Holiday Book Camp Week 6: Packaging

The homework this week for the Etsy Boot Camp was all about packaging. I've gathered together links, tutorials and some eye candy on the subject. These are great whether you sell your jewelry or just want some creative ideas for your holiday gift wrapping!

First, above is the gift wrapping I'm offering in my shop. It's a strip of decorative tissue paper wrapped around the box with a ribbon, simple but cute. The gift card was created using my earring cards with a little rubber stamp magic.

I'm always thrilled when beads arrive packaged creatively. I don't mind spartan packaging when I'm buying beads, but it's always a nice treat when they arrive looking like this package did from Gaea. Isn't that awesome? She used a little bead as the closure. I asked Gaea about it and you are in luck - it's from a tutorial from Beads4you.

Lorelei made these paper boxes for her open house one year. I've made these for gifts before too - they are super easy to make. You can find this free tutorial from Etsy.

Paper Box Tutorial.

I'm all over this - you can create your own faux bois (fake wood) wrapping paper. We do a woodland theme for our holiday decorating so this is one I'm going to try. You can find this tutorial here from Martha Stewart.

Handmade ornaments- tiny tree tags from Kylie Parry

I love the idea of adding an ornament to a package, like Kylie Parry's mini trees. You could also use an art bead on a gift for someone who makes jewelry. Check out the Gift Wrapping with Beads article.

With a pretty ribbon you can take a simple package and transform it into a treasure. Here are three alternatives:

Curio Doilies Paper Ribbon

Paper doily ribbon - aren't these fab. Add these to a solid color wrapping paper or a box in a pretty color to show off the design.

Hand Stamped French Words and Black Bird Muslin Fabric Ribbon

I love these stamped muslin ribbons from KawaiiGoodies. The fabric tape is another interesting gift-wrapping idea.

Oldbook Japanese Masking Tape

I'm really digging printed Japanese masking tape. These would be awesome wrapped around a box instead of a ribbon. Do a search on etsy for Japanese masking tape to see all the amazing colors and designs available.

I hope this has put you in the holiday mood! Don't forget to scroll down for our weekend specials from the ABS gang and check out the comments for sales from our readers.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday Boot Camp - Week 5

These last few weeks for the Etsy Holiday Boot Camp have been filled with juicy tips and great advice.  Here are the ones that I found most useful with a few extra links added in:

1. Catch up on the Etsy Boot Camp here.

2. Marketing:
    Quick! The Holidays Are Coming and I Have to Start Marketing Online
    3 Worksheets to define your brand and market
    Targeting Customers The Key to Marketing Your Business

    28 tips to reach your target market

3. Tags for Black Friday & Cyber Monday Weekend (11/26 - 11/29)
    1. Black Friday Etsy, 2. Cyber Monday Etsy, and 3. Free Shipping Etsy.

You can add these tags to your listings if you are going to offer a special during that weekend.  Only use the tags that are applicable, you can use more than one if it fits.  Add them now - Etsy is searching through these tags for upcoming holiday promotions, sellers are using them for treasuries and bloggers are using them to find content!

For more tips on tagging your work and current trends read the Etsy's Merchandising report for December.

4. Make your shop gift-buying friendly.  Consider creating sections based on price or other easily searchable sections such as Stocking Stuffers, Gifts for Teens, Luxury Items or Gifts under $25, Gifts under $50, etc.

Bonus tip: You can't sell from an empty cart, work on filling up your Etsy shop and keeping it full.  Earrings and pendants are the ticket for this time of year.  Create multiples of the same design and relist them.  It's easier and quicker to make 5 pairs of earrings in 4 designs than 20 different designs - you'll cut down on time photographing and writing the listings too.

(Jewerly pictured above from: Erin Praiz-Hintz, Lori Anderson, Shannon LeVart and Lorelei Eurto.)

Holiday Boot Camp Week 4 - Photography Tips

This week is all about photography.  You can not sell online without great photography.  It takes time, a little know-how and lots of practice to create great product photos.  Lucky for you Etsy has the tips you'll need in one convenient location: Etsy's Photography Guide.  These are great tips no matter where you sell you work online.

My Photography Tips:
1. Use your macro lens - the little tulip icon on your camera.

2. Use a tripod.

3. Photograph in natural indirect light, if possible.

4. Keep your backgrounds simple and non-distracting.

5. I use a piece of vellum to filter out the light and reduce dark shadows. I hold a sheet of vellum a few inches above my jewelry in the direction the light is coming through.  (It also helps bright up your photo too.)

6. Use a photo-editing program to crop your photos.

7. Take at least 10-20 pictures of each piece - you'll end up with 5 good ones!

8. Make sure to vary your perspective - above, at eye-level, move that camera around.  Work it, work it.

9. I like to have one close-up, or as I call it the "glamour shot", that would look great in a treasury. 

10. Make sure to have at least one photo that shows the entire piece of jewelry laid out for one of your 5 shots.  And bonus points if you can have the piece modelled in one of the photos.

Check out jewelry magazines and books for ways to style your photography.  I love Stringing and Bead Trends for ideas for great props and backgrounds.  Visit the Bead Trends blog and scroll through their Etsy round-up features for wonderful examples of jewelry beautifully photographed.

Personalize your photos - don't just choose a background, make sure it relates to your style of jewelry and your brand.  Use the props and backgrounds to define yourself in the market place.  Don't try to emulate another seller's style too closely - find your own signature.

Here is the Boot Camp newsletter from last week in case you missed it. 

Holiday Boot Camp Part 3

Here is last week's Etsy Holiday Boot Camp Newsletter, in case you missed it.  This week's focus is on telling your story.  No matter where you sell your jewelry having a story is part of what buyers are looking for when they purchase handmade goods. 

How to tell your story:

*What was the inspiration behind a piece of jewelry?

*Does your jewelry contain any unusual or unique components?

*Do you use a method or technique that is exciting and different?

*Is there something distinct about you that will offer a great story for your buyers?

Think about telling the story behind a piece of jewelry the next time you are listing it in your online shop.  I admit this is a skill I need to work on as I'm always more of a 'just the facts' than sharing a story kinda gal.  Read the article from the newsletter for a great example. 

The next part of the challenge is to update your profile/bio and include your story in it.  Why do you make jewelry?  Do you have an interesting philosophy about your creative mission?  Do you offer a unique perspective on how you choose your materials?  Think about your story and what makes you stand out from the crowd.  You don't need to write a novel for this, in fact keeping it short and to the point will work in your favor.  While a good story is important, being able to tell that story succinctly is equally important.  If the goal is to offer a story for buyers, make sure it's one they could share without boring someone else to tears!

The final task is picking 'labels' or 'tags' that describe your buyers, your products and your brand.  I loved doing this!  Check out Etsy's Tag-o-Rama for some great ideas for keywords.  Finding the right and 'searchable' words for your creations is a smart use of your time.

Holiday Boot Camp Part 2

Here is Etsy's Boot Camp Newsletter from last week with their handy checklist, ah the checking items off a list - what a wonderful feeling.

This week had three key components. The first was offering custom work, which I have done in the past with personalized ornaments and the Illuminated Manuscript beads pictured above. This was really fun and customers do like to have that personal touch. Be sure to read the Etsy Guide to Custom Work for a few brainstorming ideas. Even if you've never thought about offering customized work, take a look at the article - you might change your mind.

I like how Etsy is providing articles on the emotion of running a handcrafted business. We can be our own worse enemies sometimes, getting in our way of success. Take a look at their 6 Secerts for Sucess article for a little inspiration. I was drawn to "Embrace the Optimist." That is one I am working on for the week.

The next part was picking something from our to-do list and getting it done this week. Mine was creating a few new pieces of jewelry and photographing them and to send out a newsletter for October. So what's something you've been putting off for your business that you could finish for this week? Maybe it's planning a Holiday Open House and ordering the invitations. Creating new stock for an upcoming show. Maybe it's ordering new business cards or listing something new on Etsy each day for one week. Or creating a holiday promotion plan. Whatever your goal is, share it in the comments here and work to complete it before next week.

Holiday Promotion Plan
1. Will you pay for an advertising on blogs or websites? Find possible opportunities and see if they still have openings, create a budget for advertising. Look into Facebook Ads.

2. Will you host a sale or virtual open house this year? Can you group together with 3 or 4 other artists to hold an event at the same time and help promote each other?

3. Plan your newsletters for the next three months - don't have an email list - start one today.

4. Set up a schedule to blog or utilize social media on a consistent basis.

5. Connect with your previous customers - send out an email with a customer appreciation offer. It could be a 10% discount code, free shipping or a free gift.

6. Plan a promotion for Cyber Monday - the Monday after Thanksgiving - it's the busiest online shopping day of the year.

7. Create a holiday gift guide on your blog or website with items in certain price points or with categories like 'Stocking Stuffers', 'Teacher Gifts', 'Gifts under $50', etc. Here is a gift guide blog I created for the Bead Art Originals street team as an example. You could do something similar with a few different artists, like with the same ones you'd team up with a virtual open house.

Get creative, think outside the box, make a personal connection with your customers and offer something unique for a successful holiday selling season.

Holiday Boot Camp Part 1

This weekend I blogged about Etsy's Holiday Boot Camp and will be sharing some tips with you each Thursday from the series. If you have an Etsy shop and want to follow along they have a weekly newsletter with assignments, articles and a handy checklist. I like a good checklist! You can also follow along with most of these tips for selling on any online venue, adjust the tasks accordingly. (Click on the 'week' links to view that week's newsletter.)

Week 1

The first week they had us take the pledge - so important to commit to something and share it with others to stay accountable. We were to install google analytics, which I already had set up in my shop. This is a handy tool to see how many are visiting your shop and to find out where your visitors are coming from. We were also asked to write a mission statement to help guide us through the busy holiday season and some participants stated goals for the next 3 months.

Tips for writing a mission statement:

http://www.quintcareers.com/mission_statements.html

http://www.digital-women.com/how-to/howto11a.htm

Set Your Holiday Etsy Sales Goals:

http://www.handmadeology.com/set-your-holiday-etsy-sales-goal/

Week 2

Week two is a little more involved. It includes making a list of your most popular items - both sold and the ones in your shop. You can quickly see what items in your shop have the most views and hearts at Craft Cult. I downloaded my sales data for the year, here is an easy lesson on how to use the tools on Etsy to do that. I also looked up my sales from October - December from the last 3 years. It was interesting to see what sold during those times and I could see where some of my promoting paid off last year.

The next step is to brainstorm new work you'll offer this season. Now I have been working on this for a few weeks and I shared some of my sketches on Saturday and you can see them above. I also have designed a new line of jewelry and I'm bringing back some of my popular holiday ornaments.

And the final assignment for week 2 is to find a Boot Camp buddy, so if you would like to take the pledge and follow along, add a comment here if you are looking for a Boot Camp Buddy too. I think it works best if you only have one or two buddies to really help cheer you on. I also think it is better to find a buddy who is at a similar place in their etsy career so one buddy isn't the mentor while the other mentee. If you are looking for a buddy check back in the comments to see if any of our readers are too, visit their etsy shop to see if they are a good fit, if they are - send them a convo.

Have fun and make a solid plan for a successful end to 2010!