Ok, since the whole selling "art" is new to me I decided to ask for a bit of help with my new listings.
Now I was actually hoping some artist-y types would comment on the content of the descriptions, the keywords that work, just make sure I'm not leaving out any obvious or important details that people may want.
I specifically asked "Help, advice, critique if you must but please be nice" now in my head this was a sing-song-y rhyme-y bit of a joke, but it lead to the first comment being a bit snarky. 😒 So I clarified "I simply meant advise on the actual listings, info, format, pricing not "hey that's amateurish and no one will pay for it" type stuff."
Although, I find it a bit ridiculous that I had to clarify this because people use the forums all the time asking for help, and critiques and I have seen many of these people give others really good suggestions, so imagine my disappointment when it didn't work that way with my post.
Now I am aware my photos are not the greatest, I generally speaking suck at photography, but I thought I had gotten some decent photos the other day the colors were accurate, they looked good to me.
So I was a bit sad when nearly every comment was about how bad my photos suck. 😩😖 Annoyingly the majority of the advice to use better lighting, get some white boards, etc., etc., Well I have news for you those very photos they were all putting down were in fact shot in EXACTLY the manner they were suggesting. 😕
Literally, giant white board on the bench top, giant tri-folding stand up, whole bank of lights, including the fancy professional lights that came with the light box the husband got me, in front a window. Exactly what they were all trying to suggest, as if I'm a total moron and had not done all the obvious standard stuff. 😏
One person suggested a helpful keyword I had not thought of which was great. 👍 A bunch of people are trying to suggest "Staged" photos of it on a wall over a sofa or with a nice table with a vase of flowers, or those awful digital backdrops. Now I'm all for photos of it hanging on a wall if only I had a decent wall in this house, my living room is 3 walls of windows and a built-in bookcase, my sofa is floating in the middle of the room, my fireplace has incredibly ugly brick wall and it's in a room with zero windows so worst lighting ever, the master bedroom has fugly foil infused busy ass wallpaper. 😡 I really want to take some of these suggestions but they just aren't really an option for me, this a rental house so I don't want to put more holes in the walls, there are only so many rooms and most of them have crap lighting and I can't move my whole bank of lights. ~sigh~ I did some test shots in the guest room but then they complained it was too much space and it made the artwork look small. ~eye roll~ It is small it's only an 8" inch by 10" inch canvas.
I hate the very idea of digital backdrops they make it too easy confuse and mislead people, it screws up the scale when a small 10"x10" picture looks like it's "sofa" sized, and those fake frames don't get me started, I don't want anyone ever thinking that the painting is already framed. I've seen so many people in the forums all confused or angry, sellers complaining that buyers don't read descriptions, buyers complaining the photos showed one thing but they got another. Yes they make nice professional looking photos, but here's the thing I'm not a "photographer"and never claimed to be. 😇
One asshat just couldn't resist "I take it you love your cat - but at a glance the image in your avatar is just a black blob." Because why stick to the topic or be helpful when you can be a dick to a stranger on the internet? 😑
One guy actually right clicked and stole one of my listing photos, "improved" it in whatever software he uses and convo'd it back to me like he was doing me a favor showing me how "good" they could be if I edited them properly. 😬 Unfortunately, it looked like sh*t, he just jaked up the contrast and over exposed it and made the colors completely wrong. 😐 You know the very reason I do not do such over editing because it changes the colors and makes things look wrong, which leads to unhappy buyers when they open the box and it's a different color than the photo they ordered from, also known as the thing they all bitch about that has NEVER happened to me because I don't fudge my photos, they are what they are. 😎
I may not be setting sales records but I have never once had someone complain that the item they received didn't look like they thought it would, most of the time the response is "the photos don't do it justice" "it's even more gorgeous in person". It's the under-promise/over-deliver concept, that makes for happy people when they open my packages. There is a reason my other business never had a single return in 8 years, and this one has nothing but 5 star reviews.
So I think I'm just going to keep on doing things my own way. I will try to get better photos. I will try to get a few of them hanging somewhere with some stuff for scale and perspective but, I will not use digital backdrops or frames, I will not over edit them to look better than they are. I'm not photo-shop'ing photos of my paintings to look better than the paintings, there are no super crisp details it is swirly watercolors for f*ck's sake. 😛
Friday, March 16, 2018
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Jumping off a cliff. . .
Ok, so it just sort of feels like jumping off a cliff to me. 😯
I decided to go ahead and start listing some of my paintings in the Etsy shop. I have given it quite a bit of thought and have changed my mind about a hundred times mostly out of fear, fear that no one will like them or buy them, fear that the photos aren't good enough, fear that someone will buy one and then not like it when they get it. You know random fear and insecurity. 😓
When I post them on instagram they get likes and sometimes even comments. I mailed one to a friend and she loves it, but we all know friends and family are totally bias. 😄
I have started with 4 of the spacescape that I think are the best and I plan to start adding the abstract rainbows next week. Now I just hope this isn't a total waste of time. 😇
I decided to go ahead and start listing some of my paintings in the Etsy shop. I have given it quite a bit of thought and have changed my mind about a hundred times mostly out of fear, fear that no one will like them or buy them, fear that the photos aren't good enough, fear that someone will buy one and then not like it when they get it. You know random fear and insecurity. 😓
When I post them on instagram they get likes and sometimes even comments. I mailed one to a friend and she loves it, but we all know friends and family are totally bias. 😄
I have started with 4 of the spacescape that I think are the best and I plan to start adding the abstract rainbows next week. Now I just hope this isn't a total waste of time. 😇
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Learning to paint. . .
I have always been a hands-on learner. 😄 So when I decided I wanted to learn to paint I did not do a bunch of research or watch a bunch of instructional videos. I mean I watched Bob Ross as kid but who didn't? 😉 I always liked the idea of "happy little trees".
But me being oh so Me just had to do things my own way. I saw a clearance going out of business sale sign on an art store last year and I decided I wanted to check it out. I had driven by the store pretty regular it's in a plaza with other shops I use often, I had previously thought "hey I should check that out someday". So the day I saw the closing sign I was a bit sad but thought "hey last chance". I went in and wandered around a bit, having no idea what I was really looking at or looking for just wandering wide eyed admiring all the things I didn't have a clue how to use. 😊
I spotted this really cool portable easel case thing and it was soooo discounted that not buying seemed like a waste. So I bought it, then realized I had no idea how to even unfold it let alone use it, and that I didn't have any supplies or even a clue about painting. I spent weeks staring at the box wondering if I was completely crazy, if I really wanted to start down this road. In the same weeks I also went shopping with 55% off coupons at A.C.Moore and JoAnns and picked up some watercolor paints, a pack of assorted shaped/sized brushes, some canvases, you know the things I thought one would use in painting.
After I compiled the assorted supplies I then went back to the mental debate of what was I thinking, I'm no "artist". I decided I'd just try and see how it turned out, I have no training or technique or general clue even really but I decided I was just going to have fun.
So I set up the easel, loaded it with my supplies, opened the paints and went to town in my living room. No fancy studio, no fancy lights (at the time) just playing with my paints while watching TV.
But honestly I love the way it turned out. I am not an artist I still do not claim to be an artist but I have now made some real art, even if it was purely by accident. 😛 Oh and it was purely by accident, in school I was never good with portrait stuff, faces and features I just sucked. However, in my randomly swirling paint to make space-scapes I somehow ended up with this awesome pair of lips whisper from the depths of this black-hole. I fell in love with the completed piece and it's mine, it's hanging in my upstairs hallway.
I let that fester, I went back to jewelry and wire trees and living my life, but every night on the way to bed I walk past this painting and it makes me think and it makes me smile and it makes me want to paint more.
And I have been off and on, in between other things. I sent one to a good friend because she was very complimentary on my facebook pics and really seemed to like them. 😇 She took a photo of it hanging on her wall and shared it on facebook, said she loved it.
I have since done some research because I was considering selling them, so I wanted to get a price range and see how the artist-y types write the descriptions and stuff. What I learned is the price range I had in mind is really low compared to most others. Also reading their descriptions about priming and treating canvases and such made me realize I don't do any of that, I have no idea what they are even talking about. "Holy crap I'm doing it all wrong" 😞😟😕
So I did some more research and reading and then investigated my supplies. Whew I'm ok, somehow I lucked into pre-primed, pre-treated, pre-stretched, kiln dried canvases. So all those confuse-y step they were talking about I don't have to do it's all done for me. Thank heavens, I felt like a total choad for a while there. Now I've determined I'm just going to keep doing me my way right or wrong, for better or for worse. 😉
But me being oh so Me just had to do things my own way. I saw a clearance going out of business sale sign on an art store last year and I decided I wanted to check it out. I had driven by the store pretty regular it's in a plaza with other shops I use often, I had previously thought "hey I should check that out someday". So the day I saw the closing sign I was a bit sad but thought "hey last chance". I went in and wandered around a bit, having no idea what I was really looking at or looking for just wandering wide eyed admiring all the things I didn't have a clue how to use. 😊
I spotted this really cool portable easel case thing and it was soooo discounted that not buying seemed like a waste. So I bought it, then realized I had no idea how to even unfold it let alone use it, and that I didn't have any supplies or even a clue about painting. I spent weeks staring at the box wondering if I was completely crazy, if I really wanted to start down this road. In the same weeks I also went shopping with 55% off coupons at A.C.Moore and JoAnns and picked up some watercolor paints, a pack of assorted shaped/sized brushes, some canvases, you know the things I thought one would use in painting.
After I compiled the assorted supplies I then went back to the mental debate of what was I thinking, I'm no "artist". I decided I'd just try and see how it turned out, I have no training or technique or general clue even really but I decided I was just going to have fun.
So I set up the easel, loaded it with my supplies, opened the paints and went to town in my living room. No fancy studio, no fancy lights (at the time) just playing with my paints while watching TV.
But honestly I love the way it turned out. I am not an artist I still do not claim to be an artist but I have now made some real art, even if it was purely by accident. 😛 Oh and it was purely by accident, in school I was never good with portrait stuff, faces and features I just sucked. However, in my randomly swirling paint to make space-scapes I somehow ended up with this awesome pair of lips whisper from the depths of this black-hole. I fell in love with the completed piece and it's mine, it's hanging in my upstairs hallway.
I let that fester, I went back to jewelry and wire trees and living my life, but every night on the way to bed I walk past this painting and it makes me think and it makes me smile and it makes me want to paint more.
And I have been off and on, in between other things. I sent one to a good friend because she was very complimentary on my facebook pics and really seemed to like them. 😇 She took a photo of it hanging on her wall and shared it on facebook, said she loved it.
I have since done some research because I was considering selling them, so I wanted to get a price range and see how the artist-y types write the descriptions and stuff. What I learned is the price range I had in mind is really low compared to most others. Also reading their descriptions about priming and treating canvases and such made me realize I don't do any of that, I have no idea what they are even talking about. "Holy crap I'm doing it all wrong" 😞😟😕
So I did some more research and reading and then investigated my supplies. Whew I'm ok, somehow I lucked into pre-primed, pre-treated, pre-stretched, kiln dried canvases. So all those confuse-y step they were talking about I don't have to do it's all done for me. Thank heavens, I felt like a total choad for a while there. Now I've determined I'm just going to keep doing me my way right or wrong, for better or for worse. 😉
Sunday, February 4, 2018
Happy February. . .
Happy February to all, Valentine's day is almost here.
I've made some new trees, I've made some new earrings, I just keep adding things. I have finally broken the 150 listing mark, now let's just hope it triggers some sales. ~LOL~
I've been enjoying playing with my paints on the side. I really like the space-scapes there's no way to go wrong as long as it looks cool in the end, it's not like painting portraits or trees or "real" things. I'm also thinking of doing some just totally random abstract art.
I am actually reconsidering whether or not I should try to sell them. I mean they are hard to photograph, but art is so subjective. But as long as I stick to the 8x10 or 11x14 sizes shipping shouldn't be too high.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Pre-Valentine's Day Sale
Valentine's Day will be here before you know it, so leave time for shipping and order early.
I made pretty "flyer" style picture announcements for the social media pages like Facebook, instagram, and Pinterest.
I think I may try to make a couple more, not sure which listing photo to use and I'll need to come up with another tag line too.
I made pretty "flyer" style picture announcements for the social media pages like Facebook, instagram, and Pinterest.
I think I may try to make a couple more, not sure which listing photo to use and I'll need to come up with another tag line too.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Happy New Year
Happy New Year !!
In 2018 I plan to make some personal life changes, not likely to impact RainbowMaille on Etsy . . . too much. ~LOL~
I want to shift focus somewhat, while I plan to continue making and selling chainmaille and the wire trees, I plan to take up painting. I am actually excited about this prospect, I bought the easel and stuff months ago. I did a few test projects over the summer Franken-Art and I really like how they turned out. I have so many ideas of different things I want to try. 💫
I'm not sure if any of them will make it to the store for sale or if my walls will just end up covered in it. Art is so subjective just because I like it doesn't mean anyone else will and it doesn't mean anyone will want to pay for it. ~LOL~ I do know that the ones hanging in my hallway in their little shadow boxes are never going to be for sale because I'm attached to them. 💖
I am leaving the "gift wrap" option available in my shop all year round, since most of my ribbons are solid colors and not really "Christmas-y" I think I can keep it holiday neutral. 😉
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Pinterest. . .
I've started using Pinterest for RainbowMaille, but since I've never been a "pinterest" person prior to this I'm finding the whole thing a bit odd and somewhat annoying. ~LOL~ 😄
However, Etsy's new social media tool includes Pinterest so I thought I'd give it a go. I have created multiple boards because I like to organize and keeping my cats separate from my art seemed like the thing to do. https://www.pinterest.com/RainbowMaille/
I don't know how to get followers, unlike instagram where I've made it over 160 followers in the last year not exactly a huge following but better than the 2 on pinterest. ~LOL~ 😄 Short of paying for advertising and doing the facebook "boost" post thing I'm not sure how to get my stuff seen on pinterest. 😖 Worse yet, I am paying to promote some, so I've gotten some views and a few re-pins/saves but over half of them are mis-labeling my stuff. 😕 Like my wire trees which are clearly called out as wall art and home decor but people keep saving them to jewelry boards. 😟 My chainmaille has been saved to beaded jewelry boards in spite of the fact that there is not a single bead on it. 😵 It's making me nutty, it's not OCD compliant at all. ~LOL~ 😄
I'll keep trying and keep posting but I'm not sure it's doing much good. I know all social media stuff takes time to build a following and be effective but good grief. (and yes that's a Charlie Brown impersonation) 😉
However, Etsy's new social media tool includes Pinterest so I thought I'd give it a go. I have created multiple boards because I like to organize and keeping my cats separate from my art seemed like the thing to do. https://www.pinterest.com/RainbowMaille/
I don't know how to get followers, unlike instagram where I've made it over 160 followers in the last year not exactly a huge following but better than the 2 on pinterest. ~LOL~ 😄 Short of paying for advertising and doing the facebook "boost" post thing I'm not sure how to get my stuff seen on pinterest. 😖 Worse yet, I am paying to promote some, so I've gotten some views and a few re-pins/saves but over half of them are mis-labeling my stuff. 😕 Like my wire trees which are clearly called out as wall art and home decor but people keep saving them to jewelry boards. 😟 My chainmaille has been saved to beaded jewelry boards in spite of the fact that there is not a single bead on it. 😵 It's making me nutty, it's not OCD compliant at all. ~LOL~ 😄
I'll keep trying and keep posting but I'm not sure it's doing much good. I know all social media stuff takes time to build a following and be effective but good grief. (and yes that's a Charlie Brown impersonation) 😉
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