Top Shop: Organize your Space (Part 3)

If you are just joining us, you can read all about Day 1 and Day 2 of this project. Now, on with the show...

Day 3 was a Monday morning. I am surprisingly efficient on monday mornings, I think it is my most productive time of the week. i got my kids on the schoolbus then got right down to business.

There were still piles stacked up outside of the room and even some that ended up back in the art room so that I could add items to the cabinets as I went. My greatest challenge lie in the space stocked with the kids stuff as well as some of my old cardmaking supplies. I emptied out the whole thing and noticed allot of dried up paint and markers, as well as half empty boxes. This was no good. I consolidated all the usable items, even bringing down my stamps and an old school bedazzler. I must have thrown out a bucket of old markers and paint pens!

Once the challenge of the kids area was taken care of, I was able to start work on re-organizing the yarn I actually use for my shop. I already had most of it stored in clear plastic containers by color, but I still had a hard time finding what I needed most often. This time I took out my handy-dandy chart and was sure to put the most used yarns in the easiest place to find them.

Since I completed this project I have done 2 projects; a NY Giants football helmet and a Yoda golf club cover. Both use completely different yarns. I was able to quickly and easily locate all the yarn and tools I needed, flipped through my pattern notebook to find the patterns and get right to work.

Objectivism is Good For You!

There was a lot of advice my mother gave me growing up. The most important being as long as I try my hardest, it doesn't matter what the final result is. She meant it to apply to my struggle with learning Spanish; but I think it is a great goal for life. It was also, unbeknown to me, the philosophy of author Ayn Rand.

Objectivism believes that we have a moral obligation to do what we love to the best of our ability. By doing this we achieve our highest purpose and contribute in the greatest way to society. As artists, our goal is to express the emotional experience in a physical form. These are definitely oversimplifications, but you get the idea.

How does this apply to running an etsy shop? Do what you do to the best of your ability! DON'T COMPROMISE! Not everyone is going to love it, but as long as you do, does that really matter? By doing what you do you are making the world a better place.

Apply it to your whole life. Be the best mom you can. Can't be the best mom? Have help from someone who is. This does not mean you are less of a person, it is just not your thing. No judgements! You are probably better at other things.

be sure to check out the etsy shops of Atlantis Prints and Sentiment Redesigned whose images I have borrowed for this article.

Advertise Using A Car Magnet

Car magnets have become the new bumper sticker. It is an easy way to let the world know how you feel about your honor student without ruining your leased vehicle. It is also a great way to advertise your small business everywhere you go. If you have a logo designed for your website, you are already halfway there!

Materials:

printable magnet sheets 

one sided self adhesive laminate sheets (both available at most office supply or craft supply stores)

inkjet printer

design software (or Word if you have nothing else)

scissors or paper cutter

1. open your design program and set up a new page in the landscape orientation (11"x8.5")
2. If you are using pre-designed graphics, insert them and add text on HALF the page. You will be using one sheet for 2 magnets. Remember: people will be reading this from their cars, so make the print big and easily legible. Use bold colors and only the most important information, like how they can contact you (website, phone... whatever you want most)
3. Be sure to print out a draft and cut it down to size to decide if you like it before printing the final version.
4. Copy and paste your final version below the other one so that you will have 2 printing on one sheet. Be sure there is enough room between the two for you to cut the page in half
5. place magnet paper into printer as directed on package and print away.
6. let the print dry for a little while then adhere laminate to magnet on the printed side following directions given on package.
7. cut sheet in half neatly (11"x4.25")
8. Adhere to the back of your car cause you are done!

I would love to see some of the fabulous designs you come up with. Please comment and share!

Sell Your Soul

lessons from my first year in the handmade community

Today is the first anniversary of my Etsy shop, http://traceyknits.etsy.com. As with any business, it has been a mountain of lessons learned and lots of hard work. I thought today i would share some of the information I have gathered over the last 365 days. Some you may have heard a million times before, others may be new to you, and bits may not apply to you at all. Whatever your experience level, i hope you get a little something out of it.

1. Get started! You may be thinking, that is not really a lesson, but it really is. If you don’t just jump in you will never know if you can make it. I have had many surprising successes and failures but I would have never known if I didn’t try. 
2. Research! My goodness, did I read everything. Etsy provides ALOT of very helpful information for its sellers and you should take the time to read it all. After you have finished that, do a google search and read anything you find there. Be sure to look up sellers who make similar items to yours, if they exist, and see if they share any advice.
3. Create Handmade! It is easy enough if you like what you are doing to do it every day, so do it. 
4. Share! I cannot extol the virtues of sharing your work enough. Just listing things on Etsy is not enough. You must have a twitter account, facebook account, and flickr account. You must list your name on twibs.com (twitter business directory), wefollow.com (get followers), twellow.com (twitter yellow pages). Facebook offers an app where you can connect your etsy shop to your facebook profile, do it! PS: you never know what a google search will pick up on, so the more places you talk about yourself, the more likely someone will find you.
5. Make friends! It is just a nice way of saying “networking”. If you talk about their amazing work to your friends and family, they are sure to do the same. I can’t tell you how many times I have been talking at a craft fair and suggested another etsian who would be a perfect choice for them.
6. Photos make or break it! Take the time to take great photographs and choose the best SQUARE image as your featured picture. I cant tell you the jump in sales I had when i retook the vast majority of my golf club covers. PS: not everyone will buy pre-worn hats or clothing, so make sure to put in the listing if this is the item they will receive or if you can make a new one for them.
7. Tag, your it! Google searches find your items based on the tags you choose. If you have researched the competition, you know how the best sellers label their items. My Yoda golf club cover is knit, used for sports, and is loved by geeks. How would I tag it? EVERYTHING! Plus I make sure to include things like Star Wars, Jedi, driver, and green. You never know what will be that thing that will connect you with that customer.
8. Work every day! Yes, no vacations. Even when i wasn’t knitting or designing a new pattern, I was tweeting, I was writing on my blog, I was listing and relisting items. I have a web enabled phone so i can check for sales or respond to inquiries no matter  where I am. I have NEVER put my shop in vacation mode, even when on vacation.
9. Take advantage of free opportunities! OMG, they are everywhere. I do an article every Monday about another etsy shop and share it with my followers, and I am not the only one! I have had my shop talked about on blogs just by responding to people who want to talk about handmade items. Again, the more you are talked about, the higher you come up on google searches. I have made the mistake of paying to be featured, a mistake I will not make again. 
10. That costs what? Pay yourself fairly! I cannot charge what I deserve for my hand knit items. It is an unfortunate problem for knitters everywhere. SO I started selling the patterns! Now knitters can share the fun experience of creating my golf club covers and hats and non-knitters can buy one already made. It has reduced my shipping costs and increased my sales. I still get to do what I love, but I get paid more of what I deserve.

have a great piece of advice you would like to share? i would love to hear your comments!

Great Opportuntiy!

Handmade Success, creator of such guides as the Etsy Seller Success kit, is having a giveaway!



This is what she is giving away:


The Handmade Success Consultation is a 30 minute telephone conversation with yours truly. Over the course of the consult, we will review everything and anything related to running your handmade business - your product line, your Etsy shop branding and copy, your marketing efforts, and your advertising strategy. I will listen to your concerns and craft a strategy for you to improve upon each of these areas and give you advice on how to streamline your efforts so you can spend more time creating your product and less time on the computer. We will talk about your goals for this month, this year, and beyond. At the end, I will follow up in writing with a concise marketing & business plan for you to refer back to. Sound good? The charge for the consultation is normally $75.

I will be selecting 5 entries at random to win the free consult. Entries must be received by midnight PST Friday, October 16, 2009 and I will announce the winner on Monday, October 19th. Good luck, and I really can't wait to work with you!

visit her blog for more information.