Stimulating the Economy

It is a hard for us all and luxuries are set aside in an effort to put away some emergency funds for the worst possible scenario. This being said, remember what we were challenged as Americans to do? "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." With this said, how can we apply this lofty admonition to our little lives?

The first thing that comes to mind is to stimulate the economy by helping small businesses make it. We all know that the little guy often gets trampled by the big bully business who snuffs him out. Let's take it upon ourselves to be upstanding citizens and choose one, two, or even three businesses to patronize. How about that mom and pop cafe around the corner? Go there for Saturday breakfast instead of Perkins or McDonalds drive thru. How about the independent coffee shop in your neighborhood? Take the extra five minutes to go in and order a coffee instead of going through the Starbucks drive thru. Finally, patronize small business ventures such as those who sell on Etsy.com when you are thinking of buying gifts for family and friends. 

It is amazing how when citizens start taking pride how a wave of change can happen. We don't need to be victims of circumstances and we CAN make a difference. Try it and let me know how it changed your life.

What Catches Your Eye?

Looking at photo after photo on Etsy, I begin to ask myself what draws me to one store vs. another? The featured items on the front page always seem so apropos, but is it the quality as an individual item or the collaborated effect? 

It is a good question to ask yourself and with your own critical eye, apply those same stringent guidelines to your own store. So much is making an object appear as art no matter how ordinary. Give it dimension, give it flare by the background being accentuating and not just boring white advertisement style photography. Dramatic is the name of the game. Think outside the box and use those Theatre 101 techniques that you never thought you would need. Props, people, objects, foregrounds, backgrounds, nature or not, these are all tools at your disposal. Those loving and supportive family members may need to be called in to do some free modeling!

In my humble opinion, these are a few examples of excellent technique in marketing to an audience who only can see a picture and not pick up and examine the object. Of course all these rules apply to me, but I can criticize with the best of them.