Not every design experiment results in a happy ending. I learned this myself after trying time and time again to create a new top that would feature my very-own wycinanki print. Let’s just say that creating a reusable stencil of a highly intricate pattern is not as resilient as it would seem.
After spending hours painstakingly bent over my first wycinanka I eagerly made the first (and final) print using the stencil. Why didn’t it work? Continue reading
One of the things that makes shopping with indie businesses so fantastic is indulging in the details. From a custom order to the close interactions you have with the maker, it’s about more than the product, it’s about the experience itself.
So when photographing your items, curating your shop, or shipping out orders, don’t forget the importance of the ‘personal touch.’ It’s why many of your shoppers come to you in the first place. If they wanted a generic customer service experience they’d go to their local big box. But your clients know better. They know that by shopping with you, or seeking your services, they’re taking part in a sustainable economy – one which values both the maker and taker. Continue reading
So I did it – I hunkered down last night to create my “About” page on Etsy.
Deciding how to embody your brand in a neatly wrapped box and bow was quite the ordeal – which must explain why I’ve been putting it off for the past week. From the moment I read the announcement I cringed, knowing that my over-the-top detail-oriented brain would implode at the possibilities. The questions that boggled my mind included: What kind of dialogue should I use in the description? How can I fit my life story into such a small space? What photos do I choose to include in the revolving banner? Should the copy be more polished? Goofy? Down-to-earth? Continue reading
Button, button, who’s got the button!?
Throughout the month of June I am hosting a Button Drive to collect used, vintage, and otherwise unwanted buttons. If you have one, two, five or fifty buttons you’d like to give up I’ll give you a 30% discount to my Etsy shop for sending them my way! All you have to do is fill out the form below and wait for my confirmation. Then we’ll swap info and I’ll send you a coupon code. Nice and easy! Continue reading
Lately I’ve been dreaming, musing. Maybe it’s moving into a new apartment, neighborhood. I feel like the sky’s the limit and everything’s fresh and ripe for the picking!
Pierogi Picnic is flourishing more than I anticipated this season. With my recent moving distraction I feared that the very worst would happen – that sales would slide and that I’d spend months recovering. To my delight and surprise it’s been just the opposite. I’ve been working on custom orders every spare moment while trying to organize merchandise and my new studio.
The recent couple of months have been incredibly encouraging and have led to me thinking about the future of my lil’ biz. My thoughts are still too new and vulnerable to document – but they’re stirring and really taking root in my mind. More details to come!
One of the most important, albeit difficult, things for an indie biz is keeping your website alive with activity. Not only should we always be in a state of dreaming and crafting – we need to be using our creativity to make our virtual spaces fun and exciting. What’s the use of handcrafting that adorable new product if your new audience forgets to visit your .com? In the internet age, staying fresh and memorable is the key.
With all the talk of social media this, and Twitter that, it’s easy to get caught up in the new wave of marketing techniques, while forgetting the 21st century basic: your website. Many of your supporters will ‘like’ you on Facebook and follow you on Pinterest, but what about that new fan? If they’re new to virtual networking they may not be headed to the latest and greatest networking page. Instead, they’ll google you and land straight on your .com. That’s why it’s so important to regularly update your site.
Sure you can have fun new posts about your latest inspirations (that’s me to the ‘t!’) but are you changing your layout regularly? Are you enticing the reader to explore your pages? Are you uploading new buttons, photos, banners and other elements to captivate the viewer? Continue reading
As I sat musing about personal resolutions for 2012 this past weekend I couldn’t help but melt in Pierogi Picnic’s as well. Naturally, during this season of reflection, all of us our contemplating our dreams for the next year. But how do we keep these goals sorted while still retaining a passion for our creations?
Last year I compiled a set of questions for indie business owners to answer following the end of a fiscal year to help center their goals for the next twelve months. Keeping the 4 Ps in mind, product, presentation, passion, and plan, the queries below help to structure ideas and ambitions into bite-sized pieces. To help keep my own business resolutions focused, I’m going back to these questions to help me frame my thoughts for Pierogi Picnic in 2012.
1. Before anyone can take on the arduous task of planning 365 days of their future, one has to look back to see what worked and what didn’t in the recent past. What were your greatest successes of 2011?
One of my hopes for 2011 was to really streamline the creation of items for the Pierogi Picnic Etsy shop. I was tired of making items in multiples, be it colors or sizes, only to find that the online audience was not receptive to that particular design. What I started to do instead was make ‘samples’ of new items, take photos in multiples, and then list the items as custom orders. A shift within the Etsy listing structure helped to enable this further by providing a ‘made to order’ field in which to categorize a listing. The result was fantastic! I was able to come up with basic designs like the “Green Girl” bathing suit, and then let the customers choose their hue via a color wheel. One of the biggest surprises was that many Pierogi Picnic shoppers chose a color I least expected – green! I wouldn’t have had the insight to make the swimwear in advance in this shade – so having the custom listings available proved beneficial to me and fans alike! Continue reading
Shiny Happy*People 