Today's Etsian Guide to Life is... how to sell items in your sleep!

It can be tiring to do all that promotional footwork, but there are some things you can do to sell items without doing much work at all!

1)Make your titles google friendly. When someone is looking for something to buy, they usually don't type in something fanciful like 'Maria Maria Earrings' it's probably more like like 'Sterling Silver with Red Stone Earrings'. Take advantage of that tendency. Have what your item is, what it's made of, and other relevant things in your title so that google can pick them up.

2)Use your tags. In etsy search, it's title and tags as the default. If you have many descriptive tags that people will search for, your item is more likely to pop up than if you have three tags with words like pretty wonderful beautiful on them. No one searches for wonderful but people do search for colors, occasions, and people. If your bow looks like something a little girl would wear tag girl tag children tag kids.


3)Have plenty of items! It's much harder for people to find one of your three items than one of your hundred items. People may go into your shop to see one item but something completely different catches their eye. The more items, the more opportunities for people to come into your shop!

The storque publishes an article on Obama items. I'm sure somebody will complain that customers might be turned off by having Obama in the storque or on the front page, but think about it, folks. Not only has one of the huge book retailers had 30% off all Obama themed books lately, Obama is big news around the world. People will be googling Obama, wanting t shirts and art. This is a great opportunity for etsy to ride that wave, to get more publicity for all of us by showing up in those searches. To ignore the big Obama trend to appeal to some old saw about not talking about politics? That's just bad business!

No search improvements, but a weird voting thing. I voted for dippylulu.

Man, we have some weirdos there on etsy. People fear the refresh!

And no, you can't get someone's twitter shut down for saying that people's items on etsy are ugly. I think the next etsian guide to life will be welcome to the internet

Today's etsian guide to life is what do they mean promote, promote,promote?

I think that there are several different things people mean when they say promote, promote, promote- advertising, social networking, and promotion.

Advertising is like someone taking out an ad in a magazine or an ad on a blog. It's paid, and everyone knows what's going on. Promotion is like when you put your site address in your email signature or put a business card in an ebay package. It's usually free. Social networking is when you have your twitter account with a link to your shop or comment on everyone's flickr accounts. This is less about selling and more about getting to know people and have a community. All can be good and have their benefits and drawbacks. Advertising can be expensive and may be a waste if you don't target correctly. However, if you do target correctly, it can yield big returns. Promotion can be time consuming, and cost some money[such as buying business cards or stickers to put in or own packages] but can pay off with greater awareness and sales. Social networking can take a long time, with relationships developing over months, but that can yield much fruit as people feel more comfortable and opportunities come your way.

There are as many ways to promote as there are people, and everyone will have a different way to do it. For example, you'll never see me handing out business cards, and you may never see someone else on twitter.

The controversy continues. Can people sell paddles to spank children with on etsy? The problem here is that we have so many different cultures here. For example, my mom works at a school that allows corporal punishment. My mom is OK with this, I think it's too extreme, and that other methods should be used. There are also religious groups that approve of spanking. It is unknown whether this is allowed on etsy or not

Alwaysamy tries to improve her business

CidTalk has an important message for all of us about branding.

Today's etsian guide to life is can you still sell items if you complain/ don't stay positive?

Yes, you can. Even if you notice that your items are on page 100, that your pictures aren't showing up, or some weird search glitch makes it so your items can't be found and say "what? I'm paying good money for this! Fix this crap!", this has nothing to do with sales or how hard you work or the value of you as a person.

I think that assuming that anyone who has anything but the most glowing remarks about everything isn't working or doing anything is an error in thinking. Let's say that Sally Etsier complains in the forums for thirty minutes a day. They still have hours and hours to build up their business! Sally may even have in another tab[in internet time, tabbed browsing is 25 years old.] all sorts of promotional stuff! So when we assume that people who may be more aware of situations than others aren't working, we're being a lot more negative than the person who is aware and talking is.

Another issue is that you're on the internet. Maybe in real life you do have to be a used car salesman, but online, good pictures, good promotion, good product wins over thinking happy thoughts every time. I buy things on the internet all the time, and everything pleases or displeases me when I get it in my mailbox based on the merit of the product, not whether people act like they smoked something they weren't supposed to. In fact, I prefer people who are down to earth and realistic.

On etsy bitch, there is wank. Personally I think if you say something like rice ride and folks say yo, that's racist and you still do it, you can't whine if folks call you racist. That's the breaks. Offend anyone you want, but no crying is allowed! All offensive people need to suck it up!

Cheap Offs Vs Change

I love a good cheap off! Competing to see who can save the most money- I bought a scarf for 50 cents! I bring tea in a thermos to work! I don't have a TV!- can be an exciting and fun high. The problem comes in when we start thinking that cheap offs can actually solve problems for others. Thinking our credit card debt problems can be cured by taking tea in a thermos or that poverty would be wiped out if only folks didn't smoke cigarettes. In these economic times when people are charging groceries on credit, talking about tea in thermoses as if the debts were caused by Starbucks misses the point completely. Not to mention the many other debts people incur- car break downs, medical debts, and the high cost of educational testing nowadays[folks are trying to charge me $300 to take a test!] So when we ignore all those issues, and focus on whether people should smoke a cig or drink starbucks, we're getting off point.

But you may say, my cousin Niecey goes out and smokes all the time and is always asking for money for diapers! There's a saying in legal circles- hard cases make for bad law. Your cousin Niecey may in fact be an idiot. But have idiots ever improved through lectures? When we're focusing on those few unrepentant cases[ or even worse, focusing on a fifth hand story about someone you don't know] we could be focusing on real ways to make a change in people's situations.

Being a cheap bastard is a lifestyle choice and is a lot of fun, but let's not kid ourselves. If you're 10k in student loan debt, not going to starbucks isn't going to make your situation that much better. If your rent is $1000 a month, cutting out that $25 a month cable not going to make a huge dent.

I think we talk like this because it's reassuring. In these tough times, it's nice to think you'll be protected from financial disaster merely by taking your lunch to work. We don't want to think that virtuous people like us could have bumps in the road. It's also nice to think that people who aren't virtuous like us will be punished. Sadly, the world doesn't work that way and the faster we realize that, the faster things will get better for all of us.

Seems like a bunch of etsy drama going on!

I am hoping that we have some good light today. Maybe make some items and take photos of them. Good procrasination.

I saw a google ad for etsy and was so amazed, I had to go right out and post about it on the forums. The mention of vintage was a nice touch. I probably should buy my own google ads- the holiday season is here!

Heh, thetinyfig's got gag gifts on her blog!

Popular seller Aussiepatches is closing shop.

I changed out my etsybead theme of the week section. New items are featured too. Got to change out my shop window occasionally!

Sherry Truitt tells us about the importance of having your own website. I have had my own website for a long time!

Business cards in packages cause wank.

People have very specific ideas about what you should call the winter holiday seasonal event. Now, I'm not consistent on this point- I'm in the Jet Holiday Sale, some things are marked christmas, some are marked holiday. Maybe I should mark somethings xmas because people might search for that. I live in the south, where we have churches on every corner eager to help you celebrate religious Christmas, so I don't worry too much if someone in a shop writes 'xmas'. I have never heard of anyone who says 'I'm going to put Xmas as a tag to put down Christians'- they probably are just covering all their bases as far as search tags are concerned.

I guess this ended up being a mini etsian guide- why people put xmas or holiday as tags or titles on items. Protip: nothing against Christianity.

An etsy seller has died. let's surround her family with thoughts and prayers.

Today's etisian guide to life is how do you get time to blog?

You see, I take time that others use to match socks, clean the baseboards and iron t shirts, and blog instead. It takes me about 15 minutes per day. Then I use the time others use for asking how others find the time for things commenting on other blogs or promoting mine.

Good ol' stuck categories on etsy! I plan to go yard saling- yesterday I found the best supplies- a huge chain and a enamel butterfly for $2.50! And I should update my ebay too.

time for jet holidays!

time for peppermints
Originally uploaded by cassowaryjewelry

Got my jet holiday sale section up! My theme is red for this year! You search jhsjetteam in etsy search to bring up all jet holiday sale items.

There's a fake Hey Michelle now! Pissed off employee on forums? puss daddy lolz

The oldest mint farm in the USA wants you to buy a dram of mint oil for $5 to save it from foreclosure.

I think it's important to support our farms.

Hey, check me out on the side here!

[So not my pic! all credit to antb!]

Arrange your nativity scene the way you want! I like the fact that there are so many choices. I like the traditional scene too, but some variety is also good. This reminds me of a woman my dad works with. Every year, she gives us a nativity scene for Christmas. They are very nice nativity scenes, although for some reason this strikes me as odd. I understand the religious part of Christmas, but explicitly religious gifts? I guess maybe it's a culture clash. I thought of that because now nativity scenes make me think of that woman.

Although it'd be a nice scene to put up at a college too- I saw a nativity scene made of straw or something at the theology library in undergrad once.

[Update! This post was written a day ago- but oddly, there's controversy. and crazy people. all because some lady wanted to share the joy of Christmas with everybody!* It may have sold already, but I still love it- maybe one day I'll be able to afford a really nice nativity scene]

*is aware that antb isn't a christian, but neither am I, and I share the joy of Christmas to people all the time!

Help support Saint Jude by buying from their gift catalog. Fight cancer!

Today's etsian guide to life, the internet and everything is "Will blogging/flickr/twitter/etc bring me sales?" The answer is it depends. Now if you update your blog once a month, you probably won't get any sales from it. And I have to admit I don't follow twitterers that have nothing interesting in their feed. Social networking- that is blogs, flickr, twitter, the promos forum- is more about soft marketing than the hard sell. Basically, you're building a relationship with others, which takes time and technique.

The technique is different on every site as well- for flickr, it's important to get in, add your photos to groups and comment on other people's photos. Tag your photos with tags that people will search for. Be a part of other people's fanbase and therefore build up your own.

On twitter, twitter feed is a god send. I have two feeds set up on twitter- this blog and my etsy shop, and so whenever they update, they are sent to twitter. On etsy, it's easy to find your feed. RSS this shop is beneath email this to a friend in your public shop. That page address is the address of your shop feed. And don't just feed me your shop on twitter. Give me something to chew on. Funny links, interesting observations- I don't want to see only ads on my page, ladies!

The main gist is that yea, social networking won't bring you instant sales, but it can help you cultivate a fanbase and some buzz, and that never hurts.

I'm doing an update of my website.

Today's Update

hearts
Originally uploaded by cassowaryjewelry

I did a nice photo shoot today. The background has changed because my dad took down the old deck and built a new one with his brother. I'm hoping to get a lot of work done today because my fatigue isn't as bad as it usually is.

The JET Holiday treasure hunt will start at 12 EST today. Need to get my Jet Holiday Sale items in order.

There will be an ebay update today, so look forward to it!

Our deck is being dismantled, so photo progress may be slow. I created a new bracelet today.

On my mailing list, we have a winner for my postcard contest! It's a random drawing of my postcard list- the lucky winner won the pictured pair of earrings!

You can convo me on etsy to be added to my mailing list and get the scoop on sales and contests!

Hey, I won a contest. I have ridiculous luck. Once I went to a mini con and won two games. And horribly lucky things happen to me all the time. I get through life on my luck, I guess.

Forum drama is fun! But I need to retag my etsy bead theme of the two weeks section.

I learn I don't work hard as I've never been on the front page.

I started a flickr group for cell phone charm lovers.

Today's photo shoot yielded 30 photos. The light is weaker now as it's becoming more fall like, and even though it's 70 degrees, I wore a sweater because of superstitions about cold and health.

I may update my website and supply shop today.

Calling in sick for the weekend. Also, JPAT learns that all her items will be on page 104 after she lists them.

[so not my picture, credit goes to Galactic Stone]
An etisian is selling a rare 1940s era calculator. That's the advantage of offering vintage on etsy- we get the advantage of people sharing their knowledge and their items with us. The lucky buyer gets a piece of history, and the rest of us get to enjoy looking at amazing items.

I sell a little vintage in my supply shop, and I like having contact with things that were made before I was born, sometimes long before...

A new group about shopping handmade for the holidays.

Jewelry subcategories are slow to load on etsy.

I should stock my ebay. Maybe tomorrow.

My new series is the etsian guide to the internet and life- basically, the basics you need to know!

My first post will be "why are there cuss words on the internet". You may notice that on the etsy forums or in some listings, there are curse words. Why, you may wonder, isn't that against etsy rules? No.[There's a bit on mature items in there, saying that they must be tagged mature and have the first thumbnail be safe for work].

Is this because etsy doesn't care about children and families? No, it's because they are a worldwide shopping site. In some places, a painting of a naked lady isn't a big deal, but violence is. In some cities, a well placed fuck or shit isn't a cause for soul searching, but part of the daily noise of life. Millions of people live in those areas, and accommodating them and their artwork is useful in terms of both profit and an artistic community.

But what if you live in a cow town where the mere thought of the word crap causes your head to explode? Well, there are many things you can do to help. First, in etsy search, put NOT mature on the end, and that will filter out mature items. In etsy search, I rarely ever run across anything very spicy, and this is because of how I search. I don't type in any synonyms for sexual body parts or the words nude, naked, pin up, into my search bar unless I want to see what sort of them. Same for curse words.

If I accidentally stumble upon something I think is too spicy, I use the back button, located on the top left of my browser window to go back to what I was looking at before. In the forums, I check the titles of the posts to see which ones I want to go into. If the title is something like "Our yucky girl part problems" I scroll to something I like such as "Complaining about Shows We Don't Like" or "Let's Argue About Politics". I know from experience that on "Let's Argue About Politics" people may be rude or use bad words. I will either join in or not read the thread if I don't want to see the bad words and rudeness. I certainly don't scold people for having fun on the internet! That just invites mockery.

If you have children that are too young to see bad words, always supervise them on the internet! If you think etsy is bad, the wide wide world of the internet will just kill you! Google rule 34 if you want to know what I mean.

Today, I'm going to roll my ebay money into getting new moo cards. I may do a beading derby during the daily show today. I also put my etsy shop feed into my twitterfeed so that if you follow me, you can see when I've renewed or listed something new.

Surrender Dorothy posts and she is pissed.

I've got a supply shop on etsy, but only one vintage item, so I guess I've got a dog's tail in the fight, but not the whole dog.

Always Amy wants more Dawanda talk in business, and I want more energy so that I can work the whole day through without a nap.

My big plan for today

jasper
Originally uploaded by cassowaryjewelry

is to have a big update in my supply shop

Why do people ever buy new clothes? I think that because I just walked out of my door, nabbed two shirts, one from Banana Republic and one from New York and Company, for 50 cents each, and then returned here to my computer and my blog. Yard sales- in spring and summer and fall, they are constant, and in winter, you can just go to the thrift store, which is more expensive- the shirts are $4- but also more convenient.

My personal credit crunch-

I'm having a personal credit freeze because last week, I couldn't find my purse, and so I had my debit card canceled and shredded it. Last Thursday, I realized my purse was missing. Saturday, I applied for a replacement. Tuesday, I found that I had left my purse behind in class and my teacher had been keeping it in his closet the whole week.

Now, on Friday, I don't have a debit card, so my working capital is comprised of what I have in my paypal account. So I guess I'm echoing the global credit crunch. I should get my new card by next Friday, and I can use paypal shipping for the time being.

Etsy Bitch crunches the numbers.

Tired shannon is tired.

Oh more wank about art/craft.

It's not the weekend, and we have pricing wank.

I like low cost earrings, BTW. There's room for all price ranges.

I need to make more stud earrings for me, because all of the ones I've kept for myself are dangles and I'm not allowed to wear those in the ward.

Lampworking wank starts over shop policies.

Friday night will be an exciting bead derby.

Etsians want smaller batch loading categories! i.e. when new items load into categories, 5 pages at a time[so at worst, you're on page 5] rather than 15 at a time[end up on page 15]

I need to stock my shops like mad, but I've been falling asleep at my normal daily show watching craft hour, and sleeping or promoting on my 'lunch hour'.

Etsy publishes stats for September.

Thanks to simplysophia for featuring my 900 hearts sale on her blog!

Oh my god, this shop is cute!

I've added some stuff to my ebay.


I also added some stuff to etsy.

Stock, stock, stock!

Handmademovement is sponsoring a sneak attack today at 2 pm est.

Magic Jelly gives etsy an open letter about its customer base- the sellers.

Etsian creates first yarn community supported agriculture, joins contest to get tech makeover. Found on sailorjenny's twitter feed.

Oh, and I changed my theme of the two weeks section to the current theme.

There's wank on flickr!?


A seller reviews Ruby Lane

I made 5 items today, of which I have taken 24 photos. I may have a posting marathon soon, but my fatigue level has gone up from mild to moderate. Today's photo shoot was good, with bright sun. I wanted to do it a little earlier, but got sidetracked by an idea for a new item.

Soap is love.

Yet another thread against us assemblers. I *like* assembling. I like being able to put two things that someone else might not have thought of putting together and making it into a coherent whole! Also, for me, maybe I don't *want* to handforge metal. Maybe I don't want to invest in lampwork glass lessons. Maybe I just want to make some jewelry, darn it!

Etsy artist ripped off by Delta Creative.

I took photos of a new necklace, and some old beads today. I've already posted the necklace.

Dolls and Miniatures getting a category? How exciting!

Will that news and a photo booth picture calm the nerves of the DaM folk?

I'm having a 900 hearts sale at my etsy shop- buy 1 item, get 10% off, buy 2, get 20% off, buy three, get 30% off, buy 4 get 40% off, buy five or more get, 50% off.

Etsians freak out about the economy.

Etsy bitches pissed about renewing glitch. On that note, enjoy my ebay listings.

Etsy freaks out my mom- I got my teaman tea today and my mom was like "OMG! it's in a ziploc bag!" She'll probably end up drinking it by accident because I put the bags in an old box of tea. It smells good, and I can't think of any reason why the tea could have been injured by this. It's about to be 50 degrees at night, so I'll see if it tastes as good as it smells.

Etsy artist jelene has her toys in crane machines in Cleveland. I'm glad to see a more human sized aesthetic here. Maybe in the future instead of thousands laboring to make the same thing, we'll have thousands of small little companies making different things. Of course, that's probably not as efficient, but I like the idea anyway.

Lost on page 3675? An ad from shophandmade found on flickr.

My plan is to get 200 items in my etsy store by December and stock Dawanda up to 50.

Best etsy twitter ever.

banana earrings
Originally uploaded by cassowaryjewelry

I took the plunge and listed on etsy today. I'm hoping that listing new won't be too bad- I'll have to stop renewing and do all my promotion the hard way now. *sigh*

Great, renewing will still be useless! What should I do now?

The thread.

We have a winner!

strawberry ring
Originally uploaded by cassowaryjewelry

This month's winner of the mailing list giveaway won this ring! I've got another giveaway going on this month, but only to mailing list members.

Your email will be only used for emails sent less than once every two weeks.

Sign Up For the Happily Handmade Giveaway


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It's a tale of new soap. This soap smells like this season- it's the end of summer, but there's still a very strong sense of growing and life. Also, it's not too feminine, but not too masculine either. Very strong smell in the shower- skin smells aggressively clean afterwards.

The bar is new, but seems fairly hard, and it probably won't melt easily.

OMG! vacation mode!

Yesterday, etsy went kawaii. Congrats to thetinyfig and boygirlparty!

BTW: I own this.

Etsy featured on popular Laughing Squid blog.

Ok, this article is amazing, putting a lot of different things in one place.

*dizzy from glue*

Yesterday, I was thinking about the culture of disposibility, and what someone said about walmart glasses- you don't care if someone breaks them, because they aren't special- really made me think. On one hand, the heart of handmade is making things special and unique, but on the other hand, there is a real demand for practicality- something you can use every day because if it is ruined, it's no big deal. Finding that balance will be interesting.

I will also continue to wonder if my jewelry seems too out there for most people.

Put etsy rss into feedage. If only our feeds had pictures...

I missed a giant yard sale today, because I thought that I'd be meeting with someone for class. I try to space out my activities so I don't do too much so my exhaustion level is manageable.

Etsybitchers praise etsy.

Dawanda also has new categories. But no dolls and miniatures that I can see.

Shiny adornments loves science- double helix necklace.

The long awaited vacation mode is announced on etsy.

I might close my lov.li shop and focus on etsy, dawanda and my website for the holidays.

Also, I rejoined JET.

marking for later.

Folks leaving because of the search issues.

Rumors and theories spread.

Over it all, I may rotate my stock from shop to shop.

Pussdaddy comes back. My website will probably be updated with new items today.

Ads for the holiday season coming up!

star bracelet
Originally uploaded by cassowaryjewelry

Today's photoshoot was not so bad. Still cloudy, but more photos were in focus.

this bracelet was caught in the great category freeze

Stupid stuck etsy categories. I promote off etsy, but you need to at least be in the search for best results.

In Defense of Plastic

coming attractions
Originally uploaded by cassowaryjewelry

I read this article and I wholeheartedly agree. I love plastics- they can be bright cute and whimsical, or elegant and light weight. Plastic can be molded into a million shapes, takes colors and images well, and recycles easily. It's durable too. All hail plastics!

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, etsy artisan urbanwoodstalker found her studio flooded.

Got to love the anything goes, etsy weekends avie.

Today's photo shoot was pretty sad. I had to take pictures of the three items I completed yesterday[but not of the 50 cell charms I had completed yesterday, thankfully] but I had to go quickly because of the wind and possibly rain, so my pictures aren't as crisp as I would like. I guess Monday's photoshoot will be exciting as well. I have half of another bracelet done.

Support Rob White! Some trolls on the etsy forums have been defaming him, so say nice things to him in convo.

I'm featured on the etsy treasury!

yard sale find

yard sale find
Originally uploaded by cassowaryjewelry

In the interests of saving gas, I only went to three sales today, but at one of them, I found these. They also had a lot of awesome military items- such as canteens from WW2.

At another sale, I bought a vase and saw the wrath of a speed crawling toddler. Sadly, I won't be able to go to the Cooper Young fest in interests of saving money and gas.

I'm actually now so tired that I want to go back to bed. This is why I am not a vendor at the fest.

Tear It Up is closing its Memphis store at 895 South Cooper street. It's a tough time for many independent business people.

starting in on fall colors
Originally uploaded by cassowaryjewelry

I've used these beads that I've had for a long time in this new design. I love it.

Report search bugs on etsy.

People are freaked by odd category updates on etsy.

Speaking of categories, I think dawanda just added one for hair accessories. I put my bobbies in it.

More muting controversy.

It seems pussdaddy had been muted for a month.

I'm going to write today, and so there will be no glorious cell charms today.

Good old etsy related wank. Really, folks, if some people don't like her stuff, that's OK. People who like her stuff are still going to buy it.

I need to make up more samples. I want to be able to market despite my limitations. If I can't go out and talk to people, my products can.

I made 8 items yesterday. Today's photo shoot was pretty good- I'm getting better at taking photos on overcast days. For the 4 items I took pictures of, I took 22 pictures. I of course need to pack and ship and go to the post office today. I'm getting more international love lately.

Ah, the old pricing issue. Different speeds is an issue, but many people have learned where to shop for materials. They get in on big group buys, they shop the sales, they get great deals on ebay. So when they put in the cost of materials, they come out a lot better than you'd expect. So don't assume automatically that you know what someone's item costs.

Ebay love! Putting up some more cute stuff.

I was featured in the etsy zine! I'm hoping to chug along towards more features.

Today's eventual train wreck.

My goal for today is to make five items. will I be able to do it?