Business Tips from Design Sponge - Bookmark This A Must Read Says Etsy Recyclers Guild Team

I don't know how many of you take the chance to scour the web for free business tips, or tips to sell online or grow your business, but I do.  When I find something wonderful I just have to share it!  Today, you must really bookmark and check out this Biz Ladies series on DesignSponge.  They add new things periodically, and quite honestly, this advice is priceless.    So what are you waiting for?  The Design Sponge Series is here.
Have fun!

Sending Packages to Your Customers: When Green Isn't Great

I so pride myself on using everything in my home for another purpose in life, right down to the cereal boxes and shoe boxes when packing Etsy items.   I do most of my grocery shopping at Aldi, who prides themselves in being green- and inexpensive.  By not offering plastic bags, and offering generic alternatives they can sell for less.  They also pride themselves in using less cardboard in their product line...such as this brand of Fit and Active cereal , or Millville--both generic lines. 

I use these boxes which are thinner such as the granola, fruit bars and cereal box items for non breakable goods.  In my several stores on Etsy and "that horrid other site not worth mentioning" prior to me selling on Etsy, I have shipped several thousand packages. I've shipped to international locations and with the exception of one lady upset that I used a  Dog Food Bag as packing material, I've not had any problems.  Until now. 

This was my package when it arrived to my customer, I was mortified!

I sent something made of polyethylene plastic (pretty much unbreakable) from Baltimore to California with free gifts like a tiny stress foam football (how ironic) which only provided extra support within the shoe molds to keep form, tied with an upcycled string.  There was nothing to support the box itself from being caved in.

In case you can't see, the package is marked "Damaged in Transit" in red stamped in several places by the USPS. The side is ripped open.  Based on my "track record" I immediately blamed the post office, as it surely didn't look this way when it left my home.  I then gave the customer a full refund because I wanted her to be happy . Her items weren't broken, just very bent, but a refund didn't fix the issue.  You see, it was my choice to use this flimsy box, (with good intent) and had it been sturdier, the customer's experience wouldn't have been ruined. 

Customer did not get a warm and fuzzy feeling when seeing this.  Would you?

I had some thoughts of my own....at first until I was enlightened.

I'm sharing this article with her permission of course, as we all may have to rethink how and when to use upcycled packing materials to a point.

1) Obviously some of these boxes are 35-50% less cardboard, and contain up 35-50% recycled consumer waste impacting strength and quality.  Thinner boxes are more prone to damage even if you feel your item is not damageable.  Think again.  Refer to the photos above.  It only takes once.  Why double, triple, or quadruple them when you can find a heavier alternative that may withhold normal delivery abuse? 

2) The Shopping Experience (start to finish.)  The warm and fuzzy "ohhhhhs" and "ahhhhhsss" of when your package arrives.  There's a process of anxiously awaiting arrival of your goodies, checking the lovely wrapping or business card, or freebies inside your package when you get it.  Satisfaction.  Smiles. Happiness. Repeat Business.  What should have been a fun and lively experience arrived looking like something out of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.  I cringed when I saw those photos, and was honestly surprised the items were still inside after viewing those photos. .

3)  Use of these thin boxes (aside obvious vulnerability to damages as stated in #1) do require more tape.  More tape on thin boxes means people are less likely to take the time (or be able to) remove the tape, therefore instead of the box going into their recycle bin it may go into the trash.  I hadn't thought of that.

4) Cereal boxes, fruit or nut bars may contain trace allergens. How would I know if her son, or her husband or even she was allergic to peanuts and I'm sending my item per se, in a nut granola box?  I hadn't even remotely considered that.  Have you?

So thanks to a customer's communication and ability to share this story and photos, and for several tidbits above I would not have thought of prior to this happening.  I will be rearranging and redoing my packing area when I get home.  No more food boxes for this eco chic! I'm going to make sure no one has to go through this experience again, in some cases once is too much.

When "sorry" isn't good enough, perhaps we can learn from our mistakes..........

Tipple and Snack: The Interview (Mary Bosley Sits Down with Ira Mency and Tells All)

Tipple and Snack : The Interview

These are the types of treasures you will find at tippleandsnack.

It's no wonder with photos like these that Mary Bosley from Vermont does so well on Etsy.  In case you don't know, her shop Tipple and Snack opened on Etsy in November 2008.  She sells vintage and eclectic goods.  In just two years, she's tippling towards 2500 sales (2200+ in this shop + the sales she had when having a second store open.)   I sat down for a cup of virtual java with her, and this is what she had to say...


Flowers in the Little Leonard Cup draws you in, no wonder it sold quickly from her store.


Q: Tell us about you, and your shop...why vintage?


A: I'm a life long collector from a long line of collectors. I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth by any means, but I was raised to value family pieces, and appreciate their beauty and worth. Most objects from my childhood had a story attached, and I treasure those memories. I still use our chocolate milk pitcher, though now it mixes martini's. (enter Ira's giggles here) Selling vintage goods also enables my addiction- I can sell off an old collection, and move on to my next obsession! I love Etsy's mix between vintage and handmade, and I'm thrilled when someone uses something from my shop in their own work.



Can you say MACRO lens photos?  The way she photographed these 1961 Ohio dog tags make you want to buy them, even if you don't need them.  

Q: With almost a million items on Etsy for Vintage searches, how do you keep on top of your sales?  Handmade sellers are in the same boat, getting lost in a big sea of Etsy items. So my question is what do you do to promote your Etsy shop and what things have and have not worked for you?

A: Hmm. I'm a minor social networker. I have a Facebook Fan Page for the shop, where I post new items, upcoming sale codes, and mentions of my shop in other people's blogs. I skate that fine line between posting often, and over posting. I know as a Facebook user, I get annoyed when pages post too often and too in your face. I'm also a member of the Etsy Vintage Team, and have shared in the resources that an Etsy Team can bring.



A pairing of owls! Hooot'd a thought?

 Q:  I agree with you there, teams are a great way to network with like minded individuals.  What about Twitter, blogging, and all that jazz?  I sometimes wonder if spending so much time on social networking is actually worth it when I could be relisting in my Etsy shop!

A: I'm not on Twitter and I don't have my own blog. I do give out my shop business cards when I meet people who are into collecting. I mostly rely on posting new items, and my awesome customer base. Building that took time, so I'd tell new sellers to be patient and keep at it!




Seeing gorgeous photos like this makes me want to redo all my pictures!

 Q: I noticed you had a second shop at one time, sold some things then combined it back, even though your second shop was more of a paper and ephemera niche' shop. Why did you decide to do this and what advice do you have for others?

A: I had the second shop for about a year, and have since folded the other inventory back into my main shop. It was about the same amount of work involved, but I found that my customers didn't necessarily jump between one shop and the other. Once they left mine, they were gone. It's about making it easier for them to make a sale- keeping them in one place helps. For instance, they are more likely to purchase a little paper item AND a painting from one shop, rather than one from each and have me adjust the shipping. That being said, my goods mix well together so my one shop can hold an eclectic mix.

Notice how pairing objects together when photographing is divine! Mary gives suggestions in her listing on what to use this sled for...
(ornaments not included.)

Q: What other things do you want the world to know about you?
A: In real life, I work in the advertising and tv production field. As a freelancer, I have gaps of time between projects. When the economy turned a few years ago I fell into Etsy. Over time, it's proven to be both a creative outlet and a source of income. My favorite part of the process (besides the hunt), is taking photos. When I look at my photographs from the shop's beginning, I cringe! I'm getting there, but there's always something to learn.

Author note:  Thanks to Mary @ TippleandSnack for being so helpful and honest and taking the time to talk to me. 

Team members: I urge you to share this article and convo Mary and tell her what a great shop she has and to thank her for doing this interview!

RELATED ITEMS

'Vintage : A picture is worth a thousand words' by RetroChalet

Perhaps it's my love for vintage and great pictures, or the interview with TippleNSnack that fueled my passion to do this great treasury. Here I'm featuring some Tipple items, some Recyclers Guild (wastenot) and Vintage Etsy Society Street Members, (vestiesteam) . I think great photographers of great wares sell more items! Time to redo my pictures! To read the interview, go to my team's Etsy blog located in my profile.

Vintage Orange Gingham Trim ... luvvinjewels $10.00	Vintage Leather Famolare Pla... jacklom3 $45.00	50s vintage brown suede hand... jackiedretrobo... $24.00
Colorful Enamel Paella Pans tippleandsnack $32.99	Vintage 1960's Royal Sat... birdie1 $98.00	Large Vintage Suitcase Perfe... funretro $60.00
Mixed Transit Token Cufflink... TheFloatingMar... $30.00	Vintage 1960s Dress in Holid... BasyaBerkman $37.00	Dansk Danish Modern Cast Iro... tippleandsnack $22.99
Vintage Marx toy company Dia... opendoorstudio $59.00	Vintage Slide Bingo Cards by... RollingHillsVi... $4.75	Anglo Corned Beef Packing Cr... tippleandsnack $32.99
Vintage Rusty Tools Instant ... RetroChalet $12.95	The Youngbloods Record Album... colerainecreat... $15.95	6 recycled musical heart sha... 42things $4.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Ira Mency Says This is a Must Read Book for Handmade Artists & Etsians by an Etsian Timothy Adam of Handmadeology

I rushed out to Amazon.com and preordered this book last night:

 

Cost = a few bucks ($12-$15 range preorder HERE)

Content = Priceless.

Tim Adam of TimothyAdamDesigns on Etsy (a metal artist with close to 2000 sales) is sharing his tips, tricks and sage advice for Etsy sellers, packing into this book full of 200 pages with a very low preorder price on Amazon.

Tim's wonderful metal designs include jewelry trees, ie: Japanese Cherry Tree in his Etsy shop.

I am personally endorsing and promoting this book because I believe you have to be successful on Etsy to tell others how to do it.  I have learned SO MUCH from Tim.  Just when I thought his own words would be enough to fill a book, he took it a step further. 

He revealed last night on his live blog chat on Handmadeology last night,  this book contains interviews with the 8 top Etsy sellers and 12 top bloggers in the handmade and design scene!  This information I am dying to know! 

For those of you who don't know, Handmadeology is a site by Tim, for the handmade community. It's a site where you can learn, connect, and talk about selling handmade things online.  It seems as though I hear about some things FIRST there that I wouldn't find elsewhere. 

Tim used social media to grow his site rapidly.  By trial and error, interviewing, and research,  he learned what works and what doesn't to drive customers to your website, or Etsy store. This is why I trust this book will be wonderful.  I honestly can't wait for it to come out, publish date is set for March 2011 but the preorder price is now!

According to the Amazon description below, some of the social networking info is included:

OFFICIAL AMAZON DESCRIPTION:

Product Description

In a world where most products are manufactured by machines, Etsy offers an online platform for makers of handmade products and crafts to market and sell their goods to a vast network of buyers who demand unique, genuine products. To date, the site has attracted over 400,000 sellers who collectively have sold over 30 million items, generating more than $180.6 million in revenue. The only resource of its kind, How to Make Money Using Etsy--written by Tim Adam who has successfully been selling his products all over the world through his Etsy shop since 2007--guides readers step-by-step through the many stages of selling online. How-to topics include:

• Establish your Etsy shop
• Effectively photograph your products
• Post your products to optimize visibility and increase sales
• Brand your business
• Use social media like blogs, Twitter, and Facebook to connect with buyers and grow your business

---

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (March 22, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470944560
• ISBN-13: 978-0470944561

Don't miss out, PREORDER NOW!

LizzieCaye's First Craft Show

My first craft show was a huge success, and at the same time a bit disappointing. The show was in a church in Dallas. It's a well known craft show, but the volume of "re-sale" type items has grown over the years. By this I am NOT talking about cool vintage stuff. There was quite a number of booths that had fashion jewelry and items that were made in some other country and sold here. There were only a handful of truly handmade items. I think this is what contributed to it being disappointing. So on to the good stuff!!

I love my display and I have to thank my Mom & Step-Dad for helping put it all together. A REALLY close friend of my mom's is an artist who was recently changing up her display, and gave all the grids to my mom. There in turn my mom and I talked about how they could be used for my display. So my Step-Dad cut them down, sandblasted them, and re-painted them. I'm quite lucky my Step-Dad has so many hobbies (Much to my Mom's chagrin). The red cover for my table I got at a clearance sale at a large catering companies sale (they were getting rid of allthe stuff that either wasn't been used, or was a bit too worn). Whoohooo for me.

The Gray topper on it came from some sheets that my hubby and I purchased for our bed, but were a dismal failure (They were so thin that when you sat on the bed the fitted sheet immediately popped off...). We got them at a flea market so couldn't return them, so what you see is the fitted sheet draping nicely over the elastic as it clings to the table.

To create some elevation, I took to plastic bins that I use in my studio to keep projects sorted and put them underneath the sheet to raise some of my purses up.

Here in the Dallas area we have this place called Sam Moon, which has really cheap accessories, I got several purse hangers there to be able to hang my bags from the edge of the table. I used S-hooks of different sizes to hang all of my purses from grid, and I used the basket there to put all my iPhone covers. The first day of the show I ended up making 10 more of them. Came home sewed them together and added them to inventory the next day!

Working on things was definitely a draw for many people. I'd suggest that if you have the ability to work on small things at a craft show - DO IT!! People get curious and want to come and see what you are working on.

The things I learned that I didn't know are that this was not the best forum for me. I need something a bit more artsy and unique, with the expectation that you are paying for quality, craftsmanship, uniqueness, and originality. I also learned that I need to get ACTUAL signs made... I laugh at myself here..... while shaking my head AND rolling my eyes (at myself....). I met some really cool artists that I believe that if I keep in contact with them, they will be great mentors and advocates for me. I also became aware of how I like talking to people and sharing my craft with them. So even though I didn't make the money I wanted to, I met great people and had a great time!

See these creations up close and personal at LizzieCaye.

Random Act of Kindness: Beat Up Creations & Article Writing Sales Tips

I'm proud to salute Angela, our very own Team Member's shop Beat Up Creations as she was featured in this little blurb I wrote in Environmental Graffiti, a UK online publication that's gaining more and more exposure every day. 

It's nature related, and a great way to talk about recycle artists...more team members coming soon.

There's a place to share the article on Facebook, so show some love for your team member. 

SELLING TIP FOR YOU:  Writing articles on sites like this isn't going to get you rich, -- articles must get ZILLIONS of page views to really pay off.  However, EXPOSURE if what really matters.  Spreading the word like this will raise awareness for team members and in turn, drive traffic back to you and your shop.  So why not write an article about a shop that does not sell what you sell, and in turn help each other out.   TranzendentalArts was writing for her local Examiner paper.  Contact Cynthia  for tips!   Don't know how to write articles about stores, no problem.  Maybe you are good with recipes, craft ideas, or pet knowledge...just about anything is a go at places like Ezinearticles.com  and GoArticles.com, wherein you write free articles in exchange for putting a blurb on the bottom about YOU and there you can link your STORE or WEBSITE.


Promote each other!

Proof is in the Analytics: Referring Sites and What That Means To You

I get a lot of people asking me about this and so I'm going to put this out there.  Many of you are analytics whizzes and can text in your sleep, but some of us are still working on social networking our lives and trying to operate our ipods.  So if you already know this, ignore it.  If you don't, here it is, simple, easy, and I want to hear that you are doing it if you are serious about selling and finding out your best sources and outlets of referring sites.

Not only should you be using Google Analytics because it's FREE, but because it gives you a bunch of useful information to help you sell. For those cringing at the thought of learning something new, I have to say, the name itself scared me as I'm no technical guru and at first I didn't know what I was looking at. However, watching a few "how to" videos, and reading up on it, I was a GOOGLE ANALYTIC PRO in no time. I promise you it's easy, and tells you so much that you need to know.

The big things I look for are REFERRING SITES. This tells me what traffic is coming in and from where. Currently, as you know, we're doing a promo with Everything Etsy--so today I'm going to show you how to find out if you are getting views in your store in direct correlation with this promotion. ((Now remember, the promotion leads people to the TEAM TAG -- so whomever listed last, will be on page one and more visible.  If you are a shop that lists a few items every day, or relists a few here and there, your chances of being spotted are better than someone who lists once per week. This is the way to find out whose referring you and how many times, so you may use this for other things as well.))

1. FIRST, Sign into your analytics, and make sure your Etsy shop is showing in the Dashboard.  Below you will see reports for your top traffic sources and keywords used.  This is not what we need.  So, move on.

2. LOOK FOR THE REFERRING SITES LINK as I have arrowed above. Normally it's the "green piece of the pie" and once you mouse over the blue words "REFERRING SITES" you will be able to click directly on them which will take you to the next page.

3.  Once you click on the "hyperlink" for referring sites, you should then be able to see a bunch of referring sites (below).  Now it becomes a "hide and seek" mission so to speak.  You must look for the site in question, in this case, it's EverythingEtsy.com  (note I did not put the www. in front of everythingetsy.com) As you can see in this photo below there is no EverythingEtsy listed in the top 10 or so referring sites.  So, since my report says I have 139 different sources (in  the header it says I have 247 visits from 139 sources So, going to the bottom and "view full report" is out of the question for me.  Much easier, is just to type in what you are looking for where I have the red arrow.

  4.  I am typing in EverythingEtsy.com 

~POOF~

it appears! 

TA DA!

5. Review your analytics.   In this case I only had one referral, but that's okay, my store was closed for awhile on vacation mode, so I'm not complaining. The first bubble tells me how many visits = 1.  The second bubble tells me how many pages per visit that visitor spent (and compares it to the average time on my site in teeny print beneath it.)   The next bubble is the average time on my site (only twenty seconds to see two pages, that sort of sucks, maybe they didn't like the item after all....not sure) , and the bounce rate is 0%.   More on bounce rate HERE, but the bottom line is high bounce rates are no good, and low bounce rates are better.  In this case you can't get lower than 0 can you?  So maybe, just maybe, this customer was referred, saw the item, and bought it......I don't know how to get this far without asking my customers. 

6. Bonus tips.  I want to back up a minute.  In case you did or didn't notice I have yellow stars on my top 10 Referring Sites page.  I wanted to show you these are 4 of 10 of my own sources for driving traffic.  Look again: 

Here are my 4 suggestions to you based on my stars: 

FACEBOOK:

This just goes to prove I'm busy driving people to my store.  Facebook:  I ask my friends to share treasuries on my personal and professional facebook pages.  They share and ask their friends to share, and before you know it people are bookmarking your shop. 

MY SITE AT VERIZON:  These are nothing more than landing pages the web carrier gives you, I used to have a website on Verizon, but took it down, and use blogger for everything, so now when you go there it's a page that says SHOP NOW and points you to my Etsy shop.  See, it's working....so if you get those free web templates, use 'em what can it hurt?  You'll be in cyberspace somewhere....

FLICKR:  Gotta warn you about this YOU WILL GET BOOTED OFF FLICKR IF YOU PUT LINKS TO YOUR ETSY STORES OR ARE DIRECT SELLING.  However, there are coy ways to do this.  My user name on Flickr is the same as my vintage shop, and so you get a profiile area and can tag your FLICKR photos.  I've often found items this way too .  I looked for Russel Wright Melmac, found it on FLICKR, googled the user name and found them on Etsy, and bought the set.  Voila.  Open a free FLICKR account under your shop name and in your profile talk about how much you LOVE ETSY. 

COMMUNITY AT ETSY:  Treasuries, or forums where you particpate and people view your shop.  Those who sell on Etsy often buy, don't you? 

As for the other top traffic,  like Google or TheFind, I do investigate to find out how they got here, which you can do by going more in depth and looking up how they are searching for you. As for my Recyclers Guild Blog, it's hard for me to tell if this was direct sale traffic or if they are just using the link to convo me to join the team, so I disregard that, but if it's in yours then people are checking out your shop!   You really have to learn and use your analytics, and sadly, LEARN that just because you put an item on Etsy, selling it may require a little outside client building to drive traffic to shop on your part.

For those of you using Analytics, please comment how much EverythingEtsy traffic you are getting.  Would like to compare this and keep tabs, thanks!

.

Green Love Treasury by Into the Trees and How to Promote Your Treasury

In case you're wondering, I'm using "Whale Shark Studios Website Treasury Tool"  to make these.  First heard about this on Handmadeology.  You simply take the "treasury ID" and get a script code where you can post into the HTML of any blog, website, etc! The best part? Someone can CLICK right on the item itself, and go to the item via your shop and BUY. (We used to have to do screen shots to post the treasuries we were in, not so anymore folks! Now it's live and adaptable) What a great idea for your blog or web page to increase sales....some team members featured here, I just really love the way she did this treasury.

'Green.. Green My World is Green......' by IntoTheTrees

Collection of repurposed , recycled , reclaimed ,upcycled

Blue and Green Pop Tab Metal... urbanwoodswalk... $15.00	Reclaimed GREEN APPLE Wall S... TheSavvyShoppe... $34.99	vicious cycle cactus planter giddyspinster $60.00
Recycled Bubble Up Soda Bott... bottlehood $	The Girl In Green rufusandpaco $90.00	Upcycled Green Wine Bottle W... orchidcactusgl... $16.00
Teal Green Toddler Dress Upc... Brokenghostcou... $52.00	Green with Envy Notebook relove $	Back Space Steampunk Dog Tag... RetroChaletStu... $42.00
WHITE BIRD ON GREEN scrabble... globalpendants $3.79	Circle Paintings on Reclaime... focuslineart $98.99	Green Colored Vinyl Record W... colerainecreat... $
Green Earrings Repurposed fr... beadsbuttonsan... $10.99	Red Funky Fish - Recycled Li... recycledartco $35.00	Earth Day -Recycle- ACEO- Co... Blakenetizen $3.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.