Really, REALLY new member.

[Former_Member]

Today, I created my first listing and opened my shop. I am extremely new at this and I am going to make a lot of mistakes before I get my footing.

One of the things that I am offering are exotic paw prints. These range from as small as a hedgehog, to as large as a Cheetah. All my prints come from a local rescue-and-rehabilitation facility in San Diego County. When I visited with my family, we were told that it cost 24K a month to run the facility. At the end of the tour, they encouraged us to buy something from their "gift shop"... a card table with a few mass produced hats. As an artist I knew we could do better.

Working with one of their zoologists, we make a polymer, then a ceramic, cast of the animals foot. From there, I make pendants, magnets, ornaments and paperweights. Anywhere from 10% to 50% of the sales goes back to Wild Wonders.

I am eager to get to know other members and get some advice and info how to go about having an Etsy business. So far, I am a full-time artist who does shows throughout SoCal.

[earthwatersol]

Hi and welcome! I absolutely LOVE your shop and what an original idea you have created. Helping animals in the meanwhile is the cherry on top. I'm fairly new too, so I am still trying to figure it all out. I will suggest a few things: Keep adding items to your shop (which you are probably already doing). To have a hefty list of those amazing animal paw prints would give buyers a larger choice. I also suggest showing/offering the pieces on some sort of chain/necklace/ornament, since I see you have a hole to add this. I love that you added a photo of the animal and information...perfect! Also, look up how to use SEO to better tag your items. It's a pain to learn, but well worth it. Make sure to use all 13 tags, and take advantage of your unique theme...paw prints, animal rescue, etc. You could add that you are donating 10% (or whatever the amount is) in your shop description, so that buyers can see this up front. Lastly, join every animal lover team out there...animal lovers will LOVE these. Again, your products are so super cool, so unique. I can't wait to see more. I know a lot of people who would love to have one of these pendants. I'm going to keep checking back to see all of your wonderful items.