Handmade Street Smarts: Teaching and Business

My semester is officially done.  I graded the last of the exams, wrote the last of my papers, and submitted everything that needed turning in.  It feels absolutely amazing to be "done."  (Even though a grad student's work is never complete!)  This will also present me with the first opportunity to craft origami without everything looming large over my head.  I am excited, but I do have to admit that learning to teach and learning to run an online shop have a lot in common with one another!  I never realized how my teaching skills could help me be successful in other ways.

1. Be versatile.  Different people learn in different kinds of ways.  This was a hard lesson for me in the beginning of my teaching career.  We would all like to sit back and think that we know the best way to get information across to our audience, but the truth is that both teaching and selling handmade require an amazing deal of versatility.  Different people are receptive to different kinds of promotion.  Some care deeply about your descriptions while others will only pay attention to your photographs.  It is crucial to be a well-rounded individual when it comes to both.

2. Students understand visuals faster than they understand text.  When I teach, I inevitably resort to having a powerpoint at all times.  However it is rare when I have slides that are text heavy.  Usually, I try to create powerpoints filled with gorgeous images to draw in their attention.  After all, in Art History, the image is at the center of everything.  However this also is true for selling online.  For the most part it is your visuals which will keep people clicking in your shop.  Bright colors, clear images, detailed photography--all of these things are extremely important (as we all know!)

3. Repetition can be a good thing.  This is my general rule of thumb with blogging, but I have also found it extremely important when teaching.  Before the course begins, I try to identify four or five themes that I want students to come away with.  Let's be honest--they will forget most of the small detail-oriented factoids that they are forced to regurgitate on exams.  However, if you are consistently reiterating these themes, then hopefully they will understand and use those larger ideas long after the course has come and gone.  Branding your items is also very similar!  If you have a slogan, a logo, or even a target audience you need to constantly reiterate them so that people not only remember, but can identify you with a certain set of qualities.  They may not remember specific items, but they may have a general sense of what you sell and what you stand for.

4. Kindness goes a long way in the classroom.  I treat my students like peers and after reading my evaluations this semester, it seems that this is one of those things that they really appreciated.  I like to sit next to them in a circle as opposed to talking above them, I like to engage them in conversation both in and outside of the course, and I make myself available for help and clarification online and in my office.  After my first year, I feel like I am really starting to reach out and I know for a fact that they recognize this.  Having a shop online is not enough if you aren't willing to put yourself out there in the virtual world.  People want to get to know you and by making yourself available and treating your potential buyers with respect, then you will find yourself going farther and doing better.  

I am so excited that I successfully closed out my first year of teaching with a bang.  I will surely enjoy my origami-filled summer, but it has taught me a lot of invaluable lessons about how to connect with other people.  I hope that I can continue to do this for a very long time.

Past Installments of Handmade Street Smarts

Credit: Photograph by MsDotty on StockExchange

Lyrical Lunchbreak: American Boy by Estelle

So I am currently on my lunch break and I had an idea!  You know... the kind where a giant lightbulb appears over your head and blinks incessantly until you pursue said idea?  

I am a bit of a music afficionado in my off time (I know, you are all wondering, "can this girl really have anything else on her plate?").  So I wanted to take my love of music and combine it with my love of handmade shopping!  I wanted to bring some groovy, sultry, jamming beats to your RSS feeds to break of the monotony.  So I encourage you all to join me in your own blogs and participate in the Lyrical Lunchbreak!

The challenge is simple.

1. Find a song.

2. Look up the lyrics to the song and post a small except of them on your blog.

3. Find items or photographs that illustrate your lyrics and link them in the song.

4. Share them in a blog post!

Today's Lyrical Lunchbreak is the song "American Boy" by Estelle.

Take me on a trip, I'd like to go someday
Take me to New York, I'd love to see L.A.
I really want to come kick it with you
You'll be my American boy, American boy

Can we get away this weekend? Take me to Broadway
Let's go shopping baby then we'll go to a Café
Let's go on the subway, take me to your hood
I never been to Brooklyn and I'd like to see what's good

Dressed in all your fancy clothes
Sneakers looking fresh to death, I'm lovin' those shell toes
Walkin' that walk, talk that slick talk
I'm likin' this American boy, American boy...

Thanks for "tuning" in!  Please comment if you participate so I can check out your own lyrical challenge.  DJ Christina peacing out.

New Shop Front: Zibbet's 30FREE Promotion

I joined Zibbet a little while ago and I have been really pleased with their interface thus far.  Even though I was only on a basic account, my items looked great with their larger thumbnails!  It has taken a lot of effort on my part to get my shop noticed on Etsy, and although I plan on continuing listing items there, my fees per month have been increasing exponentially...  I have yet to make a sale on Zibbet, but at $7.00 a month for their premium account, it is much less than I have been paying otherwise...  A 20 cent Etsy listing fee seems like chump change, but I only charge between 4-5$ for my dolls only for Etsy to take another 20 cents off the top of that!  So I have been missing roughly 40 cents per doll...  It may not seem like a lot, but as my sales increase, I am starting to realize that it all adds up...

So I got a newsletter from Zibbet today and there is only 3 days left of their 30 day free Premium Account promotion!  (Go Here, and when you register type in the code 30FREE - it takes you your paypal page, but charges you $0.00)

So here are some things I am noticing:  the ability to use a variety of banner sizes, larger thumbnail options, the ability  to add widgets to your sidebar (This is AWESOME!  I have my twitter currently visible), custom colors, and easy to copy listings.  Aesthetically, I think it looks inviting and so I spent all night primping and tweaking out my new shop layout.  Instead of having a small banner to represent your shop and personality, Zibbet lets you tweak the entire site to match your shop front which gives a more welcoming appearance.

Plus, from the advice I have gotten from other sellers, there is nothing bad about expanding your online presence!  Etsy will continue to be my main venue, but if sales pick up on Zibbet, I might be switching my "main" shop.

Tutorial: Lucky Star

Since my new banner has lucky stars in it, I thought that I should show everyone how they can make their own collection!  Lucky stars are great.  They can be collected in glass jars, used as embellishments, or (my personal favorite) turned into beads and garland!  They are very easy to make and all you need is a small strip of paper.  If you go to a Korean store that sells stationary, you will often find a section dedicated to lucky stars where you can pick up pre-cut, cute paper.  If you don't have access, I tend to use paper that is 1cm thick and 26cm long.

1. Tie a knot at the end of your strip, and flatten it gently.  You only want a small tab sticking out at the end.



2. Take that tab and tuck it in under the top flap (not both).



3. You should now have a pentagon with a long "tail" attached.  Take that tail and begin wrapping it around the pentagon by folding it around the shape.  Crease gently, not hard! When you fold it around, it should be pretty clear what side of the pentagon over which you are folding it.



4. Keep folding until you have a small tab left!



5. Just like step 2, tuck that tab under the top flap.



6. You now have a pentagon!  You will need to apply some pressure to all 5 sides of the pentagon in order to puff out the star.  If your creases were too hard, then this step might be difficult.  Using your fingernails works best, but if you bite your nails like me, the tips will work fine.  I usually apply pressure simultaneously to 4 sides, and then push in the final side after.



Good work!  Now you can use your star for any number of things.  Or simply amass them for an impressive good luck gift to give a friend!