Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Funny Things in the Forums of Etsy


I try to get into the forums of Etsy at least once a day if only to comment in my regular groups, but today I was hanging out a bit longer and ran into SoInToIt who started a thread about "Suggested Shops" based on your listed favorites and I laughed so much I just have to share it with you.

To give you a little background first let me say that the question Pam posed was whether the Etsy Adm. would ever suggest a shop such as hers that has under 10 sales.
The overwhelming response and comments to that were "No, probably not". This was one of Pam's replies:

So....do we scramble around now trying to solicit hearts in order to get on the lists....sometimes I feel like a little hamster....oh off now to redo all my titles....oh, now I need to redo all my tags....oh, now I need to redo shop section titles.....oh, maybe I should sprinkle key words here, oh and there....don't forget the blog!!!! and the forums!!! and facebook!!!and do some advertising internationally!!! (yep I did that!) and create treasuries!!! and re order those tags again!!! lower prices, no better make them higher, list more, don't relist, doesn't help, somebody said it does , don't forget the analytics and get a spot on a showcase, no don't, just a waste of money and check in with craftopolis and statsy and craftweasel and craftcount and update etsy hacks...have you promoted lately???????......HA! and I'm just scratching the surface!!! (Yes, I still have a smile on my face cause I don't have to drive to work anymore and I'm good with that.....)

I just love this as that is exactly how I feel so much of the time, like a hamster on a the wheel of online selling. The other thing I noticed was that nearly all the shops suggested under my favorites had sales in the 1,000's. Guess I won't be one of the shops they list either, Pam.

Pam of SoInToit is a recently retired public school music teacher and band director and has a delightful shop on Etsy carrying an array of handmade note cards,  greeting cards, original artwork collage,  mixed media, and so much more. 

The one thing I hadn't heard of is "CarveBoardArt".  Pam's was selected to be featured in the May/June issue of Somerset Studio Magazine and this is the one they chose.


The process to make this is amazing.  In her words:  I use an exacto knife to carve the design in cardboard an layer the carving with many layers of acrylic paint and finish with inked designs.  Each one of these pieces takes many hours to complete.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Pam is in good company I'm afraid! Although I've had a decent amount of sales, I'm pretty sure I'm not on any one's "Suggested List" either. And I too feel like the hamster on the wheel running in circles and getting nowhere. I'm tired of changing things over and over and realizing it doesn't matter. So, I just do the best I can and leave it at that.

Christine Burgess said...

That's all we can do.

Laurel said...

Yep, I'm a hamster too! I just try to create and list, promote where I practically can, and not get wrapped around the axle by trying too hard. Sales go in cycles anyhow.