Questions you Were Afraid to Ask

Is my Etsy ID different from my Etsy Username? How do I find my Etsy ID?

Your ID is different from your username. Your username is the name you chose and the one you log in with. Your ID is an Etsy-assigned number that you can easily find by simply going to your store. If you use a bookmark or if you type your “friendly” store address (www.username.etsy.com) you will always get redirected to an address that looks like this: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5034807 That one is mine. Pretty ugly and not very catchy on a business card, right? That’s why Etsy gives you the friendly address and it just redirects automatically to this one, I guess. Your Etsy ID is the set of numbers at the very end of the address after “id=” … so mine is 5034807.

Hope that helps!

Moo & Etsy Sitting in a Tree, K-I-S-S…

My day job revents me from reading the storque back to front, or reading all the admin forum posts so sometimes I miss new features, like the Moo.com partnership with Etsy. Did you know you can print your Moo minicards, stickers and other stuff from your product listings, instead of going through Flickr? You did? Oh. So I was the only one who didn’t know? Damn. Never mind.

I wish I had found out sooner because there was a coupon code for a free keychain/card holder, but it expired in may. I found the deal by randomly wandering through the “Community – Resources” section on Etsy and clicking on the “MOO” tag. Wonder what else I can find…

Breast Cancer Fundraising at Sixth & Elm

Fellow Etsyian, Loopy4ewe is participating in the 60km Weekend to End Breast Cancer Walk next June, and she is attempting to raise $2000 to participate. Once she let the other Etsy sellers know what she was up to, they responded en masse by donating tons of items they have made – large and small and mostly pink – and listing them for her, all proceeds to go toward her walk.  She didn’t even ask for donations, but she didn’t have to.

I added my little bit by adding the most popular item I sell, the Scripted Box, stained in Antique Pink in honour of the cause. I sanded it down a bit it looks cute and vintage-y – like a little Parisian treasure. All of the money I raise from the sale of this item will go to Loopy and hopefully get her close to her goal.

Here is a list of some of the other Etsy sellers who have listed or donated items as well:

KritterKnitter

StuffbySteph

PaisleyBaby

NancyWallisDesign

HarvestMoonPaper

UxCritter

Loscann

Adornyourself

StringMeAlong

MyHandboundBooks

Gillian’sBeads

How can you help? Easy, buy something from someone on this list!

How to Get Attention While Wasting Time Online

Yeah, yeah, you’re supposed to be posting items in the shop or making a new ad banner for Project Wonderful, but you know you’re gonna spend almost the whole time looking at cute pictures of your friend’s new cat on Flickr or looking up old boyfriends on Facebook. While you’re there, you might as well get a little marketing done. Here are some ways to drum up some interest for your shop while wasting time on the internet.

1. Upload all your item photos. *Given*
2. Search the Flickr groups for keywords related to Etsy or your craft and join the groups.
3. Upload a few photos to each group whenever you are on Flickr.  Etsy sellers, buyers and bloggers all frequent the groups as well as more popular design bloggers.
4. Make sure you have a link to your website in your profile. As per Flickr rules you are not supposed to use Flickr for marketing so you are not supposed to add your Etsy site address, just your blog address, but I haven’t been caught yet. Please don’t rat on me.
5. Search for users with tags related to Etsy or your craft and add these artists as a contact. Chances are they will add you too and see the your new items when you upload them to Flicker.
6. Comment on other artist’s photos – a lot. People follow the link back to your profile if you do, I promise.
7. Add me as a contact

1. Search Etsy forums for “Twitter” to find other Etsy buyers and sellers to follow. They will probably follow you too.
2. Go to TwitterFeed.com and set up your Etsy shop RSS so you will generate an automatic Tweet whenever you post an item to your Etsy shop. While you’re there set up a tweet for your blog too. Contact me if you need help with RSS or finding your Etsy RSS URL.
3. Fill out your profile and make sure there are links to your Etsy shop, blog and/or Flickr account.
4. Go to your favorite design blogs and look for a “follow me on Twitter” link to follow them. Even if they don’t follow you, they will probably still at least check out your webpage.
5. Of course, follow me on Twitter!

 

1. Add the My Etsy Application to your Facebook Profile – Go to the App page and enter your ID. While on that page (after hitting submit) go to the very top of facebook and go to Settings>My Etsy Settings (the settings menu beside your name) and chose the “Profile” tab, then click “add” beside the Box selection. You can try the Etsy Shop App too, but I just got an error when I tried to add it.
2. Join the Etsy Sellers Facebook Group, upload some pictures, explore the group page and write on the wall or participate in the discussions. Sellers can be buyers too, and I have referred more than one buyer I could not help to Etsy Sellers I talk to on facebook, Flickr or forums.
3. Add photos of your shop items into albums in your Photos section.
4. Add other Etsyians as friends by searching for “facebook” in Etsy forum posts (like this thread, or this one) to find people who want to add other Etsy sellers or buyers to their friend lists.
5. If you want to get REALLY into it, you can make a Facebook page for your store, and encourage other Etsyians to become your fans if you become theirs. I have not done this yet since I don’t have time to maintain a store on Facebook too, and this list is mostly for quick ideas you can do while puttering online.
6. Add me as a friend: (make sure you let me know you’re an Etsyian, or I’ll think you were a random serial-friender).

1. Add shops and items to your favorites, especially new shops. They shops with 1000+ hearts don’t always have time to visit each shop when someone favorites them, but the newer sellers will without fail.
2. Choose an interesting shop item of yours for your avatar. When people see your avatar in convos or forum posts they will be curious and click through to your shop.
3. Participate in lots of forum threads. Lots. Talk it up, baby.
4. Join street teams.
5. Create treasuries, or make friend with people who do!
6. Pitch story ideas for the Storque to the editors. If accepted, you will get a lot of exposure for authoring an article.
7. If you have nothing new to list, renew items on a regular basis to keep your page appearing in the recently listed sections.
8. As always, check out my shop.

Other Online Distractions:

1. Check out your Etsy stats at Majaba.org
2. Comment regularly on the Indie and design blogs you read
3. Add your name to the Etsy Sellers Blog List
4. Check out my blog! Oh, wait, you’re there now…

Yay for justifiable online puttering!

Photographic Evidence…

The best way to make yourself sub-conscious about your photography skills is to marry a photographer. But despite the self-doubt, there are also some upsides to having a skilled eye and a $2000 camera around the house. And you get to use the “if you can spend that much on a camera, why can’t I spend that much on a kiln?” speech. In lieu of this, I advise a digital camera at the least. They don’t cost an arm and a leg anymore; you can get a decent one for only part of a shin, maybe a tibia or two. Adam uses a Canon Digital Rebel and I also have a Panasonic Lumix for back-up (like, for when Adam is inconsiderate enough to use his own camera that he paid for when I need it) and I find I can take decent pictures with it, though it took a bit of practice to get used to composing a picture on the digital screen without the aid of a viewfinder.

But, remember, before you start shooting, put the camera strap over your head. I can’t really see how this will improve your pictures, but Adam swears the camera will blow up if I don’t have the neck strap on and swears it has nothing to do with the fact that I drop nearly everything I pick up.

There are a million articles about lighting, DIY light boxes, and how to place your products. But I have found that one of the keys to god pictures is to be careful about how you compose the final shot. The following are some different types of shots that I try to include in every listing, if possible:

The Full Product Shot
Obviously, you need to have at least one of these per listing. This is like a pictorial summary. The full item is shown, composed pleasingly, and the basic shape and form are presented.

The Macro Shot

From this shot alone it is impossible to tell what this item is. But it looks interesting and pretty curious and attractive so people will be drawn to it. I highlighted the intricate patterns of the beads, the twists of wire and the joints of branches. It doesn’t matter if I can tell what the object is at a glance because you will have at least one full product shot in your listing.

The Low Angle Shot
This shot emphasises the texture and depth of cut for this woodburned decorative map I made. Not only is it a nice looking picture, it gets you looking at the detail of the piece and makes you want to run your hands over it to feel the texture you see in the picture. This is a shot taken along the horizontal plane of the piece, either across the top or along a side, and it will not be useful for every product (such as clothing or bags) but works great for highligting the beauty of the leather covering a handbound journal, for instance, or the texture of a dynamic cabochon. Again, not evident what the full product looks like, but it will be used in conjunction with the full product shot.

The Size Comparison Shot
This can be tricky. Almost everyone seems to use money, but that is not practical on a site that caters worldwide and may be reaching buyers that are unfamiliar with the size of your money. I have also heard it said to use something from nature since that will be universal but I find it very hard to find something natural that grows or forms to a consistent size every time. Acorns, leaves, pine cones all have enough variability between individual samples that the size comparison could be misleading.

There are a few things that will be more or less consistent the world-over. A wine cork is a good bet, or sometimes even a beer cap (not recommended for selling children’s items – the beer cap might throw people off as to your true intentions).

The Product-in-Use Shot
This one is hard for me to demonstrate since my items are mostly home decor so when I take a picture of it sitting on the table that is what it looks like even when it is in use. This is more important for jewellery sellers and clothes & Accessory designers

The Shot of Your Cat Sleeping on It
Whether or not you want to, you’re bound to get at least one of these if you have a cat and look away for one second.

I hope these tips will help you take shots that will draw the eye to the artistry of your work and hopefully get people interested enough to want to buy it so they can see the true mastery for themselves.

Works in Progress: Celtic Book Box and Doodle Burnings

So, with my new fancy-dancy woodburning system, I have been working on a few projects.
The box above is based off of an idea from Colin (a real, live IRISHMAN!) who suggested the offset cross.

And here is a fun thing I burned up last night:

This tree is kind of creepy, but I like it…I still have to sand and stain them all, but they’ll be up in the shop soon.

Sixth & Elm’s Etsy Shop is Now Open…

Up Here in My Tree