Vacation & July Showcase

Hey Blog World,


I took a vacation and went to Las Vegas with my husband last week. It was great, full of Luxury and that is exactly what I needed. A week was a long time in Vegas, but we filled it with shows, sites and way too much food. I owe all of you pictures.

I also signed up for two showcases in July. Now you might be thinking to yourself "Why did Laura sign up for July Showcase?" I signed up for them because I am curious to see if it will help boost my visibility during LowlaBug's off season. I also have yet to sell a eBook Cover and would love to know if it is because people can not see them or if they are just... mis-priced, common, uninteresting, etc. You know the normal "My stuff's not selling" designer fears.

I do think that the 7 Showcases that I did this winter (a low cost of $100) made a huge difference in taking me from 25 sales to 97 sales in 3 months. That does not include the two Sticks & Bricks who found me during that time.

Needless to say I am a big fan, but I prefer to book a specific showcase like the Main One or the 'Winter Clothing Showcase,' But an Accessory one will do.

I did finish an accessory showcase yesterday and ended up featured in a treasury... Is it related, who knows.

As always I will keep you posted.

Go Forth and enjoy the day

-LB

Logo, Logo, Logos

Hey Blog World,


LowlaBug Designs got a face lift this week. I put the new logo on EVERYTHING. I am very proud of myself. I have been reading for years about branding yourself and how important it is, but I never really did anything about it. As someone who has enough paper marketing (postcards, business cards, flyers, etc) products to make small corporations blush (thank you Vistaprint). I was ashamed. It was not until I saw Mary from ArtTales logo outside of the twitter world that I realized how important they were. I new that it was her instantly, and she is just 1 of hundreds of people I see on twitter.

My Logo is not fancy. In fact it is the same logo that I have been drawing for 14 years. I am happy with it though.

For those of you who have not created your logo yet and are looking for a simple way to create a logo I suggest Google Documents.

Sidebar:I use google docs for EVERYTHING. They are so simple.

So go into Google Docs and select New Drawing. From there you can insert photos or use shapes to make your shapes. I used the free draw option (Go to the shape drop down and it is the one to right of the "T".) The really nice thing about their free drawing is that it smoothes your lines out for you so they don't look like you drew it in the car.

Once I created my drawing I downloaded it into Picasa and crafted the lettering.

I highly suggest you try it. If you don't have your own shop or you already have a logo but would like to try it out may I suggest making a logo for "Pops Soap Shop." It doesn't exist, but I feel as though it would be a great way to use a bunch of different techniques in Google Drawings.

Go forth and Logo!

Always,

LB

Love Letter: craftopolis.com

So this is a new series that I would like to introduce on my Blog. There are a couple sites that I use everyday and I think that every etsy seller should know about. Things that have made my life easier, or at least taken a little bit of mystery out of this thing called the internet. Today's Love Letter is to and here is why.

Craftoplis is a fantastic site that allows you to do a couple of things that other sites don't. It connects to your google analyitcs as well as etsy to grab tons of information. However, my favorite

Tag Reports -
What are tag reports you ask? They are records of what people searched for on Etsy that brought up your items. Fantastic, I know. You can look at tag reports for 60 days - 30 days - 7 days - Yesterday and Today. I would be lying if I said I was not completely obsessed with this feature. It will also give you the search terms that they used. For example I just listed Lowla's Library and I can see that someone searched for Kindle Book Cover and one of mine came up on page 11.

I have also learned (some of you may already know this) that the title of your item also counts in etsy's tags. So, it might not be the best use of Tags to double up on things that are already in your title. This site has been amazingly helpful.

Go forth and explore it for yourself. It is a blast.

-LB

They say you're only as good as the company you keep...

...but lately I've been keeping to myself.

Thank you Brair Rabbit for the perfect title to this post. With my new pledge to post I have decided to start with a personal update.

2011 has been interesting for me as well as LowlaBug Designs.

LBD selling out 2 weeks before Christmas was nuts. I have never knitted so many items in such short amount of time. Supply and Demand. I have not experienced the scales so drastically before. I know have had 97 sales on Etsy and that does not reflect wholesale orders, craft sales and consignment shops. I was completely burned out, but in a nice way. I did feel a little sad about having to work at my in-laws (who I love beyond words) house over the holiday season. However, with the help of my niece and nephew we took 2 radio flyers worth of packages to the Fort Worth, TX post office.

My husband and I bought a house! 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, yard and basement. We now live in the amazing little town of Homewood, Il. It is great, they have farmer's markets, parades and festivals. It is a welcomed change from Chicago and a great place to start a family. Our new house also has a studio which is amazing. I get so much done and am no longer trying to move folding tables around in a 2 bedroom apartment to make enough space to craft and have dinner.

As you know from reading this blog I have started making eBook covers, Lowla's Library. I love them and they are now the only things my husband and I use for our kindles. I haven't sold any yet, but hopefully that changes soon. They are kind of like crack to me, because it is letting me explore paper as a medium while allowing me to change my covers as often as I change my shoes. If it catches on it will be a great off season product.

We just got back from camping in Lake Geneva, WI and I was really inspired. There is going to be some great fall knits coming to LBD this year.

My Brother released his debut solo album (Brair Rabbit and the Company You Keep) this January and the buzz has been great! His CD release party was booked pass capacity. He has been featured in the newspaper multiple times since April as a top 10 new band in Chicago as well as the top 12 bands to see at Taste of Chicago this year. It looks like he will be making his first TV appearance as Briar Rabbit this month as well. I am so proud of him. He is also super good, so you should check out what people are calling Though Pop.

My husband is still unemployed, which brings us to 9 months and counting. We are lucky that we are not extravagant people and that the most expensive thing we buy are books. We are lucky enough to have an amazing family as well as the ability to buy a house and head to Vegas at the beginning of July!

We also joined weight watchers at the beginning of the new year and I have lost 20lbs. Who knew.

Oh, and one of my best friends is moving to Denver and I am having a hard time with it. It will be awesome for her, but as juvenile as it sounds, we met before freshman orientation and have not been apart in the 10 years since. It also does not help that all of my close friends with the exception of 2 are currently in California, Berlin, China and now Denver. Maybe Peter Pan was on to something with this never land thing...

So life is good, but lately I have been keeping to myself.

Go do something that makes you happy!

Always,

LB


- from my iPad

Lowlabug.etsy.com

A better blogger

From this day forward I am going to be a better blogger.

This is a promise I have made many times before, but this time I mean it.

I can not say that the post will be long or not follow which ever tangent I start off on, but they will be frequent.

I can do this, it just like 20 Twitter post in a row...



- from my iPad

Lowlabug.etsy.com

Location:The University of Chicago

My Library by LowlaBug Designs

I am happy to introduce "My Library" to the LowlaBug Designs gallery.

I love reading and I really love to read on my Kindle. However, I have never been able to find the right case. All I wanted was a case that looked like a book. Something that was affordable so that I could switch cases as often as I wanted. So after years of searching I decided to make one, and I love it so much that I wanted to share.

This is a case for the person on the go. I take My Library with me everywhere. I read on the train, in restaurants as well as outside. It is created out of paper and sealed with a glossy coat. It is not water proof, but the sealer allows for an easier clean up of everyday messes (it starts to rain, sticky kid fingers, dog kisses, etc.)

The E-Book attaches to the case with Industrial strength velcro. I know, I made that same face when my husband suggested sticking something to my precious Kindle. However, it comes off so easily, doesn't obscure any product information and the soft side of the velcro is what attached to your E-Book. (I use Goo Gone to remove it and it worked like a charm.)


The Nuts and Bolts
- All of My Library Cases by LowlaBug come with a handmade fabric slip cover
- The velcro is included with your purchase.

My Library Cover will fit the following e-books:
- Amazon Kindle (Generations 3 & 2)
- B&N NOOK (color & 1st Generation)
- Kobo (Touch)

My Library Measurements:
8 1/4" - High
5 1/2" - Wide
3/4" - Depth

It is handmade with paper. I have been using mine non-stop for the past 4 months, but it will like not last forever. With that said I will send you a 10% off coupon for your next My Library purchase every time you order a new one.

FREE SHIPPING within the USA and $2 shipping to Canada.

Go forth and Read!

You can check out the listing here

Showcase #1 - Main Showcase

Showcase #1 - Main showcase

Saturday October 9th

Okay so I had the fist showcase of my showcase test and I have to say it went really well. I had to people make purchases, a total of $40. I had an offer from a blogger to be a featured seller. I also received an offer from a local consignment shop to sell some items in their store.

The $15 for the showcase was defiantly worth it from a marketing point of view.

Here is a log of the day. Enjoy

-LB

LOG:

10:30am
Google Analytic: 21 visits / 61 pageviews
First Item up: Blue Braided Cable Scarflet

Views: 133 (40 last night)

Hearts: 3 new (1 previous hearts)
Total New Item Hearts: 6

1:40pm
Google Analytic: 42 visits / 208 pageviews
First Item up: Cozy Green Cable

Views: 93 (data not recorded)

Hearts: 0 new (4 previous hearts)

3:50pm
Google Analytic: 58 visits /248 pageviews

First Item up: Blue Braided Cable Scarflet

Views: 190

Hearts: 0 New hearts
Second Item Up: Cozy Green Cable Scarflet

Views: 101

Hearts: 0 New Hearts
2 sales
1 - Charcoal Gray Braided Cable Scarflet
1 - Blue and White keyFAB

6:15pm
Google Analytic: 84 visits / 363 pageviews

First Item Up: Green Cozy Cable Scarflet

Views: 136

Hearts: 1 new heart
Second Item Up: Blue Braided Cable Scarflet

Views: 194
Hearts: 0

10:30pm
Google Analytic: 114 visits / 514 pageviews

First Item Up: Blue Braided Cable Scarflet

Views: 238

Second Item Up: Green Cozy Cable Scarflet

Views: 147
New shop hearts: 3
New item hearts: 13

11:00pm - End of Show
Google Analytic: 121 visits / 536 pageviews

Blue Braided Cable Scarflet: Views - 242
Green Cozy Cable Scarflet: Veiws - 156
New shop hearts - 3
New Item hearts - 15

Offer for Blog write up
Offer to sell in local consignment shop