Shop Unique for the Holidays!

Dear Holiday Shopper,

We, the sellers of Etsy want to share one simple reminder . . .

Shop unique.

Shop Etsy for the holidays!

Etsy is a marketplace where people around the world connect to buy and sell unique goods. We know you have to go “big box retail” to buy the flat screen TV or iPhone that is on your sweetie’s list. Just remember, for all the other gifts on your list, you can shop on Etsy. We are the real sellers on Etsy – some of us are running our shop as a side-business, while others are selling full-time. We are moms, dads, sons, daughters. You see us selling at craft shows and boutiques. We are entrepreneurs, risk-takers, and passion-sharers. We want to share our creativity with the world and help connect you to real-life makers – not a robot or a disconnected manufacturer. On Etsy, you can shop by all of these categories: 

accessories, art, bags and purses, bath and beauty, books and zines, candles, ceramics and 

pottery, children, clothing, crochet, dolls and miniatures, everything else, furniture, Geekery, glass, holidays, housewares, jewelry, knitting, music,needlecraft, paper goods, patterns, pets, plants and edibles, quilts, supplies, toys, vintage, weddings, and woodworking!

Regards,

The Sellers of Etsy 

****************************************************************************************************

HanjiNaty is thrilled to join the SHOP UNIQUE promotional campaign, an inventive and dynamic social media

promotion wave,  initiated by Jason from Etsy-preneurship and Timothy from Handmadeology.

The idea is to work together to promote Holiday shopping on Etsy ! 

All the Etsy sellers are invited to take part in this massive movement!!

How can you participate?

Visit the Shop Unique page : http://www.handmadeology.com/shop-unique-shop-etsy-for-the-holidays/

Click on the banner "Click Here to Join the Shop Unique Promotion"

Follow the instructions : you must use Facebook to like and share the post, and to invite other Etsy sellers to join the movement! There are six (6) easy steps to add your Etsy shop to the list, and to participate in this massive effort to bring shoppers to our Etsy shops!

1. Submit your shop by filling out an online form
2. Like the original post on Facebook
3. Post your Etsy shop link in the comment section (on Facebook) along with a brief sentence about what you sell
4. Comment and like 3 other comments on the Facebook post
5. Share the post and tag at least 5 other Etsy sellers to invite them to join the movement! You can also tag some of your biggest fans to invite them to support the Shop Unique initiative.
6. Spread the word : Tweet, blog, talk about it in Team Forum, etc.!

Spread the word!

The sixth and last step is very important!! We have to beat our drum loud and clear to make sure people remember to visit Etsy when time comes to do their Holiday shopping!

Please please share this post on your personal blog or Facebook page! Leave a link to your blog in the comments below, so we can all stay connected!

Together we can make a difference!

   

Your Online Tool box!

As an Etsy shop owner, I am discovering everyday new ways to promote my work and my shop.

Here is a non-exhausting (and non-pretentious) "Online Tool Box" that I have put together for all the Etsy shop owners out there! I will make sure to update it as soon as I hear of new tools, apps and websites that can help us all make our shops more successful !

Making and Promoting Treasuries                                                   

One of the great tools on the Etsy website are the treasuries. A treasury is a 16-item collection curated by Etsy members. It is a great way to showcase your work!

Here are some interesting tools that will help you make your treasuries faster and more efficiently, as well as promoting them on different platforms.

✔ Brittany's Best Treasury Box

The Treasury Box is an extension that can be installed on Google Chrome only. It is very useful to make treasuries, send group convos (to the shop owners featured in your treasury) and to save an image of any treasury on Etsy. It's free.
brittanysbest.com/treasurybox-chrome-extension/

✔ Shmetsy

Shmetsy offers three convenient tools : Shmetsy Sketchy (that allows you to save your treasuries as drafts), Treasury Maker (that allows you to create treasuries more quickly and efficiently) and Convos Sender (you can send convos to the shop owners featured in your treasury in one click). It's free.
shmetsy.com/tools.html

✔ Enhantsy
Enhantsy is a convenient extension that can be installed on your Internet browser and that offer different features to make treasuries and send convos much more easily. It used to be free, but now you have to pay about $3 a month to use it, after the 7-day free trial period.
enhantsy.com/

✔ Treasury Pin
Treasury Pin is a great tool that allows you to pin your treasuries onto Pinterest, with a customizing tool to pin collages of all the items in the treasury, rather than the first item only.
treasurypin.com/

Monitoring Traffic                                                                            

Another important aspect of our Etsy business is the monitoring of traffic. How many views and favorites do my items get? Where are the visitors from? How are my items positioned compared to the other shops' products?

✔ Heart-O-Matic
This tool gives you the detail of the hearts (favorites) your shop and your different items got. You can also access a complete list of the people who favorited your shop.
craftcult.com/heartomatic.php

✔ Are my Listings relevant?

You can check the relevancy of your tags and titles with this online tool.
tools4etsy.com/Wall-e/Relevancy/Keyword

✔ Are my Listings trending?

Are you items trending? You can find out with one click, using this tool.
tools4etsy.com/Wall-e/Trending

✔ Craft Count
You can take a look at lists of the top sellers on Etsy, and see how your shop is positioned compared to the best sellers out there.
craftcount.com

Improving SEO and Tags                                                                   

✔ Tag Wars
This very useful tool gives you a chance to compare different tags and see which one has the highest relevancy, popularity and probability rates. This is a great way to choose the best tags to be found in searches.
tools4etsy.com/TagWars

Boosting up your Blog or Website                                                         

There are some great tools out there to boost up your blog or website.

✔ Shop Widget
This tool will give you a chance to add a dynamic shop widget (with integrated slide show) onto your blog or website. Easy to use, and free!(You can see an example of the widget at the bottom of this page)
craftcult.com/shop_widget.php

✔ Etsy Mini
The Etsy mini is a direct gateway to your shop! You can generate your code and paste it in any webpage or blog HTML. Any change you make in your Etsy shop will be automatically updated in your Etsy mini. You can customize your Etsy mini to suit your needs.
etsy.com/your/mini


Managing your Business                                                                      

✔ Etsy Seller's Worksheet
You can download this convenient seller's worksheet that will help you keep track of your items and optimize your business.
mdmproofing.com/iym/products/etsy/sellers-worksheet/

Offering discounts and coupons                                                           

✔ Etsy on Sale

This website is dedicated uniquely to discounted and on-sale Etsy items. You can use it to promote your items that are on sale, but you will have to purchase credits in order to post on this website.

www.etsyonsale.com


Be seen and heard on social media platforms                                       

✔ Wanelo (wanelo.com)
Wanelo (that stands for Want - Love - Need) is a great site for Etsy shop owners to promote their items. Check it out, and claim your shop today! Someone might have already posted one of your items on Wanelo.

✔ Pinterest (pinterest.com)
It's next to impossible to avoid Pinterest when promoting your Etsy shop! Joining group boards is always an excellent idea to get your items out there.
✔ Facebook (facebook.com)
✔ Tumblr (tumblr.com)
✔ Twitter (twitter.com)

More apps and tools                                                                            

✔ More Etsy apps :
You can browse here to find more Etsy apps. You can arrange the different apps by popularity, newness  or alphabetical order to find what you need :
www.etsy.com/apps


Interesting reads                                                                                   

✔ 8 ways to keep your social media updates fresh :
http://socialmediatoday.com/salman-aslam/2059286/8-ways-keep-your-social-media-updates-fresh

SPS TEAM SALE NOVEMBER 3-9 !

Start your Holiday shopping early this year!

More than 40 shops members of the SPS Team on Etsy are offering you awesome discounts on truly unique handmade and vintage items!

Handmade jewelry, scarves, home decor items, beauty products, vintage books, Christmas ornaments, posters and more : you can find the most amazing gift ideas for all those you love!

The sale is on from November 3 to 9 : do not miss this chance to save up on amazing presents from amazing artists and artisans!

HanjiNaty is offering a 15% discount on all items in the online shop!

Click to view SPST SALES NOV 3-9 on GLOSSI.COM

Down the Etsy rabbit hole...

In February 2013, I opened an online shop on Etsy.com. After much hesitation, self-doubt and lame excuse finding, I finally dove into the Etsian world.

What is Etsy?

For those who are not familiar with Etsy, it's a gigantic and fascinating website where you can find all kinds of fabulous objects, stories and people. The main point of Etsy (and why I chose this platform, on the enlightening advice of my friend Gowoon, whom I thank and salute!) is to offer handmade items. To be sold on Etsy, an item has to be made by hand. There is also a vintage section (where you can find some amazing things, by the way!), as well as a craft supply section.

One of the interesting aspects of Etsy is the possibility to literally build your own shop. Each shop owner has the means to personalize his or her boutique, with their own banner, an "about" page that allows you to introduce themselves with pictures, customized policies, etc.

For the banner of my site I chose a picture of the gorgeous rooftop of a Korean Buddhist temple. The colors and designs are just stunning to me, and it remains an inspiration for me when I choose my designs, colors and patterns.

My First Sale

To show you how long it took me to find the courage to open that shop, I actually created my Etsy account (with the intent of opening a Hanji shop) in April 2012....! It's almost a full year later that I finally decided to press the "Publish" button.

The first item I sold on Etsy!

The opening of my shop started with a bang, as my first item was sold in less than five minutes! It's actually a dear friend of mine who bought my very first set of handmade Hanji magnets. I was so thrilled! I remember the rush I felt when I saw the pop-up window saying "Cha-Ching! Congrats Natalie! You've made your first sale - You're in business!"

Connecting with fellow artists and artisans

During the first months of my Etsian adventure I was more or less isolated. I was spending time creating Hanji items, but at a very slow pace, and I was struggling with self-doubt and with this awful feeling that I was lost in a sea of beautiful things and that no buyer would come and rescue me.

At the Wonju Hanji Festival 2013

I have made very few sales since the opening of my shop. I was starting to get discouraged and I slowly stopped making Hanji items, feeling that I would never make it in that world...

Then I visited the two major Hanji festivals in South Korea : The Jeonju Culture Hanji Festival in May 2013 and the Wonju Hanji Festival in September 2013. Those two visits were literally eye-opening for me! I had a chance to meet fellow Hanji artists and to get inspired by unusual and fabulous paper! It also gave me the desire to get more involved myself, maybe by taking part in a Hanji contest or even having a small booth at next year's festival!

After my visit to the Wonju festival in September, I decided to be proactive on the Etsy site. I realized that I couldn't stay alone in my workshop, hoping that traffic and business would magically come to my shop. I had to get involved and stop being so scared!

A Treasury features up to 16 items.
http://www.pinterest.com/hanjinaty/natalies-treasuries-on-etsy/

Treasure Hunt

First, I started by joining a few promotion teams. I began to participate in promotion games, and I made my very first treasury on September 2 (to this day I have made about 60!).

A treasury is a collection that any Etsy member put together. The items can be chosen by theme, color, price range, material, etc. Treasuries are a great way to draw attention to your items, and to connect with fellow artists and artisans on Etsy.... and they're a lot of fun, too!

I started to take part in promotional games and cross-promotion actions and I quickly noticed that the number views and favorites in my shop was madly increasing! I also get more and more followers on my personal feed on Etsy, which is very encouraging and motivating! Let's hope that these new connections will  bring me concrete business in the near future.

Being part of the Team

About a month ago I received an invitation to join the "Strategic Promotion for Success" team. I was already a member of about two dozens teams, but I decided to accept the invitation anyway, just to see what SPST had to offer. Oh my! Joining this team is one of the best decisions I have taken since I opened my Etsy shop!

After a few days only I started corresponding with the Captain of the Team, a lovely and very driven artisan named Anna. She asked me if I'd be interested in writing an article about Hanji paper on the Team Blog. I was thrilled!

One thing leading to another I am now a member of the Leadership Team for SPST! It is very rewarding and exciting, and it has given me great occasions to discover new tools, make new friends and, most importantly, it has really motivated me to do more, create more, get more engaged and involved in the Etsy world!

FB, SOTD, BNR, SEO.... OMG!

The more I became involved in the world of Etsy shops and teams, the more I discovered that those creative people speak another language! I won't lie, I had to look up quite a few acronyms and expressions that I just couldn't understand! 

For those who are curious, here's a recap of my discoveries (big and small) about the Etsian jargon and secret codes :

BNR : Buy And Replace Treasury

BNS : Buy And Stay Treasury

SOTD : Shop Of The Day

PIF : Pay It Forward
TRIF : Trade It Forward
OOAK : One Of A Kind
BOGO : Buy One Get One

To deepen your linguistic knowledge, visit techdictionary for more Internet jargon and abbreviations! Very interesting!