Date joined etsy -11/15/07
Sales to date - 4242
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.My name is Cathy and I live in my hometown of Greenville, MI, with my husband, 2 dogs and 2 cats. Our favorite treat is Karamel Sutra. He eats the vanilla and caramel, and I eat the chocolate! In the spring/summer/fall seasons, you can find me on the golf course, in our fishing boat, or working in the yard!
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
My day starts when husband gets up, around 6:30am. I make coffee, breakfast and send him out the door. Next I get on the computer to check emails, sales, convos and spend more time on Facebook than I should. (I’m working on decreasing the amount of time on FB) I also start my daily blog post on JustJaynes.blogspot.com. It’s my diary for tracking my weight and food intake, keeping my To-Do list, so I update it throughout the day.
After my morning routine, I’ll go to my studio to package orders and retake photos. I try to get a photo of every special order and am always working on pictures. In between photos and orders, I’ll do some laundry and house cleaning. I don’t have a closing time for my shop, so I’ll respond to convos and relist items until about 11:00pm when I go to bed.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I grew up going to 4-H learning how to sew, do stained glass, and trying several other crafts. Art was my favorite class in High School, and my major in college. After college I was stuck in many non-creative jobs and was introduced to jewelry-making about 6 years ago.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I was selling on Ebay, and there was a fee increase. While researching craft shows, I found a forum post on a craft site about Etsy, so I checked it out. Signed up almost immediately under my first shop name, LydiaLayne. That was in April of 2006.
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
My first sale came 2 months after signing up. I had a mix of jewelry and beads for sale. When I started JustJaynes a year and a half later, it only took 2 days to get my first sale!
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
Eating out is one of my favorite activities! Sushi and Mexican are my top faves. Loving Justified on FX, but The Office and 30Rock make me laugh out loud. I’m not up on current music. My iTunes has mostly alternative classics (the cure, the smiths), local music by Domestic Problems and The OuterVibe. My iPod mix includes DMB, Blondie, Barbara Streisand, Killing Heidi, KT Tunstall. When in the car I mostly listen to talk radio or country.
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
I’d love to learn to knit. But with dogs and cats in the house, it would be full of pet hair!
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
Set up Twitter account and a Facebook FanPage. Introduce yourself in the Etsy Forums, ask questions, ask for critiques. Joining a team will also get you some exposure, but also know that you get out of a team what you put into it. I renew 10-20 items per day. Not every seller is comfortable with the extra expense of renewing, but it pays off for me, especially being in a category that’s saturated.
Most importantly for new sellers, learn how to take great photos. I’ll be the first to admit that mine aren’t the best on Etsy, but I work on them every day. You don’t have to buy the most expensive camera, just know how to use yours. There are some great photography articles in the Storque (Etsy blog).
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
Oh gosh, I have over 100 pages of favorite shops! Retrofied, FlourishBathBody, and I buy all my soy candles from BlissCandles.
-By December 31, 2010 I hope my number of sold items is... 5500.
--Have an etsy shop with over 300 sales and want to be a featured seller? Contact me at phletcher@gmail.com
As always, thanks for reading :)
