A merchandising calendar for Australian sellers

I created this 2012 merchandising calendar to share with my fellow Australian Etsy sellers. I hope you find it as useful as I do. This calendar identifies merchandising opportunities from month to month. We have also made the effort of summarizing tags that you could include when you list an item. It is related to the occasions, festivals or holidays that take place during the month. You should also check out Etsy’s merchandising reports on the Etsy Seller’s Handbook Page each month for up to date trending colours and themes. (http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/category/seller-handbook/)

Finally we have a section that list important dates in the year such as holidays, competition closing dates (I’ll talk more about the importance of competitions later) and significant craft shows and fairs that take place during the year.  

January
Merchandising Events	Tags	Important Dates
January is known as: National Blood Donor Month National Hobby Month Hot Tea Month. January 1: New Year’s Day January 6: Epiphany, Three Kings Day January 15: Golden Globes January 17: Martin Luther King Day January 19: Edgar Allan Poe born January 23: Chinese New Year: Dragon January 25: Foundation Day (Brazil) January 25: Robbie Burns Day (Scotland) January 26: Australia Day January 26: Republic Day (India)	New Years eve, Australia Day, Valentines Day, garnet, dragon, angel, cherub, heart, roses, chinese new year	Holidays: New Year’s Day 1/1/2012 Australia Day 26/01/2012 Competition closing dates: SOYA - Interactive Content  and Gaming 13/01/2012 Canberra  Times Craft Expo Art category 9/01/2012
February
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
February is known as Black History Month and American Heart Month Feb 2: Groundhog Day Feb 6: Superbowl Sunday Feb 6: Waitangi Day (New Zealand) February 12: 54th Grammy Awards Show Feb 14: Valentine’s Day Feb 15: Mawlid Feb 17: International Cat Day (Poland and Italy) Feb 17-21: Rio Carnival Feb 21: Mardi Gras Feb 21: President’s Day Feb 26: The Oscars	Superbowl Sunday, Valentines, amethyst, Oscars, Grammys, Mardi  Gras, St Patricks Day, carnival		Competition closing dates: SOYA – Written Word  02/02/2012 SOYA – Visual Design & Communications 3/03/2012 Fashion Future International Mentor Programme 13/02/2012 Shows and Fairs: Bags and Accessories Fair: 12-14/02/2012 Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre Canberra Times Craft Expo 24-26/02/12 Exhibition Park Canberra
March
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
March is known as National Craft and National Poetry Month. March was named for the Roman god Mars. March 17: St Patrick’s Day March 20: Spring equinox March 26: Earth Hour	Spring, mother day, aquamarine, Mardi  Gras, St Patricks Day		Competition closing dates: SOYA – Film and Video  30/03/2012 The Australian Wool Fashion Awards: Entry Form and Fee must be submitted by 9/03/2012 Garments must be submitted by 23/03/2012
April
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
April is known as International Guitar Month April 1 April Fools April 6 Good Friday April 7 Passover April 8 Easter Sunday April 22 Earth Day April 23 St George Day April 25 Anzac Day April 27 Arbor Day	Earth day, Mothers Day, Easter, April Fools, diamond, Kentucky Derby,  Cannes Film Festival		Holidays: Good Friday 6/04/2012 Easter 09/04/2012 Anzac Day 25/04/2012 Competition closing dates: SOYA – Film and Video  04/05/2012 Shows and Fairs: Sydney Royal Easter Show : 5-18/04/2012
May
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
May is known as National Barbecue, Photograph, and Bike Month. May 1: May Day May 1: Fete du Travail, Labor Day May 3: National Teachers Day May 5 : Cinco de Mayo May 5: Kentucky Derby May 8: VE Day May 13: Mother’s Day May 16 -27: Cannes Film Festival May 18: International Museum Day May27 – June 10: French Open May 30: Memorial Day	Mother’s Day,  graduation		Competition closing dates: SOYA – Film and Video  04/05/2012 SOYA – Visual Arts  01/06/2012
June
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
June is known as candy, rose and dairy month. June  11 Queen’s Birthday June 18 Etsy’s 7th Birthday June 21 Summer Solstice June 24 St. Jean Baptiste Day June 29 Camera Day June 30 Tour DE France	4th of July, Summer, Etsy's birthday, Tour de france		Holidays: Queen’s  Birthday  11/06/2012 Competition closing dates: SOYA – Visual Arts  01/06/2012 Shows and Fairs: Craft and Quilt Fair  13-17/06/2012 Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre Finders Keepers Sydney 1-2 /06/2012 Carriageworks
July
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
July is known as National Hot Dog Month and National Ice Cream Month July 1 Canada Day July Tour de France July 4 Independence Day (4th of July) July 14 Bastille Day July New York Fashion Week, Swim	4th july, Christmas in July, ruby		Competition closing dates: SOYA – Craft and Object Design 06/07/2012 Shows and Fairs: Design: Made: Trade: 19-22/07/2012: Royal Exhibition Building Melbourne
August
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
August is known as National Golf and National Peach month August 7: Friendship Day August 21: National Senior Citizens Day August - Sept : US Tennis Open Tournament	Halloween, peridot		Holidays: Bank Holiday 6/08/2012 Competition closing dates: SOYA – Music  03/08/2012
September
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
September is known as National Honey, Classical Music, and Self-Improvement month. September 17 – October 3: Oktoberfest September 23: Autumnal Equinox September 28 – Confucius’ birthday	Halloween, sapphire, Oktoberfest		Competition closing dates: SOYA –Architecture and Interior Design 07/09/2012
October
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
October is Breast Cancer Awareness, international drum, and vegetarian awareness month. October 12 – November 5: Spring Racing Carnival (Australia) October 3: Oktoberfest winds down October 14: Winnie The Pooh published, 1926 (UK) October 31: Halloween	Melbourne Cup, spring racing festival, breast cancer, oktoberfest, halloween, opal		Holidays: Labour Day 1/10/2012 Competition closing dates: SOYA –Animation  5/10/2012
November
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
November is known as Real Jewelry Month, Peanut Butter Lovers Month, Aviation History Month and Movember. October 12 – November 5: Spring Racing Carnival (Australia) November 1 & 2: Dia de los Muertos November 1: All Saints’ Day November 6: Emirates Melbourne Cup Day (Australia) November 13: Diwali November 24: Thanksgiving November 25: Black Friday November 28: Cyber Monday	Movember, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Major gifting categories include price, recipient, and type of gift. Think in terms of the following groupings: under $25, under $50, under $75, statement gifts, women, men, teens, children, babies, coworkers, friends, the person who has it all, pets, personalization, eco-friendly, cards, calendars, gadgets, jewelry, fashion, one-of-a-kind, gag gifts, decor, DIY options, and parties & entertaining, Cyber Monday, Black Friday, citrine, topaz
December
Merchandising Events	Tags		Important Dates
December  9 : Hanukkah December 22: Winter Solstice: Shortest day of the year December 25: Christmas Day December 26: Boxing Day December 26 – January 1: Kwanzaa December 31: New Year’s Eve December 31: Hogmanay (Scotland)	Boxing Day, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Major gifting categories include price, recipient, and type of gift. Think in terms of the following groupings: under $25, under $50, under $75, statement gifts, women, men, teens, children, babies, coworkers, friends, the person who has it all, pets, personalization, eco-friendly, cards, calendars, gadgets, jewelry, fashion, one of a kind, gag gifts, decor, DIY options, and parties & entertaining.		Holidays: Christmas Day 25/12/2012 Boxing Day 26/12/2012 Shows and Fairs: Finder Keepers Markets Sydney 8-9/12/2012 CarriageWorks

The power of video marketing

There are a lot of articles about the benefits of including video in your marketing efforts and I don’t know about you but video marketing sure works on me.

I'll admit to being a person who is interested in art and craft – jewellery and beads in particular. As you can see from my profile, I work with resin and polymer clay primarily. What you may not know is that I really don't like sewing. Blame it on having to unpick too many of my sewing projects. I have never made anything where I haven't unpicked some or all the seams.

I came across an instructional video about beading on fabric recently. Love beads, not so sure about fabric as it’s associated with sewing but I brought it home anyway and watched it. 

It was a life changing experience craftwise. The presenter, Mary Stori, was amazing. She made everything look so easy. She showed the materials she used - naming specific threads and  bead sizes that she used in her projects, marking pens, the felt and embroidery hoop set up she used to carry her beads and stop them from rolling around (hallelujah!) and the fabric.

Then she started sewing. She demonstrated how to hold the project so that your hands don’t block your line of sight and so that you can always see what you are doing. She showed basic stitches and more advanced ones but always in small units. It was very easy to see how these could be combined to build a fabulous piece of clothing or jewellery.

She inspired me enough to try out a bracelet using beads and pieces of fabric I had lying around the house.

The end result wasn’t too bad if I say so myself. Not in her class but it’s my first attempt!

My first attempt at beading on fabric.

I guess it just goes to prove that a video is worth a thousand words. I have books that describe the same methods but I always thought it was too complicated. However, the video turned it into an exceptional learning experience. It made it look easy and extremely doable.

Just think, if this video had been released by a sewing and beading supplies retailer such as Lincraft or Spotlight, they probably would have a huge number of converts and a corresponding increase in sales. With services such as YouTube, they don't even have to invest in expensive distribution partnerships.

Upcoming trends for Jewellery

I was doing some research to see what the jewellery trend was for the upcoming season and  I was pleased to find the following video from Fashion TV that I have shared below.

The trend seems to be for big and bold with an emphasis on metallics, blues – light and dark, black, fringes, tassels and abstract shapes.  I am also sensing an Egyptian motif in some of the designs. My favourite is the beaded necklace scarf by Jean Paul Gaultier. 

Resin jewellery should fit right in as it is already big and bold. I think my double helix bangle is sure to please this season.