Date joined etsy -5/18/08
Sales to date - 383
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.My name is Kelly I have a little etsy store called pretty penny designs where I sell my screen printed scarves and clothing. I live in West Hollywood California, sort of a small town in the middle of Los Angeles. I live with my husband, Aric who is a writer and our seven-year-old daughter who spends most of her free time building castles out of cardboard boxes and making little books. We are all pretty busy making things around here and that keeps us all happy and out of trouble.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
I generally wake up way before the sun so that I have time to answer emails, and convos before we all have to be ready for work, and school. I drop my daughter off at school, and then go to my part time job. When I get home, I take advantage of the quiet, empty house and try to be as creative as I can until its time to pick up my daughter from school. Then it tends to be family time until I put my daughter to bed and I get back to work.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I’ve always needed to be creative. As a little one, I loved drawing, painting, writing stories and daydreaming. My grandmother taught me to knit, macramé, and crochet. My mother taught me to sew but I didn’t learn to love that until I began to love clothes as a teenager.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I first heard about etsy from friends who were encouraging me to start selling the things that I made. After I looked at it and saw what a vast inspiring market place it was, I knew that I had to be a part of it.
Still, when I first began selling on etsy, it only seemed like a good way to make a little extra money as I was looking around for retailers to sell my things. I soon discovered that etsy has it’s own momentum and with some work it can be a big part of your business plan.
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
I honestly can’t remember how long it took. I know that my very first sale was from my mother in law (thanks Deedee) but in terms of a sale from a passing stranger, I think it took two weeks or less.
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
Foods:
Chocolate
Espresso
Champagne
Black tea
Cake
TV Shows:
I am a total Lost junky, I never miss a show.
Bands:
Wilco
Tom Waits
Bob Dylan
Smog
Gillian Welsh
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing?
Honestly, I’d like to try it all. I have a passion for figuring out how things are made. I’ve always wanted to learn how to build furniture and work with wood. I’d love to learn how to make shoes.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
To be honest, I’ve never been very good at promoting my shop. Most of my business comes from etsy or from word of mouth. In the past, I’ve bought showcase spots, which are pretty good when you are just starting out. I also tried writing a blog for a little while. It was fun, but I was never very convinced that it generated sales. Now I’m really too busy keeping up with orders to concentrate on promotion. I do pay for ad space on popular blogs and occasionally participate in paper n snitch.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
Etsy is just full of amazing talented artists; it’s hard to narrow it down to just three. Three shops I’ve recently added to my favorites are…
Modaspia http://www.etsy.com/shop/modaspia
Beautiful clothing!
Mohop http://www.etsy.com/shop/mohop
Unbelievable shoes!
Seasprayblue http://www.etsy.com/shop/seasprayblue
Fantastic art prints!
-One year from now, I hope my number of sold items is...
Much bigger than it is now! Total sales isn’t the way I generally measure success, however,because it doesn’t take profit into account. It’s easy to sell a lot of individual items if you are underselling yourself. For me success has more to do with creating a sustainable business model that includes etsy, craft shows and wholesale orders.
--Have a successful etsy shop and want to be a featured seller? Contact me at phletcher@gmail.com
As always, thanks for reading :)
