One day while searching the internet in boredom, I discovered a website called Etsy. There, sellers of handmade crafts found a place to market their creations, and buyers had a place to find unique items online. I read as much as I could about selling on Etsy and was very encouraged. My only real complaint to this date is that so few people seem to know about this site! It is like going to a craft fair or art show, only thousands of times larger. There is even a feature called Alchemy, where people can describe exactly what they are looking for and sellers can make bids to create the perfect item for that person. I knew this was the perfect place for me.
For awhile, I did what I usually do when faced with making a big decision. I went back and forth about it. I researched what I would sell, costs, prices, and anything else I could think of. Finally, the baby was napping one afternoon and I went for it. I'm not entirely sure what made me decide to do it. I snapped one hasty photo of the name sign I had made for my son nearly a year earlier and posted that as my first listing. A name sign just like his, but custom made with whatever name my future customer wanted.
After I posted that first listing, I did even more research. This time on subjects like ways to improve your shop and listings, or ways to drive customers to your shop. I refined my listing. I took better photos and posted the maximum allowed per item (5). I improved my tags so it would show up higher on the list of more searches. And then I waited.
I started telling family about my step toward running a business immediately. My mom was especially excited, and proceeded to tell anyone who would listen to her. My very first sale was to a woman she works with. She described something she had been looking for to hang in her granddaughters' bedroom. She wanted to have several wood cutouts similar to the ones I used in my name sign, but in shades of pinks and mauve. I made what she asked for, and added some ribbon and bows to make it a little more exciting. This is what I ended up with.
Before I gave it to her, I decided it needed something more. I added a bow that matched the one at the top to each end to hide the plain ends and dress it up a bit. When I delivered it, she and her granddaughters loved it! It felt great to have my first satisfied customer!
While I was waiting and creating my first custom item, I started working on samples with other themes to add more products to my shop. The first was another sign for my son, this time with a space theme. When I was finished, my husband and I liked it so much, we decided to hang it on our son's door instead of the first one I made. We moved the animal sign to the wall in his room instead.
Then I got to work on a sign for my sister. I decided on butterflies and dragonflies for hers. Only a few hours after I posted that listing to my shop, I got my first order! It was for the animal themed sign for a little boy named Jesse. My first Etsy customer seemed so excited! She decided she wanted a few different animals from what I had shown on my sample, so I made it with a lion and monkey in place of the elephant and turtle. Here is how it turned out!
I decided to add a zebra print ribbon to hang it from as a special thanks for being my first online customer. I haven't gotten any feedback yet, but I hope she loved it!
Next I wanted to do a princess themed sign for my friend's little girl, who was about to turn two. They had recently moved back home from out of state and were staying with her parents, but I knew her bedroom had been decorated with everything princess. When I asked my friend, though, she said they were planning on a Tinker Bell room once they found a new place of their own. She told me she would love a princess sign anyway, but I had a spark of inspiration.
I went to my local craft supply store and got some Tinker Bell stickers, Tinker Bell ribbon (I was so excited when I found that ribbon!), and light pink paper. I decoupaged the paper onto a wood plaque and added the stickers before I put several more coats of decoupage glue on top. I painted curly wooden letters spelling her name in a lime green like Tink's dress and added those to the sign. Finally I added a bow made from the Tinker Bell ribbon to hang it by, and it was finished!
I now had four different items listed on my site. It was time to try to bring in more customers and increase the views on my products! I created a page on Facebook and asked my friends to join and spread the word. I also heard that Twitter was a good place to promote, so I signed up there too. I discovered that although I like Facebook much better, Twitter seemed to drive traffic better and help me increase views. I posted a link to an item through Twitter, and even though I only had a very small number of followers, the views on that item shot up immediately!
My mom called shortly after that and told me another lady from work wanted a sign for her granddaughter, Ava. She wanted it to be a ladybug theme. I loved that idea and got to work as soon as I could. It isn't quite finished yet, but here are the letters.
Next I got another request from the first lady from my mom's office. She wanted two signs like the TinkerBell one, but with white backgrounds and pink, mauve, and mint green for the letters. I haven't started those yet, but I will post pictures when I do! I think they'll turn out cute!
On Etsy, I had an inquiry about a second sale. Someone wanted to know what they needed to do to purchase one of my space themed signs! I replied almost as soon as I got the message, but didn't hear back for several days. I had begun to give up hope when I finally got the order two days ago. Now I have started on that sign, and am so excited to see how it turns out!
As of today, I have made two Etsy sales, three to local people (one sale was for two items), and I have a few more potential sales to locals in the works! Hopefully this is the start of something good! I can't wait to find out!
Sara
http://sarashandmades.etsy.com/
