Owl Spotlight, Jbirkemeierphoto

What Etsy seller isn't inspired by (yet totally envious of) the sellers featured on The Storque's Quit Your Day Job series? I know I'm not the only one who used to read those stories on the computer AT the day job I wanted to quit, either. Well, five weeks ago, I did just that--I QUIT my day job in the hopes of crafting for a living. Now, I have to interject here. If you're anything like me, when you read these stories you immediately go to the person's shop to see how many sales he or she has made. Don't bother going to my shop--I've only had 13 sales. Unimpressive, I know. I'm fairly new to the industry and my sales are made from craft shows, so I don't think I'm totally wasting my time trying to be an independent artist here. I also have to say that I left my job at a commercial studio as a full time assistant and digital retoucher to pursue freelance assisting in studios around town...aaaaand I shoot weddings. What I'm saying is that I left my day job not expecting only to make an income from crafting.

Aside from reading the Quit Your Day Job and Featured Seller Articles, my eye was caught yesterday by a post in The Storque called Get Your Career in Gear, posted by Vanessa, an Etsy Admin. The article didn't really give advice, but it showed fun office items as a shout out to those sellers still stuck at the job they don't love. The topic got me to think, though, about the things I need to do to get more serious about staying self employed. This isn't a complete list but it includes:

1. See a CPA to get my accounts in order--http://www.cpadirectory.com/
2. Get my business name licensed--http://www.myownbusiness.org/business_permits_license/
3. Apply for more Craft Shows--I've never been able to find a great website for this. I've found out about shows through a couple local craft groups, so I would suggest making connections with the crafters in your area.
4. Find a marketing plan that works for me--http://www.etsy.com/storque/search/tags/seller-handbook/ (Basically read the Seller Handbook from start to finish).
5. Keep creating new items to post!

If anyone has other suggestions to build up their business that have worked well for them, please leave a comment.

Follow more of Julie's adventures at being her own boss by reading her blog http://jbirkemeierphoto.blogspot.com Also, be sure to visit her shop. Her photography's beautiful!