Putting it Together - Failure

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” ― Thomas Edison

I saw this quote this week and remembered how much I love it. I'm sure you all can relate, sellers and buyers alike. I know just recently in trying to remember how to make these lovely Halloween Cat charms, I just couldn't get the process right and I made them just last year.

I guess what I'm trying to say, and Edison was trying to say, is that there is no success without some failure.  Sometime it can be so frustrating, when you spend a day taking photographs and none of them turn out right, or you follow a recipe to the letter and your cake falls flat. I remember my first Angel Food cake from scratch. It was about 1 inch high.

Don't be afraid to experiment, that's where great ideas are born. Don't be afraid to fail that's where the genius lies. Don't you just know I fail at something EVERY day, but I still go on, because every day I succeed at something too.

Newsletters

I really needed to start sending out newsletters. I made a few myself that I designed through my personal email. That was pretty easy. Collecting and keeping track of email addresses, however was not.

I got advice from a few other sellers about this service called MailChimp. Looks like a great one, and unless you have a huge mailing list, it's free. They help you with signups (widgets and links), save your data and help you design and send your newsletters.

 See, I have a signup over there ------>

Not very pretty yet, but I haven't figured out the whole design thing. Come back and see if I can make it any prettier. I'm going to try. I hear it is pretty easy to use, but I haven't figured out the whole thing yet. I'll let you know if I figure it out. I have heard from many sellers that it is really easy.

So here's the deal. I've been moving around a lot, so you need to be on my email list to find me. I'll be posting here, but I will also be opening a web site. YAY! And I'm going to bribe you a little. If you sign up for my newsletter, you'll automatically be entered to win this sweet Pink Anemone Trio Necklace. Don't worry about getting too many newsletters though, because I could barely figure out the widget. It will take me a while to figure out the newsletter, and I have a website to build.

Is Your Head Spinning From all the Changes at Etsy?

Change is good.

I don't know about you, but my head is spinning with all the new changes at Etsy. Here are a few changes and how you can "adjust"

FORUMS -  Forums are now in Teams. How do you find a team that's right for you? You have to spend days wading through all the teams that have been set up now, like Mom's Basement, Team Bacon, or My Cat Controls Me or maybe you can just go to Team Finder to help you find teams.

WHERE ARE ETSY ANNOUNCEMENTS? they are now in the Team Announcements. Look, they've even announced that they are making free shipping codes. Guess thy realized that they get more money if you give away free shipping than if you give a discount an merchandise. They're might be a little slow sometimes, but they're not dumb.

POSTER SKETCH - Crud, now how am I supposed to make my Treasuries ahead of time. Just click Privacy "only you" instead of for "everyone" at the top of the page. Save if you have to leave. When you come back click edit. When you're ready to share, select "everyone" and save. Voila! A little getting used to, but when hasn't Etsy been a little getting used to.


TREASURY - Well, it's just that that new page is hard to get used to. And WHERE is my big create a list button. Darn, now I have to make the first 4 images look so good that people will want to click on them. Come on guys, make the WHOLE treasury look good will ya? If you want to get on the Front Page you need to make consistently lovely treasuries anyhow. But then again, will treasuries be on the Front Page when Etsy makes their new FP format? Coming Soon!

And those are just a few of the recent changes. Etsy could keep me in new posting tips for quite a while I think. Next Week? Who knows?

Thank You Gifts

Do you give a little Thank you with every purchase? It's such a nice idea. I'm never really sure what to give. I have an Apron shop, but to give away something sewn is a lot of work for a small thank you. To make a piece of Jewelry for my jewelry shop is a bit much too.

I see some sellers give pieces of candy, that's nice, but not everyone eats candy. I used to give those magnetic business cards, but I never really felt comfortable with people wanting to put a magnetic version of my business card on their refrigerator. Not so pretty.

Thanks to a team members suggestion, I finally got a great idea. There's that team thing again. I can't begin to stress how helpful they can be. I decided to make a nice magnet with a nice saying, instead of just my business card. I have a few of my flowers from my jewelry, a saying that relates to my product and my web address subtly added to the bottom. Voila! something my buyer might want to keep. I got them made at Vista Print for a reasonable price too.

I searched around for something nice and inexpensive for my Apron shop too. I decided to get printed pencils made with my web address. Cute, practical and purchased from Oriental Trading at about $.25 each. They printed and shipped in ONE DAY! Now I am all set to give nice little Thank Yous.

Handmade Thank Yous are very nice. I like the tiny refrigerator magnets, or make up samples. But when that is not practical for your shop, consider a nice alternative.

Craftcult Widgets

Did you know you can get Etsy widgets at craftcult? Well you can. You can get shop widgets just like the ones I have on my sidebar, or you can get Treasury widgets like the one I have here. They are really easy to get and pretty easy to install on your blog. Here are some instructions on installation. http://www.craftcultwidget.blogspot.com/ Have fun and spread the Treasury Love.