"What should you have been taught in the LIB100 class?" queries the bulletin board.
See, I do a lot of work in Clemson University's library, down in the basement next to the Congressional reports from the 1880s and the shelves of appendices to the Iran-Contra investigation, and the entrance on the floor above is dominated by a bulletin board on which students are asked a different question each week, ranging from "Give us a midterm assignment!" to the above. Rainbow sticky notes and markers are provided for answering. I stop and read them every Monday; they're like one of those witty, brilliant Facebook or Twitter conversations in concrete form.
My second-favorite answer was this gem of wisdom: "That procrastination is inevitable ... grab a coffee + embrace it." This is one of those important lessons I learned in college that it's hard to convey. Sometimes, you just work best under pressure. Sometimes a task needs to be completed in one marathon block.
Interestingly enough, the students who best understand this, I've found, are ex-military men. I assist a few in the Writing Center, and generally they're not coming in an hour before the paper is due wanting to be told how to make it an A, but coming in a couple of days before with a polished product waiting for critiques.
In every tutoring position I've had, I've realized that moral support is a massive part of my function. My entering freshmen, smart kids who'd happened to flunk the Writing Placement Exam for one reason or another, had overall much higher GPAs than freshmen who didn't have tutoring; a success for the pilot program I was working for. They often found my editing and chatting about their topics useful. And yet I'm tempted to suspect that a significant part of their grade increase might have been as a result of having someone to ask where they could go to get the free cough drops and stress balls, what recourse they had if they were being taught by an incompetent TA (or a competent TA and a lazy professor) -- someone whose dad was the football captain in '85 at the high school where they graduated in '10, someone who would listen as they talked about their depression over being unable to bridesmaid at their sister's wedding due to an exam -- someone to suggest a mediator for roommate disputes. Someone, in short, to talk to.
I'm less patient these days with students who spend their half-hour appointments telling me how hard everything is ("It's college. College is hard," I want to say. "Did you expect this was easy? Do you think I did it because it was a cake walk?"). Yet I understand that this is part of my job -- not as large a part as some students like to believe, but an important part, like the secretarial work and plagiarism reports that also form part of my week.
And yet -- to circle back toward one of my points -- ex-military students don't tend to need this. The student who recently returned from his tour in Iraq and who comes in with a bleakly and elegantly phrased cause-and-effect paper about how his PTSD has affected his wife doesn't want my sympathy, he wants me to help find comma splices. He wants a good grade, not a shoulder. The man who served for 29 years doing First Aid training is far more interested in whether he wants "quicker" or "more quickly" than he is in telling me how difficult it is to be a returning student of non-traditional age. I'm not saying these issues aren't hard or deserving of support, only that it's nice to be helping people by providing them with my expertise, not by functioning as a listening ear that anyone could be.
It was the above-mentioned First Aid trainer who explained to me why military students don't seem to have a problem with procrastination. "You don't get advance notice," he told me. "You're given a project and you do it now, and if you complain you end up with more work and the same deadline."
"So you don't have the same trouble handling the stress of it?" I asked.
"None at all. This is business as usual. You get the work, you do the work as best you can in the time you have."
Bravo, sir! That's a healthy attitude for all college students to adopt. Procrastination can be treated as scheduling if a student is well-acquainted with his or her working pace and ability to cope with the stress of the fast-approaching deadline. Now that's a real life skill -- one that I'm still developing as I learn how much copywriting I can actually do in a given period.
My favorite note on that board, however, wasn't actually the one about procrastination. It was the green one that asserted that LIB100 should teach students how to "bullseye Whomprats with a T130." A blue one below advised the original sticky-noter to turn off his targeting computer.
The world isn't doomed.
Showing posts with label copywriting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label copywriting. Show all posts
Monday, October 24, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Making the blog a blog of merit: Let's see how far we've come
Happy October! I've been desperately looking forward to fall ever since I moved here, and I can happily report that it is worth it.
Anyway.
Three years ago when I started this blog, it was the irregularly updated chronicle of a semi-itinerant California college student with a struggling jewelry business who did a bit of writing on the side. Now it's the regularly-scheduled ramblings of a South Carolina copywriter who works at a college and runs a small online jewelry business on the side. Life is weird and wonderful and it's taken me for a bit of a ride.
This blog will shortly be going back over to an irregular schedule of updates. Blogging is starting to feel like doing for free what other people could be paying me to do -- so it's time I scale back. I expect that this will vastly improve the merit of the content ....
... and frankly, I've been doing this for three years. I think I have a sufficiency of Jewelry Blog Content (TM). And to the rather small extent that this is still a marketing blog, I'd rather pitch myself as an interesting person than Another Jewelry Person Who Blogs.
Expect an oddly spaced soup of treasuries, against-the-grain business advice, shopping recommendations, press releases, item photos, shop announcements, and links to interesting stuff. I think that you-the-readers will enjoy it more (and hey -- leave me a comment sometimes, okay? I know you're there via Analytics, but it's quiet here). And I think that I'll be giving you more interesting stuff to read, even if there's less of it.
And I promise not to become that blog that consists entirely of posts apologizing for not posting more. Pinky swear.
Anyway.
Three years ago when I started this blog, it was the irregularly updated chronicle of a semi-itinerant California college student with a struggling jewelry business who did a bit of writing on the side. Now it's the regularly-scheduled ramblings of a South Carolina copywriter who works at a college and runs a small online jewelry business on the side. Life is weird and wonderful and it's taken me for a bit of a ride.
This blog will shortly be going back over to an irregular schedule of updates. Blogging is starting to feel like doing for free what other people could be paying me to do -- so it's time I scale back. I expect that this will vastly improve the merit of the content ....
... and frankly, I've been doing this for three years. I think I have a sufficiency of Jewelry Blog Content (TM). And to the rather small extent that this is still a marketing blog, I'd rather pitch myself as an interesting person than Another Jewelry Person Who Blogs.
Expect an oddly spaced soup of treasuries, against-the-grain business advice, shopping recommendations, press releases, item photos, shop announcements, and links to interesting stuff. I think that you-the-readers will enjoy it more (and hey -- leave me a comment sometimes, okay? I know you're there via Analytics, but it's quiet here). And I think that I'll be giving you more interesting stuff to read, even if there's less of it.
And I promise not to become that blog that consists entirely of posts apologizing for not posting more. Pinky swear.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Social Justice: Why yoni jewelry bothers me
I am troubled by the yoni jewelry on Etsy.
This is not to say that I'm troubled by the concept. The original notion of the yoni is part of tantric sex practice, as I've been writing about for one of my copywriting customers: basically, "yoni" is Sanskrit for "divine passage," and it refers to the vagina/vulva as a sacred temple. The penis gets a similar reverence as lingam. All well and good. Sex is sacred and beautiful.
It's hard to post even the very lovely examples of yoni jewelry in a post like this, so here are some cowrie shell earrings from D Rae Designs.
I think the problem comes in when women (and men) who have little interest in the Tantra adopt the idea of venerating the yoni. The thing is, once you're worshiping something in a vacuum, you automatically mentally remove it from the realm of everyday practice. To decide that we are now going to revere the vagina as sacred rather than thinking of it as dirty turns the vagina into a concept that is beyond the woman.
If my vagina is sacred, it doesn't belong to me. Sacredness implies worshippers, implies a social construction and concept that is larger than myself. I don't want to think of a part of my body as filthy, as shameful. But I also don't want to think of it as bigger and more sacred than the rest of me.
I'm all for resisting the idea of shame, but replacing it with the idea of sacredness, without understanding the yoni concept as part of a whole person, doesn't grant a woman control of, ownership of, and pride in her sexuality. It only estranges the woman from her sexuality in the opposite direction.
So all that polymer clay yoni jewelry on Etsy (some of which, admittedly, is lovely)? When I look at most of it, all I can see is a woman desperately resisting the idea that sex is dirty ... by putting it away from herself and her life entirely, promoting it as a passage to the sacred experience rather than a part of herself, her sexuality, her pleasure. How is this different from the Victorian narrative? How is this helping anyone?
This is not to say that I'm troubled by the concept. The original notion of the yoni is part of tantric sex practice, as I've been writing about for one of my copywriting customers: basically, "yoni" is Sanskrit for "divine passage," and it refers to the vagina/vulva as a sacred temple. The penis gets a similar reverence as lingam. All well and good. Sex is sacred and beautiful.
It's hard to post even the very lovely examples of yoni jewelry in a post like this, so here are some cowrie shell earrings from D Rae Designs.
I think the problem comes in when women (and men) who have little interest in the Tantra adopt the idea of venerating the yoni. The thing is, once you're worshiping something in a vacuum, you automatically mentally remove it from the realm of everyday practice. To decide that we are now going to revere the vagina as sacred rather than thinking of it as dirty turns the vagina into a concept that is beyond the woman.
If my vagina is sacred, it doesn't belong to me. Sacredness implies worshippers, implies a social construction and concept that is larger than myself. I don't want to think of a part of my body as filthy, as shameful. But I also don't want to think of it as bigger and more sacred than the rest of me.
I'm all for resisting the idea of shame, but replacing it with the idea of sacredness, without understanding the yoni concept as part of a whole person, doesn't grant a woman control of, ownership of, and pride in her sexuality. It only estranges the woman from her sexuality in the opposite direction.
So all that polymer clay yoni jewelry on Etsy (some of which, admittedly, is lovely)? When I look at most of it, all I can see is a woman desperately resisting the idea that sex is dirty ... by putting it away from herself and her life entirely, promoting it as a passage to the sacred experience rather than a part of herself, her sexuality, her pleasure. How is this different from the Victorian narrative? How is this helping anyone?
Thursday, September 22, 2011
A linklist, which should really be one word
... this spammy blog (is there a term for this?) uses an article I found while trying to discover M's Ratemyprofessor rating, and it is just about the funniest damn thing I've ever seen. M and I did dramatic readings to each other.
Is this a thing now? Seriously someone -- is this a thing?
On a more relevant-to-anything note, here are two of the many cool things I've turned up while doing the copywriting for this lovely site, Keys of Paradise:
This mellifluously written essay on musk is fascinating, informative, and a truly beautiful piece of online writing which is a superb example of structuring lengthy content for the Internet reader.
There is an loa in the Voodoo tradition who protects abused women and lesbians, hopefully not always in combination: Erzulie Dantor.
And everything I ever wanted to know about alchemy can be learned from these sites: Alchemy-Works, which does sell some of its products but is more valuable for its wealth of information, and <"http://www.alchemylab.com/guideto.htm">a page on which I have wasted hours which gives the alchemical properties of hundreds and hundreds of ordinary foodstuffs.
On a vaguely related note, many props to the makers of the Mystery Case Files games, available from Big Fish Games and on disk at many fine department stores. They're a combination of hidden-object with item-adventure games; they capture the essence of the greatest old-style text adventures in their snarky humor, intertextual references, and complex plotlines, but are also absolutely state of the art in graphic rendering and in the incorporation of live-action film with digital art scenes. They have a smoother and more graceful user experience than their imitators as well. And, as I was playing the latest entry, "13th Skull," between pages of my novel-sized list of item descriptions, I realized they also apparently have a really excellent cultural consultant.
"13th Skull" has a few problems in terms of atmosphere, notably the fact that while the previous games, "Return to Ravenhearst" and "Dire Grove," had an engaging and incredibly atmospheric creepiness, this one had sort of a hokey Scooby-Doo ghost feel. I'm quite willing to believe that this was deliberate (M was not so kind about it), but it's a little startling -- perhaps it's the lack of a well-developed and sympathetic victim to save. Or the fact that there are about four actual Southerners voicing the Louisiana residents. Anyway, the point is, despite the oddly built atmosphere, every depiction of voodoo and hoodoo spells is, as far as I can tell in my admittedly amateur experience, perfectly accurate. Right on!
Crap, this post has no subject. Unrelated photo time!
Available here.
Is this a thing now? Seriously someone -- is this a thing?
On a more relevant-to-anything note, here are two of the many cool things I've turned up while doing the copywriting for this lovely site, Keys of Paradise:
This mellifluously written essay on musk is fascinating, informative, and a truly beautiful piece of online writing which is a superb example of structuring lengthy content for the Internet reader.
There is an loa in the Voodoo tradition who protects abused women and lesbians, hopefully not always in combination: Erzulie Dantor.
And everything I ever wanted to know about alchemy can be learned from these sites: Alchemy-Works, which does sell some of its products but is more valuable for its wealth of information, and <"http://www.alchemylab.com/guideto.htm">a page on which I have wasted hours which gives the alchemical properties of hundreds and hundreds of ordinary foodstuffs.
On a vaguely related note, many props to the makers of the Mystery Case Files games, available from Big Fish Games and on disk at many fine department stores. They're a combination of hidden-object with item-adventure games; they capture the essence of the greatest old-style text adventures in their snarky humor, intertextual references, and complex plotlines, but are also absolutely state of the art in graphic rendering and in the incorporation of live-action film with digital art scenes. They have a smoother and more graceful user experience than their imitators as well. And, as I was playing the latest entry, "13th Skull," between pages of my novel-sized list of item descriptions, I realized they also apparently have a really excellent cultural consultant.
"13th Skull" has a few problems in terms of atmosphere, notably the fact that while the previous games, "Return to Ravenhearst" and "Dire Grove," had an engaging and incredibly atmospheric creepiness, this one had sort of a hokey Scooby-Doo ghost feel. I'm quite willing to believe that this was deliberate (M was not so kind about it), but it's a little startling -- perhaps it's the lack of a well-developed and sympathetic victim to save. Or the fact that there are about four actual Southerners voicing the Louisiana residents. Anyway, the point is, despite the oddly built atmosphere, every depiction of voodoo and hoodoo spells is, as far as I can tell in my admittedly amateur experience, perfectly accurate. Right on!
Crap, this post has no subject. Unrelated photo time!
Available here.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Seven Weird Colors and the Sellers Who Love Them
As may have become obvious to everyone, I have a massive thing for color names. Here are some colors from Wikipedia's list with cool names, cool backstories, or both, and the Etsy items that are tagged with them:
The color: International orange, which appears in a number of service organizations' marks and on World Football League balls.
The item: Seven sellers have tagged eight total items as International Orange.
This hand-braided Maharan wool rug by mrsginther, who also has a great profile page, warns your friends of narrow stripes of high-atmosphere conditions.
The color: Fallow, one of the oldest color names in the English language, referring to the sandy soil of a fallowing field.
The item: It took some manual counting due to synonyms and misspellings of "follow," but there about 26 handmade items tagged with this color.
The porcelain Lucitano horse ornament by SandrasShop reminds your equestrian of his equally old and proud tradition.
The color: Mountbatten pink, invented as a naval camouflage color that only worked part of the day.
The item: Only one item tagged with this!
This crocheted poncho by HEraMade lets you blend in with crocheted naval sunsets.
The color: Fulvous, which chiefly describes birds and means "kind of tawny rufous burnt reddish orangish yellowish grayish, kind of."
The item: Seven sellers tag one item apiece with this color.
This print of an original acrylic breastfeeding painting by h0neyburn uses the name to describe the color of the outline of a well-fed toddler. h0neyburn uses a lot of these color names; I keep seeing her stuff pop up as I search.
The color: Isabelline, apocryphally named after Isabella I of Castile, who vowed not to change her underwear until her husband had broken a seige; victory unfortunately took eight months, at which time her small-clothes were understandably no longer snowy white. Isabelline or Isabella palominos, the very pale-colored specimens of cream-gene horses, are named for this tint.
The item: A whopping 39 items are tagged with the color name isabelline.
This plump crocheted heart by Sabahnur looks nice and clean against your hair on a headband, and if you have a cream palomino, you can match!
The color: Falu red, which is after a paint made of starch and very finely divided hematite, and is used to paint traditional Swedish homes -- a bit like haint blue here in the South.
The item: Five sellers use this color to tag a total of 11 items.
This set of twelve organza blossoms brings traditional Old World color to your modern garment.
The color: Urobilin, named for the organic pigment responsible for the color of urine (yum!).
The items: Four sellers win the "I didn't note the Latinate root" award, and perhaps ironically, all four items are so lovely I couldn't pick just one.
The elegant vintage-style glass and dyed jade necklace by thebeadedhound will have part of its proceeds donated to coonhound rescue. The set of 8 shabby chic hairpins by hbs1406 are stunningly photographed and would be gorgeous for a fall wedding.
The color: International orange, which appears in a number of service organizations' marks and on World Football League balls.
The item: Seven sellers have tagged eight total items as International Orange.
This hand-braided Maharan wool rug by mrsginther, who also has a great profile page, warns your friends of narrow stripes of high-atmosphere conditions.
The color: Fallow, one of the oldest color names in the English language, referring to the sandy soil of a fallowing field.
The item: It took some manual counting due to synonyms and misspellings of "follow," but there about 26 handmade items tagged with this color.
The porcelain Lucitano horse ornament by SandrasShop reminds your equestrian of his equally old and proud tradition.
The color: Mountbatten pink, invented as a naval camouflage color that only worked part of the day.
The item: Only one item tagged with this!
This crocheted poncho by HEraMade lets you blend in with crocheted naval sunsets.
The color: Fulvous, which chiefly describes birds and means "kind of tawny rufous burnt reddish orangish yellowish grayish, kind of."
The item: Seven sellers tag one item apiece with this color.
This print of an original acrylic breastfeeding painting by h0neyburn uses the name to describe the color of the outline of a well-fed toddler. h0neyburn uses a lot of these color names; I keep seeing her stuff pop up as I search.
The color: Isabelline, apocryphally named after Isabella I of Castile, who vowed not to change her underwear until her husband had broken a seige; victory unfortunately took eight months, at which time her small-clothes were understandably no longer snowy white. Isabelline or Isabella palominos, the very pale-colored specimens of cream-gene horses, are named for this tint.
The item: A whopping 39 items are tagged with the color name isabelline.
This plump crocheted heart by Sabahnur looks nice and clean against your hair on a headband, and if you have a cream palomino, you can match!
The color: Falu red, which is after a paint made of starch and very finely divided hematite, and is used to paint traditional Swedish homes -- a bit like haint blue here in the South.
The item: Five sellers use this color to tag a total of 11 items.
This set of twelve organza blossoms brings traditional Old World color to your modern garment.
The color: Urobilin, named for the organic pigment responsible for the color of urine (yum!).
The items: Four sellers win the "I didn't note the Latinate root" award, and perhaps ironically, all four items are so lovely I couldn't pick just one.
The elegant vintage-style glass and dyed jade necklace by thebeadedhound will have part of its proceeds donated to coonhound rescue. The set of 8 shabby chic hairpins by hbs1406 are stunningly photographed and would be gorgeous for a fall wedding.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
A shopping guide
If you have a bit of back-to-school shopping left to do, or (like us) you work in education and the first paycheck after Starvation Summer is burning a hole in your pocket, check out the shops of some of my recent Etsy copywriting customers:
Is liberal guilt about brown-bag lunches setting in hard yet? Reusable bags from SeaCute Designs, whose profile page I wrote, are surprisingly affordable for the category, and appear nicely made and rhapsodically cute; the very professional shop owner donates a portion of proceeds to Feed the Children.
For playing after school, tutus from avasmommy07 are made with lots and lots of US-made tulle so they're soft and poofy like the imaginary fairy princess gown you had when you were little. That isn't the item I wrote the description for; I just love that picture, which balances posing and naturalness so well, and which has a very nice contrast of background and foreground.
This purse hanger and similar ones from talented Etsy graphic designer Topview are great; original artist design, and those things are massively useful when there are narrow aisles between desks (one particular classroom in the anthropology department at UCR, in Watkins Hall, was pretty much where we shoved all the spare furniture so they wouldn't take it away before we were able to lay claim to another room. We guarded our classrooms jealously so we could keep artifacts and posters in them. But that room was hell on earth in the summer).
Topview also does very cool Etsy banners -- and, as you can see, very crisp professional photography. She's one of my absolute favorite customers so far; I edited the content for her very useful website for international students hoping to apply to colleges and universities in the United States, which I'll link to once it goes live.
Is liberal guilt about brown-bag lunches setting in hard yet? Reusable bags from SeaCute Designs, whose profile page I wrote, are surprisingly affordable for the category, and appear nicely made and rhapsodically cute; the very professional shop owner donates a portion of proceeds to Feed the Children.
For playing after school, tutus from avasmommy07 are made with lots and lots of US-made tulle so they're soft and poofy like the imaginary fairy princess gown you had when you were little. That isn't the item I wrote the description for; I just love that picture, which balances posing and naturalness so well, and which has a very nice contrast of background and foreground.
This purse hanger and similar ones from talented Etsy graphic designer Topview are great; original artist design, and those things are massively useful when there are narrow aisles between desks (one particular classroom in the anthropology department at UCR, in Watkins Hall, was pretty much where we shoved all the spare furniture so they wouldn't take it away before we were able to lay claim to another room. We guarded our classrooms jealously so we could keep artifacts and posters in them. But that room was hell on earth in the summer).
Topview also does very cool Etsy banners -- and, as you can see, very crisp professional photography. She's one of my absolute favorite customers so far; I edited the content for her very useful website for international students hoping to apply to colleges and universities in the United States, which I'll link to once it goes live.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
A Little Grin
In the description for the earrings below, I actually used the one really cool thing I learned from the Etsy writing workshop: Using a quick, unusual story to explain damage to a vintage item.
Sold!
To wit: "The two large pearl beads have slightly different shades and imperfections (I like to imagine it comes of their being worn by a dangerous gang of flapper girls for a famous faux pearl heist), but this is barely visible and what can be seen only enhances the vintage feel of the earrings."
It's always nice when something you wrote makes you smile a little later on. I got this feeling from the descriptions of some of the stick incenses for my current Elance client, too. It's a high, like suddenly realizing that the beads are falling into an additional pattern you didn't even plan but which is perfect. Flipping over a pancake to find you've judged just right and it's wholly fluffy, and melt-in-your-mouth gold. Or perfectly executing a martial arts form.
Sold!
To wit: "The two large pearl beads have slightly different shades and imperfections (I like to imagine it comes of their being worn by a dangerous gang of flapper girls for a famous faux pearl heist), but this is barely visible and what can be seen only enhances the vintage feel of the earrings."
It's always nice when something you wrote makes you smile a little later on. I got this feeling from the descriptions of some of the stick incenses for my current Elance client, too. It's a high, like suddenly realizing that the beads are falling into an additional pattern you didn't even plan but which is perfect. Flipping over a pancake to find you've judged just right and it's wholly fluffy, and melt-in-your-mouth gold. Or perfectly executing a martial arts form.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Things I Am Slightly Chagrined By
- I'm making more in a month of copywriting than I ever made even in Decembers from my jewelry business. Admittedly, most of it's coming from Elance, but I've been at the jewelry for three years (going on four) and the copywriting for three months. There is something slightly frightening about this.
- I'm officially giving up the ghost on frontal toggles. Every time a new Stringing hits the grocery store, there's a new and interesting way to put the clasp in front, to the side, as a pendant base, interchangeable, adjustable, convertible -- just stop. I am going to accept that my jewelry has boring clasp placement, at least for a while. I use too many different toggle designs (because I match them carefully with the piece's look) to put myself through this anymore.
- Teapot earrings -- a billion variations on a single finding -- beat out every other category I can make for top jewelry sales ever. Maybe this is less chagrin and more astonished laughter. But yeah.
Sold!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Scribblegoat Press Release: Jewelry Still Best Gift, Say Designers
I wrote the following press release for one of my Etsy copywriting clients. Please notify me in a comment if reposting or quoting. The link to my client's shop is at the bottom of the short release, after the jump. -Chelsea
Jewelry Still Best Gift, Say Designers
21 June 2011 – The classics still work best when you want to please and flatter. For women and girls of any age, the traditional gift of jewelry is still a top choice for special occasions.
Mother’s Day, graduations, children’s birthdays – all of these are occasions when something that sparkles or shines is usually welcome, according to designer and online shopkeeper Linda Ann Stewart.
Jewelry Still Best Gift, Say Designers
21 June 2011 – The classics still work best when you want to please and flatter. For women and girls of any age, the traditional gift of jewelry is still a top choice for special occasions.
Mother’s Day, graduations, children’s birthdays – all of these are occasions when something that sparkles or shines is usually welcome, according to designer and online shopkeeper Linda Ann Stewart.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Treasury Wednesday: Why was I doing wintry stuff in June?
I guess I figured I might as well follow the front-page style for once. Hmm.
I pay a lot of attention to writing the treasury description when I do treasuries under the Scribblegoat account. Sure, only 8% of Etsy clicks come from internal things like Storque and Treasury, but if I'm doing it for fun anyway I might as well toss myself a bone in the form of free advertising.
Along with its crisp but soft greyscale and cream palette, this treasury is all about interesting photography. A visual feast of clear images, well-used props, intriguing cropping, unconventional angles, and perfect close-ups.
I pay a lot of attention to writing the treasury description when I do treasuries under the Scribblegoat account. Sure, only 8% of Etsy clicks come from internal things like Storque and Treasury, but if I'm doing it for fun anyway I might as well toss myself a bone in the form of free advertising.
'Bleached Vanilla' by Scribblegoat
Along with its crisp but soft greyscale and cream palette, this treasury is all about interesting photography. A visual feast of clear images, well-used props, intriguing cropping, unconventional angles, and perfect close-ups.
 romantic collared s... $49.00 |  50pc 4mm bicone gla... $1.00 |  White Sequin Mini S... $42.50 |  Hammered Quartz Ear... $28.00 |
 cast iron sign wood... $42.00 |  Earrings In Silver ... $28.00 |  The Fox - Original ... $60.00 |  Buttercream Handspu... $25.00 |
 Small Moon Jellyfis... $19.70 |  S A L E - Spilt mil... $40.00 |  Crochet Baby Girl B... $12.00 |  WHITEFAWN felted t... $40.00 |
 40% Anniversary Sal... $15.00 |  SPECIAL ORDER for K... $ |  HOT and COLD 8x10 s... $35.00 |  Cluster of Fresh Wa... $58.00 |
Friday, July 29, 2011
Work-Life Balance and a Schedule Change
As I may have mentioned, I've started selling copywriting on both Etsy and Elance, and ... well, it's going pretty well, actually.
The Mafia-themed social media game didn't pan out -- I don't think they liked my character-dialogue audition piece, but since I submitted it without any real idea of the mood or character type they wanted, I don't feel much sense of failure over this -- but I'm currently writing product descriptions for Keys of Paradise, a fantastic spiritual/magickal supply shop, with fantastic herbs and candles and such, run by some fantastic people. Apparently they consider my descriptions fantastic as well, because the job morphed from a fixed-rate 400-descriptions deal to a long-term by-the-piece to a continuing semi-permanent article writing and editing gig.
Unfortunately, this means I've been neglecting the Etsy shops ... but I'm working at learning how to balance the two better. M and I have been making a lot of steampunk assemblage jewelry of late, since I'll be a vendor at Upstate Steampunk in Anderson this year. And I need to contact the awesome purveyor of hair accessories DaringlyDonna, a lovely local who we keep running into at Hancock's Fabrics, about swapping custom hair flowers for teapot earrings.
So we're not dead on the jewelry front! Just slowed while I find the proper equilibrium of the two creative businesses, and I should be finally adding more steampunk like I keep saying I will.
Available here.
Speaking of slight slowing: Since I'm doing so much paid writing, and since I was glancing through the lengthy list of MWF webcomics I read and realizing how much competition those days have got, I'll be switching the blog to a Tuesday/Thursday update schedule starting next week. It's only one less post per week. Also, Treasury Wednesday is becoming a monthly feature, first Wednesdays of every month. I get some traffic and some lovely comments, presumably from Google alerts, on those posts, but they're quite time-consuming and I'd like a better balance of written content, considering, y'know, I'm a writer and all.
And a day-brightening fact (for me, anyway): As I was building the updated APA citation guide for our tech college's Writing Center, I was modeling citations for weird stuff (historic photographs of unknown subjects, letters from university archives, that sort of thing) and it occurred to me that one of the dresses from the Met's "Orientalism in Fashion" web exhibit would be a great example. This led to me finding that my June blog post "Multiculturalism in Victorian Accessories" is, as of Tuesday, the seventh Google result for the terms "Victorian clothing Orientalism." And that, my friends, is sweet.
The Mafia-themed social media game didn't pan out -- I don't think they liked my character-dialogue audition piece, but since I submitted it without any real idea of the mood or character type they wanted, I don't feel much sense of failure over this -- but I'm currently writing product descriptions for Keys of Paradise, a fantastic spiritual/magickal supply shop, with fantastic herbs and candles and such, run by some fantastic people. Apparently they consider my descriptions fantastic as well, because the job morphed from a fixed-rate 400-descriptions deal to a long-term by-the-piece to a continuing semi-permanent article writing and editing gig.
Unfortunately, this means I've been neglecting the Etsy shops ... but I'm working at learning how to balance the two better. M and I have been making a lot of steampunk assemblage jewelry of late, since I'll be a vendor at Upstate Steampunk in Anderson this year. And I need to contact the awesome purveyor of hair accessories DaringlyDonna, a lovely local who we keep running into at Hancock's Fabrics, about swapping custom hair flowers for teapot earrings.
So we're not dead on the jewelry front! Just slowed while I find the proper equilibrium of the two creative businesses, and I should be finally adding more steampunk like I keep saying I will.
Available here.
Speaking of slight slowing: Since I'm doing so much paid writing, and since I was glancing through the lengthy list of MWF webcomics I read and realizing how much competition those days have got, I'll be switching the blog to a Tuesday/Thursday update schedule starting next week. It's only one less post per week. Also, Treasury Wednesday is becoming a monthly feature, first Wednesdays of every month. I get some traffic and some lovely comments, presumably from Google alerts, on those posts, but they're quite time-consuming and I'd like a better balance of written content, considering, y'know, I'm a writer and all.
And a day-brightening fact (for me, anyway): As I was building the updated APA citation guide for our tech college's Writing Center, I was modeling citations for weird stuff (historic photographs of unknown subjects, letters from university archives, that sort of thing) and it occurred to me that one of the dresses from the Met's "Orientalism in Fashion" web exhibit would be a great example. This led to me finding that my June blog post "Multiculturalism in Victorian Accessories" is, as of Tuesday, the seventh Google result for the terms "Victorian clothing Orientalism." And that, my friends, is sweet.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Starting Monday with a Nastygram
I received this email in June from the business school attached to my undergrad university.
Dear Chelsea,
Our records indicate that you have either recently finished or will soon complete your undergraduate degree at UCR. I am proud of your accomplishments and certain that you will continue to be successful in the future.
While finishing college is an exciting time in the life of any graduate, you may be feeling discouraged in your search for a suitable job. As the Dean of the Anderson Graduate School of Management (AGSM) at UCR, I am keenly aware of the impact of the economic downturn on professional careers available to recent graduates. It is indeed frustrating and disheartening to attempt to enter the job market in the current financial climate.
The good news, however, is that this is an excellent time to consider starting your graduate studies. Our records indicate that we have been in touch with you about our graduate programs in the past. Therefore you may already know that a Master of Business Administration (MBA) is, by far, the most sought after and competitive graduate degree. At AGSM we offer an MBA program that is accredited by AACSB and is focused on developing leaders ...
[further platitudes ensue]
***
Dear Dr. [redacted] (or manager of this inbox),
Thanks for your interest in having me apply to the Anderson School of Business Management. While I have moved across the country and my degree from UCR was in fact in the social sciences, not in business, I am now a freelance copywriter having reasonable independent success despite your concerns about my employability.
Consequently, I have a counter-offer for you. For the relatively competitive price of $25, I will ghost-write the email that you send to candidates like me in such a way that it removes the paternalistic and condescending tone which, sadly, reeks from the first two paragraphs of the email I received from your program dated 16 June, 2011.
If you intended for the air of condescension to be so apparent, then I apologize for the assumption on my part. Thanks in advance for your consideration and I wish you the best in your future endeavors.
Sincerely,
Chelsea Clarey
Copywriter
scribblegoat@gmail.com
elance.com/s/scribblegoat/10180/
scribblegoat.etsy.com
Dear Chelsea,
Our records indicate that you have either recently finished or will soon complete your undergraduate degree at UCR. I am proud of your accomplishments and certain that you will continue to be successful in the future.
While finishing college is an exciting time in the life of any graduate, you may be feeling discouraged in your search for a suitable job. As the Dean of the Anderson Graduate School of Management (AGSM) at UCR, I am keenly aware of the impact of the economic downturn on professional careers available to recent graduates. It is indeed frustrating and disheartening to attempt to enter the job market in the current financial climate.
The good news, however, is that this is an excellent time to consider starting your graduate studies. Our records indicate that we have been in touch with you about our graduate programs in the past. Therefore you may already know that a Master of Business Administration (MBA) is, by far, the most sought after and competitive graduate degree. At AGSM we offer an MBA program that is accredited by AACSB and is focused on developing leaders ...
[further platitudes ensue]
***
Dear Dr. [redacted] (or manager of this inbox),
Thanks for your interest in having me apply to the Anderson School of Business Management. While I have moved across the country and my degree from UCR was in fact in the social sciences, not in business, I am now a freelance copywriter having reasonable independent success despite your concerns about my employability.
Consequently, I have a counter-offer for you. For the relatively competitive price of $25, I will ghost-write the email that you send to candidates like me in such a way that it removes the paternalistic and condescending tone which, sadly, reeks from the first two paragraphs of the email I received from your program dated 16 June, 2011.
If you intended for the air of condescension to be so apparent, then I apologize for the assumption on my part. Thanks in advance for your consideration and I wish you the best in your future endeavors.
Sincerely,
Chelsea Clarey
Copywriter
scribblegoat@gmail.com
elance.com/s/scribblegoat/10180/
scribblegoat.etsy.com
Friday, July 15, 2011
Tribal Done Right
I highly recommend that readers with an interest in ethnic-style jewelry check out the Flickr photostream of Anita Quansah London, a "designer to the stars" whose work actually completely thrills me.
Her designs are exquisite; unconventional and deconstructed in their unexpected shapes, with interesting different manners of draping to adorn more than the expected parts of the body, with a beautiful use of shells and other natural/traditional materials that is both very true to the "roots" of bodily adornment and beautifully joined with more modern materials. Her pieces combine couture and warrior looks and are just generally stunning.
Additionally, the description on the second piece, here, is a splendid example of describing this style of jewelry without being over-the-top. She identifies what people inspired her work -- the Masai in Kenya and Nigeria -- and makes strong but not offensive connections between ethnic traditions and modern needs -- the relationship between the use of body ornament to establish identity in various folkways and the fierce, feminine draping design of the jewelry pieces themselves. In this way she establishes "story" and makes the jewelry feel more "ethnic" or "tribal" without ever having to resort to overusing the cliche, sometimes-offensive style names.
Her designs are exquisite; unconventional and deconstructed in their unexpected shapes, with interesting different manners of draping to adorn more than the expected parts of the body, with a beautiful use of shells and other natural/traditional materials that is both very true to the "roots" of bodily adornment and beautifully joined with more modern materials. Her pieces combine couture and warrior looks and are just generally stunning.
Additionally, the description on the second piece, here, is a splendid example of describing this style of jewelry without being over-the-top. She identifies what people inspired her work -- the Masai in Kenya and Nigeria -- and makes strong but not offensive connections between ethnic traditions and modern needs -- the relationship between the use of body ornament to establish identity in various folkways and the fierce, feminine draping design of the jewelry pieces themselves. In this way she establishes "story" and makes the jewelry feel more "ethnic" or "tribal" without ever having to resort to overusing the cliche, sometimes-offensive style names.
Monday, June 13, 2011
More excellent copywriting on Etsy
Two descriptions from Etsy that are doing it right:
Photo copyright EcoPrint.
These coasters are incisively and interestingly described with an excellent use of fresh, connotative adjectives. They could use a bit more, maybe an extra paragraph referencing their medieval-inspired nature and three-dimensional grayscale artwork, but what there is really shines. "Sophisticated and modern" are fair choices, but the better sentence is "Cork sheets are precisely cut and glued onto the back of the coasters for support." It would have been so easy to say "coasters are backed with cork," but this seller has made the choice to take up a very little bit more time to suggest careful craftsmanship -- "precisely" -- and long-wearing sturdiness -- "support."
Now some love for a fellow jewelry designer:
Photo copyright Kristin Berwald.
This artful necklace is remarkably well-described. Not surprising, given nearly 1200 sales! Every aspect of the piece is briefly but completely highlighted. "Story" is given in a manner that's intriguing, not annoying -- "The watch movement is from an Elgin pocket watch made in 1924."
Where the strength of the coasters' description is in adjectives, this one's is in verbs. Items are "showcased" or "glow" instead of just ... being there. Assemblages are "built"; the necklace doesn't hang, it "drapes." Everything can stand improvement, and the adjectives could perhaps take some spice -- there's a slight over-reliance on uninspiring standbys like "elegant" and "nature-inspired" -- but overall, this is a beautifully written piece of copy, and from me it gets an A.
Photo copyright EcoPrint.
These coasters are incisively and interestingly described with an excellent use of fresh, connotative adjectives. They could use a bit more, maybe an extra paragraph referencing their medieval-inspired nature and three-dimensional grayscale artwork, but what there is really shines. "Sophisticated and modern" are fair choices, but the better sentence is "Cork sheets are precisely cut and glued onto the back of the coasters for support." It would have been so easy to say "coasters are backed with cork," but this seller has made the choice to take up a very little bit more time to suggest careful craftsmanship -- "precisely" -- and long-wearing sturdiness -- "support."
Now some love for a fellow jewelry designer:
Photo copyright Kristin Berwald.
This artful necklace is remarkably well-described. Not surprising, given nearly 1200 sales! Every aspect of the piece is briefly but completely highlighted. "Story" is given in a manner that's intriguing, not annoying -- "The watch movement is from an Elgin pocket watch made in 1924."
Where the strength of the coasters' description is in adjectives, this one's is in verbs. Items are "showcased" or "glow" instead of just ... being there. Assemblages are "built"; the necklace doesn't hang, it "drapes." Everything can stand improvement, and the adjectives could perhaps take some spice -- there's a slight over-reliance on uninspiring standbys like "elegant" and "nature-inspired" -- but overall, this is a beautifully written piece of copy, and from me it gets an A.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Copywriting Tips: A Description Done Right
I often highlight errors not to make in writing for online sales. Here's a description where the seller has really put the words to work:
Vagabond Jewelry's home page is a great example of using the text to identify and draw a niche market. The word choice is apt and richly varied -- "calls up," "conjures"; "grounded," "earth," "peace," "approachability," "tough." It presents the reasons for the choice of metal both unapologetically and evocatively. They've never employed an overused term where an interesting, thought-provoking one would do. It would be so easy to make the mistake of using the words "unique jewelry for active wearers." But look at these rich, constructed, post-apocalyptic designs -- that would never do it justice:
("The Ram," one of the more dramatic pieces. Photo copyright Kest Schwartzman.)
Their word choices in the description single out their niche market but don't exclude others. In the sidebar, a unified set of web-gadgets suggest travel, adventure, versatility. And you know what this homepage undoubtedly gets Google hits from? "Surfer jewelry," "snowboarder jewelry," "copper jewelry," "surgical steel jewelry," "modern jewelry," more.
It's a phenomenal example of the less-basic and absolutely essential ingredients of discussing a jewelry line: giving "story," offering the specs, proposing a unifying concept through which to view the jewelry, pursuing a niche market, presenting reasons to purchase, and suggesting that this seller is the best source for jewelry to fit those needs.
Vagabond Jewelry's home page is a great example of using the text to identify and draw a niche market. The word choice is apt and richly varied -- "calls up," "conjures"; "grounded," "earth," "peace," "approachability," "tough." It presents the reasons for the choice of metal both unapologetically and evocatively. They've never employed an overused term where an interesting, thought-provoking one would do. It would be so easy to make the mistake of using the words "unique jewelry for active wearers." But look at these rich, constructed, post-apocalyptic designs -- that would never do it justice:
("The Ram," one of the more dramatic pieces. Photo copyright Kest Schwartzman.)
Their word choices in the description single out their niche market but don't exclude others. In the sidebar, a unified set of web-gadgets suggest travel, adventure, versatility. And you know what this homepage undoubtedly gets Google hits from? "Surfer jewelry," "snowboarder jewelry," "copper jewelry," "surgical steel jewelry," "modern jewelry," more.
It's a phenomenal example of the less-basic and absolutely essential ingredients of discussing a jewelry line: giving "story," offering the specs, proposing a unifying concept through which to view the jewelry, pursuing a niche market, presenting reasons to purchase, and suggesting that this seller is the best source for jewelry to fit those needs.
Monday, May 23, 2011
More on the use of "tribal"
... and this time it's from Fire Mountain Gems, and it's cringeworthy!
The text of a specials email I received from the company at the end of February, combined into prose paragraphs, but otherwise left intact and uncut:
"Wild Animal Prints in Drops, Links and Focals Plus a Selection of Hot-Selling Beads. Tribal Tribulations: 'High-contrast ethnic prints offer graphic appeal.' --Accessories magazine, November 2010 Issue in reference to Spring 2011. Dear Jewelry Designer, Take a walk on the wild side with animal print beads, drops, links and focal components! Exotic NEW prints and customer favorites add bold patterns to jewelry and home decor pieces. Shop the variety of colors and patterns and embark on your own expedition of safari-influenced designs."
The problems with this copy are twofold.
First of all, it has that regrettable and exceedingly colonial emphasis on "discovery," "embarkation," "expedition," "exploration." This is a relic of the imperial drive -- our cultural mythos in the West, particularly the English-speaking West, is that those who travel, who discover, who conquer are the world's heroes. Africans don't generally go on safari. Rich middle-aged white men who dress like every other country is a camping trip do.
Shockingly enough, Disney's Pocahontas actually constitutes a lovely little meditation on the motivations for the colonial spirit: the musical number which is a duet between John Smith and the commander dude whose name escapes me at the moment is a little more subversive than it seems, because while it initially looks like there's a contrast of "good" and "bad" motivations, there's more going on than that, as the idea of "discovering" and "taming" a wilderness is illustrated to be just as faulty as raping the land for raw materials. Props, Disney; didn't expect it of you.
The second problem is both more subtle and, in my not-so-humble opinion, more hideous.
Check out that header of "Tribal Tribulations." Why are animal prints "tribal"?
Given that "tribulations" is, definition-wise, a quite ludicrous choice in this context, I'll happily grant that this is just hasty work, and by no means deliberately attempting to draw the parallels I'm about to highlight. However.
The deeper problem with this text is that it conflates tribal people with animals. No, really, bear with me.
At the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert, CA, private event sponsors can rent the residence of the British district commissioner of the Kenyan village replicated in the zoo's African exhibit. Though constructed in the same manner, the commissioner's residence is referred to in all copy as a "house," the other buildings as "huts." And in the British-style dining room, a plate-glass wall looks into the leopard enclosure. Unlike any other animal in the zoo, permanent signage advertises how dangerous the exotic leopard is and explains the usages of the local people for leopard claws and skins, with images where the leopard parts hide the faces and bodies of the wearers. The leopards in this case take the place of the native people: Kept excluded from the refined area within the British-style house, lovely to look at but not to be gotten close to, the dangers of the African night subdued and brought under the British gaze in a way that is all about the pleasures of power.
This was the topic of my paper "Conservation and the Narrative of Stewardship," and I find the mentality even more painfully obvious in this copy.
Animal prints labeled "exotic" is one thing, though the problem with "exotic" is similar to that of "Oriental" in that it assumes that everyone who matters is in the same place. But animal prints labeled "tribal"?
Animals don't form tribes. People do. And this copy encourages its readers to consider that "tribal" is a synonym for "wild" and "animal." Tribal people become wild animals in this construction of the world beyond the audience of the copy.
Whether it's the fault of the magazine quoted or the copy editor who pulled this together, and even though it was certainly done without intent of harm -- there's no excuse for that "tribal tribulations" header. This is exactly what's wrong with using the word "tribal" insensitively.
The text of a specials email I received from the company at the end of February, combined into prose paragraphs, but otherwise left intact and uncut:
"Wild Animal Prints in Drops, Links and Focals Plus a Selection of Hot-Selling Beads. Tribal Tribulations: 'High-contrast ethnic prints offer graphic appeal.' --Accessories magazine, November 2010 Issue in reference to Spring 2011. Dear Jewelry Designer, Take a walk on the wild side with animal print beads, drops, links and focal components! Exotic NEW prints and customer favorites add bold patterns to jewelry and home decor pieces. Shop the variety of colors and patterns and embark on your own expedition of safari-influenced designs."
The problems with this copy are twofold.
First of all, it has that regrettable and exceedingly colonial emphasis on "discovery," "embarkation," "expedition," "exploration." This is a relic of the imperial drive -- our cultural mythos in the West, particularly the English-speaking West, is that those who travel, who discover, who conquer are the world's heroes. Africans don't generally go on safari. Rich middle-aged white men who dress like every other country is a camping trip do.
Shockingly enough, Disney's Pocahontas actually constitutes a lovely little meditation on the motivations for the colonial spirit: the musical number which is a duet between John Smith and the commander dude whose name escapes me at the moment is a little more subversive than it seems, because while it initially looks like there's a contrast of "good" and "bad" motivations, there's more going on than that, as the idea of "discovering" and "taming" a wilderness is illustrated to be just as faulty as raping the land for raw materials. Props, Disney; didn't expect it of you.
The second problem is both more subtle and, in my not-so-humble opinion, more hideous.
Check out that header of "Tribal Tribulations." Why are animal prints "tribal"?
Given that "tribulations" is, definition-wise, a quite ludicrous choice in this context, I'll happily grant that this is just hasty work, and by no means deliberately attempting to draw the parallels I'm about to highlight. However.
The deeper problem with this text is that it conflates tribal people with animals. No, really, bear with me.
At the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert, CA, private event sponsors can rent the residence of the British district commissioner of the Kenyan village replicated in the zoo's African exhibit. Though constructed in the same manner, the commissioner's residence is referred to in all copy as a "house," the other buildings as "huts." And in the British-style dining room, a plate-glass wall looks into the leopard enclosure. Unlike any other animal in the zoo, permanent signage advertises how dangerous the exotic leopard is and explains the usages of the local people for leopard claws and skins, with images where the leopard parts hide the faces and bodies of the wearers. The leopards in this case take the place of the native people: Kept excluded from the refined area within the British-style house, lovely to look at but not to be gotten close to, the dangers of the African night subdued and brought under the British gaze in a way that is all about the pleasures of power.
This was the topic of my paper "Conservation and the Narrative of Stewardship," and I find the mentality even more painfully obvious in this copy.
Animal prints labeled "exotic" is one thing, though the problem with "exotic" is similar to that of "Oriental" in that it assumes that everyone who matters is in the same place. But animal prints labeled "tribal"?
Animals don't form tribes. People do. And this copy encourages its readers to consider that "tribal" is a synonym for "wild" and "animal." Tribal people become wild animals in this construction of the world beyond the audience of the copy.
Whether it's the fault of the magazine quoted or the copy editor who pulled this together, and even though it was certainly done without intent of harm -- there's no excuse for that "tribal tribulations" header. This is exactly what's wrong with using the word "tribal" insensitively.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Watch This Space: Writing Workshop Live-Blog
Since this seems like a Scribblegoat sort of thing, I will be live-blogging tonight's Etsy Success Writing Workshop in comments to this post.
I expect to be mildly critical, if only because I first heard about it through Regretsy, but I was surprised to find that their worksheet is exactly what I would have made -- the first half, anyway. You can download a PDF of the worksheet from the link above. The last question, the first-person narrative from the object's point of view, left me going "Really? Really." and seems to belong in much more artistic venues than even the handmade business world -- the goal here is evoking emotion in order to sell, not evoking emotion for the sake of it. But the first two are good questions: 1.) List three cliches from Etsy site copy you're tired of and rewrite one in a fresh and interesting manner, and 2.) take two pages of writing about yourself or your work and reduce it to Tweet length. That's exactly what I recommend to my copywriting customers and to my college students.
The problem I expect is that the Etsy business model is sort of painfully whimsical, and I think that divorcing and developing the "business self" independently from the "creative self" is one of the best things a handmade-seller-cum-copywriter can do for him- or herself.
Anyhow, I'll be blogging about the Livestream feed with a probable combination of professional opinion and snark, starting tonight at seven o'clock Eastern, so watch this space!
UPDATE: Am now blogging! Click the comments below.
I expect to be mildly critical, if only because I first heard about it through Regretsy, but I was surprised to find that their worksheet is exactly what I would have made -- the first half, anyway. You can download a PDF of the worksheet from the link above. The last question, the first-person narrative from the object's point of view, left me going "Really? Really." and seems to belong in much more artistic venues than even the handmade business world -- the goal here is evoking emotion in order to sell, not evoking emotion for the sake of it. But the first two are good questions: 1.) List three cliches from Etsy site copy you're tired of and rewrite one in a fresh and interesting manner, and 2.) take two pages of writing about yourself or your work and reduce it to Tweet length. That's exactly what I recommend to my copywriting customers and to my college students.
The problem I expect is that the Etsy business model is sort of painfully whimsical, and I think that divorcing and developing the "business self" independently from the "creative self" is one of the best things a handmade-seller-cum-copywriter can do for him- or herself.
Anyhow, I'll be blogging about the Livestream feed with a probable combination of professional opinion and snark, starting tonight at seven o'clock Eastern, so watch this space!
UPDATE: Am now blogging! Click the comments below.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Disappointments and Blessings
I ventured back into the Etsy Forums the other day.
This was a mistake.
See, I had this flash of inspiration: Since the entire function of the Etsy Forums is to self-promote to other sellers (which I have always found to be a losing game, but others disagree), I would go along to the "Critiques" section and, using my Scribblegoat account but not rudely or blatantly advertising, offer free, helpful professional advice to the legions of people asking the community to critique their shops/descriptions. This would, with professional propriety and helpfulness, put the name of my business before those who were already seeking similar services. I hasten to assure my sighing readers: From my experience of the forums, this seemed a genuinely excellent plan.
Problem number one was immediately apparent: Recently (to judge from the complaint threads still fresh and full of vim), the Critiques and Promotions sections were phased out.
However, people were still posting the questions, just under "Site Help." I proceeded with my plan. Then I realized that a significant number of the threads were starting with "Five Ways to Make Sales," "Ten Ways to Improve Photographs," "How My Dog's Shop Made 18 Sales in Its First Month," etc. Cool! I made one linking to my word-choice series.
Half an hour later, I checked back. 14 comments! I was thrilled.
And then I read them.
A couple of polite thanks, made me feel great. Then these:
"I noticed you're really new here, do you have another shop somewhere where you've sold a lot of things based on your descriptions? Otherwise, I'm not sure how useful I would consider this information."
"Honestly I don't think people totally read the descriptions. It has been my experience that I'm answering questions that were answered in my descriptions."
"Please don't start threads made to bring attention to your blog. Offering suggestions on how to help make one's business successful is awesome, but please share most of that content here when you're doing so to prevent us from viewing the thread as a promotional one."
These don't seem as bad on the second read, but at the time, they were a slap in the face. The first made me angry. The articles themselves and every single element in my Scribblegoat shop -- including the descriptions themselves -- make it very obvious that I'm both a qualified writer and an experienced seller under the TangoPig account; this person didn't actually look at anything. They apparently took the barest of glances solely so they could tell me my hours of work were useless information, and I didn't know what I was doing. (Also? Comma splice. Yes, I'm petty.) The second one is more dismissive than I would be willing to be, but actually makes me laugh, since it is proved by the one above it.
And the last one is from an Etsy moderator and locked the thread.
I acknowledge that Etsy has a right to keep content primarily on the site itself; I'm good with this. But this does require, for the sake of the most basic standards of professionalism, that they either A.) have a posted rule about it in the FAQs, or B.) follow the damn links to see where they actually go -- because it's blindingly obvious from a click that that's not my blog.
It's not a big deal, and I know this, but it depressed me for the rest of the day. And yet -- that's also how I feel pretty much every time I visit the forums. It's this great groaning chorus of "Etsy sucks because of this," "And also because of this," "My customers are awful," "I'm ahead of the rat race, let me condescend to the fellow rats," "I'm the only honest seller here," "The rules were formulated to make life hard for me," and on and on and on and on ...
Yet -- even though the Etsy venture isn't going where I hoped, even though people have been cruel and dismissive about my extensive qualifications and generally made me feel like shit -- I do this for a living. I work in a great writing center where there's tons of support, I make pretty good money and learn interesting things. Even if I'm not freelancing it yet, I get to do this as a job. And the job isn't just editing other people's work, it's also doing my own -- I spend a couple of hours writing descriptions and blog posts every week, and my Etsy shop pays for itself now, though I know I'm still years from making back the startup supply costs.
Furthermore, I say "not freelancing yet" -- but I'm not sure what criteria I'm giving myself, because as of now? I've had three commissions, totalling a pretty respectable wage for a weekend off.
So I have much for which to be grateful, and with that in mind -- the slap in the face from trying to engage with the Etsy community? Small fry.
This was a mistake.
See, I had this flash of inspiration: Since the entire function of the Etsy Forums is to self-promote to other sellers (which I have always found to be a losing game, but others disagree), I would go along to the "Critiques" section and, using my Scribblegoat account but not rudely or blatantly advertising, offer free, helpful professional advice to the legions of people asking the community to critique their shops/descriptions. This would, with professional propriety and helpfulness, put the name of my business before those who were already seeking similar services. I hasten to assure my sighing readers: From my experience of the forums, this seemed a genuinely excellent plan.
Problem number one was immediately apparent: Recently (to judge from the complaint threads still fresh and full of vim), the Critiques and Promotions sections were phased out.
However, people were still posting the questions, just under "Site Help." I proceeded with my plan. Then I realized that a significant number of the threads were starting with "Five Ways to Make Sales," "Ten Ways to Improve Photographs," "How My Dog's Shop Made 18 Sales in Its First Month," etc. Cool! I made one linking to my word-choice series.
Half an hour later, I checked back. 14 comments! I was thrilled.
And then I read them.
A couple of polite thanks, made me feel great. Then these:
"I noticed you're really new here, do you have another shop somewhere where you've sold a lot of things based on your descriptions? Otherwise, I'm not sure how useful I would consider this information."
"Honestly I don't think people totally read the descriptions. It has been my experience that I'm answering questions that were answered in my descriptions."
"Please don't start threads made to bring attention to your blog. Offering suggestions on how to help make one's business successful is awesome, but please share most of that content here when you're doing so to prevent us from viewing the thread as a promotional one."
These don't seem as bad on the second read, but at the time, they were a slap in the face. The first made me angry. The articles themselves and every single element in my Scribblegoat shop -- including the descriptions themselves -- make it very obvious that I'm both a qualified writer and an experienced seller under the TangoPig account; this person didn't actually look at anything. They apparently took the barest of glances solely so they could tell me my hours of work were useless information, and I didn't know what I was doing. (Also? Comma splice. Yes, I'm petty.) The second one is more dismissive than I would be willing to be, but actually makes me laugh, since it is proved by the one above it.
And the last one is from an Etsy moderator and locked the thread.
I acknowledge that Etsy has a right to keep content primarily on the site itself; I'm good with this. But this does require, for the sake of the most basic standards of professionalism, that they either A.) have a posted rule about it in the FAQs, or B.) follow the damn links to see where they actually go -- because it's blindingly obvious from a click that that's not my blog.
It's not a big deal, and I know this, but it depressed me for the rest of the day. And yet -- that's also how I feel pretty much every time I visit the forums. It's this great groaning chorus of "Etsy sucks because of this," "And also because of this," "My customers are awful," "I'm ahead of the rat race, let me condescend to the fellow rats," "I'm the only honest seller here," "The rules were formulated to make life hard for me," and on and on and on and on ...
Yet -- even though the Etsy venture isn't going where I hoped, even though people have been cruel and dismissive about my extensive qualifications and generally made me feel like shit -- I do this for a living. I work in a great writing center where there's tons of support, I make pretty good money and learn interesting things. Even if I'm not freelancing it yet, I get to do this as a job. And the job isn't just editing other people's work, it's also doing my own -- I spend a couple of hours writing descriptions and blog posts every week, and my Etsy shop pays for itself now, though I know I'm still years from making back the startup supply costs.
Furthermore, I say "not freelancing yet" -- but I'm not sure what criteria I'm giving myself, because as of now? I've had three commissions, totalling a pretty respectable wage for a weekend off.
So I have much for which to be grateful, and with that in mind -- the slap in the face from trying to engage with the Etsy community? Small fry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)