Hello Etsy 2012 recap

Quickly wanted to drop by to tell you about how amazing 'Hello Etsy' was yesterday!
I did take my camera but found it hard to take images and hold baby Julie at the same time so I have no images on my card at all! That's a first but please go look at Janine's blog from  Uppercase Magazine (and see baby Julie in her blog). Not only does she make a truly magnificent magazine, she's a supersweet and kind person too. She started out the event with her story and her presentation was truly inspiring.
You can find all the presentations in de on line labs of Etsy as the entire event was livestreamed. Don't forget to watch Satish Kumar's presentation. Together with Janine's, it was one of the highligths of the day!

At the end of the day, I took part in a panel about selling on Etsy. This was lead by Simone Weimans, a news anchor and Etsy shop owner. Together with Kim, Nelliana & Kenneth we answered some questions that Simone had. Previous to this presentation, we Skyped to prepare things a bit. After that Skype conversation, I put some lines on paper as I knew I would be nervous to speak in public and I didn't want to have a black out. Haha!
Of course I forgot to say a few things here and there but I thought that it would be nice to put my notes in my blog for you all to see. Nothing spectacular but perhaps there are a few tips and tricks in there that can help you...

What did you learn since opening your shop?

• Make better images
• Realistic price setting: first low priced items, lots of sales, lots of stress to produce.
  Then I increased my prices so that I would have to make less but earn the same.
• Branding is important!
  Have your name on your products if possible with a label, a stamp or a sticker.
  Be consistent in use of avatar, banner, photo’s  
• Be passionate about what you do and let that reflect in your communication to your customer.
  
• Give people something to talk about: packaging, product, name…
• Word of mouth is the best advertisement! 
• Stand out from the crowd: pictures, products, descriptions

Tips for other sellers

• Be part of the community by joining a team
• Treat your customers the way you want to be treated and have great customer service. Ex. Quick reply to convo’s, respond to special requests, add a handwritten thank you note,…  It generates repeat sales… 
• Connect &  Collaborate with other 
•  Make new products & do some one of a kind stuff or limited editions.
•  Make people curious about your work: show work in progress in your blog, sneak previews on Flickr or Facebook, let ‘em know when a new line will be launched 
•  Dare to find media exposure: write to appropriate blogs to let ‘em know there will be a new product launched and that they are the first to know. Blogs love to feature new products that haven’t been seen before.
• Share knowledge – don’t frantically keep everything you do secret because you are afraid of copycats, people who want to copy you will find a way. Instead, share your knowledge, make tutorials and show people how clever you are. It will bring them joy and creativity too and they’ll be grateful for good advise and will talk about you and your site/blog/shop.
• Be positive - don’t get discouraged & negative when things don’t take off right away. It takes time to built a solid base.
• Use social media: Flickr, Twitter, Pinterest, Blog, Facebook,…
• Have dialogues with future customers on social media – ask advice, feedback,…
• Write a newsletter to connect with your community

Next Hello Etsy will be in NY city in March 2013! Mark your kalender on 22/23 of March!

Hello Etsy

Oh oh oh, it's been a while since I popped by here. Can't believe how fast time flies!
Two weeks ago I have taken images of new gifts that came in the mail for Julie, but haven't gotten around to blog 'em yet. Will try to do that soon. I still miss a few words to complete the poem so I can't connect the dots yet...

Another thing I wanted to let you know that I will be attending 'Hello Etsy' in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The summit will be part of the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. I'm so much looking forward to meeting 'old' friends and making new ones again.
I'll also take part in a panel about selling on Etsy which will be lead by super sweet Simone from mooivintage. I met Simone for the first time at Hello Etsy in Berlin last year and see her frequently as she's a news anchor on Dutch television. :)

There are still tickets available for those who haven't decided to go yet. And if you go, don't forget to order your free MOO cards so that you can connect with all those cool people attending

Hope to see you there!
Please say 'hello' when you see me as I would love to meet you!
(I'll have 2 small pigtails and most likely, a little baby on my arms! )

Pay attention...

Happy weekend, everyone! :)

Hello Etsy - part 6

This is the last post in the series about the 'Hello Etsy' conference in Berlin. And I must say 'last but not least'! I think this might have been my very favorite session of the entire weekend.

Stealthisprocess

Project management is something I'm not very good at and I get disctracted just too much by ideas, impulsive actions and in general being very chaotic when it comes to making deccissions on what to do first. So there are days that I feel I have nothing accomplished at the end of the day and then my head starts spinning and coming up with all sorts of 'tasks' that just don't find a place. Also defined as 'unfocussed'. This session gave me an insight on how I could change that and up until now, it has helped me to get more organised.

Project Managment for indie businesses / Eleanor Mayrhofer

from Hello Etsy on Vimeo.

The above video is quite long but it's definately worth watching & get inspired by.
One specific sentence from this session pops up in my little notebook: 'there is only right now, live for today' Which seems a bit contradictionary with all the setting goals and planning in there but in the end, that's what it's all about: planning to find and give your life more balance.

Thanks Eleanor for sharing your process and letting us steal it! :)

Hello Etsy - part 5

One of the coolest rooms I've ever been in: the control room at Ework in Berlin. It is Germany’s oldest preserved commercial power plant, built in 1885. You can read more of it's history here if you like.

Hello Etsy - part 4

Besides all the inspiring talks at 'Hello Etsy', I also made another Marimekko creation at the sewing station on my lunch break. Really strange as dreamed about making it on sunday morning so I just had to go back and do it.
As I'm a beginner sewer, of course I don't do complicated and everyone can make it.
I cut 4 strips of different kind of happy Marrimekko fabric about 25cm wide (10 inches) and then I cut random pieces horizontally. I mixed 'em all up and sewed the pieces back together horizontally. I made sure I had 2 the same lengths and then I placed 'em right sides on top of each other and sewed it together. When that was done, I reversed it and it was nearly ready. Since there was no ironing board present, I decided to finish it at home by stitching all the way alongside the edge. It is already too cold to wear this pretty cotton scarf now here but I'm sure I'll enjoy wearing it next spring. If the above instructions weren't clear enough, check out some of the tutorials I found via Google. Apparently this is not a very original idea that came into my dream, it's been done many times before so no need for me to make a tutorial!! LOL :)

Hello Etsy - part 3

Listening to all those sessions does make a person hungry. But no despair, Etsy took really good care of that. The catering at the conference was simply sublime.
And if you had finished lunch, there was an opportunity to do some creative stuff. I sewed 2 lovely pillows from beautiful Marimekko fabrics. It was superfun to do something with my hands for a change. Listening and being quiet can make me restless especially in such a creative boosting environment. :)
Here's Judit sewing a bag with the help of Minna. You could also pass by the Etsy stand to get more information! Hey look, there's sweet Marta! *waves*
At the Burda stand you could doodle on a white sheet with fabric markers or sew-doodle with yarn. Fun! :)
And in the afternoon, the caterers served cake! YAY! Lots of them and so many different ones to choose from.
And for those that could resist the cake, there was fruit! Yum too!
I wanted to post a livestream of Hessam Lavi today who did a talk on 'building a search engine small business' but I couldn't find it yet. I found this session extremely helpful as I never even looked at SEO. Hessam Lavi is a great speaker who really thought about the content of his session and connected with the audience. When there were questions, he always repeated 'em which I found great as sometimes they got lost in space. Hessam Lavi also asked people to submit their SEO questions beforehand and answered to them here. So you can check that out too if you're interested to read more.
Happy weekend everyone! :)

Hello Etsy - part 2

To be quite honest, the schedule at 'Hello Etsy' was quite overwhelming! So many interesting sessions going on that it was hard to chose which one to go to. Thank goodness they livestreamed the entire event so that it's still possible to see some of the sessions from your couch at home.
I'll be sharing a few of my favorite sessions on my blog. One of them is called 'Branding on a shoestring' by Lisa Rodwell from Moo. It is quite amazing that this company who was just a teeny tiny printing company a few years ago, grew from 'pleasure cards' to the giant 'Moo' all through branding and consistency. One sentence of this session summed it all up for me: 'celebrate your brand' YAY! That is exactly what they do at Moo! The enthusiasm they show of their product makes up half of the branding if not more.

Conversation starters were spread all over the place

If you subscribed for the 'Hello Etsy' conference in Berlin, you had the opportunity to order a set of free business cards through Moo. I've never had any so I ordered em and put on the new designs of our collaboration work. I love the cards!The feel of the cards is so lovely and I love the size too! I think I prefer these to the mini cards they usually have.

And Moo made sure we were using the cards righ away as they let us play a networking game. You had to collect 6 stickers of a different craft. As you can see below, everyone was frantically swapping stickers and business cards! It really worked!And when you had a full card, you could redeem it by going to the Moo-stand and pick a coupon code for some free Moo stuff! :)I get a free business card holder! Yay! I think I should order some more Moo's now.

And if you're really quick, they have a special offer until the 25th of September with a coupon for 25% off! :)Below you will find the live stream session on branding! Enjoy! :)

etsy on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Hello Etsy - part 1

Image taken from a platform on the trainstation in Köln

At last I find some time to share some bits and pieces from my short stay in Berlin. The journey didn't start out really relaxed as I was supposed to step onto a train in Hasselt & get off in Berlin. It didn't happen that way of course but after a small detour of about 2 hours which involved driving to Liège/Luik and then to Aachen/Aken I finally arrived in Berlin.
I took the train as I wanted to travel slowly. The past few months I've been so busy that it seemed that life was passing by too quick so instead of flying there quickly, I saw the landscape pass by and actually had some time to read too.
I wonder though when I will finish the book I started...

Image taken from a platform on the trainstation in Köln

The evening that I arrived, I met up with PetitPlat and Vadjutka in the flat I rented through AirBNB. While we were sitting around in the flat and chatting away, we decided that it would be lovely to cook together so we went shopping and made ourselves a lovely meal. It was so much fun to cook together. Marta arrived on early Friday morning at an ungodly hour. I wasn't feeling all that well due to a stomach bug so I was happy to tag along to the Etsy headquarters and hang out there for a bit. Marta works for Etsy as the community manager in the Netherlands so we helped preparing for the 'Hello Etsy' weekend and sewed some cushion that would be used for the Yoga sessions.
I took some pictures of the preparations at the headquartes...
... and at Ework, the site where the main event took place. What an impressive location! My jaws just dropped when I saw it!
In the evening we went to a preregistration party at Hudson. Already met some lovely Etsians there while chatting over a cup of tea and some scones.

I'll be sharing more of 'Hello Etsy' later this week as I don't want to overwhelm you with it all at once. It has been an amazing experience that was inspirational and energizing and I can't wait to share some of the live streams of the sessions that I loved most. Stay tuned! :)

Hello Etsy

Earlier this week they announced the availability for tickets for the 'hello Etsy' conference in September in Berlin, Germany.
I couldn't be fast enough to grab a ticket as I just don't want to miss this event!
Not only the content looks fantastic but I also can't wait to meet lots of creative, likeminded people!

There are 4 big themes at the conference:

The business: the nuts and bolts of establishing and running your micro-enterprise: Here we look at finance, legal, and time management.
The big picture: the why and how of human-scale economies. Here we explore a broad range of ways to improve the world.
The product: what you make and how you make it. Here we explore production, materials, presentation and function.

The market: getting your product or service out there. All businesses need customers, how will you reach yours?

This summit is NOT only for Etsy sellers/buyers, it's open to all those who are interested in running their own business and sustainability.

I think it will be an amazing experience and wouldn't want to miss it for the world!
Besides, I have never been to Berlin so I might just add a few days extra to explore the city and surroundings. Anyone has tips for visiting Berlin?

Perhaps I'll meet you there? Hurry and get your tickets here!

Hello ETSY in Antwerpen: “Branding & Media”

This year, Etsy starts hosting activities in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Every month, there will be an event - mostly on monday's so keep your schedule free.
The events are divided into 'hello Etsy' and 'Etsy labs' and will take place either in the Netherlands or Belgium.

“Hello ETSY” meetings are there to support and give information for the micro entrepreneur. Themes as marketing, photography, sustainability etc. will be covered in different meetings.

“ETSY Labs” on the other hand are creative and cosy make-meetings where we create in company of artitsts, craftsman/woman or other creative spirits in a certain theme, technique or material.

For both events, everybody is welcome to join.

The first meeting is a 'Hello Etsy' meeting in Antwerp.

Launching your label and getting media attention is an important part of creative entrepreneurship. At the same time, this is not an easy mission and mostly too little attention is given to it. Matt Stinchcomb (first employee of Etsy) will share his knowledge on branding and media with all creative micro entrepreneurs that want to hear it. Knowing Matt, this will be an evening filled with information and fun.

I'll be there, and you?

In short:

What: Workshop Branding en Media, free entrance and open bar
When: Monday februari 21st, 7pm
Where: Antwerp http://www.bardoffice.com/ (in designcenter 'de WINKELHAAK' on walking distance from the central station) (Bar d’office Antwerpen |Dambruggestraat 29/31 | 2060 Antwerpen)
Language: Engels
More info and registration: rsvp here or mail Marta mpakovska@etsy.com