Aproaching My 1 Year Etsy Anniversary!
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
United States
July 13, 2008 12:23pm CST
I can't believe it's been almost an entire year on the Etsy sight for my shop. My little fun hobby has turned into a small part-time business. I've met some many new friends on the Etsy site and several of them are also here on myLot.
A few of my items have been picked by Etsy's admin to appear in their Gift Guides, my items have appeared in several recent treasuries and I even had one item in a front page treasury!
This past week, I've been invited through the Etsy site, to take part in a few juried craft shows later this year and my work is already approved for the show!And I'm approaching a goal I set for myself when I first started on Etsy. Although I didn't set a time frame for the goal, I did consider the goal to be quite lofty and fairly hard to attain. The goal was to make 100 sales on the site.
Number 99 was made last week and the buyer bought a Copper and Jasper bracelet. She's contacted me about making a matching set of earrings for her, and the earrings will be my 100 sale!It has taken a lot of promoting and work to improve my shop and the artists on Etsy have really inspired me to "pick up my game" so to speak. When I look back to the jewelry I made when I was new to Etsy, I have to laugh... plus looking back and seeing that I started my shop in August with listings of knitted scarves 
is very amusing...what was I thinking?? Selling scarves in 95 degree weather...too funny.
It's been a fun year and I just want to thank the many myLot members who have sent me many words of encouragement and compliments. Your words inspired me to keep going when I really didn't believe I had what it took to make sales on Etsy. You are all part of what I consider to be a successful year on Etsy.
Thank you to all of you...
is very amusing...what was I thinking?? Selling scarves in 95 degree weather...too funny.
It's been a fun year and I just want to thank the many myLot members who have sent me many words of encouragement and compliments. Your words inspired me to keep going when I really didn't believe I had what it took to make sales on Etsy. You are all part of what I consider to be a successful year on Etsy.
Thank you to all of you...7 responses
@rosettaresearch (1285)
• United States
11 Aug 08
Robin that is great.
Sorry for the late response. I was studying all summer for the bar. Now that is over and I have recovered from it, time to get back to mylotting and making stuff for Etsy.
1 person likes this
@lovespecialangel (3632)
• United States
15 Jul 08
Congrats on your first year!! Well, early congrats anyways! lol I am still in the process of getting everything up and running in my shops there! I've gotten quite a few of my photography up now! Congrats on making it to your goal in sales! I am still getting the feel of everything there and still not sure what the treasury is about. But I am sure I will get it all figured out. Congrats and thank you for introducing me to Etsy.com!
@lovespecialangel (3632)
• United States
15 Jul 08
OH! I meant to ask you, how do you find sea glass? I've been to the beach several times and am always looking for shells, but never have I seen sea glass.
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
15 Jul 08
Thank you so much!! It really does take awhile to understand all of Etsy nuances. There are many, many things that would have taken me forever to realize if it weren't for some of the more experienced sellers and even members of Ets administration making suggestions and explaining the business reasons behind it all.
The one thing I can suggest besides promote, promote and then promote some more, is to read the forums and attend a couple of live critiques. It may take awhile before you fully understand everything, but things will come together quickly for you.
If you ever want to go to one of Etsy's chat rooms to ask questions, just let me know and we can try to set a time (and hope there is a chat room not heavily populated...LOL) Stick with it, it isn't easy because there are so many people like us, trying to make a business with an Etsy site (and there really is so much more behind the scene "stuff" that you'll eventually learn...blogs, hosting sites, etc etc) Anyhow...
Thanks so much for your response!!
@carolbee (16230)
• United States
14 Jul 08
Congratulations on having a good, successful year with Etsy. Your discussion is great. I enjoyed reading every word. Is the juried craft show in your area? How exciting.
I did post some of my crafts on Etsy for a year and sold nothing. This tells me something: either I did lousy promoting the site or my items are not in demand. Whatever the case may be, I am no longer a member. It was fun to start but I was lazy in promoting so it was my fault for feeling like a failure. My items sell at craft fairs and probably because they are the kind of craft that has to be really seen. Photos never do them any justice. I tend to lean towards very bright colors and different items that I will also use at home first before making more. My best seller was a standing eyeglass holder which I use constantly at home. If my glasses are off, they are in the holder and I never have to search for them again. I sold a bunch to a friend also who in turn gave them as Christmas gifts to her older friends. Thanks for letting me chat away here about crafts.
Good luck and much success for the coming year,
carolbee
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
14 Jul 08
I think your items do have an "Etsy-appeal", but yes, if you're not promoting, your shop will get lost amoung the many shops on the site. Even when you do promote, you have to hope you are promoting when they buyer for your items happens to be looking.
It a bit easier to find potential buyers of jewelry, than a specialty item like yours. But I know there are buyers for your beautiful creations on Etsy! If they sell well at craft shows, they'd sell on Etsy also. Etsy is a tough site, especially for specialty shops, so don't look at your time on Etsy as a failure, just a learning experience.
Thank you so much for all of your kind words and compliments over the last several months. They help me over the doubts I had about the quality of my work and if my items have a "commercial" appeal.
As always thank you for your response. I enjoy talking crafts with you also!
Robin
1 person likes this
@carolscash (9491)
• United States
14 Jul 08
Congratulations on your shop! It sounds as though you are very good at making jewelry and that you have done a great job of promoting your sales and sight. I wish that my ebay business would pick up a little bit as I am also trying to open a real tanning salon and I need the extra income.
Keep up the work that you are doing. Congrats on the 100th sale!!
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
15 Jul 08
Thank you so much! I still enjoy making jewelry (well maybe not as much as a year ago, but I still get excited when I see a piece coming together that really looks beautiful) and I do love looking for and creating with beach glass.
Good luck to with your tanning salon, please keep me updated on that's coming along!
Thanks for your response!
R
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
14 Jul 08
Why thank you so much!! Your kind, encouraging words over the last several months kept me going when I wasn't sure if my creations were good enough.
I only hope I can be as helpful to someone who has questions about their items or Etsy in general.
Thanks for your support and your responses!
@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
14 Jul 08
Thank you for the compliments! My inspiration is from nature, I take a little bit from the places I have travelled to and look to use those color combos in the creations I make. Places like the Grand Canyon and the Red Rocks in Sedona, AZ were just awe-inspiring.
Coupled with some of the incredible artists on Etsy, I've been able to step-up my creating. There are many days when I'm searching Etsy and I'm just blown away by someone's shop or an absolutely beautiful item. There are many, many professional sellers on the site and I've really learned a lot from them.
Thanks again for your kind words, they really mean a lot! And thank you for your response!!
@fluffnflowers (1594)
• United States
13 Jul 08
Congratulations! To be successful in jewelery seems to be a tough task, so I'm assuming that you're quite good at what you do! I started my shop with knitted scarves, too, in the middle of July and then I realized that they couldn't compare to the wonders that so many etsyians were creating! I think it's great that you've managed to branch out to juried shows and expand your business. Maybe one day you'll be able to do it full time!
I just checked and I just passed my one year anniversary, but I only started selling in September of last year. I listed a couple of things, forgot about them, and when I got the sale notice I was REALLY confused. After that I really got rolling and am coming up on my 50th sale.
I think it's great that you've managed to branch out to juried shows and expand your business. Maybe one day you'll be able to do it full time!
I just checked and I just passed my one year anniversary, but I only started selling in September of last year. I listed a couple of things, forgot about them, and when I got the sale notice I was REALLY confused. After that I really got rolling and am coming up on my 50th sale.@creationsbyrobin (3071)
• United States
13 Jul 08
Doing it full-time would be awesome... a lot of pressure, but it would be like a dream come true!
I'm always glad to hear of fellow Etsian's stories and love that your story continues to be a happy one. Closing in on 50 sales is awesome! Isn't it a great feeling to one day realize that your handmade creations really do have a "commercial" value??
I had a buyer ask me to sign the back of a poly clay pendant that I hand-painted. When I asked her why, she said it was beautiful and she had asked me to sign, in case I became a famous artist one day. I wasn't sure she was serious, but at the same time I felt honored that someone thought so highly of my creation.
I hope the trend of going green and buying handmade continues for a long time. It would be great if we can both be growing our handmade businesses larger than we could ever imagine!
Thanks for your response and I hope your 50th and your 100th sales are just around the corner. Send me the name of your shop so I can go and visit!
