Stacking the deck

It's been a busier-than-expected week, but quite productive. I managed to get a whole bunch of pieces finally finished - mostly cutting hanging threads, putting buttons on, that kind of thing; also updated nisseworks' Facebook page with photos and some links to my work so it's not quite so blank; and ventured full steam ahead into the world of custom work.

Taking on four custom orders in the last week has opened a new venue for revenue (ooh, rhyming), one that I had considered, but decided against because I thought it would just lead to headaches. Well, after almost 6 months of my Etsy shop being open and only selling 3 pieces, it's probably time to start looking at other ways to use my creative skills to help pay the bills.

Hence, my Cargoh shop. Let me just say that Cargoh is awesome. Just awesome. Sure there were a few hiccups earlier this month with the jurying and eliminating sellers and all that, but they've come out ahead. I like being part of Cargoh and hope that it succeeds, and I'd think that even if I wasn't a seller there. It's got a very close-knit feeling to it, unlike some other online venues that make the seller feel like they're just a cash cow for the owners.

Then there's the request for a quote to do up some wedding invitations which came right out of the blue. Back in January, I had given Keith a stack of flyers to post up around town and pass on to people he thought might be interested. He dropped by a small wedding boutique here and they were quite happy to take 200 smaller flyers to put in the goody bags they gave to prospective brides. Fast forward 8 months, and I get an email from a bride-to-be... so I sent her a quote and a basic outline of what she can expect/what I need from her and I'm hoping to hear from her within the next week or so. I had assumed that the boutique just stopped handing them out or no one was interested, but lo and behold, someone is. Hopefully.

August has been the month I didn't expect, but hoped for. I've been really busy coming up with new designs, trying new promotional ideas, doing research, as well as selling and taking orders. Keith is leaving for a week on Saturday and I'm planning on taking some time while he's gone to figure out where I should take this little business of mine next. I've got a couple of ideas - like the paper/digital design line that I'm 99% sure I'm going to launch in the next month - simmering away, but need to figure out how to get them out of my head and into action. I know that I'm farther ahead today than I was a month ago, which is all anyone can really hope for... I just need to keep the momentum going for the rest of the year.

Swallowing the bitter pill

There are a few things in life that drive me absolutely nuts: stupid people; drivers who don't use their turn signals; rudeness; and shortsighted, blame-everyone-but-me, ignorant (but not in the 'stupid' definition, because stupid people have their own reasons for garnering my head-shaking and eye-rolling) twits.

Things - sales, views, whatever - at Etsy have apparently been in upheaval for the last few months. I wouldn't know because I stocked my shop the day after the proverbial shit hit the fan. What that proverbial shit is, I have no idea... still. I'm not going to throw around accusations or spread rumours, but some sellers are quite upset with how Etsy runs their website.

Why?

I haven't got a bloody clue. I don't have a problem with how Etsy runs their website and, as an extension, their business. Or their office.

No business is perfect, including our own personal businesses. Or Etsy. Just because we give them money (20¢/listing, every 4 months, and 3.5% per sale) to essentially give us some space on their server to upload photos and try to sell our products does not mean we - the sellers - have any right to butt our noses into how things run.

I give lots of businesses money all the time. I give the government money all the time. I have absolutely no say in how they operate, no matter how inefficient or shoddily I think they are doing so. I certainly do not think that when I book a table at a craft show that I should be able to tell the co-ordinators how to set things up, how to promote, or go crying to them at the end of the show accusing them of 'not holding up their end of the deal' (that's not a quote from an Etsy forum post, as far as I know, it's just something I wanted to put in quotes for emphasis) because I didn't sell enough or anything.

Nope, the only person responsible for making sure my products sell is me. And me alone. There is no rule that Etsy is the only place you can sell your home/handmade products or vintage pieces or supplies online. It may be the most popular, but it is certainly not the only. There's Artfire and Zibbet and even eBay, just to name a few. But if you want to be 'noticed', you go with Etsy.

Am I happy with my experience with Etsy so far? Yeah. I still haven't sold anything, but I will. Do I think Etsy is doing a good job? Sure, but I'm just a customer (and that's what a lot of people forget). Do I think they could do more to help the sellers (and even buyers) to get the most out of their experience with Etsy? Of course, but what business can't improve their customer relations on some level?

Not everyone is going to be happy with change (or what they perceive as a lack of change), but oh lord, the way some people go on in the Etsy forums, you'd think that the world was ending because the admin chose to use black pens over blue without consulting the sellers first. (Totally random, made-up example, just to help prove a point.)

I'll close with this: if you aren't happy with the results of what you're paying for, be it Etsy or a mortgage provider or a shoe brand, MOVE ON. How much energy can one waste bitching all the time? Based on what I read on forums (and this applies to ALL forums, not just Etsy), a lot... like life-sucking amounts of energy. I'd hate to be one of those people.

Tomorrow, I'm going to *hopefully* create a few new pieces to list in my shop, because I want to. And then I'm going to work on improving my shop and making my brand more effective, which may, in turn, bring me a sale. I may also keep researching new products to work on for the craft shows I'm entering this fall. All depends on time and organization, something we all know I'm deficient in :)

But it's what I have to do to improve my business so I can be successful... and if I don't do any of that and continue to not do any of that and then wonder why I have no one looking at my work or any interest at all in my work, the only person I can blame is me. No one else. Maybe some people need to start taking responsibility for themselves and stop blaming everyone else.

(the photo? yeah, no relation to the post at all...but it is the second year in a row I got a shot of a bee in that plant. woo, me.)

Time is not on my side

Summer months are the optimal time to start planning for and getting your shop ready for the holiday season. Etsy's holiday season picks up from October through December. Harvest and Halloween seasons pick up as early as August, so start stocking up on and listing your holiday offerings now in preparation for the seasonal rush ahead
     • Media Tip: Press outlets begin finalizing their holiday issues and series in the summer. Have your holiday items listed, tagged, and available now for buyers and PR reps looking to pull items for holiday gift guides.

-From Etsy's Merchandising Desk: July Heats Up

Oh, holy crap.

I am not expecting to have anything from my shop catch the eye of any media folk and wind up in some magazine in time for the holiday season. I may be talented, but I'm not that talented.

Yet.

No, this just reminds me that the first craft sale that I want to be part of is in 3 months. Three months. Ninety days. Again, oh, holy crap.

I'm not sure what I'm going to sell at that sale, but I don't have enough stock for a sale. And trying to sell the same things I have in my Etsy shop is not going to happen, either (mainly because if I tried to do that, it would be just my luck to have everything in my shop sell online at the same time people are buying them off of me at a sale).

There's a small list in my notebook for ideas of what to make/sell at the sale (this is only the first; I'm aiming for two more, and I know there's at least one more for sure), but haven't actually started any of it. I've decided that I'm going to try to get as much product done and ready to list in my shop by the end of June so July will be when I come up with new products. What those products are is another question.

I've been debating about opening another shop, either on Etsy or one of the other online handmade sites (like Artfire or Zibbet), to see if I can sell my efforts elsewhere. But how much more time can I devote to doing things that may or may not sell? Already, it's what I think about the majority of the time; it's what I spend my 'spare' time doing; and it's an even more difficult financial commitment for someone who doesn't have an income. So, yeah... do I keep all my eggs in one basket or start spreading them out, even though it could be a waste, which is what I'm doing now is turning into.

*sigh*

Sometimes I wonder if things would have just been easier to keep working rather than putting all this effort into something that's not exactly succeeding (which is no one/thing's fault but my own)... at least by working at home, I get to spend time with Maddy and drown my sorrows in cartoons and reruns all day.

Poking the bear

I don't remember the last time we - as a family - had a chance to actually sit back and relax. I don't know if it's because we just believe we don't have any time now that Maddy's getting older or if my work is taking away what free time I used to have, but it would be nice if we - Keith, Maddy and me - could just stop all the fussing and rushing and go-go-go for a few days.

But, then again, if we did stop and relax, I think I'd have a breakdown because I wasn't doing something. I used to slack off with the best of them, but in the last few years - especially since Maddy was born - nothing drives me more nuts than doing nothing. Idle hands, devil's playground... well, not really. It's more of a 'I know I can be productive - let's see how' thing. Gets frustrating sometimes... tiring, too.

With three months of an open shop under my belt, there are many, MANY areas of this business that I need to focus on and learn more about. Promotions and marketing, for one; time organization for another. It's not enough to just produce pieces, you have to sell them to people, too... and putting pretty pictures of them online doesn't mean a damn thing. People can't see you if you don't show them where you are.

There's been a debate - for lack of a better term - in the Etsy forums for the last few months about why sales and views have been down. If you told me that without any back story (or accusations), I would think that a lack of sales would be because:

• the economy still sucks. The government and banks and economists can all say it's getting better, but all those people who were unlucky enough to lose their jobs 18 months ago are not going to be spending money on luxuries; they're going to be paying off bills or putting away some extra money just in case this happens again.
• the handmade fad is starting to wane a bit. A couple of years ago, when the economy started to nosedive, lots of people turned back to homemade/grown/produced products to save money. Lots of those people sold their products, too... and now everyone and their dog makes something to sell. Add in a flooded market and you've got the perfect storm as to why no one is buying anything.
• there's a lot of crap out their and people don't have time (or the desire) to sift through it all. I went to the big local craft show last fall and wasn't impressed at all. There was a lot of amateur "crafters" who really should have just kept their work in their garages or basements to save themselves the hassle. I'm not saying what I do is the best in the world and that everyone loves it, but there's a reason Regretsy exists. 
• people got lazy and expected Etsy to do everything for them, including promotions and marketing. And solve their problems. Surprised some didn't expect Etsy to also tie their shoes and brush their hair.

I'm in the 'I don't blame Etsy' camp, mainly because I see Etsy as no different than the facility hosting a craft sale. It's my job as a show owner to make people see that I exist. I am in charge of promoting my shop and making people want to stay in my shop to make a purchase. Sure, it's nice when people find me through Etsy, but based on what Google Analytics is telling me, very few people do. I get more visitors from Twitter, this blog and other blogs I comment on than through Etsy.

Does that bother me? Nope.

Why not? Because the internet is a big place, and I count myself as lucky everytime someone finds me through Google or Craftgawker or some other method. I refuse to blame others for my failings, unless it's completely justified and provable. If I want people to see my work and buy my work, I have to do the work to get them, their eyes and their wallets to my shop. It's as simple as that.

And the internet is ever-evolving. People need to realize that. Things change, and usually it's for the better. What's the harm in letting people do their jobs and accepting that sometimes, "fixes" can take a little longer than expected because, well, they just do.

I know it's quite possible I'm going to end up slammed for what I have said and I really don't care. It's what I honestly believe and would have loved to say it in the forums, but anytime someone tries to say something like this (ie. it's not necessarily Etsy's fault you have no sales), they get ripped apart by the complainers. I'm willing to learn my lessons and try new things to get people's attention; I refuse to let other people force me to stand idly by and wait for "fixes" that I shouldn't need to operate a successful business.

So, yes... marketing and promotion. Need to work on that. And tweaking my photos, as well as gearing up for fall craft sales. I may be trying to come up with some new products soon and hope to post about them as they come along... although, based on my posting history thus far, there's no guarantee. Perhaps there's someone I could blame for that...

(the marigold pictured above is one of many that I picked up today at the best garden centre in the area - The Green Spot. I hate marigolds as a rule - something that dates back to when I was 5 or so and ate some of the seeds... pointy damn things going down... but these marigolds are going to be used in my battle against mosquitoes and aphids. Wish me luck:) )

Ha HA!

After months of short, dense batches of bread - due to a transcription error on my part - the batch I'm doing up today is rising. And it's rising above the edges of the pans FINALLY.

This may be my biggest accomplishment this week. And I helped build our fence.

Who knew that 1/2 cup of water would make so much of a difference?