Hello Lab Rats - It's Feature Friday time again!
I'd like to introduce you to Jacqueline Gikow/ChelseaRainbow and thank her for a fabulous interview! ~ Lori
Where can we find you?
Shop: chelsearainbow.com
Blog: chelsearainbows.blogspot.com/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/chelsearainbows
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/ChelseaRainbow/
1) Tell us about yourself, your shop and what brought you to the Etsy community.
My name is Jacqueline and I’m the owner of ChelseaRainbow. I live in
In the past I have had careers in pottery, graphic design and industrial design with a sidetrack into computer programming early on in my work history. Ever since I can remember, art in some shape or form has been my passion. I am a graduate of The College of Ceramics at SUNY with a BFA in sculpture and art history, an MFA in
What brought me to Etsy was having a job in a crafts gallery that also sold jewelry. I had been making jewelry for about five years, but not selling it. A cousin of mine bought a painting on Etsy so I decided to check it out. I liked the atmosphere on Etsy so I opened a jewelry shop last June. By December I had diversified to include home décor accessories and I decided to change shops to Chelsea Rainbow; Exploring Creative Embellishments. I’ve now been open as ChelseaRainbow for about three months and took a large step backwards in my visibility so I’m working hard to get to where I was.
In a typical day, I get up early and check my email and do some neatening of my shop. Then I have breakfast and I do two hours of work at my virtual day job, where I work from home.
After that stint of work I spend some time making jewelry or photographing my work and also editing it in my digital software.
Then I have lunch and do some errands. I then will promote my work in the various teams and social media.
After that I work two more hours on my virtual day job. And then I check out a few promotional websites. I subscribe to HARO (helpareporterout.com) and have been published a number of time from the site.
Then I might do some more promoting and I take the evening off. It’s handy having a virtual job because I can spend a lot of time working on Etsy, either in my shop or on my jewelry and home décor accessories.
3) Name your top 3:
Books
Purple Cow, by Scott Godin
Poke the Box, by Scott Godin
How to Make Money Using Etsy, by Tim Adam
Music
Melanie
Blue Grass
Classical
TV
Law & Order
NCIS
NatGeo
Web sites
Books
Purple Cow, by Scott Godin
Poke the Box, by Scott Godin
How to Make Money Using Etsy, by Tim Adam
Music
Melanie
Blue Grass
Classical
TV
Law & Order
NCIS
NatGeo
Web sites
chelsearainbow.com
www.senseofashion.com/jgik6856/seller
4.) What are your top 3 shops on Etsy?
www.etsy.com/shop/baconsquarefarm
www.etsy.com/shop/beadedembellishments
www.etsy.com/shop/thegirlmakesbanners
5.) What projects are you currently working on?
Currently I’m working on some semi-precious pendants and necklaces as well as making some large (size 13) knitting stitch markers.
6.) Where do you hope your shop will be in a year?
I’m hoping to be more visible on Etsy and selling a bit faster. Since I sell jewelry, I have a lot of competition, but my work is unique and fashion forward, so I expect people to find me with the efforts I’m making to keep my shop up to date and well-stocked as well as approaching my target market.
7.) What suggestions/tips would you offer to someone new to Etsy?
Be prepared to work hard at filling your shop with products. Aim for at least two pages of items so that the buyer will be able to have a choice of products. Also be patient, especially if you’re a jeweler. It takes time to get known on Etsy both by the buyers and by the community. Join a team and make some treasuries so you can get seen. And finally get familiar with SEO so that you will also be visible on Google as well as on Etsy.
Nice meeting you Jacqueline! I think that your jewelry is unique and beautiful. Thanks so very much for sharing your process. I hope that you have tons of sales and that you are very successful on Etsy.
ReplyDeleteNice to get to know you Jacqueline - love your work!#sqk
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely interview!
ReplyDeleteSqueak!
Dana
CafeD
RusticWeddingStyle
Hi Jacqueline, nice to meet you - and welcome to the JETs! ErikaPrice
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