Friday Features - Back to School Etsy Style

As the kids start going back to school, it is time for us shop owners to start thinking about doing some studying as well. There is always something new we can learn! So get out your #2 pencil and start taking some notes. Etsy has some of the best guides for helping your online business! Etsy Guide Get Off The Internet and Market. Custom tips to promoting your shop off of the internet by ataglancegraphics (What I love best about this one: "You will not be getting a generic marketing guide. Your guide will be a customized, shop specific guide. I will look over your shop and work on marketing ideas that “fit” what you are selling.") Etsy Tax Guide - Your Etsy Tax Solution EBook by JJMFinance REDUCED RATE for 2 Guides - The Art of Photography AND The Art of Pricing pdf by EurekaGuides Social Media Marketing Success Guide for Etsy Ebook- Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and Blogging by SnazzieBusiness I wanted each of these guides to give you specific help instead of generic "success guides". This way you can work on a specific part of your shop each "term" this "school year" :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Have you used any of the guides on Etsy? Or else where on the web or in the library? Please share with us!

Relevancy and Tags

Last week I talked about Etsy's changes to their search function and Relevancy being the new default search option. I got lots of good feedback from that post, so I thought I'd do another on tagging your items to become "relevant".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Etsy recently changed their policy on tagging to allow multi-word tags! This is great for sellers as it allows us to tag our items more accurately and to be more relevant!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

People commented last week that they enjoyed seeing examples, so I'll give you some examples for tagging this week as well :)

Baby Photo Album Custom Personalized Engraved Leather

for this listing, I used 4 multi-word tags that I think buyers will enter into search together.

*Photo Album

*Laser Engraved

*Baby Boy

*Baby Girl

These are all "Etsy-legal" because they are still only describing one thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is another example:

TRAVEL Chipboard Word Scrapbook Photo Album - 6.5"x12" for 4x6 Photos

Here are the multi-word tags I used for this listing:

*Road Trip

*Photo Album

*Laser Cut

*Hunter Green

*Word Album

I would like to point out that colors can be tricky. Each color needs to have a separate tag, but colors like hunter green, navy blue or crimson red are all okay. The tag: red blue green would not be okay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I said last week, think like a buyer. What terms to you think your shoppers would use together in search? Can they be used together as a multi-word tag? If they are still describing a single aspect of your item while being used together...Go For It!

10 Tips for a Successful Craft Show

I was very pleased with both of my craft shows this year and would definitely call them both a success :) So, to help out some newbies (and some seasoned crafters) uniquecommodities mentioned in a comment that it would be a good idea to blog about some Tips for Success.

So, here is what I came up with:

1. Offer a variety of items: the same item in multiple colors, variations of the same item, coordinating items, etc.

2. Have enough items to last you through the day: This will vary depending on the show, the items you sell, etc. Not everything has to be out all at once. Just keep your extras in totes under a table or behind a display for easy access when you need them.

3. Have items at eye level: This is something I have done new this year and I got many complements on my pink box display. People don't want to have to bend over to look at everything, so have levels, raise tables, whatever it takes to get things up so people can easily see them.

4. Have plenty of business cards on hand: By the end of my first show, I only had 2 cards left! I made sure to print many extras for the second show. People were so excited I had a website that they immediately took a card. I have already had 5 additional orders and they all got my info from the cards :)

5. If you do custom orders, bring display items: Many of my sales come from custom albums (particularly my custom name and word albums) and I think it is important for people to see what they will be buying rather than trying to explain it to them. I had several variations of these albums out on display. I am hoping to do a laminated flip book for next year with all the different styles of custom albums I offer and just have one or two actual albums on display.

6. Bring a friend or something to work on: I know some people will say not to bring someone with you, but I have a friend who helps me at every one of my shows and she is such a big help :) Be sure to bring someone who is knowledgeable in your area of sales. Personally, I hate to eat lunch at my booth, so this gives me the opportunity to get away for a bit and see other booths as well. (And take a bathroom break!) If you don't have a friend to bring along, bring something easy to work on. Customers can get uneasy if you're just sitting or standing there eagerly waiting for them to come shop. And, working on a project can get people interested in what you're doing and draw them into your booth.

7. Rearrange items periodically and play with interactive items: People may come back by and see an item they had missed the first time by. I try to move things around and flip through my books now and then. I have sold more flip flop albums while looking through one than at any other time. They are an item that can sometimes be overlooked by customers unless you catch their eye. Once one person sees them, they tend to draw a crowd after that :)

8. For repeat shows, get the same booth: This way people know exactly where to find you every time. I have people come to shows just to buy my albums and leave. They want to know exactly where I am so they can get in and get out. People like consistency. Also, having the same booth can help you in setting up and knowing how you want things laid out. Corner booths can be set up very differently from interior booths...something to keep in mind.

9. If you offer a newsletter or have a mailing list, craft shows are a great place to get additional readers: This is a tip I need to follow myself. I had three ladies ask me if I had sale fliers or regular newsletters with new items. I would like for this to be my next marketing step.

10. Some of the obvious: Be friendly and welcoming :) Have enough change. (Keep in mind if your items are even dollars or if you are charging tax.) Be friendly to the vendors next to you :) And always clean up your area and help others if possible :)

Your next craft show is sure to be a success :)

Thanks again to uniquecommodities for the great idea :)

Scrapbooking Your Man

I know many people think that the men in our lives are just too hard to scrapbook for and about. They don't like pink. They don't like frills. They don't like flowers. They just aren't that much into scrapbooking.

Well, I just got done doing same pages for a client and they happen to be of her son. A teenager even! I thought I would share some pages and tell you my tips for scrapbooking those guys.

Sports pages are great because you can just use the team colors as a starting point. There are TONS of sports related embellishments out there now as well that make it easy to dress up a layout without making it too frilly. Here is an example:

I used the school's colors and mascot and even added some memorabilia. Not girly at all :)

Here is another idea for sports pages. I used more of a general color scheme here that would work for any sport and any team colors. I used basketball themed embellishments and basketball textured paper (so cool). I even made it personal by adding his jersey number.

Here is an example of how to scrapbook your man for any occasion. This is my boyfriend's 30th birthday present from me. I definitely wanted this page to stay manly and not turn into just another birthday layout. Here it is:

For this one I used guy colors and kept my embellishments to a minimum. I just got the basics across. The bottom smaller photo has hinges on it and opens to reveal my journaling. I wanted to keep it covered in case my boyfriend thought it was too corny to share :)

Tips for scrapbooking your man:

• Keep it simple...don't over do it or he will think it's too much.
• Keep the colors to a minimum and use greens, blues, grays, blacks, and other non-girly colors.
• Use general embellishments like eyelets, numbers, simple quotes, monograms, brads, etc
• Keep your patterned paper graphic. Lines, squares, checkered, some swirls, etc. The last thing you want to use is anything floral! Keep it graphic and it will speak manliness to your man :)
• Hide your journaling if it is a private matter. You know how guys are about sharing their feelings. They don't want you sharing yours about them on a layout either.
• Most of all...have fun creating a layout for your man :) Don't get too worked up over it being perfect. Guys are usually just happy you're thinking of them...even if it is on a scrapbook page :)

New Word-Name Mini Albums

I have been making so many of my word albums lately. People are just loving them :) Have you seen the Bo Bunny word albums? Mine are similar, but the great thing is...you can customize them!! I hand cut each one to spell any word from about 4-9 letters. They are 12" long, so the more letters there are the smaller each one is. They are so darn cute and make great gifts. I can't tell you how many I have given away to family and friends. I keep coming up with different words all the time.







Here are a couple pictures of my little creations:








I have made the following albums and can make many others :)

• First Names
• Last Names
• Sports Teams
• Seasons
• Holidays
• Pet's Names
• Destinations
• Family
• Mother, Father, Brothers, Sisters
• Friends
• Love
• Baby

These are so great because they are so personal. And they can be given to anyone!

They do take a lot of work. I have to hand cut each letter, trace it on the chipboard, cut out the chipboard, Xyron both sides of the chipboard and adhere cardstock, cut out letter to put on ends of pages and Xyron them as well. They tend to give me paper cuts too. The Xyron machine leaves little balls of adhesive on the edges of the paper and I have to use my fingers to roll them off. I always wind up with cuts on every finger!! I definitely need to find a better way of doing this. But like everything else, live and learn.

Some tips if you ever plan on making a work album:

• I always format my wording in PhotoShop first to make sure it fits in 12". I make mine 4" tall. Each word will be different even if they contain the same letters. I format each one separately.
• Always use a sharp exacto blade. They are cheap and it makes a world's difference. Anytimem I start to notice I'm putting in more effor than necessary, I change the blade and it works like a charm.
• Try to get the chipboard as close to the edge of the cardstock so you can get three cuts out of a 12x12 piece of paper. Sometimes I tend to use a little extra and then the third piece is too short. Get the most for your money and stick close to the edges.

If you are interested in having a custom word album made, check out my Etsy shop for the listing:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9122596

Have a great day :)