Data (cause information is fun!)

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a long entry about information I gathered from Google Analytics about my store. I've had information coming in for a little over 2 weeks now and though it might be interesting to cross views and sales and treasuries.

First of all, I had a most amazing Etsy month, I was featured in a bunch of treasuries that made front page! Which was really great. I used the etsy front pager group on Flickr to find when I was on the front page and crossed it with the views. I was featured on the front page 8 times since January 14! how cool is that!
The thing I've noticed about Front page is that it can generate a lot of views or very little, I got any number between 1,135 views on a treasury day and 208. I think it depend on ow long the treasury was up more then about the hour it was put up in (though I can't be sure).

Also, though I'm sure views and sales are connected in general, being on the front page or having a big views day, didn't immediately implied sales, and my best sale days which which was January 25 and January 30 (with 4 and 6 sales) were not really great views days at all. (about 150 and 300 views).

As for view sources, which I always find interesting:

I had over 50% direct traffic hits, I'm not quite sure how Google Analytics calculate this and whether Etsy front page are calculated in this or not, I can't really see how else so many people will know to find my shop.

I'm really surprised at how many people got to my store through a google search. I'm also aware of the fact that google analytic have a strong motive to make it seem like a larger source of hits then it might be, a lot of the search words don't seem relevant to the items in my store at all, and i'm pretty baffled at how a search for "can you fuse pmc to other metal" or " graphic of pussywillow" or "you and your little brother indianapolis" led to my page. Still the strongest and most popular search words were "Etsy" and Etsy.com" I have no idea how far you need ot go on google to get to my shop, but it's cool that a search for Etsy leads ot my store.

It's really cool to find out a bunch of blogs or site that people got to my store though, though pretty frustrating cause when I check the sites I often can't find what it is that people press to get to my site.

It's also interesting to know that a lot of time a coment I left in someone's blog yilded a lot more traffic to the store then an etry I wrote in my blog, that a lot of time being a part and reacting ot someone else's content is more productive then producing content as far as views goes. (it goes really well with the whoel notion of being a good listener being more important in communication and marketing then being a good speaker).

Unlike my other sites on GA, which get very accurate data, I somehow feel that the Etsy store being a part of the much larger Etsy site makes he data I recive from GA really confusing and inaccurate. It's more of a feeling then anything else, but still, it's pretty frustrating.

One very interesting piece of information - I had only 36% new visitor, which means that 64% of the people visited my store more then once, which I find really really cool and very encouraging.
Also, the avrage time on site is 2.40 minutes, which is a lot! really, compare to mosto f my other sites it's really impressive.

I am really happy to be able to have this info, however, I wish it was working better!

Over all, I had an amazing Etsy month, I sold 30 items and made almost 1,000$. I also passed the 300 sales milestone and started this months with 303 sales! also, I crossed the 2000 heart mark and have 2230 hearts now! Horay!

I'd be really happy if I make it to 340 sales by the end of February.

After Trunkshow Blues

Today was the fact and fancy meet the artist trunk show in which I took part. I got so stressed about it all week that I made a massive massive amount of stuff. The middle of the gallery is taken by a beautiful dining table which I knew i would have to myself, in my mind, the more stuff i made, the larger the table became, I think that by the last day of preparing, it was actually larger then the whole store.



The weather was against me, it was very very cold today, probably colder then it had been this year, so I think not too many people were out, but the store was pretty crowded most of the time, and I had some a nice time just hanging out with Danielle and being there.

When I started the Etsy store, I really liked the way it allowed me to sell my stuff without having to actually be there, in person, to sell my stuff. I'm shy and anxious around new people and a really terrible sales person. Also, I realized through this how hard it is to feel like my whole self esteem, in that moment, is focused on one person browsing around a shop full of really amazing stuff and either choosing or not choosing to buy my art.

It's really hard to know when to talk to people, when to leave them alone, when to make eye contact and I kept feeling like I'm somehow messing up or not getting it or that there's some trick to this that I didn't get, and everyone else know.

At the end of the day, 4 things got sold - a small painting, a large painting, a sake bottle and a small tapas dish. Danielle told me that so far, this was the best trunk show day! which made me feel so good, I felt so grateful for her for letting me know.

On the train, on the way back, I thought about how, when I started selling on Etsy, I felt the same, like there's something to figure out that will produce an ongoing sells flow and will somehow make it all work. Then after a wile, I learned that there's no such things, some weeks are better then others, some really suck, you have to keep promoting and making stuff and getting better, with time it get a little easier, not cause I figured anything out, but because I got used to it, I make a sale and another and it all ads up somehow, and every little bit of effort, time and money helps.

This was the last Trunk show I did this holiday season, they were all small low-key events, 2 of which were organized by Ned's mom who was an amazing help and a much much better sales person then me (I have a lot to learn from her) and this one, which I did on my own. I'm feeling a little sad for not making it into a big Christmas market or trunk show, at the same time, I know those 3 experiences were very forming in the way of wanting to get over the fear and put myself out there more. I wish it was easier though!



When I got home, Ned and I fell asleep shortly after arrival, I woke up at about 10:00 PM and felt so lost, not quite sure what to do now, I made so much stuff for the trunk show that didn't get photographed yet that it felt silly to make more things, eventually I just set in front of the computer for a long time, reading the Israeli News and other silly websites till I got bored.

Eventually I decided to scan some of the sketchbook art that haven't been scanned in the past couple of weeks.

Whole sale order!

My second whole sale order! How cool is that! an Etsy seller who also have a store in LA saw the listing of the first wholesale order and asked for something similar. I was really happy to make them. It was a strange mathematical problem, realizing I only have 6 vases more because 8 went to the trunk show. Luckily, 4 came back from the trunk show (4 actually sold) and I could complete the order.

It's ready to be send tomorrow.

It's 6:40, I was working on a new and exciting project all night, I'm so tired now.

My First Whole Sale Order!

I started focusing on my Etsy store and actually making my first sale after a down period in my life, I was trying to get my art seen, exhibited and selling, but dealing with Galleries, market pros and business people, as well as the notion of rejection was just too depressing, and for every submission I manage to do, I would get so upset, it just wasn't worth it.

I really love the fact that the store's out there, with prices and all, and if people what to by my art they can, I don't get rejected, but I do get to shoe my art and share it with people as well as make some money off selling it, without having to face any professionals in the process.

But now that change! because I did manage to finish the whole process of dealing with some pros! It was really hard and though I was happy with the idea of making a bulk sale, the notion of dealing with another business was really difficult and I just couldn't bring myself to consider that this will actually happened.

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a nice woman who owns a beautiful store called Flora Grubb in San Francisco, and who wanted to order 10 vases, I had to do the math, find out about shipping and worry about non of this working out, but eventually! It did, I got paid and tomorrow a package full of vases is going to the post office. I just hope non break in the mail.

The coolest thing is that in the meantime, another store, who saw the listing for the first order, wanted the same deal! I'm going to make a lot of vases tomorrow!

I'm excited and a little freaked out...

Some thought about promotion

I posted a thread in the etsy forum today, it has to do with the good feeling of actually making money on Etsy and feeling like I'm doing well (it's a whole different story and might be told in a different time). I got a lot of really kind responses congratulating me about the making money thing. Also, it was really nice to see people referring to my success as something to aspire to. Also, I got a really nice e-mail from a fellow selling asking me about where do I promote my etsy store.

This made me think, I mean we are all looking for places to promote our stores, however, that very allusive "promotion" thing that we all want to know, it "where" and not "how".

So I'm going to write a couple of thought about promotion and the how rather then the who that I was trying to put into words while writing that e-mail.

The How of promotion

2 restaurants opened up in my neighborhood this past summer. One's called Blackbird parlor and the other is called paper moon cafe. Now they both sell very nice food and both are owned and managed by very nice people, however, the first is doing really really well, while the second is totally empty.

Why is that? honestly, there is not one reason, it's location and it's the fact that the one who's doing well is owned by someone with experience in the restaurant industry and the other isn't. But the main thing, at least for me is this:

While the owner and manager of Blackbird parlor became a part of the Williamsburg community, the owner and manager of Paper moon has not.

Taking to the first means I'm hearing news about people who lives here, how other restaurants are doing, different things that happened on Bedford st. and their plans for the future. When he's not busy inside, he stand in the street corner and talk to people, make friends.

Looking at Black bird it's obvious that there was a lot of research about what people in Williamsburg, like, both the design (sort of a log cabin with French inspiration) and the menu were made to accommodate what people here already wanted and like.

Papermoon is empty almost all the time, both the design and menu are very foreign to the area (county cottage and meat loaf?!). When talking to the owner, I always got to hear about what's wrong with all the other restaurants in the area. He lives out of town and doesn't know most of the restaurants in Williamsburg.

There is so much to be learned form this. However what I really want to stress, with relations to my etsy store, is the importance of being a part of a community.

In a book about marketing called get back in the box by Douglas Roshkoff, the author describe a conversation he had with a client, the client wanted an advertising campaign that would be "less Saatchi and more craigslist".

What is the difference? the difference is that in a typical advertising campaign, the voice of one - the advertiser speak to many. One person or organization produce content and the viewers give that person their attention, later on, they might also give him their money in exchange of goods.

Craigslist, however, is a community based website, much like etsy, people who sell on it also buy on it, you can find yourself looking for a roommate one day, selling your old stereo the next. which means, that you are both the viewer and the advertiser.

This means there is a huge difference between advertising and online promoting. In advertising, all you do is create content for people to look at, in promoting, you become, much like the owner of blackbird - a part of your community. The difference is, that you don't just expect attention, you also give it. You become a persona in your own online world, not in order to sell a specific scarf you made, but in order to produce an online imprint who will generate attention and traffic to your store.

I know it sound strange, almost imperceivable, but a comment on someone else's blog may generate more traffic then a blog entry. Featuring another artist's work in your blog will also probably generate more traffic to both your blog and your store (first of all that person will want to read it and then probably will direct other people to read it, and feel more incline ot wrote about you in forums and blogs and so on).

A picture of your cute cat on flickr will probably generate more traffic into your flickr page and as a result, probably your etsy store then a photo of a scarf you made and a "check my profile for details" link. Reason being that a cute cat is more interesting and cute for people to look at then a scarf. A tutorial would probably get more then both, because it's also useful and interesting.

The goal of promotion, strangely enough is not to generate sales or traffic, but to generate attention and a large as possible web imprint that leads to you and to your store. not to attract "buyers" but to attract people, make friends and be known. And just like being active in conversation will make you more friends then just standing around - being active as both a viewer and an advertiser will be more effective then being just an advertiser.

Places to promote (again, make yourself a part of those communities, just throwing some pictures around once, doesn't help at all):

Flickr
We Love Etsy
IndiPublic
Cut out+ Keep
Trunkt (if you can get in, I haven't...)