Ten Things I'm Loving Right Now

I like to do these "10 things I'm loving" posts occasionally with ten random things I'm enjoying at the moment.

1. Glitter
I found a thing of white glitter in my house and I've been using it everywhere lately. I've been putting glitter in my journal entries and cards for my Etsy. I also put glitter on my nails. I did a solid color on my nails and put one layer of top coat polish on it. Before the top coat dried, I just sprinkled glitter on my nails. I love how glitter makes things stand out more.

2. Nail Art
Speaking of nails, I think it's a lot of fun to do nail art. Doing nail art was kind of hard to do for me at first, but I'm getting better at it. I think I'll do a post in the future with photos of different nail art I've done to my nails.

3. Making To Do Lists on Google Docs
My laptop has been broken for about a month. Since I don't have my files, one thing that has made my life a lot easier is Google Docs. I have my document files backed up there so I have access to my files without needing my computer. I can also create new documents like to do lists of things I need to do or things I want to do on my Etsy.

4. Stretching after working out
I like to work out every day, but I always forget to stretch. It always feel really good to stretch and it's important if you work out. I'm also trying to get back in to yoga.

5. Beautylish
I found this site called Beautylish that's all about makeup and beauty tips. People can upload photos or video to the site and share their makeup ideas and tips. You can see my profile here. Feel free to follow me if you use the site.



6. Pinterest
Another site I've recently discovered is Pinterest. Pinterest is a photography websites where you can post photos that inspire you on different "boards". It's great to keep inspiration for different projects you're working on or topics you're interest in. I like to organize my photos in to different topics on my computer anyway so I think Pinterest is a great idea. You can see my profile here. Again, I'd love if you'd follow me if you use the site.

7. Cooking podcasts
Speaking of food, I've been loving a lot of food podcasts recently. I'm a vegetarian so I listen to a lot of vegetarian and animal rights podcasts. I've recently discovered the Joy the Baker which is run by two women who have popular cooking blogs. Their podcast is a lot of fun and they talk about non related food topics too such as relationships, blogging and fashion.

8. Bean Salads
I've been experimenting with recipes more lately. One thing I like making when I don't have a lot of time, but want something healthy and homemade is bean salads. I just take a thing of canned beans (such as black beans or garbanazo beans) and put olive oil, vinegar and spices in it. Sometimes, I'll put other things like garlic, onion, fresh herbs, corn or other vegetables. I let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour and it always turns out really good. You can also put the beans in a tortilla wrap or in a sandwich.

9. Wishlistr
I love making wishlists. Wishlistr is a site that allows you to create wishlists online. I use Wishlistr to keep track of makeup products I like. To keep myself from impulse buying makeup, it helps to make a wishlist so I can keep track of products I'm interested in.

10. Black and white photography
I'm taking a black and white photography class in school right now. I love black and white photography and I like being able to develop my own film.

What have you been loving lately?

Nature Inspired Items

I have a lot of nature inspired items in my shop. Here are a couple:

Sunflower Greeting Card



Rounded Golden Tree Bark Greeting Card



Green Leaves Coptic Stitch Mini Journal



Do you like nature themed items?

Twitter Business Tips

Twitter is a good site to promote your Etsy on. I find that Twitter is one of my top referrers to my sites and is good for getting a lot of clicks and reaching a lot of people.

Creating a Page
- To create a Twitter, click here.
- Make sure to include a profile picture and fill out the information in your profile.

Keeping it Active
- Twitter allows you to create microposts that are 140 characters are less. I recommend tweeting at least once a day, but I suggest not doing more than 15 tweets a day.
- I like to post every time I list a new item and post a new blog entry. I like to add some personal things too. If I'm going to an event, I might post about it with a @reply or link to the company.
- Use the @reply feature to have conversations with people. I keep a list with a bunch of Etsy people so I can keep track of people on Etsy easily.
- Use HootSuite to schedule posts in the future.

Promoting
- Follow Etsy teams and your favorite shops. Use the "Who to Follow" button on top to find more people to follow.
- Follow everyone who follows you back back.
- Use Friend or Follow every once in a while to get rid of people who don't follow you back. This also makes it so if you reach your follow limit, you'll be able to follow more people.
- Put your Twitter link in your Etsy profile and other Etsy related sites (e.g. your Etsy page on Facebook, your blog, etc.)

Do you use Twitter? If so, what tips do you have?

EtsyVeg Challenge

I'm in the EtsyVeg Monthly Creative Challenge Finals 2011. I won the EtsyVeg Monthly Challenge in July. Every 6 months, all 6 winners from the last series of challenges are put up for a vote together. The winner gets a collection of handmade goodies from other EtsyVeg members. My This Little Piggy Bank is up for voting:



You can vote for my box here in the poll. You can vote until October 3rd. Thanks for any help!

New Halloween Cards

I listed some new Halloween greeting cards:

Pumpkin Harvest Greeting Card



Iridescent Yellow and Orange Halloween Greeting Card



You can see more Halloween items here. Let me know what you think!

Journal Entries

I recently uploaded some scans from my art journal on my Flickr page:













Do you keep a journal?

Autumn Themed Items

Autumn officially starts on September 23rd. Here are some autumn themed items in my shop to put you in the mood for fall:

Yellow Autumn Leaves Greeting Card



Red Autumn Leaves Greeting Card



Autumn Leaves Greeting Card



You can see more autumn items in my Halloween section in my shop. To get 10% off any Halloween item, use the coupon code "SPOOKY" at checkout. Are you excited for autumn?

Tumblr Business Tips

One site I use to promote my Etsy is Tumblr. Tumblr is kind of like Twitter, but instead of microblogging "tweets" (words), you can microblog photos. Even though you can post other things such as text and video, I mainly use Tumblr for sharing photos.



Creating a Page
- To sign up for Tumblr, click here. You can create multiple blogs on Tumblr easily if you already have a Tumblr account. Just click here to create a new blog.
- If you're using Tumblr to promote your business, I recommend choosing a topic for your Tumblr and posting photos of that. I use my business tumblr to post photos of things that inspire me and my Etsy shop. I like to post photos of crafts, food, makeup and other types of art. I try to keep the photos related to my Etsy and art in some way.
- To customize the appearance of your blog, click here. Use the info button to write a title and description of your blog. Be sure to include a link to your Etsy shop in your description (you can write basic HTML). Use the theme button to choose a layout. Clck "Browse more themes..." to see even more layouts. You can also use custom HTML if you want to create yur wn layout.

Keeping it Active
- Post at least once a day. Click "Set a click-through link" to include the link to where you got the photo from if you know the source.
- It's okay to post photos of your items, but I wouldn't recommend only promoting your own work. Tumblr is all about sharing. When you see a photo you like, click the "reblog" button to post it on your blog.
- I find one of the most helpful things in Tumblr is to use the Queue. This makes it so you can schedule posts ahead of time and your blog will be consistently active. It's also good so you don't spam your followers by posting a bunch of photos all at once. To use the queue, make sure your post says "add to queue" on the right side instead of "publish now". You can also click "publish on..." and select an exact time to publish something. To see all items in your Queue, click "Queue" on the right side of your Tumblr dashboard. You can change the order of when things are posted there.
- Encourage people to submit posts or questions/comments. Go to your preferences and make sure "Show my unified Inbox" is checked.

Promoting
- Follow blogs you're interested in. Most people will follow back.
- Use tags so your photos show up when people search for things.
- Include your Tumblr link in your Etsy shop profile.
- Submit your artwork and Etsy items to art related Tumblr sites that accept submissions.

Do you use Tumblr? I'll have business tips on using Twitter to promote yur shp next week.

Red Ribbon Journal on YouTube

Somebody named Shantika contacted me on Etsy asking if they could review one of my items for their YouTube channel. I love YouTube videos so I decided to let her pick out an item to review. She picked out this Red Ribbon Mini Journal:

Here's the video:



It was fun to watch her talk about my package on camera and she gave my shop a positive review. You can click on the video to see her channel (she does a lot of reviews). Make sure to rate and comment on the video1 Do you watch YouTube Videos?

Two New Halloween Greeting Cards

I started listing some new Halloween items. I got this card listed that uses pretty iridescent decorative paper:

Iridescent Halloween Pumpkin Greeting Card



I also got this autumn leaves card up. This card would be great for Halloween, Thanksgiving or just to give out during the autumn season:

Rounded Autumn Leaves Greeting Card



I will have more Halloween cards listed next week. What kind of things do you like to buy for Halloween?

My Mom's Crochet Sun

My mom crocheted this image of a sun recently. I thought I'd share it on this blog.







Have you ever crocheted?

In the Process Photos

I thought I'd share some in the process photos of some items I'm working on.



I'm working on new Halloween cards. This is a greeting card wrapped in wax paper. After I make cards, I put them in wax paper and let them sit under a book so they stay flat.



These are more cards in the process.



In this photo, I'm working a collaged card using decorative paper.





These are in the process photos of a box I made. I cut the sides of the box out of binder's board and then glue it together to form a box.



These were some packages I sent out from order I got recently.

Let me know if you like seeing photos of my crafts in the process.

Flickr Business Tips

This entry is about how to use Flickr to help promote your Etsy shop. Flickr is an image hosting website where you can share photographs you've taken.



Creating a Page
- To sign up for Flickr, click here. You can sign in with your Yahoo or Facebook ID, but I think it's helpful to create a new Flickr account under your business name.
- Flickr doesn't allow people to put their Etsy links under captions for photos so make sure not to break this rule and put your Etsy URL in your profile instead. Add some information about yourself and be sure to include a profile photo.
- With the free version of Flickr, you can upload 2 videos and 300MB worth of photos each calendar month. You can also sign up with a Pro account for $25/year which allows you unlimited uploads. You also get to see statistics of people who come to your Flickr. I have the pro version because I like to upload a lot of photos. I recommend starting with the free version since you can always upgrade.

Keeping it Active
- I like to upload a photo (or a couple photos) of an Etsy item every time I make a new listing. This helps keep my Flickr active and makes it so I'm not just adding a bunch of photos all at once.
- When you upload a photo, add a good title. Captions are great to say more about the photo or tell a story. You can also add tags to categorize your photos and help others find them in searches.
- The map feature is great if you have a lot of photos from different places. Use it to tag locations to your photos.
- Use the organize to easily organize your photos. Click on "Sets & Collections" to create folders to organize your photos. Sets are folders for your photos and collections are ways to organize your sets. For example, I have a collection of my "Etsy and Crafts" and inside that collection I have a sets of "Journals", "Greeting Cards", etc.
- Flickr might delete your account if you only use it to promote your shop so make sure to include some personal/misc photos too. I think of my Flickr as a mix of business and personal. Besides my Etsy stuff, I also post personal photos and other art I've done. Flickr is also a good place to share in the process photos of your crafts and photos of your art studio.

Promoting
- Sign up for different groups with topics that fit your photos. There are a lot of good Etsy groups out there and most teams have a Flickr page. Use the organize page to easily add photos to different groups. I like to do this every time I upload new photos.
- Use the search button, groups or the "Explore" page to find other photos. Favorite photos and make comments on them.
- You can add people as contacts and a lot of the time, they'll add you as a contact back.
- Include your Flickr link in your Etsy shop profile and post on Flickr related threads in the Etsy forums or teams.

Do you use Flickr? If you use it, do you find it helpful in promoting your shop?

Last week I talked about Facebook. Next week, I'll have tips on another social networking website. If there's any social network/promoting website you want tips on or want me to review, let me know in the comments!

Recent Favorites Off Etsy

I thought I'd share some recent favorite items I've found on Etsy:

White Horses Running in Water Photograph



I think this photograph is breathtaking. I love how it captures a moment and a feeling.

Corduroy - Children's Choice Book Club - Don Freeman



This shop sells vintage children's books.

Squid USB Flash Drive



I love when people take mundance items like a USB flash drive and turn it in to something creative.

Gameboy Dress



I think this dress is really cute and clever.

Fabric Carrying Cover for Passport



I love the idea of having a cute cover for your passport. I also really like the fabric on this one.

What items on Etsy are you loving lately?

Etsy Sales

I made a bunch of sales last night! I sold these items:

Rounded Brown Guitar Greeting Card



Tan Fashionista Greeting Card



Tan Bicycle Lover's Greeting Card



Winter Cardinals Greeting Card



I also sold a Custom Altered Moleskine Planner, but I'm still waiting for the person to tell me how they want it customized.

Yay, I'm so excited I made new sales! I hope I keep making sales during the holiday season. I'm working on a bunch of new holiday themed items I'm going to put up soon.

Facebook Business Tips

Last week, I talked about about LinkReferral to help promote my Etsy shop. This week, I thought I'd talk about Facebook. Facebook is a popular social networking website that has more than 750 million active users. It's a good idea to have a Facebook fan page if you have a business. Even though Facebook isn't my top referrer to my site, it helps bring some traffic and allows me to connect with other businesses. Here are some tips I've found helpful.

Creating a Page
- To start a page, click here. You can choose what type of page you want from six different categories. I have my Etsy under "Local Business or Place", but you can also choose your category as "Brand or Product" or "Company, Organization, or Institution" if you think it fits your shop better.
- If you want to edit the information in your page, go to your page and click "Edit Info" at the top. Fill in information about your Etsy such as your website address, email address and profile photo.
- To get a custom URL/username, click here.

Keeping it Active
- Update frequently enough so your Facebook page stays active, but don't update too much. I'd say posting something once a day or a couple times of week is the best. I wouldn't recommend doing more than three updates a day because it could push fans away.
- I post about big events like giveaways and sales on my Facebook. I don't like to post about smaller things, like new items I've listed or updates to my blog, on my Facebook because I do that on my Twitter instead.
- To get your fans active, uses the features on Facebook fan pages such as photo albums and polls. I try to update my photo album with images of my items about once a week. You can use Facebook applications such as My Etsy where you can directly connect your Etsy page to your Facebook fan page.
- I like to add other craft pages to my "Favorites" on my profile. You can do this by going to a page and clicking "Add to My Page's Favorites" in the bottom left hand corner. I like to add Etsy teams, other Etsy shops and craft related companies.
- It's helpful to communicate with other people instead of just advertising yourself. Encourage people to post on your wall (such as by asking questions). You can also post on other fan pages or respond to comments you get on your wall.

Promoting
- To try to get more fans, you can invite your Facebook friends (click on the "Invite Friends" button on the right side of your fan page).
- It also helps to go on the Etsy forums and teams and search for "Facebook" threads where people post links to their Facebook fan pages.
- Put your Facebook link in your Etsy profile so people who go to your shop can add you.

I've also used Facebook to advertise my shop. I stopped doing it because it was out of my budget, but I think it can be helpful if you're willing to a little more money to advertise. Do you use Facebook? Are you a fan of any Etsy shops? If you have a Facebook page, do you find it helpful in promoting your business?