I can’t tell you all the details right now, but some news concerning my book illustrations was passed down to me from the author that caught me totally by surprise. I should have known things wouldn’t go as expected, or even as I dreamed, but after a day of pacing, thinking, and occasionally punching a pillow, I have come to terms with the news. (Don’t worry, my illustrations are still going to be used, just not in the way originally planned.) I think it’s important for artists to see every opportunity as the universe’s way of pushing us in the right direction. So while I was given this chance to illustrate a book, that does not mean that I am supposed to do this as my full-time career later on. Indeed, the news I received seems to be pushing me in a new direction: working solely for myself. There is that old saying that when one door closes, another opens. I whole-heartedly believe that. And while I may be sad right now, I know that these events are all part of the universe’s journey that will lead me to a job that I love.

There are other ways to expect the unexpected that don’t lead to punched pillows, however. In fact, they can help expand your work and push you into new creative directions.

Many of us don’t want to admit that our subconscious knows more than we do. But the simple truth is that if we give up what we perceive as our ‘control’ of a situation, the end result is something completed unexpected and yet totally awe-some.

When I was working on “Daughters of the Forest,” I had no clue how the girls would turn out. Many of you will remember that their feet were the last thing I did. I was sitting at my desk, himming and hawing and what type of shoes they should have when suddenly the idea of deer feet popped into my mind. I ran with it. The result is a wonderful piece that is my current favorite.

And just a few days ago I had pulled out my bamboo pen, ready to draw dung beetles (per my boyfriend’s request) but something inside kept saying, “Feathers!” So I listened to it and this curious rooster came out instead of the beetles. (For all of you dung beetle fans:  don’t worry, the dung beetles will be next.)

So really, we all need to take a few minutes before we start out projects to listen to what that voice inside of us might be saying. And when you’re in the middle of the project and a funny idea pops into your mind, don’t instantly dismiss it. That is your inner artist trying to tell you something. And the truth is: it’s smarter than you are.

Nurturing your inner artist by Kathy Orf

How do you make your titles in Etsy more SEO friendly?

“Google AdWords was a huge help to me. It shows you the words that people search for in Google. So if I put in “soap” it will give me the keywords that people search with and the percentages for that word. This helped me tweak my titles to try an increase the traffic to my shop.

I will caution you at this point though not to use all 12 (or 20 or whatever it might be) keywords that Google brings back with the highest percentages. From what I have read in the Etsy forums, most buyers like simple titles. They seem to think that it makes one appear desperate if they have too many keywords in their titles. From what I have read, Google might think it is spam and not rank your site high on their results because of “overstuffed” titles.”

Megan here: Nicole is right about overstuffing your titles. Google will rank you lower if it thinks you are spamming. Also, as a buyer, it’s generally a turn off if your title reads, “All Natural Organic Green Soap Handmade Bars.” (Yes, I did just make that up but I have seen some titles on Etsy that have to extend to a second line.) SEO is generally walking a tightrope of too little and too much in terms of key words. You want the reader to be oblivious to your keyword usage. If they start to count how many times you say “soap” or “fine art print”, you’re overusing them. I generally have someone else (like my mother or my boyfriend) read through my descriptions or titles and see if the number of times I say “print” or “pen and ink” bothers them.

Title: Vegan Gingerbread Bar Soap by Owl Naturals

Keywords: bath and beauty, soap, vegan, cold process,handmade, body, gingerbread, bar, clean,spice, kitchen, brown,upcycle

How do you use your title to write your description and thus your tags on Etsy?

“I try to make my title simple, my description a little bit more detailed and my tags I use for keywords as well as colors, etc. that I think Etsy shoppers or Etsy admin. might use to search for purchases or Treasuries. Yes, I like being on the front page of Etsy or in their Storque articles. :)

Who doesn’t? Haha. And Nicole obviously writes her descriptions and tags well because she has also already been on the front page within her first month on Etsy.”

Does repetition of keywords work?

“It seems to help to use the same keywords throughout your title, tags and description. However, from what I have read, you want to be careful on using too many keywords too many times because Google will again think you are trying to spam if you have too many. And that will hurt your page rank. We all want to be at the top of a Google search, right?!”

Title: Handmade Calendula Beeswax bar soap

Keywords: bath and beauty, soap, scented, body,beeswax, all natural, cold process,handmade, owl naturals, eco friendly, bar,upcycled recycled, vintage book pages,brown paper

How did you find which words were your keywords?

“I used Google Adwords, spent time in the forums on Etsy learning from others, and did Google searches to see the results, as to who was coming in at the top of the search.”

Can you recommend any websites, books, etc. to help other pump up their Etsy shop’s SEO?
“The forums on Etsy were a huge help to me. Did you know there is a search bar for the forums? You can type in whatever the topic is that you have a question about and it will bring up all of the posts on that topic. I love that! Etsians are so willing to share their experience and wisdom with others.

Etsy’s help guide to SEO is a wonderful resource also. I am still learning and will continue to research and tweak things, but it has been fun to learn about SEO and how to increase traffic to my site.”

Handmade Spark also has some great articles on SEO such as this one by Amber Jordan. I couldn’t agree more about searching the forums on Etsy. You can always find such amazing information thanks to other sellers.

I hope this article has been informative and very helpful! Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m off to use Google Adwords and then pour several hours into enhancing my Etsy shop’s SEO. If you have anything specific you’d like me to cover next week, please leave a comment! I’d also love to collaborate with another artist if you have information you want to share with others!!

So, how we you use something as simple as a calendar and a stack of sticky notes to improve your business? Let’s make a list!

1. Use a calendar to chart your sales. I use a highlighter to mark the days I make sales. This lets me know week to week how my sales are doing and also lets me make an easy count at the end of the month.

Below is a shot of my first quarter of this year.

2. Use a calendar to track your marketing efforts. The best way to see which marketing strategy is paying off is to keep track of when you did it and for how long. I keep track each day of how many blogs I comment on, when I sponsor a blog, when I buy an ad, and perhaps which key words I searched under on Google to find new buyers. If you feature people on your blog regularly, penciling them in on the calendar is a great way to remember week to week who you need to contact.

3. Use a bulletin board for inspiration. Fill it with pictures that inspire you. Write down the goals you want to achieve with your business and stick them up. Print out nice feedback from buyers. Put your bulletin board near your desk so that you can look at it for instant inspiration.

Unique Memory Board by Kay’s Krafts at http://www.etsy.com/shop/kayskrafts

And be sure to invest in some push pins like these ones from Uncorked (http://www.etsy.com/shop/uncorked)

4. Use Post-Its to keep day to day to-do lists. I always make mine the night before. This ensures I’m ready to go the next morning and also helps me get to sleep easier since I’m not thinking about everything I have to do the next day. It’s already written down.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MichelleBrusegaard

At this point you may be rolling your eyes and thinking all of this is overkill. It may be that I have an unhealthy relationship with sticky notes and calendars. But there’s a reason all of the business majors dressed nicely and carried briefcases: they were organized. They knew what they had to do each day and what they needed to bring with them. Even though we pride ourselves on saying we are artists, when it comes to the business end of our work, we need to be as uncool as those business majors and remember which days we’re supposed to dress in our heels.

This is the question that I get asked probably the most by my followers as they watch the numbers on the side grow each day. I wish I could tell you that it magically grows overnight like the bean that Jack ‘foolishly’ traded his mother’s cow for, but that’s far from the truth.

Just like with your Etsy shop (or any site online), if you build it, they will not come on their own. You have to start to lead them.

But who do you lead?

Well, that is certainly the root of the question, and possibly the problem if your sales have been a bit low. If you just stand on your rooftop and shout about your business, your neighbors might be interested but the school bus driver will probably ignore you completely since he doesn’t care about knit doilies. What you need to do is focus on your target market. And yes, I know you’ve heard it a million times, but this really IS the most important part of your marketing plan. If you don’t know who your target market is, you’re going to waste time and money trying to appeal to everyone.

So how do you figure out your target market?

I sat down last week to figure this one out. I pulled up my Facebook fan page stats, reviewed my Etsy buyers, and analyzed my work. What I came with was this:

My target market is females, age 25-45, middle-class, educated. English teachers, book reviewers, and fantasy and fairy tale lovers are their jobs/interests.

She might like my work.

Or him.

And certainly she will.

Now that I know who my target market is, I can find their blogs and lead them to mine. Google is great for this because it has the option to search blogs (under the More tab on the main search screen). For me, I type in fairy tales, English teacher, fantasy, fantasy book reviews. I scan through their blogs and find some that I really enjoy. Then I’ll leave a meaningful comment and perhaps give a little blurb about what I do if it relates to the post.

If you’re like me, you return comments when people comment on your blogs. And this seems to be proper blog etiquette the world over. So, once I leave a comment on their blog, I may notice the next day that I have a new follower, fan, or (hopefully) buyer.

The other day, for example, I stumbled upon the blog (http://intothehermitage.blogspot.com/) of an amazing fairy tale illustrator who actually lives in a rolling caravan. She prefers the gypsy life and lives for her art.

If you’d like to know a little bit more about searching for blogs on Google, you NEED to start following this woman’s blog (http://onthedotcreations.typepad.com/fine_tooth_comb/). She helps Etsy artists out by putting their listings on her sites and giving them new ideas for tags. (I have the honor of being scheduled for May 20th for her tag help. Yay!).
Also, Bess from English Muffin (http://englishmuffinblog.blogspot.com/) has a fantastic series Small Business, Small Steps. This is an invaluable series for a small business owner. Bess is also making the leap right now to becoming a full-time artist.

Right about now you’re asking, ‘How can I listen to my inner child? I’m sure I don’t have one.’

I assure you that you do, it just may be repressed from years of telling yourself to ‘act your age’.  I have a few tips to tapping into your inner artist whether you can draw like da Vinci or my mother (whose art = boxes on to-do lists).

1. Keep an ‘inspiration’ journal.  My boyfriend made me one last year when he was learning how to coptic bind and I quickly put some Edward Gorey images on the front.  Inside I filled it with sketches, little snippets of ideas as they come to me, and just fun stuff in general.  By writing down things that interest me, I’m telling my inner child that’s it’s all right to have fun.  This has greatly helped me come up with new ideas.

2. Go for a walk by yourself. Don’t put in your headphones. Don’t take your phone. Just listen to the sounds around you and let your mind wander. I never cease to be amazed by how many of my problems I work out while taking a walk.

(  Sometimes the Road is Rugged by http://www.etsy.com/shop/dianalemieux)

3. Check out a fun book from the library. I LOVE children’s books. When I was in college, I thought my bookshelves had to be those of an English major. I had all of the Bard’s work, all the British classics, and a few of those obscure Greek plays. Now that I’m done with college, I’ve made my library a reflection of myself. Instead of Shakespeare, I now have Garth Nix. I think this has also been a huge push for my creative inner child.

(Picture 3 – Peter Pan by http://www.etsy.com/shop/BreckinridgeBeads)

I hope this has inspired you to tap into that little voice inside of you. I want this blog to be a place where people can come away with a new appreciation for themselves and a desire to be the artist they are, whether it’s an artist who paints landscapes or one who redecorates their house better than Martha Stewart. We are all creative in our own ways and our canvases are everywhere in our life. So let’s all use today to take a step toward our creative selves!

      Inventories are boring to make.  Let’s get that out there right away.  Unless you are one of those rare people who like razing a stack of flashcards, this will not be the most enjoyable part of your creative life.  If you manage to get through it though, you certainly won’t regret it.  In fact, you’ll even thank yourself several times over, especially right before a large show.

      Let’s start with a general inventory first.  When you sell originals of your work, this is the most important thing.  After all, what happens if you sell the same work twice?  Do you do a Solomon and offer to cut the painting in half?  Or do you try to pawn another work off on the second buyer and hope they’ll forgive you?  Having an up-to-date inventory eliminates all of the worry and makes tax time so much easier!

      My ‘original’ inventory is as simple as a Word file.  For each work I include:

•  
  • A small picture of the work (after all, who can remember all of their work just by the titles?)
  • The title
  • Size
  • Media
  • Date of completion
  • Price

      See, wasn’t that easy?  It’s also a good idea to have a hard copy of your inventory.  Computers have been known to die or spontaneously eat files.  Bethany Dirksen, an oil painter and wonderful blogger, had a great idea to make a flash card of each painting created and place them into separate boxes appropriately labeled ‘Not Sold,’ ‘Sold,’ and, ‘On Display’.  Just be sure to include all of the information you put in your computer inventory on the back of the card. 

recipe box by gifts and talents

(http://www.etsy.com/shop/GiftsAndTalents)

      Bethany’s other amazing idea is to put your inventory on Google Documents!  If you have a Gmail account, you simply upload the document to Google Documents.  This way the information can be accessed by any computer via the internet.  Only people who have your Gmail password can get to the document so you don’t have to worry about your inventory falling into the wrong hands.  Anyone can sign up for this free program at http://www.docs.google.com.

 (http://www.etsy.com/shop/makeshoplive)

      Now there is no excuse for you not to make a complete inventory of your work.  Whether you’re a computer genius, or can talk your children into making flashcards for you, there is an easy (although not necessarily fun) way to complete this important step for your fine art business.

      Bethany Dirksen’s work can be found at http://www.etsy.com/shop/dirksendabbles.  Her blog, which covers her paintings and tons of other helpful tips for fine artists can be found online at http://dirksendabbles.blogspot.com/.

Shipping prints can be daunting because the last thing you want to do is crinkle someone’s print in the mail.  Luckily, the postal service invented the magical Stay-Flat envelope that not only ensures your print will make it to the buyer’s door (unless the postal machines suck it into the alternate universe where all lost packages go) but that it arrives in the same condition you shipped it.

Stay-Flat envelopes can be found at a variety of places online.  If you want to support the government postal service, you can buy directly from them.  For US residents, you can visit http://www.usps.com.  Many Etsy sellers swear by ULINE shipping because it offers reduced prices, as compared to the postal service, and ships quickly.  ULINE supplies can be found online at http://www.uline.com.  If you want to save even more money, you can do what I do and search Ebay, http://www.ebay.com, for bulk envelopes.  (This was seriously one of the best tips I received from someone in the Etsy forums.)  I managed to buy 100 envelopes there for about $10 – $15 less than on ULINE.

Obviously, you don’t want to just shove your print into the mailer without any protection.  Not only could you damage the print while packaging up a customer’s order, but the acid from the cardboard interior could potentially cause harm.  If the print is only in the mailer for a week or two, the acidic cardboard shouldn’t hurt the print, but if the buyer keeps the print in its mailer for a year or more, the acid will turn the paper yellow and change the colors.  So why not protect your print with something as simple as a cellophane wrapper.

cellophane wrappers from Momgen

There are dozens of suppliers on Etsy who sell cellophane wrappers in dozens of sizes.  These wrappers also serve the purpose of upping your presentation.  Your buyer can easily display their work as is this way.  Another way to spruce up your prints, if you have extra archival mat board lying around, is to include a backing for your print.  Just slip a piece of matting in with your print when you put it in the cellophane wrapper.

Luckily for us art sellers, it doesn’t cost us much to ship our work.  Most prices range between $2.50 and $3.50 depending on the country you’re shipping to.  The best advice for figuring out where to set your shipping prices is to look through other shops that sell prints.  Some of the top print sellers include The Mincing Mockingbird, http://www.etsy.com/shop/mincingmockingbird,  and The Black Apple, http://www.etsy.com/shop/theblackapple.

Marianne and Marshmallow by The Black Apple

Tree houses by: Not too pink

Step One: Creating Digital Prints

Digital prints allow painters, photographers, and illustrators to sell their work to a wider audience because they can charge a lower price per print than printmakers can for a hand-pulled print.  This means that anyone from a ramen-eating college student to a successful businesswoman can purchase your artwork. Digital prints should not be thought of as cheap reproductions.  Instead they are the best means to reproduce your artwork, whether it is a photograph, painting, or illustration.

The first step in creating a digital print is to scan or photograph your work.  Photographers who shoot digital have this the easiest because their work is already on the computer.  All they need to do is print.  Illustrators must have their work scanned at 300 dpi.  Professional home scanners run from several hundred dollars to several thousand.  If you have $3,000 sitting around, the Epson Expressions 10000XL represents one of the best scanners on the market.

If you have a printer with a scanner on top, check its dpi capabilities.  Even if you can’t fit your whole artwork on the bed, Photoshop CS4 has an amazing new Merge function that seamlessly combines multiple scans into one full-size image.  Illustrators can also take their work to a professional print company and pay for a scan. Always save your files at 300 dpi TIFs at full-size as well as 92 dpi JPEGs at full-size. The first remains perfect no matter how many times you open it; the latter allows you to easily upload to the web.  For canvas papers, photographing your work is the best option.  Make sure you have two light sources set at 45 degrees from the canvas on either side.

Once you have a digital image of your work, you can either print the print yourself or send it to a professional printer.  Printing yourself saves money in the long run and allows you to print to order. Inkjet printers, like Epson and HP, are the best art printers.  Make sure you buy archival safe inks to ensure your print will last a lifetime.  If you don’t want to buy a new printer, Craigslist (http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites) is a great place to look for slightly used ones.  I managed to find my only-used-once Epson R280 this way and paid $30 for it.

Professional printers are cheaper in the short run while you’re saving up for a printer but are not necessarily a long-term solution.  A great online printer is Mpix (http://www.mpix.com/), which not only prints your work but will mail it directly to your buyer.

Lastly, you wouldn’t want to spend all this time and money on scanners and printers if you’re not going to use archival-safe, acid-free paper.  Red River Paper (http://www.redriverpaper.com/) is one of the best paper companies.  For around $55, you can buy 50 sheets of 11” x 14” paper.  Printing on Red River Paper ensures your print’s safety for at least 50 years in direct sunlight.

Getting this part of your art business down is a major step toward becoming a seller.  Yes, it’s the most expensive part, but people won’t buy your work if it is printed on computer paper or the colors look different from what they saw on the computer screen.  You should be as professional as you can with your printing.  After all, you have centuries of ‘starving artist’ mindset to dissuade.  Your customers should see the quality of your prints as well as the beauty of your work.