When and how did you become interested in making your craft? I have crocheted since I was a teen. I started with art class in school we did a weaving and I instantly became a yarn addict. I am self taught so I started out with blankets and baby blankets and then scarves. I picked up a book on sale one day and started doing almost every project in there. Someone mentioned I should sell them so here I am.
I love this answer, so much fun. That is also how I got started selling, someone told me I should and off I went.
What is your typical day like? Wake up early, get my daughter off to school, run a couple of errands with the twins, come home make lunch, do a bunch of promoting online for my store, do some cleaning and or laundry, pick up my daughter from school, make dinner, hang with the kids and do dishes, get them off to bed and if I'm lucky watch a TV show or two and get a couple hours of crocheting in.
What are some tips for newbies? When you ask people to critique your shop always stick with your own instinct, if you feel what they are saying is helpful than work on whatever they are suggesting but if something doesn't feel right to you run your shop the way you see fit, don't try to copy other etsy stores.
What is one thing you do that drives the most traffic to your site? Twitter seems to do rather well for me however I am unsure if it's gotten me any sales, I know it brings in a lot of views. Something else I did was join the Wanelo team on Etsy, they are an extremely helpful bunch of people who know the ins and outs of many social media sites and we all promote each other.
What would you like to see change on Etsy? I'd love it if they extended the time that a listing is active. Even with all the promotion I do things rarely sell in the first 3 months unless its a custom order.
Do you make what you love, or what will sell? For awhile I was taking advice from other etsy sellers and trying to make things that I thought would sell. About a month ago though I decided to throw that concept out the window, since I had a couple random sales of things I thought were long shots that also happened to be items that I love to make. So from here on out I'm making things that I love and WANT to make. As much as I need the extra income I'd still rather make things that I enjoy making that way even if they don't sell it's not a waste of time.
Great advice! I love to learn new things from other artists, and helpful things as well.
Question for you -
What does your typical day look like?
Answer in the comments below!
Don't forget to go and check out all of her online sites, follow her and get the latest news.
wanelo.com/crochetbymel
weheartit.com/CrochetByMel
Thank you for sharing experience! Great interview!
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