Taking the Leap - Selling Handmade Items

My OG logo I drew

 I was on cloud nine after my first official order and sell. It was heartwarming to think that someone appreciated the look of my crocheting and that alone gave me the encouragement to consider making an Etsy account. I was still apprehensive of the potential critique of others and putting myself and my work out there. I was also concerned that I would spend too much money to make items to sell and they wouldn't end up selling, but as the old saying goes, you have to spend money to make money.

When I finally decided to commit to an Etsy account, we had just moved to Virginia, so I had plenty of time on my hands to crochet. I went to work making a blanket and a teddy bear to list. For lack of investigation, I waited until I had these items finished before signing up because I thought I needed at least one item to post. I feel like I rushed crocheting my first two items because I was so eager to start up my Etsy shop. To this day, those two orders are still in my shop; I say that as if my shop has been open for years but it's only been a few months. 

When I finally made an account, it felt impossible to come up with a decent shop name. All the original names I thought of were taken, so I was stumped. I started coming up with ridiculous and pretty stupid shop names; all my clever ones were taken so what was I going to do? The first shop name I entered that wasn't taken by someone else, and there was a reason for that, was Beatific Crochet. Looking back, that name was ridiculous. First off, would others have to look up the word beatific and secondly, that shop name was terrible. When I sent the link to my shop to show off to my friends and family, I got some questionable comments regarding the name, but I honestly could NOT come up with anything that sounded better!

It wasn't until my good friend, Lauren, responded to my link with a variety of more appeasing shop names. One-by-one, I entered the shop names she came up with only to be disappointed when that name was taken. It wasn't until she messaged me LJ Yarn Addiction, that I felt deep down inside that we finally found the perfect shop name that represented me. It was simple, it had my initials, and it stated the obvious, I'm addicted to yarn and crocheting.

That satisfaction that came with finding the perfect name was what I needed to feel confident with my shop. 

Let the selling commence. 

Happy crocheting my fiends!