Presidents Message

Craft Beat Marketplace

atendance.
Our new slate of ofcers
was announced at last
months meetng and con-
frmed by atending members
with one change. Joan
Creamer stepped down as
Corresponding Secretary.
Shirley Natale graciously vol-
unteered to take her place.
See the updated Board
Member list.
The October meetng pro-
gram features Ginny Lirio who
will present Social Media as a
vehicle to generate revenue
stream for your craf business
as well as ways to expand
your reach. Ecommerce ofers
a lot of potental and we
should take advantage of it.
Our meetng is on October 8
at 7:00pm. Hope you all can
make it.

Norma McEntee
President
Happy Fall,

The air is crisp and cool
what a wonderful tme of
year. The best shows are
coming up and a lot of us do
our most productve work at
this tme.
As mentoned in the Sep-
tember issue of the Craf
Beat, Ron Schmitz stepped
down as President of OSA.
Ron was a positve role model
as our President, but with
pressing health issues he real-
ized he needed to take it
easy. Thank you, Ron, for
everything you have done for
this organizaton and get well
soon.
I will do my very best for
this organizaton (I have been
a member for almost 20 years
and have been through 5 or 6
presidents). I would appreci-
ate any suggestons or input
from all of you to make this
our best year ever. Thank
you so much for your vote of
confdence.
Our last meetng was very
productve. A discussion
about past shows was worth-
while and informatve. Some
shows were good, some were
not. But dont forget that
what is good for some, wont
be good for others. We each
have to fnd our niche. Some
do only indoor shows be-
cause of product type; some
only do large shows. And
some do so many shows per
year, I dont know how you
ever have tme to make prod-
uct.
Thirteen OSA members
concluded their Big E experi-
ence, exhibitng handcrafed
products. Based on feedback
from each one, this year has
been fantastc. The Big E had
a record breaking atendance
on Saturday, September 20
(over 170,600 people). Now
THATS what I call great
Coming soon in Craft Beat! Marketing OSA members craft
business through: Profiles of Success articles an in-
depth look at your handcraft business. How it all began,
where you are now, and what your future looks like.
Your editor will feature a member or two (depending on
space availability) each month starting in November. Watch
for Ginny with a pen and notebook, a camera and a micro-
phone coming near you!!! I look forward to getting to know
more about you and your business.

Inside this issue:
New Board Members
1
Top Ten Etsy Sellers
2
Big E Recap
3
Marketplace Reviews
3
Board Members
4
Welcome New Members
4
Hospitality Corner
4
2014-2015
Board Members
President
Norma McEntee
Vice President
Dottie Devereaux
Treasurer
Paul Di Carlo
Recording Secretary
Terry Haydt
Corresponding Secretary
Shirley Natale


Craft
Beat
Volume 8
October 2014

Volume 3



Big days ahead at the Big E and we are
not just talking about this years fair. The
focus was on the Eastern States Exposi-
ton two years from now, which will mark
its centennial celebraton.
Eastern States began just two years afer
the Titanic sank and at the start of World
War I.






Top Ten Selling Etsy Shopsand What You Can Learn From Them!
Page 2
In need of a little inspiration? Take a
peek at the top selling Etsy in the
Handmade category (this excludes
vintage and supplies) these shops
are all doing something right.
Last time best-selling Etsy shops were
rated best sellers overall and found
mostly shops selling supplies. This
time, shops that sell handmade items
were rated accordingly.

Name Sales
Beanforest 89,525
Three Bird Nest 75,320
ZenThreads 66,472
Grace and Lace Co 65,962
Think Pink Bows 63,526
Zoey's Attic 61,116
Collage-O-Rama 60,205
SignatureTshirts 60,044
norajane 59,927
RivermillEmbroidery 57,701

What You Can Learn from Etsys
Best-Selling Shops

Use clear, daylit photographs.
Thanks to white backgrounds and
bright lighting, items for sale in
the top 10 shops look great.
List a TON of products. All of
these shops have 200+ items in
stock, some have nearly 1,000
items! Not that quantity trumps
quality, of course. Think of it this
way: if you have just one item in
your shop, youre less likely to be
found than someone with 50 items
showing up in search. Fuller
shops also look more enticing.
Barren shelves tend to spook cus-
tomers. Aim for at least 20 prod-
ucts to start 20 listings is enough
to fill your shop page nicely.
Have a Facebook presence. Creat-
ing a Facebook page for your craft
business increases your exposure
and gives you another avenue to
reach your fans.
Develop a shop personality. Eve-
ry single shop in the top 10 has a
character to it you can almost
guess what kind of personality the
shop owner might have. Personality
is what makes handmade so awe-
some, so dont be afraid to brand
your shop with a bit of you.
Sell individuality. All of the top 10
shops are selling individuality
shirts printed with clever sayings,
buttons with a sense of humor, deco-
rative stamps, pretty headbands for
babies and adults, decorated t-shirts.
In fact, all of the top 10 shops are sell-
ing things to wear or decorate with.
Think of these shops as selling a bit
of individuality that cant be bought
in a mass-market store.
Use a consistent look and feel.
The products are presented similarly
same zoom level, consistent light-
ing. The overall effect is harmonious
and coherent, making it easier to
focus on the products themselves.
Under $30. With a few exceptions in
just a couple of these top selling Etsy
shops, nearly all of these top-selling
handmade shops offer their wares at
prices somewhere between $3 and
$25. Dont fret if your products cost
more, but if all your products are
$100 you might want to add a few
smaller items to your shop.







Check these sites for more infor-
mation on how they made it to top
ten!










This year was another record breaking
year with 1,498,605 visitors including a
massive crowd on Saturday Sept. 20 of
170,612 breaking a record set in 1980.
The 17-day fair had something for every-
one from rides on the Midway to a pleth-
ora of food, exhibitons, vendors and
unique treats. The fair had musical per-
formances from bands including Lynyrd
Skynyrd, Litle Big Town, Darius Rucker
and others.
The Big E had some technological up-
dates this year including the Big E Hot
Spot where people could charge their cell
phones at the fair. The fair's Facebook
page also reached 170,000 likes and
more than 7,400 Twiter followers, of-
cials said.
The Fair was frst ttled "The Big E" in
1967 and remains true to its agricultural
roots today, with more than 7,100 4-H
and FFA partcipants, and 1,100 open-
show exhibitors, as well as educatonal
displays and atractons.
One of the most popular atractons
at The Big E is the Avenue of States. The
Avenue contains life-size replicas of the
six original New England statehouses, as
well as the New England Grange House.

Small shops are a primary atracton of
the Big E. Vendors can be found across
most of the fairgrounds, selling items
ranging from state-specifc trinkets and
regional memorabilia, to household
goods and clothing and accessories. Thir-
teen OSA members exhibited with their
specialty handcrafed products.
Pictured from lef: Laura Winward, Terry
Haydt, Bob O'Berg, Norma McEntee, Kim
Bergeron, Alan Haydt, Alicia Bergeron
Joan Creamer at her Magic Sceptre
booth.
Did you know????
Eastern States began just two years
afer the Titanic sank and at the start of
World War I.
Ocean State Artisans at the Big E
Page 3
Handmade Marketplace
Reviews
Fifth in a series of top ten
handmade marketplaces
reviewed annually.
No. 5 Zibbet Zibbets website is
streamlined, easy to use and contains
features for buyers and sellers alike.
Zibbets homepage is especially
user-friendly with comprehensive
search options. The Fabulous Five,
our favorite sidebar feature,
spotlights five items around a theme
each week. For example, one week
Zibbet spotlighted five items from
different shops that were made
entirely from recycled denim. The
Fabulous Five rotates each week on
Zibbets blog, and buyers can
subscribe to the blogs RSS feed to
receive weekly updates or simply
check back in.
Buyers can contact sellers directly
with questions, and most shops will
create custom items upon request.
Zibbet has three membership plans
for sellers: Basic, Premium and
Premium yearly. Zibbet claims the
best deal is the Premium yearly plan,
which includes site analytics,
unlimited free listings, total
customization of your shop, the ability
to create coupon codes and gift guide
exposure. The basic plan, which is
free, has several helpful options as
well, so if you are just starting out,
wed suggest starting with the basic
plan and then upgrading later.

Next Issue: Shop Handmade
OSA Members MeetingOct. 8
7:00pm Every Second Wednesday of the Month
At this location:
East Greenwich United Methodist Church
1558 South County Trail (Route 2)
East Greenwich, RI

Welcome New Members
Cory Jengo

Boar d Me mbe r s


Ofcers Members at Large Commitee Chairs
President Anthony Patriarca Craf Shows
Norma McEntee (401) 486-4061 (401) 738-6645 Dick Sheridan (401) 450-9201
normamc@aol.com lpatriarca@verizon.net dsher58201@aol.com
Vice President Trish York Historian
Dote Devereaux (401) 539-8330 (401) 383-4442 Sue Keenan
dotyaya@verizon.net tyork0421@aol.com sekeenan1@verizon.net
Treasurer Kathie Feeney Librarian
Paul Di Carlo (401) 821-7409 kkfrafer@verizon.net Mimi Fagnant (401) 884-4107
pdicarlo55@yahoo.com Joan Creamer lilacwind@cox.net
Recording Secretary (401) 884-2180 Membership
Terry Haydt exteriordesigner@cox.net Trish York (401) 383-4442
pentastcplus@verizon.net tyork0421@aol.com
Corresponding Secretary Hospitality
Shirley Natale (401) 739-0989 Judy and Barry Rubenstein
shardworks@at.net (401) 821-0602
barry@barrysboxes.com
Craf Beat
Ginny Lirio (484) 866-3534
ginny.liriodesigns@gmail.com



Thank you Pat, Chris and Mary Beth for making this
months yummy cakes and pastries.