PinkyCrafts is officially one!

Coconut birthday cupcake! YUM! 

Approximately one year ago, I had just moved across the country in search of something to make me happy.  I had found where I wanted to be geographically, but it was time to decide what I wanted to do to fill my time.  I had just experienced a messy break up - with my previous career.  I knew I didn't want to go back to it, but I didn't really know where else I could go.......after weeks of daily job-hunting, I knew I had to do something immediately to keep myself from dying of boredom.  I had a good friend who was selling on Etsy, and I thought that maybe I could list a few of my scrapbooks and scrapbook pages online.  When I asked her for advice, she made it clear: "It's hard work! Don't expect this to pay your bills!".  I thought, "Well, how hard can it be?  I like my products, I'm sure there is at least one person out there in the world who will like it too!".  All I wanted was to sell a few things, make a little spending money, and keep myself busy while I planned my next career move. 

I created a few new things, took some photos, and sat back to await my first customers.  It didn't take me long to realize there was a LOT more to selling online than I realized!  I had no idea how much competition there was just in my market.  I realized my photos weren't up to par. I realized I needed to get established so buyers would trust shopping with me. I realized I'd have to work extra hard at getting noticed by search engines.  I realized I had no idea what I was doing.

It became a goal of mine to be successful at this thing I originally thought was so easy.  I read every article about Etsy selling that I could get my hands on, I networked with other sellers, I joined the Etsy D-Listers Team. I learned everything I could about SEO.  I advertised on every free website I could find.  I started learning about my target market. I learned when my site received the most traffic, and where they were coming from.  I blogged.  I tweeted.  I Facebooked.  I held a sale and sponsored a giveaway. I studied keywords. I re-wrote my listings and re-tagged my items more times than I can count.  I attended Virtual Labs on Etsy, I took and re-took all my photos in every lighting condition imaginable (ok, I did this many, many times!).  I constantly worked on new products.  I basically threw my entire heart, soul, and all of my waking hours into my shop. 

4.10.10:  First Etsy Sale!  What a HORRID photo! EEK!!!

After a few months, I realized that I had put far too much effort into my little business to just keep it just a little business. I wanted to make it big; I wanted this to be my main thing.  I was having a great time learning about this new project!  I was feeling fulfilled, I had made a few sales, and I wanted more.  With the support of my husband, I decided to make it happen.  I was working harder and more hours doing this than I had been at my previous career, but I was happy - something I hadn't felt in a very, very long time.  There were, and still are, people in my life that don't understand what I'm doing or understand just how much effort goes into PinkyCrafts.  This is a real thing, I am a small business owner!

I had also realized that working from home was a little lonely. My husband found a job shortly after I opened my shop, so he was gone all day.  Its great to wake up and work in your PJs, but I could go days without needing to leave the house, and most of my conversations were between myself and my bunny!  I decided to take on a part-time job, and started working at a local pet hospital.  Originally, it was only a couple days per week, and easily fit into my life.  In recent months, I have struggled to balance that job and my business, but it's something I'm trying to address.  Part of PinkyCrafts is having a personal shopping experience, and I want to remain available to my customers!

In August, a friend of mine suggested I create a line of drink glass tags that party-goers could write their names on. Once I introduced my first two styles, my sales started skyrocketing, and I started creating all kinds of party accessories. Everything fit right into my shop philosophy: helping my customers celebrate the good times in life.

My party accessories put PinkyCrafts on the map!

Fast forward to today, and I've just celebrated my very first Etsy anniversary.  I made my goal of having 100 sales in the first year - something I am insanely proud of.  I've sold to over half of the states in the US, as well as several other countries.  I sold at two different holiday gift shows. I was featured on the Etsy Front Page in March, and I've received the most generous compliments on my work from my amazing customers. 

Several friends have asked me how to start selling online, and I see so many new sellers post for help with how to increase sales.  I always tell them the same thing:  it's so much more work than you think, but its worth it.  You get out of it exactly what you put into it. You need to be fully committed to what it is you're selling, and be ready to throw yourself into building this business.  You've got to check your fears at the door.  If you are, and if you do, and if you can, you've got a good shot! 

My goals for the next year: beat my first year sales number, in both number of sales and dollars made.  I also want to start approaching local boutiques about wholesale contracts.  I want to finally reach 100 item listings!   Most of all, I want to keep having fun and keep being my own boss.  This really is the very best job I've ever had. 

Cheers to my second year!!!

Drum Roll Please........

Its official!  PinkyCrafts has been open for business for exactly six months!  It's been a wild ride, a learning experience, and such a blessing all at the same time.  During my former life in corporate America, I learned the importance of staying positive and celebrating life - this is the message I wanted my shop to carry. Its only now, nine months after I left that former life behind, that I can see why my early career was so important in shaping my life.  I initially felt that it was a waste, a disheartening experience that was all for nothing, and a waste of a very expensive college education.  However, now I feel like I've truly found my calling: helping people celebrate the good times in life. I had to have that early career experience in order to identify and appreciate this true goal for my life.  Every sale is still a thrill, and I'm so honored every time somebody selects me to help outfit their party or preserve their memories. 

Now for the cold, hard facts that I know everybody is curious about. Note - in case you were wondering, all of these facts DO NOT include me; all of my data has my visits excluded from them, so all the data is for legitimate customers/visitors.  Its also important to point out that no particular statistic will necessarily indicate how successful (or not) a shop may be; I'm just publishing my statistics for those new shops that may be curious, and to also document my first six months for myself!

Visits: PinkyCrafts had a total of 9,092 visits during the first six months, 2,362 of these were absolutely unique visitors.  I had an average of 49.15 visits per day. 23% of of my visits were brand new visitors (this right at the average for Etsy itself), while 76.66% of my visitors were returning visitors.  My visitors spent an average of 2:07 on my site.

Visitors: PinkyCrafts has been visited by shoppers all over the world - 86 countries total!  Here are the top five:
1. United States (7,980 visitors)
2. Canada (351 visitors)
3. UK (107 visitors)
4. Australia (99 visitors)
5. Argentina and Brazil (tie at 34 visitors each)

Referral Sources: My top five referral sources were:
1. Direct Etsy visitors
2. Google
3. Facebook
4. Etsy Finds emails
5. Twitter

Sales: I hit my 40th sale tonight, so I officially had 40 sales in my first six months.  Of those, 38 have been to US buyers, and two have been from Canadian buyers. My feedback rating stands at 100% positive, and I have 159 total shop hearts! My busiest month has been this month, September, by a wide margin.  I've had 11 sales so far this month, following only two sales during the month of August.  I've seen a 944% increase in profits this month over last month - woo hoo!  My most popular item has ended up being my drink glass tags; I've sold 230 of them to 10 different buyers in the two months since I introduced them!

Fun Facts:  I'm amazed at just how much information Google can provide about your visitors, such as 110 of my visitors were using a dial-up connection (!!); but this was only 1.21% of my visits.  How about this one - 9% of my visitors have visited my site more than 200 times!  And don't worry, this statistic doesn't include me; there really are people out there besides me that have been to my shop that many times!

I'm a data geek, so I hope this information was as interesting to you as it was to me.  Cheers to a successful second half of this first year for PinkyCrafts!

How To Tuesday: Make Your Photos POP!

The Etsy forums are inundated with articles talking about the importance of taking good photos.  You know you need to do it, but you're not quite sure how - until now.  You don't need Photoshop or some expensive editing software to have photos worthy of the Etsy front page.  Even though I have Photoshop, I use Picnik to edit all my Etsy photos, and I'm equally satisfied.  In my quick tutorial, you'll learn how to use Picnik for free and improve the quality of your photos!

1. First, head on over to http://www.picnik.com/.  Once the page loads (it can take awhile) and you've created a basic account (its FREE!), choose the photo you want to edit by clicking "Upload Photo".
2. Once your photo uploads, you'll be put straight into the Edit menu.  From here, you can crop, rotate and spin your photo to create amazing angles, and edit the exposure of your photo.  I don't recommend using the "Auto-fix" option; as you'll do a better job using the steps I'm giving you.
3. Once you've cropped and/or rotated, select "Exposure".
4. Click "Advanced" on the menu bar that pops up.
5. A small graph will appear on the right side; drag the "Highlights" bar to the right until your photo appears light enough, yet not over exposed.  You can always add more highlights later; be careful not to add too much, as your photo will appear overexposed.
6. Next, drag the "Shadows" bar to the right (it usually doesn't take much) and watch the colors pop on your photo! Be careful not to overuse this; it can distort the true colors of your photograph. 
7. Click "OK" when you're finished.
8. You can play around with the other edit functions - but beware of the "Sharpen" function; I learned the hard way!  You can also play with the "Temperature" of your photo, making it warmer if the lighting was too cool, etc.  If you don't know what these terms mean, don't worry, just play around with them and you'll understand what they do. 
9. To save your photo, click on "Save and Share".  If you're saving for Etsy, I change the width dimension to 1500 to ease in uploading, and leave the length; it will adjust accordingly. Then click "Save" at the bottom, and your photo will be saved to your computer.  Note: if you go into your photo folders, the thumbnail that appears might be the original photo; never fear -your edits will be clear when you open the photo!
Your photos should now look much, much better!  I have to edit 99% of the photos I take in some way with regards to exposure; its extremely rare for me when a photo is taken perfectly just by pointing-and-shooting, especially if you're shooting product shots.  Knowing how to edit your photos allows you to shoot photos during most daylight hours, which is very helpful for me.

Here are a few before/after product shots of mine that were edited using Picnik.  The first set only needed exposure correction; the second set used the "Rotate" feature plus exposure correction.  The "after" shots in both are my first product shot for the respective listing, thanks to some editing magic!

I'd love to hear some success stories!  Leave your comments below - good luck!

Hot Thursday News!

Hot news for sellers and non-sellers: 
DoBatsEatCats is having a major Etsy-versary sale!  Besides being a very supportive Etsy teammate of mine, she designs a variety of gothic, victorian and chainmaille pieces. Visit her shop and use coupon code "anniversary" to receive 20% off!  Here are a few of my favorite items from her shop:

Silver Filigree Flower Earrings OOAK

Gothic Chainmaille Necklace

Upcycled OOAK Vintage Chandelier Necklace

Hot news for sellers:

Another one of my favorite Etsians, Steph from nerdJerk, posted this fantastic article about turning your views into sales.  It's become a hot topic on the Etsy forums; head on over to read and leave your thoughts!  I can't resist showing one of Steph's latest creations, which I absolutely love:

The Classic: Red and White Mix Tape Journal

Have a great Thursday! :)

The Science of Renewing your Etsy Items

If you're an Etsy seller, you've probably heard veteran sellers suggest that you renew your items in order to stay on top of the search results pages. I started renewing regularly after I wasted spent money on several Showcase spots that didn't result in any sales. Instead of spending $7 or even $15 on a Showcase spot, it made sense to use that money for renewing instead, right? I'd rather spend $.20 on a renewal and hope for the best! But even if you're playing the renewal game, have you ever considered the "science" behind it? Have you ever thought about making a game out of the game with the winner (you) making sales?

This blog post is a must-read. The author experimented with renewing items at the times her shop was getting the most traffic (another reason why you MUST sign-up for Google Analytics if you haven't already!), and her results were incredible.

Get ready to take notes, and head on over to something blue: The Etsy Experiment Revealed!

The Importance of Taking Time for YOU!

(Author's note: this post was featured at Handmade Spark on July 22, 2010!)

During my previous life in corporate America, I was famous for preaching the importance of self-care. While it seems pretty obvious, you'd be surprised at how many folks don't take any time to care for themselves. The problem is especially common with women, who tend to put the needs of husbands, children, friends and even pets before the needs of themselves. I was determined to change this trend in my agency; I became certified to train our staff on self-care and tried to set a good example for my staff and collegues.

Now that I'm working for myself, I realize that it's just as important to practice good self-care now, even though I'm my own boss. I didn't always recognize this need - I'm working at home doing something that I love. Aren't I taking care of myself simply because I left the traditional stress of the workplace behind me? No - it isn't enough!

If self-care is a term that you're not familiar with, don't worry. Most employers don't mention it, and most employees don't consciously practice it. Self-care is any act that one does to care for themselves: exercising, eating well, meditating, getting massages, connecting with friends/colleagues to talk through stressful situations, using sick time when you need it, taking work-free vacations; there are far too many self-care techniques to list! Those who practice regular self-care generally feel less stressed, are more productive, and have an easier time seperating their work life from their home life.

A couple weeks ago, I noticed that my excitement over my shop and over my work was definitely waning. I wasn't motivated to create any new items. I wasn't motivated to contribute to my Etsy team. I was feeling very depressed and frustrated that my sales had slowed down (which is normal, given that we're in the slow season!). I actually considered walking away, but only for a second. I wondered how I could possibly get back to where I was a couple of months ago, when I was excited and motivated about running my own business.

My answer came in the form of my best friend, Toni, who lives in Hawaii. A mutual friend of ours was getting married, and she was coming into town early to spend time with me and the rest of our college buddies. I decided to take "off" the week of her visit, and go on a vacation of my own. I didn't plan to create any items, and I didn't "work". I checked in with my shop only to answer convos and ship an item that was sold. I spent ten days with her, keeping no regular routine, and spending almost all our time out of the house. After a whirlwind trip, Toni left yesterday, and I felt instantly revived! I couldn't wait to get back to my shop. By the end of last night, I had created four new scrapbook pages, designed a new avatar and banner for my Christmas in July sale, and had gotten in a rare mid-day nap.

I realized this morning that self-care for the at-home business owner is just as important as it is for those that work outside the home. Even though I'm not earning vacation time anymore, I still need time away from my "work". I need to recharge my batteries in order to stay excited and motivated. Its often difficult for those working at home to do this and create a separate time/mental space for ourselves as humans away from the time/mental space we use to be employees and business owners, as the physical space is usually the same: home. I didn't need to leave my home during Toni's visit, I simply changed my routine and daily activities. I relaxed mentally.

I learned as a supervisor that a happy employee is a productive one. Even though I don't leave my home to go to work, I'm still an employee, and I still need to take care of myself by taking time away from my business. Whether you work outside the home, work from home, or do a combination of both, don't forget to regularly take time for the most important employee in your life: you.

It can all be yours....if the Price is Right!

Today I attended one of the Summit of Awesome seminars via the Etsy Virtual Labs on pricing your work and branding your image. Of all the sessions I've attended, this was by far the most thought-provoking and useful for me, especially the discussion on pricing. This section was presented by Marlo from Creative Arts Consulting. As soon as the PowerPoint slide came up that stated raising your prices = increased time and decreased stress, I was hooked! I've often felt that I might be underpricing my work, but I'm fearful of turning away buyers who are shopping for rock-bottom prices. Judging from the responses in the Lab, many other sellers are having the same struggle.

Within the Etsy Virtual Lab chat, we got into a discussion about how much each artisan was charging for their work. Several of us (myself included) were charging around $10/hour. The rest of the forum was shocked - including an Etsy admin! It seems the average rate is somewhere around $20/hour - twice what I was charging! Marlo had said "there is nothing wrong with selling your products at your worth", so my gears started turning.......am I under-valuing my work? Am I under-valuing my work by that much? Perhaps I am.

Marlo shared a formula with us to determin the cost of any item you list for sale. The formula takes the following costs into account:

-Labor Cost (how much your time is worth for how long it takes you to make it: the aforementioned cost/hour debate)
-Direct Cost (materials cost, packaging; all costs associated with creating your product)
-Overhead Cost (your shop's rent, utilities - monthly fixed costs related to your business

Initially, I tuned out the parts about Overhead Costs, as I work from home and felt I had no overhead; everything I use for my shop (computer, internet access, a space to craft, etc) is something we'd have in our home regarless of my crafting-for-pay status. However, attendees in the Lab suggested later that a portion of housing costs be considered your overhead in this situation - brilliant idea! Others suggested that we factor in education costs, non-product supplies like camera batteries, gas to pick up the supplies, etc. Unfortunately, I had already missed some of her slides relating to this, but I got a good chunk. She discussed figuring out how many items you need to make per month to break even, etc, but I'm not ready to go there yet. In this post, I'm only concerned with basic item pricing.

Marlo's formula for calculating your item prices looks like this:

Labor Cost + Direct Cost x 3 = Wholesale Pricing, and then
Wholesale Pricing x 2 = Retail Pricing

After the seminar, I went into my shop and looked at calculating the true value of my items; the thought of earning more was too exciting to put off until later. I debated on whether or not to give numbers here in this post, but suffice to say that when I calculated the cost of some of my pricier items using Marlo's formula (pricier items defined as items that were listed in the $75 - $85 range), I gasped at the suggested $250+ price tag - and this was just for wholesale! Even after I reminded myself that my work has a value, that I am doing this as my career and need to be paid as such, and that many of my items take 4+ hours to create, I still could not enter a $250 price for any of my shop items. I did work out a forumla I was comfortable with, using a per-hour fee that I feel is justified for my work, and my shop prices now reflect this.

Even though I didn't use her exact formula, I still feel that my shop grew by leaps and bounds today. Marlo said something else at the beginning of the seminar that really hits home now: raising your prices will help you feel confident as an artist (this was one statement that I didn't actually write word-for-word, so sorry Marlo if I was a little off!). And you know what, she's right. Deep down, I knew my work was grossly underpriced, but I was too afraid to do anything about it. I knew I wasn't pricing my work at a value that reflected the time spent. Now that I put a fair price on my items, even though that meant raising some prices substantially, I felt this surge of confidence! Several sellers admitted that they often saw an increase in sales after a price increase, and I'm curious to see if I have the same experience. Here's hoping!

I'm curious to hear the stories of other sellers; please feel free to post your comments below!