I heart Etsy Hacks!

There are some fantastically helpful people in the Etsy community who are willing to donate their skills to make Etsy a little easier to navigate. Etsy Hacks (Ian) totally has an Etsy store, as well as a fantastic website where you can download "hacks" to make things easier. You have to use Firefox (not Internet Explorer) to be able to use it, but really, it's better as far as I am concerned anyway.

etsyhacks

Lets say you would find it handy to remove a favorite seller (oh no!) and reheart them so they show up at the top of your favorite sellers/items list again, with the click of a button... Yup, they have that.

Maybe you want to see repeat buyers (totally handy, I love this one) on your sold items page.

Heres a good one... Upload all 5 (or however many) photos at one time! Heck yes!

Maybe you want to know why you have 20 earrings, but only 15 are in a section. They have a hack so you can see if you have "unsectioned" items too.

Create a new listing based on an existing listing... got similar items? Feel like the Add new item button could be better? Yup, just copy the whole darn listing and edit where needed!

Chat driving you crazy when it kicks you out of a full room as you check a shop? They have a hack for that so it opens without the kicking you out part :)

Treasury clicking gotcha down because of the slowness? Tired of watching the rainbow mandala? Just press ctrl when you click and they will all open in a new window and you can keep browsing while they open slowly in the background...

There is even a hack so that you can have new hacks show up at the top of your screen. Don't miss out on anything!

Check out all the other fantastic hacks here!
So get Firefox, and then get EtsyHacks!

Vegan and worldwide with Indie Craft Samples!

Following is a guest article from Awesome chick: HolisticallyHeather

Looking for a way to promote your shop/craft around the world? We are now looking for crafters/artists for our second round of indie craft sample bags!

How does that work? Crafters from around the world send in samples/coupons to us, we put them in beautiful handmade reusable market totes and sell them to folks far and worldwide! Sending samples of your work to people all over the world. Our first round of sample bags sold like hotcakes, so we are planning to make the second one bigger and more craftalicious!

The only requirement other than handmade is that they items are vegan. Wait, before you freak out wondering if you items are vegan, we will tell you that most items are vegan and you don't even know it! It's not as hard as you would think! If you have any questions as to what is acceptable and what is not, please feel free to get in touch! 10% from each bag is given to an animal sanctuary which is voted for right on our blog!

You can get more information/sign up by emailing ecosampler [!at] yahoo.com. Also, we have some free ad space available on our blog, and we are always willing to trade ads with people as well.

Please check us out online
http://www.vegansamples.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/vegansamples
http://www.vegansamples.etsy.com
http://www.vegancraftsamples.com


Featured Chick: Viridian

Nicki of Viridian joined the Awesome Chicks in January when I had the pleasure of being a customer of hers. She makes these great necklaces (right) and I just had to have one and I still just love it! Anyway, on with the show!

Do you have a blog or Twitter? My blog was abandoned in its early days, but I hope to revive it eventually. I'm just getting involved with Twitter- it's a ton of fun!

Where are you located? Northern Illinois, a coupla hours west of Chicago

Do you belong to any Etsy teams? One very inactive team...it's not doing much for me

Do you have a day job, if so what do you do? I'm a design consultant for a small custom-order furniture store. I *heart* discontinued swatches!

Where is your studio space? Our apartment, for some odd reason, has a bathtub in a small dormer room off the kitchen, totally separate from the bathroom. I've commandeered the rest of the space for my work.

How did you discover Etsy? A thread on Craftster, way back in the day.

What do you sell? Leather flower pins, wallets, fabric bags

How did you begin creating? I've been crafting since I was a wee little one- I can't imagine NOT being creative. It's actually been too long for me to remember how I got started!

Why do you enjoy creating? I just love making beautiful things! I have an entrepreneurial spirit, so selling my pretties when they started piling up was a natural progression.

How long does it take you to create a piece? Usually less than an hour- I have what I refer to as "crafting ADD." I get bored easily with long-term projects!

When do you do most of your creating? In the evenings, and all day long on my days off from my day job!

What is your most popular item in your shop? So far everything seems to get an equal amount of attention. Lately, my leather wallets have been getting snatched up as soon as I list them.

Any tips or advice you can give others who are new to Etsy? Research and learn as much as you can! Look around at your competitors, and adapt your style for a personal twist. And great photos are KEY to selling online- there are tons of resources out there for learning how to take good pics of your work.

What do you do to promote your shop? I hand out business cards, chat when I can, use SocialMarker occasionally (thanks, TimothyAdamsDesign!) and try to list frequently.

What is your favorite part of being a member of Etsy? Honestly? The extra money- the fact that there are people out there that like my work so much that they're willing to pay me for them! That feeling never gets old- I think it's that entrepreneurship I spoke of earlier. It's a great place to have a business.

How do you balance your business work with creating and home life? Um...I fit it in when I can. It's not very well balanced at this time...

Any organization tips? Keep your listed items clean and orderly- if something sells, you don't want to be scrambling around trying to find it!

What inspires you? My materials! I get ideas by pulling out the drawers on my bead caddy and rummaging around until a combination comes to mind, or pawing through a pile of fabric until my hands touch something that says "it's my turn to be a purse."

Do you have any favorite Etsy shops other than your own? Lots! Too many to list here...

What are some future goals that you have pertaining to your Etsy business? Just to grow my business as much as I can- I'm looking forward to that 300th sale, 500th sale, etc... Coming up with new ideas for items in my shop is the hardest thing for me right now- I like my mix the way it is! But evolving and changing is important if I want to succeed.
__________________________
Check out all the great things at Viridian on Etsy!