100 - 100.

I've set a new goal for myself on Etsy. I want to get 100 pieces in my shop and then get as many as possible with over 100 views. Maybe even one day I can be aiming for 100 hearts as well!
I know that the more items in a shop the better chance you have to stand out from everyone else so this is the new aim.

I'm putting lots of greetings cards on at the moment and once this section is done I'm going to spend a couple of weeks making a whole group of new collages. I've got some fun ideas to play around with so that's pretty exciting too.

I'm still writing the poetry but it felt like too long without an art blog post so here's what I've been doing with this part of my life!

Vick.

Today

There's been a hiatus on here while I trotted merrily around the West coast of Ireland, specifically Counties Galway and Mayo. I had a wonderful time and soon there will be pictures.



Whilst away I put my Etsy store in Vacation Mode so that I wasn't inundated with buyers whilst away where I couldn't do anything about it (a girl can dream, right?). I also put the art in 'vacation mode' in my head, I did very little of anything to do with collages; I didn't troll for materials, or come up with new designs or colour combinations, I did take note when I saw some great displays so I've got new ideas on how to present my work but that's about it.

A while a go now I did a whole series of branding posts here and since that point it has become very obvious to me that I want to keep making art and put my jewellery on the back-burner. I am not giving up I am starting over.

 

I may take another silver-smithing course in September but for the next few months I am going to focus on the art side of things. I'm looking for some craft fairs to go to and I might take the jewellery there because I think it would sell better but that's only a 'might' because I would like to give my art a go on markets as well.



My point, eventually, is that even several months later the branding process is still helping me. It has changed how I've been thinking about the business for the better. I tried a whole new approach to my collages yesterday. It was truly horrendous, I did better in primary school (still the smell of poster paint reminds me of the art cupboard at my primary school and occasionally being allowed in to help teachers carry sugar paper back for the display boards) and I was terrible at art in primary school, sadly my parents still have the efforts should I ever need to prove this to you.



The reason that this became so obvious is that my shop is now all art, no jewellery. My final jewellery pieces have gone from Etsy and so I'm focusing the re-branding on my shop announcement.

Apologies for the very heavy-handed business blog today. Normal business will resume soon with pictures, probably more cakes and mountains.

Vick.
www.vclinde.co.uk
http://www.etsy.com/shop/vclinde

Branding Round-Up

I spent a good amount of time working on branding my business and this is the conclusion of all of that work. Pictures in here are of my latest work. I'm also going to be running a giveaway very soon from my Facebook page so stay tuned!

Things I have learnt:
Firstly that the Etsy community is amazing, I've never felt so much support for my work and art.
Also that this is a very hard thing to be doing and so many people are trying to make it work that there is a big risk of failure. I am still certain that trying and failing whilst working on something I love is better than hating every second of work. 

Passion is vital.
The internet is an amazing resource and there are hundreds of ways to use it to your advantage as a small business owner, I'm sure I've only scratched the surface so far.
It's useless being fixed in one idea, when something doesn't work you need to be flexible enough to change and find ways of making your ideas work.
 
Branding is a continual thing and I need to keep working at it.
I need to know my audience better.
The main thing that I have learnt is that I am really very lucky to have the chance to do something I enjoy.

Things I am going to do:
Look for more ways to work on the business side of my business as it seems both interesting and important
I am going to keep making cards as they seem to be the most marketable. I am also looking to do more specific cards such as Wedding invitations.

I am going to explore ways of making new sizes and shapes of collages. I've made some much larger ones and have been going back and doing some more comic-book based ones.
I am going to sell art unframed on the internet and framed at craft fairs as the postage for framed collages, especially with larger pieces is a bit extreme.

I am definitely going to focus on collage rather than jewellery for the moment.
I'm looking for more mainstream work that is still connected to something creative so I can build up my savings without doing something that I hate, fingers crossed I can find something!

This all became a bit complicated as I decided to have a complete rethink of my plans but I hope that my working more on bradning, marketing and audience I will keep making the business better. As well as my own round up please do leave a comment or drop me a line if you have done something similar with your business as I'd love to see how other people tackle this sort of thing!

Vick.
vclinde@gmail.com

www.vclinde.co.uk

http://www.etsy.com/shop/vclinde
@vclinde

Brand (new) Ending

Yes, it’s another branding blog. The last of the questions are going to be answered and then hopefully things will be clearer and I will be free to ponder on what I have learnt.

This is part six. It all started at the start of January when I wanted to sort out the branding of my business with the help of an article in Copyblogger. Part one is here, this is part two, part three can be found here and four over here, and not forgetting part five.

64. Does your niche have a national or regional trade association?
I’m a bit diverse for this. But there are trade associations that I could join and therefore my competitors could also be members. I’m not a trade-union sort though. I think being a part of Etsy is almost like having a trade association because you are part of a large community of crafters and on top of that you can also join more directed teams and groups. It’s a brilliant place to be.

65. What “voice” do they use in their branding?

I think both myself and my competitors are much more informal. I am not looking to compete with big businesses and I don’t think that we have a lot of cross-over customers.

66. How much of a “threat” are they as a competitor?
I think that my competitors are a major threat. Even in the economic climate that we are struggling through at the moment people are still buying art and jewellery but there is a lot in the market and there is an increasing number of sellers. I am by no means selling something completely off-the-charts different. I’m not the only person making and selling collages, or bracelets (I know, it’s a shock, right?) but I think the threat of my competitors is what keeps me fresh. Without the constant competition I could easily get lazy or complacent, but I am always trying to do my best work because I know that everyone else is.

67. What is their value proposition?

This is one of those times when I remember just how new to all of this I really am. I think the value in both my own brand and in that of my competitors is obvious. Pretty things, shiny things.

I do my best to show customers the process behind my work, the inspiration and effort put into each piece and the story that I am selling with it. I think this is a large part of the value when selling as an individual.

68. What are they really selling?

Art/jewellery, as am I. Although I think the point is that we are selling an idea or a piece of inspiration in the artwork and something to make you smile and catch someone’s attention with an item of jewellery.

69. What is their style?

Informal rather than corporate. Approachable and human rather than distant and mechanical. Handmade, one-off, unique and personal is the only way I can see to work and to compete. I’m sure that I will lose some custom to bigger and more corporate companies but I don’t want to go down that route.

70. Why do you think their audience likes them?
I guess in preference to my business there are a lot of people who are better established and are therefore more well known. I need to work on being seen more, writing some guest blogs and articles as well as finding some new ways of directing people to my shop. I do have a very individual style and I am completely comfortable with the fact that it will not be for everyone.

71. Is there anything they might have overlooked?

Probably. But this would mean critiquing each of my competitors and as I mentioned before just for my artwork there is about 9000 of these so I’m going to let it slide. (If I’ve overlooked something, please let me know. Thanks!)

72. How strong is their relationship with their audience?

I hope that I am as engaged with my audience as my competitors. I try to keep at the front of things and I am always keen to talk to buyers either online or in person.

73. How responsive are they?

I think this is the same answer as above. Both at crafting events, fairs and online you must be responsive and have good communication skills or you become known for it pretty quickly.

74. Is what they offer readily available?
Yes. But so is mine. Choice is not always a bad thing. It’s why there are florist sections and banks are often all on the same street. I don’t dislike my competitors, in fact I am friends with many of them, learn from them and hope one day to teach them a little something too. I wouldn’t have it any other way either.

75. What emotional need do they fill for their audience?

This is the final question but I really don’t want to answer it. Does my art provide emotional satisfaction? You know, I’m not sure and I’m not sure I want to know either. I’ll leave it as a mystery.

I’m going to spend some time this week reading through what I’ve written about branding and trying to figure out where this puts my business. I am hoping to have a more accurate picture of my audience and a clearer vision of what I am going to do next.

So that’s all of the questions answered, there is a follow up section of advice to follow once you have answered the questions over here on Copyblogger. Definitely worth checking out.

Just as an addendum I have had a wonderful response to doing this. In just one day I had more views of my branding blogs than I had for the whole of the last three months of last year. So, thanks for sticking with me, it’s very much appreciated. One of the nicest things about working in a creative medium is the community that you become a part of almost unintentionally.

Hope you have all had a wonderful weekend.

Vick.

vclinde@gmail.com
www.vclinde.co.uk

http://www.etsy.com/shop/vclinde
@vclinde

Brand (new) Competition

For the past month or so I’ve been branding my business, it’s supposed to have been re-branding but since I started I realised I had never really branded my business in the first place.  The idea behind branding via a questionnaire came from a website called Copyblogger and a series about branding your business on there. Since then I have been working my way through all of the steps he suggests and I’m putting the step-by-step online. It’s a very useful site. Have a look if you’re interested/involved in small business marketing. This is the fifth part, the first is over here and the second is here, the third is here and the fourth is here. 

Blog number four was actually the most popular and people seem to be finding this format useful – that’s no compliment to me but all credit to Copyblogger for the fab idea but I’m thrilled people are seeing my attempt as an incentive to do their own branding. 
As a side note, obviously I am not allowed to use pictures from my competitors and this blog is all about competition so the eye-candy for this one is taken from my giant trip around Europe in 2005. Look out for the super-cheerful chap!

51. Who is your competition?
Selling on one of the most popular places to buy crafts makes you very aware of the amount of competition that you have. I have just checked and there are 120,796 items when you search Etsy for handmade collages. In the original collage (my section, obviously) there are 9558 pieces. Crumbs!

So my competition is the same as every person in my village listing three collages. Again, crumbs!

I try to keep a good eye on my competition on Etsy as well as in local shops and at the craft fairs that I attend.

52. What makes them a competitor?
There are a lot of people who are selling original handmade art collages, me included but I’ve yet to find someone else who uses collector-grade stamps, text from gravestones, photographs, print from antiquarian books and photographs all at the same time. They are my competitors because they are people who I compare my work to and they are good alternative options for people who are possibly going to buy my work.

53. How do they describe what makes them unique?

I think that the unique part of selling when you are an individual rather than attached to a company comes from the story that you tell with the piece. Where the materials came from, what inspired you to make the piece, where you learnt the technique and what each item means to you personally. Tags and titles used well can also make people stand out from the crowd, but with 9000+ people to stand out from it's pretty tough to be completely unique. For people looking to buy on Etsy, if you're looking for a completely unique piece then try searching for OOAK (one of a kind) as sellers tend to use it as a tag rather than 'unique' which is ironically never unique. I don't think I could adjust my branding because to be more different online because as soon as you strike out too far then you lose the ability to be found.

54. What do they offer?

I suppose that anyone selling artwork could be a competitor although if someone is likely to buy my collages then I’m not competing with still-life photography for example.

I think this is more to do with services. I am working on expanding what I sell to include triptychs (to sell in person, the frames are too weighty for shipping) and as I keep harping on about - the cards are almost ready to go online. Rather stupidly it will be too late for Valentine's Day but never mind, hopefully lots of people will want them for other occasions!

55. Do they charge for what they offer?

Yes. I offer free gift-wrapping. Is that relevant here? I use pretty ribbon.

56. Are they marketing to the same audience as you?

Good idea – will work on this. I think my brand is generally broader than most - and I intend on keeping it that way.

57. What are they better at than you?

Selling. Nah, only kidding, but I'm new at this. I know that my weakness lies in the business side. While I have been making jewellery and collages for over six years now I have only been doing marketing and accounts for six months and am at a bit of a disadvantage there. I'm signing myself up for various marketing courses and individual sessions to try and work on this. I think that my non-professional approach (non-professional, not un-professional I hope!) does mean that people know it is just me and they are getting something very different and personal.

58. What are you better at than them?
Hugs. Washing-up. Making pancakes. Quoting movies. Spending too much time and money on eBay. Writing letters.
Relevant things? I am better than anyone else at showing how I view the world and understand things within it through creative means. And really that's all I am trying to be better at than everyone, I'm not trying to be the best at art or collages just making the best of my art and jewellery.

59. What colors do they use in their brand?

I think with art and jewellerypink, until it gets to February and then pink and red are everywhere. More on this soon as I build up to Valentine’s Day (I mean business wise...of course!).

60. How would you describe the design style of their brand? Is it modern, conservative, futuristic, or funky?
All of the above. Not all at once but I don't think that my competition are limited to one type of design.

61. What kind of Internet marketing presence do they have?
This splits into two clear sections. My online competition on Etsy definitely has a strong internet presence and they probably have all of the same things that I do, and for this reason I try to keep all of my various internets up-to-date. With the embarrassing exception of my website which I am working on as we speak (almost, it's next on my to do list). Most of my competition at craft fairs are barely online at all, some have email addresses and some have websites, or Etsy pages but rarely do the people I see at local events sell internationally over the net. 

62. Are they trying to attract an audience from a specific geographic area?
I think this is covered in the last one. Etsy - no. Craft fairs -yes. (See, I can be concise)

63. How active are they in promoting their brand? Is their brand a household name in your industry, or has nobody heard of them? 

I don’t believe that I am competing against ‘brand’ name jewellers or famous artists for two reasons, 1. My target market is people looking for individuals who are selling their creativity and a story & 2. If I did try to compete it would be really depressing and well, I would fail. As I said in #58 I am trying to make the best version of my work, not the super-very-best in the whole world.

Okay. This is the penultimate one and the last section is tying everything up with a few final questions. I have 20 cards to photograph and another eight collages to make before dinner tonight. And in completely unrelated news I am addicted to the new Sara Bareilles album. It's been playing in the background for the past day or two while I've been working.

Vick.

vclinde@gmail.com
www.vclinde.co.uk

http://www.etsy.com/shop/vclinde
@vclinde