Holiday Decor Gift Guide

For the next few weeks I will share a few of my favorite things for the holidays. I hope you find a little something to inspire you this holiday season.

1. Noel Mantle letter by TheLetteredLane

2. Mason Jar Table Decor by PineknobsAndCrickets

3. Grapevine Wreath by WoodAndBurlap

4. Snowflake Wood Art Print by MooseberryPaperCo

Summer Motivation

This time of year can be challenging to to stay motivated to work your Etsy shop and business. I know for me it has been really challenging because I want to be outside in the warm weather after our long cold winter.

Summer is also challenging to get sales in your Etsy shop, because everyone would rather be out enjoying all the fun summer activities then being online.

Well this is the perfect time of the year to work on your shop and business for when things really start to pick up during the last quarter.

Here is a short list of ideas to keep you motivated all summer long.

Build your inventory
Create those new pieces you have been thinking about and add them to your shop.
Start a new collection to launch in the fall.
Try out new materials.

Find new places and ways to promote your shop
Research blogs to be featured on or to advertise with.
Look for offline opportunities, such as stores to carry your work, shows to participate in, places to share your marketing materials.

Update your Etsy shop
Take new photos.
Update your policies and about page
Change your tags and titles to be found in more searches.

Educate yourself
Read blog posts about business, marketing, and social media.
Check out all the tips from the Etsy Seller Handbook.
Watch Creative Live webinars and TED Talks for ideas and inspiration.

Have Fun
Take Fridays off and explore your city or town.
Create art just for the fun of of it.
Spend a day doing nothing, just enjoy the warm weather.

When sales are slow during the summer months, don't lose momentum. Do things to keep your shop top notch and have some fun.

What do you like to do during the slower summer season to stay motivated and work on your business?

Weekend Special

Shop Addition

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Happy Friday!

Create a Digital Vision Board to Boost Your Holiday Sales

The ideas of creating vision boards or dream boards has been around for a long time. They are great daily reminders of our aspirations and goals.

Vision Boards are also great to reinforce a goal you are working toward achieving. That's why creating a vision board to inspire you to boost your holiday sales can help you meet your goal.

A vision board I created for my studio

There are many ways to create vision boards. You can go through magazines and pull out words and photos of things that encourage your goal. You can create a poster, use a canvas, or pin everything to a cork board and change it as needed.

If you prefer you can keep it simple, create a Pinterest board or boards for every aspect of your life, with photos and words of encouragement  to inspire you. There are also many online options for creating vision boards like Digital Dreamboard and O Dream Board.

Another easy way to create a vision board is to create one on your computer. You can do this in programs like photoshop, publisher, PowerPoint, or PicMonkey.com.

Start by choosing a poster size document (16 x 20). It's the perfect size to hang, but if that seems to large choose a size that works best for you. Next find positive images that and quotes that excite, inspire, and motivate you to reach your goal. Once you have all your images you can copy and paste them in a pleasing arrangement on you poster size document.

When you are done you can send your finished document to a photo shop (such as Walgreens or Costco) to have it printed. It's pretty inexpensive to have it printed, usually under $5. If you are working with a smaller document print it out on your own printer.

Hang your vision board where you can see it in you workspace. When you need a boost take a few minutes and look at the images, read the inspirational messages, and get inspired with new ideas.

Creating a vision board is a great way to get clear about your goals for the holiday season. Your vision board will help you make the connections from vision to reality.

Do you have a vision board?

Share this idea with your social network.

Your Etsy Shop Reinspired for the Holidays - Day 5 Reinspired

It has been a full week of critiquing your Etsy shop and products, and creating an action plan. Today we're going to have a little fun as we look at adding holiday elements to our shop.

Etsy Shop Banners by BestBanners

There are simple ways you can add a holiday look to your online shop
• Create a holiday banner and avatar for your shop
• Purchase a holiday banner and avatar for your shop via the many talented artists on Etsy
• Add a holiday statement to your shop announcements
• Put a holiday message on your policies page
• Add a holiday statement in your message to buyers
• Don't forget your about page, a holiday messages will be a nice touch. You can even add holiday related photos.
• Add holiday elements to your photos, such as greenery, ornaments, or a mini tree.
• Offer Holiday packaging and Gift Certificates 

DIY instructions

During this time of year you do as much offline marketing for your business as you do with your online shop. Here are a few offline ideas to add a holiday touch to your business.

Offline ideas
• Do holiday themed packaging
• Add a holiday card
• Share a special treat (candy, samples, pens, buttons...)
• Decorate your packaging
If you do art/craft show
• Add holiday lights to your display
• Offer a special treat
• Decorate your booth to reflect the holidays
• Create holiday handouts with your Etsy shop info

Adding holiday touches is simple and really makes your shop stand out.

Christmas Tags by AcarrdianCards

Once your shop is all set for the holidays, it's time to start thinking about marketing. So I want to end the week with a few ideas to think about when creating your holiday marketing plan.

• Create a advertising plan - find blogs and websites you would like to advertise on and start contacting them for holiday rates.
• Get into Holiday Gift Guides - they are a great way to get your products out to a variety of people
Online Craft Fairs - check out the variety of sites that have online craft fairs during the holidays.
• Start promoting on your social networks - create a daily plan for posting on social networks.
• Plan your sales and special offers - if you plan ahead you can start marketing early.
• Start a Newsletter - to keep your customers informed about sales and promotions
• Pass out your business cards and promote your shop offline too.

Here is a short list of links to get you started on your holiday marketing plan.
Plan your holiday blog posts
Start a newsletter
Create a holiday ad campaign 
Considering advertising on Everyday Inspired - Special deal through the end of the year
Create a social media plan - where you want to post and start a list of ideas for posting
Plan your Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Want more holiday prep ideas for your Etsy shop, register for Etsy's Holiday Boot Camp starting October 7.

Christmas Tags by MarleyDesign

Now that our week is over and your Etsy shop is all ready for the holidays, I wish you one of your best holiday seasons ever! 

Tomorrow I have a bonus day post filled with ways to Rework your creative space. Lots of photos, ideas for organization, and a couple of DIY projects to inspire you.

What was your favorite part of Your Etsy Shop Reinspired for the Holidays?

Share this info with your social network!

Your Etsy Shop Reinspired for the Holidays - Day 4 Refresh

It has been a busy week on Everyday Inspired.

You should have gone through your shop and listed all the relevant changes you want to make, took a serious look at your items, titles, descriptions, and tags, and got inspired by Lisa Jacobs from Energy shop as she shared some easy to do tips for getting your shop ready for the holidays. Today you should be ready to use all that information to create your plan.

The hard part of going through your shop is over, now it's time to set your priorities and action steps and get your shop ready for a busy holiday season.

Start by downloading and printing out as many objective (goals) forms that you will need.

Click here to download

Go through your lists and start listing the strategies you need to work on and then create a list of action steps for each items.

Try creating your list in the order you want to work on each item and give yourself dates of completion. Group like items together. So if you are working on your products, list everything you need to do related to your product listings.

Once you have everything you need to work on listed, download and print out a to-do list so you can create a daily plan.

Click here to download

Work on your shop in large chunks of time. You don't want it becoming a chore, you want want it to be a quick and easy process.

If you have any challenges on a specific area of your shop go back to Mondays post with ideas about your shop, or Tuesdays post for suggestions for your items, titles, descriptions, or tags.

Once you are done with all the updates and changes you want to make, you will be ready to re-inspire your shop for the holidays. Tomorrow is all about adding holiday elements and creating your marketing calendar. Now Get To Work!

Do you have a lot of changes you want to make to your Etsy shop?

Share this post with your social network.

Your Etsy Shop Reinvented for the Holidays - Day 3 An Interview with Lias Jacobs

Over the last couple of day we have talked about elements of your shop and your titles, tags, and descriptions. Today I am really excited to share an interview with Lisa Jacobs. She has had a tremendous amount of success with her Etsy shop The Energy Shop, and with over 3400+ sales she know about marketing an Etsy shop.

She shares her experiences and marketing ideas on her website MarketYourCreativity.com, and offers a wonderful collection of free resources as well as her eprogram Shop Fundamentals. Stop by her website and see all she has to offer.

Shop Fundamentals 

Lisa is also a contributor on Handmadeology, and shares lots of tips you can use in your Etsy shop in her popular posts 450 Sales In The First 3 Months Of Business on Etsy, 1000 Sales in My First Year of Business on Etsy: Low Cost Marketing Strategies,  and What I've Learned about Marketing after 2 Years of Business and Thousands of Etsy Sales.

Thank you Lisa for sharing with us today!

Lisa Jacobs
The Energy Shop
MarketYourCreativity.com

Could you share a little about your Etsy shop and the growth you experienced, and the work you are doing on your blog MarketYourCreativity.com.

Absolutely. I started my Energy Shop in 2010, and after making a few sales, I became obsessed! It made me realize that I’ve always loved business and marketing strategy - the interest goes back to childhood for me.

The Energy Shop definitely conveys the spiritual side of my life, but I’m most grateful to it for awakening the entrepreneurial passion within me. I’m so excited about being in business that shop-talk just spills out of me. My blog, Marketing Creativity is the result.

Joyful Sunstone

What is the most important change you should make in your Etsy shop to prepare it for the holidays?

I create a plan for stock and promotion. I’m a big believer in making things happen, so I start planning for the holidays toward the end of summer. I host my biggest sale annually on the Friday before Black Friday, and I honestly look forward to it all year (as do my customers!).

You should think about how your customers will shop, and the easiest way to do this is to think about how YOU shop during the holidays. What advertisements appeal to you? How do businesses capture your attention during the holiday rush? How do they convince you that their products will make great gifts for your loved ones?

I always say that successful marketing gold is all around you. Mine it accordingly :)

When deciding to eliminate products from your shop, what should you consider first?

I’d consider what’s selling, and what’s contributing to the shop’s momentum. I would edit out any listings that have gone stale, and I would especially remove any products in which the photography isn’t doing the item justice.

The New Mini Chakra Balancing Bracelet

Keeping your Etsy shop updated and relevant is important for being found in searches, what do you suggest for staying on top of theses types of tasks?

Regularly create new designs, and I even do listing renewal now and again - especially if I haven’t added any new products in awhile. This keeps you relevant in search and to all of those customers who have favorited your shop.

Time management can be challenging when you are busy running your business, how do you keep yourself motivated?

I organize my priorities six-months in advance. This is a daily topic of conversation between my husband and I. I’ve finally learned, after three years of business, that I have to be my own boss, set deadlines, and identify what’s next on the docket.

I always say to my husband, “You’re so lucky - you always know what to do next at work AND you get positive feedback for every job well done!”

Pink Agate and amazonite Butterfly Necklace

How do you stay inspired to create during the busy holiday season?

I eliminate the “busy” part. I’m always working ahead on the calendar year. By the end of October all of my holiday stock will be made, packaged, and ready-to-ship. I take lots of time off in December to be with my children and watch the magic of the season unfold.

Thanks so much for having me! I really enjoyed your questions.

What ideas are you going to use in your Etsy business this season?

Share this interview with your social network!

Your Etsy Shop Reinvented for the Holidays - Day 2 Revamp

In yesterday's post we looked at all the elements of your shop, and preparing them from your customers point of view. Today it's time to take a critical look at your items, photos, titles, descriptions, and tags.

This is a big topic. So, throughout this post I will be sharing several links with additional information and suggestions, check them out as you go along.

To get started, download and print out this handy form for listing the changes you want to make.

Click here to download

Your Items
To start this process go through each item in your shop:
Does the style still reflect your brand?
Is it a good design?
Does it have challenges?
How is it selling? (You can now see stats for each item in your shop on the listing manager page)
Is it time to retire it for a new item?
Can you add new versions or colors?
Has it been favorited a lot? In a lot of treasuries?

Having your shop look cohesive and reflect your brand is important for keeping the customers engaged and looking at all the items in your shop. If you have styles that you don't think are working it's time to let them go, and start adding new pieces.

Your Photos
Your photos are a very important part of your shop. This is the first thing people see when they are searching and your photos are usually the deciding factor to whether they are going to click to your shop to see what you offer.

It's time to look critically at your photos.
Do your photos represent the quality of items you sell in your shop?
Do they look good when the picture is small or large?
Do they look like the photos found on the first page of Etsy?

I have found several tips for taking good photos and below there are links so you can explore this topic further.

• You don't have to have an expensive camera to take good photos. Get to know the setting on the camera you have and use what you need for a good shot. Here is a link for What to look for in a digital camera.

• Lighting is one of the biggest challenges to taking great photos. Never use the flash on your camera. Use natural light or sunlight whenever possible, or use a light box if your shooting indoors.
Here are some links for creating a light box, shooting in natural sunlight and shooting pictures inside without a light box.

• Cropping your photos is an important step in creating great photos. You want to make sure you take out any unnecessary background so the focus is on the item in the image. This is where an editing program is important. If you don't have an editing program on your computer here are a couple of free options: Picasa.google.com and Gimp.com

• Always use all 5 views to show your item from every angle. This is often overlooked, and when you use all those views your customer gets a true sense of what your item looks like.

Want more info on taking better pictures here are some links to check out:
Product Photography for Beginners (video)
Etsy Shop Photography
How to style your Photos
3 Essential Tips on Product Photography
Photographing for success

Your Titles
Your titles are more important than ever for being found in searches. The first three words need to represent what people are searching for.

So if you are selling a dress for a little girl you would want your title to be Girls Dress Pink...  or Pink Girls Dress... not Pretty Pink Dress... or Fun Girly Dress... Think like your customer, if you were looking for a dress for a little girl what would you type in the search box?

Now go through all your titles and check out those first three words, are they words your customers would type in the search box?

If you want your items to come up in the first few pages of a search make sure those first three words on your items is relevant.

Here are links with additional information:
Etsy's New Focus on Relevancy and How it Effects your Etsy Shop
Putting Your Shop on Top

Your Descriptions
The most important thing to remember about your descriptions is to write them as if there were no pictures.

You want to be as detailed as possible, including size, color, shape, measurements, materials, textures, and scents. Think like a customer, what information would you want to know.

If you have long descriptions, remember to add white space. Separate out a lot of text into paragraphs or use bullet points. You want people to find the information they need even if they just skim the information.

Review your descriptions.
Do they have all the information they need?
If you did not include a photo would they know what the item is?
Is your description easy to read?
Can the customer get the info they need quickly?

The first paragraph is the most important for getting found in searches on Etsy and on search engines. Make sure that paragraph has your most important key words.

Not sure how to add keywords to your descriptions check out this link.

Your Tags
When you are listing an item you are able to add 13 tags to help that item get found in searches. According to Etsy's policy you can use relevant phrases to describe your items. That means instead of using just necklace you can do long necklace, chain necklace, beaded necklace, etc...  Having the options to use more relevant phrases lets you get found more often. Make sure you are using phrases people would be searching, so keep them general.

Now review your tags. How can you alter them so they are more relevant? 

Making a list of all the tags you could possibly use for the items in your shop is very helpful when you are stuck for ideas. Not sure what tags to use, check out other shop that carry your type of items and jot down the tags they use that are relevant to your items. Keep your list handy when you are adding new items, it will help make the listing your new items faster.

Helpful links about titles, descriptions, and tags
Relevancy and how it effects your shop
Titles, Descriptions, and Tags
How to get found in searches
Writing item descriptions

This is a lot of information, so give yourself some time to thoroughly go through your shop and list all the changes you need to work on, and make any adjustments necessary. Now download your Etsy Item Critique form and get started!

Don't miss tomorrows post, I have an inspiring interview with Lisa Jacobs from the Energy Shop, MarketYourCreativity.com and Handmadeology. She is sharing a little of her story of success and tips you can apply to your business.

What do you find most challenging, photos, titles, tags, or descriptions? Why?

Like this post? Share it with your social network!

Your Etsy Shop Reinvented for the Holidays - Day 1 Review

We work hard to design and create the products we sell, pouring our heart into each piece. So when we set up our Etsy shop to present our work to the world, we hope everyone will see the value of our handcrafted items.

We set up our Etsy shop to reflect our personal style and ideas. What we sometimes forget is that our Etsy shop should reflect our style but be written for our customers.

How your customer sees your shop is what is important. They are the ones looking for something to purchase, and you want to make sure they have all the information they need to choose your items.

Today you're going to take a good look at your shop, as if you were the customer and not the artist. You are going to be a critic and dissect every detail.

Start this process by downloading this form.

Click here to download

You will be able to easily list all the changes you want to make, and it will help you develop your action plan.

Their are several things to consider when doing your self-critique of your Etsy shop:

Your Brand
♦ Is your avatar recognizable and does it reflect your style and personality?
♦ What about your banner does that let people know what to expect when looking at your shop? This is the first thing people look at and it could be the deciding factor as to whether they want to stick around.
♦ Have you added an about page with your story and photos? So your customers know who they are buying from, here is a link with tips for writing your about page.
♦ Does your shop feel and look cohesive?

Your Shop
♦ Are you using your shop section? Are they specific, concise, and easy categories for people to search? This is your customer service department.
♦ Does your shop title have keywords for searches? Good keywords help search engines find your shop
♦ Are you using your shop announcements to share news, links, announcements, and promos?
♦ Do you have your Twitter and Facebook buttons turned on so people can follow you easily?
♦ Do you have your location listed? People like to know where their items are shipping from.
♦ Are you using the featured items section? This is a great place to feature new and some of your favorite items.
♦ Have you enabled the Google Product Ad Listing? It's free and Etsy sets it all up. When you click on Your Shop in the sidebar there is an option for Google Ad. Just click it and enable.
♦ Are you using the automatic coupon code that is sent to your customers after purchase? Click on coupon codes and activate your Thank You Coupon.

Your Policies
♦ This is one of those pages you set up once and rarely look at again. Take a look at this page, read through the whole things. Is everything on that page still current?
♦ Do you have special shipping options for the holidays? This is the time to add them to your page, and don't forget to add the last day you will be shipping for the holidays.
♦ What payment options do you accept? Are you using Direct Checkout via Etsy? It's a great option, and once you setup your shop can accept Etsy gift cards.  Check out this link for the benefits of Direct Checkout.
♦ Do you have any FAQ (frequently asked question)? Use that section to answer those questions.
♦ Do you do refunds or exchanges? Make sure that whatever your requirements are you spell them out completely.
Need some ideas for your policies page, check out this link.

I understand that doing a self-critique can be challenging, so try asking a friend or acquaintance to look at your shop and share their thoughts about your shops.

If they have something negative to share, don't think of it as an attack or feel the need to explain why. Just listen to what they have to say and use that helpful information to make your shop better.

There are several Etsy teams that do shop critiques as well. Here is a list of the critique teams on Etsy. This is a great way to have your shop seen the way potential customers view your shop.

Want to see some shop critiques in action? Check out Handmadeology Etsy Shop critique webinar, also Etsy Online Labs has several shop critiques under there Etsy Success tab.

Your review of your shop is the most important step of getting your shop ready for the holidays. If you take the time and are honest with yourself you can have a shop that is found in searches and brings in more customers this holiday season.

Tomorrow we are going to talk about your shop photos, descriptions, titles, and tags.  Now grab your shop critique printable and start listing all the things you need to work on in your shop.

What do you find most challenging when doing a self-critique of your shop?

Was this information helpful? Share it with your social networks. Thanks!

Is Your Etsy Shop Ready for the Holidays?

Starting tomorrow Your Etsy Shop Reinspired for the Holidays, is a week long series of posts with tips, ideas, and inspirations for your Etsy Shop.

Stop by everyday, I am looking forward to sharing lots of information to help you have a fantastic holiday selling season.

See you tomorrow!

2 Questions to Inspire You to Keep Your Commitments

Earlier this year things were moving and shaking in my Etsy shop. I had my best first quarter ever this year and few good shows.

As summer progressed I realized that things in my Etsy shop had really slacked off. Sales for the last couple of months have been  a lot slower than usual.

I decided that this month I was going to have to make a commitment to my Etsy shop again, and let this month be the start to a successful holiday selling season.

Making a commitment to yourself is easy, it's the follow through that is the challenge. When we make a commitment to other we tend to keep those commitments so not to let anyone down.

To achieve that commitment you make to yourself requires a little more work, and you really need to look inside yourself to find the courage you need to move forward and achieve your goals.

Here are a couple of questions to get you thinking about how you are going to keep those commitments to yourself and your business.

What would you have to believe about yourself to set commitments and consistently realize them?
and
What thoughts would empower you to always fulfill your commitments?

Once you realize the answer to these questions you will have the unlimited power to achieve all the commitments you create for yourself.

Do you find it challenging to keep commitments to yourself?

This commitment has inspired me to research new ideas to generate some buzz around my Etsy shop, and I am excited to share some of them with you during the week of September 23 - 27 for Your Etsy Shop Reinspired for the Holidays.

If this post inspired you share with your social networks. Thanks!

Cool Facts about Your Dreams

I remembers my dreams almost every night. With so many images in my head I decided years ago that I wanted to know what they all mean.

So about 20 years ago I went out and bought the best dream book I could find, and I have been interpreting my dreams and my friends dreams, ever since.

It is always fascinating to me how the images I see when I am dreaming really do mean something in my everyday life.

Check out these interesting facts about dreams:

Abstract Ocean Photography by CTCostalPhothography

You forget 90% of your dreams - with in 5 minutes of waking up you forget 50% and after 10 minutes 90%.

Everybody dreams - if you don't think that you dream you are just forgetting them upon waking.

In our dreams we only see faces we already know - We see hundreds of thousand of faces in our life so we have a endless supply for our brain to use in our dreams.

Burning Clouds by Kanelstrand

Not everybody dreams in color - about 12% of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white, and the rest in color. Prior to the 1950's most people dreamed in black and white, but the introduction of color television changed that.

Dreams are symbolic - dream speak is a deeply symbolic language.

Emotions - the most common emotions in dreams is anxiety. Negative emotions are more common then positive ones.

You can have 4 - 7 dreams a night - on average you can dream from 1 - 2 hours every night.

Ocean Fog by CTCoastalPhotography

Dream incorporation - our mind takes images we see throughout the day and incorporates them into our dreams. This happens to me all the time, that why I never watch a scary movie or TV show before I go to sleep.

Men and women dream differently - men tend to have more men in their dreams and women dream with equal amounts of men and women. Men tend to have more aggressive emotions when they dream.

Precognitive dreams - 18% - 38% of the population has had a precognitive dream, while 70% have experienced déjà vu.

You can read the complete list at BoredPanda.com.

Do you remember your dreams?

Summer Fun from My Etsy Favorites

There are accessories that are just for Summer and today I am showcasing some of my favorites. Each item is from artists on Etsy, so stop by and check out all they have to offer.

Beach Bag by WallabyBagCompany

Toe Ring by FancyFeetBoutique

Head Band set of 2 by LaurayCo

Barefoot Sandal by SoftCrystal

Beach Coverup by GreekChicHandmades

Heart Anklet by onelifejewelry

Flower Bobby Pins by Thenshemade

What is your favorite Summer accessory?

Gift Ideas for the Guy That Has Everything

My Dad is one of those really hard to shop for men. He likes to keep things simple and since he has retired, t-shirts and sweatpants is his new favorite outfit. My husband on the other hand loves clothes and accessories, so shopping for him is always a challenge.

Today I found some cool gift ides for the guys in your life. They are all from Etsy, so stop by and check out all each shop has to offer!

Mens vintage compass cufflinks by Laurenloveetsy

Leather Portfolio by LusciousLeatherNYC

Vintage Motorcycle Gear bookends by OldDucs

Waxed Canvas Shaving Kit Bag by treesizeverse

Faux Leather Lap Desk by LapDeskLady

Clock LedonGifts

What do you like to get the hard to shop for guys in your life?

Chocolates For Spring

Inspiration for Springtime accessories.

Brown is not a color you would usually think of for Spring, but these handcrafted ideas are just right for adding the final touch for your Spring look.

Brown not your thing, each of these Etsy shops offers a variety of color options.

Chocolate brown leather brooch by ZULYA

Handwoven scarf by masonke

Braided Hair Band by EyeHeartMe

Chocolate brown leather tote by ItJustHasToBe

Copper beaded wire knit collar by lapisbeach

What color accessories are you wearing this Spring?