Banners - Do they make a difference to a buyer

Just last week, I raise a critique query in the Etsy forum with regards to my shop. The question posted was "What can I do to improve my shop"... Questions I had in my mind were

1. What is the first impression that you have when you enter the shop?
2. What do you think of the variety of products offered?
3. What do you think of the pricing of the items?
4. What do you think of the photos take of the items
5. What else do you think can be improve in the shop?
6. Would you buy from my shop?

From the post, I had alot of great suggestions, some of which I have customers mentioning it to me before e.g. one person said that she was initially put off by my shop name and it does not really match with the items that I sell, thus I should explain how the name of the shop comes about etc.

One of the suggestions got me pondering for quite some time, it was regarding my banner. I know my banner is not fantastic and there is definitely room for improvement. However, if I were a customer, would I not buy an item from the shop because the banner is not pleasing? How does the banner affects one's buying behaviour? or is it more of a shop image thing to have a good looking banner? What do you think?

Here's my current banner.


Here's my first banner when I first open my shop. It was of a different name then. :)


I am in the process of changing my banner to align it with my name cards so that the shop has a consistent look. Hopefully I will get it out by next week :)

Drop Shipping Arrangements - Trap or Opportunity

I received a convo recently asking me whether I am interested to go into a drop shipping arrangement. My first reaction was, "What is Drop Shipping Arrangement?". After googling and investigation on the Etsy forums... Here's what I found..

Drop shipping is a supply chain management technique in which the retailer does not keep goods in stock, but instead transfers customer orders and shipment details to either the manufacturer or a wholesaler, who then ships the goods directly to the customer.

I also found some help in the following thread on the Etsy forum.

Here's my arrangement.
Retailer lists my item (use my photos) on his/her website. The customer will order from the website, he/she will in turn place an order on my Etsy shop. She will pay me for the item. I will send to her head office. She will send the item to the customer. Basically I do not have directly contact with the customer. With regards to the stock of the items, I will also keep her posted on the quantity in case I have sold out the item.

What do you think of "drop shipping arrangement"? What do you think of my arrangement?

Personally, I think it would give it a go since I have not done it before. In directly, the retailer would be like any of my customers. By listing on his/her website, it gives me some promotion and advertising exposure online.

I will let everyone know how this arrangement works for me in the next few months.. maybe my views on it will change again :)

Etsy Treasury - Time Flies

I got included in another treasury! Yoo Hoo! :) God is good and my fellow Etsians are so wonderful and amazing.

This interesting and cute treasury is named "Time Flies" by SassySashadoxie. It features a selection of timepieces and flies! How cute.

My Little Airplane Necklace was featured as part of this selection! It is a very cute airplane watch charm made into a necklace with a stunning red crystal heart. This is the only piece that I have.

Within this gorgeous treasury, I fell in love with the Crystal Fly Pin with Moving Wings by vonwalhofcreations. This pin is so pretty with the different cuts of crystals and cute with little moving wings on spring.

Etsy Treasury - All the Fun of the Fair

I am so lucky and honored to be included in the following treasury! The treasury is called "All the Fun of the Fair" by tinyminds. It is a selection of whimsical sights that you can see when you go to the fair.

My carousel necklace was included! I love love carousel, all the horses moving to the joyous music.

Out of the picks in the treasury, I found this print "Eunice" by amberalexander rather fun and cute! I have never seen a circus cat before.. But I thought it was a fun picture.

Rebonded My Hair!

Aww.. It's been about a week since I last put up a post.. It's been a tough week although I did take Friday off to go to my hairdresser. I badly need a haircut. I have been keeping my hair long for the wedding but since then I have not gotten a trim in a while.

Anyways, I was a Jon's on Friday and I decided to try something new.. So I rebonded my hair! Jon was a bit skeptical at first as he knew that I love curls & waves more than the boring straight hair especially given that I have natural curls. However, to do a ceramic perm / normal perm would require some work maintaining them... which is absolutely not for me as I am a super low maintenance person (aka lazy) when it comes to hair. Thus it is a no-no for me. With rebonding, it basically do not need to go the extra mile of maintaining it! *Hurray*.. so that's what I picked.

The results were great! I think everyone in the salon thought I look younger.. keke.. My hubby thought I looked like a schoolgirl again although my size gave it away.. lol! But having straight hair does make one look younger, don't you think? Well, the most amazing thing is that my hair doesn't look like a mess in the morning and it's super easy to maintain.. I am so glad that I did it! Not sure why it took me such a long time to try it...

Have you rebonded your hair? Do you think it makes you look younger!? For now, I love my look, ... ask me again in 6 months time, maybe I am back to curls again.. lol! :)

Look What I Found!! - Featured Etsy Seller

Stumbled upon this Etsy seller when I was just checking out the latest Showcase last week. Her name is Merissa Cherie Hi'ilani Revestir from Hawaii and a proud owner of loveMER. She is the eldest of 5 children (big family like mine!). She is married and has a plant named Curtis (how cute!) She got to know about Etsy from her sister who also have a shop on Etsy.

What caught my eye about her items s is that she uses the chain to create words which is really different and creative! I love the way she uses the different colors of paper as the background which makes her items really pretty & sweet.

Here's one of my favorite, HEART a-blush necklace. Such a sweet name.. Perfect for the coming Valentine's Day.

Etsy Finds - Amazing Way of Promoting Your Shop

I just had the most amazing weekend... I participated in the weekend deals posted in the forums by Mary (Etsy admin) this weekend and I was VERY BLESSED to be picked as one of the sellers. My item was featured on the Etsy finds email that was sent out and the response was just OVERWHELMING. I have not gotten so much orders in my 2 years with Etsy! It's just amazing. I actually came home about 12 midnight and worked on my orders till 5am in the morning! :)

I am a tired but happy worker...

I felt that this is definitely one step forward towards my goal of doing my own business and working from home :) (although my hubby disagree.. keke)

Here's the Etsy Find article for anyone who has missed it...
http://www.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/etsy-finds-special-deals-on-jewelry-this-weekend-only-3378/

FYI - The item featured is out of stock at the moment...

Poll Results : Symmetrical or Asymmetrical Earrings

*** Drum Roll *****

The results of the Poll : Symmetrical or Asymmetrical Earrings is SYMMETRICAL!

Most people love and have symmetrical earrings. Although there are some folks would are open to asymmetrical earrings as long as the designs are interesting and funky. I guess for most of us when we shop for a pair of earrings, our natural instinct is to buy a symmetrical one. Unless we are specifically out to buy a pair of asymmetrical earrings from the start of the search.

Based on the 37 votes that we had, 25 voted symmetrical while 11 voted asymmetrical. The minority of 1 vote did not wear any earrings. That means that about 69% of the general voters prefer symmetrical earrings while the rest of the 31% are open to asymmetrical ones.

Now you know......

The winner of my blog poll giveaway is Flamingo Junction! She will be receive my secret gift...