Date joined etsy -7/13/09
Sales to date - 887
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.
My Name is Jason Villeneuve I currently live in Edmonton Alberta Canada. Edmonton is a fair sized city in the province of Alberta most know for the BIG MAll and Wayne Gretzky. I actually come from a painting background and have a fine arts degree as well as a design bachelors degree. So I generally schedule my day with a mix of maintaining my Etsy shop and painting at the studio.
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
Usually my day begins with a coffee and a quick look at my Etsy shop to return e-mails and record what I will need to make that evening. Then it is off to the studio to focus on my painting, most of my daytime hours are spent there and I arrive home around dinner time. In the evening I work on my Etsy orders for the next mornings post office run. I have carved out a small work area for this in my apartment which is very modest and less romantic than most, but it does the trick.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?
I spent my youth in a small northern town called Fort McMurray and didn't have much access to art or other artists. I always knew I was different and I really couldn't place myself until I began art school at the age of 17. After that I fell in love with painting and it was all I could think about, absorbing everything like a sponge. The First two years of art school were the most important years of my life they would shape most of my direction and decisions up until today.
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I can honestly say it was a completely happy accident. When I finish my design degree two years ago I took the summer off to paint with the intention to look for design work that coming September. I was finishing up a group of large oil paintings I had been slowly working on throughout the previous years. People became interested in the work and I made several sales, not thinking that I would have this kind of money I decided to take a year off to focus on studio work. A year later I was running out of funds and was planning on getting a design job somewhere in the city. My girlfriend is an illustrator/printmaker and had signed up for Royal Bison and fairly new craft fair in our city. I was planning on going to keep her company so I thought why not make something? Maybe I could make enough for a nice dinner out. So I made some rose earrings out of poly clay and didn't really thing much of it. I ended up making a couple hundred dollars and was shocked. Someone at the craft fair suggested Etsy to me and the rest is history.
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?
It took about a week to make a sale on etsy, but things didn't start rolling until a couple of months in.
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
Foods
1)Sushi
2)Indian Food
3)Sandwich
4)Burritos
5)Lamb anything
TV
1)My favorite show was Ghost Hunters until
I found out it was fake.This tragedy has turned
me off of tv in general.
Bands
1)Bonnie Prince Billy
2)Wilco
3)Jaylib
4)Mos Def
5)The smalls
-Is there anything you'd like to try your hand at doing? Knitting, baking, soap making, wood working, an instrument, etc.
I find there are so many things I would like to do but not enough time to do it. I'm pretty content with painting and expanding the variety within my Etsy store at the moment.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
This is a tuff question, because I have found that every store should have a different approach and after about a year on Etsy I'm learning just as much as I did when I started. After you get your numbers up a bit especially during the Christmas season I have had success advertising within Etsy. Do not underestimate word of mouth, do as many craft fairs in your area as possible. I really feel that what separates the successful shops within Etsy is a unique product and not giving up when things are sluggish. The first couple of months are always the hardest and when most sellers give up, if you can muscle through this period and the slower summer season it will lead to positive things. So basically be confident in your work and don't give up.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?
Right now I really love PaperMethod its a organic paper jewelry shop. I look forward to seeing its progress and development in the months to come.
-By December 31, 2010 I hope my number of sold items is ______.
2000
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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 :)
