Custom Portraits on the New Etsy Pattern Site, my review

Dog Portrait on New Etsy Site
 http://customportraitart.patternbyetsy.com

Our custom oil painting portraits now have an additional home, http://customportraitart.patternbyetsy.com.  What do you think?

Etsy developed this looks-like-a-standalone site to help fill a need for those who would like their own e-commerce site and their Etsy shops.  While I have my own portrait site, most of my google traffic there comes locally in my very competitive market.  So I'm hoping for more google and other search engine visibility in my Custom Portrait Art site at PatternbyEtsy.

My custom portrait paintings Pattern site pulls items directly from my regular Etsy shop, uses Etsy checkout, and was super easy to set up.

Besides a handful of themes to choose from, and a couple of color and font style choices, it's not very customizable, which probably is a good thing for those who feel overwhelmed at the thought of building their own website.  For those of us who have more experience, it's a little frustrating.

robin bird oil painting by Robin Zebley

We can't choose which of our pieces we want to show where, or rearrange them.  That's a minus.

The stats provided by etsy are not accurate as of the date of this blog post.  The do not match up.  The number of visits is fewer than the detail of those visits, they are co-mingling with regular Etsy shop stats.

There's worry about google penalties for duplicate content, but seo mavens seem divided on that in the forums.  At this time, it's free for 30 days.  Then it will cost $15 a month.  I will test it for at least the next 28 days and see if I get unique views via the patternbyetsy platform, and whether those views are buyers or bots.

What do you think?

Handmade at Amazon's Failure to Launch, Part II

Custom Family Portrait from Photos

So why has Handmade at Amazon basically failed to launch?  One explanation was in my previous post on Handmade, but I'm hoping that's not it, that Amazon didn't basically start a dummy category just to drive down Etsy stock and buy it out.

I am hoping there's a much simpler explanation:  That the initial launch failed and they are back to the drawing board.

It's been four months.  The same few categories exist now that did then.  Not one addition.  So no hope for a truly successful Handmade site.

It would be like opening a grocery store with produce, a cereal aisle, bread and pet aisle.  And within produce, not having potatoes.  Or cat toys in the pet aisle, no hamburger buns in the bread aisle.

And worse after the first week, telling the employees to just put anything anywhere, put the dog food with the cat toys, the bananas in with the radishes.  And if someone asks for radishes, show them dog food.  Four months and they are UNABLE to either add the "potatoes" or add a Meat or Frozen Foods section?  Really?

I wonder if they are really just not happy with the results so far.

Amazon's search is based in large part on number of sales.  Which might work fine with "regular" Amazon, I have no idea, I'm not in the wholesale/retail business.

But the result of using that algorithm for Handmade is that for some searches, there is no variety, and the cheapest dominate, and smarty pants sellers of non-handmade use terms to dominate handmade searches.

If Amazon features $7 inkjets rather than $700 paintings, it's getting 1/10 of the fees it could get. It's hard to believe that is what Amazon opened handmade for.

There are people who love it there.  There are people who just plain sell well there, as opposed to those whose views continue to sink.  There are people who hate Etsy and love that it's not Etsy.  There are people who sold there before and understand the complicated ins and outs.  There are people who are thrilled that the handmade competition is kept so small and so narrow. And I'm happy for them.

But I'm of the mind that to truly serve Handmade sellers and Buyers, lots of very basic changes need to happen fast.  Increase categories, enforce listing rules and scrap the algorithm that has vinyl wall sayings and butterflies dominating a search for "custom dog portrait".  For instance.  And do it without waiting for other sellers to rat out the offenders.  THAT could be a full time job.  I just want Amazon to really launch.  And waiting for signs it will.

What is an ACEO or ATC and Who Collects These Art Cards

Custom Dog Portrait ACEO by me

 ACEOs and ATCs are collectible art cards the size of a baseball card and are a fun and pretty inexpensive way to acquire a fabulous art collection in miniature.  I've enjoyed drawing realistic portraits of collectors' pet dogs and cats in this size.  The difference between an ACEO and an ATC is, simply put, about money.

ATC stands for Art Trading Cards.  This is how the movement started, artists trading art among one another, not selling to each other.  Then the general public wanted to get in on the fun and ACEOs were born!

ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals.  They are meant to be bought and sold and most of them are completed works of little art before they are offered for sale.

I like to paint and draw these tiny works of art both to trade with artists I admire and to sell to folks who collect mine! I've sold them on and off for years and love to list them on Ebay with bidding wars!

 This guy is a memorial portrait of a beloved dog that had recently crossed the rainbow bridge.  As important as his precious face was to his mom, was the setting because it was a place he loved to hang, the rocks and the water.  And you can see it from his happy face!  If you'd like your own pet's portrait drawn in an ACEO size, just contact me with your photos and I'll invoice you via Paypal.  I charge $25.50 each.  More of my dog portraits are at robinzebley.com and my Etsy pet portraits shop, CustomPortraitArt.Etsy.com

Etsy to Sweatsy by Regretsy author April Winchell, My Review of her article on her opinion of Etsy's Upcoming IPO.

Pug says "What?"

Former publisher of  Regretsy, April Winchell  published her opinion of Etsy's on upcoming IPO in THIS ARTICLE on Motherboard.

April is best known for nasty-fun posts about handmade items for sale at Etsy with her hilarious comments.  A kind of guilty pleasure which ended when she published a book instead.  So she knows Etsy.

April humorously discusses Etsy's transition from a Handmade site (yes, including the badly made handmade), to a site that uses the reputation and cache of "handmade" to basically sell anything to up its profits to ready itself for the stock market investor.

I want to tell you she is totally off base here.  Because I sell both vintage and my own pet and house portrait art at Etsy.  But I can't.

When Etsy introduced the factory concept a year and a half ago, every staffer said items HAD to be at least designed by the owner, disclosed if it used a factory, that full disclosure of all workers if not a factory would be disclosed and very strict monitoring would take place.  And that they were sure no child labor was involved because a lot of them took a trip to China to make sure.  Somehow knowing in advance that the Etsy artisan who got too big to do every task to produce their own work would NOT contract out to a factory anywhere but.  As April notes, Etsy is not requiring those things, or else isn't monitoring in an acceptable level.

Orange & White Cat Oil Painting by me

One of the searches I do from time to time is "bridesmaid dresses".  I remember in the early days being so impressed that there were actually independent little dress designers working out of their home studios or a shopfront they rented, designing, cutting, sewing and SELLING high quality clothing, including bridesmaid dresses.

So for me that is a canary in the room.  How's the canary singing now?  What I see now on the front pages of search are:

"Cheap Bridesmade Dress!"  Who is the owner?  A name, a photo of someone who designed...nothing. Oh, by the way, they say,  "We prefer direct contact to ugly threats, believe me we have them."  No kidding.

Another that is prominently featured in the search results, happily selling away at "Handmade Etsy" has an owner who never once mentions designing or even ever having worked on a dress.  In fact, his claim to fame according to his self-reported bio is that he worked managing factories!  Name redacted:

"The owner  X  joined in dress business since 2004 after i graduated from university. At that time firstly worked in a large Hongkong based garment factory responsible for large USA brand such as: Macy and Nordstrom as well as some other brands from Europe countries,  X was working in the factory as a team leader. after working in the factory for years with his strong team, he set up his own factory with his team together. with the factory development smoothly and steadily. Last year, with the support of his factory, he lead his team to set up the dress studio/shop to provide the dresses to the customers."

They aren't even trying to pretend to be handmade, designed by the owner, or anything remotely associated with what Etsy claims it is!

And another who claims to do all the work herself from designing to cutting to sewing to shipping and somehow is able to accept  7 to 9 orders a day, every day.  Come on.

This just one search, one I'm familiar with so can write about.  Just multiply it out for just about every type of "handmade" there is.  If I can such obvious offenders of the Etsy TOU within a minute, Etsy can, too.  Others have painstakingly not only found shops violating the TOU, but reported them to Etsy, they say, including links to all over the internet where the exact items are selling, to no avail.  Yet Etsy claims when they investigate these shops, they are all "Etsy legal".  

Drawing of my Boxer dog, Sarge

I am afraid April Winchell is spot on.  I'm sad she is.  I am okay with Etsy going public.  I'd like to invest. But I want to invest in a company that is what it says it is and does what it says it would.   And for a totally, totally selfish reason.  I want to keep selling my pet and house portraits there.  And I fear as more and more potential buyers discover, as I did, that Etsy is not what it claims to be, that all of us will lose.  As April says, "Some corporations have the integrity to tell you who they are, even if you don’t like what they have to say."

That's the Etsy I want to invest in.

I'm Robin Zebley, a pet, house and kid portrait artist from just outside Philadelphia.  My site is robinzebley.com, and my etsy shop is CustomPortraitArt.etsy.com

A painting a day ... old idea but new challenge for me and probably not all dogs!

Those of you who are artists are probably bored with the notion of a painting a day, which was a fresh, fab idea a few years ago.  But I never jumped on board. (I miss all the good trends!)  I am busy with commissions and they do take a lot longer than a day.  I've been busy with other things, too and just have gotten off track with art.

Two things I'm doing artwise in 2011 - I'm going to life drawing classes on a regular basis with a pal, which will motivate me to show up (after all, with lunch in Center City Philly an after class reward, who can resist?). 

The other is that I've accepted a challenge from a fellow Etsy artist, a craft/painting a day in January, 2011.  I'll post them for you to see here, so keep tuned.  Otto might make it from time to time, but I'm hoping to concentrate on still life.  And once a week, a life study!  Not tied to any medium, this is going to be a growth month for me!  More than anything, it will keep me organized and focused, I think.  I have several dog portrait commissions scheduled for January, so wasting time in forums, etc. will have to be cut to the bone!  (Pun intended, my fellow doggie lovers!)

Want to join in the challenge?  If you are an Etsian, hop on board.  Here's our coordinator's blog: http://domesticicingblog.blogspot.com/

The Gulf Coast - Artists Donate to Gulf Coast Relief, Me too!

You know I love animals, and that includes wildlife, not just pets.  Frankly, from the news reports I've seen, the White House has not done nearly enough to contain the oil and protect our wildlife, and the livelihoods of the folks who depend on a clean environment along the Coast.  They've squandered crucial days either playing politics or believing without question the amount of oil BP says is spurting into OUR WILDLIFE'S HOMES!

I mean, if someone crashed their car through your livingroom window, would you believe THEIR estimates without checking them out or wait til they got around to cleaning up the debris?  Whatever they ARE doing, clearly is NOT enough, our wildlife and their habitat is being destroyed every single minute, and evrery life and every inch is too important NOT to protect!

So, I believe that we as Americans need to take care of our own business and if the government isn't doing enough, we have to do it ourselves. 

What can you do?  Well, read on... I've joined the cool folks at Etsy.com (where I have two shops...one with my art, one where I sell super-cool vintage things) and have donated a $190 portrait of any subject, with all of it going to benefit two non-profits that are leaders of relief on the Gulf Coast, Oxfam America and the Audubon Society.  As of this writing, over 150 artists and crafters have donated items for sale to benefit the Gulf and support their efforts.  No profit to us, we are donating 100% of the sales to the Gulf Relief.

You can support the Gulf relief by purchasing from this collective, and remember, after fees, 100% of it goes to the relief effort.  No admin fees, the wonderful etsian Kate and her mom, along with other etsy volunteers, are doing all the admin work totally free to make every cent count.

So, if you've been wanting to buy a portrait of your pet or kid or house or whatever, if you want to get a start on Christmas shopping, you will not only get my best work, but you'll be helping the animals and folks in the Gulf.  If you're not interested in MY work (ok, how can that BE???), there's over 150 other items you can purchase, same deal.  All of us artists and crafters in the collective are paying for shipping and supplies out of our own pockets.

So c'mon, help out, tweet and facebook this page, and visit the Help The Gulf Shop, right here.  Search for me under "Art":
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HelpTheGulfCoast?ga_search_query=help+the+gulf+coast&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

Guerilla Marketing! Artists and crafters take over the media!

Guess what? My art is indirectly in the Wall Street Journal!

Yesterday I blogged about Etsy day, which was so successful, it was the most tweated-about topic on Twitter!

Here's what we did:
One artist, a photographer, thought up the idea. If we all publicize the Etsy site, itself, instead of just our individual shops, we could...maybe...create a big enough buzz to be noticed...without spending a cent. We discussed it online for about a month, brainstorming, and set a date, and yesterday was the day and we sprang into action.

We spent no money, except for paper and ink to print up some signs on our own computer/printers from free designs to put in car windows and shop windows all over the world.
We wore buttons we made.
We Twittered.
We Facebooked.
We Blogged.
We Craigslisted.
We handed out cards.

We created a buzz! Wallstreet Journal isn't the only medium to pick up our story and further our self generated publicity! It shows what can happen when we pool our energy and resources to positively promote all things made handmade!

As you might know, my Etsy store is just in its infancy and I need more pieces before I'll really be able to roll with a shop, but here it is...taking its baby steps! www.robinzebley.etsy.com. I still sell all of my pet portraits directly from my website: robinzebley.com

The second exciting thing that happened to me yesterday is that I was accepted into the Printsy Group, a group of talented printmakers who sell on etsy! What an honor! What a fabulous medium...original AND affordable art!

Okay...beautiful day here outside of Philadelphia, I have lots of things to get done today including working on my Yorkie portrait, yardwork and a visit to Fleisher to attend the closing show where my full sized cat woodcut print won the printmaking award! TTYL. Robin
I'm pet portraitist and animal artist, Robin Zebley. Want to be notified of a new blog post? Click "Following my blog" to your right. Want to see my whole blog? Click on the banner. Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you buy some orginal art today to enjoy forever!

It's ETSY Day!

April 24 is ETSY day! Come VISIT! http://etsy.com It's hard to believe there's ANYONE out there who hasn't visited and bought from this wonderful site where all things offered are handmade, one at a time. I love machines...washing machines, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner...but I don't have to be dressed by one, accessorized by one, or have one make "art" for me!

I opened an etsy store recently with my woodcut prints and small original pieces. The community of artisans there have coached me and encouraged me. I haven't had time to fill my store (something I have learned really drives sales) because my portrait commissions take most of my art time (got another one today!! yay!) but I see this as a super addition and I am so impressed with the professionalism of the "etsians" and the drop dead gorgeous work they offer.

So those of us who make things handmade, including us fine artists, are celebrating this wonderful site today.

So stop by and take a look...and support small business, craftsmanship and score something special (Mother's Day?) all at the same time!

Launching my Etsy Store!

I signed onto etsy a few years ago but never did a thing with it. Beside my pet portraits, I sold all of my "other art" on ebay and did quite well. Just didn't have time.

But I did learn two lessons from selling art on ebay:
1. You need more than a few pieces. So I've been slowly adding items to my etsy store.
2. You need positive feedback. How to get? I'm offering pieces, one at a time, way below my normal selling rate, to "prime the pump"! Hope this works! I'm using my "Muse Series"...pieces that don't have any particular other theme or tie in, just things I felt like drawing or painting and did. I think in many ways, these pieces show who I am more than anything else.

This is the first piece I'm offering for my "prime the pump" sale. Come visit my etsy store HERE and help me get the ball rolling! Robin

I'm American Animal Artist, Robin Zebley. My pet portrait site is robinzebley.com, if you'd like updates to this blog, click "follow my blog" to your right. If you'd like to read the most current blog entry, click on the banner at the top. Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to hear your comments! Robin