Julie Corbett « oh my! handmade goodness

Julie Corbett

How to Make Handmade Buyers Sit Up and Take Notice

Friday, September 23, 2011

“The Beggar” by mattscoggin

Our family dog, Daisy, is a basset hound mix whose favorite pastime is . . . well, sleeping. In fact, she sleeps so soundly that she often snores. She is quite inactive most of the time, but I know a little trick to make her sit up and take notice. Tennis shoes.

Even though Daisy likes to sleep, she also loves to go for walks with our family. As soon as I pull my tennis shoes out of the closet, she starts wagging her tail and gets about as excited as a basset hound can be. Who knew that tennis shoes could send a dog into an excited frenzy?

Just as I get out my tennis shoes when I want Daisy to get ready for our walk, handmade sellers can follow a few steps to make customers sit up and take notice. With all of the fabulous handmade product websites on the World Wide Web these days, you may be wondering how to entice customers to purchase from your shop. Read on for 6 ways to make your handmade shop noticeable.

1. Sell a Unique Product

Of course, you don’t have to invent a brand-new product to sell it successfully online. You do, however, need to present it uniquely and/or create a product that takes a different “spin” on an already-known product.

2. Describe the Product in a Way that Convinces Customers to Buy

As you know, great product descriptions are the key to selling more products. You must (1) catch the customer’s attention; (2) describe the details of the product so that the customer feels comfortable purchasing it; and (3) convince the customer that his/her life won’t be complete without it!

For more tips about how to write irresistible product descriptions, you might enjoy my free e-course.

3. Sell Your Products in an Attractive Environment

Handmade sellers have several options for selling their products, and each venue must be as attractive as possible.

* Your online shop
* Your brick & mortar shop (if applicable)
* Your craft fair booth
* Your product photos

As soon as prospective customers enter your selling venue (real or virtual), they should experience the “wow factor”!

4. Communicate with your customers

Make them customers for life by communicating in a way that is (1) prompt, (2) helpful, and (3) passionate. Communicate about shipping times and follow up after the product has arrived.

Here are some links with more information about effective communication:
6 Ways to Exceed Your Handmade Customers’ Shipping Expectations
How Great Communication Can Improve Sales and Grow Your Repeat Customer Base

5. Build Your Brand with Fabulous Social Media Venues

Do your blog, your Facebook fan page, and your Twitter page work together to attract customers and strengthen your brand? Yes, these venues take time and effort to keep fresh and fantastic, but they build a closer relationship between your business and your customers.

If a blog, a Facebook page, and a Twitter presence are too many “balls” to juggle at once, focus on one venue and make that one great. You can always add other ones later.

6. Share Customer Testimonials

Shoppers considering making a purchase from your shop often believe the word of previous customers more than they believe your own description of the product. Add a testimonial or two at the end of each product description, or set up a testimonials page on your blog. Use this powerful tool to your advantage!

Additional reading about testimonials:
Tap Into the Power of Customer Testimonials
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Evaluate your handmade business: are you pulling out the “tennis shoes” to catch your customers’ attention? What small changes can you make today that will make your customers sit up and take notice?

Tips for Editing Drool-Worthy Product Photos

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

by Julie Corbett of On The Dot

{image credit: sticker fun camera decal}

So you’ve chosen the best background, lighting, staging, and angles for your product photos after reading 4 Tips for Capturing Drool-Worthy Product Photos. You’ve photographed your products, but when you downloaded them to your computer, you were less than impressed with the results. What now?

It’s time to edit those photos! Photo editing is a part of life for anyone who sells products online. Even if you capture a fabulous product shot that doesn’t need any tweaking for exposure, white balance, etc., you’ll still have to open up some sort of photo editor to crop and/or resize your photos before uploading them to your shop.

Of course, our goal is to capture such great shots that we don’t need to edit them, but some photo editing is just a part of running an online business.

If you absolutely dread editing your photos or feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, never fear! The nice thing about editing digital photos is that you can always click the Undo key, right? :)

As you probably are aware, there are many photo editors on the market today. Some, like Photoshop, are expensive — like $700 expensive — yikes! Others, like Photoshop Elements, are much more reasonable — like $80 or so. The main problem with these programs, though, is that there is a HUGE learning curve before you’d feel comfortable enough to use them.

Thankfully, there are several lower-priced options available, but I really like Picnik for my photo editing. On occasion, I still use Photoshop Elements to do some editing, but Picnik works so well that I don’t really need anything else. And Picnik is FREE!

So, is there a learning curve for Picnik? Not really. The site is quite user friendly, with help bubbles that pop up along the way. If you still feel intimidated about using Picnik, don’t worry: you won’t have to experiment alone. The screencasts below will guide you through the steps to edit just about any product photograph.

The following are the main areas of photo editing that you’ll need to be concerned with for your handmade business:

* Exposure (brightness)
* White Balance
* Cropping for Etsy (you’re going to love the “secret cropping tip” that I shared in screencast #3 below!)
* Saving

Of course, there are many other tweaks that you can try, but these four are the primary needs for most product photos.

I have created three helpful screencasts that will walk you through the most common product photo editing steps. I encourage you to watch each one to become more familiar with Picnik.

Step #1:

Step #2:

Step #3:

Have you tried using Picnik to edit your product photos? What part of photo editing do you find most challenging? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

4 Tips for Capturing Drool-Worthy Product Photos

Thursday, April 14, 2011

guest post by Julie Corbett of On The Dot Creations
image credit: Point and Click print from Parada Creations

We’ve heard it over and over again: great product photos are the key to selling more products online. But what about those of us who don’t have big, expensive cameras or fancy lighting setups? Can we capture great product photos too?

Anyone who sells products online is aware of the importance of great product photography. Customers are more likely to purchase a poorly-crafted product that has been well photographed than a well-crafted product that has been photographed poorly. Because our online customers can’t touch our products or see them in person, they rely on accurate product photos to help make their purchasing decisions.

So what are some tips to capture drool-worthy product photos (without an expensive camera)?

#1: Choose the perfect background.

Not just any background, mind you. We must search for the best background for our particular products.

Here are a few points to consider:

* What is color of the product?

If the product is multi-colored, consider using a simple, single-color background. In the picture of my beaded coin purse above, I chose a simple white paper background, mostly because the product has multiple colors. The contrast of the black on white is powerful and eye-catching.

How about using a single-color background with some texture? Wood, stone, sand, and even grass are some examples of great textured backgrounds.

If the product is monochromatic (one color only), you can choose a more creative background. Perhaps a fun piece of fabric or scrapbook paper is just what you need. Just remember that the customer’s attention should first be drawn to the product, not the background.

* What is the theme of the product?
If the product is fun and lively (a child’s toy, for example), you could use a background with a little bit of spunk. If the product is soft or muted in color, you could use a background that looks calm and relaxing.

By the way, remember that a wild variety of different backgrounds in your product photos can give an unorganized look to your shop. Spend time trying different backgrounds and settle on one style that will look best with all of your products. Your shop will look more organized and attractive.

Additional reading about photo backgrounds:
Want Better Product Photos? Check the Background!
3 Ways Cardstock Can Improve Your Product Photos

#2: Choose the Best Lighting for your Products

Good lighting is critical for product photography. A multitude of photo problems can be solved with the right light source.

A handmade seller has many lighting options, but natural lighting often produces the best (and the cheapest!) results.

As you can see in the image above, I set up this particular photo shoot right next to a window. Even though a window provides lots of natural light, if the light is too strong, it could cast harsh shadows. In this case, you could cover the window with a sheer fabric that will allow light to come through while reducing shadows. (I have an opaque curtain that I use for this purpose, but really any kind of see-through fabric would accomplish the same effect.)

Outdoor lighting can be effective too, although you might have to deal with a few obstacles that could be frustrating:
* uneven surfaces (grass, for example)
* bugs crawling on the background (this has happened to me more than once :)
* wind that can move your product and/or background
* harsh shadows from direct sunlight

Open shade works quite well for photo lighting. The best time of day for outdoor lighting is early morning or late afternoon (when the shadows aren’t as harsh).

If at all possible, avoid using a flash when photographing your products. Read why in this post: Flash Photography: A Bad Idea for Product Photography

#3: Stage Your Products Tastefully

Not every product needs to be staged with props, but some minor (appropriate) staging can give your product photos just the “pop” they need!

First, let’s define staging. Staging is simply putting your products in a natural, appealing setting so that customers will be more attracted to them. Consider “home staging” – the process of making your home look brighter, larger, and more inviting so people will want to buy it. “Designed to Sell” is an HGTV show that focuses on this concept.

So what are some tips for effective staging?

* Show the Product in Use.
Photograph the product on a model or a form. If the product holds objects, photograph some of those objects inside. For example, fill a handbag or pouch with a wallet, phone, keys, etc. (at least for one photo angle). This is especially helpful to give the customer an idea of the size of the product.

Be sure that the objects you use for staging look natural with the product. For example, the coins look natural next to the coin purse above. These coins in comparison with the pouch give customers a better idea of the pouch’s size.

* Show the Product in Its Environment.
If you sell handmade soap, for example, you could photograph the soap in a soap dish, beside a hand towel, or with a sink in the background. Just make sure that the product for sale is the dominant item in the photo.

I love to look for staging inspiration in places like:
* Martha Stewart Living
* Real Simple magazine
* Craftgawker website
* Pinterest

* Show the Product with Other Items from Your Shop.
If you sell a coordinating item in your shop, by all means, photograph the items together. Not only will this make a visually attractive grouping, but it might also encourage the customer to purchase the coordinating item. Just be sure to explain exactly what the customer will receive for the price of the listing.

For example, if you sell handmade purses, photograph your handmade checkbook cover beside the purse. This helps customers get an idea of the size of your purse and it also shows them your checkbook cover product. Be sure to mention the other product (sold separately) in the product description.

* Compliment the Product, Don’t Distract From It.
Don’t stage your products just for the sake of staging. If the customer notices the staging more than the product for sale, your efforts will be in vain. Staging should be subtle and natural . . . not a distraction.

#4: Capture Multiple Angles of Your Products

I’m assuming that those of you reading this post have a digital (not film) camera. With digital, it doesn’t cost any more to take 100 photos than it does to take 10. You never know which angle will look great in your online shop!

* What does the back of the product look like?
* What is the depth (girth) of the product?
* What does the bottom of the product look like?
* How does the item look being used?

We must make customers feel comfortable buying our products online. How do we make them comfortable about a product they’ve never seen in person? By showing as many photo angles as possible!

How about you? Have you tried staging your products for photographs? Were your efforts a success or a flop? What about photo lighting? What particular struggles do you have in that area?

Feel free to share your thoughts and questions in the comments. I look forward to hearing from you!

Want more tips like these? I’m excited to announce that the first 10 people to email me at onthedotcreations@gmail.com with “Product Photo E-book” in the subject line will receive a complimentary copy of my 22-page e-book, “Capture Better Product Photos for your Handmade Business.” Hurry . . . these will go quickly!

P.S. Stay tuned for Part 2 in this series, when we’ll talk about my favorite (free!) photo editor, Picnik!