Begining the Team! Post here and Say HI!

[Former_Member]

Post here and continue the thread chat:
http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/6784644/page/13/?post_id=59517093

invite your friends and this can be the new team to be in!

I hope we can all benefit from this!!

[Former_Member]

Hey! I thought this would a great way for us all to provide tips while also getting to know one another!

[PlumPatchwork]

Hello! I'm a full time engineer (50-60 hours a week), a part time grad student, and a new Etsy shop owner. In between I try to keep Mr. Plum and my puppy fed and the house from being a total mess.
Needless to say I'm tired, and I'm thrilled to have a team with people in the same boat!

[secondarycreations]

Came here from the thread. I think this is a really needed team. I live alone, which makes things easier in some ways (I don't have to cook for anyone else), but more difficult in other ways (no one to help with errands or housework). My apartment *is* a total mess and I lose time too often because I can't find things.

I work full time at a university and occasionally take a class, but I'm not taking any at the moment. I do tend to have a lot of interests going on at the same time, though, even if I'm not formally taking a class.

[Former_Member]

Hello! Here from the Business thread. I shared the team link on my Twitter because I know a lot of sellers who work during the day and struggle balancing that with their Etsy shops.

I work 9 to 6 (yes, six!!!) and have roughly a 90 min commute home. It kinda sucks, I'm working to get out of that. Hopefully this team will help me! :)

[Former_Member]

Hi ya'll!

Trying my best to manage an ever increasing demand from the day job and building up the dandyapple. I work 50-60 hours a week in retail management. Fortunately, I am over merchandising and get to show some creativity while I am there, but it is so not what I want to be doing.

I know some mentioned a smart phone in the other thread, we cannot do that financially just yet but I would love that! I do have my bitty laptop and can use the open access at the university near my work on my dinner breaks. Yes, I huddle in my car rain or shine on my laptop eating my salad and check in on my shop. The glamorous life of an indie biz owner!

Looking forward to getting to know and learning from you all!
:)
Jessica

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone!

I currently work full time at a florist, have 2 Etsy shops (this one and http://thecurlykitty.etsy.com), run an online magazine and blog (Modern Handmade Child - http://mhcmag.com), and am the leader of the EtsyKids Team. I also have a 3 1/2 year old daughter, and we are expecting our second baby in May.

Looking forward to getting to know all of you! :)

[7ate9Apparel]

Hi!
I work full time as an office manager. I usually work on Etsy in the evenings about 3-4 hours as well as weekends. I originally started my shop with my sister however she had to cut back after having a baby so my husband has stepped up to help out. I never would have imagined he'd help with this since he's not "crafty" but he's been a huge help! Looking forward to getting to know you guys :)

[Former_Member]

wow everyone i knew a lot of people worked while also involved with etsy, but I thought I was the only one crazy enough to work looooong and craft looooooooooooooooong...

looks like im crazy for thinking i was the only one!

[Former_Member]

Hello everyone!

I'm Millie! I work full time for a conservation charity, study part-time and run my little shop :-) I'm very impressed at how many hours some of you work whilst fitting in your shop!!

As a side note to plumpatchwork - I love your fabrics! I do a lot of fabric work as a hobby, so I've hearted you :)

[Former_Member]

Hello! I'm Danielle, I work a full time job helping run my parents motorcycle store, it's not to bad at around 40 hours at week but once spring hits my hours go up to about 50 plus depending on business. Then I work 6-7 days instead of 5 or 6 right now.
My only saving grace is that I have no commute I live right above my job, so I can go home and go strat into crafting.
I have a boyfriend and a dog to also take care of, but occasionally i can get him to cook dinner, (the boyfriend not the dog...lol)
It's nice to know there's alot of sellers working double lives. Nice to meet everyone!

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone! I am an insurance agent, I have a one kid in high school and one in college (thank goodness they drive!) two australian shephards, two cats and a wonderful husband.

I have two shops on Etsy, I make jewelry and I make lamp work glass beads. Its an interesting juggling act lol. I am very fortunate that I am able to do a lot of the internet stuff from work. (I don't list at work, just the social networking, the occasional blog post etc.).

[Former_Member]

Hello Everyone!

Danielle -- you'll have to tell me more about that motorcycle shop. My little brother (he's 20, not that little) just finished motorcycle repair at Baran Institute in CT - looking for motorcycle jobs in Maine is tricky - any advice? Feel free to convo. :) SilverRiverJewelry -- I do a little networking from work, too! Shh...

About Me: I'm Audrey, I work 7am-4pm M-F and often pick up shifts at a local coffee shop on the weekend. In addition to running my Etsy shop I also fill wholesale orders (love those... more bang for my buck!) for some shops around Maine, am a wedding photographer and have been planning a arts/crafts/vintage sale event at a venue in Portland, ME for April 16th. Whoa! Someone likes a lot of work... it's all of us. :)

I'm lucky, my boyfriend and I live together in a pretty sweet apartment with an attic I can craft in. It's currently trashed, but I'm going to carve out some time soon to fix that. We cook dinner together (GOOD dinners, BALANCED dinners) most nights, go to 'shows' (our friends are all in bands) and watch lots and lots of movies. I like movies because I can multitask (crochet) while they're on. So I'm not lacking for balance... just for time! I love my day job but the biggest fantasy of all would be to be my own boss, support myself with my work, and makes 2x what my salary is now! ;)

[Former_Member]

oooo littledesigns... im jealous of your attic!

im moving in with my bf in a few months and he is looking for a house that will have a room for me to craft in... im so excited!

[Former_Member]

Nice! The attic is great but I'm sure I could make do in a smaller space... the attic has the disadvantage that the 'supplies sprawl' covers much more floor space... because it can!

[Former_Member]

hahaha i know the feeling! my apartment has over 6 tables to craft and to eat... but i expanded every table to crafts just because i have the table space available...

[Former_Member]

im so glad people are joining... i love reading about everyone's background!!!

[PlumPatchwork]

@mslogica Thanks so much!

Do ya'll feel like you *can't* take a break? I leave for work at 6:30 AM and get home around 6:00 PM when I don't have class (those nights it's 10:00 PM).
Since I've started my shop, I spend *every* free moment listing, tweeting, on my Facebook fan page, in the forums here and on UEF, blogging, commenting on blogs... It's exhausting. Even when I decide I'm going to relax for a while, it lasts about 5 minutes before I'm back at it. I even use my phone to tweet while waiting at red lights!
Sometimes I wonder if all the promoting work is paying off or not.
Anyone else feel like this?

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone!

I'm Maggy and I am a full-time student. I also work about 4 hours a day for my boyfriends company and tend my dads bar on the occasional weekend! Up until about a month ago I was also working full time in higher education so at least not having that has opened up some time for me!

Other than those responsibilities, I have a very energetic lab pup and a boyfriend who has gotten use to me cooking for him every night and keeping this house of ours clean!

I just started my etsy shop here recently. It is very small right now but I have a quite a few things sitting and waiting for me to list them. I welcome any and all advice and am looking forward to getting to know a lot of you! :)

Happy selling!

[Former_Member]

Hi! My name is Dara. I am just in the process of starting an Etsy shop (items listed this weekend, time willing). I work a full time 3rd shift job and am also a full time student. I am involved in the community and my church, and also have a boyfriend who has to get squeezed in there somewhere! Thankfully my job usually has a few hours of down time where I can craft and do work for school. I thought that selling items on Etsy would just mean making them and posting them. I'm learning that there is a lot more to having a successful shop. How do you find enough hours in the day??

[VandalDesigns]

Hi all! oh man, just reading about how hectic everyone else has it is wearing me out, haha. I go to school full time and I almost have my associates (yay!) but once I am done with that I will be going back to school for Radiology (ugh!)... I currently have school 4 days a week and homework the rest of the time. Between school and homework I also have to make time for chores (cleaning horse stalls, cleaning the house, ect) as well as a relationship with my boyfriend of 5 years. We don't live together which has its benefits and problems, the main problem being making time to see eachother between his work and my school hours.
I am currently an ASL student (American Sign Language), and I really love it! But it too takes up a huge chunk of time for practicing the different signs. between all this I attempt to find time to design and create my pieces as well as list them. For me the hardest part is listing them because I'm not the best at talking my products up. I also have a slow product output level because of a shoulder injury that plagues me and sometimes causes me to not beable to work on my crafts, but I love creating stuff... I put a tiny piece of my soul into each creation of mine, and that's the way I like it :)

[Former_Member]

Wow, these are amazing posts. I am really enjoying reading about each of your hectic lives! Im so glad I found this team. I spent part of my day today reading the forums - all of the posts about how to be successful on Etsy... There were so many discussions about listing a minimum of once a day or once an hour - they just made me feel guilty about my productivity. I simply cannot make that much stuff.

I have a job and I am trying to start a business (outside of Etsy). I do love the opportunity to list my things here and be visible. I really like the balance of my job (computers) and making things. But I am struggling with how much time to put in, and am completely baffled when it comes to marketing. But overall I am still having fun with it.

[Former_Member]

Hi,

It feels good and motivating to get tips from people who are also in the same boat.

[Former_Member]

thats wonderful handmade!!

im glad people are enjoying this team!

[Former_Member]

material... once an hour??? thats insanity! dont feel bad about it. The kind of items you sell determines how much you can post too. Don't overwork yourself to make etsy no long fun. It's gotta be fun!!