1st Ever Free Giveaway Contest!

I'm so excited to announce that I'm doing my first ever giveaway contest!  So for those of you who may have been browsing some of my items...here's your chance to win something for free.  That's right, I said FREE.

And who doesn't like free stuff?  Especially when it's handmade from the heart?

And since I'm in a good mood, I'll also let the winner choose the prize...open to any item in my shop under $40! Please read the rules and instructions on how to enter below.

I have a lot of fun entering these types of giveaways so I hope you do too! :D


Rules:

1. Contest ends:  February 6, 2011...winner will be announced that night.

2. The prize will be an item from my Etsy shop of your choice, but is limited to items under $40.

3. Seven maximum entries per person (one for each criteria).

4. Use separate comments for each entry.


How to Enter:
(All entries must be made as a comment on this blog post ....please make sure to do separate comments for each entry)

1. Follow this blog (on the right sidebar of this page) and comment that you now follow or already follow it.

2. 'Like' my Facebook fanpage and comment that you are now a fan or were already a fan.
http://www.facebook.com/morninglorias

3. Post a link of your favorite item (under $40) from my Etsy shop to a comment.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/morninglorias
(I would also LOVE to know why this item is your favorite!)

4. Post a link of your favorite item from my Etsy shop to YOUR facebook, twitter, and/or blog...and comment that you have done so. (post a comment for EACH one that you do and please leave a link to your blog/facebook/twitter)

4. Follow my twitter and comment that you now follow me or already do.
http://twitter.com/MorninGlorias

5. 'Heart' my shop on Etsy and post a comment that you have done so or already do.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/morninglorias

That's SEVEN ways to enter!  Remember, the more you enter..the more likely you are to win!

Good luck!!!

MorninGloria

Letter to Etsy Newbies...

Recently a friend of mine wrote to me telling me she was interested in selling her crafts and she wanted to know how I got started and if I had any advice.  I thought I'd write her a quick response, but as I began writing I realized that I could write a book! I didn't, but I wanted to share what I wrote because I remember what it was like when I was new to Etsy and so overwhelmed and confused.  Hope this helps!

 Here's what I wrote:

Hi Valerie! So good to hear from you! Oh man, getting into my own business has been a long journey, but very rewarding (i'm actually creating/working right now).  I'm so glad you're interested in selling your crafts.

I've been making jewelry and craft items all my life, but 4 yrs ago I began making the beaded flowers when I got a pen with a beaded flower on it so I took it apart and learned how to create it.  I don't know if you remember, I'd wear them to dance class often.  Well, since then, I've just been making them more and getting better and better and never really thought about selling them, but last summer a bunch of dancers from a workshop wanted to buy them so I began selling them.  I'd always loved Etsy and had wanted to one day create my own shop and I figured this was my push to do so.

It's been a LONG and TIME CONSUMING learning process, but essentially little by little I learned how to brand and market, how to use my camera and what angles and lighting look best, what my target demographic is, and pricing.  I can't stress enough the time commitment because as long as one item takes to create, it tooks 4x the amount of time to take pictures, describe/price/post them, and to promote.  Not to mention the time to research products, supplies, and the competition. And trust me, I'M STILL LEARNING.

There's a lot of amazing tools that have guided me (I didn't just come up with it on my own) including the forums on Etsy, other sites related to Etsy, and this great book: "The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and On-Line".

I have been so rewarded by this adventure, but some things I didn't know before that I know now are

1. Don't expect to make money right away. It can take 2-3 years before making a real profit
2. BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET (I tend to get carried away when buying new supplies)
3. Research BEFORE opening your Etsy shop. I made a lot of mistakes with pricing, product description, and pictures that took me so much time to redo that I wished I had taken the time to research what were the best way to do things.
4. Get a seller's permit.  Technically, all people on Etsy should have one, but not all do.  I'd say do it to be sure, and also that way if you're ever interested in selling at events or craft fairs, you have it.


I hope this helps and doesn't scare you away because it truly has been one of the most rewarding experiences for me and I'm going to keep doing it for life.

Gloria

Front Page..

Every time I log onto Etsy, I secretly wish to see one of my items on the front page. I feel like an outsider that desperately wants to get into the cool kids club where I can say 'My shop has been featured on the front page of Etsy!'.



I keep hearing that you need to have good pictures and a unique product. Well, I feel as if I have that, but I've noticed that a lot of the shops on there have a lot of sales as well (at least compared to me) so do I need to have high sales in order to be considered worthy?

I know there is some frustration going on about so-called front page favoritism, but I just want to get on there once. ONCE! Is that so much to ask?!

I know I'm not alone in this...I just needed to vent it all out. Thanks for listening/reading whoever you are.

Christmas is over!

And I'm already wanting to re-vamp my shop, make new items, promote like crazy, and work 10 times harder!  I'm destined to make this business work, otherwise I would have wasted a lot of time and a lot of money! This is my MorninGloria's list of New Year's resolutions:

1. Get business license/seller's permit/Employee Identification Number....
         I've been putting these off just because of all the paperwork, but I need to just get it over with so that I can become a legitimate business.  Also, I need these for my next resolution.

2. Business checking account.
        In order to organize my finances, I need to get a separate account, with separate checks and debit card because come tax season...it's gonna be a big hassle to separate business and personal expenses...

3. Set up my office/creating space.
         I'm almost done with this...getting organized in my bedroom i'm renting out so that I can work more productively.

4.  Applying for craft fairs.
         It took me a while to find a decent site that lists craft shows around my area so I'm going to try to sign up for them ahead of time.

5.  Making items for myself.
         I've been so focused on making items to sell, I hardly have anything for myself! One of my favorite things is when I'm wearing one of my items and I get complimented on it.

This is a start and I'm sure I'll keep contributing to this list as time goes on.....

Happy New Year everyone!
      

Unknown Etsy Tools...please share!

A couple weeks ago I started a forum on Etsy asking if anyone knew of any obscure tools that could help run their Etsy shop better.  I got a crazy amount of responses and was even featured on the weekly email Etsy sends out! I ended up going through the whole thread and compiling a list of all the links people sent me. I don't know yet what they all are, but I figured it'd be nice to have them in one place to share. ENJOY!!!



http://www.etsy.com/poster_sketch.php
http://www.etsy.com/tag_fractal.php
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-to-make-a-treasury-the-nuts-and-bolts-688/
www.craftopolis.com
www.craftcult.com
www.craftweasel.com
www.etsyhacks.com
www.statsy.com
http://Cr8tivity.com 
http://www.rolbe.com/etsy.htm
www.yaami.com
http://statsy.org/vutrac.php
Forum Wrangler: http://www.etsyhacks.com/greasemonkey/forum_wrangler/
Forum Nav Bar: http://www.etsyhacks.com/greasemonkey/forum_navbar/
Forum Permalink: http://www.etsyhacks.com/greasemonkey/forum_permalinks/
Admin Spotting: http://www.etsyhacks.com/greasemonkey/adminspotting/
More codes: http://www.etsy.com/storque/search/tags/handmade-code/
http://etsyhacks.com/greasemonkey/copy_listing/
Search for fabric on etsy by color: http://www.morecloth.com/
http://www.easyetsy.com
http://embellishyourself.blogspot.com/2009/09/want-to-add-your-etsy-shop-to-facebook.html
http://www.robgrantart.com/etsyapps/etsysaver
http://26olivestreet.com/colormatch/
http://danieldickison.com/etsyaddict/
http://www.makerspot.com/ 
http://www.sellit.com/
http://www.soopsee.com/
developer.etsy.com/applications/
http://www.iopus.com/imacros/home/fx/welcome.htm
Wish list sites: 
http://www.byhand.me/component/option,com_spotlight/task,wishlist/
ttp://www.amazon.com/wishlist/universal
http://twtwlst.com/
http://www.wishlistr.com/
http://www.myhandmaderegistry.com/
http://www.alliwantforchristmas.com/
http://www.etsy.com/storque/reviews/handmade-weddings-custom-registry-websites-1350/
http://www.myregistry.com/
http://www.wishpot.com/
http://www.wists.com/
http://www.thethingsiwant.com/
http://www.kaboodle.com/
http://www.socialmention.com
http://www.handmadehighway.com
http://www.letsets.com
http://craftweasel.com/tagtoolquery.do
http://www.accountingspotonline.com/2009/07/free-download-simple-profit-loss.htm
http://www.batchgeocode.com/
http://evenhoward.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/on-google-shopping/
http://www.rolbe.com/etsy.htm
http://www.gotogreatpanes.com/blog/
http://www.squidoo.com/etsy-tools
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/45065
http://etsytechnologyhelp.blogspot.com/
Statsy Vutrac allows you track each of your items' views across periods of time! Vutrac also saves a history of previous updates: http://statsy.org/vutrac.php
Statsy Locator searches Etsy search results for an item and tells you on which page and what place it is: http://statsy.org/locator.php
The Biggest Fan tool shows you your top 5 fans: http://statsy.org/biggest_fan.php
You can get notified every time you are featured on Etsy's front page:http://statsy.org/featurator.php
http://awesomechicksofetsy.blogspot.com/
http://www.wordle.net/

AND.....
the new craftomania toolbar with many of these links added!

http://craftomania.OurToolbar.com/




Here's a link to the forum:


http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6284988

NEW TREASURY!!!

Teal, turquoise, and gold items. Check em out!


http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=90554

MorninGloria's ....Jewelry?

I've been struggling with the idea of starting a second Etsy shop for my other jewelry because I really wanted to focus the first one solely on French beaded flowers.  I was asking other sellers and friends for advice on shop names, but in the end, I decided to just combine my jewelry with my flower hair accessories.

Here's a picture of my first jewelry item...let me know what you think!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32411278