The Advantages of Being A Street Team Member...

In my other blog, I recently blogged about how the sea glass community is a different breed, because we are constantly sharing ideas, information, etc. I compared it to a few instances where jewelry-makers questioned me about who I use for supplies, business cards, banners, etc. In these instances, I either hardly knew the person, or didn't know them at all, and when I asked them who they purchased their components from, they couldn't seem to recall. So basically, they were just picking my brain on the how, when, where, and whys of my little operation...but weren't bringing anything to the table to share. After re-reading that blog entry, I realized that I did have several great relationships with fellow crafters...members of the EtsyNJ street team.

EtsyNJ is simply a large group of crafters from New Jersey that sell their handmade creations on Etsy.com. I have been friends with some of these members for nearly 3 years and the friendships have been invaluable to me in my crafting business.

Much like the sea glass community, the many of the members share information about craft fairs, suppliers, share their experience about consigning (what gift shop is good,which to avoid) etc. We plan to do shows together, so we can watch each others display during the show and in some cases, our children that play with each other during some of the shows. A couple members of the team have even hosted their own shows, and they were very well supported by the EtsyNJ team. One of the team's members opened up her own brick & mortar shop, JerseyMade, which offers handmade goods from over 20 members of the EtsyNJ street team, along with several other area crafters! And we've donated our handmade goods to help raise money for several charitable causes over the years.

There are many more advantages of being a member of this street team than those listed above. EtsyNJ has has group advertising in both the print media, and on the internet, and the power of many working together to benefit the whole team has proven to work time and time again.

Being a member of EtsyNJ has certainly helped my online sea glass jewelry business. Having the opinions and feedback from members has helped to avoid unpleasant situations/shows, find little known suppliers and it has helped me expand my business into gift shops and galleries in and around the area. If you are a member of Etsy, and you haven't joined a street team local to your area yet, you should consider doing so. I'd like to say, that the positives far out-number the negatives...but I really can't think of any negatives when it comes to being a member of the EtsyNJ team.

Being a member of a street team will help you grow your business...it's helped me tremendously with mine.

'til next time...
R

Saturday Craft Fair- Daffodil Days, Mt Holly, NJ

An outdoor show in Burlington County and there is no rain in the forecast? Could it be? On Saturday, April 17th in Historic Mt. Holly, New Jersey, along with other members of the EtsyNJ street team, I will be bringing my authentic Sea Glass jewelry to the 1st annual Daffodil Days Festival.

The last show I attended in the area, The Fire & Ice Festival, was mobbed with visitors despite temperatures in the low 20s and brutal winds. There was dozens of attractions at that show and I'm interested in what the DD festival planning committee has scheduled for this event. With sun and temps in the upper 60s expected on a spring Saturday, this festival should be a great way to spend your Saturday.

The show begins at 9am and runs until 3pm... and the local shops will probably be open until early evening, including JerseyMade. Stop in and say hi to Holly, tell her CreationsByRobin sent you : )

'til next time...
R

The Start Of The Holiday Season- EtsyNJ Sale!!

Thanksgiving is upon us in the US...and that kicks off the holiday shopping frenzy! The malls are gearing up for what they hope is a busy season, the "box-stores" are all extending shopping hours and getting ready for a crazy "Black Friday"...the most important shopping day of the season for retail shops.

The handmade community is also gearing up for the holiday season...and the EtsyNJ street team has planned something special for those shoppers that just love to buy and give handmade gifts (and maybe purchase a few things for themselves)

EtsyNJ Thanksgiving Sale

More than 50 members of EtsyNJ team are participating in the sale which starts today, November 25th and runs through Cyber-Monday, November 30th! The members of the EtsyNJ team have either lowered prices, giving a percentage off an order, offer free shipping, or have a buy free gift with purchase/buy one get one offer in their shops (please check the individual shops to see what they are offering in this sale)

My shop, CreationsByRobin, will be offering free shipping world wide for this sale and I'll be marking down prices on selected items during the 6 day sale... if there is something that has caught your eye in my shop...check back often, you never know if the price will be reduced during the sale. Plus, I'll be adding a few new items during our 6 day sale!

Why bother battling the traffic, only to find empty-shelves and insanely long lines at check-out? Stay home, pour yourself a cup of tea and come check out what talented EtsyNJ team has created for those on your holiday shopping list...or maybe pick out a few things for yourself...after preparing and cooking on Thanksgiving, you deserve it. Click on the EtsyNJ Sale link above and see what we have for you and yours....

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!


R

Summer Shows, Economy Woes & New Sea Glass Necklaces

I was hoping for a great show this past Saturday at OM Baby in Pt. Pleasant. The weather report was for mostly cloudy skies and no rain. (two days before the show) The day before, the weather called for partly cloudy skies... the day of the show was... sun, sun and more sun. Not a cloud to found in the sky... and abundant sun in a beach town usually doesn't bode well for lots of traffic...except near the beach.

The traffic flow was resembled a leaky sink. People dripped in every once in awhile.... that doesn't mean it was an awful show... far from it. Doing a show with 20+ EtsyNJ vendors is always fun. I had not had the chance to talk face to face with some of the members before, so it was great to put a face/faces to the shop. There was quite a bit of future show info being shared, lots of show stories being shared, etc. It also helped that Kim, our show's organizer, brought in a jazz guitarist for a bit a flavor.

In the afternoon, the beach started clearing out and we did see a bit more traffic. Many tables did see a bit of customer action, a couple sales at the end of a show are usually a great way to end a show...no matter how well you've done during the day.

Some insight into buying habits at this show... It certainly appears that the slow economy is on people's minds. Disposable income seems very limited and in many cases non-existent. I watched several people walk away from a vendor's space empty-handed, even in spite of raving about a product that they loved. I also noticed that the vendors that accepted credit cards, were using their knucklebusters during the show. IMO, accepting credit cards is an absolute must when it comes to doing shows...at least at this point.

This show was the first where people seemed to be buying items for themselves, rather than buying items as future gifts. In all, I think I need to re-think what makes a show successful. For me, the benchmark for a good show used to be 8x-10x table fee. I think in this economy, that number needs adjusting. And marketing/promoting my shop with potential customers at shows needs to be paramount. Buyers have so many quality handmade items to choose from, so getting them to stop at one of my online shops after a show has become more important than ever.

My new silver order was delivered today, so I'll have several new items over the next few days. The images of my latest Etsy listings are above.

'til next time...

R

More Opportunities as Spring Approaches...plus new Etsy Creations

After a busy weekend, most of it spent away from my craft table, discussing the possibility of consigning items or renting space in a busy Long Beach Island gift shop, another opportunity presented itself.

On Monday I received an email about contacting a reporter for the local newspaper. He is researching info about Etsy and he was looking for a few crafters in the readership area to interview. Abbie (from http://www.Abbieroad.etsy.com) gave me a heads-up about the possibility of being contacted and sure enough...

I called him back and did the interview over the phone, while discussing my Etsy shop. His angle appears to be how the internet is influencing crafter, specifically those with Etsy shops. He mentioned Facebook, Twitter and seemed very interested in how the EtsyNJ team communicates through team websites, our yahoogroup and the Etsy forums. We talked about sea glass, how eco-friendly plays a big part of many Etsy member's lifestyles, etc.

It was quite exciting to have this opportunity. About 50% of my craft shows are in the area covered by the newspaper and it's actually how I find out about many of the smaller, local craft shows. Hopefully, if the article is published, he'll send me a heads-up so i can buy the paper : )
(tho a link to the online paper would be better...lol)

I did get to my crafting table on Sunday and made several new sea glass necklaces, a couple of which have already found their way into my Etsy shop (the above image is the new Pale Seafoam necklace) I also created another Teal, a light blue piece and my first ever red sea glass necklace.

I'll be adding a few pairs of earrings during the week, and plan on cleaning up my Art Fire and 1000 Market shops a bit for the weekend. Both shops have been neglected and I'd like to see if a few new items would bring some momentum to these shops.

Not much on the craft show schedule... tho I did add a show in Waretown for March 21.
The Waterfowling Day show should be a fun show, with quite a bit to do for families. The show is held at the Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education in Waretown, NJ.
The grounds are beautiful and eco-friendly event should be a lot of fun...come check it out if you're in Ocean County on 3/21!!

'til next time...
R

Spring Fever Fling

Members of the Etsy NJ street team are holding a Spring Fever Fling Sale! For the first 2 weeks of March, more than 30 shops will offer various types of sales in their Etsy shops. To see all the participating members shops, click on the banner in the right hand column---------------->

I'll be offering free shipping for every sale, along with a gift with each item purchased. I'll also run a couple of special blog sales to coincide with the Spring Fever Fling Sale.

If there is something in my shop that you've had your eye on, keep checking back to my blogs (my sea glass blog is creationsbyrobinseaglass.blogspot.com) because you never know how crazy this Spring Fever may get...and you never know, it may just spread to my other online shops too!

'til next time .... and that may be sooner than you think ; )

R

Holiday Shopping, Sales, Cyber Monday and New Items

Well another holiday season is upon us and it's once again time for the insane holiday shopping season. Unfortunately, I'll be at the store on Black Friday (because I work in retail) but I don't plan on doing much shopping, if any at all, this weekend.

Of course, selling handmade items online is part of the shopping craziness and promoting on Etsy.com at this time of the year might just be more insane than waking up early Friday morning to stand on line for a shot at a great buy at the stores.

However, it is so convenient to shop online. I can stay in my warm house, sit with a hot cup of coffee and browse Etsy looking for some of the great bargains that the handmade community is offering this holiday season. As a seller, I'll have my own sales going over this holiday shopping weekend.

Starting with Black Friday, I'll be placing items into yet to be created category... Black thru Cyber Sale. I'll also be offering free shipping on any item in my shop, along with a gift with purchase (mention my thread in this blog and you can receive free shipping on any item right now!) My Black thru Cyber Sale category will have sales on some current items and I'll listing new items, right into the category at a sale price. There will be something new going into the sale category everyday and I think some people will be surprised at some of the sale prices.

The EtsyNJ Street Team has planned a big sale on Cyber Monday (click on the banner at the top right of this page for more info!) and I'm very excited about clicking on all of their shop's and buying handmade gifts for the people on my list this year. Come check out our sale... there will something for everyone on your shopping list this year!

The picture above is a new listing to my Etsy shop. It's one of the nicest necklaces I've made to this point and it was my most talked about item at this past weekend's craft show. Hopefully, by the weekend, I'll have a couple pairs of cobalt blue sea glass earrings ready to add to the shop, along with a holiday necklace made with sea glass.

Hope I see you at the sales!

'til next time...

R

Featured On the EtsyNJ Team Page, WeirdNJ ad, Sea Glass Festival...

Another busy weekend ... a Saturday trip to Delaware for the North American Sea Glass Association's annual Sea Glass Festival.. and Sunday, a marathon session at my crafting table as I tried to finish a few projects and build up my Etsy shop inventory and try to get my craft show inventories back up. 2 weekends from today, I have 2 shows (at different locations) and following a one week break, I have shows on back-to-back weekends.

After my all day creating spree, I took a short break to check out a few blogs and went over to the EtsyNJ team's page and what a surprise I received when the page loaded! My Blissful Autumn bracelet staring me back at me. It seems my bracelet was nominated and selected for a weekly promotion.

It's a nice little promotion because our street team's advertisement in the October edition of WeirdNJ just hit the news stands. The ad links interested customers to both all of the team's Etsy shops and the EtsyNJ website ( http://etsynj.com/ ), where my bracelet is (proudly) displayed.

So back to the Sea Glass festival. If you're new to my blog, I'm into sea glass. I love getting out on the beach, walking block after block to see what the ocean left behind. I love using sea glass in some of my jewelry creations and I also have jars filled with sea glass displayed around my house.

So finally, the Sea Glass Festival was on the east coast and only an hour away. My hubby and I originally planned on attending both days, but because of my upcoming show schedule, I knew it'd be best to limit the festival to one day.

The festival was held in a small-ish facility that was part of the University of Delaware and the turnout was HUGE. If I were a vendor at the show, I would've been very excited by the volume of people pouring into the rooms and then a bit angry as the crowds kept coming. Each room was just a huge log-jam of people.

There were many times I was trying to see specific exhibits and was just stuck in the same spot for what felt like 10 minutes or more. During these times, I couldn't move more than 6 inches in any direction, much less get near the table I was trying to see. The few tables I did get to, I was trapped once I was there because the people also trying to get to the table were 3 and 4 people deep and there was just nowhere to go!

Had the fire department arrived, I wouldn't have been surprised to see them close down the whole building. I don't know what the building's occupancy was, but I would venture that it was exceeded by 3x or 4x the amount and that doesn't include the folks outside hoping to get back in!

For myself, the highlights of the show included meeting a few exhibitors that I have purchased sea glass from on the Internet and I was able to meet Richard LaMotte, author of a book on sea glass that I consider my "bible on the subject". He signed my book and evaluated 3 pieces of sea glass for me... telling me my black piece dates back to probably the mid to late 1800s and the latest exciting find from this summer, a beautiful, frosty teal piece that I found on Long Beach Island, looks to be at least 100 years old and is rare in it's coloring. When held in the light, the piece exhibits more blue tones than found in most teals. He called it a rare find and one he hasn't come across but once or twice. (this one has already been made into a necklace...wire-wrapped and will remain in my personal collection)

Overall, it was an okay day. I had a chance to see a few colors of sea glass I've never seen before...lots of beautiful reds, blues and lavenders and even several pieces of the the ever-elusive orange color. I like many other people who went to the festival were disappointed by the small rooms. Unlike many of the people, I stayed for a few hours trying to get to see all the exhibits.

Unfortunately, many people left after a few futile attempts to see the exhibits and many of those vendors would probably be disappointed to see that many potential customers take their money home with them.

I know, as a vendor, I would have been more than just a bit upset. Oh well, maybe next year.


'til next time...

R

EtsyNJ Street Team-- We received a grant from Etsy!!

The EtsyNJ street team received a grant from Etsy last week and pending Etsy's approval, the NJ street team will be running a full page ad in Weird NJ. The ad will run during the October issue, which is just in time for the holidays.

The ad will feature several of the NJ members and have a link to a in-progress web page that will feature links to all participating members. All participating members will agree to a little special for any purchases made from this ad.

The team unexpectedly received more support from our members than originally thought. So it looks like another ad featuring the team is in the works and probably several more to follow.

It's great to be a part, albeit a small part, of the EtsyNJ team. They are so involved in the promoting of the team with a daily promotion in the Etsy forums, a Yahoo group (where we share info with each other) a couple of team websites and who knows how many treasuries each week (I believe I'm currently in 3 or 4 treasuries) It always great to run into team members at craft shows and to meet many of the members I only know through Etsy's forums or our yahoo group.

EtsyNJ ROCKS!!

Okay now to my personal Etsy happenings... My JOB has been beating me up a bit this summer. After taking it slowly for much of the summer, I'm now trying to play catch up. I have a show coming up in a less than 2 weeks and I really need to bear down and spend some quality time with my creating-table.

I did put in a few hours this past weekend, putting together several sea glass pieces and then a nother couple of hours taking photos, downloading, cropping , etc the images to be listed on Etsy.

Of course out of the 6 I listed, half of them have already sold and I have a pending inquiry on another piece. I'm very thrilled for the sales (Okay, I'm more than thrilled-- I scream YAY---to myself ) but I almost don't want to list anymore pieces before the show. I'd really like to have a couple of pieces of sea glass jewelry that will WOW the customers, as I do a show in this town later in the fall.

It would be great to continue to establish myself as one of the sellers in the area to see if you're interested in buying sea glass jewelry. My s/o and I often have people stop by my table to chat about sea glass and pick our brains on where we look for our gems or how I make the jewelry. It's always fun to sit and listen to their stories about their best finds (my s/o always make a mental note when people mention exactly where they always find a lot of sea glass...and never gives up our secret little stretch of beach where we continue to find rare colors and the odd jewelry quality piece)

Just another quick thanks for the EtsyNJ team... with so many member promoting the team, it really does wonders for all of our stores and I'm so very glad to be a part of everything we are involved in!

til next time...

R

PS- The above sea glass bracelet is the next to go into my Etsy shop.... or perhaps I'll hold onto it until the craft show (tho I'd like to keep it for myself...lol)

Closing In On My 1 year Etsy Anniversary and A Milestone #

With less than a month to go before my first anniversary on Etsy, I'm closing in on a milestone I never thought I'd be talking about just yet.

Despite many fairly slow months on Etsy during late winter and the entire spring, I'm closing in on sale #100 (last night I made sale #99 Yay! picture to the left)) My 99th sale was made to a repeat customer and she has asked me to create a pair of earrings for her, to match her new bracelet. So it's possible the earrings will be #100!

I've had so much fun during my first year with Etsy. I was turned onto Etsy by one of my managers at my JOB, who was so excited about the chance to start her own online business and maybe retire from work a year or two early. Her excitement didn't last very long and she never got around to opening an Etsy shop, but she is very happy Etsy has worked out well for me.

There have been many people who have helped me with ideas and suggestions...too many to even remember everyone. But many thanks to Etsy members KimberQuinn, SouthPacificBody, CapturingLife, the entire EtsyNJ street team, Etsy admin for my shop critiques (which made a big difference in my shop's appearance) and the list could go on and on.

Show Announcements-

I will be doing the craft show at the Forked River's annual CrabFest on August 2nd. The show draws between 400-500 people every year and this year they will have 2 local radio stations broadcasting from the festival. The craft show will FREE for the public and we'll hopefully have nice weather and many walk-up customers.

I was also contacted about doing a show the following week in Lavallette, NJ. I'm waiting to hear back, for more info, but I'd like to get a 2nd show in before the end of the summer.

My fall schedule is filling up quickly and I'm already looking to commit to shows at Monsignor Donovan (in Toms River) and Southern Regional Craft Show (Manahawkin) and the people putting on the Forked River Craft Show are looking to have a November show just before Thanksgiving. These shows would probably fill up my November calendar.

So with all that being said, I better spend some time tonight at my work table. I have a lot of creating to do!

til next time...

R

The State Of Handmade, New Advertising Ideas, May Recap

Wow, it's been nearly a month since my last blog, sorry all! We've had some health issues recently in the family. I had a double ear infection that was just soooo much fun to deal with and my hubby has a more serious issue that has so far turned out to be more of a scare, than anything (we're keeping our fingers crossed) . But enough of the gloom and doom...

As of right now, I passed on all the shows for June, though I might do a local show later this month. After talking to many crafters, it appears that the state of the economy has hurt both customer turnout at shows and the amount of money they are spending. A couple of the shows I attended recently as a customer, seemed real slow and after talking to some of the vendors I knew, they agreed the economy has slowed things considerably.
There were several shows towards the end of the month I would liked to do, but with "life" just seems to have prevented these shows for happening for me.

Even though I wasn't up for getting on the computer to promote my items on Etsy for nearly two weeks, my shop did have a slightly better month in May than in either March or April! We finally hit the 90 sale mark late in the month and a fun trade with fellow EtsyNJ street teamer- CreationsByDanielle.etsy.com gave me my 91st sale and one less Father's Day gift to buy! YAY!

I'll be concentrating on building up my items in my shop. Over the last month several listings expired and along with the sales I made, the shop now has fewer than 2 dozen items listed. I'll be taking new pictures of some of the expired items later today, (sun permitting) and hopefully putting together a couple of pieces to be listed over the course of the next few days. I have several pieces of beach glass drilled and just waiting to be used, along with a beautiful light purple piece that I haven't figured out what I want to create with it. I'm thinking a wire-wrap, perhaps bezel-wrap, and using this gem as the center-piece on a necklace.


One very new advertising idea I came up with is using a site that pays for participation (there's a little banner on the top of this blog page, with a pair of my earrings in the banner!) It's pretty cool site, we talk about crafting ideas, projects we're working on, doing shows, etc, etc. The amount of Etsy members seem to be growing weekly and our chatting about Etsy has brought both attention to the site for other crafters and now I'm noticing some potential buyers have found my shop.
Just yesterday, I finally figured out how to add my Etsy mini to to my profile and last night I already received a message from a member asking me about my earrings... maybe a future customer?
I've already made a couple of sales by uploading pictures of items and including my shop address is the description (and you get paid for uploading 1 image per day). If you're looking for new places to promote your shop, click on the link at the top of this blog... it's free to join and you might find a few new customers on the site, while earning a little bit of $$ for participating! It's works great for me and I've already been paid for participation : )
Every little bit helps!!

til next time...
R