Branding Your Shop

When I first looked in to opening an Etsy store, I thought all there was to it was to list my items. I quickly learned the error of my ways and thus started a new series of blog posts on things I’ve learned along the way. One of the first things I learned was branding. I’m still working on branding myself and the look of it all, but I have a fairly good grasp of what is working for my shop. So I’ll tell you what I did, how I did it, and (most importantly) why I did it.

Everyone tells you to start with a Logo. My first was a letter “g” with “www.geekdetails.etsy.com” going in a circle around it. It was hard to read, it has the “.etsy.com” in there and just wasn’t what I wanted so I eventually ditched it. I knew when I wanted to brand my stuff that I did not want .etsy.com on my label. Etsy is great for selling right now, but I wanted options for the future. I went to www.godaddy.com and bought the domain name “geekdetails.com” for myself and used their redirect feature to point it towards my etsy.com site. This allowed me to have all my packaging printed with my name on it without being stuck with .etsy.com packaging if I decide to no longer sell on Etsy. The $9ish I spent on that was definitely worth it.

So what’s with the teal panda? The teal panda is my new logo. If I’m posting elsewhere on the internet, you’ll typically see the little teal panda next to the post. It’s on everything from business cards to packaging to web ads. If my geek details name is on something, so is my panda.



Speaking of packaging, here’s a shot of some of mine.



First, notice they all have my url in a prominent way that allows you to easily tell where you can buy more of these great items. They also all have my teal panda on them so that buyers can immediately recognize the item as coming from my store. They all use the same style font which is one that isn’t a typical font and is easily read. Basically I took the same elements and rearranged them to suit my needs for a particular packaging material.



Changes I’ve made since I started? The button/magnet/pocket mirror packaging now simply says “button” “magnet” or “pocket mirror” instead of “2.25 inch button” “1 inch button” etc. I change the color of the bumbly band depending on what type of item is inside so that I can easily tell if I’m sending someone a magnet or a button which helps me eliminate mistakes in orders.



At one point I had different packaging for the sizes of buttons, button packs, magnets, magnet packs etc. I decided to simplify and in the process, I made it easier for me to package my stuff.
You’ll notice that the saying at the bottom of my items change from item to item. I do that because we (friends and I) came up with so many fun sayings for my store and it was hard to pick just one. So I integrated the various sayings in to my packaging and it’s random what saying will be on what package.



The new hand painted dishware sticker is going to have the same bumbly band on it that my button packaging has on it now. The original one served its purpose, but I’m not afraid to admit when a design could be improved. The “geek details” at the top could be replaced with "www.geekdetails.com” and then the spot where “www.geekdetails.com” is currently at can be replaced with the name of the item inside. I don’t make tons of different dish styles yet so I can do that without putting too much into label materials.



My business cards are double sided. The front is fairly straight forward with just my logo, my url, and my tag line. I wanted my info on my card without making it cluttered though so I decided to flip the card around and use the back as well. The back states a text wall of all the wonderful things you can purchase in my store. It allows me to give people an idea of what I do without having the front of my card cluttered up. Eventually the back will hold coupon codes for return buyers and/or convention attendees.

So why do all this? If you google “branding” or “etsy branding” you’ll find a host of articles most of which boil down to this one:

* Delivers the message clearly
* Confirms your credibility
* Connects your target prospects emotionally
* Motivates the buyer
* Concretes User Loyalty
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This article was written by Amanda of Geek Details. Amanda is an organized creative person. She has a blunt/to the point personality. She also has a blog at http://geekdetails.com/blog/.