Wednesday, March 19, 2008

I was on an Etsy fast

Dear blog oh blog,

I did not mean to ignore you so. My apologies. Do you think we can be friends again? Great!
I was in the midst of an Etsy (fora) fast and somehow you got lumped in there too. So here is what happened with my Etsy fast:

It has now been 11 days. I didn't read or post (except when necessary - I had a materials issue and needed some advice and a quick promo post here and there). Here is the short version of my results:

  • I created and listed new designs in the shop. At least two of which sold that same week.
  • I finally reached the goal of 50 items in the shop and at least 10 pairs of earrings.
  • I ended up in *multiple* treasuries - I'd like to think it was because I was listing new things and bringing fresh eyes to the shop or something.
  • One of those treasuries hit the front page! See last post.
  • I took the time to analyze which are my best selling days.
  • I was blogged about twice this past week that I know of. Now three. Thanks Mrs. Dragon!
  • I also contacted someone about a possible wholesale order with a new design and she is open to it.
  • In the last week (excluding today), I've sold at least one thing every day. Now that doesn't mean I'm some huge success - but for me, that is definitely improvement.

So...I think I made a good choice in forum fasting for a week, don't you? I'm not here trying to brag. I'm telling you what *can* happen.

That place can really suck up a lot of good creation time and energy if you are not balanced and disciplined in how you go about taking part in the community. I'm not saying don't go to the fora at all but I am saying be mindful of how you spend your time.

4 comments:

Amanda Conger said...

Ah yes, guilty as charged. : ) I often find myself "Just checking one thing" which turns into hours wasted. : /

Athena's Armoury said...

Brilliantly put. I find myself wasting away time in the forums, checking out some of my favorite sellers, checking out my hearts, etc. Balancing my time is a priority (and usually something I'm good at!), but Etsy does kind of suck you in. Maybe there's some subliminal message in their programming. . .

Chocolate and Steel said...

What a great idea. I really need to this. Sometimes I find myself checking out the forums and I read one thing because the title peaked my curiosity and then I'm reading another and another. All the while I'm thinking, crap! I am wasting so much time. And then I violently hit the x in the corner and close all windows immediately. I think I will start my forum fast for 1 week tomorrow. Thanks for the idea.

Oh and congrats on all of your successes. I really! love your jewelry so I am not the least bit surprised.

Anonymous said...

Between Etsy and finding posts for Rare Bird Finds I am very easily sucked into the computer for hours on end. I just told my husband last night that I need to cut back on computer time!