My Etsy Story : Spackle The Gap
03. Oct, 2011 
6 Comments
 |
1: I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t creating something or making something. I fell in love with photography the first time I picked up my dads slr camera. Coming from a family of photographers and artists it was inevitable that I was gonna follow the same path. 5 years ago I decided to turn my hobby into a business. I surrounded myself with people who encouraged me and pushed me to keep growing in my passion. When I met my husband 2 years ago he insisted it was time to open my own etsy store and take my fine art to a bigger audience. I was terrified! One day I came home from work to find my entire office moved into our dining room with my artwork all over the walls. Without his patience and encouragement I wouldn’t be on etsy today!
2: I’ve been running retail stores for 10 years now and I haven’t learned half of what I’ve learned on etsy in the last 2 years! I think the most important lesson I’ve learned from being a part of this fantastic community is without love and attention my store will never go anywhere. I put so much love and passion into my art; I need to put the same love and passion into my shop to make it blossom. The best part of being a part of etsy is the community of supportive artists always willing to help keep you focused, centered, and on track!
3: The best advice I could offer a new seller is don’t expect to put a new listing up and have it sell itself! YOU HAVE TO DO THE LEGWORK! Promote, reach out to your peers, email everyone you know and more people you don’t know! Contact bloggers, clubs, galleries. Love what you do, have passion for what you make, and don’t ever stop sharing it with everyone! Be proud of your beautiful work and your shop will grow in return!
Check out more Etsy stories HERE.
Want your story published here on Handmadeology? Submit your story HERE.
About The Author
224 
1013
Thanks for the great tips. The problem is sometimes I am not sure where to go- where should you put your ads, where should you go to tell your stories… yes, blogging is great, but finding out the right niche is challenging. I love to do knit jewelry…but who are interested to buy this extremely time consuming art?
That is where I need direction. But thanks a lot. Every day I learn a little bit more.
I know, sometimes there seems like so much legwork that you wonder when you have time to make the actual product! But I’m slowly getting the hang of it, and it really is great connecting with people!
Thanks so much for the encouragement and hope! That’s what I’m working on right now, trying to absorb all the educational material Etsy has to offer and break out of just listing and hoping for the best. This learning curve takes courage and persistence and it’s great to see those, like yourself, who are succeeding and wanted to encourage others along the way!
It’s a lot of work, but it does pay off if you stick with it. Thanks, good article.
To answer all of the same question; and I get the questions A LOT is its a serious juggling act. SERIOUS JUGGLING ACT!! I manage a store and put in about 50 hours a week there. I have to carve out time for the fun parts and all the networking is done in the teeny tiny windows of space I get in between. It takes some practice but itll pay off in the end
My passion is for the plants I grow and the search for items to display them in. Thank you so much for your advice. I love reading everything associated with “Handmadeology’!!