@Leslie, I'm glad it's working for you. Traffic was a little lower in the last week due to the fact that I was moving house so was not able to set up promotions for a few days as normal. It is business as usual now so hopefully traffic will just increase. :-)
Photography HELP! Exterior lighting making product to "bright"... interior lighting too dark and colors not realistic. What is fix for this issue for someone without a high quality camera and not breaking the bank paying someone to take photos? I am losing views every second... recommendations anyone?
@Charlene, you need to white light sources that stand opposite each other. This will avoid harsh shadows and/or color distortion. You can also do quite a lot in Photoshop or similar photo editing program although you will not be able to fix shadows too much.
Do also check your monitor settings and look at your images on different monitors. Your outside shots look fine as far as lighting is concerned on my screen.
@Charlene, I take all my pics with my smart phone. I used to have an Android. I turned off the flash and play around with the settings. Now I have an iPhone so I just turn off the flash.
When taking photos outside, go to open shaded areas. That happens when the sun is behind a building casting a shadow on the opposite side. In the shadowed area, the light is even not like in direct sunlight where is harsh.
Also, overcast days are great for photo taking as the light is even (works like a huge soft light). and colors come out almost as they are. There may be a little of a blue hue that you can correct while editing.
When taking photos inside, be aware of the light source you are using. Some light is yellowish, other bluish or greenish. Play with the settings so that your camera corrects it.
In looking at your photos as they are, I would definitely have someone model the scarves, as those shots are giving me a much clearer picture as to how your pieces will look on a real person.
Definitely shoot on cloudy or overcast days to avoid those harsh shadows and color distortions. I would also try to shoot against a white background if you can find one. Right now, you're shooting against a brown fence, which is clashing with some of the colors.
And look around for an amateur photographer who would be happy to do some shots for you for free. Many people are buying digital SLRs these days and would welcome the opportunity to play with their new toy with some product shots. You've probably got one in your family somewhere...aunt, uncle, niece, nephew...someone is bound to pop up if you just ask around. There are also plenty of product shot tutorials on YouTube, which I've made use of myself.
We only got 27 views from Craftori out of 3061 views overall during March. Any suggestions on what I should do to improve our views from Craftori besides adding more items? I am concerned about adding too many items on Craftori as I do not want to overwhelm the category with too many of our lanyards.
I am looking for feedback regarding color laser printers. I need to purchase a laser printer but I need a colored printer because I print a lot of colored labels. Can anyone describe the color quality on a laser printer? Many thanks! Bobbie
@AmyT, I think it is mainly due to the fact that fewer people search for lanyards. Your target market is fairly limited and more limited than say ceramics or accessories (for example). This could be partly the reason why you're getting just a few views.
@Bobbie, I only know that inkjet printers are best if you need to print photos or photo quality images. For labels it would be best and most cost effective in the long term to purchase a laser printer. That's as far as my knowledge extends!
@papermoodle, they're truly lovely. One of the reasons you're not getting views is because you aren ot renewing your listings regularly enough. The last time was 21 Feb so by now they will have slipped to the bottom of the relevancy list.
Another reason of course is that you are not promoting enough.
@papernoodle, there are lots of ways to promote your items entirely for free. You can use many different social media, ie Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc. I think Pinterest would be good for you as you have a lovely product that I know would get repinned a lot.
There is a thread running on the team here about search ads. Most sellers do not seem to think that they work. Personally, I never pay for search ads and only renew. For me this is much, much better value.
@papernoodle, selling online is relentless and the only way to succeed is to have a regular routine where you do the same things each and every day. Getting large followings on social media takes much time. It has taken me over 2 years to get over 53K followers on Twitter and only now do I make regular sales from there. It is worth it but you just have to be realistic. Nothing happens overnight.
If you think about it, even people with a 'physical' business generally take 3 years to start breaking even and 5 years to start being able to relax into a regular profit. It's not a lot different online. I do think though that people think it will be quick and easy.
I posted this question a few days ago, but it got buried.
I opened a second shop last month, and I want to make some improvements to my inventory tracking. I'd love to hear your suggestions. What works for you?
