Lifetime Gurantee

One of my first jobs, well actually my fourth job, not including my freelance craft and art work that I started when I was 16 (I really didn't like working for the "man" even then) was working in the pet department of a major department store.

Could I tell you some stories about my few years working there, like the day I picked up a bag of snakes and a bag of frogs from one store and kept them in my bathtub until I could get them to another store. But that's a story for another post.

We sold mostly parakeets and fresh water fish, but we had small animals, hamsters, gerbils, mice, snakes and lizards, and occasionally a spider monkey. They were mean.

We had one and only one animal with a lifetime guarantee. If you purchased one of our parakeets, you got a lengthy piece of paper with a certificate for a lifetime guarantee. We had to fill them out at the time of sale, sign them and hand them over to the buyer, who took their little bird home in it's cardboard box and never took a second look at the certificate they filed away in their important papers.

A lifetime guarantee on a parakeet. The purpose of course was to protect the buyer if the bird passed in the first few days, which is possible when bringing a young delicate creature in a new environment. But more often is was the little old lady, sobbing and crying, who after 5-10 with their loving parakeet, would bring their cold little bodies to us in a cardboard box, The fine print on that certificate? The parakeet is guaranteed for life, but what you get is a replacement parakeet of your choice.

I can't begin to tell you how many of the sniffling little old ladies broke down when they heard they weren't getting their money back. They didn't want another bird, how could they love another, their sweet bird was barely in it's grave (not really, it was in that cardboard box). We really didn't require the body either, but they never read the certificates.

There just HAS to be a moral to this story. But I'm not even sure what it is. Oh, maybe you can offer your buyer a lifetime guarantee on your product, because chances are, they'll either loose their certificate, or never read the fine print.

Indie Seller Tips - Refreshing Your Shop

I've been looking around at some shops lately and I see that for the past 4 years some of you have been selling the exact same merchandise. Many of you have improved and changed. But it's a very competitive market out there. If you're selling the same thing as you had in the past, or you're selling the same thing as 1000 other shops, why should people come to yours.

I've also found that my felt flowers, no matter how lovely, do not sell well on Artfire. I am going to revise my offerings at akaCINDERS. I will still have a limited flower section, but I just can't live off of the very few customers I have that love them. This is busy season, so I need to focus on other things, and work on it later.







I have focused heavily on PoppysGardenGate, which is my bread and butter. I have added several new items this year and it's paying off. Some I dreaded adding, but turns out they weren't so bad and fairly easy to make, like the new purse that is doing very well after only two short weeks online.

 I've added bow ties, and I'll be adding men's neckties soon. Not looking forward to that one either. I have even started to design my own fabrics on Spoonflower and I will continue to make more original fabrics as soon as I have free time.


I'm trying to be competitive, and it's working. I'm looking for trends and meeting buyers needs. That's what we need to do.


 Be flexible, even if you're old and set in your ways. If you're not satisfied with how your business is doing, take a good long look at it. Take a look at your competition. Is there anything you can do to make your business successful?

Putting it Together - Subliminal Color and Marketing

I must apologize for the lack of posts recently. Even this is supposed to be a Friday, not Saturday post. But it came to mind today, and I couldn't wait til next week. Things have been busy, taking Poppy to the Dr every week, to check on her expected baby, shopping to get every little thing she will need, and then there's the finishing of the house/bathroom too.

I've been getting a lot of email spam from pretty big retailers, and I noticed that about 80% of them had medium green borders on their ads. I wondered what this particular color meant subliminally. I do know that color is not just randomly chosen for ads.

Subliminal color marketing is very important in advertising. It could be the most important thing you do in your marketing.  I also know that marketing schemes have to change with current economy and trends. For instance, marketing colors and even product should be different when the economy is good. Your product can be more flamboyant and abstract when there is more money, but should be more homey, vintage, and comforting when the economy is down.

So what about color? I found a few good articles that explain what colors mean subliminally. You can read them to find out which color would be best to market your merchandise. The first article focuses on the meaning of color for marketing. For instance Green might mean growth, nature, money, fertility and safety. Maybe that's why it is used in all the ads I'm getting. Read "Color Psychology"

The second article is geared to business cards, which I found very interesting. Maybe I should have read this before I made mine. Seems I did OK though with my color choice and themes. Read "Color Theory and Business Cards". There are also some great links at the bottom of the Business Card posting.

Biz Buzz - Marketing and Loss Leaders

If you read my interview on Maiden Jane's Blog you would know that I was once a Marketing Major. Not that I am a pro, but I do have a lot of product and retail experience. And I do know what brings people to a site or store.

When I first heard that Walmart was removing all of their fabric from their stores, I thought they were, quite honestly, out of their freaking mind. Sure it might take more labor to cut the fabric, and the profit might be very low, but how many people, especially in this economy, come to Walmart JUST to buy the fabric at such great prices, and while they are there, pick up a few extra things. I know I'm not the only one.

That Marketing scheme is called Loss Leader. That link takes you to a wonderful detailed explanation, with great examples, but basically you offer one really good priced items to get people into your store or site so they stay to shop for others.

Of course if you have a jewelry shop on a seller site, or maybe a very specific item like kitchen cutting boards, buyers are not going to hang around your shop and buy lots of your merchandise, no matter how much of a discount you are giving on one item. But you never know.

Another great Marketing idea I use is a leader. Similar idea, just not down priced. The fabric at Walmart is also a leader, because people will come, even if the price is not low, just for the convenience. I always have a current trend item or two in my shop, even if it doesn't sell, just to get people into my shop through search engine. For example I have Halloween Jewelry in my jewelry shop and Halloween Aprons right now in my Apron's Etc shop. Poppy has costumes on her genre Artfire shop, and with links, she is also getting sales to her non genre shop.

Good leaders are holidays, seasonal (summer BBQ, winter skiing, etc), trends, birthstones, horoscopes, and color trends. Also, don't forget that seasons are reversed across the globe. You need to do whatever you can to get the buyer into your shop. Then offer such wonderful product, that they don't want to leave without buying a thing or two. And don't turn your nose up at Target or Walmart marketing ideas, because they make money and that's why you sell right?

As for the removal of the fabric departments in Walmart? Well I guess they should have hired me, although I'm sure they wouldn't have listened anyhow. I had a lot of bosses that didn't think I knew what I was talking about. Silly guys.

Look at this add from Walmart. They are now bringing back the fabric departments they removed. They could have saved themselves a lot of money and trouble if they just asked me

Bizz Buzz - Trends

Why are Trends important and What is Trend Forecasting? To make your product more desirable, you need to be up to date with current trend themes and colors. If you know what colors and themes will be on trend, you can design in advance. No repainting to match what's on your site's front page. It's kind of like if you knew that Harvest Gold refrigerator would be out of fashion, you might have just bought the white one.

Those of us that sell on Art sites like Etsy or Artfire know that our sites will keep us up to date with the latest trends, but where do they get their information? There are so many resources you can use to get this information, unfortunately, many have very expensive memberships. But there is some free information you can get.

I might also add that many of the trends today are started by you. Yes you! The trend forecasters are now looking to art sites like Etsy and Big Cartel to see what colors and themes are popular. These colors and themes will then go into the general marketplace. One of the many disadvantages of selling online is that your ideas are very easily "borrowed".

Here are some great places to get information. The Trend Curve, is one of the most watched publications in the home furnishing industry. Michelle Lamb is either truly amazing, does her homework well, or as many in the industry suspect, a self prophesier. In other words, she is so popular that people believe her and create the trends that she predicts. Either way, she is a voice that is wise to listen too.

Where do color trends come from? There is another group called the Color Marketing Group. They are a team of hand approved professional Designers and Color specialists that work together to forecast color trends. Members are from industries like home furnishing, automotive, paint companies and even Pantone. They not only forecast what colors will be in fashion several years before they are even available, but also suggest those funky names for them.

And speaking of Pantone. You can get some color forecasts from them directly too. Look, there's a free color forecast for Spring 2012. There are TONS of Pantone products available, but here is a page of Trend Forecasts

Because much of trend information is for industry, it can be difficult to get your hands on at a reasonable price. Reading the trend forecasts on your selling site and others is a great way to get that information. Another great way is to have a membership in organizations that fit your category. Some have information and are more reasonable than industry groups. Many also have student or junior memberships, just check out their sites to make sure that they DO have the trend information you want.

IDS or Interior Design Society has great info and an annual affiliate membership at $175
IDSA or Industrial Designer Society of America is for Product designers, and has several levels of  membership, but most annual profession fees are $375
American Craft Council does not have a wonderful site full of trend forecasts, but what they do have is a Membership that is $40 to $50, with library of resources, a wonderful Craft magazine (American Craft), great benefits and show resources.

There are just too many great associations for me to list especially with international and individual country. Just do as search of association in your industry and do a little trend forecast research.

Biz Buzz - Fond Farewell and Marketing Tips?

I wanted to dedicate this Bizz Buzz to saying a fond farewell to the Clown that Ran Etsy But You can read about it at the Inc article or the Great Farewell that Etsy Bitch wrote HERE

I would also like to note that with what has happened in Norway, everything we do here seems so small. So many children lost at the hands of a Madman.

I decided instead, to write about something that came to mind after a few events this week. It has to do with your audience. Who are you selling to? I was trying to come up with search terms for my jewelry. Because it was unique, I wanted to come up with some terms that the average person would use to search. I was thinking about my product and I was thinking of all the other handmade product. I'm not including vintage here, because they have a greater chance of people searching for their items than handmade sellers do.

I thought about all the lovely handmade products and artwork, I and I thought about all the nice things that people had said about my flowers. I thought about how we are pushed by ourselves and our sites to create something so unique that it stands out against our competition. And I thought that if it is so unique, how will people find it. If you designed handkerchiefs for Elephants, that would be unique. Maybe useful (they would have to be pretty big) But who would search for it.

It popped into my head, that the people who are looking at my work, or your lovely work, are mostly artists, or people involved with or admirers of the arts. Is that my target audience? Wouldn't it be nice if the average person, or at least a percentage of the overall population would like my work?

I pass QVC sometimes and see things that are not as lovely as our handmade craft, but mass produced, sell by the thousands. I used to work for a company that sold to QVC and it was not our usual lovely inventory. But that's another story.

And then there was something that Poppy said this week. She was listing a biker T-shirt that had previously sold for $250, and she was debating weather to list it auction, or buy it now on eBay. She was discussing how much to list it for and I said was it too much in this economy. She said people with money have money and they don't really care, they buy what they want. She's right you know. We struggle to sell our beautifully hand crafted wares for under minimum wage and someone pays $1800 for a Lego Millennium Falcon still in the box. (I'd rather have it built for that price).

We work our tails off at the craft we love and yet we could take a $1 t-shirt we found a the thrift store and turn a $200 plus profit on it.

My point isn't despair. It is, how the heck do we get the guy spending $250 on a T-shirt to spend a few bucks on our handmade? How do we inspire the "want monster" (I hate that term and wish it would go away and die forever) to absolutely love handmade. What we really need is not a clown but a Marketing Genius to help us out. Barry Manilow will you write us a handmade product jingle for the new millennium? There is more to marketing than just good SEO. SEO does not inspire desire. How about "I'm wearing Handmade Today" "I just hung Handmade on my walls, did you?" "I'm cooking in handmade."

Biz Buzz - Christmas in July

Well it's almost my favorite time of the year (not) Time to pull out the Red, White and Green rugs, Jewelry, Table Covers and promote, promote, promote, all things winter that no one really gives a damn about this time of year. That's not entirely True, the Southern Hemisphere is experiencing Winter now (you know Australia etc) and I'm SURE they need to be reminded.

I am talking about the worse marketing scheme EVAH - Christmas in July. There is a long history of Christmas in July starting in 1892, but I won't go into it, you can read about it on Wikipedia.

Christmas in July conjures up images of Santa on the Beach, catching waves with his elves, and the Mrs. Reading her Romance novel.

I hear that Christmas in July is enjoyed in New Zealand, because they don't get to celebrate Christmas in the Snow, like we do. Whopee.

Not that I don't want to think about snow or have a tall cool drink while I'm at the beach, but I really don't want to sit there, wearing a Red and Green striped bathing suit and Snow Man earrings, because people are just going to think I'm Freddy Krueger in Drag.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas in December, but seriously, do you think that many people want to spend the whole month of July sitting by the TV watching what QVC has to offer in the way of "Holiday Previews"? Summer is for Fun in the Sun!

I know all the seller sites are promoting "Christmas in July" but can't we be a little more creative and original? Maybe there is a reason that sales are down in July and way up in December - NO ONE WANTS CHRISTMAS IN JULY!!!!!

Come on all you wonderfully creative people. How about Summer Sizzle, or Hot Deals - Cool Creations. You think of something better...PLEASE... and post it in the comments. Maybe we can start a Handmade Revolution. NO MORE CHRISTMAS IN JULY.

An interview with POPPY

This is the first of many interviews. I chose Poppy, because she has been selling on Etsy for over 4 years and was easy to find. She lives in the same house. At this point she is the more successful of us, as I am living in her house. Find out how she got so successful in this interview.

Tell us a little about your stores.

poppyswickedgarden is my main clothing shop. It was my first shop and is packed with beautiful fun clothing and accessories. I also have a more fun character and tutu shop Xpoppyswickedgardenx.etsy.com and of course we (my mom and I) share Poppysgardengate.etsy.com for home goodies and poppysprouts.etsy.com for the kiddos!

I started on Etsy over 4 years ago when I needed a place for my more unique clothing items that didn't fit into my Auction based shop. I heard about it from another designer friend and I was greeted by another clothing designer of about 10 that were on Etsy when I started

How has Etsy changed since you started?

Etsy has drastically changed in many ways since I started. I actually started before the changeover to Etsy beta. In general I think that aesthetically it has grown greatly, in most part due to the individual artists trying to better themselves.

Over the years I have had to adjust my clothing line from one of a kind to custom orders for most of my creations. It has become more desirable to have a custom made item since the economy has changed. I also have to do a lot more networking on Twitter and facebook where I used to use myspace.

How many hours a week do you put into your business? - manufacturing? - listing? - marketing?

I seem to always be working I would say that I sew about 20-25 hours a week 6-10 hours listing 10-20 hours of marketing 8 hours packaging and shipping of course my workload usually doubles between September through January.

Any great tips for newbies?

You can always improve your shop, take a really good look at your shop and compare them to shops that are doing very well. Ask yourself... Do your gallery photos look as nice as theirs? Are your descriptions clear and precise? Are you tagging your items with the right tags? Are you promoting as much as they do?

Also always remember that you need to keep making to get people interested, You may have an amazing creation but if you have 5 items in your shop they will likely be missed amongst the sea of other creations out there. I usually list or relist 3-5 items a day in each of my shops.

If I knew then what I know now I would.....

Take better pictures, otherwise I wouldn't change a thing. It has been a wonderful journey to get where I am and I feel very lucky to be doing what I love!

Next week I will be interviewing the ever Snarky VintageEye

New directions in Blogging

I started this Blog to find and report helpful information for independent internet artists and sellers. The articles were primarily to help sellers on Etsy, but could relate to any independent seller.

Things happened and my helpful blog turned into a weak self promoting and self discovery rarely posted, uninteresting look into my own life.

ALL THAT IS ABOUT TO CHANGE.

I'm going back to the roots of my original plan and I have Wonderful tips and interviews planned for you.

My first interview will be posted next week. It is an interview with Poppy of PoppysWickedGarden.etsy.com. She has been selling on the internet for over 5 years and recently celebrated her 4th anniversary on Etsy. She was one of the first clothing sellers on Etsy and has seen a lot of changes in four plus years. She also lives in my house so was pretty easy to get an interview with her.

Future posts will have some top seller tips on how to get on the Front Page, how to promote your shop, how to evaluate your shop to improve it and some tips on how to make a great treasury on Etsy.

I know you'll be pleased with the info I have to share so please stay tuned for future posts.