Selling Online: Tips For Sellers

Promo items

Sara, the editor of the Dawanda Shop Directory, asked me a few days ago to write an article about making the best of your Dawanda shop, since she had read several threads in the forum where sellers showed their concern about the low amount of sales they had. I have to admit that I had mixed feelings about the topic, but what I knew for sure was that I had to share this article with you :).

On one hand, I absolutely love Dawanda. I love the place, I’ve had the pleasure to confirm the efficiency and maximum care for sellers that the administrators have, I love the politeness on the forums. On the other hand, I really dislike that “ohmygod I’m not selling” attitudes from sellers. If venues like Etsy have such a success, visitors and sales, it’s 80% a merit of sellers only. Etsy sellers are fans of Etsy; they buy there, organize themselves in Street Teams, write blogs, make blogrings, Flickr groups… and a million things I could add here. They promote the venue everywhere, all the time.

I don’t see that on Dawanda. If what we need is traffic, then it’s our responsibility to bring it in, in all the ways we can. We cannot just list things and wait for sales to come – selling online is not that easy, on Dawanda or on any other digital market.

To be honest, the only seller that makes a success is the one that works hard and patiently. You can’t expect a flood of customers if you have only five items, badly photographed with your camera phone. You can’t make what everyone else is doing. You have to become a real professional in order to have a successful life as an online seller. From banners to categories, from pic’s layouts to business cards, everything is equally important. Look for an art/craft seller that is making a life out of Internet, and 9 out of 10 sacrifice long hours, sleep and personal life as much as someone who has a “physical” shop. If you really think there is success and future without complete commitment to your business, maybe you should be doing something else.

Do everything that is at your hands to promote your shop, don’t use shortcuts and learn from those that you admire. And waste your time learning and becoming a better artist instead on complaining on the forums.

Tips To Become A Better Online Seller

- LOVE what you do: the key of it all. If customers can’t feel your passion about what you make, you will never sell it, no matter how well done your product is. You have to be in love with what you create to make others love it too. I think that the secret to find our true creative energies is to give it time and being humble. Look up for those that you admire, but don’t copy! As we are all unique, there IS a unique way for you to express yourself.

- A cohesive look: your banners, advertisements, business cards and pic layouts should all go in a theme, so customers can identify you easily and quickly. Iconographic branding is one of the most important parts of your business, believe it or not! Your image should reflect not only your personal tastes, but also the market niche you want to get to.

- Good photographs: you won’t make a sale without them. Learn to use macro settings and be playful and original. Attractive colours and textures can say more than any description, and they are the calling for impulsive buyers.

- Good descriptions: the more information the better. Customers love to read a mix of personal stories, inspirations and all commercial data about the product (size, weight, uses, etc.). Take your time! My tip: writing descriptions in a document instead than in the listing window – I always write longer and better descriptions when I can see the whole text, and I can use the spell check. The key for non-impulsive buyers.

- Professional customer care: there are quite a few online sellers I will never buy again from because they didn’t even bothered to send me a thank you note, wrap the parcel secure and pretty, and things like that. A good presentation and safe shipping are a must to make your business known. Your customers are your only investment – treat them as they deserve! Always send them a thank you message after their purchase, and another one when their item is shipped.

- Networking: be everywhere! Organize groups, participate in sample gatherings, promote other artists in your blog, write in forums, write in Squidoo, Stumble your friend’s pages… again, the more the better. You won’t attract traffic if people can’t find you.

- Organize your time: check the traffic at your page and learn to select the places where good traffic comes from, and leave others aside, so you get targeted traffic. Targeted traffic=sales. Give promoting a time every day, 30 minutes for example, and keep inside that time!

- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket: diversify the applications of your knowledge by teaching, giving seminars, selling locally, selling at home parties, etc. Online selling has better and worse times and you don’t want to rely all your income on it. Also, the more things you do, the most interesting your blog will be. Customers want to know about the artist as much as they can, and who wants to know about the life of someone who’s always at the computer?

- Become an expert: first, learn as much as you can about your craft; then, help others learning for free. Writing articles, making tutorials and helping in forums is the best way to earn a good reputation, and will always take you to sales.

Conclusion
Having an online business is not instant success; it needs commitment, sacrifice, and above all, it needs true Love, because if you don’t love what you do, you will grow tired of it quickly – and patience and continuance will be very much needed to make your business succeed. This process can take a long time and you shouldn’t be afraid to make sudden turns and change your business direction until you really find something you can’t get tired of exploring. There are no failures, but new beginnings!

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Kyphi Incense

I’ve been working on a few batches of Kyphi incense for the shop. Kyphi incense is made with a base of honey, wine-soaked grapes or prunes and finely grinded herbs, resins and woods. It forms a sticky, fragrant paste that is formed into “pills” and placed on a charcoal tablet to burn, just as you would do with other resins like myrrh or frankincense.

If you don’t know what Kyphi incense is, here’s a brief introduction (text from Wikipedia)
“The earliest reference to kyphi is found in the Pyramid Texts: it is listed among the goods that the king will enjoy in the afterlife. Papyrus Harris I records the donation and delivery of herbs and resins for its manufacture in the temples under Ramses III. Instructions for the preparation of kyphi and lists of ingredients are found among the wall inscriptions at the temples of Edfu and Dendera in upper Egypt. The Egyptian priest Manetho is known to have written a treatise called Preparation of Kyphi-Recipes, but no copy of this work survives.
Greek physicians studying the Egyptian pharmacopia took interest in kyphi’s reputation as a medicine. Dioscorides set forth the preparation of kyphi in his Materia Medica and this is thought to be the first Greek description of the material. Galen preserves a medical poem about kyphi from Damocrates, who in turn credits Rufus of Ephesus for the formula.
In Isis and Osiris the historian Plutarch comments that Egyptian priests burned incense three times a day: frankincense at dawn, myrrh at mid-day, and kyphi at dusk. He reports that kyphi had sixteen ingredients and adds “These are compounded, not at random, but while the sacred writings are being read to the perfumers as they mix the ingredients.” Plutarch further notes that the mixture was used as “a potion and a salve”. The seventh century physician Paul of Aegina records a “lunar” kyphi of twenty-eight ingredients and a “solar” kyphi of thirty-six.”

Seti offers incense -ancient Egyptian bas-relief.

The Kyphi incense I’ll be selling on the shop is, of course, a modified version. I just can’t leave a recipe as it is LOL! I formed the paste in the shape of small eggs as traditionally it is a very magickal form that symbolizes life, beginnings and new projects, so this Kyphi eggs are not only a wonderful incense, but also a great tool for Witchcraft. The longer they cure, the better they smell, but we made a try with one egg of every batch as they were finished, and as you can see in the pic, it burned completely -that black chunk in the middle of the plate is a burnt egg we cut in two to check the humidity levels. The fact that it burnt completely, even before curing them, was a really good sign! That means that, as they cure with time, they will burn – and smell- even better!

The ones on the left, in a red-brown colour, are the Goddess type ones, with scents of rose, cardamom and cinnammon among others; the ones on the right, with a greener-brown colour, are the God’s type, with scents of peppermint, rosemary and eucalyptus.

Why making (and buying) kyphi incense? Well, first of all because it contains no chemical ingredients at all. Almost 100% of commercial incense contains saltpeter, which is Potassium Nitrate, one of the elements used in making gunpowder. When you are purchasing incense, the terms “handmade” and hand-dipped” do not mean natural or organic! Actually, I only use commercial incense as a perfumer, but never in rituals as you can never know the origin of plants, the energy of the maker and, most of all, because the work conditions in some countries for incense factories would be considered slavery in our world.

The second reason of making Kyphi, and other handmade incenses, is that I LOVE the process! I can fill every piece with good and healing energy and I have complete control over the origin of the items, which are either from our own harvest or from our friends at the local farmer’s market, where I’ve been purchasing goods for 15 years without one complaint. And of course, mixing and brewing in the mortar is a Witch’s joy!

At the moment of writing this, I haven’t finished all the varieties I want to make. This processes always take time as I’m very picky with products, thus I’m still drying and ritualizing many ingredients for future batches. The everyday life of a Witch includes hours of mincing, grinding, drying, curing, turning alcohols and tinctures over for a better emulsing, and of course taking care of my patio-garden. Here’s a drying rack with the kyphi eggs, papaya seeds drying, ginger and lemon peel from a variety called here “subtle lemon” which really smells like heaven!

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New Members In The Family

Meet Alpha and Beta, the new inhabitants of the Witch’s house! I’ve been wanting to get a couple of budgies for a long time, so I decided to self-inflict a birthday gift and get them – but my husband thought it first and came home with them before I had the chance to go and buy them myself.

Alpha is the guy – he was very nervous so pics are not too good but there will be more to come!

And Beta is the lovely girl – isn’t she precious?

Did you know my grandfather was a budgie breeder? He passed the love for birds onto me, and I’ve had (and sometimes bred) birds since I can remember. Our last bird, a beautiful cockatiel, passed away last year and since then I’ve missed the busy chirping – it’s amazing how birds can cheer up a house. As I am writing this, I am remembering my grandfather entering the patio where he had the aviaries while all the birds asked for his attention and treats!

Now, on a more serious tone, I am going to ask you for some prayers on the recovery on Wicca, this little cat. She was found by a friend last friday, starving to death and seriously hurt as she had been run over by a car. She survived the weekend and will be going through a very hard surgery this week as both her back legs are broken. Please join me in praying for this little sweet soul! Fortunately my friend is studying a Vet major degree – so she will receive wonderful care and lots of love, and we have already found a home for Wicca as my friend’s boyfriend, whom already owns two cats, is more than willing to keep her.

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The Witch Is Back :)

Oh this has been a crazy week! Before you start reading this post, let me warn you this is going to be long! Prepare a good cup of fairy tea and enjoy the tale of a Witch’s holiday…

My first holiday activity was rearranging all my Witchcraft supplies and books into a new room. Herbs, roots, shop products and craft items were all together in my living room – office and I had no space left for anything, so we decided to give Witchcraft a room of its own. Since I don’t do Tarot readings at home I only needed a storage and lab place, so we wanted it to be functional and useful. The room is really small so it was difficult to get pics of the space, but here are some details:

On Tuesday a friend came asking for a special Witchcraft work for protection. Since it was an urgent situation, I spent two days making an extra powerful potion and a mojo bag for him. It was a very complex work and, to be honest, it was exhausting, but if Witches are not in this world to help and protect people in need, then what are we here for? Love potions and lucky charms are sure fun to make, but in times like this is when all my knowledge comes truly useful- and when I am proud and satisfied of being what I am.

I also received news from Lorianne saying that our secret collaboration project, The Fairy Labyrinth necklaces, were finally out!!! Using some of my fairy prints, Lorianne has been putting her amazing talent in making these lovely and uniques pieces! Please go HERE to Know about each piece in full detail at her Dawanda shop. I have to say I am the proud owner of one of the Bacchus ones and her craftmanship is superb! The necklace is light, comfortable to wear and it GLOWS with Magick, Love and Fairy-ness!!!! Oh, and the first 12 purchases will receive a free herb incense sample made by me specifically for Plumevine Jewelry!

Friday came, and with it my 32nd birthday! The day started wonderfully with the mail woman bringing me two parcels, one from Lorianne and one from Krista! Please, die in envy while you admire this amazing gifts from more amazing women! Thank you so much my dearest friends, you made so very happy!!!!


I would also like to thank Sylvie, Amy and Ed for her lovely birthday emails!

I don’t have any more pics from my birthday… I was having fun instead of taking pics :D! I had a wonderful dinner with lots of friends at the Tea Bar, laughed until my stomach ache and got some beautiful presents and, more important, felt loved and appreciated.

Well, and last but not least, I have been working along the week on a new site at Ning for all Pagan Dawanda sellers, so most of you who are regular commenters on the blog will be receiving invites and full info on the following days. The only request is to have a shop at Dawanda. I will leave all details for next post so it doesn’t get trapped here, but if you want to visit and join it is already working HERE.

Phew! I told you this would be long…..

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