Photos

On of the biggest challenges of selling online is trying to get good photographs.

It was one of the main reasons I signed up for the photography class I'm taking.

I have wanted to retake the pictures I have of my bibs forever,

but struggled with exactly how to do it.

I wanted to make them stand out from the crowd but still be clear, sharp and not cluttered.

When I was out garage sale-ing one Saturday (the one time a year I go),

I picked up this frame that I thought would be perfect.

I'm not sure I like it.

For sure the white fabric background has got to go.

I've always used white tagboard but I didn't have enough on hand for a full background.

This is what I've had before.

While I loved having a baby pose for me, it is about impossible to get my toddler to cooperate.

As you can see, my coloring is slightly off here.

As soon as I get my act together, I'm going to send some bibs down to a friend of mine.

I'm going to have her take some stock photos to use as the last picture in all the bib listings.

I like being able to show what they look like when worn.

After a few hours of trying different photos, this is what I ended up using.

Not my fav, but it'll do the trick until I figure something else out.

Some day, I'll get it right.

Repeats

Pete and Repeat went down to the lake, Pete fell in....

No, I'm kidding. I'll spare you the rest of the joke.

In the past few months, (or I should say when I started paying closer attention) I have had quite a few repeat customers.

I've noticed a little trend, for lack of a better word, among them. The customer will purchase one small item from my shop, a $5 key fob or $7 bib. Then a week or so later, they'll come back and place a larger order.

It just goes to show how important customer service is no matter how large or small the order, especially when selling online. When a customer can't physically handle an item before they purchase, you have to be even more on top of answering emails, questions and the like. It's easy to get lazy and think "it's just a small item, this customer isn't as important as someone spending $50."

As a seller, I have no idea what type of social networks my customers have. One buyer purchasing a $5 dollar item could be sending a lot of other customers my way via word of mouth. Word of mouth and referrals is also huge when selling online.

Want me to finish that joke? ;)