30 Ways to Update Your Etsy Shop

Have an Etsy shop? These are a couple ways to organize your business to make it run smoothly.

1. Get rid of old listings that aren’t selling. If you have Christmas items and they are not selling, save them for later.
2. Do you have sections for your items? Create 10 sections, or however many sections you need.
3. Switch up the photos for items. Use a new photo or angle for products that have been listed for a while.
4. Keep four featured items at the top of your shop and star a couple extra items in case one sells.
5. Organize your products in to collections of 10 with a thene instead of randomly listing items. See my printable here.
6. If you have a bunch of favorites, organize in to sections for easier buying
7. Write an about page and clear policies.
8. Create shipping profiles that will make it easy to add to lsitings
9. Use a similar template for listing titles and descriptions. Write a format or brief guidelines for a writing style you want to use
10. Download a spreadsheet of your orders and listings and keep them backed up on your computer.
11. Have ink and paper ready for shipping labels. Keep shipping supplies in stock for easy and fast shipping. Buy shipping supplies in bulk.
12. Keep all your finished handmade items organized in one place.
13. Label all your products and keep them in a protective covering such as a box or clear sheet.
14. If you have items with imperfections, give them away or use then yoursed
15. Keep enough supplies in stock if you do made to order items.
16. Have a crafting room or place where you do all your crafting
17. Keep craft supplies organized in boxes, bins and baskets.
18. When out get an order from Etsy when buying, keep all business cards and samples in one place.
19. Have enough business card said in stock. Keep a couple business cards in your pocket purse to give out.
20. Save articles about business you like with a tool such as Feedly or Evernote.
21. Use Google Drive or a folder on your computer to save Etsy latest documents such as spreadsheets, worksheets and documents you write.
22. Keep photos organized in folders on your computer. Favorite photos you want to list on Etsy and get rid of duplicates and bad photos.
23. Easily five photos a white background with FotoFuze.
24. Start a mailing list and if you sell wholesale, keep another list for retailers.
25. Create a media kit, press kit or line sheet.
26. Make sure your social media links and website links are accurate on all platforms.
27. Use the same logo and colors across multiple platforms.
28. Carry a notebook with you to jot down creative ideas and inspiration.
29. Have your Etsy items and updates automatically post to social media
30. Get help! Hire a virtual assistant and delegate tasks.

What are are your best Etsy tips? Let me know in the comments.

Pancakes and Booze Review

This was my first time going to the Pancakes and Booze Art Show. I went for two days. The show was late night from 8PM-2AM and was held indoors.

The show is an art show, but they also have craft vendors, photographers, bands, and DJ’s. The show features 50-150 local artisans. They also have  live painting, body painting and servings of pancakes. I love that they offered pancakes, but one downside was they did not have any vegan food options so I did not get to try their food.

Pancakes and Booze has shows all across the nation. The Chicago show was held at Reggie’s which is a nice music venue and bar. Reggie’s has three floors, a rooftop bar and a record store. I was on the second floor when I vended. There were not too many other craft vendors, but I did get to check out the other artists.

Overall, the show was a lot of fun. The turnout was pretty good and I liked the energy of the show. The cost was $100 to vend or sell art and I was able to make back the money with items I sold. My mini journals were popular at the show.

I would commend checking out Pancakes and Booze if they are in your area. 

A Beautiful Mess Happy Mail

A Beautiful Mess sent me a couple past kits of their Happy Mail subscription service. Happy Mail ships monthly with fun stationery goodies. The My comes in a cute envelope package.

The kits are mostly filled with paper items. Some items the kits contains include: 

• Cards
• Envelopes
• Postcards
• Art Prints
• Sticker Sheets

I loved opening these kits. I will definitely save the cards for the future. The stickers are great to use for planning. I am going to stick the shopping list in my purse. I love that these items are both cute and functional. Have you tried or any subscription box? 

Interview: Blankets and Knitting Tools from BeCozi

Describe what you sell in your shop and the process of giant knitting.

I sell super chunky Merino wool blanket, DIY Knitting kits, giant needles and luxury Merino wool knits. I knit all my product using my hands. It give giant, 3 inches stitches and a beautiful chunky look to all knits.

Your products are made with Merino wool. You also sell vegan alternatives to Merino wool. Can you describe what Merino wool is? Why did you decide to offer vegan products?

I am selling 100% super chunky Australian Merino wool which made from the wool of Australian Merino sheep. Merino wool is the most amazing wool in the world: it is hypoallergenic, moisture wicking and even antibacterial because the fiber is so fine that bacteria can not attac to it! It is extremely soft, not itchey at all and very gentle to touch.
I also sell super chunky vegan yarn: 100% Acrylic which looks and feels like Merino wool for those who prefers everything vegan or just wans a cheaper alternative.
Some people have such severe wool allergy that even Merino causes it, those love my super chunky vegan yarn.

How would you describe your style?

My style is in the name of my store – BeCozi. Be cozy – is my style and a motto. All my products are made to make you feel cozy and comfrotable.

Describe your studio space. Where do you work?

I work from home. I have a studio with a special custom made table for hand knitting: it is a completely unique product designed by me. Hand knitting is my personal technqiue not used by anybody before. Now you can find people on YouTube who are copying my style but a year and 3 months ago when I started – I created this unqiue style of hand knitting.
I also have a shipping room with all the wool and shipping supplies in my house.

Do you ever have creative blocks?

No. I always have so many ideas and unfortunately not enough time to make them all the reality.
What is your favorite feature on Etsy? Do you use any other websites?
Not sure what is the first part of the question about, sorry.
I do sell on my website www.becozi.net and also on Amazon and Ebay.

How do you package your products?

I package the wool in plastic white mailing envelopes and for all the other products I use special sizes boxes.
Do you use social media?
I do use social media:
http://ift.tt/2lDg1uM
facebook.com/becozi
instagram.com/becozi
http://twitter.com/becoziknits
youtube.com/c/becozi

Do you ever do craft shows or sell wholesale?

I participated in one craft show in my city – Holland, MI in May 2016 for a Tulip time festival Carft show, otherwise I do not really have time to do it. I do offer wholesale for the wool and my items – 15% off from the price on Etsy and website. It is not 50% as wholesale usually works because my retail prices are very reasonable.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Giant knitting with super chunky Merino wool or super chunky vegan yarn is a lot of fun. It is my passion and joy, I love to do it and I love to share my passion with the world! 

A Beautiful Mess App Review

I love checking out all the things A Beautiful Mess does. I have the A Beautiful Mess photo editing app on my phone and thought I would do a review on it. I edited these four photos (pictured above) on it by adding text and doodles and then collaged them together in a grid using the app.

Pros:

• Fun scrapbook style that is good for blogs or digital scrapbooking
• Good for adding text and doodles to photos
• Paid and free options for doodles and text
• Collage feature

The highlights of this app are the fun text and doodle elements you can use. It is fun to play around with. I am not sure if I would use this for professional photos, but the editing options are nice for social media and blogs. There is a paid version of doodles with craft items I would like to try out.

There is also a collage feature that has square collage options and fun shapes like triangles and hearts. I played with the collage feature for fun with some patterns I found on Pinterest:

Cons:

• Can’t change the text or doodle size
• No undo options
• No custom color option
• Lack of editing features

The things I didn’t like about this app are it doesn’t have some of the features a lot of photo editors have. You can’t adjust brightness or play with levels. It was also hard to customize options. For example, you can’t change the text or doodle size and there were also no custom colors when choosing a text color (for example, you can’t enter a HEX code). They do have filters though which are the same as their other app Party Party. I could not find an undo button when editing photos which was kind of annoying because I would have to start over when I messed up.

Overall, this app is for fun and quick editing. It is something you would add doodles to after editing or a way to make a collage out of multiple photos. In combination with other apps, this app add a bit of jazz to your photos.

Have you ever used this app? Let me know in the comments. 

Can You See the Texture?

This is the second challenge in the A Beautiful Everyday Photography online photo class. You can see my first week here. This challenge asks you to explore textures in your environment or workspace. These are some other photos I took with my phone. I took a bunch of photos outside, but for some reason they got deleted on my phone so these are just some texture photos I retook around my house. 

I decided to edit them so they are all black and white because I thought that helped show the texture in the photos better. Let me know which photo is your favorite.

Pancakes and Booze Art Show

Move the Needle will be vending at the Pancakes and Booze Art Show on February 24th-25th.

It will be held at Reggie’s in Chicago. If you are in the area, stop by and visit my booth. I will give half off any item if you mention you heard about the show from my blog.  You can RSVP on Facebook here.

Here is some more info:

• 80+ Emerging Artists Exhibiting
• Live Body Painting
• Free Pancake Bar
• 21+ EVENT
• 8PM-2AM both nights
• $5 GA (Cash at the door)
• $10 VIP skip-the-line
• Live Audio Performances

You can check out the Pancakes & Booze website here.  You can also follow them on Instagram here.

8 Instagram Tips

 

Instagram is a mobile sharing social media application. Instagram is photography based and good for uploading photos you take on your phone or with another camera. 

Instagram is one social media network that took me a while to get in to, but now I really like it. I have the accounts. My first is mythreadofthought and I use it to upload blog photos and photos from my shop. My second account annaleeheybusiness. It is more personal, but I am trying to promote my second Etsy shop on it more. 

These are some Instagram tips for your small business:

1. If you have an Etsy shop, show off studio photos  and product photos. Also, add a couple of personal photos. I like to keep a schedule of what I post each day. For example, on one day I will upload studio photos and another art journaling photos. 
2. Instagram is meant for adding photos you take with your phone. If you have photos you have taken with another camera or older photos, you can add these by saving them to your phone and uploading them. I will sometimes repost photos I have posted on Flickr on Instagram, but will add a filter to give them a different look.
3. Do not feel you only need to use the Instagram filters. You can edit photos first with apps such as A Color Story or Canva. A Color Story is good for making photos brighter and give them a colorful style. Canva allows you to add text to photos.
4. Use the maximum number of hashtags in your post. You can use up to 30. Check which hashtags are popular and find ones that relate to your photo.
5. Make your Instagram look cohesive. Think of how the photo grid looks overall and think about what photos will look good together. For example, you might use a certain filter for your all of your photos or choose to focus on a certain color. You can also try to form a bigger photo out of smaller photos which will give your grid a unique look.
6. Choose to upload a certain number of photos a day. You can upload one photo or do a group of photos. I like to upload either 3 or 6 photos at s time to make my grid look cohesive.
7. Fill in your bio. Wrote a short couple of sentences about yourself. Include a link to your website, blog or mailing list. 
8. Follow people related to your niche. Leave comments and like people's photos to gain followers. Respond to comments you get.

Do you use Instagram? 

Interview: Vegan Cheese from Three Girls Vegan Creamery

Three Girls Vegan Creamery is an organic, plant based and dairy free creamery. They make artisan cheeses from nuts and aged to perfection.

Describe what you sell in your shop.

We do not have a storefront YET! We are planning a crowdfunding effort on Indegogo in April to help us setup our very own facility. Right now we are working out of a family restaurant’s commercial kitchen in Madison, CT. It is an Italian restaurant and they began offering vegan options with our Mozzarella “di Bufala”.

You have three people who run your shop. How did you decide to work together?

The Three Girls Vegan are a mom and two daughters. We have been a team forever.

Why did you choose Etsy as a platform?

Curiosity. We have always heard great things about Etsy. To test the waters we just posted a few of our items. So far it has been fun and we have met some wonderful people!

Why did you become vegan?
We are 100% Italian and were raised on a traditional Italian diet. Once we went vegan, it was the cheese that was the hardest to give up. We began creating the recipe for the Mozzarella. We ferment and culture to make authentic cheese, but instead of using any animal products, we use the cashew as our cow. The process of creating the Mozzarella recipe took over 9 months and more attempts than we care to remember. It was so important to make a mozzarella that was perfect in a caprese salad but also melts, stretches and is ooey gooey when in a lasagna or on a pizza.

What is your favorite thing to cook?
We have veganized all of our traditional Italian dishes. We make Mozzarella en Carrozza sandwiches, eggplant rolotini with almond ricotta and grated parmesan and romano topped with mozzarella. We make fried calamari from oyster mushrooms, crabcakes from artichoke hearts, homemade gnocchi with creamy alfredo. All dairy free, animal free! This is our culinary activism. We have converted 6 family member to veganism because the food is so good!

What other vegan products or companies do you like?

We love to support as many vegan products as possible.

Do you sell wholesale or consignment in other shops or restaurants?
Yes, we sell wholesale to several Connecticut, NY and MA stores. You can see a listing on our website (http://ift.tt/2lfYYlj) store locator.

Do you do craft/food shows?
We do a local Farmers Market monthly. We are super duper excited to be a sponsor at the upcoming New England VegFest in Worcester, MA on April 30th. We will be serving our famous Mozzarella en Carrozza Sandwiches!

Do you have a blog or use social media?
Yes, we are on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and of course our website. @threegirlsvegan

What do you hope for in the future for your shop?
We are praying to raise the funds necessary to open a small shop. We will always remain small batch artisan and need our own place to grow!

Three Girls Vegan Creamery also sent me some products to try – Assorted Aged Cheese Wheels and Mozzarella “di Bufala” Pearls and Assorted Aged Cheese Wheels. I love that these products imitate traditional cheese that can be used in Italian and other dishes. I have never tried a vegan mozzarella that was not shredded or a cheese wheel that was vegan.

The Assorted Aged Cheese Wheels were cashew based. The flavors were Pistachio/Cranberry/Fresh Thyme/Pumpkin Seed, Vegan Maple Bacon/Pecan/Herb and Old Fashioned Fireball. The texture was great. I liked the Old Fashioned Fireball the best. 

The Mozzarella “di Bufala” Pearls was cashew based, fermented and cultured. It had a great texture that is the same as regular mozzarella. I really liked the mozzarella cheese and think it is something I would buy in the future. I did not think try cooking it so I do not know how well it melts, but I enjoy it would taste great in any recipe or that calls for fresh mozzarella.

I did not cook anything with these ingredients this time, but I think I will buy from in the future and try out some recipes. Let know what types of recipes. 

What I’ve Learned from Love

I did this art journaling entry a while ago about things I have learned from love and I thought I would post it for Valentine’s Day. These are some of the things I wrote.

Trust what you feel and go with your gut. It doesn’t matter what other people think. There are some times when you should listen to other people, but you should listen to your own heart and do what makes you happy. If you are in a relationship with someone your friends don’t approve of, sometimes it just makes sense to do it anyway.

Take risks. I remember reading a quote about how even if you take a risk, you will still regret it more if you don’t take a risk. Don’t be afraid of rejection.

Love yourself first. You must love yourself before someone else can love you.

Love comes when you least expect it. Love is kind of mysterious and you can’t always predict when it is going to come. Do not wait for love.

You can have more than one soulmate. Let go of the past. People have different definitions of a soulmate, but I think you can have different soulmates. Don’t hold on to past relationships. They might prevent you from something better that is coming along.

Relationships don’t usually work out so enjoy the ride. Nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. Most relationships don’t work and not everything will last. It is about the journey.

Sometimes it is the fantasy you are in love with. Movies and TV shows about love are different than the real thing. The fantasy might appeal to you more than the real person.

You are loved by someone even if you don’t see it. There are all types of love in the world. Whether it is love from a significant other, a friend, family or even an acquaintance – somebody out there cares about you.

What have you learned from love?

How to Do a Chocolate Bath Spa Treatment

How about bathing in a bath full of chocolate for Valentine’s Day? Chocolate is a common spa ingredient that softens and rejuvenate your skin.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder or dark chocolate
• 1 cup bubble bath or unscented shampoo (optional)
• 1/2 cup powdered milk or soy milk powder
• 2 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 drops peppermint or chocolate fragrance oil
• Handful of large marshmallows (optional)
• Chocolate scented candles (optional)

Instructions:

1. Mix cocoa, powdered milk, cinnamon and vanilla.

2. Run a hot bath. If you want to create bubbles, add bubble bath or unscented shampoo. You can even use dish soap.

3. Pour the powder mixture in to a hot bath. Finally add the drops of peppermint or chocolate fragrance oil and marshmallows. The marshmallows will dissolve in the bath.

4. Light some candles (this is optional, but I think it sets the mood). Chocolate scented candles are perfect, but you can’t use whatever you have. Play some romantic music if you have it. Soak for 20-25 minutes and rinse off in the shower.

5. You can also choose not to do a full bath and instead soak feet or hands in the mixture for 10 minutes. Just put hot water in a large bowl and add the mixture using the instructions above. This is perfect to do before a manicure or pedicure.

Let me know if you try this out.