Live at Etsy Labs!

by Antonio on 17/09/07 at 10:18 pm

I KNOW this is really late, but hey, it’s been summer.

I went to New York in August for a wedding party and stopped in at Etsy Labs in Brooklyn to do a talk. If you don’t know it, Etsy is a site for people who want to sell hand-made items. The labs are a physical co-working space where people can congregate, use equipment and learn stuff. The whole thing’s just brilliant. After two years of opening they now have over 50,000 shops set up.

The talk was based on Hugh McLeod’s Global Microbrand concept and, being the techies and artists they are, they recorded the whole thing and put it up online (complete with bluegrass soundtrack – that’s got to be a first).

If anyone’s an artist or indy creative you might find it useful. It’s all about social media and how to use it to build a worldwide customer-base whilst staying small.

One great thing was having 50 or so people watching from all over the world using Etsy’s amazing broadcasting system. We did a live, interactive web makeover at the end of the session and it was lovely to see that Xiane (our online guinea pig) actually went ahead and changed her site based on our suggestions.

It was a great evening and good fun meeting all the guys. They have some very interesting plans afoot and it’ll be interesting to see what they get up to over the next year.

 

 

6 Responses to “Live at Etsy Labs!”

  1. Pete Ashton

    Sep 17th, 2007

    I’ve been thinking about Etsy as a good example of how craft-types from Birmingham can sell their stuff online without getting lost in eBay but I wasn’t sure how US-centric is is. Do you think it’s of use to Brits?

    And if not, what else is there out there like it?

  2. Dan

    Sep 19th, 2007

    Sounds like a great day Antonio. I had no idea Etsy had such a physical presence.

    In today’s green conscious (green mad) world I think collaborative working spaces like this make so much sense. I’ve used some of the co-op office spaces in London before, and while they’re great, I think what they lack is a collective focus. Everyone is there for themselves, whereas if you knew that the people around you shared common interests the whole experience would be more enjoyable. Not to mention the increased levels of creative juices.

  3. Jessica Poundstone

    Oct 6th, 2007

    I found your talk to be incredibly interesting and helpful, and was inspired to make my first ever video tutorial, which you can see here: http://www.jewelrybyjessica.com/tutorials.html. As a start to spreading the word I’ve posted the video on my site, on my blog, and on my flickr site. I also started a flickr group for others to post their pin if they decide to make one. I’ve got Google Analytics set up on my site, so it will be really fun to see where people are coming from, and whether they stay to look around or purchase the earrings and necklaces I have for sale there. Thanks so much sharing your expertise with the world!

  4. Antonio Gould » Blog Archive » Blue Peter 2.0

    Nov 14th, 2007

    [...] Jessica Poundstone saw the August Etsy workshop via the webcast, and got all inspired. Here’s a comment she wrote on the blog recently: [...]

  5. Podnosh Blog : High Fibre Podcasting » Archive » 4Talent - Social Media for the Creative Industries.

    Feb 11th, 2008

    [...] Emily Martin of Black Apple makes a great case study. Antonio met here when speaking in America about Etsy. She explains why her online home craft business (“I carry my original paintings and prints, and all sorts of curiosities”) benefits from the relationships established through blogging: “It’s not something that will be articulated in the business schools, but people get attached to you. It’s ephemeral and that’s why they like it”. Indeed – the ephemeral is tricky to measure, but that doesn’t mean it has no value. [...]

  6. Antonio Gould » Blog Archive » New Media 4Casts: Social Media for Creative People

    Feb 13th, 2008

    [...] Video: My talk at Etsy Labs (Creating a Global Microbrand) [...]

Leave a Reply