Weekend Deals Tips

The summary of our most recent team meeting is on the Yahoo forum, if you are on the team, be sure to check it out. Leanna did a great job of leading the meeting. Since weekend deals came up, and I have some good experience with that, Leanna invite me to share my tips.
What is Weekend Deals?
Sellers on Etsy who have sales or specials during the weekends. MaryMary, one of the Etsy admins, is in charge of weekend deals features. Every weekend, there is a different focus. A weekend deals email goes out from Etsy to thousands of subscribers every Friday, encouraging people to shop. The email also gets posted as an article in Etsy's blog, the Storque, which exposes it to thousands more. A weekend deals gift guide is also created to make shopping easier. Getting featured in the week end deals means huge exposure for your shop. Even if you don't make the Gift Guide or the email, Etsy includes a link to the forum thread so people can read all of the posted specials and shop from there.
How do I participate?
The first step is to post your deal on the forum thread that MaryMary has started for the particular weekend you want. Here is a link to all of the options. (The threads you want are started by MaryMary.)
Tips to participate effectively
1. Follow the instructions Mary gives in the forum thread. If she is looking for a percentage off, do not post a buy one get one (BOGO). Be aware that if you want to limit your special to only certain items or a certain section of your shop, she probably will not feature you. Look at what you can offer that could apply to your whole shop.
2. Try to word your special in an enticing way and mention what it is you sell in your shop. When you post on the forum thread, you are trying to get Etsy Admin to click and check out your shop. You may even want to post a link to your best item - most gift guide worthy item. Also people who shop through the forum thread may not click unless your avatar interests them or something you said about your shop gets them to click.
3. Post your week end deals in your shop announcement during the weekend. You will still get some full price sales because not everyone reads the shop announcements, but admin does instruct you to have the deal in your announcement.
4. If you are fortunate enough to get featured in the email, the storque, or the gift guide, edit the featured item to raise the quantity (if it is something you can reproduce) and edit the description to include your weekend deals announcement. That way, if a shopper clicks on the item and likes it and wants to just buy it, they do not need to try to find your shop announcement to see what the deal is.
5. Do not change all of the prices in your shop. Simply use paypal to refund the savings. Some people will ask for a revised invoice before they will pay, but for the most part, Etsy feels it is easier to give paypal refunds. If you suggest revised invoices, you may lose some buyers who don't know what that is, and Etsy will not feature you because that sounds complicated.

I think Etsy has really drummed up some great sales for people by putting out these weekend deals features. I know a couple of jewelry sellers who have been blown away by the volume they can do in a single week end. As for my experience, I did about $340 worth of sales I might not have had otherwise.

Hope this helps. Here is a look at who was at the meeting. (Randi was there in her pre-type-ed-ness)

October Merchandising

Here is the article in the Storque. There is a new addition to the merch desk articles - seller tips. It's a nice basic list of tips that we need to keep on top of to make our shops the best they can be. Let us know here in the comments or over at the yahoo group if there is anything you will be doing differently in your shop or new items you are adding because of something you learned in the merchandising article.

Get together

We had a wonderful potluck lunch in Spokane yesterday. Imagine 8 crafty, talkative women all together in one place. The anecdotes, ideas and tips were flying. We enjoyed seeing each others work in person too. Back row from left to right: Mary MKHQuilts, Cherie StudioCherie, Randi Ragnazidnar, and Leanna SeamsVictorian and BitsandPurses. Seated from left to right Mary's friend who introduced herself as "I'm with her" (maybe this blog post will cure her shyness - maybe not- don't hate me, I am just having fun and don't have all of the information I need) Linda AntlerPantry, Kim SentimentalStones, and Monti GlitznGlass.

Gift guide Update!

Here is Randi in the new Wedding Decor Giftguide with her paper flowers

Cherie made the new Back to School Dorm Decor Gift Guide with her office chair slipcover

Scott and Jacqui of Slidesideways appear in two newer gift guides Back to School and Office Supplies with their journal as well as Slow Food with one of their fun tea towels


Linda won a spot for AntlerPantry in the Pets Gift Guide. You can find her dog chews on page 3.


Congrats to all on the new gift guides. If I missed anyone, please let me know and I will do another post!

Must read Storque articles

I wanted to post some realy helpful Storque articles to help you think forward about the items you have (and have in mind to make) that Etsy would want to feature during the next 6 weeks. The Etsy merchandising desk articles are a great resource. Also you may not know this, but Etsy asks us to submit our sale items to their weekend deals. The chosen items go out in email format to subscribers (a lot of people) and I have heard of sellers getting an amazing amount of business from these. Here is the article on how to participate in week end deals, and what kinds of deals they are going to highlight. Oooh, we can plan our shopping around that too!
Here are the 6 teammates who have tagged at least one item with the term Fall. Not a bad idea! In a few days I will feature items tagged School.


And congrats to Antler Pantry on winning the Summer challenge with her beautiful tote. Read about it below.

Summer Challenge Winner

Congrats to Linda from Antler Pantry, whose Tote & Cup Cozy got the most votes this month!

Also a big congrats to Jamie Wagner, who was our winning commenter and will receive the prize!

Jamie Wagner said...

I love the cell phone charm/zipper pull and the business card holder. :)
July 24, 2009 6:20 PM

Jamie, please email me at andidickson {at} hotmail {dot} com with your address and I'll get your info over to Linda!

10 front pages!

Count 'em, 10 front pages in the last week! Corid in 3 of them, Slidesideways also in 3, then one each for ragnazidnar, enuwbe, studiocherie, and thevintagedresser. If you hover on the photos, you can see a description and seller name. Find your teammates, and enjoy!

Summer Team Challenge

Here are the entries for the summer team challenge. You have one week to vote for the one you like best in the poll, and then please leave a comment to be entered to win the winning item!

Tote & Cup Cozy by Antler Pantry

"The Paper Wasps Wouldn't Leave Her Alone" by CoriD

Tropical Barkcloth Key Fob by For The Love Of Pete

Cool Summer Cell Charm/Zipper Pull by Larie's Creations

Business Card Holder by Seams Victorian

Front Pages

Congrats go out to StudioCherie for a front page feature on Saturday morning that brought a number of sales into her shop. This morning, it's SlideSideways turn in a fabulous admin picked front page. Hot items and beautiful photography of those items garners exposure and sales. The team is here to help. Looks like we are having a team meeting tomorrow morning, so if you need any help, that would be a good time to ask. Be sure to check the Yahoo group messages just before the meeting in case there are any last minute changes to the meeting place.

The weekly voter

There has never been a better time to team up on Etsy. With Etsy's new weekly voter feature in the Storque and the new members choice gift guide, being an active team member can help you promote your shop in a big way. Here is a link to the FAQ on the voter.

This week the take me to the beach voter features Enuwbe and StudioCherie.

Here is how to get involved. Nominate your teammates. The next call for items is fresh shops - under 3 months old. If you are new to Etsy and new to the team, let us get to know you and your shop. Come over to the Yahoo group and start getting in on the conversations. I will be watching the Storque for each round of voting and post on the Yahoo group and sometimes here as well the link to nominate shops. If you need someone to nominate you, call on your teammates, we are here to support you. Here is the link to nominate fresh shops for the next round.

Jen and Cherie want to say, Thank you for all of your enthusiastic support. It looks like we have a good chance of making the next members choice gift guide.

Front Pages

Congratulations LCSCottage and Whiletheyplay!

Featured teammate WhiMSy love

Nikki's shop has been getting a lot of notice lately, so I thought it was about time I did a feature post on her and her shop. I started by reading her blog. It left me wishing I had more time to spend there reading, pouring over every tutorial, and crafting all Summer with my kids. We will definately be making some shrinky dinks. Now that my daughter has seen Nikki's blog, I am in real trouble - in a good way!

Here is Nikki on -Getting Started
My mom & I used to have a little space in an antique mall where we sold vintage items PLUS handmade. I discovered I rather preferred doing the whole handmade thing specifically, so I browsed the internet one night looking for a way to set up a website or SOME WAY to sell my handmade goodies online, & then I found Etsy. It was perfect timing really, because I set up my Etsy shop &, shortly after, the antique mall went out of business. I still do adore vintage items so I keep a little spot at WhiMSy love for them. (thermos available at WhiMSylove) The first item I sold on Etsy was one of my fork easels. The fork easels happen to be my best seller to date.

You don't need to do live shows to be visible.

Part of the reason I don’t do a lot of shows is because I'm a busy mom & I don't have a lot of time to be creating tons of merch & putting in all the time it takes to prepare for a show. Other online shops sell some of my items. Because of Etsy, I have been presented with a few really cool opportunities that wouldn’t have otherwise been given to me had I not set up my online shop:

-My Vintage Buttons Rings were recently mentioned in the June 2009 issue of GLAMOUR Magazine, Greek edition because someone saw the rings in my shop.
-My Writing on the Wall Book Art is being sold at the Bellevue Art Museum because someone saw them in my shop.

-Even the online shops that sell my stuff found me through Etsy.I have yet to try & sell my items in boutiques or local shops. That day will come though!

Be yourself.
My favorite part of WhiMSy love is actually something I struggled to appreciate early on: the diversity & randomness of the things I make. I used to be so jealous (Ok, I admit I sometimes still am) of the shops I see that all have this cohesive & beautiful flow. I felt like mine didn't at all. It still doesn't, but I'm OK with that now. I make the things I like & my personality is reflected in the pieces in this way: sometimes I am a giant goofball & yet sometimes I want to be super girly & feminine. And you can totally pick out the pieces in my shop that might fall in either of these "categories". Maybe someday my items will become more streamlined, but for now, this is who I am & this is what I love to make. Bottle cap badge.

I asked Nikki for her best advice in these specific areas:

Product Quality

When I'm making something I always think in terms of: "Would I give it to my mom?", or even: "Would I want to keep it myself?" If the answer is "Yes!" then I know I have made a product of good quality--to the best of MY ability.

Photography

You hear it all the time in Etsy-world: photos can make all the difference. And it is SOOOOOO true!! You might make the most amazing piece of artwork or craft up an awesome little ditty, but if your pictures are horrible then most of the time people will pass it up without looking at any finer details. Ask your Etsy friends or your EWAET members for their opinions on your photos, be prepared to receive the criticism & be ready to make some changes. I LOVE taking pictures! I just use a point-n-shoot, I’m no expert, but I’ve found this advice to be true: the more pictures you take, the more comfortable you’ll get with how your camera works & the better you’ll get at taking more quality photos.

Networking

I use sites like FLICKR ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/whimsy_girl ), TWITTER (http://twitter.com/whimsylove ) & my blog ( http://whimsy-girl.blogspot.com/ ) to network.

Marketing

I haven't done a whole lot of marketing. I'm actually in the process of coming up with a brand or a logo for my shop. Since I don’t like to stick with one style of crafting/art I am finding that it’s challenging deciding on a specific logo or design to represent ‘WhiMSy love’. Once I DO finalize the brand, I’m excited to confidently start marketing!

Managing a business and a family

Lists help me! Lists before I go to bed of what needs done for the next day. Lists on my dry-erase board of orders that need filled, or supplies that I need to purchase. Lists of new ideas. Lists of family menu planning. Lists of fun things to do with my girls. Lists of errands that need to be attended to. I have tons of notebooks floating around my wee house with lists scribbled in each one. In my crafty world I have found that the combination of business + family DOES = a messy house!(Much to the dismay of Mr. WhiMSy love!) I haven’t found a perfect routine that works for me on a consistent basis. (The lists DO help.) Every day is different. I’m faced with different challenges & scenarios. But, if I ever feel that my kids or family are lacking, I take a step back from Etsy & take care of what is most important to me. Though I’d like my business to be super successful, I just can’t put all of myself into it like I’d need to in order for the success I dream of. I know this is not true for every crafty business mom of wee ones, but it is true for me. At least for right now anyway. Someday I’ll be able to sew all day & craft all night. But for now I get to create in-between folding loads of laundry & making sticky jelly sandwiches.

Finally, I asked Nikki how she feels about the team.

I feel grateful for EWAET because being a part of this team really keeps me in the loop of things going on locally. I also know I have a place to go with questions & help, & it feels good to have a more intimate neighborhood withing the growing community of Etsy. The way we promote & help each other is also really neato.

Vote for Best Americana Decor

Our team is well represented in the Etsy voter. 3 of our teammates are up for a chance at the Gift Guides! Pop in to the voter and vote for one of our entries.

CestMagnifique shadow box


ToletallyPainted bowl





















WHIMSYlove cupcake pinwheels


A word from Etsy:


If you want to get involved in next week's round of voting, link to your nominations in the comments below. We are looking for items that you think make the best use of color. Think most vivid or unusual color or best color combinations. We can wait to see what you recommend!

Last but certainly not least, congratulations to Slidesideways for making it into the gift guides! Check out their birthday card in this Gift Guide.

Independence Day Team Challenge!

Today we have some beautiful entries in our team's Independence Day challenge. Please vote for the one you like best in the poll, and then leave a comment to be entered to win the winning item!
Coaster by Sentimental Stones

Cozy by SeamsVictorian

Skirt by RedHeadO

Earrings by Larie's Creations

Coaster set by For The Love Of Pete

Support a teammate Vote

Our team is so talented that we currently have 3 members in the latest Etsy voter.

Vote for one of these cards and help a teammate win a place in the gift guides.
RandomScraps Card



SlideSideways Card








TheVintageDresser Card

Hat Trick

Front page, Storque Article, Gift Guide! Congratulations, Randi. Your caffeine molecule coffee sleeves have won the hat trick of Etsy exposure. Soon you will be embroidering those molecules in your sleep. Visit the Geek Chic gift guide to see Randi's handiwork. I am doing cartwheels in my brain I am so excited for you (or maybe that's the caffeine this morning) but I am really, really happy for you. If you click on the Storque article link, you can read about how well Randi did in the voter and you can nominate your favorites for Americana Decor. If you read the comments, you will see that Randi has nominated some of you already.

Weekend Deals Gift Guide

Pillow cover by Slidesideways

Etsy is really getting creative about speading the love. Be on the look out in the Storque for the links to forum discussions from which they choose items to feature. While there are just a few items featured in the actual Storque article about Fathers Day deals and YART sale deals, they also link to special limited time gift guides. There are several of us in the Fathers Day sale gift guide - Slidesideways, Ragnazidnar, and StudioCherie. I have noticed that Etsy has been expanding the yartfreeship gift guide over the past couple of days, so there may still be time to get in on that one too. Here is the link again to the Storque article that explains how to participate in this week ends special gift guides.
Randi is in the top 4 for the cozy vote. If you have not yet voted, please click on the link in the previous blog post and help her win!

Etsy is Spreading the Love

Looks like the Etsy voter in the Storque is going to be a weekly event. This week, we get to vote on our favorite "cozies." I have been wanting to see Randi's caffeine molecule coffee cozy in the Geek Chic gift guide for a long time, now it looks like she's got a shot at it. If you have not voted yet, go to this link and click on the voting link from there. As a team, let's get active in nominating one another for these opportunities weekly. Next weeks voter is going to be Birthday cards. Natalie has very sweetly made some nominations from the team. If you have a birthday card that needs to be nominated, feel free to send a convo with the link to your item to studiocherie, and I will nominate you. When it comes out, I will pop back on here to post all of the team contenders for the best birthday card vote. Good luck! VintageDresser and StudioCherie are also in the vote this week, but it looks like Randi is the one who really has a good chance of winning, so lets team up and make it happen.

Great opportunity for traffic to your shop

It's hard for a lot of us to pass by a yard sale without stopping to see if there is some treasure there we just have to have. Why should the online world be any different? Starting next Wednesday, June 10th and running through Sunday the 14th, Etsy is having a Yart sale. Read this article to find out how to participate. It is really easy and I think it will bring huge traffic to your shop, so don't miss out.

It's all Greek to me

Here is a link to a fun feature on Google that came in handy for me when Randi sent me her summary of the last meeting in Greek. Try this with your friends, use Google translator to send them a message in another language! If the meeting summary is all Greek to you too, copy and paste the message to the google translator, and voila, it will appear in English. It was great to have such a good turnout at our recent meeting. Watch for the questionaire that will be coming out soon.

Getting Featured in June

Laura at LcsCottage let me know she was featured as a related item in this Storque article. The screen shot shows her hand dyed fabric on the page. Thanks for letting me know about the feature, and congratulations!


StudioCherie was on the font page with travel duffles on Memorial Day which leads me to this post about getting featured in June. Here is the full article in the Storque for you to review Etsy's focus for June. Since pearls are June's birthstone, I would bet there will be a lot of them on the front pages, just as there were a lot of green front pages in May. Fathers Day will still be promoted through June 21st, and here is a list of other things to think about, tag for, and offer in the month of June: Weddings, Americana, FolkArt, Nautical, Collecting, Garden Parties, Picnics, Housewarming and Hostess Gifts, Travel Friendly Toys, Bath and Body, Outdoors, Rainbows. Do read the article for more ideas on how your current items can fit into the focus. Here is another article by Lou Sagar on the art of collecting to give you an idea of where he is going with that.
Be sure to let Cherie know if you have been featured anywhere. It inspires us all to know how and when that happens.

Success Story

Heather over at CreativelyKept responded to Etsy's call for deals for their Graduation gift special email, and she made it into the email - which is also a Storque article. Great exposure! Congratulations Heather.

Gift Guide Update

Etsy is updating and changing the Gift Guides more than ever. They are really focused on making them a great sales tool for the site. The administrators at Etsy are the ones who choose items for the Gift Guides, but they do ask for nominations occasionally, so it is a good idea to check their blog, the Storque, from time to time. Once you get to the Storque, use the search bar to search words like vote, nominate, and gift guide. To check if you are in a gift guide, go to craftopolis and type in your Etsy username in the Gift Guide search box. Send a convo to studiocherie if you find yourself in one, so she can post the good news here. The screen shot above shows a new gift guide being featured on the Front Page with a StudioCherie item in it. In a Storque article, Etsy had asked for Fathers Day promotions, and Cherie submitted that item with a buy one get something else free promotion. From that submission, they chose the item for the Gift Guide, and we will see if it makes it into the promo email later this month.

Most Improved

Valerie at FortheLoveofPete has taken what she learned from Randi at the photography workshop and put it to good use. With her new photos, she landed a spot on the Front Page recently. I love what she is doing to show off her marvelous barkcloth bags. We all can learn from one another. I hope you are tuning in to every opportunity. I am sure Valerie would join me in saying, thanks for the great teaching, Randi.

June Merchandising on Etsy

Etsy publishes an article highlighting for us ways they plan to focus on merchandising during the upcoming month. Here is a link to their article for the month of June. Toward the end of the article, note that there will be a session on merchandising in the chat rooms of Etsy on May 15th with Lou Sagar, Etsy's marketing guru.

A simplified way to think about it is to focus on how you celebrate Memorial Day, Fathers Day, Graduations, and The Fourth of July, then ask yourself, what do I make that fits these events? There are email promotions going out to Etsy's huge email list for Fathers Day and for graduations. To put your promotion on the list for possible inclusion, there are links at the end of the above referenced article.

Here is a fun summertime selection from our team shops. By the way, it was mentioned that the front pages will be featuring rainbows, so if you have items that can be tagged rainbow, you might want to do that.

More Front Pages Hooray!

Front Page with Like 6 of Us or Something

All I can say is YAY!

Team Meeting

Sorry if you missed it. We were in the chat room. Here is a nice looking treasury of those of us who were there. This is in my poster sketch right now. I will let you know on the Yahoo Group, when I can turn it into a treasury. Of course I'll be taking myself out. Enjoy!

Another Front Page

StudioCherie was on the front page Monday evening. This widget is an easier way to show our front page features than capturing a screen shot. Pretty cool huh?

Front Page Now

Congratulations to Cori, for making the front page this morning. Etsians really love those soft, light photos, and Cori's artwork fits so many moods. Her work really makes great front page material. If your whites are overpoweringly bright, you might consider finding a way to tone it down. A little bit of shadow seems to create the softness that gets good exposure on Etsy.

Team Meeting

Randi puts so much into our team meetings. I learn something new every time, and am always glad I attended. Last night we were introduced to 5 new team members, and got some great tips about making treasuries. Here is the link on Etsy where you can learn about treasuries and how to make them. If we all make an effort to make beautiful treasuries and include some team members mixed with others, our chances of being promoted on the front page will go up.

We also talked about fund raising for the team. Some good ideas were mentioned, and you will notice adsense here on the blog very soon.

Membership in our Yahoo Group is going to be mandatory for all team members because it facilitates communication. If you have not signed up for it, please do.

Now here is a list of shops who attended the meeting. I think the new members will make treasury making even more fun!

Easter Challenge Winner!

Cori's print + Random Number = Happy Winner! minishoes with comment #9.
Thanks everyone for participating! Congratulations to the winners.

Easter Challenge

Vote for your favorite in the poll, then click here to leave a comment which will enter you to win the most popular item. Please leave only one comment. You must be 18 years old and have an address in the US to enter. Please leave a way for us to get in touch with you if you win. Comments will be numbered in the order received, and winner will be chosen by a random number generator. Your chances of winning are one in the total number of entries. Here are our talented team mates entries! What a great variety ladies!

#1 Corid limited edition archival print

#2 CutieFruity baby leg warmers

#3 GlitznGlass painted candle holder and candle

#4 DanaBurger chick pendant

#5 Ragnazidnar paper calla lilly bouquet

Craft Fair Report

Cori, Patricia, Paula, Andi, Sally, Kerry

Some of our lovely teammates met up to participate in a craft fair in Walla Walla last Friday. Paula from CutieFruity sent in this photo and the report. I have linked their names to their shops.

On March 27, six members of our team participated in the Walla Walla Artisan Fair at the Walla Walla fairgrounds. Since the fair was on a Friday only, it was pretty slow and there was plenty of time to check out one anothers wares and talk about plans we may have for our shops and such. After many team meetings online, it was fun to meet face to face at chat a little while during the show. Four of us travelled from the Tri-Cities and two came down from Pullman. All of us found out about the fair through the team. Since most of us already "knew" each other, it was very easy to introduce ourselves and get to know one another better, even if the show was a bust (I think all of us at least broke even). There were 17 vendors in all, so we had a very good representation from the team. A reporter from the UB even came and interviewed all of us about selling online vs. at a show. Some of us are misquoted, but the article does promote the team and Andi, the vice pres, did a great job of telling him about Etsy and our team. Not only can an etsy team help out with online business, but it is also beneficial locally, since the EWATeam is location based. For a few of us, this was our first show. It was a good start and a great learning experience. --Paula Taylor

http://cutiefruity.etsy.com/

http://mycutiefruity.blogspot.com/

Team Meeting

At the team meeting this morning we learned a lot about trend spotting from Randi, and we all came away with some really helpful links to sites that can help us to make the kinds of things that people are looking for. Thanks to everyone who attended! Here they are...

We Have a Winner!

I just remembered I was supposed to post a winner of the Spring Challenge. Studio Cherie will be mailing her frame purse to Jamie Wagner, for posting comment #14, which was chosen by Random.org.

Jamie's comment was something like, "I love the jewelry set #6, but it was tough to choose, I also really like the coin pouches." Yay! She gets one. I am off to email her.

Spring Challenge

Here are the entries for the team Spring Challenge. Do 2 things here.

1. Use the poll in the sidebar to vote for the winning prize.
2. Leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post to enter to win the prize. Make sure you are signed into an ID that has a way for us to contact you if you win, or leave a way for us to contact you in your comment.

The prize will be the item that gets the most votes in the pole, so vote for the item you want the most! Anyone can vote, so there may be more votes than comments.

Everyone who is inside the US and not on the Eastern Washington Etsy Street Team is eligible to win the prize. Deadline for voting is Friday, March 27th at 5PM Pacific Daylight time, so do it now! Winner will be chosen by the number picker at random.org. Comment entries will be numbered in the order received. Chances of winning are one in however many comments are received. You must be in the US to comment.

Entry #1 Pin Cushion Caddy (tools not included) from LCS Cottage

Entry #2 Palm Wax Candle and Painted Holder from GlitznGlass

Entry #3 Greeting Card from Random Scraps

Entry #4 Handmade Journal from Ragnazidnar

Entry #5 Framed Poem Magnet 5.5" x 5" by That70'sShoppe

Entry #6 Jewelry Set from Fashionably Adorned

Entry #7 Coin Purse from StudioCherie

Entry #8 Earrings from BeadedSplendor


Entry #9 Choker by DanaBurger

Entry #10 Coin, Cell Phone, Etc. frame pouch by SeamsVictorian