Holidays & TLeague.

Hey everyone! I just wanted to do a short post on how to maximize your membership for the holidays! If you do not already, I recommend subscribing to the Etsy Success newsletter. The holiday boot camp series is extremely helpful!

To make sure that we can get the full exposure that Etsy has to offer, we should focus on the holidays when making our treasuries and also pay attention to Etsy's trends. 

(daintyloops}

Here is what was in the first Boot Camp e-mail from Danielle:

Here’s your prep list for this year’s boot camp:

Sign up for the Etsy Success Newsletter. Boot Camp newsletters with full instructions for the upcoming week will go out every Thursday afternoon, starting September 22, 2011. (However, I’ll send you a few things to do before boot camp gets serious!)

Start to think about what kind of time and resources you want to invest in this year’s holiday rush.

Clear some time in your schedule — preferably the same time every week — to finish up your Boot Camp tasks.

Make sure you have Adobe Reader so you can open and print our weekly downloads.

Join the Etsy Success Team. We’ll be discussing the weekly tasks and supporting each other through the exercises.

{mtrost}

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For us at Tleague, I think we should think of some of our own ways to promote the holidays using treasuries and holiday challenges. Think of tagging your items with holiday related tags as well!

Here is a quick calendar of important dates that could be potential sales/promotions:

September 23rd: Fall Equinox
October 8th: Yom Kippur
October 31st: Halloween
November 11th: Veterens day, also 11/11/11 this year!
November 24th: Thanksgiving
December 21st: First Day of Chanukah  
December 24th: Christmas Eve
December 25th: Christmas
December 26th: First day of Kwanza
December 28th: Last Day of Chanukah
December 31st: New Years Eve
January 1st: New Year & Last day of Kwanza


Its never too early to start thinking about the holidays! If you have any ideas on how to promote wisely for these dates, post here!

Also, just for fun, post your holiday wishlist of must have items from Tleague members! 

Challenge Winners!

1st Place: PrettyPlush!


- My inspiration for treasury was the hellowen mood and my fascination with fairytales and good and bad witches. I try to catch this magical climate of old books.


2nd Place: brightsoul!

- My inspiration for the challenge came from the fact that I am trying to decorate my house with my boyfriend who has WILDLY different taste than I do, (he's a minimalist who likes muted colors, and I am a garage sale addict with a fondness for sequins.) so how to decorate while making him happy too is always on my mind!


Congrats to you both!

Etsy Finds Feature.

Congrats to our very own cornflowerbluestudio for making it in the Etsy finds on 8/9! How very exciting!

Front Page Feature: 8/8

Wonderful!! 

August Team Challenge!

After a little brain storming it looks like we have a consenus on our first team challenge! Hooray!

Our first team challenge will be to feature an item from a team members shop in the first row of the treasury!

Here is our first challenge item: White Round Coasters made by MariMartin!

I chose this item for our first challenge because it is elegant and I think it will easily fit into a number of different types of treasuries! Our next challenge will be chosen by the winner of this challenge :)

Challenge Rules:
1. The featured item must be in the first row of the treasury to be considered.
2. There must be 8 team members featured NOT including the selected challenge item (9 Total).
3. Any team member may create up to 3 entries over the course of the month to be considered for the challenge.
4. The link to the treasury must be posted in a comment on this blog post. If you create more than one, please leave a comment for each treasury created.
5. Any non team member is welcome to participate in this challenge, but participating does not guarantee membership into Treasury League.
6. Tag your treasury with these tags: Tleague, TreasuryLeagueChallenge, and TeamChallenge so that the judges can easily view the treasuries on Etsy.

Judging Rubric:
The entries will be judged based on these requirements:
1. The treasury should be cohesive and beautiful. The images should flow together and compliment each other.
2. Creativity: does the treasury stand out from the other entries? does it look like time was spent arranging and selecting items?
3. Where all of the team challenge rules followed?
4. Does the treasury make sense? (As in, is there some common theme, color arrangement, big idea, etc for the collection?)

Prizes!
1st Place: The first place winner will get a special blog post dedicated to their winning treasury as well as an Etsy mini on the sidebar under "Members of the month." This person will also get to choose the next challenge and have first choice to if they would like to be a judge in the next challenge.
2nd Place: The second place winner will also get an Etsy mini placed under "Members of the month" and the choice to be a judge in the next challenge.


The last day to submit an entry will be August 31st. Winners will be announced September 5th to give our judges a week to make their final decisions. A new challenge will begin September 7th!

Good Luck everyone!!

If you have any questions or want to be a judge for this challenge send a convo to wildpaperflowers on Etsy.

Front Page Feature: 8/6

Gorgeous treasury!

Product Photography Tips!

Hey team! I don't know about you, but I have re-shot and then re-shot the re-shots of the pictures for my shop! (Redundant? YES!)

I am still working on fine tuning my shots but I thought I would share a few tips that I have picked up along the way for the best product photography, and the best shots to get into great treasuries.
 
1. Use natural, indirect light. This is essential because you do not want your products to be washed out or so bright they are hard to see. Find a nice shady spot in the morning or middle of the day, or find a north facing window to get that beautiful indirect sun-lit look!

Example: This Gray Wooden Stool by PineandMain is a great example of a photo that has just the right light!  I personally like this lighting because it is not harsh, it allows the product to be the center of attention, and does not have prominent shadows that could distract from the product. Great shot!

2. Use a white or neutral background, or a solid color, with a smooth texture. Backgrounds are very important because they can be a major distraction from the product. The very first shots I ever took when I joined Etsy in 2009 were HORRIBLE! I used light grey FELT as my background! It looked fuzzy and totally gross! Now I use a large piece of ply wood that I painted white to get a rustic (yet neutral) feel from. Even though white and neutrals can seem boring, find a way to make them fit your own style. In my opinion, avoid getting to close to a textured wall, or using a wrinkled or fuzzy fabric.

Example: This photo of LittleWrenPottery's Anchors Away mugs is a great example of non-distracting neutral background that perfectly compliments her product! Great color in this shot! 

3. Use appropriate props. I think this is the trickiest part of product photography because props can either clutter your photo and your customer will have no idea what you are selling, or the props will enhance the product (which is the goal!).

Example: Occasionally, I prop my flowers up in a mason jar, or I add a few pine cones to the setting for a rustic/woodsy feel.

 4. Get a shot from as many angles as possible. On Etsy we have the option to post 5 photos per product, use them all! This gives your customer the most options for viewing your amazing product and the more pictures = the more time spent browsing in your shop = better chances of getting a sale!

5. Be yourself! This is super corny but I believe that when we use our own talents and styles that is really reflected in our products. You may be in a category that is totally packed but if you take great pictures that represent how you feel about your product, you will stand out! Also, there are some GREAT (and I mean, really, really, great) photos out there on Etsy, and even on our team that break all of these photo tips with grace and style!

Here are some other photos from our team that I absolutely love:

SomeOtherPrairie

 kellyemeraldhart

goldencatstudios

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Leave a comment and share your tips for great product photography!!


-Megan (wildpaperflowers)