Wednesday 3 August 2011

Etsy tip #2a: be sociable - Facebook

Etsy Tip 2a


Whether you love or hate social networks, they are now a fact of life and the quickest, cheapest, easiest way to pass information around.

You don't have to be on all of them... if you were, you'd spend more time updating your information than with your beloved craft materials!

As you know, these tips are based on my own experience, so I'll only be talking about the sites I've used to any great extent; Facebook, Twitter and more lately, Google+. I'm not saying the others don't have any merit - it may even be that if I were present on more of them, I may get more page hits on my Etsy shop but I spend enough time promoting my work as it is, I don't need to add another just yet! In this post, I'll tackle Facebook.




Facebook


The first thing to say about Facebook is to make sure you have a fan/business page rather than simply using your regular Facebook account to promote your work. That way you can keep the two sections of your life as separate as you need them to be. Your "fans" won't see (or be put off by) your non-business information ("Your friend needs help with a barn-raising"... I'm so glad I managed to kick the Farmville habit!) and people won't have to send a friend request to be able to follow your work.

Now I know that some people have a separate account for their business; I can't really see why this is needed when you can have a business page on your regular account without one affecting the other. Besides, you'd have two sets of usernames and passwords to remember and really, don't we have enough of that from all the sites we join without duplicating one? If I did it that way, I'd forget which "me" I'd logged in as and post the wrong thing on the wrong account! ;D


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Creating a business page is pretty easy - there are plenty of tutorials out there to help but you probably won't need one as it's a fairly logical process. Tarting it up is another matter which I may address in a future post but for now, have a play :) My page is here: http://www.facebook.com/janehamillbeadsandjewellery - look at the bottom of the left-hand column and you'll see a link for "Create a page".

At first you will be given a generic URL for your page but once 25 people have started to follow it, you can choose a more user-friendly version. When you have created your page, feel free to post the link to your business page in the comments at the bottom of this post - hopefully you'll get to 25 followers before you know it! :)

A quick word about naming your page - make sure you choose the title of your page wisely as you will be unable to change it in the future, which could be awkward if you make any changes to your work. I find this particularly annoying as I'd prefer my title to be "Jane Hamill - Art Glass Beads & Jewellery", in line with the changes I've made to my other promotional materials. Instead I'm stuck with the much longer "Jane Hamill - Lampwork Glass Bead and Jewellery Artist". And I thought using my own name as my brand would be easier! ;)


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The most important thing here is to make sure that whenever you list something, post it to your business page! People who like something but can't buy just now are likely to share links they like with their friends so it's a good way to spread the word.

Obviously you don't want to flood your "viewers". You see, that's where tip #1 - "An item a day" is also useful here. If you're posting once a day to Etsy to keep your visibility up there, you're also posting at least once a day to your Facebook page, to keep you on people's walls.

There's nothing to stop you posting to your Facebook page more than once a day, just be careful not to flood it as that's the surest way for people to remove you from their list of "likes".


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Of course, we're hoping that your customer base is as wide as possible and so probably international so we're working across timezones. There's no way to guarantee you'll catch all of the people all of the time but I use a handy technique to promote the same thing twice over two days and at different times.

I list new items in the evening of day 1 and post the link to my business page.

On day 2 I upload a picture (preferrably a different one to the one I associated with the original link from the day 1) to my page's photo album and in the caption I put the name of the piece and its Etsy link. Even if the item has sold before I get to this stage, I still upload a photo with "Sold - thanks!" as the caption because you're still promoting your work - I've received a few commissions this way.


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There are a number of Facebook groups that you can join, who are happy for you to post links to handmade shop listings on their pages. The ones I use are:



I post a link to each day's new listing on each of those groups. You don't have to do the same. For instance, you could post a link to your Etsy shop once a week.


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There are other things you might want to put on your fan page, for example Etsy treasuries in which your work has featured or that you have created yourself. For now, I've tried to include the basics to get your FB page started. I have plans to write further ways to use your Facebook page for promotion but this post is long enough already, so I'll stop here!

If you think I've left anything out, please leave a comment below. If I edit the post to add your tip, I will also include a link to your shop, blog or Facebook business page :) Next time: Twitter!






Saturday 30 July 2011

Etsy tip #1: An item a day.

Etsy tip 1


Keeping your visibility on Etsy is important. You want your items to appear regularly on the recent items lists and in your favourites' and circles' activity pages. Obviously you can't make enough of your craft to be able to be constantly listing new things but you should have an aim.

That aim is to list one item per day.

I know what you're going to say; there's no way you can make enough of your high-quality handmade items to be able to list one a day without burning yourself out! Yes, I agree - the only way I was able to do this right from the beginning was because I had a huge backlog of stock that I was moving from my own webshop across to Etsy. I moved one per day whilst I still continued to make beads and jewellery, creating a further queue of items.

I'm also lucky that my chosen art, lampworked glass beads, enables me to create at least one high-quality saleable focal or set per torch session. In fact there are usually more than that and when my health allows, I have one torching session, three days per week.

If you're creating bigger items that take a great deal more time to make, the one-per-day rule is tricky to stick to, if not impossible.

The best advice I can give is to at least *aim* for one-per-day. Sometimes you might find yourself with a few items to list, so don't be tempted to do so all at once, eke them out over the next few days, one a day.

Etsy recently introduced the "Draft listings" option, where you can type up your description, upload pictures, set your tags (try to use all the slots for pictures and all of your 14 allocated tags where you can!) and then save it as a draft to activate at a later date. This means you can set aside some time at the computer to get all the listing done and once and all you have to do for the next few days is to activate each one.

And of course, whilst you're working through this queue you will also be making new things to add to the end of it... and so on...

Remember also, renewed items count as a newly-listed item. Obviously we're hoping that you will sell your work before its listing expires but if it doesn't you can at least use it to your advantage :) Don't renew your items all at once; again, eke them out.

Once you have built up some momentum with this you'll find it easier over time to approach, if not reach, listing one item per day - good luck! :)


Friday 29 July 2011

Etsy tips - an introduction



Although I've had a presence on Etsy since January 2008 and have had a few items listed every now and then, it wasn't until the beginning of the year that I started to really concentrate on it. Until then I'd had my work in exhibitions here and craft shows there but my health made it all a bit tricky, so the obvious solution was to sell online.

I also had a webshop but didn't sell much through it, so I decided to give Etsy a shot. Partly because the listing process was much more straightforward (Zencart was a headache!) but mostly because I knew that people already go to Etsy to window shop... many more than would stumble upon my own webshop!

So I scoured the web for information, found lots of advice, followed some, ignored others. It looks like I chose wisely because it started to work.

The upshot is, in the last 6 months, I've sold more via Etsy than at shows, exhibitions and old webshop *combined* for the past 2 years!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not making enough to pay the bills but I'm confident that as my name becomes more well-known and word spread, I'll get there. For now I'm covering my costs and making enough to invest in more tools, equipment, supplies and sundries for the business.

So anyway, here's the point. A couple of friends started asking me for "magic tips". Then a couple more asked. Then lots more asked... so to stop a lot of searching old emails, copying and pasting I decided to do something useful and Put It In My Blog.

There's lots to learn so I'm going to post every now and again in bitesized chunks. I'll post them as and when I've edited my various email-novels into a digestable and readable format :).

NB: These tips come with no guarantee - these are just what I did to get my Etsy pageviews from a monthly total of 82 (December 2010) up to 9332 (June 2011).

Etsy Tip #1: An item a day


Saturday 19 March 2011

Cabochons - Day 11

Yesterday's batch which came out of the kiln this morning:


Day 11 - overview
Day 11 - overview


Quite a few nice ones in this lot again - closeups of my favourites below :)




Day 11 - Blue with orange and white dotties :)
Day 11 - Blue with orange and white dotties :)


This was a full bead before it was slumped but a couple of the raised dots had broken off (I dropped it on a tiled floor - tch!).




Day 11 - another donut
Day 11 - another donut


Another damaged donut made into a lovely flat-backed piece ready to be hung from a fancy donut bail or straight onto a leather or satin cord :)





Day 11 - that's a nice pair of cabs, missus ;)
Day 11 - that\'s a nice pair of cabs, missus ;)


I really like these - I'll have to have a hunt through my bead photo diary to see if I can remember exactly which glass I used here! You know... at this rate I'm going to start wishing for broken beads :D





Day 11 - interesting rainbow cab-type-thing
Day 11 - interesting rainbow cab-type-thing


I have to do more with this bead - it definitely needs something in that big white blank middle! Maybe a dot of glass and another fire... maybe a bit of enamel painting... will ponder this some more...




Day 11 - teeny tiny cab pair
Day 11 - teeny tiny cab pair


These are really delicate as they're quite small - just a little over 1cm tall. They'll make a lovely pair of earrings :)


And that's it for today :) If you want to see closer pics of any of the others, let me know...





Thursday 17 March 2011

Yet more cabochons...

They didn't stick together after all so there are even more crammed into the kiln today! :D

Far too many for me to put them all in one blog post, so here's an overview of today's crop:


Day 10 - overview

Can you guess which were my favourites before you scroll down? :)

Day 10, first pic
Day 10, first pic

I'm sure you did guess :) Oh, and the one on the right isn't nearly as wonky-looking IRL! I had to double-check when I was editing this photo!

Day 10, second pic
Day 10, second pic

I remember cleaning this bead when I first made it and being heartbroken that it split in two! It's nice to have been able to resurrect it :)

Day 10, third pic
Day 10, third pic

I had a few of these that broke at the same time, hence there were two of these cabs in this batch and I've slumped at least one other. I'm fairly sure I have the other ones in my broken beads pot too...


Day 10, fourth pic
Day 10, fourth pic

Ah, meet "Gemini" :) Not very original, I know, but as the silver looks like a constellation and they're twin cabs (not identical, I know), I couldn't really call them anything else :)

Day 10, fifth pic
Day 10, fifth pic

I love the fab, bright orange, vibrant colour of this one! The other one like it has turned out with a bit of a sharp point at the top so it'll have to go in the kiln again...

Day 10, sixth pic
Day 10, sixth pic

I love, love, *love* this one! It's friend also came out with a pointy end so given that I've never double-slumped any of these yet, I hope it survives a second go. It'll be a while before that happens... I'm too excited about the ones that haven't been in at all yet to wait!

And finally.... Day 10, seventh pic
And finally... Day 10, seventh pic

Really like the woody-fossily look to this one. some of the black has come out with a texture to it which I think only adds to the overall organic effect.
OK, so I've still used quite a lot of pictures today but just think how many there'd have been if I'd photo'd them all individually ;)

More tomorrow. (was that a groan I heard? ;) ).

Today's cabochon crop from my kiln

Here's the batch of cabs that I had in the kiln overnight; there were too many for one photo, so I've taken several...


Day Nine, part one
Day Nine, part one

This was an experiment with a tab bead that had broken unevenly down the middle (I'd squished it too thin with my mashers). These are the left and right halves of the bead - the hole would have run right up the middle in between them. The fine silver wire is a bit sharp and pointy at the top of the left one - I'll either clip or file this then I think I'll re-slump it to see if I can get a rounder shape. The other one I don't mind not being perfectly oval :)


Day Nine, part two
Day Nine, part two

These are lovely but unfortunately you can see where the hole was at the back of each cab. It seems that no matter how well I clean any remaining bead release from the back of the cabs, I still get a mark, which doesn't matter on opaque beads but spoils the look of clear ones. Ah well, that's what etching fluid is for ;)


Day Nine, part three
Day Nine, part three

Nothing wrong with these ones :) They even already have a name - Constantine - as this had been a bead destined to be one of my ☛Constantine Bay pendants☚.

Day Nine, part four
Day Nine, part four

Another pair with which I'm pleased :) The ivory glass has become a beautifully rich, creamy yellow... it was a bit like that before it went into the kiln yesterday but the colour has become much richer.

Day Nine, part five
Day Nine, part five

And here are the rest :) I like the odd-shaped green and red one; there's a spiky bit on one of the two at the bottom right of the picture and as you can see, the green transparent pair have the same mark from where the hole was. Remind me to put more etching fluid on my next shopping list...


Some of these cabs will end up in my jewellery but most will probably find their way into ☛My Etsy shop☚, it's only a matter of time - I just have to take proper pics then measure, price and describe the things! If you're interested in any of them and can't wait, contact me :)

And there are even more in the kiln this evening! This time I've crammed in as many as I dare - so far anyway :D I know, I know one day I'll push it too far and I'll end up with a single amalgamated cabochon awaiting me the next morning ;)

More pics tomorrow, all being well :)

Tuesday 15 March 2011

When life throws you broken beads, make cabochons!

It's still far too cold here in chilly Chorley for me to spend a decent amount of time in the workshop making beads, so this past week or so I've been trying something I've been working up to for ages.

When I first started making beads, I batch annealed rather than garaged them. That is to say I put them in vermiculite to cool and annealed a whole bunch of them together rather than popping them in the kiln straight from the flame.

There's nothing wrong with batch annealing but the risk is that beads will crack before they get anywhere near the kiln, so I was left with plenty of sad-looking broken beads which I refused to throw away, swearing that one day I'd find a use for them!

So I've been experimenting with the kiln, altering temperatures and timing and making my poor, nearly forgotten half-beads into cabochons :) I thought I'd share the results...


First slumped half-bead cabochons
Day One


The back of the beads still have a little ridge where the bead hole ran. This isn't really a problem as most jewellery in which they would be used would hide the back of the cab. However, some of the raised dots on one of the beads didn't slump fully into the main body of the cab and so the next day, I raised the temperature by 5ºC...
Day Two
Day Two

These ones made me smile when I opened the kiln the next morning :) There's not a single one I wouldn't use in my own jewellery designs! These were definitely more "relaxed" than the previous batch but the backs still had a bit of a ridge where the hole was. So, I raised the temperature again the next day...

Day Three

Definitely getting there... the perfectionist in me still wanted to get the ridge on the back even flatter, so the temperature went up again... :)

Day Four
Day Four

You've guessed it... up went the temperature again... but I was getting a bit impatient (a habit I really must kick) so I risked a whole 10ºC this time...

Day Five
Day Five

Nearly there! a final raise of 5ºC...

Day Six
Day Six

By George, I think I have it! ;D

This meant I could start playing with some of the larger and even nicer half-beads I had :)

Day Seven
Day Seven

Day Eight
Day Eight

I'm really happy with the results of my "experiments"! I have more cooking in the kiln as I write - there's a good few hours left on the kiln's schedule and I can't wait to see what comes out of it tomorrow morning (have I just jinxed myself?).

I think some of these will make their way onto my shop soon, once I've decided which ones I can let myself part with ;) I'd love to hear what you think!

Thursday 10 March 2011

The bead is mine but someone else made it prettier :)

I was mentioned in a Tweet by one of my customers, Anne Tweed today - my first ever customer Tweet!

Anne has made my Hue lampwork glass bead into a lovely bracelet. Here's the original bead:

Hue handmade lampwork glass bead


And you can see the bracelet Anne made with it on her blog

Thanks for spreading the word, Anne!