Shop Talk: To Market To Market...

My hope with this installment of my blog is to (eventually) help other people trying to get their work out into the world. Problem is, I'm just beginning myself so I don't feel like I have any words of wisdom to impart quite yet. So please bear with me while I get going! In lieu of any great words of advice, I thought I'd just start out by reporting on what I'm doing.

The last month has been one of just trying to get the work done and up on Etsy. I'm always so surprised at how long this takes between chasing after my kiddo, doing a bit of freelance design, and all the daily stuff that falls in between. I have a binder full of ideas I'm just itching to dive into, but I am trying to be patient with the time I have now and work with that.

Now that I have a few things up, I really need to focus on marketing. It doesn't come naturally to me. I was the kid who would apologize to my neighbors before trying to sell them those fundraiser candy bars for youth soccer. Being a freelance designer/illustrator has helped me out a lot as a big part of my job is 'selling' a visual solution to a client. So I am trying to apply what I have learned from that experience to my own work.

One great suggestion I read about marketing on Etsy is here, written by popular Etsy seller tinaseamonster. Tina suggests dedicating 30 minutes a day to marketing. She tried it for a month and doubled her Etsy sales. When I think about how many 30 minute blocks of time I can waste in a day on Facebook, or checking other blogs, or watching a bad TV show after the kiddo is in bed, or starting into the fridge for a piece of cake I want to magically appear, I realize I might actually have more time than I think I do in a day.

My goal was to start on Febuary 1st. I hadn't even touched my keyboard when I got an email from an editor over at Babble.com that they were going to review my Happy House Family Tree Poster on Feb.2 (you can see the mention here). Thanks to a good friend of mine who tipped them off to my shop (big thank you K), I got a little free press today. No sales just yet but I had a ton of hits on my Etsy page which was exciting to see.

So we'll see how the 30 minutes a day goes. Of course the goal is to increase my sales and visibility but I think it will also make me better and a little less scared of marketing my wares.

Shop Talk: Snow and Sales

Hi folks. It has been a wonderful and wild introduction to the world of Etsy these past few weeks. I had 4 sales over at Pixel & Post which was very exciting, and I'd like to thank all my dear friends and family who let me design their Holiday cards this year.

Sadly, many of my friends are still waiting to receive their cards due to a big ole snow storm that dumped record amounts of snow on my part of the world. Their holiday greetings are sitting somewhere in the city waiting to be delivered as soon as the roads clear up (there are currently people skiing, sledding and snowshoeing along our city streets). So, next year I'll have my holiday designs up earlier (maybe in the first part of November) so we can avoid any lateness due to weather problems.

The week before the snow storm hit, my family and I were housebound due to a really gross cold and flu virus. Then the snow hit, and we've been indoors going on 3 weeks now. Surprisingly Cabin Fever has not yet set in. But this has allowed me some time to regroup and consider what my next move will be for Pixel & Post. I'm feeling the need to really focus on getting my prices down while keeping quality high. It is going to be a bit of a challenge but I think it is important in times like these.

Stay tuned! And have a great Christmas Holiday.