Happy Words that Made Me Cry

I just went to my Etsy feedback section and ohmygoodness...I got a comment that made me cry! I just have to share it with you because it makes me feel so good...so inspired to continue to do what I do...so grateful to my customers...so appreciated...so happy...reason to cry in happiness don't you think?

HandmadeCute is an exceptional business with an incredible creative mind behind the talent we see in the store. Not only is the product exceptional, but the customer service, shipping, and extra bonus are unmatched. I will be back time and time again. This seller has not only won my business but also my great respect. I cannot thank HandmadeCute enough for the job well done on my custom order. Truly incredible.

Just want to hug everyone one of you for reading my blog, for browsing my shop, for purchasing items from me, for befriending me...I am thankful!

The lesson I learned...always act out of love because you get back a lot more than what you give.
 
I need tissue.

More Etsy Journey-ing

Thank you everyone who entered my first giveaway contest.  Eclairre (cute name) was announced the winner and she has already received her prize - the spiral rope bracelet.  I'm happy to say that Eclairre emailed me to say that she is very pleased with her prize.  

The contest was a lot of fun and it did bring more visitors to my blog and shop.  I think having my post featured on the Etsy Giveaways and By Hand Giveaways blogs helped to get the word out.  I was shivering in my seat thinking I would not get any contest participants but I am happy with the 9 entries I did receive.  

Here are my questions about this experience:  

• Why did I get visitors to my post yet the visitor chose not to enter the contest when winning was sooo easy?
• Is it because my product is undesirable?
• Is it too much work to enter? (but then other sites using the same entry methods get tons of  entries.)
• Is it a security/privacy issue?
• Some other reason?

If you have any thoughts/answers/advice for me, I'd love to hear from you.  Think I'll go work on a bracelet now.  Here is my latest on Etsy.

Spiral Rope Bracelet, Turquoise/Black

.

Giveaway

Hello Everyone!

For those who are following my blog, you may know that I am trying to "get serious" about my crafting and selling on Etsy.  Some days I'm more serious than others...whew! seriousness is hard work! I noticed all the people having fun with "giveaways" and I'm into fun so as soon as I can work out the details, I'm going to give it a shot.

This is what I learned about giveaways.

• Sponsoring a giveaway is a wonderful way to promote and get new traffic to your site.
• Give away something of value that represents your style.
• Your giveaway item should be attractive as if you are selling it.
• Don't make it hard for the readers to win your item.
• Don't drag out the qualifying period.
• Be clear about the rules.
• Don't annoy your readers/followers by constantly harping them about your giveaway.
• Reach out to other networks that promote giveaways.
• Host your giveaway on another blog that has more traffic than your own blog.
• Treat your winner like a customer and follow through.

I found great information on meylah.  Come back for my Giveaway.  Thanks!

Before and After Photos

I am still working on improving my photos.  Here are before and after photos I have worked on using Piknic. 

Before

***

After

In this photo I tried to give an idea of the size of my pumpkin by using my hand as a reference, worked on the lighting and edited the background with a little blur.

Photography

I've been dilly-dallying, trying to not think about this section called "Item Photography" in the Etsy Success for Beginners Sellers guide because I need serious improvement in this area.

There are so many "how-to" photography articles and I get overwhelmed by the details.  Things to consider are...

• Lighting.  What I remember about this is - natural lighting is best.
• Background.  I experiment but try to stick with white because when I'm adjusting the image on my photo software, I know my background should be white.  If it turns purple, I know I'm waaaayyyy off from my item's real color.
• Close-Ups.  I know I should be using macro mode.
• Angles.  I know taking shots from different angles creates a something that is more interesting.
• Cropping.  I know nothing.
• Grouping.  Just put 'em all together right?
• Additional Photos.  The customer needs to know what he/she is buying so the additional photos should give an idea of size, texture, smell...  I definitely need improvement in this area. 
• Upselling.  Is there something else in my store that will go good with this purchase?  Hmmm...I mention getting a gift box.  I'm sure I can work on this part while actually having fun.
• Editing.  Need help.  The article mentions Piknic, Picasa and Gimp.  I've tried Piknic and Picasa.  Maybe I can learn Gimp.

I like to blame my ugly photos on my modest point and shoot camera.  Should I invest in a camera that is more "professional"?  Well, I will work on my photography techniques and let you know if I was able to follow these tips and make any improvements on my photos.

More on this topic:
Beginning of Success...I hope!
It's All in the Name
Shop Set Up

Shop Set Up

I'm proceeding to the next part of the Etsy's beginner's guide called Shop Set Up.  This part tells you about registering account, creating a profile bio and the necessities to get started.  Here is my bio...

if just for today
cow are purple, pigs do fly
come imagine with me

One day I will find a way to make all the images in my mind find its way into my creations. My mind moves faster than hands and my days move quickly into night...read more

On to...Banners
My banner should be professional and give my customers a sense of my shop.   Here is my banner:

This is my newest banner (taking away the "+" that I felt was unnecessary and discussed earlier).  It does represent my shop by showing a product that I made it gives buyers a feel of what I sell. My banner is not professionally made and maybe one day I will be able to afford a professional.  How can I improve my banner?  Do you have any suggestions?

Avatars - should be well lit, well cropped, show something interesting.

This is my Avatar.  Avatars are used for community spaces and is an advertisement for your shop while you're on the go.  Once again I'm am using my bunny earrings with my bright yellow background.  It represents my shop well but should I get rid of the wording and use just the image?

Shipping and shipping profiles - set 'em up in your shop.

There are many times when I really, really want to buy a product online and then I see "does not ship to Hawaii".  What a major bummer! Other times, my shopping decision is based on the price of shipping...too high, no buy!  In my shop, I ship only to the US, Canada and UK.  Furthermore, the cost of shipping may make up more than 50% of my product price. If I was shopping from my own site, these things would scare me away unless these costs could be offset in some other way.  Therefore, I sometimes combine my pieces into sets to make the "value of product to shipping price" more reasonable.  I also offer free shipping when customers buy 5 or more items from my shop.

To determine postage price, I went to the USPS online postage calculator and weighed my items.  I categorized them into shipping profiles. 

Conclusion:
I did what I was told to do but maybe I can get into the next Etsy virtual lab discussion and have an evaluation made on my banner, avatar and shipping issue. 

My Etsy Journey Posts:
* Beginning of Success...I hope!
* It's All in the Name

It's All in the Name

According to Etsy's beginners guide, the most important thing to think about when opening your Etsy shop is Your Name.

My shop's name is Handmade + Cute.

Is it great and memorable so others can find you again?
Uh...it's easy to remember but not necessarily great so I guess the answer is "no".

Is it (a) easy to pronounce, (b) easy to spell, (c) interesting and (d) tells others about your shop's sense of style?
(a) yes (b) except for the "+" for "and" it is easy to spell (c) the "+" makes is different (d) definitely speaks about my sense of style.

Shorter tends to be better than longer.
shucks...my shop's name is on the longer side.

Avoid common words, number strings and consonant strings.
Common! I don't have number strings or consonant strings but I see my  "+" symbol as a problem.

Is my shop name "Google-able"?
Now this question is tricky. I opened my Etsy shop, my blog and my Twitter accounts around the same time this year- March 2010. My Flickr has been opened quite a bit longer under another name but I use Flickr to host many of my crafty photos.  When I Googled 'handmade cute', my blog, my Twitter and my Flickr accounts appeared on the first page of the 4,100,000 search results.  My Etsy shop is buried away somewhere in that haystack of those million straws. I gave up scrolling for my Etsy link after page 4 of the search results.  Hmmm...why is my Etsy shop nowhere to be found in my Google search? 

Now, let's say someone got my name wrong and Googled 'cute handmade', I'm out of luck because none of my links showed up on the result pages and I scrolled to page 5.  I'm not very familiar with tags, keywords and all that search optimization stuff but now I'm wondering if I should start describing my products as cute and handmade...?

Am I in the danger zone?
I could well be in the "danger zone".  After all, I have a shop name that is quite generic, has a funny symbol, is on the longer side and is not unique.  An option would be for me to open a new Etsy shop that meet the criteria but do I want to do that?

Conclusion
No, I do not want to open a brand new Etsy shop.  I am very pleased with myself for my 7 sales, proud of the 100% positive feedback, thrilled to have 44 users who "favorite" my shop, overjoyed to have been listed in 3 user Treasuries and don't want to pay the twenty-cents listing fees again.  I know others are further along and have had greater success than I have but each of these warm fuzzies mean a lot to me.   Furthermore, although my Etsy shop is nowhere on the front pages of a Google search, my blog is listed number 3 out of 4,100,000 search results and that must be a wonderful thing.  Someone may not be searching for my shop in particular but there is a possibility that the generic "handmade" "cute" words may bring them to my blog, Twitter or Flickr profiles and in turn, to my Etsy shop. 

In short, I will keep my shop's name but make a small change to it by calling it Handmade Cute and getting rid of the "+" symbol which does nothing for the name and probably is not search engine friendly.  http://handmadecute.etsy.com/ is my url address so the change will not affect my user name.

For those who have considered changing your shop's name, here is a helpful Etsy article.

And...I'd like send out a huge "T H A N K S" to those who read and follow my blog!

Beginning of Success...I hope!

There are 3 activities in my life that I obsess over...

1. Beading
2. Reading
3. My computer

All these activities, I do for pleasure but I can't do all three at the same time lest my family disown me so I carefully fit these shining hours into my day. 

My beading hobby, I'm ready to take to the next level and I'm going to start here >> Etsy Success for Beginning Sellers.  It's something I've avoided because, heck, it's not fun when your hobby becomes work but I hope I can find a nice work/fun balance.  I'd love for you to join me on my journey as I "get serious" about doing what makes me sing (shyly).