For more information on SF Etsy: http://sfetsy.blogspot.com/

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Transcript:

 

Kevin: If you’re thinking about starting the next Airbnb, the next Uber, give us a call so we can help to validate your idea and see if you’re a fit for Near Me.

 

Hi. Welcome to The Crowd, a podcast by Near Me. We’re talking about peer-to-peer marketplaces. We’re talking collaborative economy and we’re talking about thought leadership. We’re talking about all these things, any and all of them with some of the best minds in the field. And of course, I’m your host, Kevin Cohen.

 

Today, my partner in crime, Angela Baldwin, will be interviewing SF Etsy. What is SF Etsy? It is a community of local Etsy sellers who share experience and advice, post local shows and events and provide a network of talent and resources for people promoting their products and services on Etsy. Angela, take it away.

Angela: Hi everyone. It’s Angela with Near Me. We’re really excited to be talking with SF Etsy today. We have Rebecca Saylor who is a Team Leader who’s joined us on our podcast. Hi Rebecca.

 

Rebecca: Hello.

 

Angela: It’s great to have you today. We’re really excited to hear from you. We know that SF Etsy has been a part of a lot of the local marketing and community activities here in San Francisco. Can you tell me a little bit about what SF Etsy is and what they do?

 

Rebecca: Sure. We’re a local collective of over 1400 Etsy sellers here in the Bay Area and that’s pretty much everything from San Jose, East Bay, North Bay and San Francisco in the peninsula. And we host a series of interactive meet-ups and workshops both business related and crafts like DIY-type events. And then we also do a series of pop-up markets for our community in a variety of different places all over the city and actually all over the Bay Area.

 

Angela: Very cool. So how did you guys get connected with Etsy? What is that story there? How did you guys get started?

 

Rebecca: So we’re actually one of the very first Etsy teams they have. Etsy has a community of teams that they work with in local communities and they can be for a lot of different areas of business. But back in the day before Etsy really kind of reached its momentum that it has now, when they were just little bitty startups, two guys in an apartment, they reached out to one of our team members. Her name is Jen Johnson and she is actually still part of our team. They reached out to her and said hey, you know, you live in San Francisco, Bay Area. There are a lot makers and a lot of technology there. We want to start this complex of local teams. And the whole concept was that together with Etsy we will help to drive traffic. So all these little makers would come together and start pointing their customers to their shops on Etsy.

 

Angela: Wow. Very cool.

 

Rebecca: That’s how – yeah. So we have all these members – it started with just a few people obviously and then over time, we’ve just grown member by member. And it’s pretty much every genre you can imagine, woodworkers and jewelers and textile artists and fine arts and everything.

 

Angela: Very nice. So how did you get started with SF Etsy? I mean, I know that you are the team leader there. But what’s your story? What were you doing before? What led you to this role?

 

Rebecca: So I spent my career – I grew up in the Midwest and went to college and did the whole college. And then I went to work for a corporation and I did a couple of different things namely in Human Resources and eventually found my calling as a tech recruiter. And I worked inside the corporate structure. I worked for a few big companies, Royal Caribbean and GE, and did some interesting fun things. And then my friend started a business that was a startup, an online scrapbooking service. And so I went to work for him and they moved here to San Francisco in 2010. And I moved with the company and I was doing more community management with that. And then, they sold the company. I didn’t really want to go work for a big corporation again. So I decided I would start with handmade business where I made these home décor pillows and then whimsical shapes all out of reclaimed materials. So I really wanted to put my business skills to use.

 

When I found SF Etsy, I was really excited because they were other makers. And I pretty quickly just started connecting our team with local businesses. The first partnership that we did was with Rickshaw Bags where we had a design contest. You could design the bag and then you get a pop-up market at various locations. And we still do pop-up fair all the time. And then it just snowballed. I kept doing more and more projects and trying to keep my own business going. It’s always a balancing act but it’s been really great to be part of SF Etsy because I can put my business skills to use, all of those things that I learned in the corporate world.

 

Angela: That’s great. So working with SF Etsy and being a part of their street team, what does that look like? What sort of things do you guys do? What kind of events do you host? What does that really mean for those who are looking to understand? Why does Etsy call you guys to get involved? What does that look like?

 

Rebecca: Well, it’s important to understand the makers’ world. When you have your own business and it’s really small and you these are micro-businesses. It’s usually one person doing everything and you’re working from either your home studio or a small studio space but a lot of that is very solo. So you’re by yourself a lot of times. And so coming together with SF Etsy, we thought it was important to try to help people come together and help answer their questions and give them opportunities to grow and really help our members and see where they are at in their business. So the type of events that we really plan and execute are centered around helping people grow whether it’s the skills or sometimes we just do social events where you’re networking and you never know where that’s going to lead or it’s a seller’s market or you’re actually out in the community selling your goods. So the type of events we’ve had this year so far has been – we met up at weebly.com where Weebly was talking to us about building your own website and making your brand stand out. And they were showcasing their products. We are planning a meet-up at Kiva where they’re going to talk about their microloan program. We’re doing a meet-up with CreativeLive. We’ve already had one where they were teaching classes on Etsy and how to be found on Etsy, different Etsy skills that are inside the seller’s development program there. These kinds of things. We do so many things. We also have a monthly craft thing that we do with the Museum of Craft and Design where you can go and learn something, learn a craft like weaving or jewelry making and stamping and all kinds of stuff we do, anything you can imagine.

 

Angela: That’s great.

 

Rebecca: And then we also have social meet-ups to where we meet up in public and get a beer and just talk about our goals and try to have a human element to this crazy business that we got ourselves into.

 

Angela: So it sounds like you truly are building community for all these makers that are participating on Etsy. Is that correct?

 

Rebecca: Yes.

 

Angela: How do you feel you’ve impacted the makers here in San Francisco enough from your standpoint? You’re creating these community opportunities and giving them resources and all that. But have you heard from any of your participants? What do they say about SF Etsy? How do they find you valuable?

 

Rebecca: Well, I think number 1, it has helped people get over some of the hurdles that happen in small business. And it happens in every business when they’re first starting out. Or you reach a stumbling block and you’re like, okay, well, I have questions I need answered. And a lot of businesses fail because they don’t have a community surrounding them to help them move past these things and they just give up. So I think a lot of what we’ve done and what I really witnessed personally is these makers coming into their business and they’re like, okay, I’ve reached a stumbling block. And they find those answers within our community because someone helps them or they knew someone or they get connected somehow. And they’re able to move past those hurdles and continue in their business.

 

And now, I’ve seen people, they are like hiring. They’re making decisions which are impacting the local economy. They’re opening their own stores, which is exciting. I mean, not that it’s all contributed by SF Etsy but I think it’s certainly important to understand the value that these little micro-communities are giving to each other just to answer questions and like you’re not just floating in a sea by yourself. Like, oh no, what do I do? They can reach out to our community and say, hey, I’m trying doing my taxes for the first time. Does anybody have a reference there? What can you do? Or I really want to start to pitch my goods to boutiques and go into wholesale. Has anybody done that? Do you have any tips? Or how do you approach things? What shows are really good to do? Because here in San Francisco, we’re so lucky we get to have all of these different opportunities and it can really be overwhelming so you know –

 

Angela: So there are a few things –

 

Rebecca: I love to see their interactions. I’m sorry.

 

Angela: No. You said you love to see the interactions. Go ahead.

 

Rebecca: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I just love to see everyone interacting. It’s really cool.

 

Angela: Yeah. Well, it sounds like you guys are really empowering the users which I think is really important. And for us as we create marketplaces for entrepreneurs and brands, we encourage our listeners to really look at those who are using the platform and to look at those people who are posting their items to be rented or traded or refilled on the platform and look at how they can create a community for them and be a resource to them. And it’s really cool to hear about how you guys did that with these makers and for Etsy. What would be some things that you would say are very important to building that community? Any tips that those entrepreneurs who are out there listening can take with them that you guys really noticed as you went along on this journey?

 

Rebecca: Tips for building the community itself?

 

Angela: Yeah. What are some things that you picked up? And I hear some other industry actually saying that one tip will be make sure you give an opportunity for those people to engage with one another. Or others would say they use certain tools. Or I know that you guys do a lot of offline events which is a huge part of your success. What are some things that you would say are really beneficial?

 

Rebecca: Well, I would say that offering a wide variety of different things and really having structure in place like we have – not only myself but there’s another leader in a co-leader position, her name is Lisa but together, we really have empowered like 10 other leaders that have specific areas. So like one person is responsible for the blog and one person is responsible for our social media and one person is responsible for bookkeeping. So it’s really giving – when you have a community like ours, having some structure in there so that everybody has someone to talk to and reach out to and you have a point of contact, I think that helps it thrive. Because when it’s just one person trying to push a community, maybe that’s not the best plan. I noticed that it really is a team effort on our part. Everybody is kind of working together and not that we don’t have our challenges but I think successful communities are built on some sort of structure and interaction.

 

Angela: Yeah, yeah. So when you look at all the marketplaces out there outside of Etsy, the peer-to-peer ones out there, what kind of trends do you see that you are excited about? Do you use any specific marketplaces outside of Etsy?

 

Rebecca: I don’t personally. But I can see the value in like certain genres like the Bold Italic which is a local online magazine. They have their own shopping network servicing and I really think it’s cool because they can speak directly to their market. I like that you can really drill down and get products specifically geared to what you are looking for. Like I’ve used – oh gosh, it totally left my brain but – oh, I think it’s Incase they make different iPhone cases and stuff but they have like a whole section where it’s just like for dads or dudes.

 

Angela: That’s odd.

 

Rebecca: I really like the dude version because like my Dad is really a difficult person to buy for because he is one of those guys who when he finds his own, something that he likes, he’ll just buy it. So it was a struggle trying to find a gift for him but anyway – I don’t know. I like it that now that you can get, really drill down into specific categories like they have all of those beautiful stationeries. Everything is so pretty. The internet is really pretty.

 

Angela: Very true. Very high standard now for those who come out.

 

Rebecca: Yeah. I know.

 

Angela: We have to be prepared for that.

 

Rebecca: Definitely. It’s on top of my and everybody’s thoughts. That’s why I love – one program is like Weebly and there’s this new and they haven’t even launched yet. It’s like pre-launch and it’s all about like look and see and you can do it really easily. And I love that because –

 

Angela: Definitely. I feel like it’s –

 

Rebecca: you have limited time.

 

Angela: Oh, I know, right? And it’s also I think a result of experience shopping offline. It has translated online by user experience. And I think that the way we want to have a great environment when we walk in to a restaurant, it also means that when we go to a website or use an app, they offer one, a very meaningful emotionally connected experience there too.

 

Rebecca: Right. Like really translating that like immersive experience. I think about that a lot with my own brand. Like I want people to like, when they’re online having that experience of a world of OodleBaDoodle elements.

 

Angela: Definitely. This is your Etsy –

 

Rebecca: I’m still working on it.

 

Angela: That’s your Etsy shop, correct?

 

Rebecca: Yeah.

 

Angela: That’s pretty awesome. No, that’s great. And so one of the things that I like to know is as you guys built this community and you are empowering makers, what are some challenges that you faced along the way that you had to be creative in solving?

 

Rebecca: I think one of the biggest challenges in communities is that 80/20 rule, where you got that vocal majority, where like the loudest voices are really only 20 percent of the opinions of your community. And so it’s hard for me sometimes to filter out. Like I want to know what the real issues are in the community. What’s facing them? But sometimes, the loudest voices aren’t always representative of your communities. So I don’t know how to explain it but it is a challenge in our world to try to listen to so many voices and understand what the real issues are because it’s not always the loudest. The squeaky wheel doesn’t always need the oil.

 

Angela: That’s a great way of saying it.

 

Rebecca: And sometimes because people are inundated with information now, we’re seeking new ways to communicate with our team so that it’s effective. Email doesn’t always work. People turn that off. We just started working with a new platform called Mobilize. It’s like a community communication tool. And so far, it’s really been interesting. We’re slowly adding our key members to it but we’re hoping to just try to communicate better and more efficiently with the people who want to hear the information that we have to offer.

 

Angela: Yeah. So my next question for you then is, why is it so important to empower these makers and nurture this community? You talked about communication. You talked about the different events that you have. I mean, if somebody were to take all of that away, what would be the result? If somebody out there has a marketplace and they won’t even consider doing this for their users, what would you say is the risk there of not connecting?

 

Rebecca: Well, I think when you’re not connecting to your community or the people who are using your product, then you run the risk of losing your market share. I mean, that’s the bottom line. We’re all in business, even me and our whole community. It’s like a community of micro-businesses contributing to the economy so that we all can have successful lives. It’s the American dream, right? But I think there really is a risk in business if you’re not communicating to the people who are either buying you product or using your product and you don’t understand them. Then, it’s hard to wrap your head around why you wouldn’t want to know and understand your market.

 

Angela: Definitely. Do you think that times have changed and that now there’s a bigger expectation to be heard as a user of a platform?

 

Rebecca: I don’t. I think it goes in cycles, honestly. The way that brands are talking to their community is changed over time but I think the message is the same. Like this is what we have to offer. What do you think of it? I mean, pretty much, that’s the basic, bottom line. Like we make this thing, what do you think? Are you using it? Are you buying it? Are you telling your friends about it? What is the point? If you don’t have that, you really don’t have a business. I mean, if you have a product that no one is buying or they’re not using it or they’re not telling people about them, what’s the point of your product?

 

Angela: Definitely, definitely. These are great things. So right now, we’re looking at entrepreneurs and different brands who are building these marketplaces whether – people are obviously looking for different items and kind of thinking of ownership of their participation of it, what would you say is something that you would tell those marketplace owners who are going to be facilitating this type of engagements? Is there any specific advice that you’ll give? Some of these are new entrepreneurs. Some of them are veteran entrepreneurs. But as they’re about to run a marketplace with users, people investing in it, what would you say to them that they need to make sure to think about?

 

Rebecca: I would say – gosh, I don’t know. Love your product. You have to love it because it’s going to become so much a part of who you are. You’re going to be talking about it all the time. You’re going to be making it, being involved in the process. You’re going to be telling it to your community and getting responses on it. So if it’s not something that you’re truly, truly passionate about, I think over time it’s going to just be really hard. That’s number 1.

 

Angela: Definitely. Now, that’s a great piece of advice. I think that that’s not to be forgotten when people are looking to build businesses or looking to create. If you get into the mode of just simply producing and then you stop loving what you’re producing, it can be a very, I think, unpleasant place to be. And I don’t know if you’ve read one of Seth Godin’s latest books where he talks about the industrial era and people learned to just produce, produce and no longer create out of the love of creating. That can be seen in writing or in building things, making things. And I think it all comes down to building a startup that it’s important for those who are building one to continue to love what they’re doing and be passionate about it. I know that we have some entrepreneurs who built marketplaces who are considered domain or industry experts. And it’s really exciting to see those who come to us who legitimately love the space that they’re in and they’re passionate about it. And I think those are the type of marketplaces that will succeed in the end because that type of love of what they’re doing is, I think, contagious. People can see it.

 

Rebecca: Exactly. It is contagious and I think that’s why a lot of people are looking at the marketplace like Etsy where they’re like, okay, it’s just a group of people making new things out of their garage. Like what’s so exciting about that? But I think it’s the passion. There is this no better feeling than coming up with something in your brain, designing it on paper, making it with your hands and then someone giving you money for that thing. And then, they’re displaying it in their home. I mean, I guess I witness that every day with our making community. It’s like every time I see that, it really keeps me going. I’m like that’s right, we’re making things. We’re impacting people’s lives. Even the tiniest little products but it really is important to remember, hey, this is my product. I really love it. If I’m going to have to talk about it a million times, then I will. Yeah.

 

Angela: That’s very true. So you better love it because you’re talking about it 24/7.

 

Rebecca: Yeah. So you don’t want to get sick of it.

 

Angela: Yeah. Definitely. This is great. This is great information that you’ve shared with us. We’re really thankful that you took the time today to chat with us. What’s coming up next for SF Etsy? Do you have any special local events or opportunities for people to get involved in? What’s coming up?

 

Rebecca: Yes. So in May, we’re going back to Pier 35, which is a historic cruise terminal on Embarcadero. We’re going to have I think almost 100 makers doing the makers’ market called the SF Etsy Indie Emporium and that’s happening May 30th and 31st. So come out and be what’s cool and get your shop on.

 

Angela: Awesome. This is great. And so where can people find you online? Do you have your own Twitter? What’s the SF Etsy account, website? Where can we find you?

 

Rebecca: Yup. We have a blog, sfetsy.com. We have Twitter, Instagram. We’re on Pinterest. We’re on Facebook. You can find us with #sfetsy and you’ll be able to see our community members too.

 

Angela: Very cool. Thank you so much again for joining us and we hope that you’ll have a wonderful day. We’ll check you out on Twitter and shoot you some tweets. And thanks again, Rebecca.

 

Rebecca: Yeah. Thank you.

 

Kevin: So that’s it for today’s show everybody. I’d like to thank SF Etsy for joining us here today. They’re doing awesome stuff so check them out. If you want to learn more about SF Etsy, go to our show notes at www.near-me.com. Click on the blog and then go to the podcast listing. Also, if you like today’s show, we’d really appreciate it if you could go to iTunes and leave us a review. It really helps us out. While you’re there, make sure to subscribe to the podcast. Make it a great day and thank you.