The Top 5 Social Media Tools for Your Etsy Business

So you've opened an Etsy shop, and you've taken some beautiful pictures of your products to show people what you make - now you need to get the word out!  Here are the best tools that I've found gets your word out and doesn't waste your time:

Dun dun dun... US state takeover!!!

In what is comparable to stamp collecting, and just as nerdy, I'm very interested geographically in where I've been lucky enough to sell my jewellery to!  In past times I've looked through all the US states, marking them off and trying to complete the set.  Last year I played this game, and found 5 states that Coryographies hasn't sold to.

Well, I can tell you that I'm closer to completing the set by 4! That's right, I'm now only missing Hawaii, and then at least one person in each of the US states will be sporting some fashionable Coryographies jewellery.  That's so cool!!

So... come on, Hawaii. I know you guys like to read too!!

I'm back, and open again! Reflections on 2013

Wow - and I mean wow, what a crazy Christmas.  What started off as a bit of a slow Autumn turned crazy at the end of November, where I dove straight in to full-time Coryographies, and put my PhD studies on the shelf for a whole month, as these little earrings suddenly became my most popular product:

Stack of books earrings by Coryographies

Eventually I had to close my shop just so I could concentrate on the orders at hand!  I reopened my shop on January 2nd, and things seem to be back to normal now.  It was a bit hectic and worrying at times, but luckily all the orders went out on the days they were planned.  It looks like 3 orders to the US got lost in the mail and never showed, and 1 was very late but showed up right on Christmas eve!

All in all it was the most orders I've even done during the Christmas season, this being Coryographies' third Christmas.  I also reached a milestone - I sold my 1000th item on Etsy! That calls for big cheers. But since it happened in the middle of the crazy December, I didn't have any time to celebrate!

So now, I've finally recovered, and as I say, things are back to normal.  I can start going to the library again for studying, do my Etsy admin in the morning and make jewellery when I come back in the evenings. My husband, a fellow archaeology PhD, will be leaving for a month of fieldwork starting next week so I'll be all on my lonesome!  Luckily, that means you'll probably see more posts from me as I become bored and start posting more...

I've been spending the morning looking back on 2013 (and trying to make sense of what just happened in December!), and looking at the places I was able to send my packages in 2013.  Here are the countries I was lucky enough to send to, in a rough order of most to least:

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Canada
• Australia
• France
• Germany
• Switzerland
• Sweden
• Ireland
• New Zealand
• Italy
• The Netherlands
• Finland
• Russia
• Czech Republic
• Romania
• South Korea
• Brazil
• Peru

Hooray! All that was pretty exciting - I thin the most exciting was Peru, which I had never sold to before and sent my first ever order.  I've always wanted to visit Peru after I read a book set there when I was a child, and when I was a child my family actually looked after a llama in our back yard for a couple of months.  A funny story for another time...  

Well I'm off to tabulate if I've finally reached my goal of selling to all 50 states in the US.  I know I haven't completely, as I've never sold to Hawaii.  So... if you are from hawaii and reading this... please have a look at my cute book jewellery and see if you'd like it!  Maybe I should make a unique discount for all Hawaiian customers?  What do you think, 50% off to Hawaiian addresses???

Start your own Etsy business with less than $50 (and make it all back before investing another dime!)

Or, less than £30 if you're in the UK like me (...and that's £29.18 to be exact!)

You want to set up a jewellery business, but you don't want the risk of putting lots of money into something before you start making a profit, do you!  In this 'example business', we're going to start a polymer clay jewellery business with less than 30 pounds - and you'll be making money before you invest any more money!  The money you make from the business is what you can reinvest and watch your business grow.

I've had so much fun watching my own Etsy business grow, and one of the things I'm most proud of is how I never sunk a lot of money into my business before it started making profits.

Iqaluit - another interesting place!

I've just been made very happy by getting a purchase from Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada!  I love a sale from somewhere interesting - and even though I'm from Canada, Iqaluit to me sounds exotic and wild :)  It is the capital of the Territory of Nunavut, in the north east of Canada.  It's a relatively new Territory, I sort of remember it's formation when I was a kid - when the Northwest Territories split into two.  I've always wanted to visit the Canadian north... the wild landscapes and small communities sound really attractive.

So off I go to Pinterest and Wikipedia to see what I can find out about Iqaluit and Nunavit to share with you all...

Aaaaand, we're open! Discounts!!

Coryographies' Etsy shop is back up, finally! I can't believe how much I missed it, and the crafting and networking and meeting people that comes along with it. However, in my amazing way of sceduling things, I opened my shop at the same time I've been moving house AND starting a PhD. No biggy. So I have no internet at home at the moment, and am doing everything from my phone or from uni (when I should be reading!!) which makes things a tad difficult. Also, I was due to send out the September edition of my Newsletter, but because of some hiccups it is now going to be the October version ;) I did promise everyone a 15% off exclusive discount however, for the month of October, and I haven't forgotten! Wiggle on over to my newly opened site (www.coryographies.etsy.com), and use the code 'OCTOBER15', and buy yourself or a loved one something pretty! Come on, I'm standing here with saw and glue and paintbrush at the ready!!

Unpacking and setting up shop!

I'm moved into the new flat back in Oxford now, and unpacking my beloved craft supplies! I didn't know I would miss my shop so much, and I can't wait until the grand reopening tomorrow.  There are boxes everywhere, though I've created a bit of a clear space on the bedroom floor to sort out the soon-to-be Coryographies Crafty Corner in the new place!

Does it look like a business space?
This will have to do as a business space.

I didn't know I'd miss my lovely crafty supplies so much!

Above all though, it's been sooooooo nice to sit down and just play with polymer clay!  Here's a sneak peak and what has been happening on my lap craft tray recently... some hints of Christmas!

Some Christmas and candy treats for the upcoming season!

Tomorrow is the big day, the grand unveiling... I'm ready!

Interview with Debbie from Happy Yellow Dress

Debbie is the brains and beauty behind Happy Yellow Dress, "a fusion of vintage and modern styles, spun together to make a modern classic". I interviewed Debbie to learn more about her and her gorgeous dress designs:

Cory: How did you begin designing and making clothing, and how did that turn into a business?

Debbie: My cute Mommy taught me everything I know. I grew up in a family with ten kids, so most of my clothes were hand me downs from my big brother, or made with love by my mama. I was also a really tall and gangly kid, so I sewed for myself out of necessity. 

As I got older, the styles of clothing that I loved, (1920's to 1960's style fashions), were hard to find outside of vintage shops, and again, the body type thing got in the way, so I became more creative with my designs. People seemed to like what I was doing, so there was definitely a market there, and thus Happy Yellow Dress was born.

Cory: Where do you get your inspiration for your designs?

Debbie: When I was young, my favourite pastime was watching old movies from the 40's and 50's with my Dad, and I was always obsessed with how beautiful the leading ladies were, and how pretty their dresses always were. Definitely get inspiration from the classics. Grace Kelly in Rear Window, by Alfred Hitchcock is one o' my faves.

Cory: Where do you do your work? What is your workspace like?

Debbie: I work from home. I'd say my work space is pretty clean-ish, considering how small the space is... my bedroom quadruples as warehouse, office, and studio. definitely spills into other areas of the suite tho... Thank God for an understanding roommate!

Cory: Please tell us a little more about Happy Yellow Dress.

Debbie: Happy yellow Dress is a line of women's clothing, mainly dresses, inspired by classic vintage, and made in beautiful Vancouver British Columbia. All of my dresses are named after old rock and roll songs from the 50's and 60's. Our tagline is "Boys will whistle!", and believe me, they do ;)

Cory: And finally, if your dresses were a food, what would they taste like?

Debbie: If my dresses were a food, they'd be banana cream pie!! Didn't even have to think about that one!!!!!

Cory: Mmmmm, banana cream pie...

How to price your handmade items - an often forgotten bit!

One of the most common questions that come up on craft forums and discussions from new crafters is, "How do I decide how much to charge for the things that I make?".  A lot of simple formulas exist for how to find the appropriate price to ask from customers who buy your items, like this one from Etsy.

Personally though, I think many of the formulas leave out an important part of the equation, and an obvious one: the market.

Common things to take note of when pricing items are:
1. Cost of materials
2. Time it takes to produce (i.e. give yourself a wage
3. Other expenses: the money you spend on advertising, packaging, and fees etc.

Looking at these things, you are told that you can find an appropriate price to set for your items.  However, none of these articles I've read on the subject brings up the subject of what other similar items are *successfully* being sold for - and I stress successfully!

It's always good to research what others are charging, and other ways they are organizing their business, to be aware of competition and also expectations the customer may have of your items.  And if this market is flooded with items much cheaper or more expensive than these formulas would set a price at, it is not going to help you much.

I've seen a lot of discussion by self-employed crafters on craft discussion forums mostly, upset about how other people underprice their handmade items and how this means that their much more expensive items don't get any sales.  They feel it's the fault of the cheaper sellers - but is that fair?  I mean, a market already exists and your items are just a small part of that.  If you want them to be involved, its your items that must be acceptable in that market, you can't just say that the market is what is wrong.  The rhetoric often carries with it how a self employed crafter deserves to live off of their craft, and people must pay enough for their lovely pieces of work so that they can have a viable business.  While this is desirable, it's in no way a guarantee, nor should anyone expect it to be!

So I want to add something very important to the formula on how to price you items - a comparison to what others are charging for a similar item.  If there is no one selling a similar item, that is GREAT because it means you can try to set that price yourself.  If they are, add up how much time and materials etc. go in to your item, add a profit margin you would see as comfortable, and then adjust the price so that it fits well within the existing market.

Otherwise, those sales just won't come...

It always comes in waves!

Wahhhh, when Coryographies business is quiet, it's really quiet, and when it's busy it's REALLY busy!

Yesterday Etsy posted one of my bookshelf necklaces on Facebook page, along with a tweet, and my page views shot up by 1200 in an hour!  Along with that came quite a few sales, and since I was coincidentally already knee deep in finishing a wholesale order and a few others, busier than usual for April, I'm now officially BUSY!  It's after midnight at the moment, and I need to get some sleep for the 9-5 tomorrow, followed by lots of painting and varnishing in the evening.

It's nice to be busy though.  And I love spending the evenings frantically trying to meet all my order deadlines!  It makes me appreciate that Coryographies is a nice little success :)

Lots of earrings ready for packaging!

South Dakota - Another US State on my list gets a Coryographies package!

Spearfish Falls, South Dakota

In my neurotic attempt to keep track of where in the world I've sent my jewellery to, you may remember an earlier post this year where I'd created a map of US states and filled in all the states I've sent my jewellery to.

It turned out that in the 1.5 years Coryographies has been up and running, I'd sent to 45 of 50 states!  How much Coryographies love is that!?  The missing states that I was after were then Hawaii, West Virginia, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.  Ones that I might personally have to visit wearing a sandwich board advertising my jewellery.

So since I don't have the money to fly to America and do what would probably be a very fun targeted road trip, I was very happy to receive an order from South Dakota near Coryographies' two year anniversary!

Hooray!

So I therefore name South Dakota my current favourite US state, because this week it has made me happy.

The Badlands in South Dakota

But I know nothing about South Dakota!  Do you?  This is what my preliminary research has found out:

South Dakota is in the mid North of the US.  It has stunning natural beauty (just look through the photos on Pinterest!).  Its name comes from the Lakota and Dakota native tribes (whose names I remember from linguistics classes, when we looked at the Lakota language a few times!).

The capital city is called Pierre, but the biggest city is Sioux Falls.  It has a gold rush history, much like where I'm from in Canada.  The town of Deadwood is also in South Dakota, which the HBO series of the same name took place in, adapted from a book starring Wild Bill Hockok, Calamity Jane and others!  A real wild west state with lots of history.  Mount Rushmore is even in South Dakota, I didn't know that!

So there you have it.  The education that Coryographies brings to you and me.  Which state will be next to make me very happy for a week?  Come on Hawaii!!

Mt Rushmore in South Dakota

Happy Two Year Anniversary to Coryographies! 15% off discount to celebrate!

Happy anniversary, Coryographies!

Coryographies celebrates it's 2 year anniversary tomorrow!  I began selling my little Fimo creations on April 20th, 2011.  I had no idea that two years later I would still be playing with 'playdoh for grown-ups', and even supporting myself and having a small business that allowed me to be brave enough to start a PhD in the Fall and survive with its proceeds.
 
Coryographies has to date made over 800 sales to over 20 countries, and 46 US states!  Coryographies items are sold in the wonderful In With The Old in Islington, London, and will be appearing soon at an exhibition in Oxford.  I'm very proud and happy of what it has become.

So to celebrate with you, I'm offering 15% everything in my Etsy shop this Friday Saturday and Sunday only, to celebrate Coryographies turning Two!  Type in the coupon code 'YayTwo' at point of purchase and make me work hard sawing and sanding and painting and varnishing all next week in celebration and enjoyment of making my Coryographies jewellery! :)

My Craft Apron

I love my craft Apron... I bought it at a craft fair with my crafty earnings a few months ago, and whenever I wear it it puts me in the crafty zone!


It's sweet and polkadotted, has big pockets, and gives me something else to wipe my varnish-y and paint-y hands on so I don't keep ruining my trousers.


Plus, and I know it sounds strange, but it's actually quite warm... it's just a nice thick cotton material, but in my chilly house in chilly England during this chilly winter (yes it's still winter in England, it's been lasting FOREVER), layers are a must.


And it's a bonus if those layers are cute polkadots that make you feel creative and artsy.

March updates and February roundup

Hey girl, Cory's a bit busy at the moment,
but she'll get that next giveaway up and
running real soon...

In my dialect (the Cory dialect, not the Canadian dialect) a couple of days may mean over a week.  But I will have my next giveaway up and running soon!

So what has happened, right, is I went and got another temporary job.  March - July tend to be pretty dry in the sales.  And by 'tend to' I mean that's the way it was last year!  This is only year 2 of Coryographies after all...

So I got another temporary job to supplement the ol' income while no one buys bookshelf necklaces over the Spring/Summer.  I'm also saving up for that possible PhD that I applied for, and am awaiting new on that - but until then I need to be busy at both jobs.  Which means I'm a bit less bloggy again.

But I'll keep trying!  There's a new necklace to unveil after all, that is sitting on my kitchen table as wel speak... just need to take a few pics and upload them so I can organise the giveaway too.


Also, I haven't done my February round up of books on my supposed goal of reading 150 books in 2013.  I'll be honest here, there's no way I'll make this goal.  But hey, reach for the stars and land on the moon, it's all good.  Here's what I can add for February's reading though:

-The Origins of Grammar: Evidence from Early Language Comprehension by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff


-The Seamstress by Maria Duenas

Doesn't sound like much?  It's not.  But I have read a bunch of papers which I can add to the list which I told myself I can make count...


In other news, my husband has just informed me that there is a place in England called "Bapchild".  Nice.

Working from home - tips on how to make it work

The Shortcuts Blog on the Guardian Newspaper website just published an article about tips on working from home on Tuesday.  This was partly in response to a new Yahoo CEO recently banning staff from working from home in an effort to keep productivity from slipping away (possibly in its pyjamas).  Which I think is a bit of a shame...

My Scrabble score is getting better every day...

The article outlines 5 golden rules to make working from home work for you, since there are a myriad of advantages - childcare, spending more time with family instead of traffic gridlock, and the expense (and stress) of commuting.

As someone who did the Reading-London commute for 2 years, and even and Oxford-London commute for three months last year, working from home eradicates a major source of stress from my life.  I used to leave the office in a great mood - but arrive home grumpy, hungry, and exhausted, dirty from London trains and probably having picked up a bug or two by being stuffed in with millions of other stinky angry office workers.  When I started commuting I noticed I got sick A LOT in the first year, picking up every sniffle and flu bug around.

But since last January (2012), give or take a few temporary positions here and there, I have been full time working from home, self employed with Coryographies and loving it.  There are drawbacks though - I quickly become sluggish and unproductive if I haven't been out of the house or haven't woken up at a reasonable hour.  It's easy to sit and play scrabble all morning and drink tea curled up with a blanket because it's cold.

I know not everyone's situation working from home is like this - they may be a part of a team in a busy office, and be expected to take phone calls/Skype chats from 8:00 in the morning and will have therefore brushed their hair and actually gotten dressed, not even checking their Facebook until 5.

I know I could be more productive working from home, and the article pointed out some good tips for doing so.  The first recommendation though, is something I can't really achieve from home - Make a Sacred Space.  I live in a tiny flat, where my jewellery supplies are stored underneath a chair covered in a throw in the living room.  I sit on this chair, and that is my office.  I don't have a desk unless I use the kitchen table, which is where I do my crafts, but I'm often actually found on the floor with my computer in my lap, back up against the radiator because it's warm.  My husband is a student and has his desk in here too - it's not much of a 'scared space' as much as it is 'the only space'.

Back to work in just a minute, I just
have to finish this level!

Another recommendation is to Go on a Digital Diet.  Don't go on the internet too much.  Now this sounds great, but my work consists of 30% making, 70% marketing/blogging/photo editing/social media-ing.  I'm constantly online as part of my job, and so it's hard to stop yourself from JUST spending 5 minutes on Pinterest and not an hour.  When does it stop being 'promotion' and start becoming time-wasting?

I agree with the recommendations made in the article though, and wish I could implement more of them.  I really should schedule my time better, and I really should have an amazing soundproof light flooded well stocked gorgeous craft room.  But baby steps...

Coincidentally, I'm starting another temporary office position tomorrow, since February marks the start of the slow portion of the year for jewellery sales.  Maybe a 9-5 will make me more productive and on schedule, so that I can return to working full time from home in the future and be refreshed and ready to follow these golden rules!

New Logo... But No Squirrel!

I've sat down and worked out a bit of branding.  I've made a new logo for my Etsy shop as well as my blog here, and tweaked the colours.  My next task is to make a 100x100 banner and see if anyone wants to trade advertising space on their blog ;)

When I originally sat down to make a logo I wanted to have a cute little graphic and I came up with this squirell I scribbled out by looking at a photo:

I like squirrels...

I want to have a squirrel as a logo but squirrels have nothing to do with bookshelf necklaces or crafting.  So I'm not sure how I could achieve this.  Unless the squirrel is at a bookshelf.  That could work... I will have to mull this over.  If anyone has any logo suggestions I welcome them :)  Especially if they include my squirrel.

Unique, Cheapest or Best: My 3 rules for success on Etsy

I've chatted to a lot of interesting and creative people about starting up a site on Etsy to sell crafts, and what the secret ingredient it is to making sales... it's unfortunately all too easy to have lovely items but still not make any sales, since there's just so much competition out there. 

From the conversations I've had and the people I've met and tips I've picked up in my own experience, I've developed a rule of three (since in our culture we just love threes, dont we...!).  A sucessful item on Etsy (or any other online selling site really) needs to fit into one of the three categories to make good sales.  It needs to be either:

1. Unique

2. The Cheapest

3. The Best

I've always prided my bookshelf necklaces as falling into the first category (and therefore, also the third haha).  But since I've stumbled across another bookshelf necklace seller (*sob* see previous post), I'm afraid I'm just going to have to hold on to 3 very tightly!

How am I going to do this?  I need better photos, more communication with everyone through social media, and I need to roll out my new bookshelf necklaces (I have some really cute themed ideas cooking!).  I also need to bring this blog a bit more up to snuff, and get back into giving YOU lovely readers free swag.  Ugh, I just used the word swag.

But I'm committed to being number three.  I will stay number three!!!

It had to happen sooner or later...

I do my research from time to time, tentatively searching Google and Twitter for mentions of 'bookshelf necklaces', hoping that I only find links so mine (since for the last year and a half, that's all that existed!)

A couple days ago though, during a routine Etsy search, I came across something that looked very familiar:

Nope, that's not one of mine!  The second ever bookshelf necklace seller has appeared :(

Now I can't REALLY be all that sad or angry - I mean I can't have a copyright on a necklace that looks like an every day object (and even if I can I think it's a bit unfair...).  And it's a free world, right?  

They look remarkably like mine - three shelves (with an optional tall model), glued to a silver flat pad bail and strung from an 18" (or 19 in his case... I should switch to 20!) chain.  Even the photo shots, like above, seem remarkably like how I model my necklaces.  I think I've been copied the source of some inspiration.

There are some differences - these necklaces are made out of recycled leather, and have gold embossing on lots of the parts (which makes me wonder how durable it is?).  They're also conveniently priced just a few dollars less than mine are.  But I like mine better, I stand by their quality and their crafty creativeness, and... I do get defensive when I take a look at this site!

I don't know if this will mean big competition for my little bookshelves, as so far they haven't sold all that many, and it seems they've only been doing so for about a month.  But, they are located in the USA - and since most of my customers are in the US, it might be tempting to buy one of his instead of mine and wait for the longer shipping times, eep...!

But again, I'm telling myself not to worry.  Good luck to them as an Etsy seller, maybe we can form a bookshelf necklace makers guild or something.  There's plenty of people in the world that love reading and books and bookshelves.

...but if I see them featured on bookshelf porn I'll be green with jealousy!!!

A New Saw!

The other day I bought a new saw for making bookshelf necklaces!  I thought I'd go and get something nice and professional, maybe spend quite a bit on something that looks beastly and serious - but what actually happened is I found exactly what it was looking for in the simplest of designs that only cost £2!

It turns out it works like a dream and cuts way nicer than my previous saw - it has a really thin sharp blade and is much more 'ergonomic'!  My hand was actually going numb from sawing with the other one, so this one should increase my productivity AND not give me carpal tunnel!  WOOHOO!

Note the Tim Horton's mug in the corner of the photo... Canadian at work!

Marketing - Facebook ads

I've tried my hand at making a Facebook ad for Coryographies to see if that pulls in some fans that would love to get their hands on a bookshelf necklace.  So far this week my sales have been pretty normal, maybe a bit higher, but that could just be that Christmas is getting closer.  My shop views compared to listing views have definitly gone up though.   A new marketing thing to try out though, as I head into my second Christmas season with my beloved bookshelf necklaces!

Meanwhile I'll just sit here at the kitchen table sawing...