10.20.2011

100 Sales 100 Days

Wow, I can't believe it's been six weeks since I started 100 Sales in 100 Days.  Unfortunately, since the end of September sales have been really slow.

Here are my Etsy stats since 9/22:
Etsy Sales 4
Items Sold 6
Shop Hearts 15

Here are my Overall Etsy stats since I started:
Etsy Sales 13
Items Sold 18
Shop Hearts 30

Since Etsy has switched to relevancy, my views are down. I have spent the last few weeks changing all my titles, tags, and descriptions, but it has not helped much.  All I can do is keep tweeking them until I find the right combination. How do you like the new search by relevancy on Etsy?

I have started to spend a money on advertising. I ran a one week Project Wonderful campaign, and I did an  Etsy ad for one week. Both brought in more view, but no sales, and a few hearts.
Not familiar with Project Wonderful, click here for more info.


I think I will give both of them a try again, and start looking into doing an ad on a couple of blogs. I budgeted a few dollars to advertising and I am going to keep working on putting together a effective ad to try to generate some sales.

I would love your input on blog ads. What makes you click on an ad on the sidebar of a blog? Do you like catchy tagline's or is the picture more important? Have you ever purchased an item from a shop you found from an ad?

When you are spending money on advertising you want to have effective ads.  I appreciate your feedback. So we can all benefit, I will take everyone's ideas and suggestions and create a blog post in the next couple of weeks.
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11 comments:

  1. Things will pick up. I actually like the relevancy search especially when I'm searching because I find exactly what I'm looking for, where before I hated searching because I could never find the right thing. It's also been better for my shop, I think if you keep tweaking things will turn around. As for the ads. . . I don't have much input for you, when I do, I'll let you know.

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  2. I just recently added your blog to my rss feed and just now hearted (is that even a word?) you on etsy. I'll likely be buying from you for the holidays.

    Just a quick suggestion though, when reading my rss feeds I like to be able to click on things in the post to get to links rather than having to go to the blog itself. I thought that the ad in your post would link directly to your etsy shop and almost didn't come here to find a link to it.

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  3. Such an interesting topic! Here is what I think:

    Actually the relevancy works well for me. Finally my items are in the top 5 pages of search and I don't need to renew to stay there.

    Project Wonderful - I did this on a high-traffic blog. The result was increased views and hearts but nothing more.

    Blog ads - I click on them when I am impressed with the image. The letters are usually too small to read but colors and forms speak to me. Also, once the blog writer has won my trust, I am sure that if I click I will go somewhere nice - like attracts like :)

    Also, yes, I have made purchases from shops that advertise on fellow bloggers' sites. I strongly believe in this kind of advertising because it is personal. I know that the blogger wants to have beautiful and relevant ads, the sponsor has gone through a consideration process, so I am not taking chances, everything is beautifully in control. I trust these ads more than Google ads, for example, or Project Wonderful.

    Your jewelry is so unique and awesome, that I have no doubts in your success!

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  4. There was a stretch last winter where I was really researching ads on blogs/ rates, etc. I ended up placing a few, and got more views, but not any sales. So I'm no expert. I'll certainly try it again; I think it's largely hit or miss until you realize how to effectively pair your style with blogs that have similar audiences. That's really the key: the search. In terms of what the ad looks like, I personally click if it's simple, graphic, and odd- you know- something I haven't seen before. I think anyone can make this happen with a good eye and a lot of editing!

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  5. Thanks everyone for sharing today! It sounds like everyone likes Etsy's search by relevancy, and I am going to have to keep working on my titles so I can get found on Etsy. If anyone has any feedback let me know.

    Sedie, thanks for your positive words and encouragement! If you do ever run any ads I would love your feedback.

    Christine, thanks for adding my blog to your rss feed! I almost always make the pictures in my post clickable, but today I was just showing an example of an ad I created. I understand where your coming from and I will start making all the photos clickable, thanks for the tip!

    Kanelstrand, thanks for your insight on blog ads. I agree, I enjoy finding new shops and blogs from blog ads and click often, because I know it will be a shop or blog I will enjoy.

    Nancy, thanks for sharing what makes you click on an ad. That is very helpful as I work on my new ads.

    It was helpful to read all the information everyone shared today. Thanks again.

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  6. I'm up to 2 sales, on the verge of 3!

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  7. The ad image on the blog with a few words gets my attention. I don't click on ads that blink, flash, dance, pulsate, move, or otherwise aren't static. I can't comment on the new relevancy search, the old search was useless and I'd leave the site out of exasperation.

    I don't know if this:

    http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=forums&op=view_topic&tid=29338

    would be helpful, but it's a facebook ad strategy which the seller said has increased her sales, views, and likes.

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  8. I think the picture of an ad is the most important. Nevertheless, a catchy tagline is important too. We grew immune to visual stimuli online, therefore the image is the one that will catch the surfers attention. Nevertheless, if the tagline is not convincing enough, I will never click. I would just be grateful for the nice pic, but nothing else. I think a successful ad has these 2 steps, and you can't jump step 1.

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  9. Things have been slow on etsy and I too have my fingers crossed that they will soon pick up.

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  10. Yikes, sorry the sales have been going down... I heard Etsy was making some changes, too bad you have to change your listings because of them! It reminds me of when I found out about SEO and had to go through my tags, titles and descriptions and fix them all.

    I hope advertising on blogs helps you up your sales! I agree with Laura, I think the image on the add is most important. The overall look of the ad will probably be most likely to determine how many people you draw in. So a nice photo and a cute/pretty font would be my suggestion! Hope that helps! <3

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  11. Personally I almost never search by relevancy or by recency on Etsy but always change the default to "By Highest Price".

    My rationale is that typically (but of course not always) things that are more expensive tend to be better made and more sophisticated and artful. I start at the top and work my way down. That way I know what prices people are asking for quality work. By the time I get down to an item I like, in my price range, I know immediately if it is a value or not. Plus I get to laugh on the way at some of the poor work that some sellers overprice.

    I do not find the relevancy ads to be totally relevant and think that Etsy still has work to do. My page views dropped a huge amount when the change was rolled out, but they have been picking up recently as I have been tweaking the tags and titles. It's an enormous amount of work.

    Your work is wonderful and your photography is good, I really think part of the slowdown is the economy. Hang in there--I bet things will pick up soon for the holidays!

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Your thoughts and ideas are an important part of the conversation, thanks for sharing!