A Tale of Two Shops: Shop One, Lesson One

Chapter 1 Part 2
Two shops, two very different shop keepers. Two valuable lessons for life and shop keeping.

Littleputbooks.
I am like a teenager excited over a rock star. When I was 12, it was Paul McCartney. 15, it was Amy Grant. 19, it was Basia. 21, it was Squeeze. 27, Alanis Morissette. 38, John Mayer. Funny, if you notice the list goes from complete idealism to - well, real life. But, that is a whole other story.

To me, Littleputbooks IS a rock star. A huge celebrity. A true genius in my book. I admired her like a teenager obsessing over her first true idol. I was a huge fan. Actually, I still am.

Little did I know, she is really quite famous. With well over 12,000 sales in just one of her Etsy Shops, it is not a wonder that she is quite the Etsy celebrity.

But like all TRUE rock star geniuses, and those who have really made it, she is unaffected. She is gracious, helpful, and always seemed just like “one of the guys” in the Etsy Forums. So, I got to know her in that virtual sort of way.

Funny, as a newbie on Etsy, I had no idea who she was. I didn’t know that she was famous; really, I didn’t know a thing about her. I just happen to like her posts. I respected her very thoughtful and helpful responses to the newcomer's questions. And, then, I liked her avatar.

An avatar - that is that photo you choose to represent you on the Etsy Forums. Littleputbook's avatar was unique, thoughtful and intriguing. So, I clicked.

Immediately, I fell in love with her shop. She sold little books. Little fan books. Little photo blocks. Everything was “little”. Of course, I easily remembered her shop name. It reminded me of “Lilliput” from a favorite book, Gulliver’s Travels.

As I watched her shop and listened to her words of wisdom, I realized that she is an extremely creative being. It is immediately evident when you come into her shop! Her product lines, her product photography, her blog: they are all quite exquisite.

One day while absorbing her blog, (yes, in that virtual stalking kind of way that you would reserve only for your favorite rock star), I learned that one of the most popular and coveted items sold on Etsy was originally her brainchild!

I was now, more than ever, even more impressed. My suspicions were true she IS a creative genius!

Here she was, the original artist, an inventor really, but now she is copied so ferociously, so profusely, even to excess, that it would truly dishearten anyone else. Anyone else but Littleputbooks.

What does my rock star do? She moves on. Yes, you heard me. She moved forward. From my vantage point, the girl has never even looked back.

When I first clicked on her shop, it was not full of what was or how great she was, or how profoundly copied she has become. No. There was not a trace of the past.

Her beautiful shop was FULL of new items, OTHER items, brand new inventions. She had managed to invent more beautiful things and had come up with completely new ideas. Ideas which people loved and love to buy.

Did I call her unaffected? Yes, Littleputbooks just kept on creating. Making new things. Making beautiful objects. And the buyers? They recognized genius. They appreciated beauty. They loved the new creations.

From a distance, I can tell that it is her creativity that drives her. It is her unlimited imagination that gives her that true rock star “je ne sais quoi”... that thing you can’t put your finger on, but know it is there, and that it is truly magic.

Moral of the Story which is Lesson #1.
Let your own imagination and creativity be your drive. Keep on being creative. Keep on creating and making and designing. Then surely, your inner rock star will be discovered.

Find out how Littleputbooks got started.
This is her story.

Editor's Note: Photographs are the property of Littleputbooks. This post is not endorsed by her, but I surely hope she will find it as it was meant to be, a little tribute for big genius.


Next Lesson: A Tale of Two Shops: Shop Two Lesson Two