Date joined etsy - 7/23/06
Sales to date - 5970
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.My name is John W. Golden. I live in a town called Wilmington about 5 mins. from the beach in North Carolina. I am married with 3 kids, ages 5,7 and 12. Favorite Ice Cream is Coffee but I put away some Raspberry Sherbert too.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
My wife gets up and gets the kids ready for school. I get up in time to take them to their respective schools and swing by my family's gallery to cut backs for my prints, cut mats and print may larger prints. Then I head back home to pack orders, print more prints, etc. I try to work in time to answer convos, blog a little, twitter a little, etc. But mostly the day is spent working towards being able to get labels on packages by 3 or 4 pm.
After dinner, I work on art a little, convos a little. Occasionally, I get a few hours a night to devote to this art project or that, making new stuff, but mostly the nights go to making art blocks for orders while we watch movies or TV. We stay up late.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
My mother is an artist, so there were always supplies on hand to mess with. My dad was a Civil Engineer, but his passion was folk music, so there were all kinds of instruments to experiment with as well. When I was 11, my mom opened her own gallery. I spent my afternoons there for several years after school. Prior to the gallery opening, I probably drew about as much as any kid, but afternoons in the gallery and art classes at school made me more interested in it. I made my first pieces to sell when I was eleven (2 block prints, a surfer on a wave and a sailboat). I have been selling since then.
I did pretty much the basic kid stuff for where I live: Bike Rides, basketball, football, surfing, skateboarding, etc. One of the unique things I was able to do was wander the historic downtown area here (where our gallery is located). It was when Urban Renewal was happening, so there were lots of old buildings coming down. Saw lots of decay and texture, and I think that is where my love of texture came from.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I was working non-stop as a freelance broadcast design (illustration and animation for television). I enjoyed it, but it was taking over my life. My wife found Etsy around the same time that we had been discussing that I could not keep up the pace in my career. At first, it was the hope that I might sell enough to allow me to turn down freelance jobs from time to time that made me want to sell on Etsy. Then, after some time, it became a matter of I could not do both Etsy and freelance.
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
2 days, but it was a much smaller place then, and far easier to be seen.
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
Foods - Tiramisu, Shrimp Tempura Rolls (sushi), Pad See-U, Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Homemade Chicken Burritos
Bands: De Rosa, Midlake, The Shins, Radiohead, The National
TV Shows: Lost, 30 Rock, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (BBC), The Office, Modern Family
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, etc.
I'm trying to work out how I can make cast resin figures of some of my robots. I'm mainly focusing on how I can get my work onto things other than walls.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
Renewing listings was very effective for me early on, but probably is less effective now, but I look at that as a cost of promotion or advertising. I look for blogs/forums that target crafts and art and try to participate there. It's much harder for me to find the time to be as much of a contributor to that sort of thing. I don't visit the Etsy forums much anymore. I just don't have much to add there and promoting there has not been as productive as some other places.
Submit to art, craft and design blogs.
I think the sites that make use of the Etsy API are good candidates for paid advertising.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
Artsy - artsy.etsy.com
Ward Jenkins - wardomatic.etsy.com
AllaKinda.etsy.com
-By New Years Eve 2011 I hope my number of sold items is 12000.
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Have a successful etsy shop and want to be a featured seller? Contact me at phletcher@gmail.com
As always, thanks for reading :)
