As many of my followers may know, I run an online business selling art and gifts called UnderTheNumNumTree (one word). It’s an Etsy store that I have been nurturing for several years. It was easy to join and open my shop, but I’ll tell you, for a newbie to computers, I had so much to learn and I knew it. I’m self taught and I knew back then how much time it would take to learn to use and implement the tools I needed to have it functioning like a real store. I had a Twitter account but could not understand it, and Facebook made me crawl under the covers (still does sometimes).
Needless to say, I learned enough to use these tools somewhat effectively, and many other social media as well. Behind the scenes in my office, I learned how to take photos, scan, size, resize, and crop, along with some crafting techniques and requests for products I had not considered yet, like making wedding invitations. This project alone taught me a few things with my Word program and printer.
It’s been a long journey, and will be longer still, because I finally feel (in my 40’s) in my gut the path I want to take. I’ve made friends, and a few mistakes, I’ve had real lows and highs- times I’ve wanted to throw it all away, and times I’ve been proud to see how far I’ve come. This whole experience started with one little recommendation from a friend at a craft show to give Etsy a try. If it had been difficullt to set up a shop with them I would not have even bothered with it. But it was very easy and encouraging to use, and even taught me a few little things in the process.
This morning I woke up to find one of my items in a friend’s blog Limezinnias Design which flattered me tremendously, and I was due to see my shop featured in a blog designed to get the word out about some of the fine shops on Etsy. A Little Etsy Love is a great title for what they offer, and all my experiences with them have been terrific. I recommend them highly to any Etsy shop owner.
So, I hope others online who have had similar experiences with selling online can find encouragement in this post. I would love to hear about them, so feel free to comment. And if you are a shopper, I recommend you check into some of the sites I have included in my blog. Smiles! 🙂
UnderTheNumNumTree
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www.etsy.com/shop/underthenumnumtree
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janepurcell 