Yup...I Etsy-ied

Apologies friends, this post comes across more whiny than I intended....

Well I have put me first lot of resin stuff on Etsy. It's sitting there, in amongst the fifty billion creatively derived goods the world has to offer. It may just continue to sit there. Quiet, pale, resiny, used to be smelly and toxic but now small smooth and sculptural. It might become one of those little quiet places with small brooks and fields like you see in docos about Europe. It might became the internet equivalent of a secret idyll, only spoken of yet never actually visited. Maybe you might have picked this up, but I am deeply ambivalent about the Ets. Everytime I do Etsy, I think, is this a good idea?

The forum's are full of helpful litany's on how to get noticed and make sales. How if you make posts on the forums and heart other people's stuff and buy from other people and post your shop and goods on other sites who's sole purpose is to further promote Etsy goods and promise your first born child, you'll make sales. Some people seem to be Etsy queens, they've sold their soul to the devil or something and have managed to sell a billion crafted masterpieces. There seems to be almost a critical mass, once you achieve a certain level of sales you achieve Etsy zen, where people find your jewellery, even if they were looking for orange cordouroy pants, you're unavoidable, inevitable, drawing others to you with a gravitational pull rivalled only by Jupiter.

I can't even get jealous. I like Etsy. It has nice minimal grey on white layout. It's out there to help people who make their own gear sell stuff. What's not to like?

But in the greater scheme of things, it doesn't rate all that highly in the Kuhl masterplan. Exhibitions are exciting as work goes to different places and I have to think of new ideas and stuff to make to put in them. Selling in stores is cool, because people tend to buy my stuff more when they pick it up and play with it. And you have your designs sitting beside some of the designers you really respect and like, like it's supposed to be there, like it's equal. I know people love it and can see objectively how it might be so, but Etsy doesn't excite me that much. It's like fibre in food, I appreciate it being there and respect it's purpose and think it does a damned good job at doing what it does but apart from that.....

I think I'm ambivaletsy

So here's the Kuhl Masterplan for Areseing about on Etsy and Not Really Trying (Hey Any Sales a Bonus when you're not Trying!)

1. Sporadically put up a whole lot of items, after leaving your shop empty for six months. It's tells people, I'm ambivaletsy. I might be here one day, I might not the next. You just never know. You become the craft equivalent of those guys who sell sheepskin car seat covers out of trucks by the side of the road. You better get in quick and get what I got....or just drive on by and ignore me.

2. Read a whole bunch of posts about what to do and how to market thyself in the forums and follow the instructions...sporadically. I've looked at heaps of pages (and actually come across a lot of artists stuff I like thanks!) and hearted things like a Hello Kitty on speed (I dunno, the Kitty always seems to have hearts and stuff....I'm sorry, bad analogy). I've checked out the 'competition' to see if my prices are pretty in line with theirs, made sure my spelling in my shop is right (hey someone said that this was a real turn off? Like you don't buy from fly-by-night illiterate crafters?) Then stop. You didn't really want to do this anyway. You like to help people out and comment on people's work and do tutorials and answer people's questions. You already do that, on Flickr and at work and at home and with friends and to the random emails that come in occasionally. That makes sense to you. It's more....genuine. Playing with the Etsy forum kids (who are lovely by the way) just for the sake of phantom sales that may or may not happen just seems insincere and contrived. You're a teacher, you do insincere and contrived at least a couple of times a day, do you really want to do that at home?

3. Start selling something completely different than what you usually sell. That shakes the few people who do follow your shop up. So...thought you were gonna see toys did ya? Well here's a fistful of resin rings! How bout that!

4. Spend much much more time making and teaching other how to make rather than promoting. You are Australian, and let's face it, self-promotion is for those other people in that place that starts with A and ends with merica. You don't want to be a stinky, show off, big head up yourself cow now do you?

5. Forget to even do the most basic of self promotion: mention it on your blog. Yup, usually it takes me months to remember to post about what I'm doing...

6. Have your shop's banner reference your soft toy designs when you're selling resin!

So there! That's how NOT to succeed at Etsy! If you wish to dither about, participating in things whilst not being completely sure this is what you want to do, follow my golden rules! I'll keep you posted, this might be a part of a whole new online selling revolution. Down-selling rather than up selling. the path of least selling resistance.... I'd go a write a post about it on the Etsy forum but y'know....