Welcome to my blog about Shacara Jewellery - Improving your Etsy Shop

Hi & welcome to my very first post to my new blog about my jewellery - Shacara Jewellery. Over the last few years I've developed a great little jewellery business called Shacara. I have a website - Shacara Beaded Jewellery, I also sell on Ebay under the name That's Gorgeous Bridal Jewels and in the last year, I've opened up my brand new shop on Etsy, Shacara Jewellery. At the moment Etsy is my focus until I get it running smoothly and this post is about how I am improving it bit by bit

At first I thought, my business will never get off the ground. It seemed like I would never get regular sales. I did hours & hours of research, so worth it, and realised that part of the problem was my photos. What I thought was ok really wasn't.

When we sell online, photos are the first thing that either draws a potential customer in or makes them skip onto something else. Of course great photos aren't the only thing that will help a person decide wether to buy your item or not but it sure helps. A photo is the only way a customer has to experrience your product as they can't pick it up & see it in a three dimensional way.

So over the last 6 months or so I've come to some conclusions about how to take better photos. I'm no expert but it has helped increase my sales.

Firstly find a good source of natural light. Some people prefer to take photos in the shade outside which is great, but in our house the best position is by a north facing window on a cloudy day and in the morning. I've been told by a professional photographer that a south westerly window is best if possible but you'll find your own best source of natural light.

Secondly, know how your camera works. Most digital cameras will do just fine if you know how to adjust the white balance for the light source you have, use macro mode to get close ups and it helps to use a tripod to avoid camera shake. Experiment with all your camera settings to find what works best for you. You make have to take several shots to get a good one but you'll learn what works & what doesn't in the process.

Thirdly you will need to edit your photos in some sort of editing program. The creme de la creme is Photoshop but there are free programs out there, one of which is Picasa. I use it when I'm away from our PC and it's great. With these programs you can crop your photos and adjust the balance of colour or brightness etc to get your photos looking just. Picasa is great if your just starting out. Very user friendly.

One more thing - make sure your camera battery is charged & ready for use. This afternoon I got all ready for a photographic session when my battery ran down! AAhhgg!! So I thought I'd start my blog while I'm waiting.

As soon as my camera is ready again, I'll post some photos to illustrate my tips. I hope this has been helpful.