This morning I visited a blog I haven't been to in awhile. There have been 3 posts since last September. The one in September showed some handmade cards. The post in October showed some more cards. The one post in November simply said check out my etsy store, so I did. The shop has no introduction as all etsians will advise is a must. There is no profile, in fact there isn't much in the way of descriptions or tags, all strongly advised by all the folks who seem to know what they are talking about.
This shop was opened on November 3 and has had 36 sales since then with no advertising that I can find other than the one post on the blog (even the blog has no advertising).
So here I am 9 months later, having advertised all over the place, making myself a pest and a half trying to promote my shop and all I have to show for my efforts is 26 sales. Now don't get me wrong, I am very thrilled to have made those sales but I have spent far too much time on promotion.
Starting today, I am going to put my seasonal stuff on sale at 50%. Each day I will put a few more items on sale and I will run the sale through sometime in January when it will all be deleted from the shop.
I will continue to make more cards as the mood strikes me but I will not spend so much time (and money) on advertising. I really need to catch up on my charity work. Those items seem to be well accepted and disappear quickly.
6 comments:
Things can be very discouraging. But I think those that stick it out will prosper in the end. Good luck to you.
I hope you aren't too discouraged. My MIL loved the basket I gave her. Cards are much cheaper and people tend to buy multiples to make the shipping price more justifiable. I wouldn't compare shops with her. And for all you know all of her sales may have been friends/family.
I wouldn't let that other blog and etsy shop get you down. How much you want to bet that those 36 sales came from either family members or personal friends. lol I just looked up and saw that Lenox Knits said the same thing.
I know it is discouraging not to sell as much as your competitor, but I do think the above comments say why you shouldn't be too discouraged, very well. I personally, am not able to buy right now, but I do admire your work and if I had the money, would certainly buy some of your things. I do not think your price is too high. I use to craft and sell at a consignment shop. When the imports became so much cheaper, I had to quit.....couldn't compete. I think your biggest competition now is probably postage......
I do wish you well.........
Don't get discouraged. As both Ann and Lenox Knits says, you don't know who those people are that bought from her. Set up your own time-plan and stick to want your gut-feeling tells you.
I wasted alot of money on Etsy showcases until I realised that it did not give me any sales.
Then I advertised on CraftCult and then Project Wonderful in order to lower my ad costs. Then I started blogging and joined EntreCard and don't buy any ads with real money anymore. Recently I started being a publisher for Project Wonderful and have one ad space on my blog for others. But I don't have that popular of a blog yet. Dropping cards takes a lot of time that I really need to use to make my products.
So I think it is an uphill battle for most of us.
Keep at it and you will find solutions that work for you.
Good Luck!
Best wishes
Anna
I see two sides to this, both realistic and encouraging! IMHO, it DOES take a lot of time and work (& $$) to promote a product/website. I just passed my one year mark on Etsy, have invested a lot of time, work and $$, which sometimes pays off. The bad economy isn't doing most artists any favors, but there is a lot to be said for just believing in what you do and keep finding ways to do it and to share it. The other thing is, as you're demonstrating...if one approach isn't working, try something different! The bottom line is who you are and what you enjoy making...the rest: publicity, sales, & recognition slowly builds from that. Maybe, as Anna points out, some new plan that includes any and all promo efforts that DON'T cost money, together with continuing to develop your designs, will take you along until the economy improves some or help you develop that circle of fans?
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