New Changes // Getting Our Etsy Shop Holiday Ready

old look

For those of you who have been following the team here at Make. Shop. Live. for a while you have noticed the massive overhaul and major work we have been doing to the company this year. It is hard to believe what we have been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time, but it is truly amazing what you can achieve with some determination and the right people in place.

new look

One thing I have realized since we did our re-branding and website redesign this summer is how wonderful things come together when you realize your strengths as well as weaknesses. It is hard when you have a DIY attitude sometimes to admit that there are somethings that maybe you could do but you should enlist someone else to do instead. I am so thankful to have had the pleasure to work with such amazing and talented people such as Sharon Fain of Fain Consulting, Steph of Hearts and Laserbeams, and my wonderful husband Kevin Sears as we put together all of our public image facets of Make. Shop. Live.! If I had not worked with these talented artists there is no way our website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Etsy Shop would all be cohesive and comprehensive in time for the holiday shopping rush. Not only would working on all of these things taken me away from being able to focus on making my crafts, I also wouldn't have been able to elevate the end result to the level achieved using my basic Photoshop and photography skills. I want to take a quick moment to not only thank everyone for their hard work, but to point out that you too have time to enlist the help of a graphic designer, photographer, and social media strategist in time for the holiday business, if you act quickly.

If all you do is tweak your photography, it is amazing how just investing in a few professional shots can elevate your products and brand! Plus, it can actually be more affordable than you'd expect. Here are a few examples of what we have been up to reworking our holiday inventory for 2012-

Upcycled Address Books:

Address Book (Before)

Address Book (After)

Reinbeers:

Reinbeer Holiday Ornament (Before)

Reinbeer Holiday Ornament (After)

Pincushion Rings:

Pincushion Ring (Before)

Pincushion Ring (After)

We understand that all small businesses run on a tight budget and some aspects (like hiring a graphic designer or photographer) may not be an option for you. We have compiled some suggestions below that can still make a huge difference for your business while being easy enough that you can do it yourself.

You can make a lightbox inexpensively at home with this quick tutorial. Having pictures of your products on a white background help your items make it onto Etsy treasuries helping with sales and other promotions.

Join an Etsy Team or sellers group.

Participate in common interest twitter chats and promotions.

Try a new social media platform like Instagram or Tumblr to gain followers while creating content for your business effortlessly. Here's a post we recently did that explains how easy and effortless it really is.

Promoting others helps promote you! By creating your own treasuries on Etsy not only do you do something nice for your fellow artists but your treasury can be seen and promoted by tons of other folks. Another great tip for spreading the love, while making treasuries know what types of products and pricing are on the market. Sometimes you can realize a gap in services and be inspired to make something that isn't yet available just by seeing what is already out there.

Send a handwritten letters to family and friends that you have been neglecting. It is always nice to receive a letter in the mail and what better way to spread the warm fuzzies then with a thoughtful note. By writing someone a letter that you haven't spoken with in a while you put your life in perspective and you realize just what things matter to you and what goals/plans you may have. I find that while writing people concisely what your plans are, you ultimately cut out the fluff and streamline what works and doesn't work for you.

Take a well deserved break and ask for help! No one expects you to be a craft super hero. If you begin to feel overwhelmed or a task is getting out of control for you, ask a peer for help/suggestions/critique to manage your task. They may just come up with a solution that blows yours outta the water and cuts the time! Then, you can cross promote both parties involvement and the collaboration becomes a win-win for everyone!!

And lastly, I must stress this one: force yourself to try something new that is stimulating each week. Maybe it's trying a new computer task like a plug-in or program, or maybe it is going to a place or event you have never been to. There has been so many times I have wanted to flake out on something that has been an invaluable and inspirational experience. If I had allowed myself to skip something I had planned on I would have missed out majorly. Life has a wonderful way of presenting exactly what you need to you. Make yourself available for these opportunities to come to you and welcoming new things by being flexible. You never know when opportunity comes knocking until you open the door!

I hope this info is helpful for you. If you have any additional advice or helpful tips to get others inspired and ready for the holidays feel free to leave the info in our comments section. :)

I hope to see you at CAFAM's Etsy Craft Night tonight!!!

XOXO, KC

3 Local Etsy stores talk Tech

Last Thursday evening, the Santa Monica Apple Store hosted an Etsy Team Community Session about developing your online presence.  Since KC couldn't attend, I decided to take a walk over and get some good tips any Etsy user could use.

Courtney Prince, of Doloris Petunia

Three Los Angeles local users were invited to speak for a few minutes on their experience and relationship with successfully building a store on Etsy. Andie's Specialty Sweets went first.  The nature of a handmade custom order store has it's challenges when it comes to profits.  Even with past months doubling orders, the clear attention to craft takes time and money.  There was a mention made that no press had been done yet.  The photography of the work was very good though, as was the level of craftsmanship.  It seems all the ingredients are there!  Best of luck!  Courtney Prince of Doloris Petunia was next and spoke openly about how the business was developed in NY and expanded after a move to LA.  Someone introduced her to Etsy one weekend at the Rose Bowl Market Fair.  She had a great bit of advice that I'll paraphrase, "Do what you are interested in, then think about what the customer would want".  Basically, if you are passionate about it and are willing to edit yourself, they will come!  Finally, Kelly Massey from Pretty Penny Designs spoke of her journey with Etsy and how she learned to make a splash.  She humorously reminiscent how she started by listing a few items and ..... nothing happened.  Then she "heard people like natural lighting" so she took her products outside and re-listed those pics........ nothing happened.  After a few months she had gone online and done her research on professional product shots and places to outsource fabric printing so she wasn't up past midnight every day.  All the speakers were great, and overall it inspired me and reminded me of how the basics are so important:

Great photography of products

Have passion for your work

Edit to what customers want

Think about how you would appear in press

Best of luck Etsy users!

What?!? 10% off too good to be true

Well it isn't! I just found out that there is an extra silver lining to tomorrow nights event @ west elm: They are offering a special 10% off your entire purchase for the evening!!!

Check out the list on west elm's blog for a full list of the local sellers here. At our location it is Kiddo & Pye, Andie's Specialties Sweets, iluxo, and bertie's closet.) Also, the coordinating charity is the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.

 (image from Etsy)

Wanna get a sneak peek of the project? Etsy did their How-Tuesday: Paper Ornaments post all about the project we'll be making tomorrow evening. Check it out here.

Things have been crazy getting ready for the Handmade Holiday Workshop & Mini-Market tomorrow and UNIQUE LA this weekend.  If I keep at this pace I think we'll be at a perfect point to fully convey everything we in-visioned and set out to complete :) 

With that said, I am still on East Coast time I am afraid I must retire for the evening...

XOXO, KC

Coming Up this Week Nov. 28th- Dec. 4th

Happy Cyber Monday! Did you use our Cyber Monday Deal today in Our Etsy Shop? 

There is just a few hours left to get 30% off your entire purchase-

Use code CYBERMONDAY2011 at check out.

Tomorrow is a full day of travel back to the West Coast and I am anxious to get back to all the work we have this super busy week. Hope you had a wonderful weekend and packed your online cart full of Cyber Monday deals.

Thursday is the west elm + Etsy workshop & mini-market which members of SCAD+ Etsy = LOVE Team as well as the Team EcoEtsy members in the LA area will be demonstrating a demo on how to make a paper ornament. (free for all to attend and make a take away project) More details here.

Friday, we have set-up for UNIQUE LA at the California Market Center Downtown.

All day Saturday and Sunday we will be vending in booth #146  at UNIQUE LA's Holiday Show!!! The first 10 people to drop "Make Shop Live" at the door gets *FREE Admission to both days of the show.  Also, let us know that you are a fan of the blog for a free gift :)

Best of luck wrapping up November to y'all and Hopefully we'll be seeing you in December.

XOXO, KC & Kevin

Handmade Holiday Workshop & Mini-Market

west elm + Etsy invite you to the 1st ever Handmade Holiday Workshop & 

Mini-Market inside a brand new west elm on Beverly Blvd. next Thursday Dec. 1st!!! 

Come see me and tons of my fellow teammates as we demo a 

Super sweet ornament to make, take, then celebrate :)

6-9PM

@ West Elm

8366 Beverly Blvd

Los Angeles, CA. 90048

Hope to see you there!!!  

XOXO, KC & Kevin

Team EcoEtsy's Holiday 2011 Gift Guide

Yay! This year's Holiday 2011 Team EcoEtsy's Holiday Gift Guide is out and ready for you to check out here.

(image from EcoEtsy Blog)

We are on the "Gifts Under $20" Section seen above which you can check out here.

XOXO, KC & Kevin

How-To's Day: Get your Etsy Shop Going NOW!

Over the weekend while I was at the Hello Etsy LA, I met a bunch of amazing artists who are new to Etsy/ Just opened their shops with tons of questions about what now?

We opened our Etsy Shop in 2009 and it is a wonderful market place and community to be a part of.  My biggest advise: Just do as much as you can getting your shop set up and the work will pay off!  The beauty of running your Etsy Shop is the work pays off, and you  get back what you put into it :)

Step one in my opinion is making sure you look open for business!  Getting your name figured out is important, but it takes just a few moments to get the bare-bones of your shop ready.

There are two things that in my opinion are the bare minimum for setting up your shop:  

A banner and  an avatar

DIY Business Association Conference June 26th

I am so excited to be leaving tonight on a red-eye to NYC :)  I haven't found an opportunity to get back to the Big Apple in over 3 years! I never thought when moving to LA that I wouldn't be able to get back more.  When I saw the opportunity to go to the DIY Business Association Conference this Sunday, I had to organize a trip out!!   If you are in Brooklyn, you should totally sign up for this amazing opportunity, here.

I am so excited about finally getting back that I can't even stand it!!! I have a decent list of highlights that are a must when I get into town, but for the most part I am just excited to see my friends :)

I got super lucky with the timing of the conference because this Friday (June 24th) our Team EcoEtsy is meeting up at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn! I am super excited to finally meet my teammates after chatting via e-mail feeds for months.  If you can't make it to the meet-up you can watch it on Etsy's Livestream channel here at 7PM EST.

Hope to see everyone this weekend!!!

XOXO,

KC

Eco Etsy on Sprint’s New Green ID Pack for Android

Hi Everyone!

We are members of an Etsy Team for Etsy Sellers dedicated to Reducing, Reusing and

Recycling called Team EcoEtsy.  We are finally able to announce some amazing team news: the team will be featured as one of the resources on the new Green ID pack for Android on Sprint! 

Here is the Team EcoEtsy Page with the full details.

Look around the fingers at the 42sec. mark for a sweet shot of our address books :) 

This YouTube video of the Sprint Green ID Pack is sweet! I can't wait to check out the ID Pack when it comes out May 8.

Team Eco Etsy- Handmade for Earth Day Auction 2011

We are really proud to be amongst the members of Team EcoEtsy who participated in this years Earth Day Auction. All of this years 2nd annual Handmade for Earth Day Auction 2011's proceeds goes to Habitat for Humanity for Japan. I really hope we are able to raise some good money this year! Our donations are featured on the Paperwork at the Office section which the curent bid is $110. The retail value of these awesome items is $280- Spread the word and bid on some amazing items for your opportunity to give back and score some sweet stuff!

XOXO,

KC

Team Thursday: Etsy Apps to Check Out

 You can check out this Thursday's SCAD+Etsy = LOVE Blog post bellow:

http://scadonetsy.blogspot.com/2011/03/etsy-apps-to-check-out.html

Team Thursday- Moo Cards and More

Hi y'all! Today we posted on our SCAD + ETSY = LOVE Team Blog.  

If you want to to see the full post PLUS if you are an Etsy seller grab the link for 

50 Free Moo Business Cards- CLICK HERE.

XOXO,

KC

Coming Up This Week: March 21st-25th

Howdy Y'all!!! I am so exhausted from last week!!! It was super exciting to have a full week with some amazing tasks- but wowzas!

This weekend Kevin and I didn't get too much work around the house done, but we were able to pick out some sweet chairs that were delivered this morning. I have always been a fan of Mid-Century Modern furniture and I am super excited to have a set of wonderful Milo Baughman chairs to start off our collection!!!

 (image courtesy of Mid-Century Living)

While I was doing research on Baughman and other key points to this style, I came across a new blog I can't wait to keep up with.  Mid-Century Living (where the above picture is featured) did a great post here on Milo Baughman.  I wish we could have gotten our tangerine chairs at as good of a deal as the above chair was found :( But, our chairs can get some good mileage out of the previous tangerine upholstery before needing to reupholster the set.

I finally got everything off in the mail to my Mother-in-law for our taxes. Fingers crossed that the government will go easy on us and we get a good return! We really need a car that can drive in the rain here. The weather was particularly harsh yesterday and the rain was rolling down the inside of our apartment starting early in the day.  I am going to have to get the building managers to check it out because the paint is bubbling and chunks came down from the upper loft window in our living room.  Thankfully the window and leak are across the sliding door to our porch so there is nothing else there to get ruined.

 

We have a big push now to update our pictures on Etsy and Facebook so we can get everything tailored for our Renegade Los Angeles applications currently going on.  Now that we have been accepted into Team Eco Etsy there are a bunch of changes and updates to tweak and I am super excited to have a comfy chair to sit back and do some major computer work on :)

Finally, This weekend is our first paid wedding gig down in Orange County.  I am so excited and can't wait to see how amazing Jennie & Samuel's wedding shapes up this Saturday!!! I will be headed down to the OC on Thursday for their rehearsal and last minute details for me to execute during their wedding.

 

Above is the outside of the invitations Jennie created for her big day.  She gave me a helpful tip to keep in mind- she used metallic hot glue stick with the press to create the perfect wax seal for the envelope. Super great tip! Thanks Jennie!!!

Time to crank this ship into high gear!

XOXO,

KC

Ask Me About My ETSY Shop Flag

Here is a picture (I took with our SLR camera) that I am sharing with our fans and members of the SCAD+ETSY = LOVE Team to use to help direct people to your Etsy shop. 

Go to our Etsy Shop *HERE*

Please just make sure to link photo credit to us/ redirect the link to us too. :)

I am excited about our involvement in SCAD + ETSY = LOVE and I am proud to have learned enough stuff from this blog to help manage everything for our Etsy Team!  Today was my first time setting up a team treasury to highlight some of the other great members, and I thought I would share it for everyone to check out.

You can check out the full link here.