Date joined etsy -12/31/07
Sales to date - 1315
-Give us some basic info about you: name, where you live, kids/pets, favorite ice cream flavor, etc.Hi there! My name is Dinah and I currently reside in Los Angeles - The San Fernando Valley (to be exact) where the term "valley girl" was coined! I share the digs with my beloved and my pet turtle, "Myrtle". Our pad is also home to the CupKozy factory. There is a lot of creativity flowing around here since my boyfriend's recording studio shares a space with CupKozy. Needless to say, things can get a little crazy in there but music + sewing make a pretty great combo! Fave ice cream flavor? Peanut butter Chocolate - yummm
-Describe an average day in life of "you".
First thing's first - breakfast! I follow that by changing into "work clothes" because I tend to be a lot less productive in my PJ's. I check email and TRY to do as little internet-related stuff as I can because I can easily kill an entire morning Facebooking and Tweeting! I do most of my sewing during the afternoon hours while listening to my favorite Pandora station. Depending on how busy my shop is, I crank out orders until around 2 pm., then I'm off to my 2nd home - the post office!
Evenings when I'm not sewing I'll usually catch-up on the numerous blogs I follow, maybe ride my bike through the neighborhood or cook up some trouble in the kitchen. I love tricking and impressing my meat-eating boyfriend with all of the tasty vegetarian substitutes I can come up with - muhuhahaaa! I like to wind things down late at night with a netflix or a good book.
-Were you creative growing up/what did you enjoy doing?The first crafty project that I remember being really proud of was one of those 1980's stained glass window charm kits that you baked in the oven. I'm afraid to think of how many chemicals I inhaled when I opened that oven door! Another form of creativity I enjoyed as a kid was dancing. My cousins and I used to choreograph routines to Prince or Madonna songs and perform them in front of our parents. We'd often employ one of our younger cousins to flip the light switch repeatedly, in an attempt to achieve a strobe-light effect. This often resulted in several burned-out light bulbs - sorry mom & dad!
-What made you want to start selling on etsy?
I was laid off from one of my previous corporate jobs just weeks after I had come-up with the idea for CupKozy, so it seemed natural to give Etsy a try. It didn't hurt that my boyfriend bought me my first REAL sewing machine right around that time, so things just seemed to fall into place. Honestly, Etsy is one of the best things that has ever happened to me and it continues to treat me well. Thanks Etsy!
-How long did it take for you to get your first sale on etsy?3 whole days - not very long. I had been hyping-up my Etsy shop to all of my friends & family ahead of time, so they were ready to support CupKozy from the start. My friends and family continue to be my cheerleaders and it has really meant the world to me. I appreciate them so much for helping me stay motivated during those times when I'm feeling really burned-out!
-Top 5 favorite foods, tv shows, and bands?
Foods:
Cheese - I love cheese. Any color, any texture and any level of foot-like stinkiness.
Thai Food - I love the fresh flavors in Thai food. Lime, ginger, peanuts, cilantro, coconut, etc.
Matzo Ball Soup - Simply put, comfort in a cup.
Chocolate - Is this considered a food?
Mexican food - I was raised on this stuff!
TV:
TrueBlood
Cheaters
Good Eats
Twilight Zone
Glee!
Bands:
Depeche Mode
Chromeo
The Cure
PULP
Freezepop
-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 pottery. My sister took me to visit her pottery class where she made an impressive collection of dishware a few years ago and ever since then I've been wanting to give the pottery wheel a whirl! I would also love to learn as many instruments as humanly possible. One can dream.
-What would you suggest to new etsy sellers to promote their shops?
Try to come come up with an "Elevator Pitch" for your shop. An "Elevator Pitch" is a concise, carefully planned, and well-practiced description about your product that anybody can understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. I can't tell you how often I have to use this. I'm pretty shy about tooting the CupKozy horn, so this comes in handy because it's a quick way for me to promote my products without giving my shyness any time to rear its ugly head. Go away shyness, I'm too busy reciting my pitch!
Twitter used to be my favorite promotion tool but now it's Facebook. Twitter is so saturated that it moves way too fast for anybody to ever see your tweets. Make a facebook page for your shop because It's more interactive than twitter. It's a place where your customers can actually communicate with you AND each other. It's just a lot more personal than other social networking sites, which I like.
-3 etsy shops you just LOVE?-I love giving Crankbunny's beautiful greeting cards!
-Boojiboo makes gorgeous vintage-inspired aprons. I bought one as a gift and it was even more amazing in person.
-RiseAboveGraphics is the best darn screen printer and she has made all of our limited edition CupKozy prints a possibility!
-One year from now, I hope my number of sold items is... 2000-ish!
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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 :)
