Comments for Skinny Artist

Comment on Stop stealing my sh*t! by Drew

Drew — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:42:22 +0000

You’re absolutely right. Unfortunately the “morals & ethics” of technology hasn’t quite caught up to the capabilities of technology. So unless we are willing to sit around and wait for the inevitable karmic backlash to catch up to these thieving idiots, all we can do is to try and deter them from stealing our online content.

Let’s face it, the ones who are going to steal our images and content are going to do it. They know what they’re doing, they have the tools, and they know how to get around all of the tricks we might have in place. As I mentioned in the article, the best we can do is to make it as difficult and time consuming as possible for them and hope they decide to move on to easier prey.

Eventually, I think we’ll get to the point both technologically and ethically where this will all become a moot point, but for now we just need to continue to adapt, and perhaps even more importantly, continue to create new and even better content.

Thanks again for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us!

Comment on Stop stealing my sh*t! by Mandollyn

Mandollyn — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:19:41 +0000

The problem with this is that I usually hit print screen after I zoom in until the picture fills my screen. It captures the screen image and then paste it into a graphic editor…

I can copy all of the above images – the might not be as high resolution, but the images I may need are not usually larger than 800×800 in their final form!

Comment on Is Etsy Dying? by ellen

ellen — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:20:57 +0000

Oh, I have a personal experience with Etsy to share. It might be of interest since I’m a dedicated full-time craftsperson who has been totally committed to selling on etsy pretty much when it started. I started selling there when it was really small, I think I was the only person who made anything out of leather. It was January of 2006 when I made my first sale and the sales ramped up steadily after that. In 2007 I grossed just under 19000.00 (not including shipping). 2008: 27,400.00. Then in Sept 08 the global market crash happened. It took a few months for it to really start, but in 2009 I grossed only 13,000.00 Last year sales came up a bit to 19,400.00. I create this stuff full time, and with etsy as my primary sales focus venue, it was so hard to let go of the dream and accept that it is not working for me any more. The golden age of 2008 is now a distant memory. For this year I have shifted my focus to wholesaling, I work a lot harder making quantities of stuff but my sanity is partially restored knowing I am not totally counting on etsy to support me. I still have my shop but i don’t sit by the computer feeling sad nearly as much as I did the last three years!
I wish I knew why I can’t be successful there anymore. I think it’s a combination of way way more sellers, a depressed economy, more resellers of cheap stuff that undercuts mine and also there are some really amazing bags on Etsy now that are putting mine to shame And people are making amazing, fashion-magazine calibre photographs with models and styling and props and I just don’t have time to do that.
I also think Etsy’s site infrastructure has changed, making it complicated and overwhelming to shop there. Almost everybody I talk to about etsy says they find it overwhelming and just look at the pictures without really ever buying anything. However it’s a living evolving site so I’ll hang in there and see what happens.

Comment on Is Etsy Dying? by Cindy

Cindy — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:38:11 +0000

As a blogger myself I wanted to commend you for putting your words into this great post, because that is what freedom of speech is all about. I do understand the examples you are giving. The thought process is that it should be more of a sales type pyramid or domino effect like

Increase in Users vs Sales
x this month
xx next month
sort of like the pyramid effect xxx

But not exactly so after what I have seen. I have been on Etsy since 2007. I sell (part time ) when I feel like messing with my shop but I also buy just about anything I need for art supplies, the home, or vintage gifts. I used to run a team so I can tell you what I noticed. A lot of people pop over to Etsy and open up a shop and expect to sell out or get rich quick without really investing time to treat their shop like a business.

I have to admit I was one of them having been on there for a year not knowing what I was doing reading the Do’s and Don’ts or really take the time to see what successful sellers are doing. They list things that will never be found–are not SEO friendly using words like cute and cuddly instead of descriptive words that will get their items noticed.

I have seen vintage go from a few thousand items when i opened up shop to over 2.2 million so I have to stay on top of my game but still there’s a lot of new shops that come in and get sales fast, others will be frustrated that they are not selling and will be gone in 90 days.

I commend Etsy for offering a huge alternative to selling on other sites. Etsy’s fees to list and sell are the lowest around–on top of the fact you have have a free storefront.

Just like you (and your links up top by the way are redirected to total shops), I cannot locate the totals for shops anymore. It redirects me to shops in my area and I cannot even search for total in USA it keeps reverting back to local. Not sure if they are having a glitch or that is intentional but here’s what I say, shame on a seller for going into a business of any kind without the proper time and dedication to their shop.

It takes time to network and promote your item and Etsy doesn’t have anything to do with that. Success is on the individual (unless of course you do hit the front page and land in a magazine well, hey, that would be nice…)

Comment on Is Etsy Dying? by Eileen

Eileen — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:39:45 +0000

Hey, does anybody know if the stats on Etsy that show how many sales a shop has made are actual sales. I’ve been spending some time looking at different shop stats just to see overall what the potential is. Can these sales numbers be manipulated in any way? If they are accurate numbers, I’m surprised how many artists/crafters are making sales. I’ve just opened an Etsy shop at the first of the year, and it is pretty darn slow. I’m thinking of investing more time into updating my already existing website. By the way, I love Drew’s Skinny Artist site. It’s the real deal. Thanks, Drew for your efforts.

Comment on Is Etsy Dying? by Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:58:39 +0000

Cathy, you know I clicked on your name and it only brings up the dreaded Uh Oh page on etsy. So can’t even see your work.

Try googling your own work and see where and if it shows up. I can guarantee you zibbet NEVER shows up in google. You would have better luck on Artfire.

Also… Artfire has a guide in their forums for people coming over from etsy. One of the things I learned is NOT to duplicate listings. Google will penalize you for that and both listings get tanked. So tools to transfer listings over aren’t really much help since you still need to reword your whole description, and I’ve been told even using the same image might hurt.

Fine art is a hard sell on line only because the computer does such a poor job of showing what the art really looks like. I’ve tried and gave up on it. (crafts sell better on line.)
But some people do very well.
Again I can’t see your art, but if it’s 2d images, another way to make money off of them is to use zazzle. (Print on demand.) You upload your images, set what “stuff” to sell it on, and collect checks. Best part is you retain all rights to the work. AND the originals.

Comment on Is Etsy Dying? by Gwen

Gwen — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 07:27:54 +0000

Just went to Artfire website and found this info: “Are You Ready to Start Selling on ArtFire?
Let’s get started building your ArtFire shop. Start your FREE trial now.
CSV Import
CSV Import

You don’t have to spend time re-listing products that you listed on Etsy. With the CSV data from your Etsy shop you can easily import your items and make a few (necessary) edits to get started on ArtFire faster than ever.” Don’t know how easy this will be or how well it will work, but apparently it is possible to pull listings from Etsy into Artfire. I’m considering doing it; if it works I will let you know!

Comment on Is Etsy Dying? by Cathy

Cathy — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:17:16 +0000

I have now read every post above mine. Most of them seem to be about fine art…the most telling comment was…”would you buy expensive art” from any online store?” I would not unless the shop policies included a returnable clause.
I have mixed feelings about etsy…I began a shop 2 years ago…have had 65 sales in that time…I tried Zibbet which is an up and coming selling site…they keep adding etsy-like features AND etsy does allow you to create a file to transfer your etsy listings to zibbet or whoever you like, I think…I found in the long run using two sights was a LOT of work…leaving far less time for creating…BUT after reading the posts I may go to zibbet exclusively and will take a look at other sights mentioned in the body of posts above.
I use Etsy mainly for a place for my “show” buyers to go after the show…I do VERY well at shows if I am careful to pick my market. I have not experienced copy cat problems to my knowledge, but I do try to create very unique pieces. Very difficult to copy…
I have a personal facebook page and a business facebook page…I belong to my local bead society, I read all I can about selling online…I originally had a website thru constant contact…very hard to promote and $16/month with no sales. I write a newsletter monthly (blog to some of you) – send to 100+ contacts…offer incentive coupons for etsy and even that does not generate sales very often…my best sales are at SHOWS!! Shows are a lot of work…and “juried” is interpretated differently by different venues. So be careful. The economy does play a role…I was just in a show for the second time here locally – Savannah, GA – and sold only half what I did just last year…many, many compliments…people came back to say they liked my work the best of all the jewelry people at the show…loved my display…my prices are good…so many factors play a role.
I am currently trying the paid ads…at first – verrry slow…but it is picking up…no sales, however. The best info etsy gives you are your stats…and the key words. My work has been in over 125 treasuries…no sales generated…probably for the reason stated above…those looking are the sellers.
I have made many, many virtual friends and they often buy from me…I have done everything that Etsy suggests for a shop and promotion…no real changes although Christmas sales were better this year.
Jewelry is the largest category – 35,000 shops so competition is fierce.
I have too many business cards to change to zibbet without putting correction stickers on the back of the cards…so we shall see.
Oh, and when my work is favorited, I contact that person and thank them. My packaging is really nice…My shop is cohesive…It was quite a learning curve…as I said…we shall see.
I googled Etsy dying because to people said they had read that recently…two from the bead society…very interesting posts…
Thanks, y’all!!

Comment on 9 Warning Signs of an Amateur Artist by Drew

Drew — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:44:16 +0000

I do hope the grant ends up coming through for both you and your character’s sake. As far as the possibility of abandoning the project if it falls through, that’s a tough one. In the end, you just have to follow your heart regardless if your bank account may tell you otherwise. Maybe the funding for this particular project will work itself out, or maybe it may show up in an unexpected form down the road — but either way, your art is ultimately yours and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a creative artist completed a work just to see where it leads….

I wish you all the best!

P.S. By the way, that is one of the coolest generated avatars I’ve seen on this site. It’s like the angry alien Christmas tree that I’ve always wanted

Comment on Is Etsy Dying? by Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:59:33 +0000

Jenny! The images ARE watermarked that’s the messed up part! They won’t do anything about it they cut our logos out – I started using a big overlay image now but it’s ridiculous having that over my whole product lol. I am looking for which person is you now from above Hugs! Kelly