Ask-A-Rat

Photography is tricky enough on its own. To make it even tougher on us, there is the color red. With the holidays, you can't avoid it and so, while I am no photography expert, here's what I have to offer. It's AuntKarensCreations this week that asks,

  How on earth do you take a good picture 

of a red Christmas stocking?

First thing about photographing any color or product is getting a proper set up. Natural light is a necessity and (typically) easy to come by. I take photos next to a south-facing window. If you're in the northern hemisphere this is the direction from which you'll get the most light. You'll also get consistent light from the north with less worry about harsh shadows, but work with what you've got. Avoid direct sunlight as it creates harsh shadows and can alter the color of your items in photos. On a sunny day, this may mean setting up in the corner of the room while on a cloudy day you can be right in front of the window.

My set up is very simple. I have a large piece of white foamcore board on the floor and one standing vertically oppostite the window to reflect some light back on the product. In the afternoon the sun starts to intrude upon my workspace, as you can see, and so I typically try to take photos in the morning. For someone taking photos of small items you can do this on a smaller scale. This works well for me as I have a range of product sizes.

Now you take your wonderful photos and load them on the computer for some basic editing, which I feel all images should go through no matter how good they are on their own. I use picnik and there are a few things I do to every photo. First, I up the exposure and contrast. Next, I do a little color correcting. The easiest way to do this for me is to use the neutral picker feature and select my white (or gray) background. One thing neutral backgrounds can do is pick up the color of the product. For this photo using the neutral picker took the red hint out of the white background.

For editing a red product photo, I found that adjusting the saturation is helpful as well. In my experience, red tends to photograph brighter than it may be. By lowering the saturation you're able to get the cardinal or maroon that your item might actually be. These two simple color correcting tools can lead a good photo to a great photo.

 

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After our blog button contest was finished and the winner was announced, here on the team blog we made that button available for you to grab and use as you see fit. Some of you might be wondering how to do something like that for your shop or blog. Well, at least MollysMuses wondered.

How do I make a button/badge for 

my shop to put on other blogs?

First off, you need to make an image for your button. 11m2 designed and made an amazing button for the Lab Rats. If you have a logo that's a great option, otherwise you can simply use one of your product photos. You'll have to decide on a size as well. Our logo is 200 x 200 which fits great in our wide sidebar, but may not work for everyone. 150 or 125 pixels are also good widths. When you're satisfied with your image, upload it to an image hosting site such as imgur, photobucket, or flickr.

Now for the technical side of things. You will have to create some coding so you can display your image and make the code visible for others to take and add to their site. This article has easy to follow information for doing just that. Follow the instructions there adding in your image and shop urls where directed and you'll have your code and badge set up in no time. 

Getting others to feature and use your badge may be a tricky process. One possibility is to find other shops and blogs that are a similar style to yours, but not competing and offer some cross promotion. You put up their blog button and they put up yours. Another option is the next time you are doing a giveaway or similar promotion, grant extra entries to followers who are willing to put your badge on their blog. These are the two that come to my mind first. Hope this gets you started!

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As crafty-business-teurs (yes, that is an official term) we are it. We make, market, and fulfill orders. And respond to emails. And do bookkeeping. And order supplies. So I imagine that this week's question from Raven's Whimzy is a common one.

How do you balance "production" 

versus "creation"?

First, I have to explain what "production" and "creation" are in relation to this question. Raven's Whimzy explains that she "end(s) up doing so much shipping, bookkeeping and production" like making multiples of items that she finds herself with "very little time for actually creating new things." Production vs. Creation. Pretty simple.

With the holidays coming up we can all use a lesson in time management and prioritizing which, in my opinion, this is all about. I suggest setting aside a certain amount of time, no matter how much you have to do and how many orders you have to fulfill, to just create. Spend this time brainstorming, sketching, and making prototypes. The technical sides like researching material costs, pricing, market research, or planning a launch shouldn't be included in this time. While this is all part of bringing a new product into being, it isn't about creating. By prioritizing time for creation, you may have to extend the time period for order fulfillment and make your customers aware of that. This may especially be the case if items are made to order, but a simple statement along the lines of "please allow 1-2 weeks for item completion" can help everything.

Following the footsteps of linkmaster, jswrites, here are a couple of links to help. There's "Organizing for the Holidays (And Beyond)" and Lillyella's recap of her virtual lab session on Organization and Time Management. While everyone has different commitments everyone can find a chunk of time to commit to creation. Whether its an hour a week or an entire day doesn't matter. Use what time you can!

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There are so many aspects of an Etsy shop where we, as the creators, have to actually talk about ourselves and our product. It's a balance between saying too much and saying too little. So here's our question of the day from PixieDustFineries,

"How can I shorten my descriptions and say everything that needs to be said?"

After peeking into a couple of your listings, I found this fabulous ring to have one of your longest descriptions reaching from the top of my computer monitor all the way to the bottom. The first thing I would suggest for your description is to do some grouping of similar information. Keep all the material information together. Same goes for ring sizing and links/shop info that should all go at the end. Once you organize your description, you should be able to consolidate. Maybe you'll notice in this listing that you link back to your shop twice (and have "width and height of this ring" in twice). You should be able to combine information into simpler, easier to follow sentences. The ring sizing information, for example, is hard to follow although a simple concept to understand. A sentence like this may be much better, "This ring is slightly adjustable, but please include your ring size in the Message to Seller for an accurate fit." Straight forward and easily understood conveying just enough information.

There is also some information that isn't serving a purpose for the buyer. Personally, (and keep in mind all of this is a personal opinion), I would not put feedback in your description. That's what your feedback area is for. Think about how much and what kind of information is needed for a potential customer. As a buyer, I don't know what .864 inches looks like. Looking at the image the ring being worn is where I will get my idea of scale. The size of wire is information another jeweler may understand (or find useful to try to recreate the design) but not necessarily the buyer.

I sincerely hope this will help you to decide what information is useful for a buyer and how to organize that information to be more reader friendly. Maybe it will even shorten up the description some.

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Gadget pouch - Organic linen - Girl stamp from 11m2

We're looking for your questions! You can ask us anything related to your business no matter how big or small. If you really like you can remain anonymous (although that gets tricky with shop specific questions). You can use our Ask A Rat link in the sidebar or click here. So let us know how we can help you!

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Whether you love it or hate it, part of the creating process is all about finding the right materials at a (hopefully) great price. Some sellers work extremely hard to find their suppliers which makes today's question a bit tricky.

"What's a good source for..."

While I personally buy a lot of my supplies retail (insert grumble noises) a good Google search is the place to start online for wholesale goods. The difficulty I find with buying wholesale is that the quantity you need to buy can be extremely high. Especially when you're testing out a new product or are just getting started. Perhaps you only buy your packaging supplies and most used materials like chain, glue, or yarn in bulk in the beginning. Back to the search for a good source - you may have to try several different keywords and peek at several sites before you find something that fits your needs. It's also good to note that there are several great supply sellers on Etsy. Whatever it is you're looking for, keep searching. If you're able, keep your design flexible so you can adapt it and use the supplies you're able to find and afford. There must be someone more supply savvy than I that can offer advice. Care to share your wisdom?

etsy photo sources: awkward, simplyinvitingcards, shawnee23, gottagetadeal, rolyzcreations, buzzybeeshop

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As crafters and artists, we all tend to be a little ADD and many of us dabble in a more than one craft or make many different items. In the labs we see this through one big question asked today by GlassAli. 

"Would I do better with multiple shops?"

I've personally never considered two shops and so I reached out to Hollie from blueberryshoes to help answer this question. Hollie until recently had two shops on Etsy - one for fashion and one for art. Since she has experienced the one shop and two shop worlds, she is a great source of advice on the topic.

When Hollie opened her art shop, imfromthewoods, in addition to her main shop she noticed something happen immediately. "My attention was split and naturally fell onto the more successful shop-my original one. The fashion shop flourished and the art shop fell behind... In time I just didn't care about the art shop at all." It was after much deliberation that she decided to incorporate her art into her main shop not necessarily knowing if it would all flow and thrive together.

Through our conversation Hollie stressed that time is the biggest factor in deciding if you can manage two shops. "There is much power in giving a shop attention, promoting, signing into etsy with that one username, recognizable avatar, etc. Branding, really." No one is saying two shops can't be successful, but it is a major time commitment. "It takes more time and more energy to care for both... It's about how much are you able to give of yourself. And will you always be giving the same amount of attention to both?"

GlassAli, when I look at your shop I don't see a reason to open an additional shop. It's obvious to me that you enjoy making the lampwork bead pieces and have invested most your time there. This is your niche! If you work on refining your shop to focus on this style of items I think it will help your success. Now, if you really love the beaded and stamped jewelry just as much you can work on incorporating it with the lampwork pieces like with the great charms above. Or perhaps you could open another shop. Just be sure it is a time commitment you'll be able to make.

Ask-A-Rat

Welcome to our brand new column, Ask-A-Rat, where we'll be answering your questions about the crafty business! You can always ask your question here using our Google Form. Let's get to our first question, or statement rather, from LauraBaillieDesigns.

"I'm looking for ideas to spice up my shop a bit. All suggestions are welcome!"

First, I have to say how impressive your shop already is! Your photos really are amazing and your shop is nice and full. Now - for what you can do to spice things up. I would hunt down a model or take photos of yourself wearing your pieces. These don't have to be your first picture, but it's amazing what an actual person can do to help customers realize scale. Next - start evening out your shop sections. It's obvious that you really enjoy making necklaces the most. Try to focus on producing items like rings and brooches to give plenty of variety. That way you also don't have to worry about leading a customer to a section with only 2 items. Other things you can always do to change up your shop is to create a new banner, switch up your avatar, and experiment with photos. Your shop looks fabulous! Keep up the good work!