Do you have an online shop? Maybe you have an Etsy Shop like I do. I actually have been working hard to gain a presence on several new online marketplaces along with my own website shop. The internet is full of Etsy horror stories. That old adage, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" has never been truer. If you don't have a website up and running yet, then I strongly suggest that you get started today setting it up.
I've actually had a website for years through Weebly.com. I used it mostly like an artist's resume, but about two years ago, I decided rather than just directing the traffic from my website to my purchases on my Etsy Shop, that I needed to set up my own store and sell my art myself. There were two events that occurred around that time that brought a real urgency to this decision. One, I had discovered that the images of my art had been stolen from my Etsy Shop and were all over the internet, especially on Amazon. I found some even on other Etsy Shops too. I was devastated to say the least. In most of the pirated images they didn't even bother to remove my name from the art. These thieves were so lazy that in many cases they just threw up the images and even stole the mockup photos I had created.
Months of work went into reporting them and getting their listing taken down with Amazon. I had an attorney write a cease-and-desist letter for those listings that were not on Amazon. I went back into each of my listings and recreated the mockups by adding a watermark and lowering the photo resolution to less than 1mb. I was no longer just handing over my work to these unscrupulous thieves but making them really work for it.
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| Here's that Naughty Pig |
The second instance was that I received a trademark infringement letter from Etsy regarding one of my listings. I was in complete shock because I am very careful to create all my own artwork. It wasn't that I had stolen an image or had something Disney or Taylor Swift in my shop like so many other products for sale on Etsy that you find. I had unknowingly titled one of my little nursery art drawings "Percy Pig". I just wanted a cute name that started with a "P" and Percy popped into my head. What I didn't know, was that Percy Pig was a trademarked candy company based in England. I think I would have been okay if I hadn't used the name of the artwork in the searchable title in my Etsy listing.
I contacted the individual via email that had brought up the claim with Etsy and apologized for my mistake and assured them I had already renamed the artwork. This should have resolved the issue, in my mind, but this company refused to remove the complaint with Etsy. 
Me in the Hoosegow
I was placed in what I call "Etsy Jail" for 90 days on account reserve where a large percentage of my money was held until I could provide a tracking number for each of my orders. That shouldn't have been much of an issue for me because I mail out my orders within one day and I use the Etsy mailing label option even for my 1st class postage orders. There is a tracking number assigned to every order I ship out. However, Etsy had a glitch in the process and none of my 1st class postage orders were processed as delivered with the USPS. A month into this account reserve issue, they were holding over $200 of my money and refused to release it even after I proved the item had been received. It was a nightmare and one I NEVER want to repeat.
What is clear to me is that I already have that one strike on my account and therefore I feel they could close my shop down for basically no reason. I can't depend on Etsy to treat my shop in a professional manner because they rely heavily on botts and not a human with reasoning capabilities. I felt like I'm out there skating on thin ice that will never be solid again.
That was a real wakeup call and so once, again, I combed through all of my listings looking for any keyword or searchable term that might cause me an issue. Hours and hours spent, once again not creating new content but rather covering my butt. It is exhausting.
It was that moment that I made some real changes in my business plan. Market myself by directing all my social media traffic to my website rather than to Etsy. That includes all my Pinterest pins going forward. Also, to create as many selling options as possible so that I can have my art appear all over the Google search engine. In the past few months, I've worked to open Julie Townsend Studio shops on the following marketplaces -Tedooo.com, Goimagine.com and the new Michaels marketplace called MakerPlace.com. There is a lot of work involved and I have yet to see many fruits, but I hope these shops will start producing sales during the upcoming holiday season. That is my goal, at least.
My closing advice is to get a website TODAY! I've got a great idea! Why not check out my website and follow this blog for more of my old lady art journey. Julie Townsend Studio
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