My Etsy Experiences thus far (Oct 2011)

If you have seen how I organize my Etsy related files, then you’ve seen the research
I’ve done over the past 2 years. I’ve searched and saved many pages about running a
shop and about creating.

Here in the past few months I haven’t blogged much because I felt ‘burnt out’.
I hope to get back into the swing of things soon.
I have been taking more pictures of my in stock items, and I’m slowly renewing them
for the holiday season. So if there was something in my shop that you liked before
it’ll be renewed soon.

One step I did to help my photography more a streamlined process was create painted
backgrounds for each style i plan to do (7 colors, 7 styles).

Example of new backgrounds

I’m on a lot of teams but I haven’t been keeping up with them as much as I’d like to.
I have been reading the Etsy blog a couple times a week to catch up on posts.
I love the posts about sewing, like the history of patterns post.

I love searching Etsy for things I want or need and hearting them for later.
Some hearts are for later blog posts and treasuries too.

Outside of Etsy but closely related to it
I’ve been bouncing onto Craftster on occasion. And I’ve been checking in on my
DeviantArt group- EtsyDeviants on a weekly basis.

I haven’t been on twitter or facebook in quite awhile. But I have stumbled a couple
things lately.

The business Experiences
I love getting a sale! To know someone out there loves my items as much as I do is
exhilarating. I take my time making sure the address is correct and getting everything packaged up. I hope to try streamlining my shipping process to make it run smoother and faster as well.

I find as an ‘solopreneur’ I have to wear many hats. CEO, shipping department, research and development, finances and job costing, marketing, and more. It can put a lot of stress on your shoulders. But it’s also very rewarding once you sell your items.

I’m hoping this holiday season will be a great one. Each year that passes while I have my shop fills me with more pride of what I’ve accomplished.