Date joined etsy - 4/21/07
Sales to date - 394
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.
My name is Heli. I live in Istanbul, Turkey but originally I am from Finland. I love coffee, I am addicted to it and to the internet. I should continue my pilates training after over 1 month break, but I feel too heavy for it now, what should I do?
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
My day starts by making coffee and opening the computer. First look at etsy, dawanda, Finnish newspapers on net and then tweeting on twitter with those who are awake.
After that I usually go to my working room, clean a little bit it if it's messy (it is for sure) and start to work. I have another shop on etsy helisengezer.etsy.com where I sell handmade bags and my huge table (70"x43") very often disappears under fabric pieces and supplies.
Normally my day goes by sewing and if I have left my computer open, jumping between computer and working room. That is the really bad habit and it slows my work a lot, but I am addicted to net, what can I do? :)
In the evening hubby comes and I need to make some food so I finish my work around 6 p.m and make dinner. I do eat in the day time too, don't worry and drink a lots of coffee.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I was normal creative child. I think all children are creative if they have a chance to be themselves. My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was 6 and my favorite play was building huge sandcities in sandboxes or on the ground with my friends. I also had a dog rescue club with my friend, now I just don't know which dogs we were suppose to rescue because I don't remember any dog needing help in our neighborhood!
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
My "net friend" susarto.etsy.com told me on myspace about etsy and I wanted to try. Thanks to her :)
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
It took me a week to have my 1st sale but I call those first sales "beginners luck" sales, because it happens many times that when you open a shop it won't take long when you have your first sale but to have your second and third sale is much more harder, not to mention how to keep them coming regularly.
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
Pizza (handmade by me), MIL's made turkish foods like kabak dolmasi and yaprak sarmasi, all kind of soups, icecream (all flavors)!
I do not watch much TV but I am hooked at the moment to desperate housevives, dexter and breaking bad.
I listen finnish radio during the day and whatever comes there is mostly fine with me.
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, etc.
Oh, soap making would be fun to try and I would love to learn how to screen print professionally.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
I am lousy promoter but I like to share my new stuff on twitter, but I do not like people who just promote and promote on twitter, I mean then I unfollow those people because I use it also social networking and chat with other tweets.
Making treasuries is a good way to get noticed by other sellers and hopefully they will in a time promote you too, it is very time-consuming though. And if you are lucky to end up to the etsy front page is the best promotion :)
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
8.I love many etsy shops, here are just three picked from my favorite page one:
stuartkolakovic.etsy.com
sweetbestiary.etsy.com
Middleburg.etsy.com
...There is a lot lot more talented people there :)
By New Years Eve 2010 I hope my number of sold items is 600
(huh!!Need to start working then I guess)
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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 :)
