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Reflections... My First Year on Etsy

I can hardly believe

that a full year has passed

since I've opened the virtual doors of

 my Etsy shop, BeadedEmbellishments




I have had many unanticipated challenges

having previously only shown my jewerly at artisan/craft shows.

I quickly realized that in addition to designing and making jewelry,

I would have to acquire a new camera as well as some photography skills

in order to be able to show detailed pictures

of my jewelry in this new virtual forum.

This is a new skill for me, and one that requires continual refinement.

This first picture is one of my photos taken at the beginning of my first year




This second and third pictures are some of my recent photos.

Although I have progressed, I'm aware my

photography skills are a work in progress!

I've also discovered that having  an online business

is more time consuming than I imagined it would be.



There are many facets involved which I had not considered...

 Designing and creating a piece of jewelry is just the first step

 Next you take photographs of it

Then you tweak and crop your photos

Once this is complete you list your item

which involves creating an item description,

calculating costs and pricing your piece,

tagging your jewelry and itemizing materials used in your piece.

Once your jewelry item is listed, you need to

promote your item so it can be seen and found by potential buyers

and that's where social media sites are used.

I now have this blog, my Facebook Fan page,

and my Twitter page which I did not have

prior to opening up my BeadedEmbellishments Etsy shop.

I still need education about how they work!

I won't even talk about SEO (search engine optimization)!!!



Etsy's Handmade Community, in my opinion,  is fabulous.

It offers many ways for you to interact with other

members of the Handmade community.

I have joined 20 teams to connect with other members

and have been able to share experiences and ideas, and

have been able to promote my own shop as well as other members shops.

I have met many nice people through Etsy

who have come alongside me and have been supportive to me

and have helped me learn the ropes.



Jewelry is a very competitive and saturated online market and

 it is very challenging to have your

 products stand out from the rest and get noticed.

Despite this, I have been able to make some sales in this first year and

I hope to continue to design and create jewelry

because it is my passion.

To sum up, I am not measuring my success 

in numbers of sales per se, but rather in the pleasure I have derived

from my craft and by the joy I have found in this journey.

Thank you for being a part of my journey!

(Some images in this post are courtesy of Google)


Your comments are welcome!

Denise
from
BeadedEmbellishments 


12 comments:

A Cup of Sparkle said...

HAPPY BIRTDAY to your shop and congratulations on all that progress. I share lots of the things you pointed out in this journey of selling on Etsy. It is definetely a learning curve..
Cheers,

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ACupOfSparkle

Linda B said...

Happy Etsyversary! Your new pics are fantastic.

Galen Pearl said...

I loved this post. I could feel your passion in the words and photos. How wonderful that you have found a way to do what you love and to share it with others. I am a bit jealous, I admit! I would love to have a talent like that! Good for you!!

Fairy Cardmaker, Lisa said...

That is an excellent way to view the Etsy process! There is no reason why the skills you have learned cannot translate to your craft shows too! You know have an eye for "staging" your goods and your social media can work just as well to promote your other venues. Congrats to all you have learned!

Kristin Aquariann said...

Happy Etsyversary! And wow, look how far your photograph skills have come. They're gorgeous.

steufel said...

Hapy anniversary. And you are right we are selling in a tough section, but I'm like you I have fun and always find it great to see other shops and to communicate with fellow etsian:-) Good luck and many sales in the future!

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Stephani said...

I really enjoyed hearing about your year experience on Etsy. Since I've been on the site for about a year too, I've had many of the same joys and frustrations, but it's so worth it! I also wanted to say how impressed I was with the improvement in your photography-amazing!

Terri said...

Congrats to you. Your jewelry is lovely, and I think your photography skills are wonderful as well.

Unknown said...

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Have a great weekend!

Nissa said...

Congrats on the first year. I'm also a jewelry designer/artist, I just started promoting my jewelry online. It is hard work, like you said, creating the jewelry is only the first step of a long process. I have yet to open an Esty shop and it is on my to do list. I'm a new follower (as soon as GFC starts working for me agian)
Nissa
you can find me at
http://versatilejewelry.blogspot.com

Handmade in Israel said...

Happy Birthday to your shop! I arrived here from The Hairy Peach (such beatuful earrings and what a kind thing to do!!). Wishing you lots more success and yes, your photos have gotten a ton better and look great!