Working with Trends

Whether you are buying or selling goods, there is one thing that is hard to avoid: trends.  Personally, I find that I am always behind on trends, and only once it's pretty much everywhere do I notice it.  When it's a clothing trend, sometimes I'll decide to jump on the bandwagon or sometimes I'll decide that I can let it pass (hello, neon), but when it comes to business, having a product that follows trends can be a great boom.  Edi from Memories for Life is here to talk about some current trends and how they are working in her shop.

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Hello milo and molly readers! My name is Edi and I am the owner of Memories for Life. I'm super excited to be guest posting here today!

I have to admit, when it comes to my personal life, I don't usually pay attention to trends. I'm so out of fashion it's not even funny :) But when it comes to my shop, I really try to pay attention to what's popular and trending. Today I thought I talk about 3 trends that I've seen popular and that are doing well for my business.

Woodland Creatures:

One of the first trends I started using in my shop was the cute little woodland creatures. I mean, how could I knot love them...they're adorable! I first made this cute set of magnets (which recently shipped out in an Umba Box!).

I then added this adorable Baby Shower Guest Book

and the theme continued on to new jewelry items as well. Once I got a set of cute little creatures that I liked, I was able to expand and use them on several items.

Mustaches:

I have to admit, I didn't "get" this trend at first. I didn't understand why everyone loved mustaches so much. And I held off on putting them in my shop because I really didn't like them. But the more I saw them, the more they grew on me. Now I'm loving creating with them and get requests to put them on everything in my shop!

 

This Mustache Valentine has been very popular this year.

 

And these Cuff Links were very popular for holiday gifts.

Chevron:

The most popular trend I've started using is chevrons. They're such a fun pattern and can be used so many ways. I recently blogged about some fun magnets and earrings I made using the chevron design and some paints. I love them!

I also just added this Chevron Wedding Invitation to my shop as well. My invitations have done really well on Etsy and my goal was to expand this line during 2013. So I started with a trendy choice and I'm hoping it will do great as well.

One of my biggest words of advice when it comes to adding trendy items to your shop is to make sure you like what you're creating. Don't just make something because it's popular and you think it will sell. Like I mentioned above, I didn't start adding mustache items to my shop for quite a while because I didn't really like them. Not until I saw how fun they were did I add them to my shop. I wouldn't ever create something I didn't totally love.

If you're looking for new trends to add to your shop, look no further than Etsy itself. The front page is a great place to start. The Etsy Finds emails are also a great place to look for new trends and popular selections.

Thanks for reading and I hope you liked the post :)

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Thanks so much, Edi!  Readers, do you tend to follow trends either in your daily life or in your shop?