Zoe & Drew: Business Wednesday

Today I would like to properly introduce you to Viv from Poppy Sparkles, who will be guest posting here on Zoe and Drew. For Business Wednesday this week Viv is going to explain the importance of Etsy teams and building a network within this huge marketplace to stop you just being a little fish in a very big pond.

1. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m Viv Smith and the owner, designer and Jewellery maker behind Poppy Sparkles. I’m also a busy mum of two little ones, a twitter addict and a lover of handmade and crafts.

2. When did you start designing jewellery?

I started designing and making jewellery in my early teens. It began as a solution to my parents’ refusal to let me have my ears pierced and the frustration at being able to find trendy clip on earrings. I then progressed to necklaces and bracelets. Mostly I created for myself, but sold at events locally to me. In recent years I started to dabble with selling online and in March 2010 decided to take it up a level and launch Poppy Sparkles.

3. How did you discover Etsy?

A couple of years ago my mum mentioned a website, www.etsy.com, had been featured in The Times Sunday magazine. As a lover of handmade I soon fell in love with Etsy and whiled away many an hour browsing the beautiful creations.

4. Did you open a shop immeadiately?

No. I experimented with selling on Folksy prior to setting up Poppy Sparkles and was a bit scared of Etsy – little fish in a big sea syndrome I think. However, after so much browsing I started to feel less scared and as it wasn’t much more work to list an item on Etsy as well as on Folksy, decided to give it a whirl. Etsy is a huge website and it is hard to be seen, but the internet is vast too and wherever you are on the internet, you need to put in the promotion and SEO work.

5. Etsy is now a huge marketplace, do you think it's important to join a team?

I firmly believe that networking is so valuable and the Etsy teams afford an opportunity to network with like-minded people. There are teams for a variety of different things, linking people by area, discipline and various social factors or stations in life. But, what all these teams provide is support and an opportunity to network.

6. How can the new Britsh Sellers on Etsy Team help Etsy sellers in the UK?

The British Sellers on Etsy Team has become somewhat bigger than we ever expected, but is becoming a hub of activity and support for British Etsy Sellers. There’s something for every one from treasury challenges to shop talk. The Team Twitter account I set up, along with the #uketsy hashtag, has shown how powerful social media can be and the viral effect of team members re-tweeting other members’ tweets featuring #uketsy is helping all members reach a far greater audience. As one tweet said last night “I didn’t know there was an easy way to find British Etsy sellers. Have now added you to my favs”. Another tweet was from a seller commenting on how they didn’t feel so lost now there was a community of Etsy sellers coming together on twitter. And, it’s not just Etsy sellers following the team Twitter account, I have noticed some media and PR people have started to follow and I am sure word is getting out there that the quick way to find UK Etsy items is to look up the team account or the #uketsy hashtag.

We’re not just stopping at a Twitter account either. We have a Facebook page being set up and a blog will be launched shortly where we hope to offer a platform for British Sellers on Etsy to showcase their work.

We’ve been a bit blown away by the success of the British Sellers on Etsy team and are working hard to ensure we provide a valuable service to all the British Etsy Sellers in our team. One thing we have all learnt is that collaboration and teamwork works wonders and it’d be great to continue to build a community of UK based Etsy sellers.

Thanks Viv, I look forward to seeing how the British Sellers on Etsy team progresses. Also wishing you every success with Poppy Sparkles this year.

Poppy Sparkles

{Etsy} {Folksy} {Blog} {Twitter} {Facebook}

British Sellers on Etsy

{Etsy} {Twitter} {Facebook}