My Etsy Story: ersimarina
04. Oct, 2011 
5 Comments
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1. Tell us your Etsy story.. how you got started in your craft and how you started selling on Etsy.
Believe me I’m serious when I say that I got started in my craft before I went to kindergarten. My mother was a desperate witness to that. Desperate, because I used to draw and paint on any available surface: walls, books, magazines, napkins -cloth napkins, mind you- and my own skin. I loved the walls. My mother didn’t!
I never stopped painting and drawing since then. Though my range of interests is wide and I also studied photography and literature, painting is the artistic expression I most identify with.
I opened my Etsy shop in December 2008 but neglected it soon after that. Important and complicated changes in my life drew me away, and I wasn’t able to take care of my online shop till January 2011. That’s when I decided the time had come for me to open the doors again. I have a day job, I run an Exhibition Hall, and time is a serious issue for me but I count on my stubbornness to keep going here.
2. What have you learned about business since you launched your Etsy shop?
I’ve learned that I am not a businesswoman! I made several serious efforts to behave like one but I finally gave up. I decided to be myself instead. I love having a shop here, it’s fun and I keep discovering other artists and crafters whose work is a joy to view. And this is what I want from my artistic experience: the joy of it. Not the long hours spent on studying yet another marketing strategy, not the gazillion articles on how to use social media best. I want to be able to create and show my creations to the world, not to be a slave to either of them.
I do admit my stance has consequences -like not having made a single sale on Etsy to this day! I would be a liar if I said I don’t mind. But I’d rather keep on being true to myself, keep my day job (that I like too, by the way) and rely on my direct, ‘live’ sales for additional income till the spell is broken and I start selling on Etsy too.
3. Tell us one piece of advice for new sellers.
Think carefully about who you are and what you really want. Don’t give in inch by inch to the pressure of being who you are supposed to be so you can become a successful seller. There is no benefit in gaining the market and losing your artistic soul in the process. Take all the time you need to feel your way into this market and to discover your own, personal approach to sales. I’m willing to bet you’ll succeed sooner or later.
Check out more Etsy stories HERE.
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Your post is like a relief valve, thank you! I’ve been on etsy since 2008, now have 3 shops, and feel hidden in the masses. I have 2 other part time day-jobs and marketing for etsy is just not possible without sacrificing time for my creating and time with my husband. And I’ve done that and don’t like being in that place.
There are days I’m discouraged, but I’ve also used etsy as a long term experiment…..to increase my artistic skills, to learn what works and doesn’t (more doesn’t,LOL!!)and the rewards of meeting other artisans, learning valuable techniques and gathering encouragement from them is worth so very much. This experiment has pushed me in many directions, including being published in some of my fav mixed media magazines.
I’ve learned to look at the big picture in my growth as well as an attempt to profit from what I love. You are so correct that we sort out what is really important to each of us.
I so agree! And although I do have some sales in both of my shops, the most important part of the etsy process for me has been sharing, growing as an artist and nurturing my own creative process. Thanks for an “outside the box” viewpoint!
Thank you for your story. I’ve been on Etsy for almost a year and a half and I have 4 sales. I’ve met a lot of people though and become part of the community of etsy. I also joined a team and get to know people that way as well. The team promotes doing craft fairs where I have sold a reasonable amount of work. I feel like a professional, and am advertising through Search Ads right now. I also am willing to wait until I get more visible and start selling on etsy. Meanwhile my work is evolving and I am getting more creative.
Kudos to you for staying true to yourself. It’s been a slow journey for me also.
I do feel like I’m still trying to find what exactly I should do, because I love doing so many things.
And I wish you all the best and lots of sales to come:-)
I must say I love reading this blog. There is always something, if not incredibly useful, then something inspiring or in this case relieving.
I have both the blessing and the curse of being unemployed. My craft and my Etsy store have become my life recently. I’ve not made a single sale but I find the process of getting my work out there rewarding despite the lack of sales.
Thank you for this blog and all the people that contribute to it.