QYDJ Team Feature:

[Former_Member]

Getting back in the groove and have a wonderful team interview to share! As always please show your support and help promote our team members featured through your favorites and on social media. Enjoy!

vintageretroantique
Printable Digital Image Downloads and Clip Art Graphics
http://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageRetroAntique
http://www.etsy.com/listing/115042854/bogo-sale-acoustic-guitar-symbol-digital

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Q: Your shop looks amazing! It's so cohesive and it seems like sales have taken off for you! You seem to utilize every space in your shop well, what tips do you have for others for creating an eye-catching first impression?

A: Whether your potential buyer arrives on your listing from a search engine or finds your listing through etsy search, the first thing they’ll see is your listing’s first image. This is your first chance to make a great first impression… you need to have an image that stands out among the other search results and leads potential customers to your listing. Make sure your images aren’t too dark and make sure your image captures the aspects of your item that make it unique and appealing. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t have expensive photo editing software or editing skills, do a quick google search for the best free online photo editors and you’ll find several free and easy editing tools that work right from your web browser.

Once a customer finds your listing and comes to your shop page, you want to make sure that they have a good impression of your shop and of you as an etsy seller. Utilize all of the available spaces that etsy provides: make sure you have a shop announcement that describes what you sell (this is especially important because the first 160 characters are used as your shop’s meta description by google). Be creative with the spaces etsy provides… in my case, it is important to me to let my potential customers know that I have a buy 1 get 1 free sale on all graphics in my shop. Instead of using a general shop banner, I use this space to advertise my shop’s sale. I also use each listing’s title, description, and even the listing images to convey this message to customers.

Q: Congrats on your Bachelor's in Visual Arts from Penn State, how has a formal education help shape your art business and design techniques?

A: In my case, there is a direct correlation between my education and my etsy business. While studying Visual Arts, I had a dual focus in graphics design and photography. My education in graphics design has given me knowledge and a skill set that I implore every day in my etsy work, from recovering and restoring graphics to creating the previews, banners, and other artwork for my shop and business. I am currently creating a website as well to showcase my etsy shop and items.


Q: With so many items in your shop, how have you pinpointed which shop sections to create to keep everything organized? There's so many forum posts from shop owners who have a large selection of items and don't know how to organize them properly within 10 categories.

A: This is a constant challenge for me as well. With over 3000 items, I too would like more than 10 sections to organize my items. Try to think from your customer’s perspective, put yourself in their shoes and think of how they would like to navigate the items in your shop. In my case, most of my graphics are black illustrations, but I also have some color graphics. I have a separate section for color graphics, even though these items are sometimes animal graphics or other images that fit into other sections as well. I believe that generally, a customer is interested in either black graphics or color graphics, so I put all of the color graphics in one place so they are easier to find. This of course means making a sacrifice too… I can’t have all of my animal graphics in the animals section and still separate black and color graphics, so I have to rely some on customers using the search bar and searching within my shop to find all of the graphics they may be looking for. I do make an exception with Alice in Wonderland section… I put all of the Alice in Wonderland artwork in the Alice in Wonderland section, even color graphics. I make the exception in this case because Alice in Wonderland is a unique subject and I don’t want my customers to miss any of the images. Sorry if this gets confusing… basically there is no right answer here! 10 sections is a real limitation… just try to put yourself in your customers shoes and make the best of what you have.

Q: How do you use social media to keep your customers and followers engaged in your business? What's your favorite part about using social media for your business?

A: Social media gives you another outlet to reach your customers, especially customers who have already found your shop and who you already have established a basic relationship with. Make sure you have a facebook page and a twitter account and make sure they are both linked to your etsy shop so that your customers can easily click and find your social media pages. Etsy has a lot of tools to integrate your social media with your shop, use them! You can quickly post your new listings to both facebook and twitter through the buttons found on your listing confirmation page. Explore the internet too, for example there are third party tools that will automatically post your new listings to your twitter account, hassle free. Don’t neglect social media, make sure you reach out to your customers in every way possible, especially with so much competition! And don’t feel like you need to keep it all business… the best social media use isn’t purely self promotion, but a combination of posts that are informative, intriguing, and self promotional. Provide value to your followers in addition to your promotion.

Q: How did your business come to be? Any special plans or goals for 2013?

A: My etsy shop is actually fairly new. I began in the summer of 2012 for the same reason that many of you have started a shop on etsy… to create a viable small business on etsy and earn some extra income. I started my etsy shop after moving when I found myself looking for a new day job and needing an extra source of income while being unemployed. I decided to fully invest myself in etsy and started spending full time hours each week researching and developing my etsy shop and items. Etsy is a great market for self-starters, but it isn’t always easy, and it definitely is time consuming and requires just as much effort as any other job. I’ve heard people say that to make a business on etsy you need to work twice as many hours as you would to make the same amount of money in a regular job. I think that is absolutely true. It takes a lot of time, determination, and true dedication, especially if you are running an etsy business as a second job like most etsy sellers.

My main goal and plan for 2013 is to just stick with it, to really spend the necessary time every week working on my shop and items, creating new graphics and researching new ways to improve and promote my shop. I am also creating a website for my business, with a custom thank you page for each order, providing a download link for the order, similar items from my shop, and resources and tutorials on various image transfer techniques.

Q: Congratulations on your shop's success! If there is anything else you'd like to share or add, please do!

A: The one thing to always keep in mind and remember is this: Value. Your main goal, like most of us, is to sell your items and earn some extra money. The best way to think about this process is to recognize that you are creating value and exchanging that value with your customers. On etsy, this usually involves trying to make something that has value out of raw materials that you can get for less. Turn your time and creatively into value and instill that value into your items, make your product really worth something. It doesn’t stop there though… if you want to attract customers and get more sales, provide value at every step of the way… through intriguing, entertaining, and informative social media postings, to your shop’s appearance, and even by offering your established customers coupon code discounts and the latest news about your shop. Lastly, I’d like to share that my shop offers printable digital images that are meant for other etsy sellers like you! The graphics can be used on all of your etsy products and are great for iron on transfers, printing, and more… so if you are looking for new inspiration and new designs for your own etsy products, be sure to check out my shop for graphics and resources! Good luck in all of your etsy endeavors.

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Thanks so much!

[ApronFreeCooking]

Thanks for posting this interview! I always am inspired by other's successes and completely intrigued by their stories.

All the Best!

[Former_Member]

It's my pleasure Noel! Thanks so much for posting!