Difficult Decisions

Recently I have had some life changing events. Not going into details I will say that my brick and mortar has changed names. In addition to the name change I am soon going to be the only one making items for the shop. This creates a bit of an issue for me when it comes to time management.

Over the last couple of years I have juggled several projects including multiple online shops, wholesale accounts, shows and a brick and mortar shop. I will not say it has been easy because, well, it hasn't. It takes a lot of energy to do everythings that needs to be done. I am now to the point where something has to give. I have to realistically look at what I can and cannot make time for.

At the moment, this project, Market My Shop, makes very little income. And when I say very little I mean almost no income whatsoever. Every now and then I sell one of my eBooks in my Etsy shop, but it is pretty rare. My only other source of income from this blog is the tiny amount of money I make from Google Ad Words. That equates to about $30 a year, meaning every 3 years or so Google pays me.

I am considering letting this blog and the Etsy shop go. I hate to break it down to income but I just cannot afford to keep doing all of the free things that I have been doing. I am already putting in 12 to 18 hours each and every day just to maintain all of the other things I am doing.

I am open to suggestions. So, if you have a great idea that will help me gain time to continue a pretty much free project or a possible way to monetize it so that it can pay for itself I am totally willing to listen. I welcome your comments and emails. And just for the record, no firm decision has been made on anything yet.

Too Busy For Writing

I am going through a lot of changes at the moment in my life. I am so busy right now I do not have time to sit down and write. So, I am going to have to take the rest of this week to get caught up on all the other things in my life. Hopefully I will be back on schedule next week. Please stand by...

TGIF

Just a quick note to say have a great weekend. I will resume the articles on photography next week.

Taking Great Pictures For Etsy Listings

Chainmail Hacky Sack from Tangled Metal

We've been discussing taking photos for Etsy. The photo, of course being the foundation on which your entire listing is built around. Looking at the above photo note that the Chainmail Hacky Sack is 100% in focus and the shoe is slightly out of focus. This is a somewhat artsy photo without being over the top or the background being distracting. This item has been in 37 Treasury Lists.

It was taken with a Canon Rebel DSLR camera. It was set to defocus the background. It was taken in a light box with lights that emulate outdoor lighting. Notice how the background is as white as the page. This almost gives the illusion of floating. This technique has been a tried and true staple of jewelry photography for many years.

If you had no idea what a Hacky Sack was you'd at least get a clue that it had something to do with a shoe or foot. The Converse shoe should give the idea that it is a trendy or hip thing and the colorfulness of the shoe shoes that it is not your ordinary past time.

As you can see, a lot of thought has gone into taking this one single photo. Now, I could have used a photo of several people playing Hacky Sack, but the focus would be on the people and the actual Hacky Sack would have been lost. Though, it would be a good idea to have a picture of people playing in your listing. Personally I would put that picture last in the listing.

The point is, your main photo should tell a story, evoke a feeling, give understanding of the product and be clear- at least have a clear focal point. It should convey what the item is, what it is for and still have a bit of an artsy nature to it. My photo may not be perfect and I am sure plenty of people could critique it to death, but for me and my listing it seems to do the job.

Creating Great Etsy Listings - Part 1 - The Perfect Photos

Lightbulb Airship By Tangled Metal

Creating the perfect listing for Etsy is the biggest challenge you can face for your shop. For me it starts with the perfect set of photos. Well, it actually starts when I create the item but that isn't what we are going to talk about today. Today we are talking about photography.

Chances are you are not a professional photographer. (If you are that is great!) The first image is always the hardest. You want to have an image that will represent your item and be somewhat artsy, especially if you want people to put it into a treasury. Just remember to try not to get too artsy. Your item should always be the focus of the pictures. If the customer has to guess what the product is by the image than you have done something wrong.

The four subsequent images should try and get the item from each direction and be clear and concise so that any question the customer has is answered. Remember, your customer cannot touch the item so they do not know how it feels. Of course some questions have to be answered in the description, but we'll get to that later in this series.

I personally like white backgrounds. Some people have good results with dark backgrounds. (Not me. I just cannot seem to make them work) Using props is acceptable, too, as long as they do not distract from the item. For small items a light box is about as necessary are it gets. You can pick one up on eBay or build your own from a cardboard box. I will work on a tutorial for you on how to build one soon.

Lighting is also very important. Remember that hard surfaces need soft light and soft surfaces need hard light. I will get more into this soon as well. Nothing is worse than a dark blurry photo with a lot of distracting props. Maybe that is why I am so fond of plain white backgrounds.

That is all for now. Sorry I wasn't around yesterday, I was getting over being really sick. I am much better now and back on schedule.