Geisha Mouse

Etsy Sellers Tip #2 Avatars

Your avatar is like a little advertisement of your shop. If you post in the Etsy forums it is a great way to show off your creations, which is why so many people have one of their listings as their avatar. You can use the same avatar in any of the many social networks where you can advertise your store; Twitter, MySpace, DeviantArt, Flickr, facebook, your blog etc. Every time you update your avatar every one of your posts will change to the new image, imagine all those places a little photo of your work will be showing to the world, and it's free too!

Things to consider when making an avatar

• Chose a photo that is clear and bright, make sure that it is still easy to make out even at the small avatar size.
• Crop it so that no space is wasted in the background.
• Always make sure the photo is something you have available to sell, there is nothing more frustrating that seeing an item you like in an avatar only to find it sold months ago. If the listing sells, replace it with a new one to keep your avatar fresh. I know I have sold more than one listing because someone fell in love with my avatar.
• the avatar doesn't have to be the entire object, you can focus on an attractive detail of you like, or create some curiosity by cropping it in an artistic way so buyers click to find out more.

Some people choose to use their logo as their avatar, which is a great way to brand a store, others put a photo of themselves in there. Both of these ways are equally good, but they don't spark the kind of targeted interest in what store lies beyond the avatars link. If you can get a photo of yourself with one of your items into an avatar then this makes for a very clickable combination!

Things to avoid putting into an avatar

• Dark or badly lit images. Get those photos looking bright and colorful first. Check out this Etsy tutorial for more info on how to do this.
  
• Political images - unless you sell political themed products you should separate your political views from your store advertising, they don't belong here.
  
• Your pets - yes, they are cute but it is to personal for a professional looking store. Of course if you sell pet accessories or products then making your pet your avatar would be a good idea.
  
• Random photos that have nothing to do with you, your store or your product. Why waste this free advertising space?

Finding some balance - an update

A couple of weeks ago I wrote in this post that I needed to find some balance between my business and home life. I am happy to say things are going quite well so far. I invested in a new iPhone which I now keep my entire schedule on, it even beeps at me when I need to do something - so no more wasting too much time on the computer! It also has all my various lists on it , so no more lost scraps of paper with important details on them.

I figured out a schedule and am to stick to it, which is having some great results! The house is much tidier, I am cooking healthy meals now, I haven't seen the inside of my microwave for weeks! I am also finding extra time for things I was too busy for before.

This year is getting off to a very good start, I have had several requests for blog interviews and even an article in a Dutch crafting magazine (I'll let you know when they are published) I have so many custom orders that I am selling faster than I can make them at the moment. It seems the House of Mouse is now unstoppable! I can't wait to see what happens next.

Over 5000 hearts

I have been watching my Etsy store hearts steadily make their way to 5000 for the last week or so. When I went to bed last night they were somewhere near the 4970 mark so I didn't think I would get there very soon.

Then last night I made it into a front page treasury and my store hearts jumped up to 5021! I don't know who's treasury it was because it had expired by the time I looked for it, but whoever you are thank you so much! It made my day to wake up well over my target number of hearts for this month.

Cheesecake

Yesterday I got a wonderful surprise, a lady who ordered a pair of custom wedding mice from me sent me a photo from her wedding to say thank you. Two little wedding mice sat atop a huge "cheese-wedding cake"! How wonderful, and what a beautiful photo too. Thank you to Jennifer for allowing me to use it.

Sold a painting!

As some of you know, I have an exhibition of my paintings on at the moment. I wrote about it in this post and you might remember I said that I didn't think I would sell anything, after all it's not in a gallery but in a Peugeot Car Showroom!

Well, I was wrong :) My painting "Blue Sensations" just sold to one of the guys that works at Peugeot! It goes to show, taking the opportunities the universe throws at you - no matter how
strange - can have surprising results!

"Blue Sensations"

Creative Overload

A few years ago I had creative block. On the rare occasion I had an idea I was too scared to make it happen. Then something changed, I can't quite put my finger on what did it but I started making my mice, and a stream of new ideas hit me constantly. I have a list so long of characters I want to make, but I also want to learn how to make other things too, and I have a house to keep clean and friends to stay in contact with.

Now I find myself with a whole new problem, quite the opposite from creative block, this is Creative Overload. I don't have enough hours in the day just for The House of Mouse business and home life, but I don't want to reject the new creative needs and ideas in my mind either.

How do you find the balance and time for everything you want to make and do, whilst still maintaining a business that is going well?

I suspect time management is important, but would love to hear any other tips you might have.