I could send out a sample of a necklace I'm making (mail customers one of the beads? lol).  No, instead, for other sellers this is a great way to make use of the Facebook fan page.  Make the new item and introduce it on Facebook so that people can comment on it and give constructive feedback.  This will not only improve your product line, but will also get people checking back with your shop to find out when the new item becomes available.

9. Offer an instant entry into a giveaway for their purchase.

Giveaways are a nice way to boost sales when they're done properly.  I'll defer to someone with more experience with them, but this is a nice incentive and may get someone to buy an item if they already like it and just need an extra push.

10. Network with other Etsy sellers who sell complimentary products to yours, not direct competition.

This is an excellent strategy that I highly recommend.  Make use of other people's customer base and offer yours in return.  Business card exchanges are an easy way to do this.  Trading advertising space on each others' blogs could work too.

I truly enjoyed going through the Risky Beads suggestions and appreciated the reminders of things I could be doing better.  For more information about running a successful handmade business directly from Lori herself (who, by the way, is almost at her 2,000th sale on Etsy), you can purchase an inexpensive e-book called How to Make it Small When You're Trying to Make It Big.  You know I'm all about low cost and free - this book will only set you back about $9 and comes with free updates.

Let me know in the comments what you do to capitalize on the sales you make!

Until next time,
Elle

EB Friday Hotlist: Entrecard

This week, I want to talk to you about advertising opportunities through Entrecard.  Please scroll down to the bottom of this post and read the disclaimer.  When you're finished, join me back up here for the discussion.

Entrecard is a website that allows users to get free advertising.  Since I'm all about low cost and free, I signed up for this site quite a while ago.  You may have even noticed the little Entrecard widget on the side of my blog.  After seeing a widget on someone else's blog, I decided to look up the site and find out more.  In order to participate in the advertising network, you are required to install the widget on your blog.  Then Entrecard staff view your site and decide whether or not to approve you.  Non-English and sexually explicit websites are always rejected.

Once you have installed the widget and are approved, you'll notice that you have credits in your account.  These credits are like currency that you can use to buy advertising in the widgets on other people's blogs.  Use the Campaign search to find blogs that cater to readers in your target market.  For example, if you're a jewelry seller like me, you may want to advertise on women's fashion blogs.  Each blog or site has a credit price associated with it depending on a popularity calculation.  Your ad will be displayed for 24 hours at the price displayed.  You have the option of allowing people to purchase ads on your site too through your widget.  It works the same way except that instead of spending them, you receive credits which you can in turn spend on other websites - without ever opening your wallet.

If you want additional credits once you've spent them all up, you can get them.  Buying credits costs money though and you all know I'm not in favor of spending a lot of cash.  An easy way to get free credits (in addition to having other people advertise on your widget as mentioned earlier) is through dropping.  Check out other sites in the Entrecard network (there are literally 30,000+ to choose from) and "drop" your card on them by clicking the "drop" button on the widget.  You get one credit for each drop so earning credits this way can take a while.  And no you can't just drop your ad 300 times (the max allowed in one calendar day) in a row as quickly as possible or you will be penalized.  Take time to look through the website before dropping and wait a little while before you try to drop on the next site.  It makes good business sense to take your time anyway to make sure you're dropping your ad someplace it will actually have an impact.  For more information on how to drop correctly and maximize your credits, check out the FAQ.

Now, one of the things you have to consider when trying out an advertising opportunity is whether or not it is working for you.  I'm sure we can agree that an advertising opportunity is only successful if you get more publicity, clicks to your site, and (eventually) sales.  Entrecard does provide statistics for you to evaluate the success of your campaigns...but they also admit that they are unreliable.  The website makes it clear that it is possible to generate "fake" clicks, which can skew your statistics.  If someone (presumably the site owner) is clicking many times on the ad you purchased, it might make you think that ad is doing well for you (i.e. many different potential customers clicking on your ad) and cause you to continue putting your credits into that site.  Fraud is completely lame, but there's not much Entrecard is doing about it and I'm not sure they even can do anything.  The only way I can think of to combat that problem is to do your own research.  Google Analytics might be able to differentiate between the fake and legitimate visits (maybe in your bounce rate?), but I'm no expert so make sure to look into that yourself.  I also suggest considering adding a poll to your site asking people where they found your site or adding a poll to your PayPal or other ecommerce account to ask your buyers how they found your shop.  Not everyone is going to answer these polls, but at least they are less easily manipulated as most only allow one vote per IP address and no one gains anything from scamming your independent poll.  If any current Entrecard users have any other suggestions on drawing conclusive statistics, please let me know.  Otherwise, you'll just have to trust that the people you advertise with are honest.

There are other features on the site that I haven't used, such as the market or the affiliated atokens.com website.  If you're interested in joining Entrecard, check out those features when you sign up.

I'll be honest, I don't spend a lot of time monitoring my Entrecard account.  I get periodic emails from them updating me on the number of credits I have.  Once I notice that I've built up a few credits from people advertising on my widget (at least 100+), I take a few minutes and go buy some ads.  It's really that simple.  I never spend any of my own cash and the time investment is minimal.  I'm sure that the more time you spend working it, the more benefit you'll get from it.  However, I don't think you have anything to lose by giving it a try even if you don't have a lot of spare time to work out the right sites for maximizing your ad credits.

Do you use Entrecard?  Be sure to reread the disclaimer below and consider writing your own post reviewing the site.  There is a "contest" I'm entering that is open to everyone who wants to weigh in on the site.  Get more information about the contest here: http://entrecard.com/blog/?p=1593. Free credits for all! :)

Until next time,
Elle

Disclaimer: In exchange for writing this review, I am hoping to receive $15 worth of Entrecard credits through a contest.  No, I'm not selling out.  The review does not have to be positive in order for me to receive the credits.  Here are the instructions about the contest as copied and pasted from the email I received, typos and all: "Just write a review about Entrecard on your blog. Share the pro’s and the con’s (hopefully, there will be pro’s ;) ). And in your blog, please place a link back to this contest (Here’s the URL: http://entrecard.com/blog/?p=1593 Tha’ts it!"  So, as you can see they are not requiring anyone to write an unfairly biased review.  My view is strictly my own.

EB Friday Hotlist: The Updates for Handmade Venues You Need to Know About

There have been some crazy exciting updates in the handmade world in the past month and I want to share a couple of them with you tonight:

Etsy On Sale: Just in time for the holidays, Etsy on Sale makes it possible for Etsy sellers to put their items on sale.  That's right - at once.  Automatically (well...it takes a few minutes, but still...).  You can save yourself tons of time editing or processing PayPal refunds with this feature.  Get more information about it by clicking the image below or visiting the site (link above):

Think of all the time you'll save when you run a sale this holiday season!  One of the Etsians that has tried this feature boasted on Handmade Spark that she made 9 sales during her promotion.  This comes highly recommended.

Zibbet-Etsy Importer: After initial outrage (by sellers) that their Etsy importer was rejected by Etsy, Zibbet turned right around the next day and launched an importer that will allow you to copy your listing information from Etsy to your Zibbet shop.  I haven't tried it out yet as my current Zibbet shop is specifically geared towards beaded and upcycled magnets, but I'm eager to give it a go.  Try it out yourself and let me know what you think!  Be sure to check out the article on what to do after you import (click the picture below):

It's never optimal to keep all of your focus on one venue.  Zibbet is a great up and coming handmade (and vintage, supplies, and fine art) site with monthly instead of item based fees and great new features added all the time.  Consider using a coupon code to give them a try this holiday season.  It's easier than ever to set up shop.

I hope you're as excited to try these new features as I am!  Have you found any others that will help you get your shop ready for the holidays?  Let us know in the comments!

Until next time,
Elle

EB Friday Hotlist: How Wholesale Can Help Your Business

What's the difference between consignment and wholesale?  In both situations, you are offering your work to another business at a lower rate than your retail price for them to resell.  Also in either situation you might sign a contract and/or have an ongoing relationship with this particular business.  The major difference from my perspective is that in a wholesale deal your items are purchased outright.  The reseller can then mark up the prices and sell the items to their customers (or, really, do whatever they want with them).  When you consign your items, however, you are paid your percentage when and only when the items sell.  If your items sit on the shelf collecting dust, the same collects in your wallet.  I have heard horror stories in the Etsy forums of consignment deals gone bad, so I've decided to stay away from that avenue.  I would highly recommend wholesale, however.  It can be a fantastic feeling to have your work in a brick and mortar retail shop and it can be a great way to grow your business.

As many of you know, I recently sold about 50 pieces of jewelry to a new shop in Durham, NC called Hunky Dory.  If you're local, be sure to check them out and tell them Elle's Beads sent you!  I stopped into the shop the other day to show a friend my work and he snapped this picture:

The jewelry I made can be seen from the middle to the right side of the picture, along with a few pieces from some other artists.  I was fortunate enough to make this huge sale just by being found on Etsy.  Previously I had only briefly skimmed the forum threads and thoughtful discussions on wholesaling.  I raised my prices some, but that was the only action I took.  I assumed that since I only sold one-of-a-kind pieces that I wouldn't attract that kind of interest.  I was happily surprised to find out that wasn't the case.  So, there are some things that I was prepared for and some things I wish I had thought through in advance.  To hopefully get you excited about selling wholesale, here are my top five pieces of advice:

1.  Be thorough in setting up your online shop because you never know who may come across it and decide that your work is a perfect fit for their business.  This is my first piece of advice because I didn't actually seek out this order - the owners of Hunky Dory found me through searching on Etsy.  If you want to be found, you must make sure that your work is properly titled and tagged and optimized for search engines.  Use clear photos and accurately describe your work in the appropriate sections.  Especially if you sell on a site like Etsy where users can search for sellers local to them, be sure to include an accurate and complete location (city, state or province, and country).  Actually, doing all of this will help you not only with wholesaling, but with attracting regular customers, being featured in blogs or magazines, etc. - set up your shop to work to your advantage!


2. If you're interested in selling wholesale, recognize that you need to prepare for it ahead of time.  The most important preparation is tackling your pricing.  Go back and read that last sentence again.  From what I've read on Etsy, most wholesale orders tend to run at 50% of retail price.  That means if I have a ring listed in my shop for $10, my wholesale price should be $5.  This allows the retailer that buys your crafts to mark them up so that they can make a profit from selling them.  If you would lose money selling your items at this 50% rate, you are not ready to wholesale.  It's time to raise your prices.

You may be thinking, "Why would I want to sell my one-of-a-kind items at 50% off?"  It's true that for this kind of wholesale order you aren't making large batches of the same item at once, which saves time and cuts down overhead costs.  However, consider the amount of work that it takes to promote your individual items and sell them, and how much money you spend in advertising, renewing, and craft fair booth fees.  It may actually be more cost effective to sell a large number of items at once for less profit per item than one item at a time for a higher profit.  The point is to make a profit and make sure you aren't cheating yourself.

3. Another main preparation you should consider is delivery of the goods.  Whether or not you sell to someone local, you will have to consider how you will package the items and deliver them.  If you make a local sale, you may be able to arrange for the buyer to meet you to pick up the items.  (Remember to exercise common sense safety precautions - you are meeting a stranger from the internet and bringing valuable merchandise with you.)  Otherwise you will have to factor in shipping costs as well.  Make sure you're prepared with promotional materials and think of creative ways to use them.  I noticed that one of the other local artists who recently sold jewelry to Hunky Dory attached their rings to their business cards in a similar fashion to the way earring cards are used.  While every business may not allow you to include your own branding and promotional materials with your items, it can further expand your business if it is allowed.

4. Decide on your policies ahead of time.  Once you receive the order request is not the time to make up your mind on what your wholesale rate is.  You need to consider under what circumstances you will sell wholesale, for example:

*What is your minimum order amount for the wholesale discount? 10 items? 50 items? $200 worth of merchandise?

*Will you offer a smaller discount for those who do not meet your minimum order requirement?

*Will you have the customer place the order through your website or through an artisan venue?

*What payment methods will you accept?  Cash?  Checks?  Money Order?  Online bank transfers?  Credit card payments?  And how will you go about accepting payment?  In person?  Through the mail?  Through a payment service like PayPal or Google Checkout?


Make sure to clearly state your policies to the customer and consider adding them to your policies page on your website or shop.

5. Respond quickly, stick to your agreed time frame, and be as accommodating as possible.  Hunky Dory hadn't yet opened when they contacted me, but they were looking to get the shop opened within the week.  Without staying on top of communications and quickly getting together the order for them, I may have lost the sale.  You don't need a Blackberry or fancy tools to be professional.  I made use of the Etsy convo system to update them daily (sometimes hourly) on the status of the order and to make sure they knew I was concerned with making the sale an easy, pleasant transaction for both of us.

Now you may not have the time right now to prepare large orders for wholesale and that's understandable.  Most of us one-of-a-kind item sellers are gearing up for lots of smaller sales from holiday shoppers this time of year.  However, start thinking now about whether or not wholesale may be a viable option for you and take steps to prepare yourself for the possibility.  For more information on wholesale including selling non-OOAK items and exclusivity, I recommend checking the Etsy forums by using the search bar at the top of the page.

Do you have experience with wholesale?  Consignment?  Interested in it?  Let us know in the comments!

Until next time,
Elle

EB Friday Hotlist: One Year on Etsy

Time flies when you're not quite paying attention!  As you know, my focus lately has not been on my craft business and so I completely missed the fact that my one-year Etsy-versary was last month.  On September 16, 2010 I concluded my first year of selling online, which quite honestly is a little mind-blowing for me.  Now I can't boast that I've turned a major profit or that I'm ready to "quit my day job" (it's not even my goal...), but I still feel like I've been successful.  I've learned how to sell at craft fairs, the farmer's market, and the flea market.  I've gotten a blog, Twitter, and Facebook following.  I've made 25 online sales between Etsy, Zibbet, and Artfire and learned how to package and ship across the country.  I've also sold a large wholesale order and seen my jewelry on display in a local shop (more on that in a later post).  I've made friends, honed networking skills, and organized and led a local team event.  Most importantly I've learned a great deal, not just about running a small, independent business, but about myself - my personality, my strengths, and my passions.

I've been talking a lot about inspiration lately, and if there was one piece of advice I could give to anyone starting out it would be to stay inspired.  Do something you really enjoy or it's really just work.  Crafting is generally not easy money (hence the popular term "starving artist"), but it is possible to turn your passion into a successful business - whatever "success" means to you.

Many thanks to each and every one of you that read the blog, tweet the posts, leave comments, subscribe to the newsletter, and purchase from the shop.  I don't know what I would have done without you this past year.  I genuinely appreciate all of your kind words and support.  Happy sales!

Until next time,
Elle

EB Friday Hotlist: Pride Edition

Anyone that follows me knows that I'm openly bisexual, a member of the Queer Etsy Street Team, and a huge supporter of all things LGBT.  A lot of people celebrated LGBT Pride earlier this year, but here in North Carolina we are celebrating this weekend.  Tomorrow I plan to head up to Durham to meet a friend who will accompany me to my first ever pride events (yay!).  So, I decided to take this post as a mini-celebration online of something that definitely influences and colors my craft.



As you may have heard (even right here on this blog), the Queer Etsy Street Team is raising money to benefit the Trevor Project.  The Trevor Project provides the only 24-hour national (US) suicide and crisis hotline for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning teens.  They also provide a host of other services to benefit queer teens and young people and actively advocate for their rights, protection, and safety.  Purchases from our team shop go to benefit the Trevor Project.  We are donating 100% of proceeds to them from this year and we're offering free shipping to all customers for all items.  Please take a look at the shop and purchase something to support this cause.
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If you're interested in taking a look at other LGBT art, feel free to browse some of my old Weekly Treasures blog posts.  You'll find several treasuries featuring queer-themed work found on Etsy.
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I've been talking and thinking about inspiration lately and how I find it necessary in order to create.  My bisexuality plays a significant role in my work.  Most of you have heard the story before, but to make a long story short...due to stress and a host of other factors (including personal conflict over my identity), I decided to start making jewelry as an outlet.  That wasn't the first time I'd ever dabbled in jewelry making though.  A couple of years prior I had searched and searched online for bi-themed jewelry and was unimpressed at the relatively minimal selection.  I ended up going to Michael's, purchasing an assortment of findings and pale pearls, and making my own bi pride jewelry.  I still wear it on occasion and I have a pair of earrings made with the same pearls for sale in my shop (see picture).  When I started selling jewelry on Etsy, I made a conscious effort to add an LGBT line so that others in my situation would have a little more to choose from.  Unfortunately because of time constraints, I haven't been able to replenish my stock for that line or for any of my others.  I am, however, immensely pleased that one of my sources of inspiration turned into a product line that resonated with customers.

What aspects of your personality do you put into your work?  What is it about you that bleeds over into your creative projects?  Let me know in the comments!

Until next time,
Elle