Date joined etsy - 12/1/08
Sales to date - 2780
Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.My name is Sofia and I’m a Canadian living in Japan. Last year I married my sweetheart and together we run our 4 Etsy shops and our own site. I’ve been living in Japan for almost 12 years with no plans to go back to Canada. As for ice cream…I love matcha (green tea) ice cream.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
This is a bit difficult as there isn’t an average day but it goes something like:
Wake up between 10 and 12 and turn on the computer and convo people and print off orders from all of our sites.
Go to the post office and/or go shopping.
Go to my job (between 4-6 hours a day Mon-Fri –most days I finish around 9 pm).
Come home, eat dinner, print off more orders and prepare orders for our assistant to pack the next day.
List items, convo people etc until about 3 or 4 am.
(Hubby does all the picture taking and a lot of the listing)
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I was very creative growing up. I studied ballet and other dance styles, took painting classes and did lots of crafts like making candles, making things with dried flowers, decorating egg shells etc. My mom was into crafts so I think it rubbed off on me.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
My mom! My mom was already selling on etsy and she kept pushing me to sell supplies like Japanese chiyogami paper etc. So…that is what I did. I opened up our supply shop first. That took off and I decided to start making things and try selling them. So far so good!
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
For this shop, I listed my first piece February 7th, 2009 and my first sale was February, 9th!
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
Favorite foods- Yakiniku (meat you grill yourself at the table), salmon sushi, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, Chinese food (almost anything), finger food like appetizers (I miss these as this type of food is hard to find here in Japan).
Favorite TV shows – White collar, Life, NCIS, Bones, Glee
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
I would love to try wood working as my grandfather was a carpenter and I have great memories of watching him work.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
My husband does most of the promoting for our businesses but I do blog. My blog is not so much about my business –it is more about living in Japan but I have my Etsy minis on my blog. We also have a product blog where we just list pictures and info of new products from all of our stores. We use flickr, facebook, and twitter among other things. We also pay for some advertising. You have to find your target audience-that is key!
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
I love: ShopRedLeaf , • lilbooandco and • nikid
-By December 31, 2010 I hope my number of sold items is 1500.
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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 :)
