Etsy, six months later
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Thanks @kylebeaudette, makes perfect sense!
Admittedly, I’m more of a weekend warrior when it comes to art, my career just takes up too much bandwidth.
Appreciate the transparency.
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@kylebeaudette Thanks for explaining this, Kyle. It is really inspiring and something that I am working towards doing. I had a look at your Etsy shop. I can see why you're selling. Your sculptures are so captivating!
I think, for me, increasing the speed at which I create my paintings is key (and making better artwork!). But it's interesting to hear that you re-post old artwork. I heard an interview with Will Terry talking to one of his pro friends who re-posts. I've still yet to get to grips with tags. I'm not on Twitter - just Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and recently Behance. Do you recommend Twitter as well then?
Very best wishes to you.
Adam -
@adam-thornton-0 Yes, Twitter is where you can make the most meaningful connections.
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@kylebeaudette I've really been thinking about it lately! My wife keeps telling me to do it but I keep hemming and hawing lol
Here's a few that were in the back of my mind:
So when you're selling originals, what does that mean exactly? Are you doing traditional mediums and you're sending them the canvas? Or is it digital and you're just not making any others of that piece?
Did you have to do anything to get people to see your stuff? I thought initially it was a little overwhelming to figure out where to go or how to get seen.
Sizes - did you have to experiment with sizes and did any sizes turn people off? I kept seeing 12x12 as a size, but I couldn't actually find any frames at the local frame shop that was even that size so I was wondering if that was a learning process.
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@kylebeaudette congratulatiomns to your sucess!
i whish my shop would run a bit better then it does...i put so much work into it... but yeah. I don't have a clue what i could do better now.@jdubz i think there is absolutely no reason you shouldnt open an online shop. Your work is great and you should'nt even think about why not open a shop.
Listen to your wife, she is right though!
you would have to tell everyone you have a shop, if you dont make at least a little advertisment on whatever platform, nobody will know.
So tell all you Social-Media followers about it!I think it's best to stick with the Din sizes in the beginning.
I know a lot of people buing prints from tattooartist who always think it hast to be extra special sizes and i also know a lot of people still don't have a frame for it because its not common. so i gues i woult stick to common known sizes.when you have established your work and art i would say it doesnt matter anymore because you have your fanbase who will buy your stuff.
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@jdubz said
So when you're selling originals, what does that mean exactly? Are you doing traditional mediums and you're sending them the canvas? Or is it digital and you're just not making any others of that piece?
Traditional mediums, yes. Ink and Watercolour, specifically. Also polymer clay for the sculptures.
I mail the the original on the cotton paper I like. I have requests for prints, and I just say no. Not because prints are bad, but I'd like to stick to originals only. I like owning originals, I think some people also like that. I'm losing easy money, but it's ok.Did you have to do anything to get people to see your stuff? I thought initially it was a little overwhelming to figure out where to go or how to get seen.
I post daily on Instagram and Twitter, and I share my process. I've built up a little following doing this, but in my following are some pretty big names. If they share or like my stuff, it gets seen by more people.
Sizes - did you have to experiment with sizes and did any sizes turn people off? I kept seeing 12x12 as a size, but I couldn't actually find any frames at the local frame shop that was even that size so I was wondering if that was a learning process.
My sizes are all based on the sizes that my favourite papers are sold in.
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I'm glad your shop was so successful. Unfortunately, I had my shop open for about 6 months also. I didn't have a lot of content that I admit, but I had absolutely no buyers. I don't know if it was just because I am not good at advertising, but yeah I had to close it because I was spending money on listings that nobody was buying. I felt like they were reasonably priced too.
All I can really point to is maybe I am looking at this from the wrong angle.
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@kylebeaudette sweet thanks for the replies! So it looks like you are leveraging your social media exclusively to generate interest versus trying to get Etsy to show your stuff in a search. That's where I'm seeing a lot of frustration from creators. Gotta put some thought into this whole thing
@von_Nimmermehr thanks for the kind words! Maybe I'll put my butt in gear with some time off this month and at least get the ball rolling!
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@jeremy-ross I hear you on the social media. It takes a lot of time to create content for each platform keeping you away from creating art. I have an Etsy shop and I’ve built my audience through social media over time.
I don’t have thousands of followers and I also don’t have the bandwidth to create both my art and social media posts. Let alone every single day.
Something you can try is post minimally:
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Maybe choose one social network and post when you can.
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On the podcast, @jakeparker talked about having a posting schedule such as, say, previous art on Mondays, rough sketches on Wednesdays, and finished art on a Friday. That’s not at\cruelly his schedule, just something I randomly thought as I typed
But you get the idea. -
You can always podcast. And it doesn’t have to be video. Record, talk, post
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You can always try running a patron or ko-fi. They have podcasting features as well (both video and audio). As long as you tag your posts with keywords your target audience uses, you can also build an audience there. And a paying one!
Either of these can be a small step into social media when you don’t feel like it. And maybe you’ll grow into liking it. Maybe maybe not. Never hurts to try. A lot of my success with Etsy and social media comes down to two things: my work/content which appeals to my audience (I don’t mean that in a do whatever will sell way. I mean, something about my content appeals to my audience). The second item is the handful of people became fans of my work/content. They are the ones who tell their friends. My social media use has been low. I don’t post every day and I keep forgetting that I have an email newsletter to plan! I’m working on fixing that.
If you do give social media a try, don’t forget to reply to all comments and such as it’s a great way to build rapport and friendships.
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Hi @danielerossi, thank you so much for your valuable feedback!
You gave me some great things to think about.
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@jeremy-ross One thing I forgot to mention is really all social media is… it’s a form of networking. I got a little turbo boost with my social media when I first started by offline networking. The people I met at conferences, meetups, etc. would follow me on social media and share or post about me.
Again, not hundreds of people, but the few die hard hard fans of my work really did make a lot of difference. From making me feel good and thus motivating me to keep on creating to telling their friends. So technically, you don’t have to start on social media right away.
Maybe you can start with following your friends and family and perhaps your SVS friends. Converse from there then slowly grow at the rate you feel works best for you.
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Something new I learned about my Etsy shop today. They charge you for advertising on third party sites. This is something all sellers are automatically enrolled in, you have to opt out.
I didn’t know until I stumbled upon an extra charge on my bill. At the very least, they tell you how much money in sales you made and which sales came in from ads. Not sure what the costs are. All I know is, say, $39 brought in 9 year. Not sure if that’s high or low, a rip off or not.
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@danielerossi yep, I opted right out of that!
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@kylebeaudette posting twice a day is BONKERS. I’ve never heard of someone posting that much. Any tips on being a speedy creator? I struggle with getting hung up on details and being too much of a perfectionist
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@griffin post old stuff!
That's it. -
@griffin You can also post stuff you like, things from your childhood, etc.
