Call for Artists, Making Money at Juried Art Fairs, Craft Shows and Festivals
Time to Quit Your Day Job? Etsy may be the answer
Thanks to Duke Klassen at the NAIA Forum for sharing this good story from the New York Times -- That Hobby Looks Like a Lot of Work
QUIT your day job?
Sara Jorde for The New York Times:
To some craft enthusiasts that is just the name of a popular blog on Etsy, the fast-growing Web site that serves as a marketplace for crafts and vintage goods.
But to Yokoo Gibran, it was an epiphany.
Ms. Gibran, who is in her 30s, had been selling her hand-knit scarves and accessories on the site for less than a year when she decided last November to quit her day job at a copy center in Atlanta. Thirteen months later, she would seem to be living the Etsy dream: running a one-woman knitwear operation, Yokoo, from her home and earning more than $140,000 a year, more than many law associates.
Jealous? How could you not be? Her hobby is her job. But consider this before you quit your day job: at the pace she’s working, she might as well be a law associate.
“I have to wake up around 8, get coffee or tea, and knit for hours and hours and hours and hours,” said Ms. Gibran, who leveraged the exposure she got on the site to forge a deal with Urban Outfitters. “I’m ...
This is a very interesting article and really worth reading for insight into our business -- after all, we all have already quit our day jobs some time ago! Read it and let me know what you think about it!
QUIT your day job?
Sara Jorde for The New York Times:
To some craft enthusiasts that is just the name of a popular blog on Etsy, the fast-growing Web site that serves as a marketplace for crafts and vintage goods.
But to Yokoo Gibran, it was an epiphany.
Ms. Gibran, who is in her 30s, had been selling her hand-knit scarves and accessories on the site for less than a year when she decided last November to quit her day job at a copy center in Atlanta. Thirteen months later, she would seem to be living the Etsy dream: running a one-woman knitwear operation, Yokoo, from her home and earning more than $140,000 a year, more than many law associates.
Jealous? How could you not be? Her hobby is her job. But consider this before you quit your day job: at the pace she’s working, she might as well be a law associate.
“I have to wake up around 8, get coffee or tea, and knit for hours and hours and hours and hours,” said Ms. Gibran, who leveraged the exposure she got on the site to forge a deal with Urban Outfitters. “I’m ...
This is a very interesting article and really worth reading for insight into our business -- after all, we all have already quit our day jobs some time ago! Read it and let me know what you think about it!
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Comment by Diana Ferguson on December 24, 2009 at 10:27am -
Go etsians! I turned to etsy after I had been a full-time artisan for about a year, as a place for my customers to shop throughout the year. I am here to say, making etsy a full-time gig is a challenged that will test every business bone in your body. Google Analytics anyone? Etsy has worked great for me as a supplement, and while I have garnered some new customers, I am no where near achieving the kind of online sales that would make me a living. That being said, etsy has totally kept me on my toes. What makes someone visit your shop, "heart an item", "heart" your store? What defines a good product photograph, and why is it different from a good jury slide? How do I write a decent, if not compelling, product description? How does SEO play into all of this? In attempting to answer these questions, and others, I have gained lots of valuable information that I feel certain I'll be able to utilize in all aspects of my business. Despite stereotypes, there are some really fine artisans (in all price ranges) on etsy. I have the utmost admiration for those (and there are quite a few) who have cracked the nut of turning their etsy shops into a livelihood.
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