Big Cartel - Same Eggs, New Basket

I have been thinking about starting my own website with my own domain name since the beginning of this venture. It just seemed soooo overwhelming to me. I know very little about html and I am not really web-savvy. Because of that fear, I had been putting it off for some time. Then... THEN.... I found bigcartel.com! So exciting! It is a stand alone site, so you are not competing with other vendors like on etsy. You do have to drive your own traffic to the site, but that seems like an interesting challenge to me. I am researching how to do that now.

Big Cartel is a site that hosts your shopfront, provides a shopping cart and allows you to have a custom url (http://www.stucktogethermagnets.com). But, it is easy to format! Trust me, if I can do it, so can anyone. The only tricky thing is that you need to find a host for your domain (godaddy.com or networksolutions.com). You buy your domain name and then point it to your Big Cartel shop and there it is. I used Network Solutions and I called them to get help with the technical details of redirecting my domain. Took all of 10 minutes.

As a result, I now have my own website! I will not leave Etsy because that is my bread and butter. But, another basket for my eggs... can't be a bad thing.

Know what I love?

MAGNETS!!!!

I'm just sayin....

Sleep is Overrated!

So, let it be known that I am a horrible blogger!! I have been so busy with my first craft show, keeping up my etsy inventory and custom orders that I have not had a chance to update. But I always feel better when I blog... so here I am....

The first craft show was.... interesting. I was very happy with my booth set up. All the ideas I had in my head came together nicely on the day. Very valuable lesson learned is that the wind is an evil, evil skank. It was such a windy day and it took its toll for sure. At one point my tent took flight and my displays hit the ground. And I didn't even cry! Sales were ok. Traffic was not great, but I made my booth fee and little extra. People seemed to really like my stuff and it was great to get some feedback face to face. I really enjoyed talking to people while I held onto my flying nun of a tent all day. I have another show coming up on June 5 and I can only hope that all I learned will make show number two better.

Hope you all are well!

My First Craft Show.... EEEEK!

Sooooo, my first craft show is in less than two weeks. I imagine it will either be a smashing success or a tragic train wreck. I am trying so hard to be prepared, but I feel like I could never do it all in time to be ready. I went to a show yesterday to look at booths and try to get some ideas. Here is what I learned:

1. Color matters! The booths that had color, either in product or set-up decorations, had more traffic. I think I am going to get some of those strings of colored flags for my tent. My product is colorful, but it is small, so I need some help making my booth stand out.

2. Fill er up! Some of the booths had very sparse product. They had tons of space and not nearly enough product to fill it. This will be an issue for me because my product is so small. I am trying to make a huge inventory push over the next few weeks to make sure I can fill the space.

3. SMILE! I really liked interacting with the vendors as a seller. I plan on being interactive, even if it just a simple "hello." A smile goes a long way.

4. Bring a friend. Set up and break down seem like they would be very tough on one person, so I'm bring my boyfriend to help. It gives you another set of eyes on the booth design and a potty time backup. I knew he'd come in handy one day ;)

5. Make friends. Other vendors are a source of information like no other. I'm gonna make nice with anyone who will hold still long enough!

Fingers crossed that my first show will be a success!

Anyone have any words of wisdom?

Eat, Tweet, Sleep, Repeat

Sooooo.... promoting your shop seems to be an very active topic of discussion in the etsy.com forums. How? Where? When? WHY Lord WHY? Are you at a loss as to how to promote and get people looking at you? Let me give you the short version of this so you can sift through all the el crappo and get to the meat and potatoes of this promoting thing.

Twitter (www.twitter.com): This is my go-to site for promoting. It is free, fast, user-friendly and it works...but only if you have followers. How do you get them? Well, luckily there are many twitter hack sites out there that can help you find people to follow without harassing them in the etsy forums or bribing them with free stuff and your first born.

Try these links:

www.twitterfollower.com

www.hootsuite.com

www.tweetseeker.com

Good post in etsy forums that can help: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6127828

Facebook (www.facebook.com): I have a facebook page. I don't use it because the interface is ridiculous and you have to beg and plead your way to fans and followers. My advice, use twitter over facebook all day long!

Craftgawker (www.craftgawker.com): I highly recommend using this service. It is free!!! Check it out if you have not. Register and submit to this site. They change their front page listing every 2 days or so and people DO look at this site. The trick with craftgawker is that you need GREAT submission pictures to get accepted. Trust me that it is worth it to spend some time making your pics great. People will dismiss your shop immediately if they enter and see sub-standard photos.

Craftcult (www.craftcult.com) - This is an etsy support site. Etsy shop owners use it to check their shop and items hearts as well as any featured exposure they may have had recently. The advertising on craftcult is not free, but it is reasonable. You can get a week long sidebar ad for $15.00. You do have to design your own ad and submit it, but it is worth the exposure every now and again. I have run two craftcult ads recently, and they do increase views substantially.

Craftopolis (www.craftopolis.com) - This is also an etsy support site. The best feature of craftopolis is the Treasury Clock which counts down the approximate time until the main Treasury and Treasury West opens up for submission. Very handy!! This site also has affordable weekly sidebar advertising. I would recommend craftcult over craftopolis though, simply because craftcult gets way more traffic.

Project Wonderful (www.projectwonderful.com) - This is a unique advertising tool that is not free, but can be very cheap. Basically, you deposit money from your Paypal account to your Project Wonderful account. You create an ad and then bid to place your ad on various blogs and websites based on criteria you choose. The concept is a bit abstract, but you can often advertise on some smaller blogs and sites for very little. Worth checking out.

These are just a few of my favs, but if you want to see much, much more...take a look at this list of 50 FREE sites to promote your shop: http://www.createapendant.com/sitepromote.htm

Peace!
Wendy

From Start to Finland - A Tale of Alchemy

Just wanted to share a little light with you guys and maybe some insight if you are not already bidding on alchemy requests. Had such an amazing experience!

I have been checking alchemy regularly just in case someone has a magnet emergency. I bid here and there if I think I have what they are looking for. Yesterday, I bid on a request for small items for a shop's customers. Appreciation gifts and the like.

Long story short... they accepted by bid. They ordered 60 custom magnets with their logo on them BUT .... BUT... that is not even the moral of the tale. That bid has also turned into my first ever wholesale client. She also bought 17... 17!!! sets of my premade magnets to sell in her store in Finland. She was lovely and paid and everything!

I am over the moon!

So... if you are not checking alchemy... DO IT! It is so worth the time to bid.

My Little Piece of Heaven

This is my little workspace! What a mess! But, this is my favorite place to be. Yes, that is a legal pad! I am a paralegal during the day, so it just kind of wiggled its way in there. My day job is so icky and most nights I can't wait to get right here so I can create and hopefully work hard enough to quit my day job. One day I will have a real studio, but for now my dining room table will have to do. Hope you all have a fantastic day!