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Post by TammyA on Mar 9, 2015 13:46:14 GMT -5
Hi Tammy, Thanks for sharing the links. I have read through all of them. The problem I have is figuring out who my customers are so that I can get my branding in place and figure out where to market and promote my shop. That is perhaps the hardest part of branding and marketing. I admit I didn't think "who are my customers" before I started making and selling jewelry. So, I'll briefly summarize my story and maybe there's something there you can use. I'm realizing now that my "target market" is mostly women (or men who buy for them), probably 30+, with college degrees (perhaps even graduate level), who have traveled or had life experiences that taught them to embrace differences and imperfections, have careers = disposable income, buy jewelry without thinking whether it will "match" any of their clothes, don't do "matchy" anything really, and prefer an eclectic mix that they pull together with their own sense of style. They are not into trendy, don't follow fashion, etc. So, I think my logo and business name appeals to that demographic, because it's quirky and off beat. It's an eclectic fusion of southwestern/desert/rustic/nature (the horned lizard) and boho/vintage/hippy/tribal (the paisley). It also - I hope - reflects my designs, which are a fusion of those things. Now all I need to do is figure out how to find those women, or what keywords I should be using to help them find me. Hope that helps.
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Post by TammyA on Mar 9, 2015 13:49:39 GMT -5
I'd love to be able to use my own handwriting for the font on all my stuff, or at least a font that looks very much like actual handwriting, if not necessarily my own. That can be done. If you google "turn handwriting into font" there are quite a few options. I can't say how well any of them work, but it is something doable. Otherwise, you can search for "handwriting fonts" and find dozens, including lots you can download for free. Like these -- www.1001freefonts.com/handwriting-fonts.phpI'm guessing you'd like a font that looks more natural, maybe one that's a mix of print and cursive, rather than one that's a fancy script.
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Post by Deb Flaherty on Mar 9, 2015 13:50:40 GMT -5
Tons of great info and I've been reading several of the marketing links, especially about branding.
I'm happy with my banner and do like to change it monthly to include any special discount I might be offering. Any and all feedback would be welcomed.
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Post by TammyA on Mar 9, 2015 13:52:08 GMT -5
My question is about photos. I really like my new banner and have the same image on my business cards but the fact that I like it doesn't mean is it great branding. I also wonder about using a (the) shell in product pix. I felt the pages looked a bit too busy if I put the shell in all photos? Karen, love your avi but sure get the trick of trying to fit an image like that into a banner. I don't know that it looks too busy. The shell doesn't jump out at me. I see your jewelry first. I am redoing many of my listings so that the first image is the same prop or angle, and to make sure there's at least one on plain white background. The initial image, with a branding/cohesive prop or shot, draws people in. The other 4 photos are for showing details close up, the whole product from other angles, etc.
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Post by TammyA on Mar 9, 2015 13:57:03 GMT -5
My attempt of trying to explain what I meant about the chair and a quilt thrown on top graphic. LOL Strangely enough I had no trouble visualizing what you meant. I really like this idea, especially the old-timey chair in your version. I wonder if I could use Photoshop to turn an actual image into something like this. There are so many things Photoshop can do that I've never had time to learn. I also want to jump start my blog that's gathering dust, and hopefully launch my own website later this year. So I am very keen to get something that gets my point across and is easily recognizable everywhere, as Tammy pointed out. My wheels are definitely turning now... I like the idea of a more graphic logo/banner. I can't help you on the Photoshopping. Still learning. But, I find I can easily create fun effects in PicMonkey that I can't figure out how to do in PSE. Keep in mind you don't have to include every element of your brand on every place, just use things across them. If you want to use a large banner on your blog, where you can incorporate that chair and quilt, you could use a smaller corner of the quilt on your Etsy banner, and your biz card. For example. Or you could have a vertical biz card with the chair/quilt at the bottom and a tagline up top, then a backside with all the contact details. Fonts and colors are another way to pull it all together. Maybe the image/logo doesn't fit everywhere, but you can use the same font and the same main colors. I've read that for websites, it's best to have one dominant color and 2-4 accent colors.
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Post by TammyA on Mar 9, 2015 14:00:35 GMT -5
I like my banner - made the verbage with Cooltext, a free banner service that's easy - but I don't know if it conveys my message. One idea is to make the flower image or some parts of your banner look like stained glass. There are filters to do that effect in some photo editing programs. But before you do that, why do you have pink flowers in your banner? What do they mean to you? What do you want them to "say" to customers? I'm getting an overall soft feminine romantic vibe from the banner. But your jewelry and products are a mix, including some fun funky quirky etc. things.
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Post by TammyA on Mar 9, 2015 14:01:32 GMT -5
I noticed Ian, www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ArtofEmaan , has the handmade forum stamp on his item pictures. Any ideas on how to do that? I get the big square not just the stamp.' You need a png file of the stamp, so you can overlay it on photos without any background.
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Post by KatieJoy on Mar 9, 2015 15:21:23 GMT -5
I noticed Ian, www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ArtofEmaan , has the handmade forum stamp on his item pictures. Any ideas on how to do that? I get the big square not just the stamp.' I have a "how to" for that I think in the stamp area of the forum. I am on my phone currently so will find the link when I'm on my laptop.
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Post by wildazaleastudio on Mar 9, 2015 16:37:25 GMT -5
I like my banner - made the verbage with Cooltext, a free banner service that's easy - but I don't know if it conveys my message. One idea is to make the flower image or some parts of your banner looked like stained glass. There are filters to do that effect in some photo editing programs. But before you do that, why do you have pink flowers in your banner? What do they mean to you? What do you want them to "say" to customers? I'm getting an overall soft feminine romantic vibe from the banner. But your jewelry and products are a mix, including some fun funky quirky etc. things. Thanks, the flower is actually a fused version of a wild azalea. Maybe I need to make one using stained glass instead of fused. Definitely the items are a mix...whatever interests me at the moment. I started the shop with jewelry but there are so many people doing jewelry and even a lot doing fused jewelry that I started putting stained glass up. The major problem with larger stained glass is packing it successfully for shipping. It's fragile and the larger it gets the more fragile. My son-in-law worked for UPS for a while and they have a two story slide that the packages slide down. It doesn't matter what it is, they'd rather pay for damage than slow down the line. I'm sure the post office does something similar unfortunately. I'll have to rethink the logo now that I have different items. Maybe I also need to think more about "branding".
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Post by wildazaleastudio on Mar 9, 2015 16:55:56 GMT -5
I noticed Ian, www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ArtofEmaan , has the handmade forum stamp on his item pictures. Any ideas on how to do that? I get the big square not just the stamp.' I have a "how to" for that I think in the stamp area of the forum. I am on my phone currently so will find the link when I'm on my laptop. Thanks! I found it.
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