Selling on Etsy - Item N in a Series

Based on input from a number of forum threads and individual critiques, I think I've re-vamped my Etsy shop about ten times. The most recent step is to start marketing locally. I can feel my shyness generators cranking up to 100% throttle!

I stopped in the coffee shop to get coffee (we're out at home) and pastries for the kids (it's their "We did all our homework this week" bribe/treat), and saw some pictures on the wall. Turns out they were done by Pablo McLoud, someone I've run into at work on numerous occasions. Aha! So there is a local market! Time to talk to Pablo!

In any case yet another thread discussed getting business cards printed, and handing them out wherever you go. I'm not to that point yet, and can't really see myself handing a business card to Alice when I'm ordering lunch. But there are a number of notice boards in town people post cards on, and I can't even count the number of people who have come up to me while I'm flying my camera to ask if I have prints for sale. Well now I do!

So I made a first-pass at a card graphic and printed up eight of them on a sheet. Not great, but with the trip to Kalapana happening later today, I figured it was the easiest way to give the business card idea a try:


If I run out of cards I'll get a set ordered from VistaPrint.

What to put on the card took a bit of thought. I like the way I operate right now: fly where I want when I want, take what pictures I want. I tried a couple of attempts at contract photography, and I've still got one I owe a guy. I can't even pull it off as an aerial because of the power lines and buildings in the area, so I'm going to have to do it by putting a tripod on top of my Jeep! Not wokring out well.

So there's no phone number, no e-mail address, just a shop name, my name, explanation, and my Etsy URL. Again, I'll see how it goes today at Kalapana to see if people react negatively to that. But hey, what I want is to direct them to my Etsy shop, not give them my full contact information. So we'll see.

It's funny, I've been doing photography for over twelve years, and every time selling has come up I've been afraid to. I tried to do a small gallery show, and wound up blowing hundreds on prints that never sold. I guess that soured me to the whole idea. I think also just knowing how much marketing it takes to be successful also scared me off. Guess I'm not as scared any more. But the learning curve is still steep, the potential for loss is still very high, and I was right in one regard: I have no clue what I'm doing. But I'm learning fast.

Tom