Mai Autumn

13 (Or More) Chances to Get Found on Etsy - How to Tag Your Listings for Maximum Exposure

One of the questions I get asked the most frequently, is how to get better visibility on Etsy. And the answer I have for you - tags. You may think those thirteen little words are just more ways to describe your work, but they are each golden opportunities for your work to be found in the sea that is Etsy. 

Etsy will suggest that you put your materials, a style, color, etc., but I'm here to tell you that people search on Etsy how they plan to use things, and they generally might have more than one definition of the thing that they're looking for. You may feel like you're being redundant when adding tags in the way that I'm about to explain, but by using synonyms in your tags, you will quadruple your chances that your art will get found. 

On my most popular print to date, my tags are relatively simple, and only two of them are taken up by the subject. I'll give you a run down:

• What it is - a print
• What it could also be searched for as (here's where the redundancy comes in) - painting 
• A popular search term - sale - I include this because I always offer free shipping on this print, and I often have discounts running to promote that impulse buy reflex that oh so many people shop by. This is something that people search for a LOT on Etsy.
• More redundancy (and a very broad term) next - home decor - Maybe someone is redecorating? They didn't know they needed your art for their amazing room design! Now they see you somewhere else that maybe they might not have found you before.
• You're gonna start to see the pattern here - illustration - it may be a painting, a drawing or whatever, but some people might use this word to describe what they're looking for. Just upped your chances of getting found.
• Medium - watercolor - (obvious)
• This one is a broad term that also might be slightly off for this piece, but some people might consider this painting - floral. 
• Color - rainbow
• Subject - succulent
• Sort of the subject -  cactus
• Now here's where we get into your ideal customer and styles. The next two tags are boho and bohemian - These types of 'style' terms are popular right now, and if someone pairs them with the other tags you have, you'll most likely show up higher in searches for this (like, 'bohemian painting', which, I just checked, my listing is the third one on the page for this - winning!)
• The last tag is also one that relates to style, but also kind of the subject, if we're getting really general here - desert.

As you'll see, the order of the tags does not matter. The key is to think how your buyer would think as they're shopping. What would you search for if you wanted to find your own painting? With this method, you'll also get lots of combinations for how you might get found in search. For instance:

• watercolor rainbow floral
• cactus desert painting
• home decor on sale

You get the idea. The key is not to be found in the huge search results, like such a broad term as "watercolor", but to be found in the niches that buyers are shopping in when they get an idea of what they want to purchase. 

 

I hope this has been insightful in getting more traffic to your Etsy shop! Stay tuned for more business posts on the Art of Success, and be sure to join the free Facebook group of artists discovering more ways to grow their art careers - The Art of Success: Building Your Dream Career as an Artist

5 Income Building Steps When Creating: Make Money with Your Art

I am often asked about how I'm making a full time living as an artist, and I'm finally here to share with you the tips, tricks, systems and secrets I use to keep the income, the inspiration, and the paint, flowing in this little studio of mine. 

5 Income Building Steps When Creating: Make Money with Your Art

When you finish a gorgeous work of art, there are some crucial steps to take that will put your work in front of as many eyeballs as possible - which will eventually result in your work getting found, hopefully purchased, and possibly even licensed to create a form of residual, passive income that will help boost your bank account for months after you created the work!

 

Step 1: Etsy/Your own shop

After you've properly photographed or scanned in your new piece, the first step is listing that work of art for sale online - whether that's in an Etsy shop, or if you have your own website through a service like Shopify or Big Cartel.  Getting the work available for purchase, on an easy to navigate platform, will make it that much more likely that it will eventually end up in the home of a collector, rather than sitting on a shelf in your studio. The easier it is for a customer to place the item in their cart and checkout, the better. 

(Side note: Some might say that it is best to list one's work on a portfolio website, with no prices and no checkout, in the hopes that a collector or gallerist will be so in love with their art, that they will take the time to email the artist, begging to know more info about said painting or drawing. I have learned that this is a romantic fantasy, best left to the movies. If you want to make a living as an artist, the more people who have access to purchasing your art quickly, securely and efficiently, the better. This also prevents scammers from wasting your time via email!) 

(Side note two: If you are the type of artist who enjoys working in collections (which is a GREAT way to set yourself apart and do great things for your career), stay tuned for another post on how one creates collections of art, how to hype it up, list and sell that collection the RIGHT way. This post does also apply to collections as well, but in the case of those, you would be doing all these steps in a batch for the entire collection.)

Step 2: Print on Demand

The second, and maybe the most fun thing you can do with your art once you've created it, is to upload it to a print on demand website where it can be made into products - art prints, cell phone cases, pillows, tshirts... almost anything at this point! A few great sites where you can upload your work:

• Society6
• Red Bubble
• Spoonflower
• Zazzle

These sites pay out a commission for each product sold. Some sites will allow you to set the commission rate yourself, while others have a set percentage on their products. It may seem like a small amount on some sites, but it begins to add up as your portfolio expands and you get your name and brand out there. 

Step 3: Newsletter List 

Now that you have your art available for purchase in several different places, it's time to tell everyone! (If you don't have an email list yet, you can skip this step, obviously... but my one word of advice in this day and age of followers, fans and changing algorithms - get thee an email list! Setting up a simple landing page for people to sign up for your newsletter is easy on most portfolio or ecommerce websites, and I plan to talk about awesome incentives for collectors to sign up for it in a future post!) 

Some things to put in your newsletter include:

• Progress photos of you making the new work
• A short bit of text talking about what inspired you
• Obviously - the new work!

You don't have to make it too complicated or fancy - usually the simpler the better here. Many newsletter applications and sites will have built in editors so that you can make it nice, even without any graphic design experience. I personally use Mailchimp, and it is super easy to get that newsletter out into the world when I have something to share.

Step 4: Social

It's finally time to head to social media! I know some artists think this might be the best option to start with, but you want to make it as easy as possible for your fans and followers to get that art into their hands once it's scrolling rapidly across their phone screen. We are inundated with thousands of images a day, a lot of them trying to sell us things, so our brains have gotten very used to instantly finding what it is we're looking for when it comes to shiny things we might want to purchase NOW now NOW, or save for later for gift giving, a future project, etc. (Hello, my name is Christine and I have 80 Pinterest boards!)

The top social media apps I recommend are as follows: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. (Bonus points if you got some progress pics or videos of the process for you to post as well!)  Be sure to include a descriptive caption - possibly about your inspiration, the subject matter, or anything that speaks to your audience about why you made this gorgeous thing. Hashtags are also a great way to get your work found on all of these sites. You can find ways to have your posts automatically populate on all your social media all at once through sites like IFTTT.com - If This, Then That, which will save you loads of time instead of posting on all those sites separately. 

Step 5: Niche Marketplaces

This is a fun bonus step that I sometimes forget to do, but every once in a while, if I'm having a boring afternoon when I'd rather work on my business instead of paint, I go searching for new marketplaces to apply to, or add art to if I already have access. Here are some of the ones that I like to check out from time to time:

• Indie Walls
• Zatista
• Chairish

The sky is the limit with websites like these, and if you stumble across a marketplace that fits well with your style of work, you just may have created a new stream of income for yourself! 

 

I hope you found this step by step guide useful! If you liked it, be sure to leave a comment and subscribe to my newsletter to stay up to date on the new biz posts that are coming your way soon! 

 

 

It's been a while

Contrary to what this blog would show, I am still alive and well after about four years of not posting. (And it seems that 2015 wasn't that much of a blog-worthy year either!) I'm getting back into this blog for a bigger reason here in 2019 - I want to share my knowledge and journey specifically with artists this year. I get hundreds of emails and direct messages through all my social media channels asking me just how I've been making it as a full time artist, or if this is really happening for me. I'm here to tell you, it IS happening for me in a BIG way, and I am so excited to share my tips, advice, stories and resources with you, so that if you're an artist reading this right now who is looking to turn your hobby into your everyday job, a larger than life career, or just looking to have more time to create and spend time with your friends and family, I've got your back. 

I feel like a kid on the first day of school, a younger version of myself when I first got my feet wet with entrepreneurship, and I just can't wait to jump out of bed in the morning as I've been working on all the new aspects of my business lately! Throughout the year, you're going to be seeing a ton of wonderful resources here on this blog, on Instagram, as well as a special newsletter just for creatives. And to top it off, I'm getting deep into working on my new course, which is by far the most frequent request I get - when will you be teaching classes?! The first class is going to be a combination of creativity training and business training, and it will be based on everything I WISHED I had learned while in art school. I look back at my decade of experience in this industry and wish I had all this knowledge when I opened the doors to my first Etsy shop back in 2008. That is why I feel called to give this gift to YOU this year to make your 2019 the best year you've seen yet! 

So, having announced this exciting new adventure, let me know in the comments if you're an artist or creative, what your medium of choice is, and what your goals are for 2019! I can't wait to hear from you!

imaginary decorator

i absolutely love decorating. i always imagine in another lifetime, i would live out my dream of being an interior designer. alas, all i have at my fingertips for now are paints, paper, and a ton of frames i've collected over the years, so i've decided to live out my fantasy via blog. isn't that what all good bloggers do any way? whenever i paint a new piece, i actually kind of imagine it in a super fancy space, flocked with gorgeous furniture and amongst luscious fabrics. it's almost as if the room i imagine the painting in emerges simultaneously with the painting itself, so, here goes pulling together imaginary rooms for you to enjoy! 

 

for my painting "peony" i picture it being the bright accent in the room. i really love silvers and grays with my pieces because i've always felt that the sharp metallic hues give the soft watercolor a harder and more sophisticated edge. 

you can find all these pieces via the links below!

1. // 2. // 3. // 4. // 5. // 6.

 

settling in

moving is a lot more stressful than i imagined. now that my wee little business is the size of a 10 ft truck, it wasn't exactly a week long process. i think this month has been the first time (since october!) that i'm feeling like i actually *live* here, and not just inside of a cardboard box fort (although box forts can be fun). 

i finally have had time to make some plans and think about what i want to accomplish for the year, all while actually decorating a little bit. here are some snaps from my new life up here in jersey city :)

(the prints in the first photo are from the lovely clare elsaesser. i am thrilled to have such a grown up bedroom here!)

(you can also snag the white peacock feather in my shop - prints and original are available)

keep going

after a ridiculously long spring full of craft fairs, i am finally able to get back to making some art! my mantra during all those shows was simply this - keep going. i made it through - a little bruised and exhausted, but i survived! grab this (and all my other prints!) at 40% off this weekend with code KEEPGOING on maiautumn.com, if you need a little inspiration for your own space.

some shots from project 365 are also getting prettier now that summer is upon us :) i just love my garden right now!

two new things i've been trying out lately have been a series of abstracts, and continuing the series of oil paintings i started last year. check out the newest:

prints of "skylark" are available on Society6 for now (if you are interested in the original, please email me at [email protected]). custom portraits are also available! i have a new one in the works that i'll be sharing soon :)

the above piece was a fun little experiment, and i plan on exploring this style more in the coming months. you can grab paper prints, canvas prints or hand embellished (with gold paint!) canvas prints (exclusive to great.ly).

all in all, i'm having fun just playing around with new ideas (as always) and enjoying this warmer weather. i'm looking forward to slowing down and making a lot more art this summer, so hopefully i'll have time to pop in more often over the next few months :)

toodooloo for now!

may flowers

i have a ton of stuff happening these days (and if you're in the philadelphia area, you can see the results of some of that at either the clover markets or art star!), but i somehow have still been keeping to my plan to take a photo every day for a year. check out some highlights of the results below!

can you believe this is all taken with an iphone?! i just discovered another fun app called mextures to edit some of these photos, and i just absolutely love vsco cam. you can follow along daily on instagram @christinealindstrom.

 

other than taking photos all the time, i've been working on art in between my less fun tasks (like printing inventory for craft shows every weekend this entire month - talk about tedious!). apparently one piece in particular has hit home with a lot of people, since i can't seem to keep up with the orders for it! i'm so glad to know i'm not the only one who dances in my kitchen :)

you can grab a print on my site here (use code DANCE for 20% off, too!)

i've also been on kind of a floral kick, so here's my latest experiment -

(prints and orignal here)

lastly, back by popular demand (seems like most of you find my blog via a pin that went viral a few years ago!), my dictionary prints are back up on the site, as well. i'm selling each for $12 and i hope to keep adding to the different illustrations i print for these one of a kind pieces soon. each is printed on a unique page from a dictionary from 1921. i have quite a large inventory for now, but i'm kind of excited to start hunting for more damaged and destined for landfills kinds of books to transform into art!

may is starting out as a very fun month here and hope yours is, too! :) what do you have in store this month? let me know in the comments! I'd love to hear from you guys! 

in five years time

lately i've been a little stressed out. there have been lots of big changes happening in my life, and lots of new situations being thrown at me, on top of all the normal life stuff, like getting older, people coming and going in and out of my life, etc., etc... so, whenever i start feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders, i go inward and reflect - we're talking the ultimate in the term "personal day" here. i write, i talk it out (yes, to myself), and i make *lots* of lists.

after hours of thinking today (and a little decluttering and organizing, too), i stepped out of my current world and time traveled a little bit. i thought to myself - what was i doing five years ago, on this date. and it dawned on me - i hadn't even started this part of my company, which now provides me with everything that makes up my entire life! i had started my first little project/business idea only a MONTH before this date five years ago. i had no CLUE i'd be sitting here taking a photo of my very own daffodils, from my very own yard, in my very own lovely little apartment (with my amazzzing iphone nonetheless)! i had none of this.

as i looked through photos from 2009, it even dawned on me that i don't remember being stressed out at all back then! that's not even possible though. i had no job, and i had no real certainty that this business would become anything. that is crazy!

so, i guess my point here, is that if you're having one of those days where you just feel like the world makes absolutely no sense, just know that in five years, you'll probably (almost definitely) solve some of your problems and you'll probably think your new problems are gigantic too. anything life throws at you helps you grow, and i guess maybe as i approach the big 3-0 i've started realizing that any of this "stuff" isn't that big of a deal pretty much most of the time. life does its own thing and all you're responsible for is making the best of it and trying to take the next baby or big step towards your best self. if i didn't quit my job five years ago and take that leap into business ownership, who knows where i'd be now. you have the power to make your dreams come true (even if you're compltely and utterly stressed the hell out today)! so i guess, thanks, past me, for making present me feel better today. you go, past me!

via

 

happy national grilled cheese day!

i couldn't pass up a chance to make some homemade tomato basil soup to go with a deliciously simple grilled cheese sandwich on this gorgeous day :)

recipe here - garden tomato basil soup

(be sure to follow me on instagram @christinealindstrom to check out what i'm up to every day! still going strong with project 365 this year!)

spring is finally here

...and to celebrate, i'm having a sale this weekend! take 30% off the whole shop with code SPRING2014

the code is valid through monday 4/14 at 11:59p EST. happy spring! :)