Marketing Myself - Making an Etsy

Following on from my first stall at Support Indie Artists art market in September, I went about setting up an Etsy so I can sell my products all over the country and internationally. I think it will be a professional way of displaying all my items, and learning how to curate them for potential customers.

I haven't listed all of my items as I wanted to get a feel of how it works, and now that I've made a couple of sales I plan to update my listings and put things like my prints and more badges/jewellery up. I also took some advice from a friend who is rather successful on Etsy, and I will remove shipping costs as that apparently is more incentive for buyers.

If I continue getting sales I want to update my listings to look a little more professional, I do have a digital camera and could stage a little photoshoot to make my products look their very best. This isn't a priority right now, however.

I would also like to package my items more nicely - getting little plastic bags for my sticker packs would be great, but not very environmentally friendly. I want to look into alternatives, perhaps paper bags, or biodegradable material.

I also might start making little cardboard backs for my pins to make them look a little more professional, which would also help me sell them at fairs. It's about slowly building a professional-looking brand as I continue to grow, and hopefully gaining a bit of recognition.

Girl Gang Leeds Winter Art Market

This Sunday I set up a stall at the Girl Gang Leeds Winter Art Market with Anna Thompson from Illustration. I was selling my prints, earrings, badges, and zines. I enjoyed sharing a stall with Anna  as I meant I had someone to talk to during the day, and our contrasting styles made us stand out.  

This was a great opportunity to get wider exposure as an artist in the Leeds area, as it was incredibly well-attended, and I made quite a lot of sales. Compared to the first art market I took part in in September, which was a lovely introduction into the world of running a table at an art market, this one was much more frantic and busy. It's validating knowing that people like your work enough to spend their money on it, especially in an art market with over 50 other sellers. 

It was a great atmosphere, and it felt good to be selling alongside other creators I admire. There was a huge range of work and backgrounds, and I had some lovely conversations with other creators and attendees. I've spoken to a couple since the event and have arranged some commission work.

Ultimately I want to continue selling at stalls such as this, and continue to grow my presence online as an illustrator and accessory-maker, especially on Etsy and Instagram. I'm currently saving for an iPad Pro, which will hopefully help me create more art on-the-go. 

I want to branch out into making enamel pins, but I it's going to be quite expensive, so I am considering making a kickstarter/gofundme to help fund part of the cost. 

Networking - Volunteering at Manchester Animation Festival

This week I spent time as a Guest Liason volunteer at Manchester Animation Festival. This is my third year attending the festival, but the first year I've spent as a volunteer rather than a delegate, so it was really interesting and insightful to see what kind of work goes on behind the scenes to help the festival run smoothly.

As a Guest Liason, I had a unique opportunity in that I had an excuse to be speaking to the guests, including professionals in my specialism. In particular, I struck up interesting conversations with Laura Vincent from Yamination and Paul "Gripper" Flannery from Gadzooks Animation. I also got to speak with Peter Lord and David Sproxton, which was a bit of an out-of-body experience as they are so iconic. I was also able to chat with Barry Purves, alongside other industry professionals. It really helped my understanding of how small an industry it is, and I am hugely grateful to Steve Henderson for introducing me to certain people.

I found the few days quite stressful when it was busy, and a little dull when it was quiet. That being said, I was so grateful for the opportunity, and it would be unrealistic to expect it to be engaging 100% of the time. In the quieter moments I found opportunities to talk to the other volunteers and gain an insight into their lives and practices, which was interesting as I'm mostly used to talking to LAU students as a point of reference for other animators/creatives my age.

I would love to do this again next year, as I found it much more involved and personal than just attending as a delegate, though I did miss seeing as many films as the last couple of years.