An Interview with Pink Gingerbread Girl

Getting to know Pink Gingerbread Girl!

Tell us a little bit about yourself?
Where did you learn to craft?
No one taught me.. I have always just loved craft stores and finally messed around with enough stuff I'd picked up over the years and put it to some use!

How did you start selling?
Where did the idea come from?
I started with ebay, then etsy, and now my website. I can't really call it "selling" though, at this point I'm still mostly just "listing". Every once in a while though, even a blind squirrel gets a nut, right? I came up with the idea to make the Ponytail Tree when I finally became fed up with my 2 daughter's tangle of ponytail holders in their bathroom drawers. I couldn't find anything that
would organize and store them so.. I invented what I was looking for!

What are your goals?
My goals are to be a bajillionaire!

…Your inspiration & motivation?
I am inspired and motivated by my 2 daughters. I don't want them growing up thinking their mom was just "there". I want them to remember things I've done or created and be proud of me.

If there is a new craft you could learn, what would it be and why?
I would love to create a new craft, start something that others haven't made yet. As soon as I find out what it is, I'll let you know! And why? So others would want to learn how to make it and there by becoming… you guessed it, a bajillionaire!

Where do you receive you inspiration, in general?
Not sure this answers the question but I'll answer "when" do I receive my inspiration. When I'm walking. I go on loooong walks and carry a pad of paper with me. Everything that pops in my head, I write or draw on my pad.

What is the best advice you have ever received?
Everything I read in The Secret.

What is your favorite craft/item you have created?
The Ponytail Tree Apart from creating things, what do you do? Schlep kids to and from school, laundry, clean, grocery shop...and check my Facebook.

If you won a thousand dollar craft shopping spree, what would you spend it on?
Acrylic paint, fabric, and silk flowers.

Visit :
Pink Gingerbread Girl
http://www.pinkgingerbreadgirl.com/
http://www.pinkgingerbreadgirl.etsy.com/

An great idea for promoting our team...

If everyone can add a team members etsy shop somewhere in their profile or announcement, we can form a team shop chain. Which would be a great way to promote each other and may it easy for people to look through our team shops. We can discuss it more in yahoo group, but here is the link to read more about.

http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/team-tip-form-a-shop-chain-2161/


And we'll start planning it out in yahoo.

Etsy Now Facebook Friendly

You can now post your Etsy mini on Facebook.

Read how here.

Breaking News: The CPSIA Mandatory Testing Has Been Suspended!

CPSC Grants One Year Stay of Testing and Certification Requirements for Certain Products

Read here.

CPSIA Action Kit and Community Chat

Some useful information from ETSY regarding the future of handmade products.

Information here.

Got this from Another Etsy Team..Sharing it with the Team

10 Quick Tips to Improve Your Etsy Shop!

1. Make a schedule and allow yourself some flexibility. As a creative person, this completely goes against everything in my body! A schedule is as non creative as it gets, but it’s critical to develop this skill. Here’s an example of a daily schedule and a monthly schedule:

Daily:
Monday = shop update
Sunday = working on your craft or art
Tuesday = Blogging and Social Networking

Hourly:
6:54 am – relist items that have sold over night or renew items…this is critical to jump start your day and stay fresh on searches within Etsy.
7 am – update blog, post blog in the forums on Etsy
7:30 – comment on five other blogs you found interesting. Target blogs of shops that sell items to a similar audience or area of interest that overlaps what you’re selling.
10 am – ship items
1:56 pm – relist 2 items

2. Blog. Free blog accounts can be set up at sites like LiveJournal and Blogpot. Personally I’m a fan of Blogspot because of its ease of use for both bloggers and visitors. It’s fairly easy for anybody to access and comment. Best of all its FREE.

3. Network!!! Social Networking is huge! If your main route of selling is online then it’s critical to catch up to the online trend of social networking! Places to promote your shop: Facebook (set up a page for your shop!), Twitter (tweet about your daily events, shop updates, blog updates), Flickr (upload and share photos of your latest projects!), Yahoo groups (target groups interested in your skill/craft or groups that represent the audience your selling to).


4. Renew your listings!!! This is critical and if rated in terms of importance it should be #1 on your to do list. Etsy is designed in such a way that your primary avenues for exposure are on the front page. At any point viewers across the globe are viewing the items scrolling across Etsy’s front page. How can people find you if you’re not putting your items up for renewal??? Think of it this way…Etsy is designed like a virtual slot machine. I put in my quarter (.20 cent listing fee) and I may or may not get a jackpot! However, this slot machine is special, it’s pretty and captivating, there are no annoying bells and whistles. It keeps its viewers captivated and hypnotized with visual jewels scrolling across its screen. This slot machine is also special because the odds are in your favor! It almost always pays out with a visitor to your shop which is always a potential sale! The bottom line is that you have to bring your shop to the buyers. Entice them to visit your shop! So sit down and think about how much you’re willing to pay for advertising. Then take that budget and apply it to renewing your items. For example $30.00 a month buys you about 6 renewals a day. Invest a little here and it will take you far.

5. Spend some time in the forums on Etsy, even if it’s just 10 minutes a day. This serves a few purposes: it keeps you aware of what’s happening in the community, trends, sales, debates. My favorite sections are the “Business Topics” and “Techniques and Materials.” Please remember that what you post in the forums, as well as what you post in our yahoo group, is a direct reflection of your business.


6. Take a nice sunny Saturday to revisit your photos! Bright, clear, well lit photos are what will sell your item. I try to keep a white, bright background and use a simple poster board and a sunny spot in my living room to take my photos. My camera is not fancy and neither are my photography skills! Here are some articles from the Storque that will get you going:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/search/title/light-box/
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-to-brighten-your-photos-with-paperama-2900/
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/etsy-holiday-how-to-4-photographing-your-items-413/

7. Join a team or several teams! Teams are a great way to develop your business. Utah Etsy is designed for local artists and crafters to come together, share, network, and support one another, and we like to sprinkle in a bit of fun and philanthropy. Other teams are designed to reach a specific audience or meet a social goal such as helping animals or promoting green living. You can be a member of as many teams as you like, just remember that you’ll get out of it what you put into it. Find teams that will help your business grow.

8. Add new items to your shop! This is a top one. Keep your shop fresh with new items. Repeat buyers have the potential of making up a significant portion of your sales. Adding new items encompasses giving yourself time to create. It’s a fine line between spending too much time working on your business versus creating your product. Unless you have the ability to employ a marketing team and office manager I’m afraid you’ll have to tackle this one on your own. For me, I try to set aside specific days and times of the day to create new items. For example, evenings and naptimes provide me a window to either create or market. I have to choose and find that balance, 50/50 is my goal but not necessarily my reality.


9. Review your listing descriptions. Are they clear, free of errors (they sneak in there all of the time!). Do they mention features and benefits of your items. Are the dimensions detailed out in both inches and cm for both US and Intl. buyers? Are you clear on your shipping time frame?

10. Stay focused! If you look at some of the top sellers on Etsy and within our Utah Etsy team, you’ll notice that their shops have a sense of cohesiveness. If you have another craft you want to explore, consider whether or not the item will fit in your existing shop or if it would do better in a separate shop with its own cohesive theme.

So take some time to review your business this holiday weekend and see if any of these tips can be applied to your shop!

Who LOVES Cupcakes!!!

I want everyone to get the opportunity to get to know a bit about each other. SO i am going to be doing "Etsian of the week", and did our FIRST interview with Christy (suite106cupcakery.etsy.com).

Tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Christy and I am a proud parent of my only child my daughter Monae. She is the next Misty Mae Treanor volleyball star, she is 14 and in the 9th grade. I am also a soon to be wife to Jason, he is a lead singer in a rock band and when he is not rocken the mic on stage he designs custom homes. I live in sunny Southern California in city called Rancho Cucamonga.How did you start selling? Where did the idea come from?
Well I started baking when I was around 7 years old in Chicago, where I was born and raised with my mom & dad, my 2 sisters and brother. My mother would always make these unique pastries like Kalachki cookies and The Butter roll by hand and from scratch and they were very delicious. She taught us girls how to bake from scratch and by hand and that everyone would be happy we did. When I got older we moved to California and I took that passion for baking with me, I become a head baker (among many others things) and helped opened several restaurants in the Inland Empire. One day my sister Rebecca, who is a very talented clothing designer and the owner of Sky Bleu Couture, had the idea of selling cupcakes. We would always make cakes for family and friends and they would tell us they were so good we should go into business. So she thought lets make cupcakes they were really hot at the time so I started a blog a little over a year ago and orders started rolling in, then my sister Rebecca found Etsy and said that would be another great way to offer people my cupcakes, so here I am.

What are your goals? Your inspiration & motivation?
My inspiration and motivation comes from each person who tastes one of my cupcakes and says, that was the most beautiful and delicious cupcake they ever had and it made there day, that is what keeps me going. I have a goal of opening a small bakery in the Inland Empire by the end of next year.
What is your favorite cupcake?
My favorite cupcake? WOW that is a hard one since I love them all and I have over 30 flavors, how could I choose just one? But I am a chocolate girl so I would have to go with the Chocoholic cupcake, it is moist and fudgy with a taste of caramel, topped off with little salty crunch from the peanuts sprinkled on top, a perfect combination. Thanks now I’m craving one and I am on a diet .

Apart from creating things, what do you do?
When I am not baking I have a family owned business that deals with finances in terms of Life Insurance (living benefits) Real Estate and Mortgages, I work there with my whole entire family. We have been in business for around 20 years here in the Inland Empire and we also have a nonprofit organization that educates the public about their finances through free classes.

What is the best advice you have ever received?
The best advice I ever received was from my mother and father they always told me to remember that I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.
Also I got some good advice from the late great Earl Nightingale he says: A man is what he thinks about all day long, if you think in negative terms you get negative results if you think in positive terms you get positive results that is a fact.

Makes you want a cupcake, Thank you Christy for your time. Everyone check out Christy's Etsy Store (suite106cupcakery.etsy.com). If you want to be the next Etsian of the week Contact me Cindy (cpmelo.etsy.com)