on business and mentors

I opened my Etsy store at the beginning of January and since I have posted my items, I haven't done much else with it.  Quite frankly, I don't know how to market it.  Do I just stick to Twitter and my blog, do I create a button and advertise that way, do I do the paid ad stuff on Etsy, I just don't know.

I follow a lot of "successful" entrepreneurs on Twitter in hopes of finding inspiration on how they market themselves and run their business.  Turns out that people are pretty tight lipped when it comes to sharing the details of how they "made it" and if you are not already running in their circle or know someone who is running in their circle, don't even bother.  

I also recently joined the free version Savor the Success.  I was expecting people like me and you who are learning the ropes and looking for a little bit of success.  Like real life scenarios of how to's and tips and struggles and do's and dont's...not so much.  There are discussion boards but most of them are private and require you to ask for permission to join.  I have asked to join a handful of them with no reply.  Totally reminds me of high school all over again.  There are also featured contributors within the site that blog on various topics.  There are a few good ones who provide valuable content but most of the contributors are consultants and coaches so they write a bunch of fluff with no substance.  I'm sure they would rather have you pay for their wisdom than share it for free in a blog post.

The interesting part of this scenario is that I own and operate a busy vacation rental company.  I get lots and lots of people asking me for advice, tips, tricks, how'd I get going, what have I learned, etc.  I find it so inspiring and I answer every single one of their emails.  I wish there was someone around when I was starting out to mentor me because I had so many questions and the process of getting started was completely overwhelming. 

So if anyone is still with me through this roller coaster diatribe, I guess it boils down to the fact that I am not a sales person.  You need to be a sales person, have that drive, personality, and so forth to excel at selling a product.  I am not giving up on my jewelry just yet but in my heart of hearts I know I am not a sales lady.  It is so far outside of my element that I am not sure I would know where to begin to lasso it in.  I guess time will tell. 

Do you have a mentor?  What have you learned?  Where did you go?  Share your stories in the comments!

a bit of news

Happy Monday!  Hope you had a great weekend.  I have some very exciting news to share with you today.  Are you ready?

This weekend I finally took the jump (code for getting my rear in gear) and opened my very own Etsy shop!  It's something I have always wanted to do but never thought I had the time or energy to see it through.  I'll be honest, the other part of this and probably the biggest issue weighing on my mind was that it would require me to self promote my work.  I'm a naturally a pretty shy person and I generally don't like to have the spotlight on me in any way, however, I am going to  be a big girl and look at this a way to grow personally and professionally.  I'm super excited to share my work with you and I hope that you will come on over and take a look and perhaps even help me spread the word.

Right now, I only have a handful designs listed, mostly because it is no small job getting things photographed, edited and listed.  I will share additional pieces on the blog and twitter as they are listed.  I should also mention that I don't have a professional banner up yet and I am clueless when it comes to this sort of thing. So stay tuned for a shop makeover as well!

You can find me here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaisleyMaeParker

Now for a sneak peak at a few designs currently listed...

So that is what I have been up to.  Have a great Monday everyone!