The Etsy Shop Is Filling Up And The House is Getting Messier!

I've been spending so much time creating new items for the Etsy shop, the house is beginning to look a little cluttered!

There are now 32 items in my shop! The fullest it's ever been! I have also been working on the SEO and tweaking titles and tags.

For the longest time, I was having trouble keeping the number above 20. Which could be a good thing.

Once I get the house back into reasonable order, I will begin working on making things to replace those items that have sold.

A fellow Etsy Seller shared a screenshot of her shop and I thought well why hadn't I thought of that? I created a few and made some changes to one to show the shop banner and a three column list. It was a lot of fun working with that. I will also try some screenshots of various sections in my shop.

Selling Success Through ArtFire Studio

Today is Shop Hop Saturday, where shop owners share links and help promote others in their online selling endeavors.









For those who have been following along with my DRAMA over whether to try ArtFire or stick with Etsy or both or neither, this may be of some enlightenment and encouragement to follow your heart and the rest will come.
Since opening my studio, I have been having great success with ArtFire. And some success as well with Etsy. I have decided, even though creating enough items for both shops is a full time job in itself, that I am going to keep both open for the time being.
First of all, it seems Google really loves ArtFire. With a bit of SEO work, my items are being found on the first page of Google search results. Also, ArtFire welcomes you sharing your Etsy link in your Studio. A great backlink for your Etsy Shop!
ArtFire charges a monthly fee with no final sales fee, and listings do not expire. Etsy charges a listing fee and a final sales fee. I am still weighing the benefits of which is the better deal for the seller. I love them both actually and have high hopes of continuing with both of them.
One tip would be to "Brand" yourself... Both shops with the same name. I made the mistake of having ArtFire as HollysDollies and Etsy as Sweetwater Creations. I am considering closing Etsy and opening a new one as HollysDollies, despite the fact that I create more than dolls and doll clothes.

Handknit Dishcloth small

Got quite a few items finished up yesterday!
One is a really cute "mini" dishcloth that I minied a tad more! It is The Foaming Waves pattern by Nettie DiLorenzo.
This one was knitted in yellow with blue bands to add some spark. The finished size is 6.75" x 6.75". It is available in my Etsy Shop.

Foaming Waves Mini knit dishcloth

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77785191/hand-knit-dishcloth-mini-foaming-waves 

Sunflower Picture Dishcloth
Made using yellow 100% cotton yarn
Size approx. 9.5" x 9.5"

Sunflower Picture Dishcloth
Now available on ArtFire
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=3604047  


Purple, teal and blue acrylic scrubbies
perfect for scrubbing silverware
Size approx.
3.75" x 3.75" across
5" x 5" diagonally

Small Acrylic Scrubbies
Now available on ArtFire 
http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=3604026

ArtFire and promoting other artists

I signed up for a free 30 day trial at ArtFire this morning. I am going to give this a try to see how well sales go. I transferred two of my expired Etsy listings over and will transfer two or three others later in the week.

Please head over to Holly's Dollies at ArtFire and let me know what you think.

I will be spending the rest of the day getting it all set up.

I have also been following along with Christie Cottage, where the ladies there have set up a Twitter Tree, that we all promote each others' product listings.

Making some changes in shoppe...

And I need your help!!!
I need to make some serious changes on my Etsy Shoppe. The name is Sweetwater Creations, which will work well with the handcrafted items. The banner needs to be updated. This was for my horses and the horses just weren't selling on Etsy..

So, any ideas? I can take a couple of my doll photos and make a collage type banner. Anyway, that is one of the projects for the day. Then I want to work a little bit on two other blogs and promotion, then get busy crafting!

OK, I went ahead and made a new banner for the Shoppe. It is so hard to focus on one particular type of item, I love to do it all! My love right now is all things dollies. Handmade dolls, doll clothes, collectible dolls. There we go. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS!!!! Here's the shoppe:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetwatercreations 
Let me know what you all think about the new banner. I think it fits in with the items listed so much better than a horse, but it doesn't blend well with my doll site. No biggie, they don't have to LOOK related.

Hugs,
Holly