Handmade Monday: lovely beads and lovely customers

Since I last blogged, we've had the pleasure of my nephew's wedding at which my homemade jewellery was admired. You might remember a slightly anxious post about whether I should whip up a fascinator or not. In the end, I made one but didn't wear it. Good choice, I think, and I did notice some of the ladies were removing theirs as the day wore on!

Last weekend I had a visit from a regular customer to my Folksy shop. It's always great to know people like your jewellery enough to come back for more, and this particular lady shares my love of bronzite. A while ago, she bought a little delicate bracelet with drizzled glass beads in deep blue, gold and red, combined with bronze swirls as connectors round each bead. 

It took quite a lot of time and effort to make those connector links, so when the lady came back asking if I could make a matching necklace long enough to wear as a double strand, I was kind of glad that the nights are drawing in,and there are stacks of TV programmes we watch which you can still follow whilst shaping wire! I have to admit to having sore hands from gripping the pliers,and I won't be rushing to recreate this one in a five strand version, but I'm quite pleased with the result. 

This time I added other glass beads with different combinations of the same colours.  The effect is a bit Venetian, I think, don't you?  It's been delivered now and hopefully being enjoyed.  We had a lovely sunny Autumn day today, perfect to see these colours at their best.  

Visit http://handmadeharbour.blogspot.co.uk to see what other crafters have been up to this week,  

Alison

Celebrating two years of online selling

I am three today!

OK, so if it is the dog's birthday, that means it is also an anniversary for my Etsy shop, the first one I opened online, and means that I've now been selling online for a full two years.  I don't claim to have any special insight, but I must admit that hanging out in the Etsy, Folksy and Dreamaid forums, I've seen so many people start off with great enthusiasm and then realise how hard getting noticed is and fade away, that I do feel like a bit of a veteran!

It all has been much more complicated than I thought when I started out - I had that basic "I'll put it online, people will see it and buy it, job done" sort of idea.  I had never really thought about the competition for SEO, the complexities of pricing, how much time social networking would take etc.  Then there are the off-line tasks - photos, listings, business cards, packaging.  It really is a full time job, on top of a full time job.

This week's earrings

My advice to anyone starting out would be don't start unless you are really happy to spend more time on the business of selling than you are on making things.  This works out OK for me, as most of my jewellery is quick to make, and if I spent as much time on that as promoting, this tiny little house would be bursting at the seams.

I enjoy the selling, but the making is still the best part for me. I've moved on in terms of crafting skills as well, and I hope this shows in my work.  There is so much more material available now in terms of interesting and colourful gemstone and findings - as many of you know, I'm as much addicted to buying beads as making things!

And another pair of earrings!

I have five online shops (Folksy, Etsy, Dreamaid, Zibbet and Stylistic Gallery), but my main focus is Folksy, as it gives the best value for money in terms of SEO and that's really what gets online non-crafty customers to your shop.  I've nothing against crafters of course, but I want to reach the real magpies in the population who adore gemstone jewellery but don't want the hassle of making it themselves.  I've been very lucky with around 117 online sales across the shops in the 2 years, and only about 5 of those sales have been to other crafters or handmade shop owners.  Thanks to all my customers, as well as those folks who have given great advice over the two years - I literally couldn't have done it without you.

Other sales in the 'real' world have boosted my total to around 150, thanks mainly to colleagues in the day job, and it's great that they and some online customers are now regulars.  I don't sell to friends and family so if they admire something, I tend to end up giving it away (one of the many reasons why I'll never be a millionaire!) but I have inflicted a number of items on them as birthday and Christmas presents - poor things!

Enough rambling.  In the spirit of onwards and upwards, I'm celebrating this anniversary by launching my own website www.blueforestjewellery.com  Two years ago I could never have dreamed I'd be able to do this, so allow me a proud moment, please!  It is in it's early stages, though, and I'm still on a steep learning curve, so please pop along if you have time and do please send any comments you have.

Photography tips from a non-professional: Making your product photos stand out

This blog post on photography was so popular, I thought I'd dare to venture down that road again and show you my tips for post production, or making your product photos really pop after you've taken them.

I use Gimp but I'm sure the instructions are pretty much the same for other photo manipulation software.  Gimp is my choice because it's free and there are bits of it I can understand.  If only I had more time to work with it, I'm sure I could do some pretty cool things.  But I'm a confirmed amateur, and I'm deliberately avoiding any technical language here because I just don't understand it. 

Anyway, here goes!  Hope it's helpful.

Open your photo in Gimp - you perhaps want to make a copy to work on.  Here's some tigers eye and carnelian earrrings looking a little grey and flat.  What I'm showing you here is how to get a white background and make the image stand out but without distorting the colours or contrast of the product.

 Choose the 'colours' menu, and from that 'levels'

You get a graph - don't panic!  You are going to manipulate the graph, but it won't be like maths in school, honestly :-)

 Locate the little triangles underneath the graph at either end...

 ... and simply grab them and drag them to where the black shape on your graph starts.  I've started with the right hand one and pulled it over to meet the end of the black blob graph shape.  Note how this has already lighted the background from grey to off white. ('grab' and 'blob' are technical terms, honest!)

You can experiment with moving the triangles further, but you'll see once you are in the zone of the black shape of the graph, you'll start to distort the colour and contrast.  Keep the triangles right at the start of where the graphs start at either side, and you'll generally get the clearest image.

 You can save now, or alternatively, you can pick up the 'dropper' icon on the right....

 ...and pop it anywhere on your background.  With a bit of luck, it will give you a snow white background too!  Combine the two approaches and your product should really start to stand out.

 You've done it!  Any problems, you can always use 'reset'.  Don't forget to save before you quit. 

Phew!  My first tutorial with screen shots.  Let me know if it's useful, and if I've made any mistakes. 

Alison

Spam getting so silly

Is it me, or are hoax emails getting very silly these days? I'm sure that people trying to get your personal and bank account details used to be much more sophisticated in their methods. Or perhaps it's just the folk spamming me who don't put a lot of effort in! Someone's told them I can be daft sometimes and they've really taken that message to heart. Well, I may be a little crazy most of the time, but not gullible enough to fall for most of these scams.

So just for the record, scammers please note the following.

I have no bank accounts in any other country, so I'm not going to respond to anything in French, German or any other language warning me that my account is about to be closed unless I reactivate it by clicking the link.
Nor am I interested in posing as a beneficiary of anyone I don't know who has died without making a will or leaving any family. You may well be right, for all I know, in stating that this is legal in the Netherlands, but I'm pretty sure it counts as fraud in the UK and prison food holds no attraction for me.

Being a lifelong liberal, the prospect of helping the Gadaffi family protect their assets in the UK, even for the substantial portion of the spoils that was offered, is just offensive to me. Similarly, the problems the super-rich encounter moving money around the world leave me cold and I'd rather help them pay more tax than launder their assets, thanks.

And finally, I know the world is becoming more informal all the time - heck, I spend as much time on Facebook as the next crafty woman - but if you're asking for my bank account details but only tell me your first name, then, call me old-fashioned, but I'm going to be quite suspicious right from the start. And if you really are the CEO of a major international bank, you should really get someone to run your emails through a spell check before they are sent. There is no 'j' in 'urgently'.

Do keep sending the messages, though. Some of them are really quite funny. I like a good LOL!

Good and bad for online sales

As my regular blog followers know, I think there's a lot of luck involved in successful online selling (see this blog post on luck if you missed it). However, looking at my stats now another financial year has ended, there seem to be some patterns in my sales and some things that I can't back up with hard evidence, but are serious 'hunches' and I wondered how many of you agree that these are good or bad for sales and views? Here goes, and remember each one is just my opinion or gut feeling.

A great eternal truth of shopping:owls a

re really popular

The recent sunny weather prompted these thoughts and my first proposition:

Sunny weather is bad for online selling. People are outside instead of in browsing the Internet. So bad weather is much better for views and sales.

Winter, autumn and spring are better than summer for sales and views. Even if it's a bad summer in the UK, there's still less Internet activity. This applies to Etsy too, even though it's a global marketplace.

August is the worst month, October is the best. It's either very organised Christmas shoppers who are attracted to my shops, or the change to autumn sends more people to online buying.

Weekdays are better than weekends for both views and sales. The exception is late Saturday night when some folks clearly go back to things they spotted online earlier, and being at the most relaxed and happy point of the week, decide they will, after all, treat themselves.

Evenings are better than daytimes - certainly for views.  But sales can happen at any time of the day or night.

Sales (as in discounts) and promotions are counter productive for smaller sellers without high numbers of returning/repeat customers. If your customers mostly find you online through searches (rather than being sellers on Folksy or Etsy themselves), then they are probably browsing your shop for the first time. That means they never knew what your non-sale prices were, and they probably don't care much if you've got 20% off today. In fact, if they like your product and it fits their needs, they may well have been prepared to pay the original price for it. 

Returning customers are different but if they think you might be having a sale, they may decide to wait for it, and in the meantime get distracted and buy elsewhere.  Better to offer your returning customers a discount for future purchases, then they may be attracted to buy whenever they see something they like, knowing they are making a saving.

And lastly, and most controversially...

Like marmite - love it or not, instant reaction

Hard selling and persuasion don't work.  At least, not for me with jewellery. Jewellery's not like double glazing - you don't need to be talked into the merits of getting it, you either like it enough to buy it, or you don't. 

Good pictures and descriptions help to reinforce that gut reaction you get when you see something you really like.  But they don't actually sell items. 'Wanting' and 'needing' feelings control whether people buy things, even so-called impulse buys, and you as a seller can't really influence much whether your potential buyer has those feelings.  Sure, you can tempt them.  So the main thing is to make sure those potential buyers can see your products... and that means focusing on listing and SEO. 

What do you think - agree or disagree?

Wordless Wednesday: Lovely pendants - which is your favourite?

1. Moss agate
2. Moukaite heart
3. Riban jasper leaf
4. Purple crazy lace agate
5. Faceted smokey quartz

1. Jasper teardrop
2. Unakite
3. Chohua jasper
4. African blood stone heart
5. Pink leopard jasper

Happy Holidays everyone

I hope 2010 has been good for you?

I've had plenty of sales in the shops this year, in fact, I'm close to a 100 sales across the net and at work in 14 months of selling.  And I've enjoyed blogging and meeting more fellow crafters.  It's been a particular pleasure to connect with Chris from Chrissys for cards and Cathy from Headpinwear on Etsy - I count both of them as great and supportive virtual friends. 



Chris sent me these beautiful cards and gift tags for Christmas - she is so talented!  And Cathy managed to span the miles from California to Coventry by getting me these fantastic beads sent from a supplier we've both used and love - Mintdestash on Etsy. 

Will be blogging soon about the power of luck in online selling soon - please look out for that if you're an online sellers - I would really love to hear your views.

There's still a couple of days to enter the Lonely Jewelers December giveaway - you could be adopting a pair of my snowpeople earrings if you win! Visit the blog here for details of how to enter.

Happy holidays to everyone celebrating this week and to all my lovely blog followers, and here's to a happy and successful 2011!

The Handmade movement can solve your problems!

I've said it before - the handmade movement has the potential to outshine all other retail in customer service.  Here's just a couple of recent examples of how Etsy and Folksy have solved dilemmas for me!

Problem: you want to send a little gift to someone you know from Etsy.  The person in question lives thousands of miles away and you don't know her address.  You don't really know what her taste in presents is.  What do you do?

Answer: You contact Christie at The Spotted Barn on Etsy who is only too happy to arrange a custom gift listing for your friend to come and choose what she would like from the fabulous selection of purses and wallets on offer in the shop.  Then you go back and buy a couple more wallets because they are such perfect Christmas presents - here's an example:

Problem: you need flowers in a hurry, to go to a close relative who lives a couple of hundred miles away.  You want beautiful flowers that will stand out and last.  You want to be able to send a card and have guaranteed and quick delivery. 

Answer: You buy these incredibly beautiful beaded flowers from Fleur de Perles on Folksy - or in fact, any of Megan's creations, which sometimes look so lifelike you have to check twice to see if they are alive!  Megan helped get these to my mum-in-law in double quick time, prettily packaged and with a personalised card and message.  It was quicker, easier and much more friendly than dealing with an big online florist. 

I love to give great customer service in all my shops, and I like to receive it even better. Thanks to both these seller for being a credit to the handmade movement.

Chaos and confusion

Blue Forest Jewellery is in a proper maelstrom!  The effects of a busy working week in the day job, the thousands of ideas for pieces that are filling up my ideas book at a rate of knots, the fact that the dog needs walking earlier in the day because the evenings are getting shorter, the need to find somewhere to stay near Swansea for mother-in-laws imminent operation - it's all adding up to putting me in a right pickle.  And to top it all, the OH is out and I've had to navigate my way to the kitchen and explore the mysteries of the fridge!

This is my beading table.  Frightening, isn't it?  It's not uncommon for people to find WW2 bombs in their gardens here in Coventry (thankfully can't recall anyone ever been hurt as a result), and you might be forgiven for thinking that one had exploded in my living room, but no, I have no such excuse. 








Odd really, because my desk at the day job is always kept paper-free.  My shop paperwork, on the other hand, is also chaotic.  Since I decided not to list the same pieces on Etsy and Folksy and Dreamaid and set up a new spreadsheet to keep track, I've been in total confusion.  Oh, and I'm trying to launch a new 'tribal geometric' range, and can't decide which shop to put it in.




Enough moaning!  The beading table has to stay messy - though perhaps not that messy - because when I tidy up, the ideas always seem to dry up too.  And I'm sure the shops will be fine.  So long as I don't customers the wrong item, nothing can be too wrong, can it?

So how do you keep organised?  Any tips gratefully received.

The power of chance or how to improve your earring shots by serendipity

 


The whole household, even the dog, slept late on Sunday morning. We are all still pretty exhausted from the holiday! So that is how I discovered, by chance, that the lunch time light is just as good for taking photos as the early morning. But the bigger revelation was yet to come... 

Earrings have always been a bit of a nightmare to photograph. They just don't hang as they would from your ear when placed on a flat surface, and even on an earring tree, it's just not the same as being in someones ear, and the light is blocked behind the hanging beads. 




 


The sun had warped the piece of silver card I normally use for flat shots. Just to see what would happen, I rested a pair of drop earrings from the edge of the warped card and put my camera in close. 






 



It wasn't quite the angle I needed, but still it was a promising shot. I reached for the nearest book to wedge them a bit higher ("Beginners Italian" free with one of the papers a while ago!) And that was it. 




 


The angle seemed to be nearly perfect, with the light beautifully enhancing the semi precious stones instead of darkening them. Whether that will always be the case, who knows, but I'm pleased enough with the results for one day. 

So my top photography tip is have a good lie in on a Sunday, and let nature and the power of the sun help you out! The downside is I now have loads of photographs to retake but never mind, that's quite a nice problem to have. 

I hope you like the new pictures. Let me know what you think.

The joy of handmade

If you've bought a handmade item, why did you choose it?  Was it because it was unique, one of a kind?  That's got to be the number 1 reason.  In an era when the vast majority of things we buy are mass produced,  unique item has to be a real winner.  No-one else will have one!  And of course with Dreamaid you know in addition that your purchase is going to benefit someone less fortunate than yourself.

Handmade items really are  made with love

Another big plus is having something made with love.  You will get an item that been through a design and production process.  The difference is, that design process may well have taken place in the crafter's head, in the shower or at the kitchen table.  Sometimes an idea of mine is kind enough to land itself when I'm near my design book, but often they come along on the way to the day job, whilst walking the dog or halfway through Coronation Street!

Then there's production.  With one unique item to make, it's got to be right.  With jewellery, sometimes the actual act of putting together doesn't take a lot of time, but again we crafters have to find those few still minutes in a busy day.

Stand well back - knotting in progress!

I love making statement semi-precious stone necklaces where each bead is knotted individually.  The knots take a little while to do, but it's beautifully quiet time and a chance to think about what you're making, and wonder who might wear it and for what occasion. 

There is one part of the process some of us struggle with and might like to get someone else to do, and that's the photography.  You want your picture to convey the beauty of your handcrafted lovely - but often the light, the camera and the props have other ideas!  That's why handmade items are usually even better than you imagined when you see them for real.

So there's a quick step through the handmade creative process.  Now you know that the process begins and ends with a love of crafting, inspiration from real life and a desire to make something really beautiful that will be unique for you.  Each of the sellers on Dreamaid has also made a commitment to donate part of their profit to help those in the Third World.  Together with you, they can help to share that message of love further with each handmade item.

So smile as you browse!