Happy Anniversary to Me!

That's right! It will be 1 year ago on April 1st...yes, April Fools Day..that I opened www.jenscloset.etsy.com!

What a year it has been!

I followed my passion and haven't looked back since! Ever since I was a little girl (just a few years ago), I have loved antiques and vintage! Now that I have my two shops...I have an excuse to buy more! How fun is that!?

I've learned quite a bit in this past year.

Photography...my daughter, Lindsey, helped me pick out a camera (Canon PowerShot SD750). I knew nothing about photography (which is evident looking at some of my earlier listings!). This camera was a great investment and not too costly at all!

Packing and shipping...whew!! I'm still learning! I have a USPS scale and my handy zip code list and USPS current shipping prices to refer to. Bubble wrap is my best friend, but boy, what an expensive friend! I have some new sites I will be checking into that look like they have pretty good prices on bubble wrap and packing materials. I usually ship priority, and in most cases, can use the priority boxes provided free from the USPS! I do buy a supply of boxes from Uline and Paper Mart. I also buy my pretty pink tissue paper from Paper Mart!

I've had great support from other vintage sellers on Etsy. I've mentioned before that SurrenderDorothy (http://www.surrenderdorothy.etsy.com/ ) has been a great help to me! Speaking of SurrenderDorothy-she is the leader of our Thursday night "vintage vixen" forum..what a riot! That thread moves so quick..check it out, you don't have to sell vintage to join in! Thursday nights, I think it starts at 7 pm est and goes on into the night!

What else....well, of course, I big part of having a shop is marketing! I flickr and twitter and blog and doesn't all sound funny!? Flickr twitter...who knew a year ago that I would have become so internet-savvy...maybe that's an exaggeration! You can usually find me hanging out at www.twitter.com/jenscloset ..by far my favorite hangout!

My flickr account is fun too.. check it out at www.flickr.com/jenscloset . I often post pics there before I list items to see what kind of feedback I get. Flickr, twitter, blogs, they all sound like fun, and they are, but it's also part of marketing! Get your name out there...you can't hide! How will anyone find you!?

And that takes me to my goal for this year--I am going to learn more about google. I know I need that! I want my name to come up at the top of the list when someone is searching for something relevant to my shop!

Well..this is Part I of my anniversary blog...more to come..my hand is tired!

Thanks to all of my followers and readers...and my comments! I am thrilled when I see a comment, even when it's from me!

Jen