So you want to start a blog

Thanks to an ever growing high tech world, thousands of new blogs are born each day.  Most of these blogs, however, fall by the wayside within months.  Seeing that Habit of Art is turning two this month (and this being my fourth year blogging), I thought it only appropriate to share a few words on the topic. Over the last few months, I’ve had several inquiries from folks particularly interested in starting their own blog.  The start up stage of a blog is always an exciting time, but it can also be fraught with confusion and frustration.  Before you jump into blogging, here are some questions to consider first.


1. What’s the point?  If you can’t articulate the purpose of your blog in one or two concise sentences, then you’ll need to go back to the drawing board!  Some folks start a blog because they feel like they should, or they are intrigued with the idea.  But if the passion isn't there, it's going to show.  A good gauge of your interest level is your running list of post ideas.  Can you easily jot down a few dozen things to talk about in one short sitting?   Habit of Art was born out of my passion to share art with others, something I had been doing in my prior careers as a teacher and shop owner.  Even after over 400 blog posts, I feel that I have only scratched the surface. 


2. Can you write?  You don’t have to be an award winning author to be a blogger, but good grammar and solid syntax helps form your credibility.  Take time to edit your posts, and consult Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style (my first book in college) from time to time.  Remember, posting on the internet is like writing in ink. It’s permanent!


3. Are you committed?  Blogging takes commitment.  And, to be completely frank, many of us have commitment issues.  A blog takes at least 6 - 12 months of consistent posts to start acquiring some kind of a readership base.  I tell new bloggers that they shouldn’t even bother starting a blog if they are not in it for at least a year.  For some reason, many new bloggers assume that readers will start flocking to their sites after a few posts.  But building an audience takes time!


4.  What the heck is html?  If you’re not familiar with computer lingo, then expect a high learning curve when starting your blog.  Even though blog platforms have become so much more user-friendly, it still takes some technical know-how to navigate the back end of a blog.  Just importing a photograph into a post, for example, can be a difficult task.  So be prepared to spend countless hours searching forums and help guides when setting up your blog.  And while you're at it, do some homework on feeds, domain names, and keywords.


If after all of this, you're still jazzed to start your own blog, then great!  Sounds like you've done your research and now just need a little push.  Writing that first post can always seem intimidating.  You think that millions of people will read your post after clicking the "publish" button.  The reality is, it's more like your mom and best friend, and only because you gave them the link.  Don't get stuck on having a perfect first post, or the right header design, or whether or not you want your profile on the right or left side of the page.  Just write, and everything else will eventually fall into place. 

12 ways to promote your Etsy shop

Fellow Portland artist, Anna Joyce, was featured last week on Etsy's "Quite Your Day Job" series.  She has invested a lot of time and energy into her creative passion, and it's paying off. 

My favorite blog posts on Etsy are the "Quit Your Day Job" features.  I love reading about "real" people who overcome obstacles to get to the place where they are today.  And the advice shared by the featured sellers is always so relevant, especially for Etsy shopowners just starting out.

One thing that I've learned from being a retailer is that passion is only part of the equation to a successful business.  Any product idea can sound brilliant to an audience of one.  If the goal is to reach the masses, then a whole lot of hard work and patience is in order.

Many shopowners underestimate how marketing is key to their business, especially when that business is exclusively online.  Before opening my Etsy shop, I ran an online retail store for two years.  It was a crash course on SEO, conversion rates, and email marketing.  In the beginning, it took a lot of work to build up our customer base and create a more seamless shopping experience.  But, within a year, our online shop was bringing in 25% of our monthly gross sales (the other 75% was sales from our brick and mortar shop). 

Marketing, in my opinion, is the most difficult aspect of running a small business.  It demands a lot of time and, in most cases, a bit of monetary investment.  I realize that most Etsy shopowners do not have a large marketing budget, if any at all.  The reason I opened up an Etsy shop in the first place was its hassle-free setup and low maintenance cost.  Promoting your Etsy shop, however, doesn't have to break the bank.  Here are some practical marketing tools that can help bring customers to your shop. 

1.  List new products in your shop at least twice a week.  Every time you list or relist a product, the item is moved to the top of Etsy's search queue. 

2.  Connect with Etsy sellers/buyers through treasuries, forums, and teams. 

3. Advertise on creative blogs.  Sponsorship rates differ from site to site, but many blogs just charge $30 - $45/month. 

4.  Start your own blog!  (More on this in an upcoming post.)

5.  Keep your brand consistent.  From your shop header to your business card to your packaging, customers should know what your collection is about and how it's unique from all the other great shops out there.  Read more on how to create a brand identity here. 

6.  Subscribe to Etsy newsletters to follow current trends and opportunities.  Go here to sign up. 

7.  Tag your products with search friendly keywords.

8.  Use social networking sites like facebook and twitter to promote new products and follow other like-minded artists.  Try to connect with fans on a regular basis. 

9.  Run promotional events from time to time.  Everyone loves a good sale.  Share special events and collaborations with bloggers that promote such activities.    

10. Know where your customers are coming from.  Follow traffic to your shop using Google Analytics or StatCounter. 

11.  Consider wholesale accounts.  I have found that jewelry and art collections sell much quicker in brick and mortar shops than online.  Before you contact a retailer, make sure you do some research and know that it's a good fit.  See my post on how to contact shops here. 

12.  Superb customer service is gold.  When your customers are happy, they will come back.  And they will let others know!

This list should keep a few of you busy for awhile.  Remember,  promoting your shop takes time.  But stay at it, and you will eventually see a return on your marketing efforts.

My experience as Etsy's Featured Seller

The ultimate goal for any Etsy shop owner is to be featured on the front page of Etsy.  So, in early February, when I was contacted by Etsy admin about being a Featured Seller, I was ecstatic.  The admin team gave me some helpful resources and information about how to prepare for the feature, and being the big planner that I am, I started filling out a long to-do list for the next month.

First on my list was to find a photographer.  It is the responsibility of the Featured Seller to submit photos of themselves and studio, and, even though I have a decent camera, I wasn't about to have my husband snap some pictures.  Sorry, honey.  One of my favorite photographers in town is Anthony Georgis, and he was kind enough to take some photos of me with little lead time.  The photo above was one of several pictures Anthony took that I submitted.

Two weeks before the interview reveal, I started amping up my production pace.  Etsy encourages Featured Sellers to have a "well-stocked" shop.  Of course, well-stocked is quite objective.  Seeing that I primarily create original art, I could only create a handful of works a week.  A couple of days before the interview went live, I sold three original works in my Etsy shop.  A good problem to have, I know, but then I spent the rest of the weekend creating a few more pieces, including these two shown below.

On the morning of the interview,  I was uploading new works into my shop when I started getting the first of many pings- the sound my iphone makes when I get an email.  Within the course of the next several days, I received over 60 convos (Etsy emails) and sold 85 items. 

20,000 visitors landed in my shop while I was on the front page of Etsy, a number I probably won't see again unless Charlie Sheen tweets about me.  It just goes to show how much traffic there needs to be for a peak in online sales, which is why increased exposure (i.e. marketing) is key for an online business.

The first of several trips to the Post Office.

There were many late nights this past week, but I managed to send all my orders out on time.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that a quarter of the orders were international, mostly from Australia. Although half of the followers on my blog are international,  I wasn't expecting to see such a high number of sales overseas.  It makes me happy to know that people are willing to pay international shipping rates even for an art print of mine. 

As mentioned in the prior post, I was extremely touched by the flood of encouraging comments I received.  I was also flattered to be invited to be part of art events, artist collaborations, and blog features.  My art may even be part of a TV show set- exciting stuff! 

Being the Featured Seller on Etsy has been an amazing experience.  If you have recently been asked to be the Featured Seller, congratulations! And here are some tips I have for you:

1. Accept the offer!
2. Have exceptional pictures for the interview and your shop.  This is not the time to experiment with the latest Photoshop filters. 
3. Try to at least triple your production the weeks before the reveal.
4. If you sell one-of-a-kind pieces, wait to upload new products until a day or two before the interview.
5. Make sure your product descriptions and store policies are very descriptive.   Also, do you have a policy about trades, layaways, custom work, and holds?
6. Be prepared for an untimely incident with your internet connection.  Our modem died two days before the interview, and we had to drive out of Portland to buy a replacement.
7. Re-list!  When a reproducible item (like an art print) sells, you'll need to re-list it.  So plan on being attached to a computer device while your interview is on the front page.
8. Keep your orders organized.  I printed out all my orders as customer receipts and kept them on a clipboard.  
9. If things go better than expected (i.e lots of orders), you will be sleep deprived for several days.

Feel free to contact me with other questions you may have.  I know that it's supposed to be a secret, but I promise I won't tell.

Tools for the Etsy seller

Just a few of the many apps for the Etsy enthusiast.

 

I came across a great article today, "Top ten etsy web apps," written by Ashley Jennings for Design Sponge.  You might be familiar with the app Ashley and her husband designed, Favoritizer, which is a fan favorite among Etsy followers.

Ashley's post on Etsy apps is full of helpful information. If you happen to have your own Etsy shop, the article is truly a must-read.  Being the tech geek wannabe that I am, I already downloaded a couple of the apps found here, and I can't wait to try out new apps like Craftsy.  Anything to make the online shop experience more seamless gets a big thumbs-up from me!

Okay, back to right brain talk . . .

Interview with artist and art conservator Chris Zahner

Kathy, a collage by artist Chris Zahner

If I were a Marvel Comics character,  I'd want to be a superhero by night and an art conservator by day.  It'd be nice to know that at the end of a day's work, I saved some lives and a few precious paintings.  My real life doesn't come close to my comic book character, but I recently connected with an artist who at least lives the life of my alter-ego.  Boston-based artist Chris Zahner (even sounds like an alter-ego name), works in art conservation.  Since I really don't know much about art conservation, Chris was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

How did you get into art conservation?

One of the many interesting aspects about the field is the seemingly endless ways people find it. Art conservation is a melding of art history, studio art and science, so people come from all kinds of backgrounds. Studio art is my angle. I have a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art in ceramics with a minor in drawing.  Through the encouragement and support of a few conservator friends my interest in the field began.  My first conservation job was at a regional lab in Cleveland called the Intermuseum Conservation Association where I was the preparator in their paper department. I became hooked.

Chris at work.

What does a typical day at your work look like?

Like most kids I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I grew up, but I had a really good sense of what I didn’t want. Boredom, monotony and cubicles were out. Challenges, problem solving, creativity and a life connected to the arts were in. So far art conservation has been the perfect job for me specifically because there are no “typical” days. One day might be spent logging hours in front of a computer writing reports while the following day might require you to put on a hard hat, climb scaffolding and clean a mural 30 feet up.

[image source: Intermuseum Conservation Association]

What are some things about art conservation that most people don't know?

People don’t realize there is a difference between conservation and restoration. Art conservation and restoration mainly differ in approach. A restorer makes an attempt to return an object as close to its original condition as possible, while the conservator’s primary goal is to prevent further deterioration even if the overall appearance might not look significantly different. Conservation is usually more of a light touch.

There is also a gulf between the two fields in terms of education. Art conservators have a Masters degree in a specific discipline such as paintings, paper, books, sculpture, photographs...etc. because of the increasingly technical nature of the profession.  A restorer is generally an artisan and often a very skilled one, but lacks the formal training that a conservator would.  That’s not to say there aren’t some very capable restorers out there who treat object with great care, but I would take your Old Master etching or first edition books to a conservator who specializes in that particular discipline.

Before and after pictures of one of Chris' conservation projects.

What has been the most fascinating project you've worked on?

This might not be the most fascinating project I’ve worked on, but it might be one of the most dramatic. I received a phone call from a friend of mine who was a private paintings conservator in Dayton, Ohio asking me if I would be interested in helping him with a large project. A local chapel had hired him to help with their 14 station of the cross paintings. Painted by an art student from the Dayton Art Institute these paintings were executed on copper panels and showed various degrees of flaking and missing paint.

The brown color is the copper panel showing through.

Flaking paint was attached to the panel using a heat activated adhesive. We filled in all the valleys where the paint was missing with a conservation putty to insure the painting would have a consistent plane when finished.  All the white spots in the photo below represent where paint was totally missing.

Time for inpainting. Using conservation grade paints all the white areas and ONLY the white areas had to be reconstructed. You would never want to paint over existing paint, only the fills.

This piece is a good example of restoration as a conservation treatment. The painting has been stabilized, further flaking has been deterred and the inpainting does restore the work to something close to its original condition.

Do you have any practical advice for art collectors on how to take care of art?

Your home doesn’t need to be like a museum, but owning original artworks is a responsibility that should be taken seriously. There are conditions that have detrimental consequences to your work that you should be aware of. Light is no friend to paintings and objects on paper, so keep pieces out of direct sunlight and don’t use picture lights. UV glass or plexiglass is great when framing works on paper, but that’s not a green light to hang something across from that giant window in your home. Humidity and large fluctuations in temperature are also a problem, so don’t hang original works in your bathroom or over your fireplace. If you have concerns about specific objects in your home refer to the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

Thanks, Chris, for the such a fascinating and informative interview!  To see some of Chris' wonderful original art, check out his Etsy shop here.  He also has a great art blog called Flopslump.  (Catch a recent feature with yours truly here.)

10 tips for opening an Etsy shop

Enhabiten

If you've been thinking about selling some of your handmade goods, the online marketplace "Etsy" is a great place to start.  You can set up a shop within minutes and the start-up costs are minimal- just 20 cents per listing!  Recently, my friend opened an Etsy shop and asked for some advice.  Here's what I told her:

1.  Choose a store name that makes sense, is memorable, and easy to search.  Once you pick a shop name (which is also your username), you can't change it.  And before you set your name in stone, make sure to look it up in Etsy's search engine.  You might come across another shop that essentially has the same name.

2.  Excellent product shots are key.  Product shots should be well-composed, clear, and bright.  For tips on how to take better product pictures, see my post here.

Pigeon Toe Ceramics and Minx Shop

3.  Keep your shop full.  At the least, you should have 16 products to start with.  This allows people to see your passion on display. Moreover, people love options.

4.  Etsy's Search organizes products by most recent listings, so upload new products at least once a week.  Some Etsy sellers upload products every day!
 
5.  Use descriptive tags so that sellers can find your products.  Etsy allows a total of 14 tags per item; include as many keywords as possible when listing your product.

5gardenias and Essimar

6.  Establish clear and concise shop policies to gain the confidence of the customer.

7.  Account for all expenses and fees when determining an item's price.  In addition to materials and time, marketing and payment fees should also be calculated into the price of a product.  Etsy takes 3.5% of the total sale of an item, and Paypal takes a small percentage plus a fixed fee. 

8.  Encourage customers to shop again by personalizing orders.  Add a handwritten note and throw in a small treat for good measure.

Nea and Lisa's Retro Style

9.  Share the Etsy love by "hearting" your favorite finds.  Hearts are one way that Etsy sellers are connected.  The first time I got a heart from a secret admirer, I thought for a moment I was being stalked (when really they are fans that don't make their Favorites public).  To keep track of new hearts in your shop, go to craftcult.com. 

10.  Try to get your product on the front page.  It's free marketing! For this to happen, you'll need to be in a treasury that someone else created.  If you're following tips 1 - 9, then you'll be in a treasury in no time.  Another way to reach out to Etsy sellers is creating your own treasury.  Be sure to "convo" each Etsy seller to let them know about your treasury!

Although it can be a thrill to run your own online shop, know that it takes time to network and build a customer base.  In the first few months, you may only get a handful of sales.  Don't lose heart.  Be diligent and continue to fine tune your shop and your products.

Simple solution to taking better product shots

My friend recently opened up an Etsy shop and wanted to know how to take decent photos of her journals.  She has a SLR digital camera, but her pictures were turning out dark.  This is a common problem that many encounter when taking product shots indoors.  The solution to brighter photos is relatively simple, and quite affordable!  Here's the advice I gave my friend:

1.  Take pictures by the brightest window.  This can change depending on the time of day.  Set your product within a few feet from the window and at a height that maximizes the light.  You don't want direct sunlight, however, coming in through the window. 

2.  To soften shadows and reflect the light coming through the window, use a tri-fold foam board (about $5 in a general store).

3.  For a white background, place a white poster board (non shiny side up) under the product.

4.  You'll most likely need to stand on a step stool or chair to take a product shot from overhead.

5.  With your camera on automatic, snap a picture and assess the light in the photograph.  You will need to adjust the shutter speed setting in manual mode if the white background looks blue or gray.  (The blue in your photographs can also be due to your white balance setting.)  

6.  After uploading your photographs, you may have to do some tweaking of photographs with a photo-editing program.  At the least, check the levels and make sure that the right arrow meets the right edge of the curve.

How to get your art in boutiques

My shop [image sources from left: Lucky Magazine,  Boone Rodriguez, and Hadley Hutton]  

Many of you may be at a place where you are ready to showcase your work in stores other than your Etsy shop.  Although online marketplaces like Etsy are great avenues for artists to broaden their fan base, art, for the most part, sells better in physical spaces than on the internet.  I have been a retailer of art and handcrafted products myself, and I have perused thousands of submissions from artists and designers.  Only a small percentage actually piqued my interest, and here's how they did it.

1.  The fit is right.  Reach out to shops that sell similar art and products.  To know if you're a good fit, you first need to be able to define your target customer.  If your customer would (and could) buy from the majority of the product lines in the shop, then you have a good match.

2.  Beautiful photography.  It's all about first impression and in most cases you only have a few seconds if you're submitting your work to a shop owner via email.  If you're not much of a photographer, then you need to hire someone who can take high quality product shots.  And all you need for a submission letter are three or four really good photos. 

3.  Brief and concise submission letter.  Ideally, you should show your collection in person.  If this isn't possible, then email a submission letter to the shop owner.  The subject line should be a short description of your collection, such as: new bamboo jewelry collection made in Portland.  The body of the email should be no longer than six sentences, including information on artist's background and current collection.

Don't take it personally if you don't hear back from a store.  The store buyer is most likely inundated with other submissions.  Most stores also have buying seasons, so it may not be the ideal time for the shop owner to pick up a new collection.  If you don't hear back from a store buyer within two weeks, try a follow-up email. 

From your own personal experiences, I'm sure some of you can contribute to this list.  Feel free to add more advice for other artists in the comment section.