How to Promote My Etsy Store

Personal Journey of Etsy store Promotion

Ah, the time has come. Desperation has started to seep in. I now need to knuckle down and try to promote my Etsy store in attempt to check if it has life.

I have procrastinated, that is true. Only because I knew that the path for me would not be quick and fast. Given my internal quirks, I knew I would find myself enmeshed in a long route to gather information before I could attempt to do this job. Related and unrelated questions galore were sure to pop up and would demand answers.

However the harsh realities of life has intruded. My Etsy store, opened on 31 Jul 2009, has had its viewers but very few sales. So obviously it is not just going to take off just because it is there. No "Build it and They Will Come" miracle happening there. Hence I need to ask myself, will some form of promotion help my Etsy Store take off ... ok, not necessarily take off .. just get up, stand up and show some signs of life? And what kind of promotions do I need to do?

RSS Feed

Believe it or not, my first stop seems to be RSS Feed.

I have a number of sites - related and unrelated to each other and the Etsy store in question. Surely, one of the benefits I should be able to glean from having multiple sites of varying interest is cross-promotion. And if some sites are semi-related, how do I get some of the information from one site on the other without having to double-write.

Which brings me to ask "What is RSS Feed?", "What is Feed Syndication?" and can I use it somehow to help in this aspect?

Another Delay. Drupal Core Security Updates

Hah .. here I thought I could continue. This morning, as I was looking into Drupal Aggregator module (I had forgotten that Drupal has something that has something to do with syndication and RSS feeds ..), I find out that there are those needed but annoying security updates for the Drupal core. Which means it is likely that this whole day I will have to be attending to that as there are multiple sites I have to do. Sigh :(

Let's just do Etsy

OK. I have abandoned my first approach (trying to be thorough and researching RSS as well as Drupal's modules for RSS related publishing). That is just going to take too long and with too many side-tracks. So I will just go directly to Etsy and see what they have to offer in terms of promotion. That might be a faster first step to take. But ...

... I still have to wait as I need to attend to some customers right now and go to the post office .... oh well ...

I am back. Have spent the last hour trying to read and where to best go on Etsy to find relevant, usable store promotions guides and tips. And I must say, it takes a lot of time and I am still as clear as mud.

Here is a quick overview review:

Resources

Not what I was looking for but may be useful at some stage. You do not have to log in to view Etsy's Resources. The Resources section contains:
* Buttons - little images (125x125px and smaller) that you can use as links on your other sites to link to your etsy shop.
* Printable Downloads
* etc..

Etsy Teams

This section is a bit confusing. There are tons of different teams. And I am still not very clear how useful joining any of the Etsy Teams is going to be for promoting one's store. It looks like it will take quite a bit of your precious time though so whether it is worth the effort, I don't really know and as I said, it is not clear.

Looked through a number of the teams. Some have requirements you must meet before you can even join. A number were closed for any more new members. And how to join was not always clear in some of the team's guidelines.

It looks like it will just take a whole lot of work just to find out what team one should/can join, if they will accept, and what they actually do. So I have to give this a miss for now.

Opinion: Seems to be too much hard work for too unclear gains or purpose.

Community

Most of the possible avenues seem to be in Etsy Community (tab). I can't say that anything else jumps up at me that says it could be useful for my purposes at the moment. The Storque looks like it might be an okay place to go to to read news and articles when one is less busy. But it will be more dissipated knowledge than what I am needing right now so I will leave etsy and goggle for promoting-store information instead.

Conclusion: Not much focused, easy-to-find help on how to promote one's Etsy store within Etsy itself.

Google Search for Tips on How to Promote Etsy Shop

Back to good ole faithful - the Google! Doing a "how to promote etsy shop" search. Here are some results.

From eHow

• have a link to your shop in your email sig
• have a blog about your shop and post every time you list a new item
  (take this with a grain of salt if you have thousands and thousands of items! You won't have time for anything else!)
• take part in Etsy Community Forums, especially their Business Forum
• write about your area of interest in EzineArticles.com and link back to your Etsy shop in the bio info.
  (This site has a Google rating of 6 right now so that might be quite sound advice.
  Addendum 9Oct09: It has a lot of rules and regulartions for submission. It does not allow any pictures. So all the articles look kind of boring. Giving it a miss for now.)
• create a Squidoo lens and link back to your shop
  (Also very good advice.
  Addendum 9Oct09: have started my Squidoo and written up about the basics of Squidoo. I like it but Squidoo eats a lot of download consumption.)

Other Useful Pages on Promoting Etsy Shop

• Tools for Etsy Sellers - a Squidoo page with lots of good advice. I still have to read it fully but it sure looks worthwhile to check out.

I am going to break from my old habit (which is to research obsessively and then leave very little time to actually DO) so I will meander off (after having to cook dinner and relax! So maybe I won't get back here till tomorrow ..) and put some of these good advice into action. Will chat back later.

Squidoo

This is the first I am going to give attention to. I have already come across this before and spent some time reading about it but didn't have time to do anything. It did look interesting so I am off to pay more attention and attempt to actually do somthing there.

You can come join me and do a quick learn on how to be a Squid on Squidoo.

Feel like Felting?

Felting Yarn from 7632elaine

Felting Yarn from Edge Fold Wools and Yarns

This is my personal record of felting wool I bought from UK's Edge Fold Wools and Yarns (ebayID: 7632elaine) and how they felted up.

I am not going to itemize every single item; just the ones I want to keep a record of in the event I want to purchase more.

I have not test all of them but most. Apart from the perfect felitng yarn below, the rest that I have tested all felts okay but stitches still are visible after multiple felting-wash processes.

Img (clickable)	Name	Comments
1.	Green 100% pure wool dk double knitting / felting felt	Perfect. Felts totally - no stitches visible after felting. British wool. Orange speckles - also 100% wool.

Felting Yarn from lobbybird

Felting Yarn from 'lobbybird'

This is my personal record of felting wool I bought from Australian lobbybird (ebayID) and how they felted up.

I have not used or tested this, so more details will come when I have.

Img (clickable)	Name	Comments
1.	4 PLY PURE WOOL - HAND DYED - 820 GRAMS - MIXED COLOURS	It said in the listing description that it is 4ply polworth wook which is "..suitable for felting and over dyeing if required."

My first Nepalese Sari Silk Yarn

My First Nepalese Recycled Sari Silk Yarn

I just got my first buy of Nepalese Recycled Silk Yarn and oh my my! It is fascinating!

I don't know what I am going to do with it yet. I got it as a by-product of shopping for felt yarn. Not that this is felting yarn but I got "distracted" during my shopping spree! I could always embellish my felting project (provided it turns out right). Or make ... oh I don't know .. so many ideas are teeming around right now just looking at the gorgeous yarn.

Background Info on Recycled Sari Silk

This yarn is produced as a by-product from the manufacture of silk in India. Weaving remnanats, normally discarded, are now being recycled which is a big plus in my eyes and for a greener planet.

These silk ends are trimmed from the looms and sent off to Nepal. There village women spin them into these colourful yarns. This "waste" is hand spun on the Charkha Wheel - producing a spun single yarn.

Given the hand spun nature, each skein is totally unique. It is not created in dye lots (as the sari silk already come to the women as coloured silk threads).

I will write more when I get to use this. Meanwhile, I thought you might to share the Drooling process with me ...

This particular skein can be knitted with 3.5mm up to 10mm knitting needles.
My ball (of yarn) is 100grams (which is approximately 175 meters/190 yards)

I bought this from an Australian ebay seller; store: "HIGHLAND COTTAGE CRAFTS"

Paloma Picasso

Paloma Picasso: A Transformative Journey

Just this weekend passed, my partner showed me this picture of Paloma Picasso - and the amazing thing he wanted to point out was not that Paloma Picasso is Pablo Picasso's (youngest) child, but the featuring picture of her showed her at 61 years old. And I must say, she looks more than amazing. From the picture shown, I would only have guessed her to be from mid to late twenties.

So her picture and yes I admit it, that she is Pablo Picasso's daughter and that she designs jewelry, started me on a Google search about her.

Paloma Story

If you would like to know more about Paloma Picasso, a Google search will yield a lot of information. Paloma is the child of the famous Pablo Picasso and Francoise Gilot, an artist in her own right (who is alive and well at the time of writing).. Paloma has a 2-year older brother, Claude. Pablo and Francoise were not (or ever) married at the time of their births - which resulted in a legal wrangle at the time of Pablo Picasso's death as, at the time, children born out of legal wedlock, were not recognized in France.

Paloma, though bearing under/with the Picasso name, has done exquisitely well in life, in her own rights. She is a global name and a highly respected artist (thought, ignoramus me, I never heard of her before this). She has a 30-year association with Tiffany, and various product lines under her own name.

Like I said, you can find out much more about her via a Google search or from the following online articles:

• "Get up close and personal with Paloma Picasso at Tiffany.com" from firstwaternews.com
• "Paloma Picasso’s Signature Pieces Take Pride of Place Among 170 Years of the Famed Jeweler’s Remarkable Creations", from washingtonlife.com
• "Paloma (Picasso)" from pinkmagazine.com
• Or browse a collection of her works via Tiffany & Co.: Browse Paloma Picasso®

One little tidbit that I liked was that Pablo Picasso named her after the dove he designed for the 1949 Paris Peace Congress. Paloma was born in 1949.

Paloma Picasso through the Years

But really, why I was Googling away at Paloma was that I was intrigued to find out how she looked in her younger days. And some of the pics I found showed a tantalizing sequence. It is true, as Jane Wheatley says in the GW article, that Paloma looks even better now than she did in her younger days. So here are some of the pics I found, arranged in chronological order.

The first picture shown at the top of the page is scanned from that magazine (so the resolution is not great) and is supposedly showing her at the age of 61. Incredible right? If she has had cosmetic surgery, and she does admit to "a bit near her eyelids", then it has been a truly excellent procedure(s).

1966	1973	1985	2002
2005	2006	2008	2009	2010

Quite a Transformative journey, don't you think?

And last but not least, a painting by Pablo Picasso: "Paloma Picasso", 1956

Terminology and Newbies

Terminology and Newbies

I like to take a comforting moment to talk about terminology, especially where beginners and newbies are concerned.

There is specialized and specific terminology, and it doesn't matter what area of interest you are talking about. From medicine, spiritual matter, politics, IT, building, cooking, health, TV, music, and even everyday household chores, terminology abounds. It is part and parcel of life and it plays good purposes.

There is an undeniable pride of knowledge and accomplishment when we can use, and better still, can confidently understand an interest-specific term. It is an indication to ourselves and others that we "know".

Then on the very practical and useful side of the coin, using terminology makes communication so much easier and faster. To say an "Please send me an SMS" is so much easier than having to say, "Please use your mobile phone, and write me a short text via the Write Messages function".

As with the rest of life, so it is in jewelry making, and crafts, and art. Terminology abounds. But we might never come across some of these till we get the urge to be interested in some art form. And then, what is not uncommon is that, we don't progress into that field as fast as we could.

As we get interested in something, we start to ask, research, read, and Google about it. After a few hours (if we are luckily persistent), we tend to put it aside. There were just too many new things to know and too many industry specific terms around that had first to be understood before one could even move to the next step. So we put off the learning into the "too hard basket" - for now. We may (or may not) come back to it when our brains are clearer and/or we have more time.

So I say to myself and to all the newbies out there (and we all are, in some field of endeavour, at some stage),

As we move into the doorways of new learning, just let the terminology flow over you for the moment. First, get the concept and the terminology will naturally follow like osmosis - almost without effort.

And that is what I intent to do here, for myself and all newbies, as I gather and learn new forms of jewelry making .. get concepts as simple as possible and then tag on the terminology as we go - for ease of communication and for the needed sense of accomplishment.

And whenever I find myself halted and daunted by a plethora of new terminology coming in the way of me trying to learn something new, I repeat to myself these realistic, comforting, and truthful questions and statements:

• Q. Are there lots of people out there who have used and are using these terms - with understanding?
• Q. As I am as capable of understanding as most of them?
• Q. If they can do it, then I can too.

And last but not least, I remind myself that any terminology is nothing but little letters thrown together to encapsulate some idea that is graspable. That the terms arise to help me later and not to hinder me now.

Tobie Giddio

Artist Focus: Tobie Giddio

Came across this artist, Tobie Giddio today. And I just love her drawings. They are simple strokes and lines that has an easy flow, charm, live, and sophistication to them. And she looks so good as well. You can read more about her in the Tobie Giddio Interview (by Walt Cessna).

See more of Tobie Giddio's inspirational works at her site: Tobie Giddio

Wire and Chainmaille - a newbie's journey

Wire and Chainmaille - a newbie's journey

For no discernible reason, I seem to have started on a chainmaille and thereby necessarily, a wire discover journey. Neither of which I know a lot about. The former, almost nothing at all except for some vague idea of what they look like and how desirably beautiful chainmaille jewellery can be.

I do like to document as I go on a journey of discovery. It is a lot of work and it does mean my start-point to my can-do-point is very long. But I have to spend hours and hours (if not days and sometimes, weeks and months) gathering information about a particular topic. And as one gathers information, the more you research, the more you find you need to know.

In the past, when I didn't document, I would bookmark. But there are just too many. And when the bookmarks looks like an unsorted encyclopedia itself, I delete them all in the realization I will never get around to sorting them out. I just keep adding to the mess.

So documenting as I learn is good because:

• it means I can find the information again, especially as I have already devoted so much time to researching them in the first place
• it means I actually have to filter through the tons of information to make sense of them, before I document them
• it means that in the process, I get a better understanding and clearer picture of the topic in question
• it means that when I document, as a newbie, I try to get it as succinct and clear as possible. Which is beneficial to both me and my readers.

Anyone who has attempted to learn something new would have discovered that the process of learning (on the internet) is made so much harder because you have to visit so many sites and pages to get just a nugget of newbie-friendly information. So my aim, as I learn and document, is to filter out all the extraneous (advanced) information and instead, provide a succinct guide to shorten the newbie learning process.

So I hope you will join me and benefit from my journey into the delectable, wiry world of chainmaille. My focus will primarily, I think, be on chainmaille and jewelry making.

socexchange.com.au - the new Aussie alternative to Ebay

socexchange.com.au - the new Aussie alternative to Ebay

Finally there seems to be a viable option to beating those ridiculously greedy ebay fees. An Aussie entrepreneur has a new international buy and sell site with fees as low as AUD$10 per year!!! (or you can choose AU$1 per month). And that is all the fees you have to pay. No hidden fees. No additional fees.

What is more, they have even made the effort of getting themselves known to the extent that they have even been written up overseas in prestigious business journals in America (like Forbes).

ClearlyChosen has written a longer informative article on this new www.socexchange.com.au