STYLE?

[MariasWorkshop]

I know how busy everybody is, but I really need your help! I am at a point where I do not know which way to go. When I started my Etsy shop, I was advised to keep to one style and one style only. The trouble is that I like many styles. However, at the beginning I did keep to one style. I did not get too many views, traffic, likes, or sales. My sales have been mostly to friends and family (for which I am grateful). Then, I slowly added different styles (vintage-style, macrame, more classic jewelry, wire wrapped items, etc.). And I still do not get the response I was hoping for. Now I am paralyzed, I do not know which way to go. I do not know if I should keep on making one-bead pendants on a chain, wire wrapping, macrame. I would like to know what people are most attracted to, so I can stay with that and persevere until I start (hopefully) getting more sales. (I personally love wire-wrapping, vintage-style and the more classic jewelry such as pearl necklaces - but I do enjoy making almost anything and desperately need the sales).

My request. Would you mind going by my shop and letting me know which style you prefer? I will really appreciate it!

This is a sincere request for help and not a gimmick to attract viewers to my shop.

[Former_Member]

First let me say that your product is really nice. Jewelry is a very glutted market here on etsy.

Here's how I see it. If you walked into a brick and mortar jewelry store and they only had one kind of necklace, would you stay and browse? And have you ever been in a jewelry store that carries only one style? I think that shops should have a variety but ( and this is the tricky part) there must be something that makes the work cohesive. I like to make and try different things. I love textiles of all sorts so I am always looking to try new stuff. After looking my work over from a distance I realized that my cohesive factor was the upcycled materials. That combined with a real desire to reduce our carbon footprint gave me my hook.

I think variety is a necessity especially in jewelry. Keep creating! Good luck.

[Former_Member]

Hi Maria,
I know how you feel because when I realize I could put things together I wanted to sew everything! But I think I'm starting to realize what I feel more comfortable working with and what I prefer.
If you enjoy wire wrapping & vintage style maybe those inspirations are your style . I don't know anything about making jewelry but maybe play combining elements you like and see how they look together.
If I could make a suggestion about your photographs, i like this necklace : http://www.etsy.com/listing/86541732/pink-necklace-white-coral-and-pink
but I find the picture to be too dark. try shooting in natural light with a complimentary background. good luck.

[Former_Member]

I totally agree with Lisa. And I think, no matter how different your pieces look to you, your overall style does shine through. I have always felt that you should make what you love to make. Trying to chase down trends and predict what people will like is futile.

Your work is beautiful - and your titles and tags look good. Some of your pics look a little dark to me. What I think you need most is promotion - anywhere and everywhere you can think of - FB, Twitter, Stumbleupon, wanelo, maybe join a team that makes treasuries. Jewelry is tough. And keep adding things to your shop - shoot for 100 or more items. You might also consider raising your prices a little - looks like there's a lot of work in some of those pieces - and oftentimes people report selling more when they raise prices. It's all about 'perceived value'.

Good luck!

[Former_Member]

I think the things in your shop are beautiful. I do see a cohesive style!

[Former_Member]

I think the more options you have available, the more people you will attract I agree with Lisa as well. People love a variety.

[Former_Member]

I like the way your shop looks now. You may have misunderstood that advice, because to me, I wouldn't stick with ONE kind of jewelry, but I would try to market to the same group of people.

Everything I saw in your shop currently I would say all appeals to the same group of people.

I like what someone said above, how would you like to walk into a B&M shop and only see pendants on chains? My suggestion is to find what makes you and your jewelry unique and go with it, even if it is over several different types of jewelry making.

[Former_Member]

Hey Maria,

Like everyone else, I agree with Lisa. I will say that the only things that look like ithey might be out of place (to me) are the macrame items as everything else is wirewrapped. In jewelry, there are ways to plan lines and such, the easiest is using similar methods for creating it or using similar components in each piece (only a few types of chain, clasps, jumprings, etc for all pieces), but I do see a cohesive style moving in your shop, and you have some lovely pieces.

With jewelry on etsy, it's all about the extra marketing/exposure work. Get thee to a treasury! Really, once I joined a couple of treasury teams (and someone was kind enough to feature one of my pieces in their's), I started getting a lot more views and favorites. I'm talking going from maybe 20 views in a day to 60 or so, and I've only been on the treasury teams for a week. (I know these are still small numbers from some, but you gotta start somewhere :-). This is the true time consuming part of Etsy, but it does help. Eventually the sales will start coming as people start seeing you around more.

Hope it helps.

[AlexisSoutham]

Hi Maria
I understand how you feel, you can tie yourself in knots trying to decide on a course of action. I've been going through a similar thing myself trying to decide if I should add enameled brass pieces to my shop which is full of handmade silver jewellery.
I think that as a maker your jewellery will have a cohesive style as long as you stay true to what inspires you, make sure you don't try and tailor yourself too much to fit what you think will sell. Perhaps the challenge is making sure your shop image works for you, (using consistent props/colours in your photos, how you lay out the jewellery in the photos, shop banner etc...) At least this is what I've been telling myself as I'm ploughing on with the enameling :) so I'm really glad to see lots of comments here saying variety is good, I agree.

[wildwomanbeads]

Stick with making what you love to make and use your "sections" to indicate that some pieces are different from others. For example, I make bracelets from lampwork beads, and others from wrapped fiber beads. I arrange them in a color flow on my shop pages and have them in sections such as "lampwork bead bracelets" and "fiber bead bracelets." This gives me the freedom to play, experiment, and still have a cohesive shop.

Your work is lovely, and I would suggest you drop that original piece of advice if it isn't working for you.

Best of luck!

[KriyaDesign]

You want something that's work. You thought whatever tips they are dishing you may have some valid points. So now you're unsure which direction to go. Just be you.

I've researched and browse through pages and pages up to 200 to study folks / our fellow artisans. I only had about 1 to 2 sales a month for the first 6 months on Etsy. So got nothing to do except studying.

One thing I am cleared. Every artisans have their own styles. You can see them if you relax enough. Its below unconscious awareness if I must say it. And these styles are being perceived by the viewers and potential customers. These styles come naturally to every artisans. These are who we are. We maybe aware of these natural inclinations or we may not.

So if you're trying to fit yourself into some molds of what works without taking your own natural inclinations into considerations, it will be hard for you to find your own grooves. Like I said up top, you gotta be you.

I won't guarantee overnight success. It took me a while to 'find' me :-), but once I found it, things fall into places. More views which lead to sales. My pieces are not new inventions, even they may look like thousands here, but my own styles are there. Customers perceive them, they may not realize it though. Something they said some times make me realize, yep they see my styles.

I love simplicity. I wear light color tees and jeans / pants all year long. You could see in my works. But I love to experiment. So you'll see something different but I bet you, I am still there in every pieces. Does this make sense :-).

You already know what you want, your own styles... go from there. Has an attitude of a scientist. Keep tweaking until your style get noticed by your soon to be customers. Honestly no one could tell you what those styles are... folks may give you pointers. Only you know it... you only have to be willing to test it, learn it, tweak again... until you understand it yourself.

[MariasWorkshop]

Hi, I am back. As soon as I posted my original post, my mouse died. I was so eager to see your responses that I went out into the wind and rain to buy a new mouse. Like a friend of mine used to say "if it is not one thing, is the other".

THANK YOU ALL for your comments. This is the second time I have been on the verge of giving up. The first time was after I did a lot of studying, tweaking my shop, redoing photos, re-tagging and re-labeling, and nothing happened.

There is a lot of great information in your answers. I will copy all of them and pasted them in word - to study them carefully. Mainly, after reading your comments, my hopes got renewed. You have no idea of how much appreciate your input.

Best wishes to all!

Maria

[Former_Member]

i like the items you have right now and I don't think there is any thing wrong with expanding what you can offer as long as you can offer the same quality. If you like making several different style items then you should do that, I cant speak for any one else but I am always trying to learn new ways to make a new piece I haven't offered before, Its up to you because its your shop, but I agree you should make whatever styles you want to and enjoy doing it! You never know that next really big order may be from an item you are just thinking about creating, If you dont create it , then you will have 0 sales from it, basically you wont know if you dont try, If you make a new item and it is not popular, you can always create something else that is.
Hope this helps.

[MariasWorkshop]

Thanks Angie. Yes, your opinion helps a lot.

[thevicagirl]

I don't know if taking a poll on here is the best way. I would say market, and make products you enjoy making. Then, see what sells for you to focus on. I know one person who had tons of things in their shop and one really odd thing, and the odd thing sold, they now only sell that odd thing because it is what sells. I know another person who trys to sell a variety of things, huge shop, but only sells one type of thing (like two or three a day). She still trys the others but can get away with making what she loves because she still sells what sells. As for your items, they all look similar enough to me that you don't need to just stick to one style, but can do multiple. I don't think it will hurt you.

[samsstuff]

I don't think having 'one style' needs to mean making only one type of thing (at least I hope it doesn't, I'd be in trouble/super bored) You can tie everything together with your photography, for instance.Since your items are all made by you, they really do have a similar style (& are very cute, by the way). Use the same type of photos throughout your shop & it will look cohesive, no matter what you make. Make what you want to make & tie your shop together in other ways, like through similar photos. If something doesn't work for you, tags, titles, etc. after trying it for a reasonable amount of time, change it. Nothing's written in stone & what works for one shop, won't necessarily work for another. Take advice that works for you & don't worry too much about the rest. Promote your shop, here on Etsy & outside the site to get your name out there. There are lots of free/low cost options. It really does take time, for all but a very lucky few, to get sales, especially in a category as heavily saturated as jewelry. I hope this helps :)

[Untwistedsister]

Maria - I feel like I'm having some success in the jewelry category on etsy and it's precisely because I don't stick to one style I think. I do wire wrapping - pendants, rings and bracelets......chainmaille....... I fuse my own glass.....I cut & polish stone cabochons.... Sometimes I sell in one category or medium and sometimes another. It increases exposure too - I get other jewelry makers looking for cabs for their creations, I get customers interested in glass who may see a beautiful stone, etc.

Do what you love, love what you do. Success is different things to different people. Your shop is beautiful and so is your jewelry. I'd hate to see you give up 5 minutes before the miracle happens. Sales are up and down all the time.

[TheSilverFindings]

I find myself in the same exact boat as you! I noticed certain styles that seem to do well on Etsy but your jewelry looks like quality jewelry. Quantity does not equal quality. Do you want to make what you enjoy at slower rate or make tons of things you hate, just to sell? You have very pretty items and as stated before, your style does show through across the different types of jewelry. Think of it this way, every store has an array of choices. It is best if you do as well, as long as your aesthetic transfers through (the part I a learning). Stick with what you enjoy for the most part, since if you do start to sell more rapidly, you want to make what you love. Throw a few other items in your shop that are different just to appease and attract a larger crowd. I have decided I am not going to make things I don't enjoy making just to sell it. If that's the case, I may as well sell cutlery door-to-door.

[MariasWorkshop]

Thanks

VaLon, Shelley McElhiney, Terri, and Laura.

Your input is very much appreciated.

Terrific shops, by the way!