Thriller Thursday

For those of you on Etsy, how do you come up with the names for your coupon codes?  I personally like alliteration.  MondayMania.  WednesdayWhimsy.  But coming up with something for Thursday kinda stumped me.  ThankfulThursday?  Well, I'm thankful every day ... so maybe not.  ThoughtfulThursday?  Once again, it's good to be thoughtful every day.  I wanted to communicate excitement ... enthusiasm.  A trip to the dictionary (yes, I actually looked through the "th" section) .. and voila!!  Thrill!  An excellent word!  Because I also have a sense of rhythm, I went with ThrillerThursday.

Today's special in my Etsy shop?  Get 10% off your purchase of $25 or more!!  Use coupon code ThrillerThursday.  Go to:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/gentleadornments 

Like me on Facebook and share today's post, you'll be entered a drawing (Sunday) for a free pair of earrings!  If you place an order, you'll get 3 entries!  
Tomorrow will be my last coupon day ... so don't delay!

Today's Special

When I was growing up, I lived near a very small town.  My mom frequently shopped at the little A&P grocery store in town.  They often ran a series of daily specials ... usually something fresh.  Maybe it was overstocked or maybe they just wanted to know what their shoppers were most interested in .. I was too young to analyze these things.  But it was always called "Today's Special".

Well, Gentle Adornments is running a series of specials this week ... and "Today's Special" is free domestic (US) shipping with a purchase of $20 or more!  Use coupon code "WednesdayWhimsy"!

I'll be posting this on my Facebook page ... if you "Share" that post, you'll be entered in a drawing for a pair of earrings.
https://www.facebook.com/GentleAdornments
In order for me to see the "share", you have to "like" my page.
The drawing will be Sunday and orders placed this week will all be shipped on Monday. 


So go!  Shop!  These special offers won't last long!!  Check it out at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/gentleadornments

Special Special Week!

I don't have a craft show this Saturday ... and since I don't want to sit around and get bored *cough* I think I'll offer some special deals!
Starting today at noon (US eastern time), I'll post a new coupon code for my Etsy shop.  Today's special will be 5% off everything in my shop and the code is:
terrifictuesday

Are you following me on Facebook?  I'll post the code there too.  And just to sweeten the pot, I'll be doing a giveaway this week!  "Share" my code post and get 1 entry into a drawing for a new pair of earrings ... but you have to be friends with me in order for me to see the "share".  So stop on by my Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/GentleAdornments
Share the code, then hop over to my Etsy shop and do a little browsing:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/gentleadornments

One entry per person per day for sharing.  I'll post a new coupon code every day until Friday ... so don't miss out!  

If you'd like even more chances to win a pair of earrings, I'll be giving 3 entries to everyone who makes a purchase!  The drawing will be Sunday and all orders placed this week will ship on Monday. 

So y'all have an awesome week, ya hear!!

A Trove of Treasuries

Well, I feel better now.  Apparently I needed to get that last post off my chest!    On to happier things!

I got a treasury last night:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=115330

I'm also IN a treasury!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=115293

It was nice to be included!!

My late night treasury

I don't know if it was insomnia, or a little too much chocolate, but I was awake in the middle of the night ... and got a treasury on Etsy.  This one is very special to me ... one of my favorite uncles served in the Navy and since, several friends.  While Iwas in High School, my mom's cousin had been in the Navy Band.  When they came to perform in our little town, my younger brother was chosen to perform with them ... and when he died, the Navy hymn was played at his funeral.  On one of our building projects, we built a church about 2 miles from Mayport Naval Station.  We were awed by the JFK and loved seeing the fleet come in!  As a proud American, the Navy has always been near and dear to my heart.

While looking through the shop of fellow Michigander, jpcrossstitch, I came across her design for the Navy Seal (logo).   Suddenly, the words to the Navy hymn, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" popped in to my head ... and I knew I needed to use it as a treasury theme.  In the wee hours this morning, I was able to get my treasury spot.  I give you "Eternal Father, Strong to Save".
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=113440

On The Hunt

I've been doing a lot of treasuries lately on Etsy.  It's fun.  It helps give exposure to my Etsy friends and some other shops.  It's sort of a "win-win" for all involved.

My current treasury is in shades of green -- and if you look from the upper left corner to the lower right, you might notice that the color get gradually darker.  Most of the sellers featured this time are from my TeamCAC and CASTTeam groups (Team Christian Artists and Crafters and Christian Artists Street Team).   We are getting a snowstorm -- all those fresh greens were a great reminder that spring really will come sometime.

I love the "hunt" for new treasuries.  I have my next treasury already chosen and most of the one after that.  Some treasuries are based on color -- such as the current one in greens or one I did a couple weeks ago in soft grays with a touch of peach.  But other times, they're based on some sort of theme -- like one I did a few weeks ago using images that represented elements of the classic movie "Gaslight".  From time to time, I hope that a treasury will appear on Etsy's front page (as some do) ... but it hasn't happened yet.  But I enjoy the "hunt" ... so it doesn't really matter.  Watch for my next treasury ... I don't think you'll be disappointed... it's quite personal and some of the selections are moving.

Re-Evaluating ... Again

Well, it's that time of year.  Lots of people take stock of their lives ... many make New Year's Resolutions or start diets or just promise themselves to "do better".  

I've been taking a look at my business -- my business practices,  marketing, product line and the various aspects of doing what I do.  I haven't finished this examination, but I've decided to make some changes.

A year ago, I did a lot of research into marketing.  It's probably one of my weak points and something I knew little about.  I purchased several books from successful Etsy sellers with information on how to be successful selling on Etsy.  Some of the suggestions they made were pretty elementary and common to all sellers.  However, each seller had a unique thought or two -- something to consider.  
  
I carefully mapped out a strategy making both major and minor changes.  I changed my business name, purchased professional graphics and  took hundreds of new photos (which I'm still editing to make them right for listings).  I launched this new business with high hopes.  Unfortunately, the sales did not materialize.  My online sales account for only about 4% of my business.



So now what?


Time to evaluate.  What have I done right?  What have I done wrong?  What may need just a little tweaking?


A year ago, I examined my pricing structure and opted to include shipping in my product pricing.  I had hoped that the lure of "free shipping" would be irresistable to buyers.  Hasn't worked out that way.  So today, I've made the first business change for the new year -- I've gone back to adding shipping.  I was going to need to increase prices somewhere -- the price of silver is up and I've had to find a new source for one of my frequently used items, which also means a bit of an increase.  So, rather than increase the prices of my products, I've added the shipping again.  I'm actually kind of disappointed, but i think it will probably work out ok.

Undoubtedly, there will be more changes coming ... but for now, one cautious step at a time.  And I'll keep reading and studying, listening to the advice of those who are making it work and analyzing if their practices will work for me too.  Keeping fingers crossed....!!!

further explanation

I was in a rush earlier .. so here's a little more explanation for my last post.

In August, I did something (a mystery) to my knee -- got a small tear in the meniscus and did some damage to tendons and ligaments. A doctor friend advised me how to take care of it .. the meniscus is doing much better, the tendons are going to take some more time. Better all around ... just getting there really slowly.

And it's interfered with my life some. It's been very uncomfortable to travel so all those miles have been rough. If you don't know me very well, my husband and I are missionaries (build church buildings) and our income comes from churches and individuals who support our ministry. Several months ago, we thought we would have some open time this fall and scheduled visits with several churches to update them on what we've been doing. As it happens, we have had some project delays and are still in WI -- the churches have been in other states -- so we've been on the road a lot. We also helped our youngest daughter move from MI to CO.

The discomfort makes me tired ... I sleep alot when I'm home. I've had to limit my physical activity ... REALLY limit. Everything I've done over the past few months has been critical... nothing that wasn't essential. It's actually produced a sense of pressure ... I can't drop the ball and everything I do HAS to be done. And I'm always wishing I could do more ... it's been frustrating to deal with the limitations.

So when I say that I did some work outside today ... it takes on a whole new meaning!!

I'm trying to work smarter, not harder. I've done several craft shows -- they've gone really well. I was very excited last week to get the order for all the jewelry for a wedding!! And at that particular craft show, there were several inquiries about other weddings.

SO I'm in the wee beginnings of checking out wedding shows and how to market to brides ... if anyone has tips, they would be most appreciated!! Undoubtedly, I'll be posting about my research and decisions ... I'm excited at the prospect!

Nurturing the Baby - Part 2

I grew up on a farm, and I’ve always had a garden – so I have long understood the concepts of nurturing and patience. (They also came in handy as we raised our kids!) Once the seed was planted to start a jewelry business, things began to happen. I began to develop designs and started looking for supplies. I told the ladies at church about my interest and a couple of them started watching for ads for craft shows. I was a total rookie about this stuff – and somewhat like the gardener needs a little rain at just the right time, I was learning a little here and a little there – just when I needed to learn it.

I have to tell ya ... those first craft shows were a little rough. I only had about 7 styles of earrings. My “display” was a foam board covered with white lace, propped up with plate easels. Earrings were on homemade cards and the cards were tacked to the board with clear push pins. In each show, I had a board full of sterling earrings and a board of silver plated. As I look back now, it was NOT pretty. But it got me through my first few shows and in spite of the terrible presentation, people liked my work – and I made a little money.

Our youngest daughter went to work for a small Midwest chain of jewelry stores. Unfortunately, the stores failed and she was out of work. But when her store was closing, she was able to get some of the displays for me (for free!). So I graduated to spinners for my earrings, put my earrings on real earring cards and I had a couple busts to display a necklace or two. I felt like I was in the big time! As I made the transition to the new displays, I also decided to go exclusively with sterling silver and eliminate the cheap plated stuff – it was a good move. By this time, I was also up to 18 or 20 earrings designs. My craft shows were stepping up and business was improving.

At one of the craft shows, I met another vendor who was VERY sweet! She had a nice business card and had a web store on a site called “Etsy”. I’d never heard of it, but as she explained it, I found myself intrigued. Etsy is an online marketplace for artists and crafters to set up shops – kind of a web based craft show. This gal, who was selling children’s items, was enjoying quite a bit of success. I signed up! But there was a lot I didn’t understand about doing business online .... and I made quite a few mistakes. More to learn. (Sigh)

As I look back at taking those first baby steps, I’m amazed the baby learned to walk!! And like any baby, once they learn to walk, the next thing you know, they’re running! More later...

Whew! The Roller Coaster!!

Have you ever felt like life was a roller coaster? That feeling that you're going WAY too fast? That you don't have much control? And you're hoping the hardware holds out?
That's been my last couple weeks!

Lets' see ... on Thursday, the 23rd, two days before the craft show, we were still in MI working on our daughter's house (they had a water problem in a house they're trying to sell and they've moved away). We had hoped to head for home in WI that morning .... but there were glitches (aren't there always?) and we didn't leave until after midnight. The 7-hour drive was a killer but actually, it was great driving through Chicago -- there was NO traffic at 3 am!! We got home in time to go to work Friday morning. My husband did all the driving but I was afraid he would fall asleep -- so I only got a couple 20 minute catnaps all night.

I was actually pretty amazed how well I did Friday -- hung in there pretty well without sleep -- until about 5 in the afternoon. Then I started really dragging. By the time my husband got home at 9 that night (he had to work out of town that day -- poor guy -- more travel for him!) I was done in. I told him we weren't going to do the craft show Saturday -- I didn't feel prepared and I was totally exhausted. The idea of getting up the next morning at 5 was just too overwhelming! So we went to bed -- nothing packed in the car. Originally, I figured we should leave for the show about 6:30 am to allow us plenty of time to get there and get set up --haven't done a show since December and knew we would be "rusty" about our set up.

So Saturday morning, at 6:20, I got up for a nature call ... felt a whole lot better .. so woke my poor hubby and said "let's go!!". He had been really disappointed that we weren't going so I didn't even have to ask twice -- he was out of bed like a shot. By 7, we were on the road. Given that we had to dress and pack up, that's amazing!

The show went ... ok. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad. We didn't know what to expect but we did expect more people to come. It was a rainy day -- I know that didn't help. And when the show organizers planned the date, they had checked on road construction -- they were told that the road would be resurfaced from June - August. Somebody's calendar was really screwed up because it was all torn up in April! And we expected that the economy would have some impact -- didn't know how much. This show last year had about 2000 attendees -- we figured there were only 700-800 this year.

The show itself was really pretty neat. Some fun vendors -- someone was selling decorated hula hoops -- their booth was really bopping!!-- the booth across from us were selling their own dip mixes (oh my goodness ... SOooooo good!!) and there were just some interesting things being sold. The guy a couple booths down from us was selling metal lawn sculptures -- they were amazing! One lady was selling hair pieces -- sort of for an instant updo. Another was selling bras -- she had her own little booth for trying on. There were some wonderful handmade soaps. Lots of jewelry, but none of it like mine. And the chocolatiers -- yes, there were choclatiers! and the samples? almost heaven!!!

I had a couple of fun sales -- both ladies wanted very custom made pieces. One lady was probably in her late 40's -- she picked a pair of earrings she liked, then pointed to a necklace and said she'd like something like that, only a little different. We talked about what she had in mind, then I made up a couple samples -- she loved one of them and bought it! Later, a younger gal came by -- mid 20's -- getting married in July. She had the jewelry picked out for her wedding party but hadn't been able to find anything she liked for herself. She chose a pair of earrings in white/clear but wondered what they would look like if one of the crystals was sapphire instead (the color of her wedding) -- I made it up for her -- and she LOVED it! But then she wanted a necklace -- I made one similar to a style I have but, like the earrings, substituted a sapphire crystal for a clear in part of the necklace. It came out perfect! It was so cool to do wedding jewelry -- it's an area I want to work in to -- and it was SO fun!!

As for the marketing mix, there were more young women at this show than at the typical craft show -- and I had a lot of attention from most of them. It confirmed that my work has a bit younger appeal than I've been thinking -- which should help with my marketing strategy.

And my shop is open -- it was pretty slow getting things listed and I have LOTS more listing to do -- but that's a story for another day. Come check me out:
www.gentleadornments.etsy.com
So far, the feedback I'm getting is very positive. Most of my photos are pretty decent. No sales yet but I really didn't have enough listed until yesterday. It's really a relief to have it open and be able to list. I've been working on it for so long -- taken SO many pictures! And getting them edited and cropped. Woohoo!! This is me doing the happy dance!!!

Countdown

I'm on countdown.

I'm planning to open a new shop on Etsy on April 24. I've taken hundreds of new photos and have been busily cropping to fit the spaces on Etsy. I've been doing a lot of marketing research over the last few months and will be trying some new (new to me) ideas. My newest earring design is going to be launched. I've ordered new graphics (which I hope will be done in time). I'm still trying to get a few things figured out (like what kinds of specials I'd like to offer in my Grand Opening). There's a lot to do, but a lot has been done (and I'll be blogging about it over the next few months). I'm almost ready.

10....9.....