TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 24 Photography Tips and Tricks

Welcome back to our followers!		If you're new here, welcome to our Etsy Newbie Bootcamp! If you want to take part in Bootcamp and get one-on-one mentoring, or answers to any of your questions, please drop us a line at TorontoEtsyST@gmail.com.  If you want to open an Etsy shop, just follow this link!
Vintage Camera Photographer Belt Buckle by piprobins We have new sellers joining our Bootcamp all the time, so even though this is Class 24, you can join now or anytime! You can complete the classes at your own pace. Just click on our re-vamped NEWBIE BOOTCAMP tab above to get the lowdown on all the classes so far. Today we're going to talk about photography and how to make your shop and your items look their  best! Camera art print by RobertRatPrints When you're selling online, photography is all important. This is the way your customers see your products, your profile, and your About Pages. It's how you communicate your story through Shop Updates and various social media. There are some important Nuts & Bolts to consider, and basic tips for taking better photos: Lighting, lighting, lighting! Even more important than your camera is to have a well-lit shot. Even a high quality camera can't make up for poorly lit photos, and conversely, if you are careful with your lighting, you can get great shots even with a simple point-and-shoot or smartphone camera. Good lighting brings out the details! If you shoot outdoors, wait for a cloudy day because harsh sun can create unwanted shadows. If you shoot indoors, you can shoot through the window to diffuse the light. You can use a white bedsheet or piece of vellum to get a soft glow. See this Etsy blog article for more tips. The real trick to mastering lighting? Like most things, it's a matter of practise. Experiment for yourself. Make it part of your workflow. Take photos regularly - not just of your products, but of your process. You can use these for your Shop Updates and other social media.                                                                                                                           Camera Laser Cut Cuff Links by RongDesigns Focus. You want your photos to be sharp. Make sure you are familiar with how your camera focus works. On a smartphone or point-and-shoot it's often as simple as tapping the screen where you want it to focus or the shutter prior to taking your shot. If you're not confident with an SLR, you can always use the autofocus. If you are selling jewellery or other small items, or making detailed close-ups consider the minimum focusing distance of your lens and don't get too close, or it simply cannot focus. If it's a big part of what you do, you might want to get a tripod and macro lens.                                                                            Object Matter Collection - Instant Camera 3" mirror by L2RStudio                                                                                                                 Take the time to compose your shot and save time in the long run! It's easier to correct lighting problems or make changes while you're shooting than to try and fix less than ideal photos.                                                                                                                                 Six-20 Brownie Box Camera from TheArtOfDemolition Avoid using a flash (unless it is remote from your camera or a bounce flash). A direct flash washes out colours and details and can be unflattering.               Edit! Take more photos than you need and the you can be choosier with which to use. Also, take advantage of photo editing software. (Photoshop is common and the full program can do everything you could need. Affinity Photo is pretty similar and more affordable. There are also free online editors like ipiccy and picmonkey which have straightfoward tools. There are all sorts of apps for mobile devices, like free or low-cost photo editors Snapseed, Afterlight or VSCOcam, which can really help you improve your images). Cropping, increasing brightness, selecting your white and black levels and white balance can really make your photos pop. Check Etsy's photoshop tutorial here. Camera brooch by Clayshapes Next there are things which are important as a business in communicating your Brand: Consistent lighting across your listings can reinforce your brand Choose backgrounds which compliment, rather than clash or compete with your products Make sure your listing photos are clear and obvious: show the full product, show details, show products in context and lifestyle shots. Vintage sellers should be careful to show the product's condition and note any flaws. Watermarks may protect your intellectual property, but they make images less likely to be included in curated features for online publications. You might want to be more creative in how you tie your images to your business. Shooting your product with branded packaging in the shot, for instance, can be a clever compromise.  Models can really give your shots a human touch and communicate scale simultaneously! Etsy has tips for planning a photoshoot on a budget.  Tell your own story! You About section and even listing shots can be a great place to communicate who you are and what you do by including shots of where you work, your tools and you, doing your thing!

Shoot: Canon Ftb Classic Camera linocut by minouette

Right now, Canon is partnering with Etsy! As part of their #EtsyXCanon promotion, Canadian Team Captains can share a promo code which adds a special quarterly promotional discount to your overall sale price on purchases in the Canon eStore! So if you are in the market for any Canon cameras or other products, be sure to take advantage by applying my promotional code at the checkout: ETSYXCANON1689

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 23 Your Etsy Shop's New Look

Welcome back to our followers!		If you're new here, welcome to our Etsy Newbie Bootcamp! If you want to take part in Bootcamp and get one-on-one mentoring, or answers to any of your questions, please drop us a line at TorontoEtsyST@gmail.com.  If you want to open an Etsy shop, just follow this link!
We have new sellers joining our Bootcamp all the time, so even though this is Class 23, you can join now or anytime! You can complete the classes at your own pace. Just click on our re-vamped NEWBIE BOOTCAMP tab above to get the lowdown on all the classes so far. As we reach mid-March it's time for spring cleaning in your shop, but this year Etsy is re-doing the look of ever shop! If you visit your own shop you'll see a new header:

Feeling springlike? Check out EllenEveredDesign's floral thank you cards.

The Etsy makeover is a cleaner, more streamlined experience, which clearly has the ever-growing mobile app user population especially in mind. You have from now until April 5, 2016 to get your shop looking its best in this new format. Follow that "Edit new shop" link and you'll get a preview of the new look, as well as a chance to edit everything. Basically, it's your old shop, but all in one place, and with a very clean white look - there are no extraneous lines, boxes, or tinted areas. The structure is vertical and users need simply scroll down, rather than visit a series of pages. Everything is there, from top to bottom: your front page (now 3 listings wide rather than 4 and we'll get to changes in Shop Banners in a second);  3 most recent Reviews (now users can simply scroll down and can follow a link to see the complete list); 3 most recent Shop Updates (with a link to the complete set); your About Page, including 'Around the Web' section which contains your links to your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram and Shop Members;  Shop Local (upcoming local events); Shop Policies; and the option to add a FAQ and receipt info (required only for selling to EU nations). There's also an additional 5 new sections, so you can categorize your products in up to 15 categories. They've also introduced drag and drop rearranging of Shop Listings. Also, the back-end, what you see as a seller when you press the "Edit new shop" link mirrors the front-end as closely as possible. It's all arranged in the same vertical, scroll-down, all-in-one-place way. It's virtually WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get"). There's a preview button, but you can basically tell what your editing will do, as you edit.

Shop Banners

Indulge in Nuary Boutique's Doughnuts Are Good For Me soy candle

When you first click on "Edit new shop" you won't see your Shop Banner. But, never fear! Etsy is letting the sellers choose from 3 options. You can choose a small banner 760px by 100px, which will not appear on mobile applications at all. You can choose a cover photo a minimum of 1200px by 300px (but ideally 3360px by 840px) which will appear on any application. There is a built in crop-tool if your image is larger than that. Or, for a truly minimal look, you can have no banner at all. The idea there is if you have a minimal aesthetic, and want to focus all your branding efforts on your shop logo, and raise you featured listings even higher on the page.

The Seller Handbook adds that there is a cover photo tool on (Etsy's newly acquired service Canva) which allows you to make cover photos the exact right size and easily add text.

Check out our class 2. Branding & Shop Banners  and Etsy's The Ultimate Guide to Telling Your Etsy's Shop's Visual Story   for tips on how to make the right shop banner or cover photo for your shop.

Shop Icon

Make with BetterWithYarn's handspun yarn in joyous colours

The new look has an added emphasis on your Shop Icon.  This really is your logo and needs to represent your shop and look good at all scales. You can use the Sell on Etsy app to see what your shop will look like on mobile applications. Etsy points to the Canva Shop Icon tool if you are starting from scratch or want to redo your icon quickly and simply.

Featured Listings

In your new Etsy Shop, your four Featured Listings are really given a prominent placement, on any platform. If you aren't using this tool now, you really do need to do so in the future. This may be the only product a new potential customer sees unless you grab their attention! You can use the space to feature your best sellers and/or cycle through different seasonal items.

Social Media Links

These have been given a less prominent place. Rather than appearing right below your shop banner (for FB and Twitter at least), they are now only in 'Around the Web' in your About page section.

Updates

Have cuppa FirstEditionTeaCo Literary Tea!

As mentioned in our previous class, Shop Updates are a great tool for sharing your story and connecting with your buyers. Now, not only will your Updates appear in your fans feed on their homepage, but they also will have a prominent spot in your shop! If you use any sort of tablet or smartphone you can use the Sell on Etsy app to start making Shop Updates.

About Pages

We stressed the importance of this in class  5. About Pages! This is part of the basics of getting your shop up and running and now, in the all-on-one-page format, it's right there. So, take advantage of that visual real estate and be sure to connect to buyers and tell you and your shop's story in words, photos and video!

Shop Policies

Get spiffy with a PaisleyAndThePeacock skinny bow tie

With this format, Etsy has added boilerplate simplified Shop Policies prompts, to get sellers to keep it simple yet hit on the vitals. You can stick with your existing Shop Policies - but should check that you are not being redundant as everything is now on a single page. Now is a great time, if you want to stick with your Shop Policies, to have a look and make sure they are clear, succinct and up-to-date. If you are a brand-new seller or unsure about how to write Shop Policies, you can use Etsy's tools to customize your answer to their 5 prompts:

• Add processing times and estimated shipping times.
• Let shoppers know whether you accept returns and exchanges.
• Tell shoppers how you’re using their info.
• Answer frequently asked questions.
• Add essential details for shoppers in the European Union.    

READ MORE HERE and HERE 

And note that Etsy is encouraging you to use their template:

As we announced in November 2015, customer experience is a factor we consider in search placement. When determining customer experience on Etsy, we look at positive reviews, completed About sections, and completed Shop Policies (FAQs and seller details are not factored into search ranking). Selecting these new Shop Policies are an easy way to give shoppers the information they’re looking for while slightly improving your placement in Search. To learn more about how search works on Etsy, check out this article.  

You can customize the template and always switch back to your original policies, which are saved by Etsy.

PrintMantis You Rock! card - well-earned for after shop spring cleaning!

So dive in and freshen up your shop this spring!

Note: We've updated our previous class 22. Automate it because as of March 23, 2016, IFTTT will no longer support Etsy as a channel. Luckily, we have good news! There's a workaround. You can use your shop's RSS feed to automatically update all your social media instead. Read all about it.

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 22 Starting Fresh with the New Year

-->

New Year is a great time to jump back into Bootcamp! Welcome back to our followers!		If you're new here, welcome to our Etsy Newbie Bootcamp! If you want to take part in Bootcamp and get one-on-one mentoring, or answers to any of your questions, please drop us a line at TorontoEtsyST@gmail.com.  If you want to open an Etsy shop, just follow this link!
We have new sellers joining our Bootcamp all the time, so even though this is Class 22, you can join now or anytime! You can complete the classes at your own pace. The first 8 classes will take you through opening your shop to shipping your sold items:
1. How to Open an Etsy Shop	5. About Pages
2. Branding & Shop Banners	6. Shop Policies
3. Shop Profiles Bios and Photos	7. Communication
4. Make Listings Tempting	8. Shipping & Packaging
Check out the subsequent classes at your own pace to upgrade your shop when you find the time: 9. Social Media, 10. The Dark Art of Pricing, 11. Shop Stats, 12. Holiday Prep in Bite-Sized Pieces, 13. Getting Press, 14. Sales and Coupon Codes,  15. Etsy Local and Selling Off-line, 16. Planning and Goals for the Year, 17. Keeping up with Etsy, 18. Custom Orders, 19. Shipping Snippets, 20. Holiday Shop Refresh  and 21. Setting Shipping Rates.   The trick is to continually improve and you'll find your business can grow, become more efficient and professional as it evolves.  Selling Online is Cyclical Soft Velveteen Thow Pillow-Nature in Spring by JillClarkDesigns Once you've been selling for a little while, you'll notice that things come in cycles and generally, sales can be linked to the seasons. Your experience is personal, and not all shops are the same, but most shops see a big bump in sales related to Christmas. Things typically pick up in September and grow through to the end of December. This also means, that typically, sales are a bit slower in January. So, never fear; if that's what you're seeing, it's quite normal and you're not alone. Also, this means that now is a great time to get on the right foot for launching a successful new year of selling.  Some businesses are particularly seasonal, including, but not limited to: clothing sellers who explicitly make clothing for certain seasons, stationary designers who make cards for various holidays and shops making items for weddings and brides (whose big season may be in the summer, rather than at Christmas).  Regardless: remember that ups and downs are a normal part of business.    Taking Advantage of Lulls Plan Ahead Heart Ornament from NellyWithWings What do you do when things get quiet?  January is a great time to review Class 16. Planning and Goals for the Year! Since sales are cyclical, get a head-start on all those predictable things you will want to tackle. Do you make seasonal items or think that a given holiday may inspire a product? Working a quarter of a year in advance of an event can make your life easier. Consider: Forecast Your Business Growth in 8 Steps How to Reach Your Goals in 2016  3 Ways to Invest in Yourself this Year Bookkeeping abstract III art print by DOTHandmade Know what else is coming up before you know it? Tax time, I'm sorry to say. If January is a quiet time, you should use it to make sure your books for 2015 are in order. Also, take this time to make you you have a good handle on your inventory and bookkeeping in general. Here are some tips:  Tips for Tracking Your Business Expenses 5 Simple Ways to Ace Bookkeeping Shipping mini woven wall hanging tapestry from MaisJewelry Every year like clockwork, the post office seems to increase their rates. Make sure your shipping profiles are up-to-date. Streamline your shipping workflow. Here's some information on the new rates in Canada and the US. The good news is that if you use Etsy Shipping Labels, the new rates have already taken effect automatically, and you can use the tool to check if your shipping profiles need an update. Just enter your typical package info (weight, size) for any new or previous label and check out the rates available for your various markets (domestic, US, international) 2016 Shipping Rate Updates for the United States and Canada Shop Makeover Time  beaded peacock feather brooch from MilenasBoutique A more creative and entertaining task you might want to tackle right now is giving your shop a makeover! Are all your photos and descriptions at their best? How are your tags working? Time to try something new? Check ou 4. Make Listings Tempting and some of these great tutorials and tips. Here are some other recent tutorials to help get your shop ship shape! Is your shop optimized for mobile? Top 5 ways to attract Etsy's growing mobile buyers Refresh your shop in 3 steps How to style photos that work all year-round Bring the Buyer to You Amigurumi Fuzzy Sheep by PurpleLilacAmigurumi Now is also a great time to polish up your social media game. You can have a look at our tips in 9. Social Media. Are you using Etsy's new Updates feature? This is a great new tool which allows you to use their mobile app to post captioned photos, linked to listings, which all your followers can see. Check out these articles to get you started. As of today, you can also share video right on Etsy from your About Page! 5 Tips for Sharing Your Story with Shop Updates Bringing Video to About Pages How to Make a Shop Video With Your Smart Phone Expanding Your Business If you think you might be ready to expand by selling wholesale, be sure to sign up for Etsy's Wholesale Email Course and check out Growth Strategies in the Seller Handbook!

Etsy + Wave = Accounting made easy!

Etsy, along with Wave, recently held an Accounting for small business workshop here in Toronto. Kate from Nail Kandy attended and wrote up a summary for all those who couldn't make it {Thanks Kate!} 

Wave accounting sofware - waveapps.com
On Wednesday I attended Wave's accounting software workshop. It was a free seminar, for free software and they had free beer!

• Wave is a 100% free accounting software for small businesses. (Typically for businesses for 0-9 employees, but mostly sole proprietors), and it is cloud based, so you can access your data anywhere you are.
• Wave has been in business for just over 2 years and has over 35,000 customers signing up every month. They are now at over 500,000 customers worldwide.
• There are 4 product categories - invoicing, accounting, payroll, and personal finance tools. All of their services are 100% free, except the payroll software, which they use to fund all of their other services with the addition of relevant ads placed tastefully throughout the site.
• Wave has integrated with Etsy, so if you have a shop on Etsy you can integrate your shop with their accounting software directly. Wave will pull together your Etsy transaction info and PayPal income and do your bookkeeping for you, and you can set up more than 1 business (or shop) under the same account & login, including your personal finances.
• You can compare income vs. expenses, payable & owing. You can import your online banking data and credit card transactions into wave though a secure connection that is read-only. Once it is set up, it will automatically update transactions (this is good if you have a separate account/ credit card for your business and you will see all your transactions). You can connect multiple accounts and credit cards.
• If you have one bank or credit account that mixes personal + business transactions together, you can separate them and move expenses into different categories in Wave. You can also split transactions into multiple categories (for example if you have one receipt with both personal and business items on it, you can split them up). You can also separate HST and file it on its own.
• Wave is intelligent and will learn to recognize your frequent categories and will sometimes sort out your transactions for you.
• Soon you will be able to scan your receipts using your smartphone and import them into Wave. It is in Beta testing right now but should be available in the next few weeks.
• For any cash transactions, you can add them manually as you receive them (say you are at a craft show and taking cash payments on the spot, you will be able to enter them into Wave). And then when you deposit the cash into your bank account, you can merge the two so that you don't have duplicates.
• You can create invoices for your customers, and they can include embedded credit card processing functions as well (for a fee).
• Wave has its own credit card processing software offered by a company called Stripe, for 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction and funds are deposited into your bank account in 7 days. (Stripe is on its way to becoming the next Square, in Wave's opinion).
• You can import old bank statements into Wave and enter past transaction data. (Say for example you join today, but you want to have your accounting there from the past year, you can import it all). Just because you start now, doesn't mean you have to start from scratch.
• You can run reports using all the data you have imported. (Income statement, account transactions, income by customer, expenses, foreign currency, sales tax... etc).
• Payroll is a big feature offered by Wave and it is incredibly competitive - $5 per employee per month. This includes direct deposit, T4 and ROE forms. After 6 employees it's $2/month per employee, and so on.
• Just for reference, to compare Wave to the competition, Freshbooks is just invoicing software, not full accounting software.
• If you work with a bookkeeper or an accountant, you can invite your accountant to view your Wave reports. They would need to create their own account, and they can log in and you can allow them to either view only or have full access to the software and sort your data and create reports for you.
• Their fourth service is personal accounting. You can set up a personal budget for all of your expenses. When you flag transactions as "personal"  they will transfer over. You can also track your investments with a real time feed of your invested stocks.
• Free e-mail support is offered Mon-Fri 9-5, and Wave is 100% committed to having a free product. (except for their paid services).

If you are interested in using Wave you can start right away. Signing up is quick and easy, and once you are signed up you can add your banking information.
----
Written by Kate Bland from Nail Kandy.