Living a non traditional life

I never wanted to work a 9-5 desk job, I would have been a miserable person if I ever had to do that, I would rather pluck my eyeballs out.  I have worked 12 hour shifts most of my life and was able to get that down to 2 12 hour shifts a week.

Now I would stick to that until I was hobbling around with a cane, but I hate the Northeast with a passion.  You get maybe 4-5 months of nice weather if you are lucky, and I do not do snow, or cold, or miserable dreary days.

So, dear hubby and I have worked our butts off ( granted we have no kids), so that we can get out of here the end of next year ( fingers, and arms and legs and eyes are all crossed).  We already downsized to a 2 bedroom apartment ( above our friends who converted their upstairs into an apartment).  We have purged most of our belongings to the bare minimum and will do a final purging this winter.

The plan is to buy a small home in Florida and stay in our trailer in the summer in Maryland.  The challenge in Maryland is it is about 400 square feet.  Now that would not be too bad, but the plan is to do my signs full time.  So we have been getting creative in getting a small area of storage for me to put all my supplies.  I think we have that ready to go.

I love our little place in Maryland, and you would be amazed at what you really do not need once you are in a small space.  In fact, we realized that we have never used the stove, ever, in 7 years.  We steam crabs, we grill our meat, and if I bake something small, I use the toaster oven.

So, if all goes well, by the age of 50 I will be doing my passion full time, that is creating home made items and selling online and craft shows.  I already know the hours will be way more than I am working now, but 25 years in the medical field has been long enough, and I am more than ready to work 7 days a week to do what I really love to do.

The basics of Etsy SEO

Now I am by no means an expert, but since I spend most every minute of my free time learning how to run an online business, I have picked up a few good tips.  Every new Etsy seller I come across does exactly what I did.  I made cute stuff and listed it and crossed my fingers.  My first shop opened in 2010 and to be honest, I have been running it wrong until a few months ago.

It was so bad, my husband wanted me to shut it down.  I love doing graphics, and once they are made, folks just download them and I am good to go.  Well, I don't want folks waiting 6 years to find they are doing it all wrong.tr

Now again, I am NOT an expert, but these little tips should at least get you going in the right direction, as opposed to my wrong direction.

1.  SEO is tricky, it changes, and you cannot just make a listing and ignore it ( guilty as charged).  You need to keep monitoring your listings as trends come and go and make sure your items are staying on the first 5 pages.

2. What the hell is SEO?  Search Engine Optimization.  Basically it is how your wonderful stuff gets found on Etsy.  Now how do find those magic words?

3. The search bar, now this is a debate, in reality, the search bar only shows the MOST RECENT searches, but I have found it still matches up fairly well with my choices.

4. Google keyword tool, they just changed how it works, it is FREE, but a little tricky, it will make you think you need to pay for ad words...FALSE.  But is is a little awkward.  You can google how to use it for free.

5. Marmalead, there is a free version and a paid version.  I did the paid version for a month and kept a notebook of the good keywords.

6.  Now you have gathered your keywords, you need to get that listing going.  There are different kinds of keywords, long tail keywords and "regular" keywords.  You want to use both.  A long tail keyword is 4-5 words and should be near the beginning of your title.  You then want to REPEAT that exact keyword phrase in the beginning of your item description.  You then want to REPEAT that phrase again in your tags.  If it is too long, do the best you can.  By repeating that phrase it
is giving that phrase a lot of strength.

7.  The title of your item should have that combo of keywords separated by a comma or dash.  Do not run all the words together, it hurts the eyes, and well, it looks terrible.

8.  Use all that space in your title if you can, the more options folks have, the greater chance you will be found.

Here is an example:  You are listing a boho style silver statement necklace, do not just say Silver necklace, boho necklace, statement necklace...you want to link them all together into 1 long tailed keyword: Silver boho statement necklace- now folks looking for more general terms will still find you.  For example if they look for silver necklace, silver statement necklace, silver boho necklace, those are all included in your 1 long tailed keyword. After the long tailed keyword, fill in with other keywords you may have found such as gift for girlfriend, or mother's day gift, Christmas gift, etc

Now, silver boho statement necklace is too long for a tag, so try boho necklace, silver necklace, statement necklace

Now this is just a starter, there is so much more, but it is a lot more I knew when I got started.

Happy listing!

FREE chalkboard digital art print, just because

September has been the worst month since I opened, for the sign shop.  My graphics shop took off, well, for me, at least, it has been a terrific month.  I measure success by how many happy hours I can go to, and this month would have left me in the drunk tank.

So, while I lament my signs, I celebrate my graphics shop, so I am going to give you something for free, yes, free.  Chalkboard art is hot right now, and so are typography prints.  What is awesome about digital prints is that if the trend changes, as it always does, you can change as well, and it does not cost you an arm and a leg.  For a few bucks you download the print and frame it on your lovely walls.

Need a last minute gift?  Bam, download and print and run to the dollar store for a frame ( I won't tell about the dollar store frame).

So, in honor of my graphics, and just because, here is your freebie, now do a happy dance. Oh, and just print this little guy out as 8 x 10.

.https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4J1keODfzWxQnBpNXZxUzZ1QUU/view?usp=sharing

Want to see more? Come visit my shop on Etsy- groovy graphics.

September sales suck

Not only am I am terrible blogger, September hit and sales went down the tubes.  I was warned, it was repeatedly said September will be a terrible month.  Yep.

So what is a girl to do?  I poured myself into my graphics shop, and holy cow, I have had the best month since I opened.  I am so excited, I have added the digital prints to expand my shop and the whole shop is doing well.

I have also taken most of my photos over, again, and did SEO yet again, so let us see what happens with the upcoming holiday season.  Again, the word is, the holidays are a crazy time, so fingers crossed that it is.

Meanwhile our plans are moving forward to make this our full time business starting January 2018.  I am working harder and more hours then I ever had at any other job, it is no joke.  It is definitely a labor of love.

Meanwhile, I am working hard on getting some new products out in time for Christmas.

Taking the bad and learning from it

So I had that 1 star review that totally freaked me out.  I love what I make, I have my signs in my home, and it is hard not to take those bad reviews to heart.

I since had a 4 star ( good quality and nice sign, but again not happy with the non crisp letters), and then two 5 stars.  The one raved about the quality and how cute the sign is.

So we decided to learn from the comments and just move forward.  I know take a close up photo with every sign we make, and while it is drying and waiting to be assembled I send it to the buyer.  This gives them an opportunity to see the actual sign they are getting, and if they are not happy, I can fix it before the item ships.

We then upgraded our wood, we purchased select pine, which is $6.30 more per length, or .71 cents per sign.  We stopped free shipping, so we are absorbing that cost.  The select pine is more smooth and I think the results are nicer.

We then added a disclaimer to every listing in bold letters that with ink transfers the letters will not have the crisp look of vinyl letters and that the signs are meant to be rustic.

So hopefully that should help with our future reviews.  Live and learn!

The good, the bad, the ugly

I need to grow a thick skin.  My husband has skin like an elephant, my skin is like tissue paper.  I made a sign last week and shipped it in record time.  It came out so cute.  The customer then leaves a 1 star review without ever contacting me,  She stated it was cheap and poor quality and the wording was blurry.

My signs are created from good quality pine, the listing states it is meant to be rustic and that wood has grain and flaws, so imperfections are all part of the appeal.  I would gladly refund her money, but she never responded back.  I know that people can be difficult, but as a online buyer, if I have a problem, I ALWAYS contact the seller before leaving a negative review.  As a new online seller, I depend on those reviews.  What is frustrating is that the folks who love my products do not leave reviews.

So here is the poor quality sign....the font has a "fuzzy" look, it is part of the font, but I love the sign.

Then I did a custom order for someone who absolutely loved her order, left no review, but at least made me feel better...."My husband was just arriving home from international work travels the day after it arrived, so it was perfect timing! He loves both the signs and I have referred you to several others that I know and are looking for somethings like this!

                                                               We love it, thank you!"

Well, as my husband says, you cannot make everyone happy, but I really do want everyone to love whatever item they order.

So moving forward, I decided to send a picture and a quick message to each buyer before shipping their item if it is not a ready made item.  I guess you just need to learn a lesson, grow thicker skin, and move on!

Keep cool as the heatwave continues!!

Graphics and sign making

I love designing graphics, and that is how we started making our signs.  I was contacted yesterday by a customer who absolutely loved her camper sign ( good job hubby).  I then spent 2 days designing a new sign for her.

I should have charged more, but what the heck, we are still a new little business, and at this point am just happy having a repeat customer.  I am so thrilled with this design, that I may make it as a regular item in the shop.

Here is the design:

Now we will take this design and transfer it into the pine wood.  I cannot wait to see how this turns out.  I will take pics once it is done.

I also listed this little guy on Facebook, this is hand painted, so a different technique, but I love the black and white, this one sold the day I put it in our group. 

I am really proud of not just the sign, but the pure white background that I managed to capture. Normally I think it is a boring look, but I think it looks great with the black.

Well, record heat is heading this way, everyone keep cool!

When it sells, just make more!

I love making reclaimed wood signs.  My friend loves it because it saves her from dragging out the wood to the trash. Hubby is on the fence.  On one had the wood is free, on the other, I now have quite the collection of driftwood and found wood in our other room.

I also discovered how to get my fonts onto the wood in a new way, which is good, and I think I have finally mastered the paint pen, which looks easier than it is.

So my collection of wood and fonts is paying off.  This sign sold in 3 hours the first time it was listed, and my other sign sold fairly quickly, so I figured I would make it yet again.

Next is black signs with white lettering, I really love that look.

Keep cool!  Record heat is on the way.

Trying new things is always fun

I started my other Etsy shop a few years ago called Groovy Graphics.  I took my knowledge of graphics and applied them to my wood sign shop.  My husband wanted to know if I could then take some of those designs from the wood shop and create printable graphics from them. I really did not want to, but then I found people selling digital art prints.

Yes!  I could add some fun new things to my graphics shop, and hopefully generate a little more income from that shop.  I am having a blast creating these, and will probably print some for myself.

Mistakes happen, and then....

So I have been having issues doing my image transfers, it always seems easy, but the slightest little movement, and your hard work is ruined.  Don't let the do it yourself sites fool you, it is not easy, and I have ruined a few pieces of beautiful pine wood in the process.

I actually have more fun doing the hand painting, and may leave the transfers to the spouse.  Yes, he actually has a better hand at it than I do, plus it keeps him out of trouble (lol).

I was completely annoyed yesterday when I messed up again.  There is no way I am trashing a nice piece of wood, it is just not happening, and sanding it does not really work well.  Not to be deterred, I found some nice Behr black paint just sitting around, and behold, I now have beautiful black wood to work with.

I am still working on my painting technique, and some fonts are a real challenge, but I am in love with the black and white. So lesson learned, you can always find some positive out of a mistake, and it may even work to your benefit. Excuse the work table, you can tell it has been well used.

Christmas in July

Ok, well, all the hype and no Christmas in July sales, but I did get a lot of views, and I figure at least I can let the SEO simmer in time for the holiday season.

I admit I have been having a blast making signs when it is 95 outside, and since it is my first holiday season I figured it would be a good time to stock up.  I think my favorite signs are made from reclaimed wood,

I love getting a piece of scrap wood and imagining what it could turn into.  I have a a few with a base coat of paint on them, and now I just have to study each piece to see what it will turn into.

Here are some of my reclaimed pieces, and there are many more in my Etsy store. I am especially excited about this first sign, not for the design, but that I was able to capture a good product photo with a little point and shoot Kodak camera.  I tried a piece of white board, and with just the right amount of positioning and some Photoshop tweaking, I think I did ok.

Finally back to blogger

Well, so much has happened since the last I wrote, I really need to get back into the swing of things!
We have sold 2 signs at The Gifted Crab in Maryland, several on Ebay, and now our shop is starting to take hold.

I wanted to expand a little and add some painted signs to our collection, so we collected a bunch of driftwood and I have been working on those.  I tried the paint pens, and although it seems easy in theory, there is definitely a steep learning curve to using them.  I am glad I have plenty of spare wood, because I have ruined a good amount of wood.

So summer is in full swing and we are busy crabbing ( not so good) and fishing in Maryland.  I have taken some cool pictures down along the rocks, and am continuing to work on our product photography.  All in all, we are a busy couple, and I must admit I love it.

Here are some pics I have been working on.  

Oh, and we have a Facebook Group page to promote special events and to allow our customers to purchase signs before they are listed on Etsy at a discounted rate.  Our page is https://www.facebook.com/groups/191559681240034/.

Seahorses and postcards

I have hundreds and hundreds of vintage images and collages stored up on my computer.  I love combining graphics into something completely different.

I had a bunch of vintage postcards and this great seahorse compliments of The Graphics Fairy.  I combined the two in Photoshop and came up with this collage.

This is actually not done on a piece of reclaimed wood, we took our pine, painted it and distressed it.  I added the graphic I designed, sealed it in spar urethane and then sealed it again with outdoor polyurethane.

I think this would be awesome in a beach home, it has just the right shabby beach chic look.

Here is this little guy.

Website...why not, free trial!

I am not sure a website will help sales, but hey, anything to try and get the name out there, and it's free for 30 days, I just need to remember to cancel!

It looks nice, it is integrated with my Etsy site, and I think it looks nice, clean simple lines, and since I am clueless with website code, it will do for now.

So, here it is, let's see what happens!


http://thequirkyimage.patternbyetsy.com/

Custom crab shack sign

I really really love this one.  I am on the hunt for some more reclaimed wood.  I made a sign for our friends but it came out badly, so I decided to redeem myself and make another one.

Score!!!

I painted the reclaimed wood then added the crab and wording.  I was not happy with just the spray spar urethane, so I decided to try some semi gloss polyurethane.

Winner!

I really want to test these guys out in the elements so I can market some outdoor signs.  I sprayed it with a spray bottle and the water rolled right off, really cool ( now I am impatient to get ours out in the elements).

I love the one I made for us as well, and nothing like a little self promoting to try and get business moving.

First Etsy sale!

Well, we have been open for just over a month and we got our first Etsy sale!  Thank goodness, because the DH was driving me nuts over our lack of sales.

Granted we had 7 sales prior to this sale on Ebay and Craigslist, but for some reason I really wanted this sale.

I carefully wrapped up the sign and tied it with a pretty ribbon, I think it looks great.

Now we just need some more sales to get the momentum going!!

Still looking for Etsy sales!

Well, we have been making signs like crazy.  We now have a tote full of what we think are adorable signs.

Not a single Etsy sale.

We have a lot of lookers, lots of likes, lots of watchers on Ebay, but nothing.

I keep telling myself that they will do well in person, but there is nothing going on where we live, no shows, no fairs , nothing.

It is getting a little depressing.

We have 11 signs in a shop, but the weather is not great and not a lot of people are shopping.

I keep telling my husband to be patient, but it has been almost a month and now I am starting to feel bummed out,

We really want to make this our little business, and we have been putting in endless hours a day working on it.

So, here are some of our new designs, and keeping our fingers crossed that something sells soon!

Live and Learn SEO

Well, it has been almost 3 weeks, no sales on Etsy.  2 on Ebay, 4 on Craigslist.  Very discouraging.

Well, I reached out to a Facebook group and they steered me in the right direction, seems my items were not showing up on Etsy.

Who knew?

I spent about 36 hours learning about SEO, found a cool website to generate good tags/search terms.

Now I show up on the first or second page.

I redid my graphics shop ( www.groovygraphics.etsy.com) and I did get 2 sales since.

The easy part is creating the signs, the hard part comes after.  People don't realize the time in photographing, editing, posting, researching tagging, and checking in to see if your all hard works shows up in a search.

Luckily I only work weekends, because this has been a full time effort this past week.

Even the cat is exhausted.

Now I just hope all this hard work pays off!!

First sales today!

We are really pouring ourselves into getting noticed.  I have been on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest.

I have been listing on Etsy, giving out business cards, been on local forums and contacting local shops.

It has been exhausting.

On a whim, I listed some signs on Craigslist, then woot woot, I got a text.

Luckily my husband was home and we got our first 4 sales today, from a free non crafty site.

I will take it.

Hubby was beginning to wonder if we would ever sell anything, we think our ideas are cute, but you just never know.

So it has been a wonderful day, and hopefully it is the start of some more sales!

New shop, new blog

Well, after doing graphic design for several years, my husband and I were looking for a way to incorporate some of my design ideas into a tangible item.

He needed something to do in the winter, and we needed a way to create a mobile business we can hopefully grow when we "retire" in the next 2 years.

I love the quirky and unique, and wanted to create something that reflected that part of my personality.

After many hours of experimentation, we found a way to transfer my designs onto wood.

We also found a way to transfer photos!

I hope ( fingers crossed) we can get this up and running, and am looking forward to coming up with new and innovative designs.


This pretty much says it all!!