So In Love

I am totally in love with this new book! I just had to show it to you even though it's still in the works.

Several weeks ago I was unpacking a new paper shipment and these two papers happened to fall together on my work table. I had one of those "Ah-HA!" moments and made a mental note to myself to pair those papers together for a book cover.

What do you think I should call it? I was thinking of something like Chocolate Mint. Yum yum!
Any other thoughts? :)

New Designs- Name Plates and Monograms

Okay, so these really aren't new, exactly. I've been doing name plates and monograms for a few years now, but this is the first time I've listed them as an a la carte item!

This monogram I did almost two years ago now. I'll be doing some new samples in the next day or two. Provided my nice natural lighting cooperates with me (it's cloudy right now) I should have new pictures of my monograms to show you.

Note 12/1/10: Here they are, ready and listed on Etsy!

Before and After

I've been so busy in my Etsy shop I didn't even notice when this poor little book expired. It has been sitting neglected in my expired items for a month now. I discovered it the other day but had second thoughts about relisting the book without making some changes.

It had 190 views but no hearts. It sat in my shop for 4 months without selling. Hmmm....what's wrong with it? Maybe it just doesn't stand out enough? Too plain? And ironically I called it "The Jane Mini Journal". Plain Jane. This afternoon I took a break from producing and played a little. Here's what I came up with:

How's that for sprucing the little neglected book up?! I took a tag BluebirdLane was so kind to include in a past order, tied a little sprig on it with some seam binding and voila! Not so plain anymore! Hopefully this little book will find a loving home now.

Oh, and by the way, I changed the name too. It's now "Butterfly and Hollyhock Petite Journal". No more plain Jane.

New Beginnings

I have a momentous announcement to make...After much thought I have decided to open a new shop.

...introducing Emerson Bindery!

My new shop has actually been open for a month now, but I've kept it quiet except for a few friends. I wanted to wait until after Christmas to make my grand annoucement.

I will be transitioning all my books into Emerson Bindery but plan to keep UberArt open for other projects.

Why you might ask, after over 200 sales and the numerous front page features, would you decide to start all over again?!

One of my front page features from June 3, 2009. My book is the first item at the top left.

When I first opened UberArt in November 2007, I chose the name because it would encompass anything I wanted to do. I had no idea what exactly that was though! I tried books, jewelry, note cards, and polymer clay flower pots (!!!) before I stumbled upon the guest book market. In December 2008 the guest books hijacked my store and things took off!

I have thoroughly enjoyed making books and will continue doing so, but I also want to explore other art forms. I didn't feel it was appropriate for me to lump them altogether in one shop, so I considered opening a new shop. But then, what to call it??

UberArt seemed to fit the bill for the new items but wasn't very descriptive of my current line of guest books. Instead of opening the new shop for the art, I decided to move the books instead. Thus, Emerson Bindery was born!

I will let you know when I introduce new items in my UberArt shop. I have big plans there!!

Revamping My Shop

As the holidays draw near and I have a little time before things really get crazy, I thought I would take some time to examine my shop and perhaps change things up a bit.

This summer was a really busy time for me, both for my family and my shop. Due to time constraints, I let myself get into a rut of doing the same thing over and over.

Here are some of the things I critiqued in my shop:

1. I was making the same style of book, just in different colors.

2. I used the same shots for photographing the books. Again, all the same, just different colors. As a result, I think it made my shop look rather mass-produced and less handmade.
3. I had the same background in all my shots. This was a hard call for me because I've heard having the same background gives you some unity and cohesion to your shop, but for me it seemed to contribute to the mass-production effect.

Sooo....I set to work retaking photos of some of my books, trying different angles and backgrounds. This required me to break free of my little light box as it didn't allow me to get in there with the camera for special angles.

As a result of not using the light box I battled with glare and shadows. This photo of Autumn Paisley is actually more true to color than the original one. Next to it, the original looks washed out and overexposed.

Overall I'm pleased with the new photos until the time for my next critique comes around! But that's what it's all about--learning, growing, and changing for the better.

Top Five Summer Favorites

1. Flowers in bloom...

Sunshine and Sunflowers by LaughingDogPhoto

2. Warm sunshine...
Turtles In The Sun by DigitalKangaroo

3. Beach breezes...

Walking In The Waves by SherriConley
Swings by WaterBugFineArts

I couldn't resist putting two here. These swings remind me of swinging on the beach in Nags Head as a child.

4. Longer daylight hours...

Ethereal Sunshine by kristensteinfineart

5. And finally, yummy fruit!

Good Morning Sunshine by ara133photography

Customer Service Tips, Chapter Two

As promised, here is the next installment in my Customer Service Tips series. This week I'll talk about the importance of communication as it applies to selling online. Just for the record, I have no idea how many chapters will be in this series. I'm just making this up as I go along!

Compelling Telephone Operators at a Switchboard Cigarette Case by sweetheartsinner

Communication is imperative when selling online, since the customer cannot touch and hold your product to examine it themselves. An accurate description is important and gives the customer more confidence in your product.

Of course, it goes both ways. The customer has to READ the description!! I've had several experiences recently where customers overlooked important details in the description, such as the size of the book, and were surprised when they received a smaller book than expected.

The Communicator - sticker pack by bullfight

When scrutinizing what I could do to prevent this from happening again, I concluded the details got lost in the text. I used to write my descriptions in paragraphs but have now revamped my descriptions on my newer listings so they are a bulleted list, which I hope is easier to read. I've also tried to incorporate a ruler and my hand holding the book into my photos to give a visual gauge of the size.

Communication also encompasses email correspondence and Etsy's internal email called convos. I get a lot of convos regarding custom orders and inquiries about my books. If I don't respond to them within a reasonable amount of time, I risk losing the sale. Unless I am away for the day or out of town, I always respond to my convos within a few hours or less. My computer is in my studio so I hear the email chime go off when I'm working (unless I've got my music too loud!).

Communication. screenprinted radio transmitter tower necktie by toybreaker

On the other hand, a mistake I often make is responding too quickly to convos. Sometimes in my haste to be prompt in my reply, I don't fully think through what I'm saying. Just the other day I shot off a response to a potential customer without a formal greeting and my usual "thanks for your inquiry, yadda yadda" closing sentiment. I felt bad about it as I always try to be polite.

By far the biggest mistake I've made to date was not thinking through a custom request before I quoted a price. It was for an international order and trying to estimate the shipping cost for a product I've never made before freaked me out. Lucky for me the customer never followed through with the order, so I had a narrow escape!

Communication, Two Birds collage by afiori

Following through on my end with communication via email and convos builds the customer's confidence in my product and trust in my service.

Here are some of the ways I follow through with my customers:

-Responding to convos in a timely manner.

-Shipping promptly.

-I do what I say I'm going to do, within the time frame I've stated.

-If I run into an obstacle which prevents me from keeping my promise, I let my customer know as soon as possible.

-I try, when I have the time, to touch base with my customers to be sure they received their book and are happy with it. Most don't ever respond, but at least I've made the attempt.

I'm certainly no expert and have learned most of this by trial and error! I hope you found this helpful. This by no means is an exhaustive write up on the subject. Please leave a comment and share your thoughts on communication as it applies to selling online!