Chicago Style Crafters

On Saturday, I attended a meeting for my Etsy street team. Etsy has lots of teams that sellers join for various reasons. There are teams to promote a certain charity, there are teams to give tips to new sellers, there are teams that exist to create and promote treasuries . . . there are also street teams. Most of the teams in Etsy meet virtually but street teams are tied to a geographic location, and meet in person.

The team I’m part of, Chicago Style Crafters, has been around for a number of years. I joined about a year ago. I was minimally involved, and at some point during 2010, the team almost fizzled away. Thankfully, we’ve been able to get new people interested in the team; many veteran members have stuck around as well.

We met yesterday for the first time in many months, and we had a good mixture of shops and personalities represented. Some have been involved in crafting and selling their crafts for many years and some are just starting out. Some have expertise in marketing, some in craft shows. Some are great photographers, some have graphic design expertise and some have web design experience. And more!

We talked about the history of the team and how it has operated. We talked about what worked and what didn’t. We talked about what we hope to experience by being part of the team and where our personal strengths lie. We’re going to meet again in about a month to finalize our team mission and talk about committees. I’m really excited to be part of this team and know I’m going to learn a lot. I also feel as though I will develop some good friendships, and that’s pretty freaking cool.

Here are some things our street team would like to learn more about from one another and/or work together to make happen:

· Selling in stores (retail/wholesale/consignment)

· Craft shows

· Etsy treasuries

· Charitable events/promotions

· Photography

· Online presences as a team and as individuals

· Branding

· Marketing

· SEO (Search Engine Optimization – the art of how to best let people on the web know where you are)

· Mentorship

I’ll keep you updated on our interesting team happenings!