Sep
11
2008
There are lots of things that are sold as springtime items that work equally well in the autumn. Spring and fall have similar temperatures, so the same types of fabrics are often used in clothing and accessories. Why not try to market some of your leftover spring stuff?
Sure, when you think of autumn, the colors that come to mind are mostly oranges, rust, brown, and deep green. It’s nice to add some pop with a bright, less expected color, like bright pink or yellow. The cream and off white colors that were so big this year will look just as fresh in fall.
Don’t forget, the seasons are reversed below the equator. By offering shipping specials to our neighbors down under, you may attract some extra attention for your spring goods. It’s more likely to make a profit than letting items sit around in a box, waiting for months to be sold.
It may be harder to pass off a piece that’s decorated with bunnies and pastel eggs as autumnal, but good luck to you if you try!
Aug
14
2008
There are key words and phrases green customers search for when they shop. By adding these tags to your items, you can increase your chances of being found!
We all know the terms reduce, reuse, and recycle, but the wording has gotten way more specific, trendy, and hip. Have you heard of repurposing, reconstructing, or upcycling? They all refer to the practice of using existing items to create something new.
Upcycle: An item is recycled to make an item of the same or increased usefulness or value.
Repurposed: Something is converted into a new item used for a different purpose. Value may or may not change.
Reconstructed: Take an item apart and rebuild it for a whole new look.
I wrote more about this here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/923781/top_3_trendy_ecofriendly_craft_terms.html
I had no idea what upcycle meant when I saw it used to describe what was, to me, a piece made of just plain old recycled materials. If I had to figure it out, I thought there was a good chance that others might be confused as well!
Aug
10
2008
If you used yesterday’s tips and still came up short of 14 etsy tags, here are a few more suggestions. I hope you end up having to decide which tags to keep and which to ditch!
Technique
What method did you use to create this item? If you used more than one, add these to your list of tags. If one of your stitches or patterns was prominently featured, there’s another tag. Someone may be searching for a ‘wedding ring’ patterned quilt instead of just ‘hand made quilt’.
You can add handcrafted, hand stitched, or handmade, too. Even though this is obvious to those on the etsy site, it may help to draw traffic from google and other search engines.
Season or Holiday
Are the colors or the theme of your item compatible with any specific seasons or holidays? Even if your item wasn’t made with this in mind, it may help move some merch! It’s also a good idea to tag it as a gift if you are willing to package the item as such.
Aug
09
2008
The tags you use with your etsy listing help to draw traffic (customers!) to your items. Using all of these tags makes it more likely that your item will be found, but sometimes it seems difficult to think of 14 tags for your item. Here’s a little help.
What is it?
Go beyond the obvious first impression of the item. What category does it fall into? What specific type of doohickey is it? For example, you may list a cuff style bracelet, which is jewelry. That’s 3 tags already!
Texture and Color
Is the item soft, fuzzy, or smooth? Tag it. Instead of just saying a piece is green, also specify what shade of green.
Aug
07
2008
In the spirit of yesterday’s mini-rant, I respectfully remind the rest of America about the metric system. It’s still in use, and the rest of the world is tired of doing the conversion calculations for us. Don’t lose another sale because of this!
If you’re interested in increasing your sales, try adding metric measurement information to your product descriptions. This might entice cash out of foreign pockets and into yours. With the value of the dollar against a euro, your goods may seem like a bargain.
But only if you don’t ask customers to do extra work, especially math!
It only takes seconds to do those conversions on a calculator. The one I use most often is inches to centimeters. To find this measurement, multiply the number of inches by 2.54. That’s it; simple!
Here’s a link to several standard to metric cheat sheets from ScienceMadeSimple.net:
http://www.sciencemadesimple.net/conversions.html
Aug
06
2008
I look at a lot of handmade merchandise each day online. It’s surprising to see how many craft pieces, art, and handmade clothing items are listed without some very basic information, like accurate measurements.
If there is no measurement info, you just lost a customer. Maybe that’s why that piece has a zillion views and no sale!
Sizes like small, medium, large, and one size fits most just don’t cut it online. Depending on what store and which country of origin, I can buy form fitting clothes in each of these sizes, no yo-yo dieting needed! Since you can’t try things on in cyberspace, these size labels are fairly useless.
This doesn’t only apply to clothing. I like to know how much space a new painting will fill before I order. How long are those earrings, anyway? Will that rope of hand carved beads look like a choker on me?
With no measurement I can’t tell, so I don’t buy.
Jul
25
2008
I did a few blog posts about ‘why’ to ask for at least partial payment upfront on custom orders. Some people want to know ‘how’ to do this! Here are a few tips for online sellers.
Know your own policy first, and stick to it. This prevents you from having to flounder for a reason if a customer asks why you want money in advance.
State your policy clearly in your online store, your profile, policy page, or in whatever appropriate spot. Copy and paste your policy into the first email you send in response to a custom order question. By putting it out there early on, it doesn’t come as a surprise after tons of design details and corresponding!
Next: What about face to face?
Jul
11
2008
In addition to a stand alone item photograph, take pictures of clothing being worn by a model if you can. If no model or dressmaker’s dummy is available, use hangers to display items against your backdrop on a wall. This looks more professional than a pic of clothes laid out on a bed or table.
Jewelry can be modeled, too, as long as it isn’t worn as a piercing. Many customers feel that earrings that have been worn, even by a model, are dirty, used goods, and unhygienic. I have to agree!
To display post style earrings, cover a small piece of cardboard with backdrop fabric. Carefully push the post into the cardboard and snap your pic. Hanging hook earrings from a glass or vase can make a nice display.
Jul
10
2008
Most digital cameras have a zoom option, so use it instead of physically getting really close to your subject. Getting too close can change the way the flash hits your item, bleaching the color out of the photo or leaving those white flash marks. It can also cause weird shadows, even after you took the time to provide good lighting!
You can use the editing software that came with your digital camera to tweak a photo. The software can help to center it, adjust brightness, sharpness, and eliminate some slight shadowing. They even have automatic fixes, that are hit and miss IMO. You can even remove red-eye so your model doesn’t look possessed.
Too much editing can really alter the color, texture, and overall quality of the picture, sometimes to the point where the item shown is unrecognizable in real life versus photo. Since you took a decent photograph in the first place, there’s no need for too much touch-up work, right?
If it takes a lot of editing to make your item look good, the customer is sure to be disappointed with it in person. Think of a the reaction to someone who posts an ancient picture on a dating site, only to look years older in person. Just take an honest picture instead of leaving a customer feeling tricked.
Jul
09
2008
This is a big deal. Dark photographs don’t move merchandise! Customers need to be able to see your items clearly, and bad lighting makes that nearly impossible.
Take photos in a well lit place. Sunlight is wonderful, showing the colors in their ‘truest’ form. On cloudy days or for night owls, use strong manmade light instead. If you have the money for it, there’s a company called Ott-Lite that makes a sunlight simulating lamp, which is not only useful for photos but for crafting itself.
No matter what your light source, try to keep shadows to a minimum. They can look like part of the finished item if they’re dark enough or in the wrong place. Items lit from above and from the sides will have less shadow issues.
For an even cooler way to get a well lit photo of smaller items, do a google search for “build photographic light box” minus the quotes. Just what you needed; another craft project lol!
