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

Tutorial: Etsy Mini on Wordpress

As I am sure many handmade bloggers know, it is impossible to get an "Etsy Mini" (the small virtual showcase of your shop) on Wordpress. WP does not allow javascript or flash in their widgets so getting what you need to make your handmade blog a viable competitor against  other sites can sometimes be a challenge. Considering how much I love WP, this is a challenge that I am definitely up for! I have tried other blogging sites and none of them suit me quite as well. So I was introduced to a workaround posted by retrospectro on the etsy forums that I thought I would share and outline for you all! You can see my "Etsy Mini" in my right sidebar or a different style on my "Shop" page.

1. Go to the website http://www.esellerads.com and input your username.

2. It will create three kinds of ads for you: 300x250, 120x600, and 160x600. To "Activate" your ads, you need to input your e-mail address.

3. Check your mail! An activation link will be sent and you can click on that to make your ads permanent.

4. Choose which ad you like best for your WP blog. Click the button that says "Share" on the ad.  Choose Wordpress.

5. Input your wordpress information. Username and password are the same ones you log into wordpress with and make sure the URL reflects your blog (which may or may not be the same as your WP username). Click post!

8. Go to your WP blog and Edit > Posts. You should find an untitled post scheduled. Click on that.

9. When looking at your post, switch your view from "Visual" to "HTML" -- Copy all that code gibberish.

10. Go to Appearance > Widgets. Create a new textbox widget in your side-bar and paste the code in. Save, and enjoy your new WP-friendly Etsy-Mini!

The pros of using ESellerAds is that (a) you can post it on WP, (b) it displays up to 100 items, not just your most recent, (c) you can click on the photos to read a short blurb about your product, and then click the "Buy" button to add the item to your shopping cart. You need to visit and update your link when your items change, which sure as heck beats trying to turn the Etsy Mini into a screen shot image! Just be sure to fave. place that link. The con is that... it isn't an Etsy Mini, and lacks that typical streamlined look of the Etsy website.  But hey -- beggars can't be choosers!  I am just glad I finally have a way to display my shop items.

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.