Book Review - Store Focus

If you own an ETSY shop or are thinking about opening an ETSY shop in the future, then you will be interested in Store Focus, a book I just finished reviewing.  Store Focus, by Barbara Jean, is a journal for Etsians and the perfect guidebook to help you get started, get organized and most importantly, get focused!

Navigating Etsy can be confusing for beginners and this is where Store Focus really shines  -  it gives you useful information and a place to jot down your notes, ideas and creative thoughts.  It will help you navigate the Etsy world of shop names, tags and keywords, categories, shop announcements, and messages to your buyers.  

Work on the 3 P’s - products, pricing and promotional strategies by using plans provided in the book.  Organizing your supplier information is a breeze when you use the supplier info pages.  Confused about retail pricing?  That’s always my most difficult area.  I loved how Barbara broke down Gross Profit Margin into a formula I could understand and use.  This page right here was worth the price of the book!  

Keep all your ideas in one spot and feel free to doodle – who knows where it may lead.  Just do it in the journal so you don’t lose your ideas on a random napkin or slip of paper. 

Have you thought about Social Media?  What are your goals?  Barbara suggests loads of platforms you can utilize and your journal is the place to lay it all out.

Links to Etsy Facebook Groups and resources for tags, keywords, marketing, titles and SEO are all provided here for you.  Don’t know what SEO is?  Well, buy the journal and save yourself the problem of figuring it out on your own. 

Once your shop is up and running you’ll want to keep track of important stats like page views, favs, traffic sources and of course, revenue!!  Twelve pages for shop stats will keep you organized for an entire year.  Everything is at your fingertips and you can easily carry the journal around or slip it into your purse.

The only thing the journal doesn’t include that I would have found useful would have been a section on how to figure out your product shipping costs and exploring the maze of post office shipping supplies.  That’s always been a landmine for me and I feel it would have been a helpful addition.

Store Focus can help you tweak your existing Etsy shop too.  There’s always room for improvement, right?  Well, I have exciting news – Barbara is taking pre-orders & will place a bulk order next Monday.  It is regularly $18.95, but for her launch promotion it will be $16.95 plus free shipping for US customers, and discounted shipping for International customers.  Also, as part of the launch, she will be signing copies, and there are 4 printable pdf bonuses as well.  After the pre-sale ends, she can order the books in onesie - twosies, or you can get them off of Amazon.  So please, if you’re interested, follow the provided link and pre-order your copy this weekend:  Sun Lion Publications

(I was given an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.  Images are the property of the publisher and cannot be reproduced without consent.) 

My Etsy Shop - 100 Sales!!

I am over the moon excited today - I hit my 100th sale over at my Etsy Shop.  Woo hoo!!

I started out listing vintage items that Louie and I have picked up at estate and garage sales.

It's the thrill of the hunt that keeps us going back and searching out fun and unusual items.   And I'll be honest, the extra money has come in handy.

We started re-purposing things into new items....

Then I took vintage silver plated silverware and turned the pieces into garden stakes....

And that evolved into making hand stamped bracelet cuffs and key chains....

It's an ever evolving process that we are constantly tweaking.  But it's nice that Louie and I can spend time together looking for things to sell or re-purpose.  And I love sitting and stamping things.  For me it's relaxing.

There are a lot of bloggers out there who have helped and supported me by sharing my website and/or buying things from me.  You all know who you are and I appreciate it.  Thank you so much because I could not have done it without your help.  xo

Ok, so on to 200 sales!!  And don't forget - it's not too late to sign up for EBATES and get CASH back in your pocket!

Sign up for EBATES - It's FREE. They work with big name stores like Amazon, Marriott Hotels, Penney's, Walmart, Neiman Marcus, Bath & Body Works, Groupon, Sears and Kohl's among many others.

Here's basically how it works...

• Sign up on their site and use their links whenever you buy something on-line. Hey, if you're going to order something on-line, why not use it and get the rebate credit, right? With the holidays coming up, lots of you are going to be ordering gifts from on-line stores and if they are affiliated with the Ebates program, you're going to get a rebate. Why in the world wouldn't you use them and get that money back? It's money in your pocket.

Here's an example - say you want to book a hotel using Hotels.com. You click on their EBATES link and you'll see a page like this. You choose it and it will redirect you to Hotels.com and when you book it, you get 4 % back. Holy cow!! Easy right?

• Ebates makes their payments to you 4 times a year. I signed up last year and I've gotten money back every quarter. If you want, you can have your money sent to your Pay Pal account. What could be easier?

• You also earn money when you refer people and they sign up and use Ebates. More free money! For every 3 people who sign up and use it, YOU earn $ 100.00. Yes, one hundred dollars.

I just got a rebate check of $ 60.00. It's well worth it.  Go to Ebates and check out their huge list of stores. I bet you'll find at least 10 stores that you buy from.

Use this link. Use me as a referral and I will earn a few dollars from it. Sign up now and earn money in your pocket almost every time you purchase something on line. Thanks!

Customized Cuff Bracelets

I've been making customized aluminum cuff bracelets and selling them thru my Etsy shop.   I really enjoy making them and they have been selling pretty good.  Let me show you some of the ones I've done.

A big favorite seems to be bracelets with blogger names on them.  I didn't take pictures of some of the earlier ones (kicking myself in the head) but here's some shots of the ones I did capture....

Distressed Donna Down Home

The Shell Lady....

The Shell King....

....and his queen.....

And of course I had to make one for myself....

I also make bracelets customized to what the customer wants....

Nicknames....

Children's names....

Occupation......

Ham radio call numbers....

Favorite places.....

Popular sayings - I seem to do a lot of beach themed bracelets....

Each bracelet is custom made for you and each bracelet is one of a kind.  I can usually get them made and shipped within 3 days.

This cuff is perfect for sensitive skin because it's made from pure hypoallergenic aluminum. It is silver in color & doesn't leave skin discoloration. Made from pure lightweight silver tone aluminum, these cuff bracelets are often preferred among those with sensitivities to silver. The lightweight aluminum makes it extremely wearable. I have found that with cuffs the best way to put them on is by sliding the opening over the narrowest part of your wrist and then gently turning into the cuff. This helps avoid overworking the metal so that you have a beautiful and lasting treasure.

I have 6 design stamps so far - a peace sign, a heart, a star...

A smiley face, a flower and a square squiggly.....

I also have some copper that I've been experimenting with....

They look cute stacked up too....

I've sold more of the thinner bracelets, which are 1/4" wide.  They sell for $ 22.00.  They make great gifts, either for yourself or for someone you love.

The wider 1/2" ones are $ 25.00 for one line in the larger block font and $ 27.00 for 2 lines in the smaller font.  I haven't listed any in the copper yet, so if you're interested, shoot me an email.