This Month's Craft Beat

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President’s Message

Craft Beat Marketplace

aendance.

Our new slate of ocers

was announced at last

month’s meeng and con-

rmed by aending members

with one change. Joan

Creamer stepped down asCorresponding Secretary.

Shirley Natale graciously vol-

unteered to take her place.

See the updated Board

Member list.

The October meeng pro-

gram features Ginny Lirio who

will present Social Media as a

vehicle to generate revenue

stream for your cra business

as well as ways to expand

your reach. Ecommerce oers

a lot of potenal and we

should take advantage of it.

Our meeng is on October 8

at 7:00pm. Hope you all can

make it.

Norma McEntee

President

Happy Fall,

The air is crisp and cool –

what a wonderful me of

year. The best shows are

coming up and a lot of us do

our most producve work atthis me.

As menoned in the Sep-

tember issue of the Cra

Beat, Ron Schmitz stepped

down as President of OSA.

Ron was a posive role model

as our President, but with

pressing health issues he real-

ized he needed to take it

easy. Thank you, Ron, for

everything you have done for

this organizaon and get well

soon.

I will do my very best for

this organizaon (I have been

a member for almost 20 years

and have been through 5 or 6

presidents). I would appreci-

ate any suggesons or input

from all of you to make this

our best year ever. Thank

you so much for your vote of

condence.

Our last meeng was very

producve. A discussion

about past shows was worth-

while and informave. Some

shows were good, some werenot. But don’t forget that

what is good for some, won’t

be good for others. We each

have to nd our niche. Some

do only indoor shows be-

cause of product type; some

only do large shows. And

some do so many shows per

year, I don’t know how you

ever have me to make prod-

uct.

Thirteen OSA members

concluded their Big E experi-

ence, exhibing handcraed

products. Based on feedback

from each one, this year has

been fantasc. The Big E had

a record breaking aendance

on Saturday, September 20

(over 170,600 people). Now

THAT’S what I call great

Coming soon in Craft Beat! Marketing OSA member’s craft

business through: Profiles of Success articles … an in-

depth look at your handcraft business. How it all began,

where you are now, and what your future looks like.

Your editor will feature a member or two (depending onspace availability) each month starting in November. Watch

for Ginny with a pen and notebook, a camera and a micro-

phone coming near you!!! I look forward to getting to know

more about you and your business.

Inside this issue:

New Board Members1

Top Ten Etsy Sellers 2

Big E Recap 3

Marketplace Reviews 3

Board Members 4

Welcome New Members 4

Hospitality Corner 4

2014-2015

Board Members

PresidentNorma McEntee

Vice President

Dottie Devereaux

Treasurer

Paul Di Carlo

Recording Secretary

Terry Haydt

Corresponding Secretary

Shirley Natale

CraftBeat

Volume 8October 2014

Volume 3



Big days ahead at the Big E – and we are

not just talking about this year’s fair. The

focus was on the Eastern States Exposi-

on two years from now, which will mark

its centennial celebraon.

Eastern States began just two years aer

the Titanic sank and at the start of World

War I.

Top Ten Selling Etsy Shops — and What You Can Learn From Them!

Page 2

In need of a little inspiration? Take a

peek at the top selling Etsy in the

“Handmade” category (this excludes vintage and supplies) – these shops

are all doing something right.

Last time best-selling Etsy shops were

rated best sellers overall and found

mostly shops selling supplies. This

time, shops that sell handmade items

were rated accordingly.

Name Sales

Beanforest 89,525

Three Bird Nest 75,320

ZenThreads 66,472

Grace and Lace Co 65,962

Think Pink Bows 63,526

Zoey's Attic 61,116

Collage-O-Rama 60,205

SignatureTshirts 60,044

norajane 59,927

RivermillEmbroidery 57,701

What You Can Learn from Etsy’s

Best-Selling Shops

Use clear, daylit photographs.

Thanks to white backgrounds and

bright lighting, items for sale in

the top 10 shops look great.

List a TON of products. All of

these shops have 200+ items in

stock, some have nearly 1,000

items! Not that quantity trumps

quality, of course. Think of it this

way: if you have just one item in

your shop, you’re less likely to be

found than someone with 50 items

showing up in search. Fuller

shops also look more enticing.

Barren shelves tend to spook cus-

tomers. Aim for at least 20 prod-

ucts to start – 20 listings is enough

to fill your shop page nicely.

Have a Facebook presence. Creat-

ing a Facebook page for your craft

business increases your exposure

and gives you another avenue to

reach your fans.

Develop a shop “personality”. Eve-

ry single shop in the top 10 has a

“character” to it – you can almost

guess what kind of personality the

shop owner might have. Personality

is what makes handmade so awe-

some, so don’t be afraid to “brand”

your shop with a bit of “you”.

Sell individuality. All of the top 10

shops are selling “individuality” –

shirts printed with clever sayings,

buttons with a sense of humor, deco-

rative stamps, pretty headbands for

babies and adults, decorated t-shirts.

In fact, all of the top 10 shops are sell-

ing things to wear or decorate with.

Think of these shops as selling a bit

of individuality that can’t be bought

in a mass-market store.

Use a consistent “look and feel”.The products are presented similarly

– same zoom level, consistent light-

ing. The overall effect is harmonious

and coherent, making it easier to

focus on the products themselves.

Under $30. With a few exceptions in

just a couple of these top selling Etsy

shops, nearly all of these top-selling

handmade shops offer their wares at

prices somewhere between $3 and

$25. Don’t fret if your products cost

more, but if all your products are$100 you might want to add a few

smaller items to your shop.

Check these sites for more infor-

mation on how they made it to top

ten!



This year was another record breaking

year with 1,498,605 visitors including a

massive crowd on Saturday Sept. 20 of

170,612 breaking a record set in 1980.

The 17-day fair had something for every-

one from rides on the Midway to a pleth-

ora of food, exhibions, vendors and

unique treats. The fair had musical per-

formances from bands including Lynyrd

Skynyrd, Lile Big Town, Darius Rucker

and others.

The Big E had some technological up-

dates this year including the Big E Hot

Spot where people could charge their cell

phones at the fair. The fair's Facebook

page also reached 170,000 likes and

more than 7,400 Twier followers, o-

cials said.

The Fair was rst tled "The Big E" in

1967 and remains true to its agriculturalroots today, with more than 7,100 4-H

and FFA parcipants, and 1,100 open-

show exhibitors, as well as educaonal

displays and aracons.

One of the most popular aracons

at The Big E is the Avenue of States. The

Avenue contains life-size replicas of the

six original New England statehouses, as

well as the New England Grange House.

Small shops are a primary aracon of

the Big E. Vendors can be found across

most of the fairgrounds, selling items

ranging from state-specic trinkets and

regional memorabilia, to household

goods and clothing and accessories. Thir-

teen OSA members exhibited with their

specialty handcraed products.

Pictured from le: Laura Winward, Terry

Haydt, Bob O'Berg, Norma McEntee, Kim

Bergeron, Alan Haydt, Alicia Bergeron

Joan Creamer at her Magic Sceptre

booth.

Did you know????

Eastern States began just two years

aer the Titanic sank and at the start of

World War I.

Ocean State Artisans at the Big E

Page 3

Handmade Marketplace

Reviews

Fifth in a series of top ten

handmade marketplaces

reviewed annually.

No. 5 Zibbet Zibbet’s website is

streamlined, easy to use and contains

features for buyers and sellers alike.

Zibbet’s homepage is especiallyuser-friendly with comprehensive

search options. The Fabulous Five,

our favorite sidebar feature,

spotlights five items around a theme

each week. For example, one week

Zibbet spotlighted five items from

different shops that were made

entirely from recycled denim. The

Fabulous Five rotates each week on

Zibbet’s blog, and buyers can

subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed toreceive weekly updates or simply

check back in.

Buyers can contact sellers directly

with questions, and most shops will

create custom items upon request.

Zibbet has three membership plans

for sellers: Basic, Premium and

Premium yearly. Zibbet claims the

best deal is the Premium yearly plan,

which includes site analytics,

unlimited free listings, totalcustomization of your shop, the ability

to create coupon codes and gift guide

exposure. The basic plan, which is

free, has several helpful options as

well, so if you are just starting out,

we’d suggest starting with the basic

plan and then upgrading later.

Next Issue: Shop Handmade



OSA Members Meeting — Oct. 87:00pm Every Second Wednesday of the Month

At this location:

East Greenwich United Methodist Church

1558 South County Trail (Route 2)

East Greenwich, RI

Welcome New Members

Cory Jengo

Board Members

Ofcers Members at Large Commiee Chairs

President Anthony Patriarca Cra Shows

Norma McEntee (401) 486-4061 (401) 738-6645 Dick Sheridan (401) 450-9201

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Vice President

Trish York

Historian

Doe Devereaux (401) 539-8330 (401) 383-4442 Sue Keenan

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Treasurer Kathie Feeney Librarian

Paul Di Carlo (401) 821-7409 [email protected] Mimi Fagnant (401) 884-4107

[email protected] Joan Creamer [email protected]

Recording Secretary (401) 884-2180 Membership

Terry Haydt [email protected] Trish York (401) 383-4442

[email protected] [email protected]

Corresponding Secretary Hospitality

Shirley Natale (401) 739-0989

Judy and Barry Rubenstein

[email protected] (401) 821-0602

[email protected]

Cra Beat

Ginny Lirio (484) 866-3534

[email protected]

Thank you Pat, Chris and Mary Beth for making this

month’s yummy cakes and pastries.

Documents

This Month's Craft Beat