Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Etsians!! Time to get ready for Christmas!

Etsians!! Time to get ready for Christmas!

Yep, It is that time of year! For you crafty folks, it is time to get your Christmas listings up in your Etsy shop! (i know....groan)

Believe it or not, people are beginning to window shop and planning their holiday buying. And, there are even people shopping, I have had sales of holiday items already.  The sooner you get your listings up and available- the better your holiday sales will be! By listing at this time of year - you begin to collect views, favorites and SEO. 

The other advantage of listing early is that you have time to take good pictures, correctly tag your items to optimize the potential of being seen.  By tackling this task now, you will not be caught with your pants down during the holiday rush! 

You may also want to consider dedicating one of your Etsy sections to Christmas themed items (if you have them) .  If you do not have holiday/christmas items- you may want to take a little time to think about adding a few.  For example, if you knit, maybe incorporate some snowflakes, whites, silver, royal blues and reds into some of your items. Get those creative juices flowing and see how you can make a few items that fit with the holiday theme- use Santa's, Reindeer, Stars, Snowmen, Snow Flakes, Elves, Trees, Poinsettia, Holly or any other traditional holiday motifs.  You want to be able to take advantage of the popular holiday tags, even if it is one or two items.

I have also noticed that Pinterest is really hopping with Christmas items- so, list your items and create a holiday board and pin some of your items to the boards.

You could also create a coupon to encourage early Holiday purchases- for example you could run it for the month of October. 

And don't forget- get stocked up on your supplies- just as we get busy during the holidays- so do many of your suppliers and the post office! Get your stuff now, so you are scrambling at the last minute and waiting for your much needed items to arrive! And you also alleviate the possibility of needed items being out of stock! (happened to me before)  Also, check your supply of packaging supplies such as envelopes, labels, packing materials etc.  Ordering early can also help you spread your cash out over a couple of months- so, you are not having to put out large amounts of cash at one time. Also be sure that you have plenty of business cards!!

I make 60% of  my Etsy sales in the months of November and December- so it is super important for me to be organized and ready to go! It is a very busy and stressful time and I have learned from experience- the earlier I get ready- the smoother things seem to go. (well, as smooth as they can!) 

If you happen to be a very busy shop- this would also be a good time of year to pre-make some items that you know are big sellers.  You also might want to look into lining up some temporary help for the holidays- I not only have my regular assistant lined up- I also have some backup help ready just "in case". 

I just finished re-designing my Christmas ornaments and will work on photos and getting them listed this week!  I will also start making quantities of them, a little at a time- so, by the time the holidays come around- I will have some stock made and ready to ship!!

One last note- the holidays are also a good time to clean house- if you have some items that are NOT selling so well- discount them- take advantage of the massive amounts of shoppers that will be online- and you could possibly move some inventory while giving someone a great deal! Try to have a nice mix of price points in your shop- to appeal to a wider audience.

I hope you have fun getting ready and take the opportunity to really amp up your game!

Paula

Sunday, April 21, 2013

A scan of a portion of an article in the Belleville News Democrat- here is a link to the actual full article

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Free Easter Bunny Bookmark Printables

Adorable Easter Bunny Bookmarks! Print them out using this link EASTER BUNNY BOOKMARKS  add them to your Easter Baskets or give them to friends or make them for yourself. They are free for your personal use- may not be sold in either digital or printed form-
Print them on plain card stock- or you can print on the white side of a printed card stock so you have a design on the back! 
Happy Easter!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Free Printable Flower Fairy Bookmarks

With spring almost here- the Fairies will soon be out- so in celebration of that- here are some sweet little flower fairy bookmarks for you.

Click here for a high quality PDF file  FLOWER FAIRY BOOKMARKS  It is a huge file- so just be patient for a moment or two for it load up for you.

They are set up to print on 8.5 x 11 sized paper- you can print them on cardstock if you want to be a bit fancier- print them on the white side of a printed scrapbook paper or cardstock so the back has a design.

They are free for you to print for personal use- not for sale-

enjoy and happy almost spring!
paula

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Free Little Cutie bookmarks for you to print!!

I am happy to share with you this adorable set of bookmarks for you to print and make! Each has a sweet little animated animal that says "hold on I will be right back"- You get 4 different designs. Great for anyone who loves to read! You are free to print these out as many times as you like- they are 100% free!!  You can print them on cardstock or paper- if you want to make them a little fancier- print them on the white side of a printed sheet of scrapbook paper- so the backside will have a design. They are set up to print on a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper!  They are free for you to use and to share for PERSONAL use only- you may not sell the sheet or the bookmarks-

how do you get them??? Little Cutie Bookmarks 
Just click on the link and print away!! Hope you have fun and enjoy them! I will be adding new and fun things each week as my gift to you!!

You can also get more printables, the latest products and coupon codes by following me on facebook!
Picard Creative on Facebook


Friday, September 16, 2011

Add some Sass to your next party! Funny Wine/Booze Labels

Peel off those "Cheap" wine labels and replace them with my funny labels! Your guest will get a great laugh and you can get away with serving the cheap stuff! 

I have a variety of designs available! you can see them all in my etsy shop