A Sad Day

Monday was a sad Etsy day for me.  But then in asking for advice in the forums yesterday, some very kind Etsyians said some very nice things and helped me be a little more objective about the whole thing.

So I've decided to take this as a lesson learned. I will never make everyone happy, I can only do what I feel is right. While I'm on holidays next week I will be creating many more new pieces to list into the fall and holiday season. I've got a plan of attack in my mind as to how to promote and advertise my shop.

My hope is to have a kickass finish to 2008. It would be fantastic to reach 100 sales. So watch me go!

Golf & Etsy...Bah!

It's Monday, which according to my new schedule means it's blog day. Yay! What to write about today. Well, what has happened during the last week? No sales, but I've been lazy and only renewed items, didn't list new ones. I booked two main showcase spots for Friday AND Saturday with no results other than a few more views and a few more hearts. It's funny, I really thought my mermaid earrings would have sold, I like them that much :)

In non-etsy related life, we went to a friends house a couple of hours north of hear for the weekend. He lives in a fairly secluded area, no traffic, just the occasional neighbor coming home. It's so incredibly peaceful we slept in until 10am on Sunday - which is unheard of for me. Then we went and played 9 holes of golf - and that didn't go well for this novice. My first drive was great. I hit the ball long and straight and the three men I was with said 'brava, good hit, nice drive', etc. It was pretty much downhill from there. It was bad, but not bad enough to make me quit. I bought my pretty purple clubs for a reason and I will conquer the game (picture me shaking my fist in the air here).

Today I realized that Etsy is very much like golf, in the whole 'self-doubt' area. I haven't had a sale in a week so I'm starting to get that discouraged feeling, where nothing is good enough. Yesterday I couldn't hit the ball to save my life, today I can't make a sale to save my life (well, I probably could if I wanted to sell my pieces for a buck, but let's be real). So I have decided that from here out I will be positive about both. I will get my clubs to connect with my damn ball. I will get my Etsy mojo working again. I will succeed in every way!!!

Soooo....I guess I'd better get off my butt and make the bracelet for my friend who's getting married in two weeks. I've only had the supplies for a month. And I'd better write down the schedule in my head so that I stick to it. Tomorrow is Flickr day and I am going to get mine looking respectable :)

Ok, so busy week ahead. Lets hope my golf game improves as does my shop! First gotta move my critter Ziggy from the workbench. As much as he'd like to help, his claws get in the way :)

I Almost Forgot!! Now Introducing....

http://thepedestriansommelier.blogspot.com/

My husband has started his own blog where he'll be reviewing local and not so local wines! He's a sommelier and is currently studying to become a winemaker. How did I get so lucky, right??

Anways, I know that he'd love it if you could stop by and drop off a comment :)

Holy Moly, March 20th???

That's the last time I posted? Man, I'm sorry blog. I didn't mean to desert you. I did make a commitment but apparently, my commitments to everything other than my marriage have gone by the wayside. So here we are again....

It's month 8 of selling on Etsy and I'm currently at 44 sales and 300+ hearts. It's a good feeling. It's still a great feeling when I log in and see that I need to leave feedback for a new sale, and even moreso when I see that the buyer is brand new, that they just joined Etsy that day and wanted to purchase something from me! Very, very cool :)

I haven't been a very good business person lately. I've been creating, but haven't taken the time to take my pictures and list my new pieces. I've been relying on relisting and the sales have been slowly coming in - but I know I could be doing so much more. I need - no I MUST - sit down and write out a schedule, even a rough one, of what I will do each day to create and promote and keep myself going! I WILL DO THIS!!!

At least today was a good day, I managed to take pictures of new earrings and list three pairs. Unfortunately I don't think Monday afternoon is a great time to list and the views were low, prompting me to head to critiques asking if they were ok - a moment of weakness I admit :) I've put their pics up here for all to see because I'm actually quite proud of them. I think they're the perfect summer accessory. Hopefully someone else out there will to - preferably with money to spend :D

Keep On Keepin' On...

I'm in my fourth month of selling on Etsy and I've averaged a sale every three weeks or so. I'm not complaining, in fact with each sale it's still like it's my first. I love thinking about my pieces finding homes with people all over the world - well, at least North America so far! And patience is a good thing, as is actually stepping away from the computer now and then. When I managed to do that this morning I sold something. :D

I've bit the bullet and signed up for the local Farmer's Market starting in mid May, and I'm a little nervous but very excited. Right now I've got the dining room table covered with tile pendants that are drying and will have their bails attached before the end of the nite, I just put away 120 laminated bookmarks that still need to be punched and have the elastic run through, and ALL my beads & supplies are strewn across the coffee table waiting for me to finish organizing them so that I can set to building up my inventory. On one hand I hope I do insanely well, but on the other hand, if I do REALLY well I'll be up till midnite all week just building back stock to sell on the weekend....*fingers crossed*

And The Winner Is....

Thanks to everyone who left a comment for the earring contest last week. Since there weren't that many I thought it would be nice to list everyone's shops, or if they don't have one of their own - to list their one of their favorites they left behind:

http://calloohcallay.etsy.com
http://woolies.etsy.com
http://wyredonwire.etsy.com
http://ellebeestudio.etsy.com
http://unefemme.etsy.com
http://michellescharmworld.etsy.com
http://elegantscarf.etsy.com
http://whimsypics.etsy.com
http://kirby.etsy.com
http://unicocreation.etsy.com

And the winner is Kelli from Red Marionette (http://redmarionette.etsy.com).

Her store is fantastic, you've got to check it out!

Thanks again everyone for helping me out with my marketing experiment!

You Could Win These!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

I'm testing how well the showcases work on Etsy. Completely unscientific, but if you leave me a quick comment I'll throw everyone's name into a hat and pick someone to win these earrings, which are my favorites - even though I should be unbiased with my products. I'm only running this promo for the length of time my showcase spot will be up (Tuesday, March 18th) , so come on - tell me your favorite thing about etsy, show me your favorite item in your shop or someone elses, or leave me your blog addy and I'll check you out!