CAN CHARLIE STEAMPUNK???
CAN CHARLIE STEAMPUNK? I LOVE CHARLIE CHAPLIN! This is my version of STEAMPUNK
mixed in with some old silent movie fun. This is made of mostly vintage materials and is available for sale in my Pinkflamingo61 store.
Customer Service
Treat your customer like Royalty! Customer service is the number one most important part of my business. If I make my customer unhappy, I don't make sales, even if I have great product in the store.
Here's another list of ways to make your online store more successful. Earlier this week I started this series with a post titled: HOW TO SELL ON ETSY: http://pinkflamingo61.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-sell-on-etsy.html
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
1. OBVIOUS! Always be friendly.
2. Be sincere. Don't lie or build something up to make it seem like more than it is. You'll always get caught and how embarrassing that would be.
3. Be prompt.
a. Answer questions promptly. If you don't know the answer, send a convo acknowledging the question , let them know you will search an answer and get back to them. THEN GET BACK TO THEM. By making the reply, they know you received the question and will give you time to find the answer. Doing the research will also let your customer feel valued and reinforce your bond- you may even learn something new along the way!
b. Mail promptly, people want instant gratification; get that package in the mail ASAP! The package shows up fast, excited customer, excited customers leave great feedback and shop with you again.
4. Get to know your customers. People want to be part of the group, remember 4th grade recess! Know their names, what their interests are, if they shopped with you before. Being remembered lets them see you valued them as a person. The whole point of shopping with an independent artist is to be personal. If they just want to line up and be a number they can go to Walmart or Target.
5. Do some homework. When a customer comes to your shop learn something about them. This is where you get a chance to make a connection with them. Visit their shop. Look at their profile. Read it. Look at their feedback. What have they bought in the past? This tells you about their interests. Go to their favorites and see what they like. Now you have a better understanding of the person, a place to spring from. Think like the perfect hostess at a party. She introduces two people with a little blurb, example: John, this is Mary; she's an artist and lives in Philadelphia. Now John has a conversational starting place with Mary and not just Hi, how's the weather.
6. At the time of purchase, send a quick convo or email if you have access to it, letting the buyer know you received their order and will get it out to them. Thank them for the order. Besides being polite, you are once again putting your name in front of them, setting it more firmly into their memory.
More lists will be added this week. Stay tuned! http://www.pinksupply.etsy.com
I'm in love with dragonflies!
I've been making art and jewelry for years. Looking back over pictures I have noticed themes weaving through my work that I'm not even conscious of. My newest trend over the last year seems to be an obsession with dragonflies. I didn't notice how many I made and sold until I went through my pictures today. They are beautiful. Now that I know I seem to obsess on one thing and then move on will I still do it? When you know something is happening it isn't spontaneous, will it still be the same?
cat's in the supplies
This is my daughter's cat. When she lived with me for a short time she was always hiding in my sewing room. You could never find her. Trying to knit was impossible, she'd sneak beneath my chair and cut the yarn with her kitten teeth. I get much more done without her living with me...she was cute though.
Visual Stimulation
Some objects that get my brain in Create Mode. I am a visual person, I need things in front of me to stimulate my brain.
CREATIVE BLOCK!
CREATIVE BLOCK! I've made so many things where is the next original idea going to come from? Maybe go sit on the couch and take a nap or read a book. Not a good idea unless you don't really care. The best place for me to get creative again is to clean my art areas. Amazing things I have forgotten, unearthed from beneath a pile of magazines, a new product I bought and put in a closet, out of site, out of...
By the time the room is about one third clean I have so many ideas running I can't wait to sit at my bench and work. THIS IS WHY MY ART ROOM WILL NEVER BE NEAT! It never takes long to get the brain spinning. This is my excuse to do art and not clean and I'm sticking with it!
How to sell on ETSY
It's hard to get noticed online with the amount of products for sale. My stores have been online for two years, supporting me as a full time job. Etsy is my main site of choice, with three stores open.
The Storque section is full of useful information on the how-tos of selling successfully. Too many people are opening stores without doing the homework of selling. I have spent literally hundreds of hours reading everything I can about selling and marketing. Look at other successful sites to see what makes them unique and standout. It is probably the most important part of my success.
Every week I get emails asking why I'm getting sales and they have none. The hours I've logged into the details of my business are equal to and sometimes more than the hours I spend creating. There is so much information out there, you just need to commit to the time to read it and use it.
The Storque on Etsy has a new handbook up with a condensed list of things to do. My shop is listed in the treasury of related items that follows the article. Here's the link: http://www.etsy.com//storque/how-to/the-etsy-seller-handbook-all-our-how-tos-about-selling-2383/
Anyone opening a store or already has a store should take a moment to read the short article. There are so many things you can do to increase your sales. Here's a short list of some things I've done that have helped mine.
1. I list or re-list an item in all of my stores EVERYDAY. This keeps your product out in front for people to see.
2. Try to re-list something that is a real eye grabber. It may not be the thing someone will buy, but it's the bait to draw them into your store. Once they're in they may buy something else.
3. You need lots of traffic to sell one thing. Probably twenty people stop at one of my stores before someone buys something so I have to keep a steady stream of people coming.
4. This is obvious, take great pictures.
5. Go to stores in the top etsy sellers list and study what makes their store stand out.
a. what brought you to their store?
b. how do they tag their items?
c. what is in the first picture of each item? how is it cropped, how was it staged for the photo?
d. how often do they list or relist?
e. how do they draw you into their site, making you want to go on to the next page?
6. start a blog, a facebook, myspace,twitter, flicker page. You'd be surprised how many people show up from these sites.
7. join an online social group with people of the same interest as you.
8. Link to your store from everywhere online that you can.
9. Be social. If you had a brick and mortar store you'd become friendly with your customers, the same goes with online.
10. Always promptly answer questions. So many people leave convo questions that go ignored by the store owner. There are plenty of other sellers out there willing to talk to them if you don't.
11. Keep your store neat. If you have some old listings that don't fit in with the new ones, edit them with new pictures, better wording and tags. Keep items in the correct sections to make shopping easier.
12. Obvious but needs to be said: be polite! Read everything you write before sending it. Your facial expression or voice intonation is not being sent, make sure your words do not come off with the wrong tone when read by a buyer.
These are just a few of my tips for a better store. I'm going to be working on store sales in future blog posts so stop back. If you have any you would like to add to my list please leave a comment.
Searching for Art Supplies
I got a convo from a fellow Etsian and here is a quote from the message:
A fixative, with touline, exploded in my art room. What a nightmare! I lost 70 %+ of my supplies, shelving, a bowl my Grandfather had made, all creations finished and ready to be examined for perfection, all special orders, all creations in progress, all my paints, glues, brushes, found objects metals, min things, miniatures, beads, etc. That stuff ate through metal, plastic, and wood. I grabbed the glues and other spray cans as fast as I could (they were punctured) before they explode or leak.
My first message is to be careful of what you store in your home!! Toxic and homes don't go together. Learn what is safe to store in your house!!
I think one of the saddest things for a creative person is to be without supplies. Can you imagine? It would be a nightmare for me! I even take my supplies on vacation and have a bag ready to leave my house at all times so I can grab it on the run. Now imagine no glue sticks or a paint brush!! YIKES!!
Yesterday I went to the post office and got one of those "all you can fit in a box for one price" boxes and filled it with a mixture of supplies. Pencils, erasers, sculpey, sewing needles, fabric, trim, beads, wire, all kinds of things. I kept thinking what would I want to at least start, then began collecting. I'm lucky, I've been collecting and teaching for years so I have lots of supplies.
If you are lucky too and have anything you could spare and want to share please let me know and I can give you her address to mail something to her. Even a single paint brush would brighten her day. She can't make a claim on her insurance because the deductible is too high. Cleaning and repair is going to take all of her available cash. This would be such a nice thing if people could just send her a little package. I've been talking to her on ETSY for a while now and she is a really nice person. If you want to know what her store is I'll send you a link. If you want her address I can send that.
Karma: the effects of all deeds are viewed as actively shaping past, present, and future experiences. This is a great way to do a good deed. You feel good, she feels good!
x0x0 PINK
CHA Trade Show in Los Angeles
GHOST STEAMPUNK
GHOST
STEAMPUNK NECKLACE
I just love old junk brought back to life into fun and interesting jewelry. Diamonds take no imagination!!
Sterling silver ball chain with pendant.
A skeleton key with the word GHOST under resin in the loop and a silver bail connected to the back. A vintage ladies watch case with a moon face, smile and a floral stamping are soldered to the key. Below the case is a great old washer with lots of worn patina. In the middle is a vintage watch crystal label collaged in place. Words from a dictionary are collaged to the key in a band between the case and the washer.
With the skeleton key, the white face and the ghost under resin I just thought this had to be a fun steampunk necklace! Grungy and fun! You can't wear diamonds all the time!
Measures: 18 inch sterling silver ball chain
4 x 1 inch pendant with bail
Saint Therese of Liseaux STEAMPUNK SAINT
THERE IS A SAINT OF STEAMPUNK!!!
I found this picture of a child saint in a magazine, she has such a sweet little face, she needed to be saved and made into something...she's been fixed to a scrabble tile with an old gear attached over her head like a modern steampunk halo. Pieces of an old pocket watch behind her and a large token for the base. A large bale on top with a generous hole so you can leave it on the included ball chain or slip it off and add it to one of your other chains. Nice old patina to the whole piece gives it a nice vintage feel.
The parents of Saint Therese, the Steampunk Saint, were Louis Martin, a watchmaker of Alencon, France, son of an army officer, and Azelie-Marie Guerin, a lacemaker of the same town. Azelie-Marie Guerin, a lacemaker of the same town.
A very nice Etsy woman contacted me and told me the background of this saint so I'm going to share her message: "You might want to mention that this is Saint Therese of Liseaux; she's very popular. And her father was a watchmaker- so the steampunk is very appropriate. :)" This is what I love about ETSY, the community here is so nice, helpful and supportive of other artists!! Thank you!!
FROZEN CHARLOTTES ARE TAKING OVER MY HOME
FROZEN CHARLOTTES!! I love them, can't get enough of them. There, I've admitted it. They are just so darn cute! I have boxes of them. Last year I started selling them. Here's the link: http://www.pinksupply.etsy.com
Now, here's the problem. I'm in love with each and every one of them and don't want to part with a one~! I want to keep them all. I have boxes of them. They are sitting on the shelf with the spices over my sink, peeking out of cabinets, lined up between fabric in the sewing room, looking at me when I open a drawer, wearing little paper hats on my work table. I've been collecting them for years. They're not all out on display, that would really make me look mad!! I do switch them when I'm dusting. Every time I sell one I feel a little sad that she's leaving the others. Whew! That's really sick!! I sold my favorite two this year and still wish I never listed them. They had to go when I realized it's not "normal" having so many. What if when I die someone comes upon my stash hidden throughout the house? How will I be remembered? That crazy woman up on Fifth Street with all those weird little china dolls? But...there I am at another auction, my hand goes up when I see a box of them. Or, I'm strolling the street on a Saturday morning garage sale circuit and there they are stuck in a pile of junk under a table calling out to me to save them. YIKES!!!! I think I need a doll intervention.
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