Etsy Reflection

I have learned a lot of new things in FM 438.  At first, I was skeptical simply because I was already somewhat familiar with online selling.  However, Ebay and Etsy and are totally different.  Ebay is a lot more like regular retail, and customers already know what they want.  There is a specific demand, and they will seek out your product if they want it.  On Etsy, it is different.  You must make your own demand, because most of us in the class made products that were unique or out of the box.  While similar products exist, you had to make your product stand out and really speak to the possible customers.  This made elements of promotion so much more important for Etsy.

For the most part, I enjoyed the class materials.  A lot of the tutorials were funny and interesting.  Using these types of learning materials makes it a little more fun to do your work.  Because this was a class based on equal parts entrepreneurship and creative ingenuity, using a boring textbook wouldn't have made much sense.  The only criticism I have is that some of the reading articles tended to repeat themselves, especially the articles pertaining to shipping and packaging.  I would personally pare down these sections a little bit, and maybe expand more on promotion.  I found firsthand that simply having a neat product isn't enough to generate sales.  While we did cover things like promotion through blogs and social media, I think this is the most key element to Etsy success.  This also parallels the real world of entrepreneuship.  Having a good idea isn't enough; people have to see that idea also. 

I found the assignments ok, if not a little long.  I would recommend breaking these up into smaller parts and spreading them out a little, especially since there aren't many of them.  However, they do a good job with getting you comfortable with Etsy.

I really enjoyed our guest speaker time.  I especially liked going downtown to the various boutiques.  It is very helpful and motivational to know that entrepreneurs start exactly where we are now.  Having someone break down how things work also helps you realize that while it's a lot of work to start a boutique, it is definately doable.

I would not recommend changing a lot for future FM 438 classes.  I found it a nice change from most business classes.  It was also great because it gave real world applications to so many of the concepts we've talked about in other classes.  I also gives you a way to gauge how "in tune" with you entrepreneurial side you really are.

The one recommendation I have, other than the minor concerns with the structure of the blogs and assignments, would be to address product options for students who are not artistic or creative.  While I didn't have a hard time deciding what to make, I think some other students ran into problems and got in over their heads.  It might be good to have some resources/information available for craft classes or possible mentors.