I am still processing my weekend at CCE West. The first day was so full of inspiration I couldn't keep up with all the ideas that were coming to me. I'm afraid I lost a few, however I did make some new friends, connected with old, learned a few things and taught a few things. You can read my two recaps here and here.
With a bit of distance and taking the time to write about my takeaways for the 3 days I keep coming back to two ideas that I heard conveyed in many different ways. It's these two ideas that I think really define what it is to be a creative entrepreneur.
Be Open To The Possibilities
I can't tell you how many times I heard the phrase, "Say yes." I'm glad it came up numerous times because it bears repeating. I suspect you may react like me. The idea sounds great, inspiring even. You hear it, nod your head and smile. You think, "Say yes. I need to just say yes and figure it out later." And then you settle into your routine, back to business as usual. Then an opportunity presents itself and without thinking you begin to question how much time and/or effort it will take, you wonder if you can pull it off, you poke holes, question ability, and hesitate to "Just say yes."
I understand. I have a hard time jumping in, trusting, saying yes. I am a doubter full of question and uncertainty. I hide behind logic and practicality as a reason for not saying yes, when in fact it's fear.
A healthy dose of fear is good. It keeps us on our toes, but don't let it be the reason you say no or even don't say anything at all. In the stories I heard from all the panelists and attendees over the the weekend about lessons learned and experience gained there was one undeniable common thread. Going toward the fear, taking the scariest option, lead to the biggest gain. The ability to put your fears aside and trust that you are capable of figuring it out is the mark of a true entrepreneur.
Follow Your Passion And Strengths
Knowing what's most important to you and what you're good at gives you a whole new perspective on saying yes or no to the seemingly crazy ideas. This is where the creative part of being an entrepreneur comes in.
Ask yourself what it is you really want to do, what excites you the most and give yourself the freedom to come up with the "money, time, effort does not factor in" answer. If you allow this passion to be the driving force behind the paths you follow and the opportunities you take; if you say yes to that opportunity that excites you no matter how crazy or impossible it seems that it will be any sort of career; you are truly a creative entrepreneur.
I throw all this out there not only to encourage and inspire you, but to remind myself. Hold on to the passion and push toward the fear. There are so many amazing things waiting to be done.
_____________________________
The Savvy Entrepreneur is going on a break for the next two weeks. I'll be out in the desert practicing saying yes and being open to possibilities.
I encourage comments directly to this post, but also feel free to email me directly with questions, reactions, struggles, etc. genevieve@lightboxsf.com
If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!
Showing posts with label CCE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CCE. Show all posts
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
CCE Etsy Shop Review With Danielle
Today's guest post is from SF Etsy member Géraldine Adams who attended the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs and wanted to share some helpful tips with the rest of us. Thanks, Géraldine!
I went to the CCEWest last weekend and I had the pleasure to attend two sessions held by Danielle from Etsy. She is the Seller Education Lead at Etsy and she organizes the programming for Etsy's Online Labs and writes the Etsy Success newsletter.
Following her presentations I made a list of some recommendations on how to make your Etsy store as successful as it can be.
It’s all about your brand:
o Share your story, your personality, and who you are through your store. You should wonder about what are you ready to share with the world and what does this work say about you.
o Your profile, shop title and location should be filled out.
o The banner should match your brand, but it is not the most important element.
o If you sell something in particular, then it should be mentioned everywhere in your profile, your tags, the first lines of your descriptions, etc…
o Send handwritten thank you notes to your buyers along with your business card.
o No empty sections! If you have a section with only 2 items, people tend to leave the store. It’s better to have full pages!
Have a good offer:
o Work on your quality. Ask yourself how you could enhance it even more.
o Really think about selling anything for less that $10, especially if it is a one-of-a-kind item. Even a buyer will wonder if it is worth their time checking out a single item under $5. If you are selling items under $10, think of selling them in sets of 3 or 5.
o Packaging: it encourages buyers to buy as a gift. It can also attract some wholesalers.
o Keep listing new and fresh items in your store. The more you have, the more likely you are to get found on the Internet.
o • You can list a very special item that is going to stay there, being indexed and attract people.
Take good pictures:
o Try to take different types of pictures to see what works the best.
o Show the texture, color, and size of the product. Props are great to show the scale.
o Try different angles to entice people to click on the picture.
o Show the product in context. A dress on a model, a ring on a finger, framed prints in a room… These pictures are very interesting for bloggers.
o If you have series, show them on the last picture for example.
o Always use natural light. Early morning and late afternoon are good moments.
o Set up a studio in your house so you have a consistent location and background for your pictures. You can read this article on how to set up a studio at home, from photojojo.
Description:
o Use bullet points for the visual look
o The first sentence should describe the item itself. You should write “I made this 8x10 print…” or “I created” and not “This listing is for an 8x10 print…” and explain how it connects to you.
o Use the keywords that are appropriate to your product.
o If it comes in a series, indicate it: “you might also like…”.
o Explain whom it is for. “It is a great gift for your girlfriend”. That can help someone to make a decision.
o Explain why it is unique and different from everything else.
o No specific terms, like “K3inks pigments”, but explain why it is great for the customer. Step back! Ask a friend to write the description for you or try to explain it via skype (you’ll have to simplify it).
o Add a link back to your shop main page. Some people land on the page from a Google search and don’t know where they are!
o Never say “convo me for” because they won’t. Try to answer all their questions right away.
o You can add a customer review in your description too.
o Write the description in a text editor, check the misspellings, and then copy/ paste it into the description.
Use all the tags:
o Describe the colors. They are useful for the treasury list maker.
o Use some of the words that are in the titles again.
Ship internationally. 1 in 4 sales on Etsy involves an international buyer or seller.
Enjoy the community!
o Make treasury lists.
o Read and participate in forums.
o Join teams.
Advertise:
o On Facebook, Twitter, Flikr, your blog, etc.
o Do not tweet: “new listing on Etsy …”, nobody is going to check it. Try to come up with an intriguing phrase instead.
o Talk about yourself. Share who you really are. That’s what makes you different from the others and people want to learn about it.
Here are some additional links:
o Etsy Help
o Etsy Selling Tips
o Etsy Community Online Tools
o Etsy Email Lists
Voilà! Thank you for reading! If you have other tips, please share and comment.
If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!
I went to the CCEWest last weekend and I had the pleasure to attend two sessions held by Danielle from Etsy. She is the Seller Education Lead at Etsy and she organizes the programming for Etsy's Online Labs and writes the Etsy Success newsletter.
Following her presentations I made a list of some recommendations on how to make your Etsy store as successful as it can be.
It’s all about your brand:
o Share your story, your personality, and who you are through your store. You should wonder about what are you ready to share with the world and what does this work say about you.
o Your profile, shop title and location should be filled out.
o The banner should match your brand, but it is not the most important element.
o If you sell something in particular, then it should be mentioned everywhere in your profile, your tags, the first lines of your descriptions, etc…
o Send handwritten thank you notes to your buyers along with your business card.
o No empty sections! If you have a section with only 2 items, people tend to leave the store. It’s better to have full pages!
Have a good offer:
o Work on your quality. Ask yourself how you could enhance it even more.
o Really think about selling anything for less that $10, especially if it is a one-of-a-kind item. Even a buyer will wonder if it is worth their time checking out a single item under $5. If you are selling items under $10, think of selling them in sets of 3 or 5.
o Packaging: it encourages buyers to buy as a gift. It can also attract some wholesalers.
o Keep listing new and fresh items in your store. The more you have, the more likely you are to get found on the Internet.
o • You can list a very special item that is going to stay there, being indexed and attract people.
Take good pictures:
o Try to take different types of pictures to see what works the best.
o Show the texture, color, and size of the product. Props are great to show the scale.
o Try different angles to entice people to click on the picture.
o Show the product in context. A dress on a model, a ring on a finger, framed prints in a room… These pictures are very interesting for bloggers.
o If you have series, show them on the last picture for example.
o Always use natural light. Early morning and late afternoon are good moments.
o Set up a studio in your house so you have a consistent location and background for your pictures. You can read this article on how to set up a studio at home, from photojojo.
Description:
o Use bullet points for the visual look
o The first sentence should describe the item itself. You should write “I made this 8x10 print…” or “I created” and not “This listing is for an 8x10 print…” and explain how it connects to you.
o Use the keywords that are appropriate to your product.
o If it comes in a series, indicate it: “you might also like…”.
o Explain whom it is for. “It is a great gift for your girlfriend”. That can help someone to make a decision.
o Explain why it is unique and different from everything else.
o No specific terms, like “K3inks pigments”, but explain why it is great for the customer. Step back! Ask a friend to write the description for you or try to explain it via skype (you’ll have to simplify it).
o Add a link back to your shop main page. Some people land on the page from a Google search and don’t know where they are!
o Never say “convo me for” because they won’t. Try to answer all their questions right away.
o You can add a customer review in your description too.
o Write the description in a text editor, check the misspellings, and then copy/ paste it into the description.
Use all the tags:
o Describe the colors. They are useful for the treasury list maker.
o Use some of the words that are in the titles again.
Ship internationally. 1 in 4 sales on Etsy involves an international buyer or seller.
Enjoy the community!
o Make treasury lists.
o Read and participate in forums.
o Join teams.
Advertise:
o On Facebook, Twitter, Flikr, your blog, etc.
o Do not tweet: “new listing on Etsy …”, nobody is going to check it. Try to come up with an intriguing phrase instead.
o Talk about yourself. Share who you really are. That’s what makes you different from the others and people want to learn about it.
Here are some additional links:
o Etsy Help
o Etsy Selling Tips
o Etsy Community Online Tools
o Etsy Email Lists
Voilà! Thank you for reading! If you have other tips, please share and comment.
If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs - All in One Place
 |
| Photo provided by CCE |
If there's one thing we can understand as members of SF Etsy, it's the thirst for knowledge. Whether it's online in forums or in our Google Group, we're always asking questions about anything & everyting. And we love to help each other out - because we all want to get further with our businesses.
But what if I could tell you that you could have a chance at getting all of your small business questions answered in one weekend? What if there was a place where you could go right here in San Francisco and be schooled by the best people in our field?
There are people who have been where we have been & gained what we seek. Through lots of trial, error and a few sage tips along the way, these individuals have helped gather a wealth of knowledge throughout the years of pioneering their own dreams into realities.
And they're all here this week!
This [weekend] the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs comes to San Francisco, bringing three days of specific, hands-on programming aimed at helping creative professionals become better business owners. The conference covers both universal issues like intellectual property and small business taxes as well as grander topics like opening a brick-and-mortar location or getting your first book deal.
This year’s event takes place at the historical San Francisco Women’s Building and features dozens of prominent speakers with complicated titles such as: designer, paper engineer, and TV-and-radio personality Jeff Rudell; artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon; and author, publisher, and designer Meg Mateo Ilasco.
According to 2010 attendee (and 2011 volunteer) Samantha Barsky, “I could try to gather all of the information I need from various web sites, books, workshops and college courses, but at CCE I got most of my questions answered in a single weekend for half the cost of one continuing ed. class.
As if that wasn't enough incentive to get you excited about CCE, plenty of our SF Etsy folks will be there SPEAKING! Look out for:
I know I'm trying to pin down my schedule of discussion, but there's so many great topics, it's hard to make any final decisions! I hope you'll be able to join us this weekend!
- Genevieve Robertson & Shelly Kerry of Lightbox SF
- Kevin Clarke of Bug Under Glass
- Samantha Barsky from Noteify!
I know I'm trying to pin down my schedule of discussion, but there's so many great topics, it's hard to make any final decisions! I hope you'll be able to join us this weekend!
If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
What Is Lightbox SF Anyway?
Today I'm going to do a little self-promotion because honestly I'm still feeling a bit blocked and things just aren't flowing the way I'd like them too.
I'll start with what we do at Lightbox SF and then tell you about all the cool stuff we have coming up in August (part of the reason I'm feeling a little overwhelmed these days). The short version is Shelly and I are creative coaches for creative businesses. We focus on branding, marketing, time management and organization. We teach you how to do it for yourself, we don't do it for you. Most important to our way of working with clients is that we really listen to where you're at, what you do, and what you're struggling with to then help you focus on and put to work your best assets and strengths. We find that most of our clients already have a good idea of what they need to do with their business and where they want to take it, they're just stuck with where to start and the enormousness of it all. We just help to put it all in a framework that feels less overwhelming and gets you where you need to and want to go.
Currently we meet with clients one-on-one for hour long sessions, where we talk through struggles, impart advice and resources, and give you homework to complete before your next meeting. We have a 3 phase process, the first focusing on branding and identity, the second focusing on marketing and social media, and the third focuses on building community. Throughout our meetings we also provide advice and exercises that help you keep balance between your work life and personal life.
Shelly also works with clients specifically on time management and organization over the phone in a program we call Creating Space. She holds you accountable to goals you set together and helps you through the stuck times in weekly 20 minute phone sessions. A bit cheerleader, therapist and nag all rolled into short digestible sessions.
We're also working on a series of e-courses that will allow you to work through our 3 phases at home for those of you who prefer to really do it yourself with minimal guidance. The e-courses are also a little easier on your budget. We're planning to start the first one in September with sign-ups announced in mid-August, so watch for that.
To get a taste for our style you could attend our Brand of You seminar at CCE on Sunday, August 7th. The Conference for Creative Entrepreneurs (CCE) runs the whole weekend right here in San Francisco at the Women's Building. Shelly and I are both so excited to be a part of this amazing weekend, just check out this line up.
Another way to get to know us a bit before you jump in is at one of the mixers we hold every few months. Our next one will be August 11th. This time around we're trying something new by having a question board. We will encourage all attendees to bring a question or two on branding and representation that we will write up on the board and allow the group to chime in with their thoughts and experience. Kind of like a forum in real life. The following day we'll post all the questions with their answers on our blog so you don't need to worry about missing a thing. Most of the night will be about meeting other creative people and just having a good time. We'll announce full details soon.
And finally we run a photography project called 200 Yards that will celebrating its first year and 5th show on August 4th at Cafe Royale. The quick concept is this: We pick an alternative gallery space, map a radius of 200 yards (about a block in each direction) with the venue as a center point and then put out a call to photographers to take photos within the radius. The photographers then submit their best shots and we curate a show that is held at center point of the radius. Our 4th show is currently on display at Dickerman Prints Photo Lab.
I encourage you to check out our website, ask questions, and best of all come see us at our mixer on August 11th.
I encourage comments directly to this post, but also feel free to email me directly with questions, reactions, struggles, etc. genevieve@lightboxsf.com
If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!
I'll start with what we do at Lightbox SF and then tell you about all the cool stuff we have coming up in August (part of the reason I'm feeling a little overwhelmed these days). The short version is Shelly and I are creative coaches for creative businesses. We focus on branding, marketing, time management and organization. We teach you how to do it for yourself, we don't do it for you. Most important to our way of working with clients is that we really listen to where you're at, what you do, and what you're struggling with to then help you focus on and put to work your best assets and strengths. We find that most of our clients already have a good idea of what they need to do with their business and where they want to take it, they're just stuck with where to start and the enormousness of it all. We just help to put it all in a framework that feels less overwhelming and gets you where you need to and want to go.
Currently we meet with clients one-on-one for hour long sessions, where we talk through struggles, impart advice and resources, and give you homework to complete before your next meeting. We have a 3 phase process, the first focusing on branding and identity, the second focusing on marketing and social media, and the third focuses on building community. Throughout our meetings we also provide advice and exercises that help you keep balance between your work life and personal life.
Shelly also works with clients specifically on time management and organization over the phone in a program we call Creating Space. She holds you accountable to goals you set together and helps you through the stuck times in weekly 20 minute phone sessions. A bit cheerleader, therapist and nag all rolled into short digestible sessions.
We're also working on a series of e-courses that will allow you to work through our 3 phases at home for those of you who prefer to really do it yourself with minimal guidance. The e-courses are also a little easier on your budget. We're planning to start the first one in September with sign-ups announced in mid-August, so watch for that.
To get a taste for our style you could attend our Brand of You seminar at CCE on Sunday, August 7th. The Conference for Creative Entrepreneurs (CCE) runs the whole weekend right here in San Francisco at the Women's Building. Shelly and I are both so excited to be a part of this amazing weekend, just check out this line up.
Another way to get to know us a bit before you jump in is at one of the mixers we hold every few months. Our next one will be August 11th. This time around we're trying something new by having a question board. We will encourage all attendees to bring a question or two on branding and representation that we will write up on the board and allow the group to chime in with their thoughts and experience. Kind of like a forum in real life. The following day we'll post all the questions with their answers on our blog so you don't need to worry about missing a thing. Most of the night will be about meeting other creative people and just having a good time. We'll announce full details soon.
And finally we run a photography project called 200 Yards that will celebrating its first year and 5th show on August 4th at Cafe Royale. The quick concept is this: We pick an alternative gallery space, map a radius of 200 yards (about a block in each direction) with the venue as a center point and then put out a call to photographers to take photos within the radius. The photographers then submit their best shots and we curate a show that is held at center point of the radius. Our 4th show is currently on display at Dickerman Prints Photo Lab.
I encourage you to check out our website, ask questions, and best of all come see us at our mixer on August 11th.
I encourage comments directly to this post, but also feel free to email me directly with questions, reactions, struggles, etc. genevieve@lightboxsf.com
If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!
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