Simply Shiny

In a previous post, I provided a list of venues for artists, artistans and artisan crafters. This week I’m profiling another of those sites on my blog.

I asked Sadie from Lollishops to tell us a bit more about her venue.

What is the site name and where can artisan sellers find you?
http://lollishops.com
http://lollishops.blogspot.com
http://lollishopping.ning.com/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/lollishops/
http://www.myspace.com/lollishops
http://twitter.com/lollishops

Tell us a little about your site’s history. What are its origins?
From Lollishops’ Press page:
“When Sadie Lou Hartmann’s children were young, it just seemed like a nice thing to create beautiful scrapbooks for them. This naturally drifted into gifts, then mixed media art, then sharing about art on blogs, then, well, the rest is history … LolliShops history, that is.Sadie Hartmann is launching what appears to be the first major marketplace for women to sell their crafts and objets’d’arte owned and run by a woman. After spending time as a buyer and seller on other craft websites Ms. Hartmann couldn’t help but notice that feminine girly, cottage frou-frou crafters were treated like second-class citizens, shunted to the sidelines by slick, modern styles of crafting. That’s when Sadie’s vision for a business model based on support and sharing of art blossomed into form through a blog dedicated to her craft and her crafting friends. Today, this active hub is matched by a forum, where women share, inspire and inform each other’s growing online businesses.

Sadie Lou’s success as a social networker can be readily observed through her active blog and forum sites.

“I started blogging to keep in touch with friends and family and it just grew alongside my art. As a mother at home with a young family, I gained inspiration and got a good slice of appreciated adult conversation from my early blog. Now LolliShops has become a really sweet community, based on inspiration and sharing. We are really an on-line art family community,” observes Ms. Hartmann.”

Tell us about the site’s staff.
LolliShops hired velocity 7 to build LolliShops from scratch!
http://www.velocity7.com/
Jason: Lead Developer
Greg  Knaddison: Drupal consultant
Pam Biery: PR agent, officice manager
Marlisa: Site Designer (as per Owner’s suggestions/submissions)
Terry: Sadie’s Dad= support emails
Sadie Hartmann= Support emails, owner, designer, advertiser, CEO
Dan Hartmann: Sadie’s Husband,  CFO, Manager, Statistics, Projections

What is your plan for the site? What are your goals?
My plan for the site is for the vendors to continue growing together in success and in their relationships. The community aspect of LolliShops is one of the most important features that we will continue to develop and nurture through the private vendor’s forum, cross promotion and the cooperative advertising program we have going with Stampington.
http://www.stampington.com/

Our goals are to constantly be updating the site’s features and functions providing the very best shopping/selling experience we can.

Who is your target seller audience?
Women
20-60+ years old
Enjoying: Victoriana,Cottage Style, Shabby Chic, Antiques, Vintage, Artistic Supplies, Whimsy and Collectibles.
LolliShops is looking for experienced vendors that maintain their shops professionally and routinely. We are looking for vendors that put customer satisfaction first. We make sure our vendors take quality photographs, have detailed item descriptions, provide a way for buyers to contact them through emails and sell quality merchandise whether it be artistic creations/handmade, supplies or vintage. We also have an extremely strong sense of community and we take our community seriously–vendors do not have to be active in our vendor’s only forum but it is encouraged. We spend a lot of our time building one another up and supporting each other; we embrace being connected versus being competitive.

Who is your target buyer audience?
Women
20-60+ years old
Enjoying: Victoriana,Cottage Style, Shabby Chic, Antiques, Vintage, Artistic Supplies, Whimsy and Collectibles.

How will you drive buyers to your venue?
We have a two year contract with Stampington and have full page, co-op ads (featuring 30 different vendors), color ads coming out in several magazines next year. Starting with Somerset Life’s Winter 2009 Issue coming out Jan. 1st then we have Artful Blogging, Somerset Studio, Marie Vol. 1 (a special edition Marie Antoinette tribute magazine), Where Women Create and Somerset Life. We are also extremely active in most social networking websites, we have a large audience to our blog where we have free tutorials, featured sellers, contests and giveaways.

Is this an international, domestic US, Far East and European focused site?
Yes it is.

What differentiates this venue from other online selling venues?
That’s a good question. LolliShops does not want to be considered another handmade marketplace/Mall. The first, most noticeable difference is that we are a juried venue. Not everyone can sell here. We like the idea of fulfilling a niche market that caters to a specific kind of shopper looking for a very specific style of arts and crafts, supplies and vintage. We have popular artisans doing exclusive artistic lines or collections for LolliShops as well as vendors that are moving their entire online presence to LolliShops in order to narrow down their focus and see what LolliShops is capable of. Because we maintain a quality and a style, we are free to advertise in magazines that compliment our look.

LolliShops also doesn’t ignore the fact that we are made up of mostly women. This website is owned and operated by a woman who is also an artist with her own shop on LolliShops. This brings a unique spin to everything that goes into planning and developing the website. The web team responsible for programming and designing LolliShops is made up of women too! From the office manager, PR agent, ad designer and website layout designer–there is a strong feminine influence! Which brings me to my last point, LolliShops.com is all about the community. We are extremely focused on developing personal relationships in terms of vendors connecting with other vendors, vendors connecting with buyers and ME (Sadie) connecting with the vendors and the buyers.
I personally spend time every day in the private vendor forum answering questions, fielding requests and support and answering technical site questions. I am as hands on as I can be.

Why should artisan sellers consider utilizing this site as a resource instead of other, older sites or their own sites?
I feel like I have addressed this question a few time but in terms of utilizing their own websites, LolliShops has a program that is still in its development stages called “The Split”. For a small fee every month, vendors can list items directly off their website and then enter in a unique URL that brings the buyers from LolliShops directly to their own dot com for the business transaction.

It seems to be gaining in popularity as vendors create their own, personalized websites.

How have your structured your seller pricing?
We don’t feel we are in a position to release that information to the public at his time as it is in its Beta phase stages anyways and also, we feel that buyers don’t need to know what the vendors pay to sell in a particular venue. It’s almost like walking into a brick and mortar boutique and asking the owner how much they pay for rent. The fee structure is available upon request by emailing LolliShops.com or lollishops@gmail.com

What else should we know?
We will always be rolling out new features, upgrades and functions as LolliShops grows. We also take vendor and shopper requests and suggestions very seriously.

Stay tuned over the next weeks as I will be profiling more artisan handmade selling  venues with interviews and giveaways from the site owners. You can find this site’s traffic rank according to Alexa here

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A big thanks goes out to my top entrecard droppers for the last month! 

Entrecard is used to increase traffic to your blog. According to the site “Entrecard is a free blogging network that brings visitors to your blog. By joining our network, you can earn Entrecard credits which allow you to display an ad of your blog on other blog sites within our Network.”

I’ve been using it for several months now, and, well, so far so good. My increased surfing to drop cards has resulted in my finding some new regular blog reading stops;  as well as some new places for Project Wonderful ads. For more information about what it is and how to use it, visit this link

Don’t miss a single post.
Want to get the latest Simply Shiny post by feed burner? Click here
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It’s cold, dry and this January weather is making my skin suffer. It’s a perfect time to stock up on handmade soap, lotions, lip balm, etc.

Over the next weeks, I am going to profile several handmade bath and body studio owners from Artfire. There will be giveaways too.  And by the way, handmade bath and body items make wonderful Valentine’s gifts for your significant other.

Amy, from Naturally Amy, is first. And, during January, Naturally Amy will be giving away Violets and Anise soap.  It is a blend of sweet violet and anise essential oil, swirled with ultramarines of blues and purples.  You can be one of four lucky winners simply by commenting on her blog.  You can also watch her Artfire shop for monthly soap specials!

ArtFire shop name: Naturally Amy  : Herbal And Botanical Soap, Candles & Incense 
Name: Amy Urato
Location: Marlborough, Massachusetts

Where else can we find you and your work? 
My blog address is  http://www.naturallyamys.blogspot.com
My website which is a constant work in progress is: http://www.naturallyamys.com 
My Artfire Studio: http://naturallyamy.artfire.com
My Etsy: naturallyamy 
And I Twitter too: http://twitter.com/naturallyamy

What inspired you to begin creating bath and body products?
Being in my 40’s I was in pursuit of soap that would not dry my skin, I have extremely sensitive skin, and I wanted soap that would not leave me reaching for lotion.

I am a curious person and have always been interested in crafting so I went online to learn how to make soap.  My search brought me to The Dish, an online community of over 8,000 bath and body makers. I learned most of my technique there, as well as from reading anything soap related I could get my hands on.

Two years and over 150 batches later, I had found my passion and my recipe.  I wanted soap that I could formulate with the most natural and simplistic of ingredients.

I then lost my husband in 2007 to cancer, and I found myself a widow at age 44. A widow with a 5 year old. So to help bring in money I started selling at local craft fairs, and before I knew what hit me I had retail accounts and wholesale accounts.

Where did you start and how did you learn to make the products you are creating today?
I learned from my online community at the Dish mostly. This is the main website of The Dish, and by reading as much as I could on soap making and I had the benefit of being able to interact each day with some of the most successful and knowledgeable soap makers out there.

What are your favorite scents?
Lavender, Violet, Citruses and I love the scent of “unscented soap” just pure, clean soap.

What are your favorite products to make?
My swirled soap, and herbal infused oils.

What one product should EVERYONE have on hand during the cold, dry winter months?
Shea Butter. I use Fair Trade Abanga Karite butter. I use it in my soap and just straight up on my skin.

What inspires you?
I find my biggest motivation in my son Dante. I was widowed in 2007 when he was 5. I knew I made a great product and I knew I needed to find a means to support him. So I launched Naturally Amy. Nature is a constant motivator for me also. Living in New England, we have seasonal change. Summer to Autumn, Autumn to Winter and Winter to Spring. I draw my inspiration from the changing colors, scents and wildlife that each season brings.

What was your biggest handmade oops?
My first batch of honey soap. Honey is a natural heat accelerent to soap. When my soap was going through the natural saponification process, the added honey increased that heat and caused my soap to volcano out of the mold and across my table. That was a scary moment indeed!

Why are handmade bath and body products better?
I find that the reason my soap is better than anything store bought is because of the superfatting that is done with my soap. Each soap formula has a specific ratio of lye to soaping oils that when combined in exact proportion will create soap. Being a soap maker I can adjust the lye ratio to allow more unsaponified oils and butters to circulate through my soap. This simply means there are more skin loving oils and butters in my soap that are not converted and are available to fully moisturize your skin.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out selling bath and body online?
Know your product and it’s formulation inside and out. Know your ingredients. Learn your target market and make what you love. Never stop learning your craft.

How do you spend time when you are NOT creating?
I spin wool, knit and I read alot.

Do you have a newsletter for potential customers to join? Where can they sign up?
I am launching a newsletter in January of 2009, You can sign up by sending me a request at naturallyamy@gmail.com. I will have all sorts of interesting things in there as well as up and coming product info and specials.

What else should we know about you and your business?
I am an Indie Business, and woman owned. I am very concerned with the Earth that we live on, and everything from my recipes to my final packaging works to support and maintain the ecological balance of our planet.

Thanks Amy!  Stay tuned over the next weeks as I will be profiling more artisan handmade bath and body sellers from ArtFire, including giveaways from the studio owners. 

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Pricing your handmade art and craft items can be tricky. Are you taking into account ALL the time you spend to bring your items to sale ready condition? Does your time include photo taking and editing? What about the time you spend online marketing your goods? Do your materials include things like oxydation agents, or mold release or your tools? Are you adding extra for PayPal fees and selling venue fees?

Pricing is tough…some say the bane of their handmade existance. Here are a few tools to help. Some are free and some are available for sale

http://chris-parry.blogspot.com/2007/12/free-spreadsheet-for-pricing-your-work.html

http://www.beading-software.com/blog/free-stuff/jewelry-pricing-calculator-software/

http://www.enioken.com/jewelry/pricecalc.html

http://etsy.ppcalc.com/

What others do you recommend?

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Flickr is an awesome free tool to organize and share your photos. According to the site “Flickr is the best way to store, sort, search and share your photos online. Flickr helps you organize that huge mass of photos you have and offers a way for you and your friends and family to tell stories about them. “

Basic membership to the site is free. With free access you get:
• Space online for 100 MB monthly uploads
• Up to 3 sets you can create
• Ability to post any of your photos in up to 10 group pools
• Smaller (resized) images are accessible (though the originals are saved in case you upgrade later)

Purchase the Pro Account for $25 annually, and you will get:
• Stats! Including view counts and referrers
• Unlimited uploads, storage, sets, etc
• and a bunch of other cool attributes

I have a LOT of images stored to Flickr. I just love the site. It can be a TOTAL time waster though, fair warning. I can’t tell you how much time I’ve wasted browsing available photos from the millions of uploads.

Many indie crafters and artisan use Flickr to showcase their work. If tagged and described correctly it appears in google and other searches and can be used as an additional method to put your work in front of a HUGE audience. But Flickr is NOT a selling venue. As I was researching Flickr use, I found a few threads in the etsy forum that might make interesting reading for artists, crafters, indie shops and other handmade craftspersons. Based on what I gleaned from all the info here is a short list of do’s and don’ts:

1. Do create your profile and put your shop, studio, site, newsletter, etc links in it
2. Do put your store name in your tags (as ShinyAdornments NOT as http://shinyadornments.etsy.com)
3. Do put etsy or artfire, etc in your tags
4. Don’t put a link to your store in your description
5. Don’t mention the item is for sale in your etsy store in your description.
It is against Flickr’s Terms of Service to use Flickr for commercial purposes. You can find more information here http://www.flickr.com/guidelines.gne
6. Don’t mention the item is for sale AT ALL in your description
7. Don’t tell users to “see you profile” for information about you in your description
8. Don’t add ’sold’ or ‘available’ to your description
9. Do add your pictures to pools in which you think they might be a good fit. To find more about pools, visit this link http://www.flickr.com/help/groups/

To add your images to pertinent pools/groups:
Once you are a member of that group, go to your Flickr page and choose
•  ORGANIZE
•  ALL YOUR CONTENT
•  Wait for your pictures to load to the bar at the bottom of the screen
•  Pull the pictures into the part of the screen that says “DRAG ITEMS HERE TO EDIT THEM AS BATCH”
•  Click the link in the top navigation that says “SEND TO GROUP”
•  Choose the appropriate group from the listed ones available.

Here are some links from the etsy forum for you to peruse:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5547566&page=1
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5551930
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5284133

How do you use Flickr? What do you like about it?

If you haven’t done so already, I’d encourage you to check flickr out. You can see all my photos at my Flickr pool here www.flickr.com/photos/shinyadornments

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Want to get the latest Simply Shiny post by feed burner? Click here
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