065 – Vintage X3 on Etsy with Jennifer Beaton
Jen runs three online vintage shops on Etsy. The first shop opened in 2008 with a nice mix of vintage. Several months later she niched down and started a vintage milk glass shop, and soon after that, a vintage china shop.
Jen’s passion for objects with character and history started when she was little and would visit my Great Aunt Esther. She had a beautiful 250+ year old homestead in Rye, New Hampshire. It was a gorgeous home filled with many antiques.
Jen is a proud member of the EtsyVintageTeam and the VestiesTeam. She’s also a proud mom of three, Katherine, Mark and Lindsey. AND Lindsey just had a new baby, Oliver whom she adores!
You can visit all of Jen’s vintage shops on Etsy. The are JensCloset, TheChinaGirl and MyMilkGlassShop. In our talk, she shares how she set up her shops, sources and prices her items, and how she attracts attention to her online shops.
Motivational Quote
Selling on Etsy
Why Jen started her first vintage shop on Etsy [3:04]
Conversation about how to set up a shop on Etsy and the costs [3:57]
The best way to list products [6:07] and [14:55]
Why Jen has multiple vintage shops instead of just one [11:47]
How Jen sources her vintage products [16:34]
How to determine the selling price [17:40]
Social Media plays a huge role for bringing in sales [20:10]
Success Trait
Jen believes it’s all about your attitude when it comes to success. [24:31]
Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Journaling is Jen’s way of staying grounded. [25:09]
Valuable Book
Rachel Ashwell’s Shabby Chic Treasure Hunting and Decorating Guide by Rachel Ashwell
The Vintage Table: Personal Treasures and Standout Settings by Jacqueline deMontravel
The Serene Home: Decorating Secrets & Inspirations Hardcover by Eileen Cannon Paulin
Contact Links
If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcript
Gift biz unwrapped episode 65 Customers.
Speaker:If you don't have them,
Speaker:guess what?
Speaker:You don't have a shop.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to give to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Monheit.
Speaker:Whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online or
Speaker:are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I have joining us,
Speaker:Jennifer beat.
Speaker:Jen runs three online vintage shops on Etsy.
Speaker:The first one opened in 2008 with a nice mix of
Speaker:vintage products.
Speaker:Several months later,
Speaker:she niched down and started a vintage milk glass shop.
Speaker:And soon after that of vintage China shop Jen's passion for
Speaker:objects with character and history started when she was little and
Speaker:would visit her great aunt.
Speaker:Esther aunt Esther had eat beautiful over 250 year old homestead
Speaker:in rye,
Speaker:New Hampshire.
Speaker:It was a gorgeous home filled with many antiques.
Speaker:Jen is also currently a proud member of the SD vintage
Speaker:team and the besties team.
Speaker:She's also a proud mom of three Catherine Mark and Lindsey
Speaker:and Lindsey just had a brand new baby Oliver whom she
Speaker:absolutely adores.
Speaker:Wow. Jen,
Speaker:there's a lot going on in your life nowadays.
Speaker:Welcome to the show.
Speaker:As I was saying,
Speaker:there's no,
Speaker:we like to start off our conversation by getting to know
Speaker:you in a little bit of a different way.
Speaker:And that is by having you describe a motivational candle.
Speaker:So if you were to picture the perfect Campbell that symbolizes
Speaker:what you're all about,
Speaker:what color would the candle be and what would be the
Speaker:quote? My candle color would be red.
Speaker:That's the color of fire fierce and bright.
Speaker:And my quote on the candle would be go for it,
Speaker:just go for it,
Speaker:whatever your passion is,
Speaker:go for it.
Speaker:Don't settle for bad excuses not to do it.
Speaker:What you did with the Etsy shops by starting with one
Speaker:and having three very quickly.
Speaker:Exactly. A lot of people have been asking me about Etsy
Speaker:and I do not propose to know anything about things unless
Speaker:I've already done them.
Speaker:So I was on the search to try and find somebody
Speaker:who could really share a lot more about this platform with
Speaker:us. And I was so impressed with a lot of your
Speaker:shops. You know,
Speaker:just seeing the first shop in the first one I saw
Speaker:was Jen's closet.
Speaker:And then to see that you had multiple shops in,
Speaker:had been on there for quite a while,
Speaker:was what led me to contact you so that you can
Speaker:share and enlightened all of us here today.
Speaker:Let's go back and let's start right in the beginning.
Speaker:How did you decide that you were going to do this
Speaker:and specifically choose Etsy as your platform?
Speaker:Well, I owe it all to my older daughter,
Speaker:Lindsey. She had started an Etsy shop there,
Speaker:selling jewelry and other crafty things.
Speaker:She's much craftier than I am,
Speaker:but I w I was laid off from my wonderful part-time
Speaker:job and was devastated.
Speaker:And Lindsay talked me into starting my first shop.
Speaker:And from there,
Speaker:the rest is history.
Speaker:Thanks to Lindsey.
Speaker:Did You know right away that it was going to be
Speaker:vintage? Yes,
Speaker:I did.
Speaker:Cause that's my always been my passion.
Speaker:Like you said,
Speaker:since I was a little girl at my aunt Esther's house,
Speaker:You just took something that you already knew that you absolutely
Speaker:loved. You know,
Speaker:it kind of resonated with you all the time,
Speaker:but then it was just a matter of,
Speaker:okay, now I have more free time because of what happened
Speaker:with your past job,
Speaker:I'm going to do Etsy because you had seen that Lindsey
Speaker:had been successful.
Speaker:Exactly. Yep.
Speaker:That's it.
Speaker:So talk to us a little bit about how you get
Speaker:started with a shop on Etsy.
Speaker:It's super easy.
Speaker:Like I always say,
Speaker:if I can do it,
Speaker:anyone can do it.
Speaker:When I first started doing the photography and when I look
Speaker:at my first pictures,
Speaker:they look like a disaster.
Speaker:So that's one thing you've got to learn to take good
Speaker:pictures because everybody wants to see clear pictures.
Speaker:Do you have to have a business license?
Speaker:No, you do not have to have a business license.
Speaker:You just sign up,
Speaker:you have an email,
Speaker:you hook your bank account to it.
Speaker:They really go step by step for you on Etsy to
Speaker:make it easy.
Speaker:Then just start uploading your pictures,
Speaker:make some great descriptions and start selling.
Speaker:It's really easy.
Speaker:And what are the costs then?
Speaker:Do they take a portion of your sale or how does,
Speaker:is it a membership?
Speaker:How does that all work?
Speaker:There's no upfront costs.
Speaker:They take a percent,
Speaker:I'm so bad.
Speaker:I don't even remember.
Speaker:I think maybe 3% of sales and then it's took 20
Speaker:cents for each listing.
Speaker:So it's really not that much money.
Speaker:It's not a big investment.
Speaker:Okay. And kind of risk-free because you're not paying anything to
Speaker:anybody unless a product of yours sells.
Speaker:That's true.
Speaker:There is no risk.
Speaker:Okay. That's why I say,
Speaker:just go for it.
Speaker:Okay. So it's a certain,
Speaker:very small cost to list by item,
Speaker:and then they take a percentage.
Speaker:And what about credit cards or pay pal?
Speaker:Can you use any form of payment?
Speaker:It's up to you.
Speaker:If you want to accept checks,
Speaker:I do accept checks and money orders,
Speaker:a PayPal and all credit cards.
Speaker:Some people don't want to be involved with PayPal or whatever.
Speaker:So it's all up to you.
Speaker:What payments you want to accept?
Speaker:Okay. And then did you have to set up a merchant
Speaker:account for your credit cards or is it all just done
Speaker:directly through it?
Speaker:It's all done directly through Etsy.
Speaker:Okay. Super easy.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Yeah. It sounds super easy.
Speaker:Any tricks or if someone is just now starting to go
Speaker:onto Etsy,
Speaker:have you seen anything in terms of the description or how
Speaker:you word setup of your shop that helps attract business?
Speaker:Or is there any advice there,
Speaker:again, just being the,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:first look at the platform and setting something up.
Speaker:Oh, definitely need to really think about your descriptions and make
Speaker:it pop.
Speaker:And why does somebody want it?
Speaker:And since they can't actually touch the item,
Speaker:you want to make them feel like they're touching the item,
Speaker:especially that goes for,
Speaker:with the photography too.
Speaker:We want pictures of every side.
Speaker:Oh, okay.
Speaker:So if it's something that you don't really understand what it
Speaker:would look like all the way around,
Speaker:particularly for you,
Speaker:for your vintage,
Speaker:then you take multiple shots of the different angles.
Speaker:Yes. We're allowed,
Speaker:I think it's five shots.
Speaker:And so that helps a lot.
Speaker:Okay. And then also in the setup,
Speaker:I believe I saw that there's a place where you can
Speaker:describe who you are as the seller.
Speaker:Yes. There is.
Speaker:There's a place for that.
Speaker:You can even upload a video.
Speaker:I haven't really got into that too much in it,
Speaker:but I need to do that.
Speaker:Yeah. Well,
Speaker:that's a great idea because video sells and gift biz listeners.
Speaker:We've talked about this in relationship to websites.
Speaker:People nowadays want to know who they're doing business with and
Speaker:especially for Etsy,
Speaker:because it's so personal,
Speaker:it's all artists and crafters and individual people that I would
Speaker:presume it's even more important there because people will resonate with
Speaker:the seller.
Speaker:So if you're ever looking at starting an Etsy shop,
Speaker:make sure to fill out that.
Speaker:I don't know if it's called an about us page or
Speaker:seller's page or whatever it is,
Speaker:but do it in a similar manner.
Speaker:As we've talked about before with websites,
Speaker:make it personable,
Speaker:give a little insight into who you are as a person,
Speaker:not just all about the business.
Speaker:And that really helps to resonate with a buyer.
Speaker:Would you add anything to that,
Speaker:Jen? No.
Speaker:I agree totally with that.
Speaker:And you're motivating me now to get my videos up and
Speaker:updated. That's my next thing.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:what's going to happen now because we're all listening to you
Speaker:and now you're kind of committing to us that you're going
Speaker:to do it.
Speaker:So we're going to go that's right.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:Oh, I will do it this week.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:I heard that.
Speaker:Let's talk then on the other side,
Speaker:what about any challenges or things that were a little more
Speaker:complicated in relation to Etsy?
Speaker:Is there anything that you've learned along the way that would
Speaker:be good to share?
Speaker:Well, there's all sorts of little challenges that for anybody going
Speaker:through any type of business,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the challenge of learning the photography,
Speaker:like I've said before,
Speaker:social media ways to promote right now,
Speaker:I'm going through a major challenge,
Speaker:a life change.
Speaker:And I may have to cut down on the sizes of
Speaker:my shops because I may be moving closer to my grandson.
Speaker:So that's my big challenge right now.
Speaker:Well, that doesn't sound too bad.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:No I'm excited about it.
Speaker:Now, would you say that that's one of the values of
Speaker:Etsy because you can either augment your shop by adding a
Speaker:lot more product or keep it going with fewer products.
Speaker:Really? It's just a matter,
Speaker:I think of your end of putting all the photos up
Speaker:and then obviously filling orders in a timely manner when they
Speaker:come through.
Speaker:Right. So flexibility.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:Etsy offers you,
Speaker:it sounds like great flexibility.
Speaker:As you're saying to fit into your lifestyle.
Speaker:Perfect. It's like this morning,
Speaker:I was able to go running at seven in the morning
Speaker:and play a little bit of tennis and then come back
Speaker:and go back to my Etsy shop.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:So question,
Speaker:why did you decide the very first shop that you had
Speaker:Jen's closet was vintage of all sorts.
Speaker:Why did you then decide to niche it down and do
Speaker:subsets of the overall vintage?
Speaker:Because now you have,
Speaker:if Jen's closet is more clothing,
Speaker:accessories. No,
Speaker:actually it's just a mix originally.
Speaker:That's why I called it Jen's closet.
Speaker:I was going to have more clothes,
Speaker:but now I don't even have any clothes in there,
Speaker:so I just kept the name.
Speaker:Okay. So Jen's closet is a mix of what,
Speaker:It's a mix of everything.
Speaker:Vintage bar ware,
Speaker:retro. I have a lot of tea,
Speaker:party type style things,
Speaker:China, teacups,
Speaker:pink, you know,
Speaker:depression, glass.
Speaker:It's something for everyone in that shop really.
Speaker:Okay. And then you also have the milk glass shop,
Speaker:which is clearly that all milk glass and then the China
Speaker:shop. Yes.
Speaker:Why did you decide to go that route instead of keeping
Speaker:everything under one umbrella?
Speaker:Well, for middle-class I started to collect quite a bit and
Speaker:it was very popular.
Speaker:So I decided that it was a good idea to branch
Speaker:out and keep it separate.
Speaker:And it's been a great idea,
Speaker:works out quite well.
Speaker:And then it's,
Speaker:well, it's the same with the China shop.
Speaker:I started collecting a lot and it's very popular for weddings,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:brides and tea parties and bridal showers.
Speaker:So it worked out well too.
Speaker:You're really confirming what people talk about all the time.
Speaker:Is that doing subsets and really specializing and focusing in,
Speaker:although you kind of would think,
Speaker:well, maybe I'm limiting myself because someone who might want something
Speaker:that's milk glass is then missing out on seeing everything else
Speaker:that might be in Jen's closet.
Speaker:But it sounds like those,
Speaker:all three of the shops are doing really well.
Speaker:And it's probably because you're niching down because they're able to
Speaker:find you in search that much better.
Speaker:Yes, I do believe that's true.
Speaker:I think it's worked out quite well for me.
Speaker:So another thing you guys give fizz listeners,
Speaker:just to remember,
Speaker:you don't want to try and be everything to everybody.
Speaker:You want to be able to niche it down,
Speaker:just like Jen's done here by separating her product categories because
Speaker:she has enough product to make it a separate shop.
Speaker:And Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Again at T's a great platform.
Speaker:I would say Jen,
Speaker:because there is no cost to opening multiple shops.
Speaker:You could have 50 shops.
Speaker:If you wanted on Etsy,
Speaker:You could have as many as you want.
Speaker:And it doesn't cost any more because it's just,
Speaker:by-product That's right.
Speaker:If it's,
Speaker:if you can juggle,
Speaker:I can juggle it quite easy.
Speaker:Some people think,
Speaker:Oh no,
Speaker:I can't handle three,
Speaker:but they can,
Speaker:if I can,
Speaker:What would be the difference?
Speaker:What's the issue about juggling the shops?
Speaker:What do you mean by that?
Speaker:Yeah. Well,
Speaker:you have to be able to keep all three open at
Speaker:one time.
Speaker:So I have different browsers and different emails.
Speaker:You have to have two different emails for each shop and
Speaker:some people just feel frazzled by it.
Speaker:The idea of it.
Speaker:Okay. So there's different emails for each shop and then you
Speaker:have to have the shops open in case people have questions
Speaker:about the product and such,
Speaker:and then how the orders come in.
Speaker:Yes. And I like to get back to all questions within
Speaker:an hour.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:Okay. So yeah,
Speaker:50 would be a little cumbersome even on a desktop computer.
Speaker:I don't recommend it.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So this is an interesting point though.
Speaker:Let's talk about behind the scenes,
Speaker:cause we've been talking about now photography's important and taking angles
Speaker:of the photos,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:Let's talk a little bit about the customer service end.
Speaker:Then how much time do you feel you're putting in to
Speaker:be successful in terms of replying and what types of comments
Speaker:or insight can you give us on that end?
Speaker:In terms of the communication before the sale?
Speaker:Well, customers are the most important thing.
Speaker:So communication is so important when you have somebody,
Speaker:a customer call or contacting you with a question you get
Speaker:to them right away,
Speaker:be polite and friendly.
Speaker:And that's what it's all about.
Speaker:But your customers,
Speaker:if you don't have them,
Speaker:guess what?
Speaker:You don't have a shop.
Speaker:Right. And is all your communication done then through email or
Speaker:do you talk on the phone ever?
Speaker:Usually just email w w it's called conversation on Etsy.
Speaker:There's a button you can press like contact and then your
Speaker:call it a convo.
Speaker:And so it's like an Etsy email,
Speaker:Right? And then is there a certain category of question that
Speaker:usually is the most frequent that comes in or give us
Speaker:a sense of the types of things people are asking about
Speaker:Through the phone?
Speaker:For some reason,
Speaker:not all the descriptions come out.
Speaker:So if they're shopping via their phone,
Speaker:they don't see the clear description.
Speaker:So they'll ask if there's any flaws.
Speaker:Sometimes they ask for discounts and I'm in a good mood.
Speaker:I might give them a one Got to catch you at
Speaker:the right time.
Speaker:Right. Or,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you never know,
Speaker:it might be a piece that you've had for awhile that
Speaker:you're just like,
Speaker:I am so ready to get this out of here.
Speaker:Yes, actually I have one of those that just came up
Speaker:and I sold it.
Speaker:So worked out well.
Speaker:Good, good.
Speaker:Now this is a good point because a lot of people
Speaker:now are using their mobile,
Speaker:almost exclusively.
Speaker:A lot of people aren't even going back to a desktop
Speaker:anymore. Have you found that the way you make your description?
Speaker:So a lot of the important stuff is up way at
Speaker:the top with just fewer words or something so that it
Speaker:is readable on mobile devices.
Speaker:Exactly. Right.
Speaker:Because the,
Speaker:you have to have the right keywords to get noticed.
Speaker:Okay. So what is your thought process when you're putting an
Speaker:item up?
Speaker:How do you like,
Speaker:do you have certain that you use,
Speaker:how do you decide what those first couple of lines are
Speaker:going to be in the description,
Speaker:pencil on Trends?
Speaker:Like with China,
Speaker:they loved mismatched China.
Speaker:So I'll try to put in words like that,
Speaker:whatever sort of the trends are,
Speaker:How do you know the trends?
Speaker:Is that just part of knowing your product,
Speaker:right. It is part of knowing and you know,
Speaker:it's sometimes from questions from customers that gives me an idea
Speaker:of what the trends are.
Speaker:Oh, good point.
Speaker:Yeah. We always need to be listening to our customers.
Speaker:They provide so much additional information.
Speaker:I think it's so easy to forget that.
Speaker:Right. Okay.
Speaker:So anything else on the descript,
Speaker:the item descriptions?
Speaker:Well, you just want to have like a measure,
Speaker:everything, you know,
Speaker:two inch diameter,
Speaker:two inches tall and the inside damn diameter one and a
Speaker:half inches.
Speaker:So they know everything there is to know about.
Speaker:Okay. So I think I've heard you talking three things are
Speaker:really super important when you're putting up an item,
Speaker:not talking price at,
Speaker:because we're going to get to that in a minute.
Speaker:But in terms of the description would be adding in keywords
Speaker:because that helps you in search,
Speaker:keeping the most important stuff up to the top.
Speaker:When you're putting in the information,
Speaker:especially for mobile,
Speaker:the detail new in terms of the measurements like Jen's just
Speaker:talking about,
Speaker:and then the photo and multiple angles,
Speaker:depending on your product.
Speaker:So that's actually four things that are super important when you're
Speaker:making your description and putting up each and every item does
Speaker:that summarize it there,
Speaker:Jen, that summarizes it pretty well.
Speaker:So now let's talk about pricing,
Speaker:first of all,
Speaker:where you're getting your items from,
Speaker:and then let's go into pricing.
Speaker:That'll be an interesting place for us to take this,
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:HIO. We are so lucky cause there's so many great places
Speaker:to find antiques and vintage thrift shops.
Speaker:I love estate sales,
Speaker:antique shops,
Speaker:even places like Goodwill,
Speaker:garage sales,
Speaker:once in a while,
Speaker:those are more of a hit or miss.
Speaker:So if it's a nice day and I feel like it,
Speaker:I might go to a few of those.
Speaker:And have you educated yourself?
Speaker:You probably again know from your great aunt Esther,
Speaker:but do you have a good feel or knowledge of whether
Speaker:something that you're looking at is high quality or how do
Speaker:you decide what you're going to pick?
Speaker:What you're going to take and put up at your site?
Speaker:I have to say,
Speaker:I think I have a pretty good eye.
Speaker:If you see me as a state sale,
Speaker:I'll just be grabbing.
Speaker:Are you one of those people who like right before the
Speaker:door opened to you?
Speaker:They're standing in line?
Speaker:No, I don't like that.
Speaker:I don't like that at all.
Speaker:Yeah. I avoid that.
Speaker:Those people are crazy.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So you're not in that category.
Speaker:No, I'm not.
Speaker:So you've picked up products now you're going home and we
Speaker:know how you're going to list them and take photos of
Speaker:them. How are you going to determine what the price is?
Speaker:I have all sorts of methods.
Speaker:I have some reference books,
Speaker:of course,
Speaker:in the internet.
Speaker:Now that you can find so much,
Speaker:I check on other similar items on Etsy,
Speaker:on eBay.
Speaker:And I just kind of know at this point,
Speaker:since I've been doing it since 2008.
Speaker:Okay. And the nice thing for yourself is,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you know how much you paid for it.
Speaker:So it's really a matter of how much you want to
Speaker:make on it.
Speaker:Yes. And we want to make sure that you're making a
Speaker:good profit because you're all you're going to pay at.
Speaker:See something need to factor in the cost of all your
Speaker:packing and shipping supplies.
Speaker:Those are expensive bubble wrap,
Speaker:packing peanuts.
Speaker:Now, is that included in the cost of the product when
Speaker:you list it or does that get included later in the
Speaker:shipping cost?
Speaker:I mix it up a little bit.
Speaker:Cause sometimes the shipping can scare people.
Speaker:So maybe I'll make the price of the item a little
Speaker:bit more because shipping can turn people off.
Speaker:Yeah, it can.
Speaker:So really good point.
Speaker:And this is something that so often I think we,
Speaker:as people who are listing on Etsy or who are crafters
Speaker:and selling products anywhere,
Speaker:we'll forget that there's a lot of hidden costs.
Speaker:It's just not the cost of your materials or in Jen's
Speaker:case, the cost of what she picked up and it vintage
Speaker:item for it's also in Jen's case,
Speaker:she had to drive wherever she was going.
Speaker:She was taking time to do that in the terms of
Speaker:a crafter,
Speaker:you have to get your supplies,
Speaker:time, creating everything and putting it all together.
Speaker:And all of that is worth something.
Speaker:So it's not just the raw material costs of acquiring the
Speaker:product. There are a lot of other hidden things.
Speaker:Jen here is also talking about,
Speaker:I think a very great idea is some of the extra
Speaker:shipping costs,
Speaker:bubble, wrap,
Speaker:labels, back scene,
Speaker:you, whatever it might be.
Speaker:I don't know if you include notes or any,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:promotional stuff in,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:with the box to Jen,
Speaker:but all of that should be included in the total cost
Speaker:of your products.
Speaker:So something to think about when you're pricing very important,
Speaker:are you able on Etsy to say free shipping?
Speaker:Very rarely.
Speaker:Maybe they're ordering a second item and it's maybe just jewelry.
Speaker:Yes, I can do that.
Speaker:Okay. So you could,
Speaker:if someone was doing something and they wanted to just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:maybe it's something that they can even send in an envelope,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that they could,
Speaker:but there is the option to say free shipping on a
Speaker:store. There is that option.
Speaker:Yes. You can do that.
Speaker:So talk to us a little bit now on the marketing
Speaker:end, how do you drive business over to your stores?
Speaker:There's so many ways,
Speaker:but social media is my favorite and I have almost 24,000
Speaker:followers on Twitter because I love to talk and on all
Speaker:my social media,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:Oh, Instagram is my new favorite.
Speaker:That's good.
Speaker:It's so visual.
Speaker:Right? Visual.
Speaker:I'm all about the visual,
Speaker:but I like to mix it up.
Speaker:So it's not just not like I'm promoting and I'd like
Speaker:to mix it up with my photography,
Speaker:what I'm doing,
Speaker:maybe playing tennis.
Speaker:I know a lot about you too,
Speaker:because honestly Etsy shop owners,
Speaker:I think the whole concept of Etsy is you're buying from
Speaker:someone who has their own business.
Speaker:So it's great.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:to add your personal life too,
Speaker:People want to know more about you.
Speaker:Sure. So Twitter and Instagram and then those lead to your
Speaker:Etsy shop.
Speaker:Yes. Among other things I have Pinterest and Tumblr and no
Speaker:blah-blah-blah and there's so many.
Speaker:Would you say Twitter and Instagram now are your biggest?
Speaker:Those are my top.
Speaker:And those are your top.
Speaker:So on Instagram,
Speaker:do you have multiple sites for the shops or,
Speaker:or what site do you lead somebody to?
Speaker:Since there's only one clickable link there in the bio of
Speaker:Instagram? Well,
Speaker:it's called,
Speaker:most of my sites are called Jen's closet,
Speaker:but in the bio,
Speaker:there is a link to Jen's closet.
Speaker:They won't give you any more links,
Speaker:but you can add the names of your other shops.
Speaker:And that's what I've done too.
Speaker:Okay. Yeah.
Speaker:And I've seen that.
Speaker:They're actually,
Speaker:now that you've said that.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And so how often do you post on Instagram?
Speaker:Instagram, probably three times a day.
Speaker:And one would be more,
Speaker:maybe something in lifestyle cooking.
Speaker:I love to cook.
Speaker:So I post something that I'm making for lunch.
Speaker:And then,
Speaker:then I'll have at least one that it's an Etsy item.
Speaker:And then I love photography and I love to create little
Speaker:tea party vignettes and put that on and people love that.
Speaker:Okay. And Then what about Twitter?
Speaker:How often do you post on Twitter?
Speaker:Oh gosh.
Speaker:I'm always on Twitter.
Speaker:If you anyone out there,
Speaker:if you want to go,
Speaker:go to Jen's class at,
Speaker:you'll see,
Speaker:I tweet a lot.
Speaker:I it's a crazy amount.
Speaker:I'm embarrassed.
Speaker:I won't even say Well,
Speaker:but that's a platform where you want to be tweeting a
Speaker:lot. You know,
Speaker:I w more than 20 a day,
Speaker:Probably because it just random things.
Speaker:I like to post funny things.
Speaker:And like I say,
Speaker:I will post probably in a day,
Speaker:maybe three posts that are Etsy related,
Speaker:but the rest is just fun.
Speaker:Are most of your followers then business or are they friends
Speaker:and family as well?
Speaker:It's a great mix of business friends.
Speaker:It's funny,
Speaker:important thing on Twitter is the hashtags and I'll hashtag whatever
Speaker:it's wine and I'll all of a sudden get wine companies
Speaker:following me.
Speaker:I get quite a few new followers every day.
Speaker:Wonderful. And so have you been doing that for the last
Speaker:several years or how did it start in build to be
Speaker:as big as it is right now?
Speaker:Twitter, I started in 2008,
Speaker:mostly just to promote my shop.
Speaker:And I don't know,
Speaker:my daughter is 23.
Speaker:She says,
Speaker:her friends say,
Speaker:wow, what does your mom do?
Speaker:Like I'm some movie stars,
Speaker:something she's like,
Speaker:nothing. You've built it up over time.
Speaker:That's the point you're active,
Speaker:your consistent,
Speaker:you post multiple things,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:from lifestyle to cooking,
Speaker:which is your,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:a hobby to your business.
Speaker:So it's all encompassing of who you are and you've been
Speaker:doing it for quite a long time.
Speaker:So that's how you build up the numbers.
Speaker:Again. Another great point for us all to remember is don't
Speaker:just think specially on social media,
Speaker:you put your time in and after three months,
Speaker:why are you not seeing all these numbers?
Speaker:You have to continue to be consistent and to be posting
Speaker:things that people want to be looking for.
Speaker:Yes. A good mix.
Speaker:And the hashtags are important.
Speaker:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker:On Instagram too,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:Twitter and Instagram.
Speaker:So you're into the real,
Speaker:super hashtag social media platform.
Speaker:Yes, definitely.
Speaker:I would like to roll into now our reflection section.
Speaker:This is an in-depth look at you in terms of what
Speaker:types of qualities and things that you're doing that are helping
Speaker:you be as successful as you are.
Speaker:If there's one trait that you have apart from your aunt,
Speaker:Esther and loving all of vintage,
Speaker:what is it that you call upon within yourself that keeps
Speaker:you going every day?
Speaker:My attitude,
Speaker:I try to keep positive.
Speaker:There's some days that stuff can happen,
Speaker:but most days I'm positive and I'm happy person,
Speaker:even though circumstances might not be perfect all the time.
Speaker:I'm basically a happy person.
Speaker:Wonderful. And is there a tool that you use regularly in
Speaker:your life?
Speaker:And I've already talked about the fact that you get out
Speaker:and get moving.
Speaker:Cause none of us want to be behind the computer all
Speaker:the time,
Speaker:but is that it,
Speaker:or is there something else that you do within your business
Speaker:day that you really see is if you didn't have that
Speaker:tool or that ability to do something,
Speaker:it would impede your progress.
Speaker:Yes. My best tool is writing,
Speaker:whether it's just lists or a journal to vent,
Speaker:to talk about what's going on or what you want to
Speaker:do the rest of your life,
Speaker:whatever writing is my thing.
Speaker:Is it journaling specifically?
Speaker:Yes. I like to keep a journal.
Speaker:It helps to sort out your thoughts sometimes when you're kind
Speaker:of mixed up with things.
Speaker:So writing's always helped me with that.
Speaker:Do you do a daily entry?
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:Daily entry.
Speaker:Do you Certain time,
Speaker:is it kind of in a routine,
Speaker:your routine,
Speaker:do you like get up and do it right away or
Speaker:Usually it gets later,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:before bed,
Speaker:time, time to relax.
Speaker:Right. All right.
Speaker:Wonderful. No one has really talked about that on our podcast
Speaker:yet. So I'm really glad that you are,
Speaker:in terms of the value of sitting down,
Speaker:getting your thoughts on paper,
Speaker:kind of clarifies for you.
Speaker:It sounds like It's so important for me and I think
Speaker:it will help anybody.
Speaker:So Found real advantages in that.
Speaker:And have you read a book lately that you think our
Speaker:listeners could find?
Speaker:Well, I'm not really very good about reading books,
Speaker:but I did go to the library yesterday and,
Speaker:but see,
Speaker:I, like I said,
Speaker:I'm more of a visual,
Speaker:so I bought two.
Speaker:If you've heard of Rachel Ashwell shabby chic.
Speaker:I love her.
Speaker:I borrowed two of her books and then I bought two
Speaker:other vintage,
Speaker:one called the vintage table treasures and it's really cool book.
Speaker:And then another one called the serene home.
Speaker:And it's all inspirational pictures and ideas for your decorating in
Speaker:includes vintage.
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:So those are my books.
Speaker:Will you be relating those to your business at all?
Speaker:Yes, actually I already posted a few pictures from the book
Speaker:on Instagram yesterday.
Speaker:Oh, anybody that wants to go see that and Jen's class
Speaker:at again,
Speaker:Instagram. Interesting.
Speaker:So you're using the book just because you like the information
Speaker:first off,
Speaker:but then also you're using it for post content for social
Speaker:media and then probably also continued education on vintage.
Speaker:Yeah. And the pictures inspire me.
Speaker:And after going through the book,
Speaker:it inspired me to make another one of my cute little
Speaker:vignettes and post that on Instagram.
Speaker:Perfect. All right.
Speaker:Well, give biz listeners Jen's books are more visual books because
Speaker:obviously that's her industry,
Speaker:but since you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:I know you like to listen to audio books and get
Speaker:your information via audio.
Speaker:So I've teamed up with audible for you to be able
Speaker:to get an audio book for free.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and pick out your book.
Speaker:That's gift biz,
Speaker:book.com. All right,
Speaker:Jen. Now I would like to invite you to dare to
Speaker:dream. I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this would be your dream or your goal of almost
Speaker:unreachable Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:Okay. One of my biggest fears is speaking in front of
Speaker:an audience.
Speaker:So that is the gift.
Speaker:I want the gift to be able to speak comfortably in
Speaker:front of an audience.
Speaker:And let's say that gift was granted,
Speaker:where are you going to speak?
Speaker:I am going to start by with smaller groups.
Speaker:And of course it's going to be something that I love
Speaker:to talk about vintage.
Speaker:Oh, there you go.
Speaker:So you want to educate people on vintage?
Speaker:Yes. Have you ever heard that public speaking is the biggest
Speaker:fear anybody ever has?
Speaker:Have you heard that before?
Speaker:No, I did not know that it is People fear,
Speaker:public speaking,
Speaker:even more than passing away.
Speaker:It's like the number one fear.
Speaker:So I'm not alone.
Speaker:You are not alone.
Speaker:So you don't,
Speaker:you need to do is you just need to find that
Speaker:place where you're going to go speak and just get up
Speaker:and do it because everyone has to start from the beginning.
Speaker:Right. I've even heard that Barbara Streisand before she gets on
Speaker:stage and sings still gets,
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:That's amazing.
Speaker:She hasn't proved herself over and over and over already.
Speaker:Right? Well,
Speaker:I feel a little bit better.
Speaker:And now that I put that out there,
Speaker:I guess I have to do this too.
Speaker:Yeah. See,
Speaker:we're making you commit.
Speaker:You didn't realize that was what you're in for when you
Speaker:agreed to do this show Such pressure.
Speaker:Oh gosh.
Speaker:This is really interesting.
Speaker:I am quite sure that some of our listeners are going
Speaker:to be wanting to go and see some of these products
Speaker:where's best place for someone to go.
Speaker:If you had one touch point that you wanted to drive
Speaker:people to,
Speaker:where would that be?
Speaker:Well, I guess it would be to one of my Etsy
Speaker:shops. Jen's closet,
Speaker:closet.etsy.com. And there you also have in your bio,
Speaker:the names of the other shops and gift biz listeners,
Speaker:as you know,
Speaker:there's always the show notes page.
Speaker:So there will be the links to let's see,
Speaker:at least Jen's closet on Etsy,
Speaker:maybe all of them,
Speaker:maybe we should just put all of them up there.
Speaker:And then also Instagram,
Speaker:Twitter, all the social media links.
Speaker:So you can see what she's up to,
Speaker:what she's cooking for lunch today.
Speaker:Know what I'm eating for lunch.
Speaker:Well, Jen,
Speaker:thank you so much.
Speaker:This has really been enlightening in terms of how to start
Speaker:at sea.
Speaker:And I think exciting for a lot of our listeners to
Speaker:see that it's really pretty easy.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:you want to take the time though.
Speaker:Ease does not mean simple laid back.
Speaker:You don't work with it,
Speaker:right? Because you heard what Jen was saying that you are
Speaker:going to have customer service questions.
Speaker:You're going to want to ship out product timely,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:But in terms of being able to get a store up
Speaker:on Etsy and get going very small investment seems to be
Speaker:pretty smooth.
Speaker:You don't need to have merchant accounts and other types of
Speaker:things if you're opening a shop.
Speaker:So really I would say nothing stopping you.
Speaker:And we can all think Jen,
Speaker:for sharing so much valuable information for us.
Speaker:I really appreciate it.
Speaker:Jen, thank you so much continued success to you and may
Speaker:your candle always burn bright,
Speaker:So much fun.
Speaker:Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your business.
Speaker:Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your business
Speaker:and life.
Speaker:It's our gift to you and available@giftbizonrap.com
Speaker:slash tools.
Speaker:Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for the
Speaker:next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source for your gift business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever granted products of your
Speaker:logo or crim to happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica, to add to a gift right at checkout,
Speaker:it's all done right in your shop or across studio in
Speaker:seconds. Check out the ribbon print company.com
Speaker:for more information after you listened to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
Speaker:make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
Speaker:iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
Speaker:go live.
Speaker:And thank you to those who have already left a rating
Speaker:and review by subscribing rating and reviewing help to increase the
Speaker:visibility of the gift is on route.
Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward,