People and Planet First- a call for entries

earrings from tuckooandmoocow

Every dollar you spend is a vote for how you want the world to be, and who you want to control it. The intention of People and Planet First is to identify small indie businesses who offer quality gifts for the holiday season that create just, sustainable, and joyful livelihoods. We will encourage these artisan and vintage sellers to tell their individual stories, and spread the word about how we offer alternatives to the perpetuation of Wall Street greed.

Our goal is to raise awareness that indie businesses offer a profound alternative to the Wall Street corporate structure that must produce quarterly profit for stockholders who do no actual work to make any tangible goods. Our businesses support individuals, families, and communities who care about the planet that must support our children and their children.

organic baby hat from SewnNatural

We would like to invite other Etsy teams to join us! This is a season when we can look past our differences and celebrate the ideals we hold in common. ArtisansGalleryTeam is a group of studio artisans with advanced skills and professional business practices who came together to share our support for the Handmade Movement. Although our team is small and exclusive, we recognize that our values are shared by many other Etsy sellers and teams.

So here is the plan:

1) We will use our team blog as a place to coordinate and promote our own interpretation of People and Planet First. We invite all interested Etsy teams to participate!
2) From 11/21 – 12/18, we will link to other teams who post on their own team blog about how they support People and Planet First. Leave a comment on our blog (here) to get on our calendar. Ideally, we want a post every single day for the duration!
3) We ask that participating teams add the People and Planet First widget to the team blog, so that others can find the other participants, and follow the series. This should be in place from 11/21-12/18. It will link to our blog, with the calendar for all participating team blogs.
4) We ask each participating team to make special gift guides on their blog post day that celebrate People and Planet First. These should be tagged Peopleandplanetfirst, etsyteamtreasury, and also with your own team tag.
5) We ask that no coupon codes, discounts, or donations to charitable causes be offered in conjunction with People and Planet First. Unless you are making corporate CEO pay, you deserve full price for your hard work! If your team is doing that, please just keep the promotion separate.

What can you write about? You can pick one team member or several to discuss your indie business lifestyle, what the money you earn pays for or allows you to do, and how eco friendly practices are part of your business model and personal life. If you would like to write a researched piece on the power of supporting small businesses, that is fine also.

Want to join us? Just leave a comment saying so below. Sarah of TuckooandMooCow will contact you with your day to blog, our People and Planet First button, and instructions to post it on your blog. This will allow your readers to find the other posts, and let others find you as well. If your team wants to publicize our awareness campaign, let us know that, too.
Thank you for your consideration. We wish you a joyful and prosperous holiday season.

Why Deep Discounts Don’t Benefit Your Artisan Business

bag from Iragrant

The Handmade Revolution was founded to support indie artisans in making a fair wage living by selling retail without a middleman or working for a corporate chain. As part of the New Economy, “a fair economy that works for people and the planet”, artisans have unprecedented opportunities to connect with an avid and growing sector of buyers who want to change the world by changing their spending habits; by voting with their wallets. As part of the New Economy, I buy free range organic eggs from a local farm. I buy luxury quality handmade bags from an indie designer, one of a kind individually made jewelry, and hand stitched home decor.

Jewelry from PoleStar, hearts from SewnNatural

These things are not selected because they are the cheapest available. Each of these small business owners has a family to support, and, just as I buy fair trade coffee, I expect to pay a price for these quality goods that supports the modest lives of the makers and allows their dreams to grow.

As artisans, we can compete on price or quality, and competing on price is a losing proposition, as factories can always sell their soulless goods for less. Discount shoppers and bargain chasers are not our target market. And this is why Heartsy, which is a Groupon version for Etsy shoppers, cannot deliver on their promise to grow your indie artisan business.

If people want to support indie handmade businesses but want 65% off in order to do it, they are highly unlikely to  return for more at full price. They are far more likely to simply use the next Heartsy coupon available, which is what happens with Groupon shoppers overall.

It is infinitely more worthwhile to advertise and promote the quality of our work, and to reach out to buyers who are looking for that. 70% of my Etsy buyers return for more, and I offer no discounts. I give the best that I have at the fairest price to everyone, and this is building the kind of customer base that allows me to make a living wage. Offering a modest (10%- 15%) discount is all a good indie business needs to do when an incentive seems necessary. This business model works for me, and I recommend it to other artisans. When you put your heart and soul into making an honest and conscientious business, you deserve to profit from it, and slashing profits drastically isn’t necessary to gain attention.

editorial by Lee Wolfe

Artisans Gallery First Friday

First Friday is an Artisans Gallery Team monthly series where we showcase the new work of our member artisans.

kissadesign says about the piece featured above, "Freshly crafted in my studio garden, my Stemmed Star Urchins take on a floral form reminiscent of dahlias or globe thistles.

Actually the inspiration is my daughter, she has lots of stuff for her activities! Hubby and I need a bag that we can use together to keep her gear and our iPad. -iragrant

Perfect for summer - fresh and delicate color. -anakim

No matter Spring Summer Autumn or Winter, this fit perfect everyday. - steinschmuckdesign

In anticipation of a hot summer, I made a poupette inspired by the Fennec Fox of the Sahara. They are the smallest fox in the world and have very large ears that help them disperse body heat. -bonjourpoupette

We always find inspiration in the nature that surrounds our studio. In this wall art we incorporate texture into our work with these raku fired, hand carved, mosaic tiles. - romyandclare

Currently I ´m moving towards creating some minimalistic, pendants which I think go well with pure, cool unicolor linen fabric! - Donauluft

The "Sail Away" Cowl is hand-knit in an airy stitch out of pure cotton yarn; it's lightweight and versatile, and make a perfect summer travel accessory. -TickledPinkKnits

My inspiration is the beach of course and we got to go over the weekend for the first time this season. I really love this one particular restaurant that has great food with an ocean view! -SignsbyDiane

My inspiration comes from the flowers blooming in my garden - EvesLittleEarthlings

I've made a new necklace. Sisters/ friends. The Pendant is silver plated and comes with a Silver Plated Ball Chain - LouisestArt

Alfresco unisex messenger from ikabags

This is a new series of hand built platters I am working on. This one has textures from ferns and lace, with organic edges. OneClayBead

I painted flying home as the last stork leaves now Israel to europe and mark
the change from spring to summer. -TheJoyofColor

The combined colors of gold and silver highlighting the soft Prehnite remind me of the bright glow of the summer sun on tree leaves. -PoleStar

"Lee Wolfe's weekly editorial will be published on Saturday. This week it is "Copy or Inspiration- Where do You Draw the Line".