Sale in My Shop

Starting on Sunday afternoon, I am holding a sale in my etsy shop. Basically, I want to clear out some of my older works as I make way for new ones. Several of my larger works will be marked down from Sunday through Wednesday.

If anyone is wanting some art for their home or office, this would be a good time to buy a peice!

Take care,
Liz

www.LizardoArt.etsy.com


Please pass the word to anyone who may be looking for paintings. Thanks!

Growth

This weekend, Etsy featured my original painting in their Weekend Deals Storque article. Seeing my painting show up in an e-mail definitely excited me!

I wish I could say I sold everything but I didn't. I didn't sell a damn thing! Is that Etsy's fault? No. The economy? No. Blaming those things won't get me anywhere.

What have I learned? If you want the big opportunities, you have to be prepared for them. I have 30 original paintings in my shop, which is pretty decent but I have no prints, nothing that gives a different price point. I am not leveraging my art. That is the truth and it really doesn't hurt at all. If I can be in one article, I can be featured in another.

The more I work at this, the more I realize there will never be one thing that gets me there. It will always be a consistent continued effort and growth. I have been featured in a Storque article twice and on the front page several times. If you read the forums, you would get the impression that your business takes off when those things happen. Maybe some do.

There are really so many factors in a business and I am learning them firsthand. School can teach you certain things but experience teaches you something totally different.

Of course I am not giving up. I don't see any reason to. There are people that really enjoy my work and I am going to continue working. Now, the question is, how can I add value? In other words, what do my potential customers see as value?

Thoughts About The Business World

So...a couple of nights ago, I am working in my hotel and the alarm starts going off. Apparently a tornado has touched down in the city I work in. Very close to the hotel. So we have to take all of our bar guests to the tunnels underneath the hotel to safety. Not an easy task considering you can't even hear the rain from inside our bar. Of course everyone is giving us a hard time and thinks we're overreacting. Well, not really since this is the first time they've actually made us take shelter. But that's okay. We do what we have to do, tornado or no tornado.



I'm actually pretty immune to tornados. They happen all the time in my area and if I freaked out over every single one I would be insane. I understand they happen and I am okay with that. I can't control it and I'm not even going to try. If one is coming straight towards me, I'll take shelter and wait for it to pass. And I have never been inside a tornado in the 27 years I've lived here.



My professor has been talking about how the business world is complete chaos. From my experiences with the jobs I've had so far, I can agree. He said we are seeking structure and all kinds of good stuff like that. I see that all the time at work really. People are always asking the managers to enforce rules to make up more rules. It makes them feel better I guess. I hate being micromanaged. That is why I am learning how to build a successful business.



So...as a self employeed person trying to survive the choas, how do you find structure? Create every day. Promote every day. I am not the type to stick to a specific schedule. I have my list of things to do and do them one at a time. As long as they get done, it's cool. And now that I have my list on my phone, things get done. (I think this phone is magical...LOL)



I truly believe Etsy is chaos, just like any other business. The front page selection is chaos. Completely out of our control. The design of the website....out of our control. The featured seller...out of our control. The aesthetic of the site...out of our control. So let's not try to control that. Let's do the best we can with what we have. There are so many ways we can help each other out and help ourselves out.



I keep seeing threads in the forums about how Etsy needs to do stuff for us. I'm never going to bank on that. It is my job to promote my business and I know that. If they change a search or whatever, that's fine. If I am getting views from my promotional efforts, what's a few hits here and there? They are providing the place to list and potential customers. I'll take it from here. I have learned so much from the Storque and from the forums...I think Etsy has done enough for me.



You know, the more I do this, the more I realize that it will take a lot more than listing on Etsy. It will take art shows and openings and mingling with the art world. It will require getting up at hours I don't necessarily care to be up at sometimes. It will mean working at art shows on weekends when I'd rather be drinking beer on the patio somewhere. It will mean taking a serious amount of rejection. The more I get into it, the more that I see there will be some rejection. I can deal with that.



I have been taking a long hard look at myself lately. As my confidence grows, I see that I am capable of much more than I am doing for myself. That's why I started working out. That's why I study in little pockets of time, work on my business in little pockets of time. I've already decided that I am not giving up. Not after this week where I have been featured in 2 places and have one on the way. I'm getting closer!



Thank you for sticking this post out!

::Liz::

View Original Abstract Paintings

Interview and Inspirational Story

I just did my first interview. (That was fun to say. I think I might just say it again.) Jay Neale III from jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks at Etsy interviewed me for his blog. Thanks Jay! Check out the interview and also be sure to check out his shop!

So, I am thinking my next series of paintings is going to be called space. Because that is what I am feeling right now. A huge amount of space. I am the type that needs some space but I don't like to have too much. I guess we all have our limits. I think it will be a great series.

I am not sure why I am complaining about having too much space. On Tuesday morning I start school again and there will be no space and I will be complaining about that. You can't win with me! LOL

I am looking forward to my classes this semester. At first I wasn't because there were some issues with registration and a lot of classes were gone by the time I got there. But now that I look at it, I think I ended up in the perfect classes. Sometimes life has a way of guiding you.

I hope my sister doesn't mind but I want to tell her story. It's pretty cool!

Okay, she's been wanting to move to a certain city for quite a while now. Got her diploma, started sending out her resume and everything but no leads. The company she worked for went out of business last week so she decided to take the trip to the new city. Some of her leads had told her that they would interview her if she could come in person.

So she's taking the big step, gets to the airport and does the whole security thing. Well..someone in line with her had the exact same model of laptop as she does. I'm sure you can guess where this is going. She takes this guy's laptop to her city and he takes hers to another city. Funny, they were sitting in the same terminal for two hours or something.

You would think this would be pretty awful...

Somehow during the whole FedEx involved laptop exchange, he ends up asking her why she flew there in the first place. She tells him she is going to look for a job because she is moving there. They talk a little more and he actually ends up forwarding her resume to some of his contacts and she gets more interviews. Go sis!!!!

Just wanted to share. I wish I could convey her excitement. It was pretty awesome.

I have to go but I hope everyone is having a great week!

New Art

Unhinged, Original Abstract Art by Lizardo, 30"x40"

New work posted! I have been working on this for the past week and am very pleased with the results. There is lots of texture and structure but it's not too perfect. It's a little symbolic of how my attempts to be more structured usually come out.

My Christmas vacation has been awesome! Just having the time to do normal things like laundry, grocery shopping and sleeping in has been great. I have the rest of this week and one more week until school starts again.

I've been having a lot of fun with my Etsy shop. I have been able to get a Treasury or two. When you create a Treasury, you are showcasing other sellers and things that you like. It's a fun way for me to explore Etsy.

I haven't been to work since the holidays ended but we're back to convention season. Yeah! I like kids and all but hundreds of them is a little overwhelming. Plus everyone has been getting sick and we're all tired. And I love my business travelers.

Who knows what the year will bring with that. I have heard that conventions have been canceled but I'm sure they will do something to bring the business in. I've always done well there.

Okay...off to ship my first sale of the year!

New Original ACEO

I am having a lot of fun with these ACEO's. This is my second batch and all of them are inspiring me to create in larger formats. It's fun having a way to sketch out some idea's and play with colors and I like the size. They're cute!!!

This is from my new series called Just a Little Longer. I am about to be a senior in college (Yeah!) and I can feel the impatience starting to build. This is what I keep telling myself when I feel overwhelmed and impatient. "Just a little longer..."

Thanks for looking! Talk to you soon!

Right now all of my ACEO's are available on etsy. More coming!

My Etsy Shop