Purple Rain....
Well, I checked a commission off my list tonight when I dropped off "Purple Rain". Sorry - cheesy name but I love it! Prince... so awesome! Yep, I'm aging myself. That's okay. I still think he's cool.
Anyway, I don't know about other jewelry artists but personally I always get the jitters any time I drop off or ship a piece out to a client. If you write, paint or do any kind of 'creative' work then you might know what I'm talking about. What if they don't like it? What if they imagined something different in their head? What if it's not the right size? What if it's "too fancy" or 3 mm too big?
Thankfully, the majority of my clients have been absolutely wonderful, supportive and totally reliable. I've been lucky. Nevertheless, that nervous anxiety creeps in with every single sale. I'm hoping those feelings of insecurity will go away in time. I've set a goal for my 'success' target. I'd like to sell enough to pay for all of the supplies I've bought over the past year. It's a big goal! Ha! But I'm getting there, slowly and surely.
The main challenge is finding the right market but even before that, it's finding the TIME to find the market and to put yourself out there. I have a website but it's currently under construction and not much to look at. So, as an alternative route, my facebook page was step 1. Step 2 was setting up a display cabinet at my mother's cafe and step 3 is this blog ;) Next step? I'm agonizing over Etsy. Should I set up an Etsy shop? An internal debate rages about this subject on an almost daily basis. I'm sure, I'll still be thinking about it tomorrow. Maybe then I'll have an answer to this long nagging question... probably not though!
Joining Etsy might have a lot of advantages but it also poses some draw backs. For one, what if something sells from the display cabinet AND Etsy on the same day and I don't have the right materials to make a second? What if it's completely unique and impossible to make a duplicate? Moreover, joining Etsy means increasing prices. If you advertise through Etsy that means you have agreed to keep prices consistent or higher within your other sales venue. Seeing as how Etsy takes a percentage of the sale, charges a listing fee and then there is the paypall cut, well it all adds up! Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE Etsy fan. But these are all big decisions for a small fry like me.
I guess I'll sleep on it. Yep. Maybe I'll make up my mind tomorrow... or the next day... maybe next week ;)
Off to Bedfordshire as it's way past my bedtime and this girl needs her beauty rest!
Sweet dreams...
- Tara, Treasure Trunk Designs
Introducing... "Purple Rain"
Well, I checked a commission off my list tonight when I dropped off "Purple Rain". Sorry - cheesy name but I love it! Prince... so awesome! Yep, I'm aging myself. That's okay. I still think he's cool.
Anyway, I don't know about other jewelry artists but personally I always get the jitters any time I drop off or ship a piece out to a client. If you write, paint or do any kind of 'creative' work then you might know what I'm talking about. What if they don't like it? What if they imagined something different in their head? What if it's not the right size? What if it's "too fancy" or 3 mm too big?
Thankfully, the majority of my clients have been absolutely wonderful, supportive and totally reliable. I've been lucky. Nevertheless, that nervous anxiety creeps in with every single sale. I'm hoping those feelings of insecurity will go away in time. I've set a goal for my 'success' target. I'd like to sell enough to pay for all of the supplies I've bought over the past year. It's a big goal! Ha! But I'm getting there, slowly and surely.
The main challenge is finding the right market but even before that, it's finding the TIME to find the market and to put yourself out there. I have a website but it's currently under construction and not much to look at. So, as an alternative route, my facebook page was step 1. Step 2 was setting up a display cabinet at my mother's cafe and step 3 is this blog ;) Next step? I'm agonizing over Etsy. Should I set up an Etsy shop? An internal debate rages about this subject on an almost daily basis. I'm sure, I'll still be thinking about it tomorrow. Maybe then I'll have an answer to this long nagging question... probably not though!
Joining Etsy might have a lot of advantages but it also poses some draw backs. For one, what if something sells from the display cabinet AND Etsy on the same day and I don't have the right materials to make a second? What if it's completely unique and impossible to make a duplicate? Moreover, joining Etsy means increasing prices. If you advertise through Etsy that means you have agreed to keep prices consistent or higher within your other sales venue. Seeing as how Etsy takes a percentage of the sale, charges a listing fee and then there is the paypall cut, well it all adds up! Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE Etsy fan. But these are all big decisions for a small fry like me.
I guess I'll sleep on it. Yep. Maybe I'll make up my mind tomorrow... or the next day... maybe next week ;)
Off to Bedfordshire as it's way past my bedtime and this girl needs her beauty rest!
Sweet dreams...
- Tara, Treasure Trunk Designs
Introducing... "Purple Rain"
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P.S. I forgot to mention - Purple Rain was met by a very happy customer! :)
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