I didn't fully realize what having the Etsy store might entail until it was happening, and there is a balance I need to find with promoting my work and networking, and making sure I spend that creative energy making my art.
I thought I had done a lot of research, but I wasn't aware you could join some of the Etsy information teams prior to setting up your store on your own. Now I know, that those groups are available to anyone interested in an Etsy store (launched or not) and they are full of really invaluable information from veteran sellers.
One thing I learned is the importance of having 50-100 items in your store regularly. Due to the high volume of hits the site gets in searches and visitors, your inventory and creations can get easily lost without a strong foundation of goods. I launched with 20 items, which I thought was a lot for just starting, but it truly was not enough.
I had developed a business plan but I need to re-adjust that now and my expectations and timeline. For myself, I want this store to be the seed planted for future harvesting, so I am not going to get super stressed out about how things *have* to be right now. Everything is an opportunity to learn and grow, including mistakes in starting out on your own!
My longterm goals are to have an established identity and place online with my sculpture work and to begin to attend some craft fairs for exposure. I definitely see this all being a 5yr plan to reach full blossom, and that is a great girth of room to fill in!
I thought I had done a lot of research, but I wasn't aware you could join some of the Etsy information teams prior to setting up your store on your own. Now I know, that those groups are available to anyone interested in an Etsy store (launched or not) and they are full of really invaluable information from veteran sellers.
One thing I learned is the importance of having 50-100 items in your store regularly. Due to the high volume of hits the site gets in searches and visitors, your inventory and creations can get easily lost without a strong foundation of goods. I launched with 20 items, which I thought was a lot for just starting, but it truly was not enough.
I had developed a business plan but I need to re-adjust that now and my expectations and timeline. For myself, I want this store to be the seed planted for future harvesting, so I am not going to get super stressed out about how things *have* to be right now. Everything is an opportunity to learn and grow, including mistakes in starting out on your own!
My longterm goals are to have an established identity and place online with my sculpture work and to begin to attend some craft fairs for exposure. I definitely see this all being a 5yr plan to reach full blossom, and that is a great girth of room to fill in!
For now I really love my bunny yeti and want to share it !! I think its turned out better than I had hoped, it makes me laugh every time I see how cute and silly it is. The ears I created with wool using a needle felting technique:
Cheers
HMB
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