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Welcome to the Artists and Makers group! ๐ŸŽจ ๐Ÿงถ ๐Ÿงต

Hi, everyone! Welcome to the Artists & Makers group in Seller Community! Whether you're selling your work or selling items made by others, this is the group for you. You can use this space to ask questions and share tips, knowledge, ideas, and more. 

 

If you're new to the group, please reply here and introduce yourself or start a new thread about anything you want! 

 

If you haven't already joined the group, visit the group home page and click the Join Group Hub button. We're looking forward to getting to know you and your business! ๐Ÿ˜Š

Elisabeth (she/they)
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Tell all your friends to pass on the site. Here are some suggestions. Try doing Craft Fairs and promote your site.by handing out business cards, setup a Facebook, and Instagram site to promote your site, Advertise with Google Ads. Try a few at a time and see what happens. 

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Thanks!  I'll be busy checking all of those ideas out tonight.  

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Hi @ElisabethB Thank you for starting this group. How can we turn off notifications for a thread. The group is wonderful but I get a notification every time someone comments on this thread and it's blowing up my business email. How can we participate but control the inbox notifications? I got 43 emails today from this page. Thanks for your help!

 

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Admin

Hi @Cubanita
I agree the notifications can be overwhelming at times! You can unsubscribe from a thread using the link at the top of the post page (see the attached screenshot with the link outlined in yellow). Let me know if you have any other questions, and thank you for joining the group! ๐Ÿ˜Š

Screen Shot 2022-07-26 at 7.22.24 AM.png

 

Elisabeth (she/they)
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Name's Ardis and I'm in Seattle, WA, USA. Have been making undies for adults out of T-shirts since 2015. I have my own website and don't sell very much, but enjoy it so much I just won't stop. I use Indiemade platform for my website and I like it better than Shopify. I tend to use Paypal and Venmo more than the Square at events. VTMX4076.JPGthe tush is stretch velvetthe tush is stretch velvet

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that is such an original idea, I would think around the holidays you should get tons of orders.  Do you do craft fairs because this is such a cute idea

 

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Hi I'm Aaron,

I'm a jeweler, metal artist, lapidary from Sarasota, FL. I sell here on my square site.

 

 www.aaronwilloughby.com

 

Thanks for making the group.

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Hello, my name is Jamie and I started my business just over 4 mths ago. I currently have a square website, FB store and Etsy store where I am hoping to start selling more regularly my work. My business is Cutting Edge Pyrography, out of New Brunswick, Canada where I do custom hand burned designs on live edge, cutting boards, decorative spoons. I have always been a very artist individual who loves to draw, do amateur  photography, and wood burn; I decided to try to make a business out of it, offering hand burned, custom or personalized unique gifts. Most of my orders so far have been friends of friends on Facebook, but looking to expand to the rest of Canada, US and potentially Intl

Jamie
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Hi Jamie,

 

What part of New Brunswick are you in? We are on the coast of Maine about 25 miles from St. Stephen NB.

Cheers, Theresa
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Iโ€™m in the southeast part of the province off the Bay of Fundy, about 45 min from St Stephen

Jamie
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Jamie, small world!

Cheers, Theresa
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Yes it is Theresa, we loved going to Calais before the whole covid thing, haven't been down in a while now. We also have been to Bangor, Rockport and Naples. It is absolutely beautiful spot

Jamie
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Jamie, Campobello and St. Andrews were always on our summer go-to list. I've been to St. Andrews once since Covid for a class at Sunbury Shores, but that's about it. Hopefully we will get back to normal one day.

Cheers, Theresa
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Hello all! Iโ€™m Laurie and I make and sell hats for men and women from a 350 s.f. retail workshop in San Anselmo, California. I am a 1 woman maker/seller of everyday and special occasion headwear. Most of the work is bespoke but I try to keep the shop stocked with an array of ready to wear hats that feature my skill and show off the scope of my work. I donโ€™t sell online, only from my shop which means I am a very local focused boutique personal wear item business.

 

The biggest challenges for my business are:

1. Keeping the hats affordable so as to have a steady stream of new and repeat customers. Most of my suppliers who are all over the world have increased their prices which inevitably means I have to add to mine. On top of that, where my business is located has an 8.5% sales tax and is proposing an increase to 9.5% on the November ballot. 

 

2. Helping customers visualize the hat they want me to make in an era of internet shopping is a challenge. Many of my customers have become too accustomed to internet shopping from looking at pictures and as a result have lost the ability to determine what works best for their face and body from a real world perspective. Of course I donโ€™t have โ€œTheโ€ hat they are seeking in the shop, I have to make it. So my job is to help the customer visualize their goal with the raw material and trim in my shop. This is always a process of getting to know the customer, without being too nosy. Knowing my materials and how they work, combine with trim, and limiting the choices for the customer to keep the hat designing to within a 1/2 hour takes effort. Being gentle and direct in an inoffensive way is an art form itself! On top of that their is the art of communication; helping the customer articulate what they want and how they want it to fit requires good listening and asking pointed questions.

 

3. The long term and most daunting challenge is to find someone who I can train and trust to work alongside me and eventually take on the business. I am 60 years old and hope the right person will come my way in the next 10 years. My idea is to keep growing my business and expanding my reach and brand so that interested milliners might seek me out for the learning experience and maybe want to take over my business.

 

Thatโ€™s all I got!

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My name is Mandy Mosher and I am an artist, wife, homeschooling mom, and church goer, living in Upstate New York. You will see a lot of Mommy and me art on my website. I make hand sculpted clay figures, magnets, ornaments, and 3D paintings.
When people have viewed my art, I have heard them say, "That is so adorable, it just makes me smile, and I want to go there!" It was fulfilling and music to my ears! My style is more realistic than cartoonish, but I do create those occasionally as well. 

 

https://mandysclaycreations.square.site/ 

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Welcome to the group, Mandy! I love your site & all the adorable clay figurines. ๐Ÿ˜Š
Elisabeth (she/they)
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Hi! I'm Blanche, and I make jewelry under the name "Makabet Designs."

I'm concerned though, about Square's new refund policy - I'm afraid I'm going to have to point out to customers that refunds will now be minus Square's "Processing fee" and that they're best off paying cash rather than using their cards, on the chance that a refund will be necessary.

I heard about this on Louis Rossmann's (advocate for Right To Repair) latest video; if I sell a $200 or $300 set and a customer desires a refund (rare, usually due to metal allergy or reaction) then I'm out a few bucks. Unlike Louis, who does laptop repair and can lose a big chunk more in a transaction refund, I'm still running on a knife-edge of a budget, and it doesn't take much to put me in the red.

Not happy about either the new policy (I got the email this morning) or the excuse for it (I doubt it costs Square that much in processing given how cheap the hardware to run servers etc is these days.)

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Hey Everyone! I'm super excited to finally have my website up and running! I would love if you could check it out at some point in the near future. I'm working on getting photos for my products right now, but it should be up ASAP. I can't wait to check out some of your shops and start getting traffic to mine! Good luck on your small business. ๐Ÿ˜Š

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Hey! Your site looks great so far and your items are adorable! Looks like you're doing great,  keep it up!

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It's lovely looking stuff, best of luck with it

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Hi everybody. 

I canโ€™t believe that I have only just stumbled across this group. 

 

My name is Kate and iโ€™m 43yr and located in South Australia. Iโ€™ve been attempting to be a successful business owner since December 2021. I use โ€œattempting โ€œ very loosely as itโ€™s taken me this long to discover this group so you can only image how difficult I find navigating a website let alone easily understand how to create one that is successful.

I continue to remain optimistic. I believe that one day I will wake up and have found that โ€œ puff the magic dragonโ€ has spread some magic sparkle over my business and itโ€™s all set up and and I magically find orders awaiting to be created hahaha ( iโ€™m a glass half full type of girl). In my successful fairytale Im sure Puff sprinkles some magic in the form of embedding me with a large returning customer base and knowledge on all things e-commerce to keep it that way. ha 

 

Ok, on a more serious note , my business is Kreative K8s Custom Makes. I am a Handmade Macrame and Crochet Product small business! I offer a collection of  handcrafted macrame and crochet products for your home decor and personal accessories needs.

 

My range of macrame products includes wall hangings, plant hangers, Nursery Room decor, and more. I also offer crochet products such as beanies, scarves, shawls, and blankets.

As a small business, I like to welcome creativity and individuality, and therefore I offer custom orders also that cater to a customers  unique taste and preferences.

My products make perfect gifts for your loved ones or for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, baby showers or housewarming parties.

I am passionate about my craft and I take pride in all work and providing the best service I can.

 

I commenced this crazy journey in December 2021 after a medical illness wreaked havoc and I found myself unable to work my normal 8-6 office job. I have always been a creative person so in that down time i taught myself how to crochet. Establishing a new craft during Covid and lockdowns was always a risk, and looking back now iโ€™m pretty sure diving in head first without a customer base, nor a sale against a product was probably a bit erratic of me and I realise the planning and steps that I should have done first, which would have made for a far better experience. Hindsight is great. So here I am 18mths in trying to go back and recreate what should have been done to start with. 

I have lots to do in this space and whilst itโ€™s been tough iโ€™m a determined woman and likes a challenge! So have a look at my site and please critique away, I can only grow both personally and financially by feedback and suggestions ๐Ÿ˜Š

 

Lastly, on a personal note, have a daughter 14yrs, Sadly my husband passed away In 2018 from the dreaded โ€œCโ€ at 39yr. Again I have always tried to be positive and look towards the future despite some very difficult, and heartbreaking times. Iโ€™m sure there are many who have had similar life experiences so i try not to dwell.

 

well thanks for reading my novel 

reach out and chat any time iโ€™m of course on socials too under the same name 

 

enjoy your day and happy thriving and growing to you all ๐Ÿ˜โค๏ธ

 

 

 

 

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