Rachael's Handmade Designs

Hi All, As the outside gal, creativity is your strong point. Sometimes, tho, we all run into a brick wall. One way to battle this is to clear the cobwebs from your work space. It really gives you a fresh start. (Personally I find that it's difficult for me to create when my space it too messy or too clean. I like it *just right* I like to see what I have and what I can work with.) I also feel that going through your supplies every now and again when you feel blocked can really be beneficial.  This is where the "Inside Gal" can come in handy. Clear off your design table. What do you have? Take inventory of your supplies. (Jot down price if you have it available.) What do you use on a constant basis? What have you *not* used in the last six months? Generally if you don't use it in six months, you won't ever use it. (Side note: this works for just about everything you own - wardrobe, personal effects, books, etc.) So? Sell what you don't use! Recently I sold ...

Hi All, While it's always good to be tailored to the upcoming and current events with re: to your shop, there is some dispute in my mind about the effectiveness of marketing per holidays. What I mean to say is that if you spend your money buying tools and supplies, not to mention investing your time and effort, to buld a specific project centered around a specific holiday and u get it all finished, and then...it doesn't sell. What then? From a manager's or buyer for a company's perspective, if you purchase items for your store and they don't sell, you're stuck with storing it for another year, then possibly discounting is as "last year's items" because you'll be wanting to create new items by the time the holiday rolls around again. So why should this be any different from our stores, as crafters? Yes, you want to be current with what's happening in the season, but I do not feel that it is imperative to be specific with creating your ite...

Hi All, Like many of you, my shop has been hurting lately. :(Summer is a hard time to weather for small business owners of some trades. It's important to understand that there are seasons for shopping - or at least, I keep telling myself this!  I have been doing research on how to compensate for the challenging summer months; indeed, how to turn it into something useful to further my shop and encourage growth.  I don't usually read the Etsy blog, but I'm kind of feeling blocked, so I decided to. I came across an article that helped me to understand more merchandising approaches. BUNDLES! We all agree that having varied price points in your shop helps to appeal to a wider range of buyers, right? In the retail culture, I was often taught that it's the number of transactions you have in a day, and the size of those transactions. The magic number was three! So, think about it. By offering a bundle, you not only offer the buyer the items that they were looking for...

Hello All, Let me preface this post by saying that the FABG selling technique is not my original idea. When I was in commission sales I read a selling book that saved my life (and my paycheck) by Harry J. Friedman called "No Thanks, I'm Just Looking". While not the most well written book, Friedman does a great job of explaining how his years in the industry have helped him to form his professional retail sales techniques and turn shoppers into buyers. I recommend you pick this book up! It has saved my bacon many many times!! So, What *is* FABG? FABG stands for Feature, Advantage, Benefit, Grabber. Any item can be FABG'ed. Features - features are parts of the piece. Either a part of the piece or a characteristic of the piece. Often times this is the size, color, texture, materials used, etc. Advantages - this is tied directly to the features of the item. An advantage is what the customer will gain from the feature. Friedman uses the phrase "which means...

Hi All, In reviewing my last post, I neglected to mention one very important thing: shopping seasons! Understanding the seasons and holidays are very important in sales, perhaps more so when you're running your own shop. Although this can be very discouraging for small business owners, often times the summer months are the hardest to weather (ha ha, no pun intended) because most shopping centers around large holidays, such as Christmas and Black Friday. In the retail culture, Christmas and Black Friday shopping can make it or break it for the ENTIRE year. A close second is the Back To School season in August/September. Take this into consideration when you're running your own business. What can you do to compensate for this? Stay positive! I know it's difficult, because as a shop owner I face the same challenges and sometimes upsetting defeats. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to this. The sales will come, but the most important thing is staying positive and b...

Hi All, Welcome to Part II of my "How to Effectively Sell" series. A lot of people are clueless when it comes to selling. They've got the pictures down, they know what they want to *say*, but I'm going to teach you that, as always, it's not what you say, but *how* you say it. Let's begin with the most persuasive words in the English language. From a marketing standpoint, just using these words alone can influence and turn a shopper into a buyer. I know this because as a former sales consultant - on commission - my livelihood largely depended on the price of items and the number of items that I sold. Working these words into your sales pitch, in-store or online, will help you to organize your thoughts and present them to your buyer, convey features and advantages about a piece, and essentially close a deal. They are the following: 1. Easy 2. Save 3. Love 4. Health 5. You 6. Your 7. Discovery 8. Free 9. New 10. Money 11. Results 12. Proven 13...

Hi All, This is Part I of a new topic. It's an in-depth look at your store and what you should be doing to make your shop work for you, not the other way around. I use this as my personal functioning list on Etsy and its what I offer as critiques for other small business owners on Etsy; although some of these apply to just about any business, online or otherwise. Some items I've taken from their critique list and other items I've added from my own experience. So follow this list for a more complete shop and to get the sales you want on Etsy! 1. Are you using ALL possible features ? This includes the exorbitant following list: a. Profile - fill out your profile completely for a more rounded-out shop. If your customer views your profile, they want to get to know you. b. Location (City/Town, State/Province, Country) - customers want to know where you are located and where their shipping will come from. (*most buyers on Etsy are from outside of the continental United...