{My Story}
My adventure of selling online all began with a hobby I stumbled upon ten years ago, soapmaking. I wanted to learn to make the natural soap like the beautiful herbal bars I found at the Farmer's Market that were filled with exotic natural oils and the alluring scent of essential oils like rose geranium. After buying that first bar of soap I had to have more, but it wasn't found locally and it was expensive. So what did I do? I promptly headed off to the local bookshop and quickly bought as many soapmaking books as possible {there were only 3 available}.
I studied everything concerning making natural soap and soon found a nearby professional soapmaker who was generous enough to walk me through my first batch over the phone. After only a few soap batches under my belt family and friends started to take notice of the wonderful herbal aromas coming from the back porch, where the soap was curing and that's all it took and they were hooked too.
Before long I began making larger batches and the UPS guy was getting quite frequent with the bundles of dried herbs, essential oils and 50 pound containers of oil. The house was filled with every soap known to mom...{LOL} and everything that even resembled a potential soap mold was fair game. I think I sacrificed just about every utensil and bowl for all my soapmaking adventures in the beginning, it's a joke in the family now if my husband buys wooden stirring spoons or bowls for the kitchen he buys an extra set for me {he knows me so well}.
After only a short period of time I started to give away what I made, in large amounts
{that's right..giveaway}, but I love the craft so much I just knew the more I gave away the more room there would be to make more, right?
Now that the house was filled to the brim with all varieties of soap and friends all seem to have their favorites this is when the hubby looks at me and says, you know you might be onto something here...maybe you should try and sell it to the local stores.
Any of this sound familiar?
If this is the point you're at with your crafts, keep reading.
{Your Story}
A hobby is a great way to spend your free time and if making a new eclectic piece of pottery feeds your creative side and helps you to unwind from the daily stresses life brings, then that's great! We all need that creative outlet and for me it's my mixed media art. Your scenario might be quite similar and if you've noticed that your hobby seems to have taken on a life all its own, and you're thinking about making a little profit from this new found enjoyment, that can be easily accomplished in a few different ways.
There is a terrific online community that was set up specifically for selling handmade goods and that's Etsy. I have chosen to start talking with you about Etsy first because setting up a shop there is easy and it's free. The only cost you will have here is for listing each item and then it's only 20 cents for each item listed, you really can't beat it.
That being said let's just think for a minute about what you will need before you set up a shop on Etsy.
- Get a good camera. This is an investment that will definitely pay for itself over and over! I'm not talking about anything expensive just a good digital camera that can produce clear pictures of your product. You can find a Canon Power Shot at Best Buy for $200. I like going to Best Buy because they always have someone experienced there to help you, just explain to them what you need it for. If you find that you'll need to save for that new camera, then consider exchanging a few of your handmade creations for the use of a friend's camera or better yet maybe they can take the pictures for you.
- Take a great photo. I've found a few wonderful articles with tips & techniques on taking good product photos.
Here's a great link on creating your own light box. A note about the light box, shine the light from the top down into the box. Another thing to remember, if you can take a picture of someone using your product {i.e. wearing that necklace you made} then it gives it that human element and customers respond to that!
Play around and shoot pictures from all angles, Make sure to take some close up shots with the macro setting. The more detail you can give the better, remember this is online shopping, so you have to help the potential customer see what they can't physically touch. Make sure there's nothing in your background, it can become too busy and detract from your product. - The third thing you need to do is to write a description about your product. Get a little notebook and write down size, colors, product materials used for each item. But really, think of going a step further and tell your story {briefly} on what inspired you to make the piece, don't be scared to be a bit personal {it's that human element again}. If you're not sure where to begin, you can take a closer look at other online sellers and take notes of the descriptive words they use like one-of-a-kind, unique, limited edition and so on.
That's all for now, next I'll talk about pricing your handmade goods. Now, go play with that camera and practice getting some good shots!!
