Etsy held their 1st online Symposium today in Brooklyn, NY. The Symposium culminates and helps finalize their 2011 Shop Makeover series. If you weren't able to attend in person they featured most of the sessions streaming online too. I missed a few of the talks so watching the archived videos is going to keep me busy the rest of the week! While watching I kept notes and here are some links to reference in case you missed the live feed.
Here is the link with all the amazing and inspiring guests featured
Here is the list of times and overviews of the Symposium
I caught the tail end of the day and here are the sections I was able to virtually attend:
Generating Creative Energy
Speaker: Noah Scalin
Speaker: Noah Scalin
You may know Noah from the award-winning daily art project Skull-a-Day or his 365: A Daily Creativity Journal that was spawned from his daily skull projects. He of course spoke a lot of the benefits from having a daily project or added rules to your current projects.
"Think Big- Work Small" & Perfection is Overrated was one of the main themes of his talk. The note he made was that you can always come back to things- just put it out there!
Set your Goals & Remember limits are good- If you focus just a day at a time you don't get overwhelmed. These goals aren't set in stone. Let them transition and change because inspiration is everywhere!
Get out of your comfort zone/ environment and don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself. Most times when you take a risk- Good things happen! Also, work with the unexpected because sometimes that reaps added benefits you couldn't anticipate. Some of the benefits to a daily themed project is adding skills to your "tool box" and learning things outside of your comfort zone that can be a skill-set or an important tool later.
Group Activity During Presentation- Take 1 image you are comfortable with and in a 20min time frame make 10 different variations of that image. Photo once done and move on-
While working: Make sure you do it quickly and don't make things "Precious" which is the secret to this style.
Attract Your Target Market: You’re Not Walmart
Speaker: April Bowles of Blacksburg Belle
Ideal Customer Characteristics Worksheet
Target Market Workshop Worksheet
April's workshop was on matching your product to your perfect buyer and finding your target market. One of my favorite statements she made was- It is okay to eliminate a group of people to make your group more focused to your fan base. Make your own story to describe your "Ideal Customer Profile" which should be specific. Attract your Target Market- You're not Wal-Mart you don't have to appeal to everyone.
Remember to market to people the way you would want to be marketed to. This can be done by adding text to your descriptions that answer questions and concerns you would have with your product while shopping. Tips/ examples are adding "Splurge on yourself" for high priced items.
Other helpful tips: Add product placement, life-styled, or finished packaging pictures as an option in your listing photos. When addressing a product that would be bought as a gift your target is still the purchaser not the receiver. And, consider sharing a longer story for each of your products on your blog that links you to your shop.
Ascertaining Your Awesomeness & Articulating It Without Sounding Like an Ass
Speaker: Michelle Ward of When I Grow Up Coach
Her presentation was all about creative bragging and explaining your powers for good :)
Here is the whole presentation on PDF that she used in her presentation.
Here is a link to her worksheets that I didn't notice in the presentation but are super helpful-
Creating Mission Statements
Here is one on How do you find your uniquity? (She likes to make up expressive words btw)
What makes you unique? This should be used to make the blueprint for your business. When you are answering this don't be shy or humble. If you need help starting your list here are the questions she posed in the workshop:
#1 Why do you rock people's socks?
#2 Why are you doing what you do in terms of your business?
#3 Why do you think you can succeed in this business?
#4 What do you want to be known for in your business?
#5 Why do you care about your field?
#6 What difference do you want to make in this field?
Your answers can be similar, or all different- as long as your honest with your answers.
Go back and use one sentence for each answer which can be used as the basic building block for "your pitch". This pitch is helpful as a description for your shop or an easy answer to the question "So, what do you do?".
Homework was finalizing your Elevator Pitch.
When you finish your homework post in the Etsy Business Topic Discussion Here
Along with the homework you should go to her other site The Declaration of You which is a 1 month online course- next one runs Feb. 21st- March 21st.
Reaching Your Creative Dreams: One Goal at a Time
Speaker: April Bowles
(She referenced her worksheet from her first talk on Target Market Workshop Worksheet)
April is an amazing speaker and I am so glad she did a second section on Taking Action & Not Using "Crap Excuses". Crap Excuses are what you say to yourself to get out of doing work and by figuring out what they are you can stop sabotaging yourself by using them.
"SMART" Goals- The best goals are ones that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.
Think of your end goal and what that emotion would feel like. By focusing on the feeling that is attached you can work towards making a life change. When making a big change- Change habits.
Ex: Rider- logical, Elephant- Emotional and the 2 must work together to be successful. Shrink the change so you don't spook your elephant.
By adding things on slowly and focusing on high leverage tasks you can feel the rewards quickly and they will help motivate you to continue making the changes.
One point that she made in the beginning of her speech was that too many options can inflict "Decision Paralysis". She gave a great example of winning a free trip and half the group having a set prize and half that could chose their destination and how the group with the choice isn't as satisfied. This theme of decision paralysis coincided very well with her end point of the speech dealing with a daily to-do list. With every decision you have to make your will power goes down making taking action and focusing on high leverage tasks a must.
There is nothing wrong with not doing the crap that doesn't work! Get rid of your crap excuses and focus on tasks you can utilize the pockets of time in your day to the best of your ability. Crazy point of interest- April has ~6 items on her to-do list! Long to-do lists work against you. Prioritize your daily activities the night before or have a weekly schedule where you have certain activities for each day and lay out your daily high leverage tasks the night before.
Homework is make daily, weekly, monthly and yearly $$$ goals for what you'd like to be making. If you don't spell these goals out for yourself you may not be focusing your time and effort in the right direction to achieve these goals. By going over these goals you know if it is realistic and what you need to work towards. An Example is: Maybe hand-knitting everything may not make you enough money to achieve your goals, but selling PDF patterns or online classes in addition to your knitting will give you the profit you desire .
Hope that this post is helpful for anyone who missed the live feed today!
This post is written by KC of Make Shop Live. You can find their Blog Here & Etsy Shop Here
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