Who's Behind NM?

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Nature Manipulated (NM) creates visual, wearable and practical art that reflects upon nature and all of its elements. At NM, we believe that everything is a part of nature, some things are just "nature manipulated."

NM specializes in one-of-a-kind handcrafted jewelry, handmade greeting cards, nature photography and other unique accessories.

To read more about who's behind NM, please click here.
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Saturday, April 5, 2008

Round 2: Newbies Ask Their Questions

Round one of "Newbies Ask Their Questions" went better than expected, although not nearly as well as I would of liked it to go. Eight people decided to join in and post their comments. That's six more than I expected for the first time hosting the weekly post. All the comments were great. I think they answered some of the questions very well. I must say though, there was a trend to only answer the first question posted. I hope this time all the questions will get answered by the old-timers and big time sellers (or anyone with advice).

So this is how it goes...
Every week I pick four new Etsy shops (shops opened after October 2007 and with ten or less sales) and allow the shop owners to ask their Etsy-related or business-related questions. It will be up to everybody else to answer them.

PLEASE POST ANSWERS TO THE NEWBIES' QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS.

If you are a new seller or buyer to Etsy and have a question, don't hesitate to post it in the comments. This is meant to be an interactive post.


Here are the shops I chose for the week and their questions...

old bag crafts

1. Do you use the showcases on Etsy? If so, which ones and how often?










Orange Theory

1. What marketing advise can you offer?
2. What do you do to make your shop and/or work stand apart and get noticed?










mfield

1. What is the best way to promote your shop?












FauveStudio

1. What is the most efficient way to promote your shop?
















Please post your answers in the comments. Also, join us next week for
Round 3 of "Newbies Ask Their Questions."

12 comments:

Leslie said...

Everything looks good! I love the colors.

Dharma Designs said...

Great questions. I'm no expert - but if you have a blog sign up for blog catalog (it's free). Always have business cards on hand, and promote outside of Etsy. Best wishes! :-)

MARGARET FIELD said...

Big thankyou for the feature. really appreciated

Nature Manipulated said...

dharma, thanks for answering!

Jeni said...

Do you use the showcases on Etsy? If so, which ones and how often?
I use the Gift Guides showcase about once a month - My very first sale came from a showcase!

What marketing advise can you offer? What is the best way to promote your shop? What is the most efficient way to promote your shop?
Have great products, and even better customer service. None of your marketing will matter without those. Find your target market and advertise there (I advertise online at indie fashion sites and mommy sites; and locally at coffee shops and bookstores). Get to know some of your peers - network! These folks are also buyers, and if they know your work and have a customer, they are more likely to send them your way! I am always learning more about my craft, I network a lot at classes I take locally. I always have business cards on me, and give them out a lot. Online, take GREAT pictures, have great descriptions. Be VERY thorough. A lot of people are still wary about purchasing online. Do your best to put them at ease. I love my blog. It makes me happy, so I use it. I think anything that you could do that makes you happy, too, is efficient. You all have such great products, thanks, Nature, for introducing them!

Nature Manipulated said...

missfire, thanks! That was great advice.

Beki - TheRustedChain said...

What a fun idea!

I've never bought a showcase so I can't speak for that.

I have to agree with MissFire. Figure out who your target audience is and market to them! Frequent blogs that cater to them and you're more likely to get noticed. Put a link to your store in your email signature and on any other message boards you participate. (I use mine on iVillage.

Sponsor a giveaway on a prominent blog to get more views to your store. Make sure your images are bright and crisp, and you're using all of your tags to draw in as many people as possible.

A Keeper's Jackpot said...

Never bought a showcase but I've heard that it really depends on what you sell... Jewelry is tough. I've mostly heard that its an increase of views but rare sales as a result and to save your money and invest it another way.

But like I said... never bought one :)

John said...

Great questions ! Thanks for the advice in the comments to those who've chimed in... interesting read.

Waterrose said...

What a great feature! Good luck!

Unknown said...

Cruising by from my artist friend Margaret Field's textile arts site. This is a great feature! Hope to see you advertise this extra help on the Etsy forums.

Orange Theory said...

Wow! What great advice. Thanks for taking the time to share your wisdom with us. :)

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