Saturday, August 15, 2020

Just days. . .

 😮  😯  😱  😲  😳  😵


OMG!! I can't believe it's only days until the official public LAUNCH of goimagine.com I have been working on my shop and listings for 4 months and now it's just a matter of days.   😶


Having a hard time deciding what I am feeling most. . .excited. . .nervous. . .scared. . .hopeful. . .anxious. . .

I have added the new "google feed" category info on all my existing listings.  I have been working on my "How it's Made" section(s) but that has been complicated by needing to do 3 different versions for the different types of products.  I have all the paintings finished (I think). I have most of the chainmaille listings updated, I think I have about a dozen to go.  Today I plan to get on updating the wire tree listings. 😎  That will be the last of the "How it's Made" sections.


In the last week I have changed my banner, put my founding maker badge in as my shop logo, and got a "Featured" product section squared away.  I have re-done my RainbowMaille pinterest board deleting 192 pins that linked back to etsy and I am working on re-pinning the items but with goimagine links. 😉 I have been instagram posting and even using the "Stories" which I don't normally do.


I still have listings that need photos.  I have at least a dozen paintings that need photographed and listed.  Unfortunately, this week I have spent entirely too much time on this laptop and no time making new things. 😕  However, I'll just have to power through the next few days and get as much done as fast as I can, maybe next week I'll get to go back to painting and creating. 😇


Wednesday, August 12, 2020

How it's Made. . .

 How it's Made. . .no not the TV show, the new tab available in goimagine listings. 😉  ( I crack myself up)  😊


So this week's site updates/upgrades include a couple things I am really excited about. First the "Featured items" ability 🎯 score!  This is a great thing in my opinion.  I was able to select a variety of my products to highlight at the top of my shop, which I really like the look of.  Instead of a wall of art or trying to figure out what is under which "category" now the top of my shop showcases an assortment of chainmaille and wire trees, showing a broader range of my work.  This is also a step towards sellers having more control over the appearance and arrangement of their shop fronts. 👍


The second thing I got excited about was the new "How it's Made" tab on our listings.  This had been mentioned previously and I was looking forward to it becoming available.  It allows up to 3 photos and there is a format-able large text box that we can write whatever we want to describe our process, our materials, show off our studios.  To me this is a great opportunity to really try to connect with the buyer, to allow the buyer to see where the art was created, possibly even work in progress photos.  😀


So I jumped right in and started edit listings.  I wrote like me, all about how I do things, because as a one woman show it is all about Me. 😄  I am the artist, I am the owner, I am the creator, I am the photographer, I am the copy editor, I am the shipping clerk, I am the marketing department.  I thought what I wrote was fine but when I showed it to my husband, he literally looked at it for about 5 seconds and said "hmm. .seven I's in 5 sentences. . .not good". 😕  Now to be clear he's all corporate executive guy and all about "teams" and he has been trained against using "I" declaratives.  I sat and listened to him and fought my desire to get annoyed with him because he was just trying to help and I should not get mad about that. 😇  


I thought about and although there is a big part of me that thinks all my "I's" are fine because of the sole proprietorship nature of it all being just me, I cannot totally ignore what my husband said.  Mainly because he is a really smart guy and has had decades of training and exposure to some marketing guru types that have told him all about the psychology behind such things.  However, all of that is in the context of huge commercial businesses and not handmade small businesses selling one of a kind art items, so. . .I am torn.


The original text I wrote: 

I buy pre-made medium-weight cotton duck canvases that are pre-stretched, kiln dried, and pre-primed.

I prefer to stick to with smaller sizes 8" x 8", 8" x 10", 10" x 10" 11" x 14" because it helps to keep shipping easier and reasonably priced.

I use mostly acrylic paints these days, although I do have some watercolors for sale.

I prefer Liquitex brand products including paints, mix-ins and varnish, although I do use some Krylon spray sealants.

I use a variety of brushes, pallet knives, my hands and some other non-traditional tools as well.

This morning's rethink edit : 

My art starts with pre-made medium-weight cotton duck canvases that come pre-stretched, kiln dried, and pre-primed, it saves a lot of time.

By sticking with the smaller size canvases like 8" x 8", 8" x 10", 10" x 10" 11" x 14" it helps to keep shipping easier and reasonably priced.

Currently using mostly acrylic paints these days, although I do have some older watercolor works for sale.

Made with Liquitex brand quality products including paints, mix-ins and varnish, although I do also sometimes use Krylon spray sealants.

I use a variety of brushes, pallet knives, putty knives, my hands and some other more non-traditional tools as well.

Now I don't know which one to use. 😟

Sunday, August 9, 2020

goimagine.com

 I mentioned months ago that I had found a new platform for selling #handmade I did it in kind of a sneaky way because it was still in beta and I was still working on my set up. Imagine that. . .(previous post)


While building my shop and working on adding listings one at a time I noticed some people in the facebook group having troubles with one thing or another mainly because it was all new and different.  I saw a couple of them expression frustration and a desire to give up so I wrote a post encouraging them to keep trying, ask for help if they need, and don't give up just because New can be scary. . .(previous post)


As the months have passed I have mostly made up my mind that I will be moving to goimagine and eventually shrink my etsy shop.  The realization of just how much etsy was costing me with those little .20 cent listing and renewal fees was kind of shocking honestly, which lead me to say and so it begins . . . (previous post) 


I have felt from the beginning that goimagine.com was going to be different, it was in the way Jon and Steph were so present and engaged. They were always asking how sellers wanted things to work, always willing to listen to everyone's view point. The weekly webinars explaining how things worked and why they decided the things they did, asking for feedback, being willing to change things. I love the charity aspect of donating the platform's profits to charity, I love that they chose children's charities.  This past week they have done yet another thing that I love by recognizing the sellers who were willing to join early and help build the site during the "beta" testing phase, to me this shows a level acknowledgement and partnership with sellers that no other platform has. Also I just love my Founding maker badge. (previous post)


Thursday, August 6, 2020

"Founding Maker"

I am so proud of this badge.  
I am actually pretty proud of myself, if I'm honest about it.  You see I am not exactly what they call an "early adopter" of new technology.  I don't usually like new things, I have trust issues, normally I would wait until it's been around a while and see how everyone else's experience goes. 😏

Seriously, I didn't join facebook until 2012 even though it started back in 2004. I didn't start my etsy shop until 2015 even though etsy started in 2005. So you see how slow I can be. 😊

I have been disappointed before like when I joined the A.C.Moore marketplace right after they opened. That sadly did not take off due to a lack of follow through and commitment from upper management and ownership. 

However, I got a good feeling for and decided to take a chance on goimagine.com and I am so glad that I did. I think Jon and his team are doing an amazing job of building this #caringeconomy and seller community, they are hardworking, responsive, thoughtful and honest.

I am so happy to be a part of this new platform and I am super happy with their acknowledgement of those of us that joined early. 😇

Saturday, August 1, 2020

And so it begins. . .

Today I posted my first "exclusive" to goimagine.com listing. 😁

Since I signed up with goimagine months ago I have been simply working on copying all my etsy listings, one by one. I have a considerable inventory in finished goods and things like chainmaille which can be remade I like to leave listed even when they sell because I can usually make another.  So the transfering of hundreds of listings has taken up quite a bit of time, especially since some (many) have needed new listing photos. 😒

In the meantime I have still been creating new stuff that just has not been getting listed anywhere. 😏 This morning I decided to add a "new" item to goimagine, a fresh from scratch listing just for goimagine.com not available in the etsy shop.  I think I will be doing more of that in the future, I am considering cutting back the # of listings in my etsy altogether and limiting the art I put there. 




Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Just working. . .

I haven't been as regular with my postings, not just on this blog but also intagram, pinterest, overall I have just been busy with other things.  😉

I have been creating, making, painting, imagining, daydreaming. . .

I think the new style is off to a rockin' start.  I really am loving the words on canvas, Liz is the best-est at making just what I pictured. 😁

I started with the "RainbowPride" because ya' know rainbows and Pride, what could be more awesome.  😍

Well the only thing I could think of better is Love, because all you need is love, right!? 😇  Love makes the world go around, Love is powerful, Love is kind, Love wins, we all need a little more Love. 


Saturday, July 18, 2020

Sticking with online. . .

For months I have been looking forward to getting back to in person events, unfortunately at this point, I just do not see that happening this year.  😔  Many of the events I had scheduled were cancelled and I have resisted scheduling new events due to concerns that they may also end up cancelled on short notice. 

I have re-opened my etsy shop and I am continuing to build my goimagine.com shop, so for the foreseeable future I will be sticking to online sales only.  This will be a challenge, mainly to my sub-par photography skills 😅 but I'll manage.  I look forward to more reviews like "Pictures don't really show how awesome these really are, " "The photo didn’t begin to do it justice.  " Yes these are actual quotes from previous reviews, it is something I hear regularly. ~LOL~  😇

So if you are interested but on the fence, I know buying things online without really "seeing" them can seem risky but I would say take a chance you may end up pleasantly surprised. 😉