Recently I've started to feel... not dissappointed exactly, but... blah... about my etsy shop. I've out a lot of time, effort, and money into making the cards and getting the proper materials together, and while it's pretty great recieving the compliments I've gotten from people about my cards and photos, I've also only made 2 sales to non-immediate-family members. I've tried to get the word out about my little shop, but I just don't seem to have the time to truly get my name out there. Especially as we look at our own finances and are deciding to tighten our belts a bit in hopes of saving enough for a house down payment in a few years, I also don't want to continue putting time and money into something that doesn't pay back at least a little. So I'd kinda decided to let it sit for a while, posting a link occasionaly to try to draw people to it but not bother creating new items or investing in advertising.
Then today I made another sale. To a non-family member. Not only that, they bought the print I'd put up as a test to see if anyone would be interested in buying my photography for its own sake. It's pretty darn exciting. Unfortunately in my newbie-ness I posted a 3:4 photo (which would end up as an 8x12 proportions-wise) to sell as an 8x10 print. So I think I'll crop it and send them that version by email to approve before printing. BUT to get back to the point, this re-inspires me, and makes me think about listing more prints for sale. And perhaps after the holidays I will still make that swiss village card set I've been thinking of making. Meanwhile I'm wrapping a lot of my already-printed cards to give as stocking stuffers, hoping that getting them out in circulation will get them a bit of attention.
BTW I am still holding my holiday sale: Buy any 3 single cards and get a fourth card for free! The sale ends Thursday, as we will be flying to Texas on friday and won't be back till after New Year's. So if you want to take advantage, do so soon! ; )
Marketing a site does take a lot of work, nearly a full time day, each and every day...
ReplyDeleteBut your work is great, and keep at it! It does take a while for the word to get around and in time, it could pay off.
Hang in there - You are doing awesome!!!! By the way, I finally posted some items for sale myself, because of inspiration from you!
http://expatraveler.imagekind.com/
Don't give up yet! You have enough readership and such great photos that word will spread. Business is best grown slowly. Be a crockpot in a microwave world. Rah Rah Rah!
ReplyDeleteHow's that for a pep talk! :)
You should post more prints on Etsy. I wasn't too keen on the Imagekind site; their prices are a little steep and their print sizes are weird, so that you have to choose their framing options or pay extra for custom framing elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you should post prints with words on them (like the Hudsons card).
(I've been meaning to leave this comment for a while. Sorry it's kind of late.)