tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5031697435873775262024-03-13T14:02:07.962-07:00piddixpiddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.comBlogger224125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-91412754497084457012017-11-20T13:40:00.000-08:002017-11-20T13:48:43.608-08:00Piddix 2.0<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYG5F-cj5TTg8AFbhYLC6A8kxI-Rq3zUd9a61J07d5xSrCGbKt1j273N4c3dqcfDSm621eJClhxu6p7_gUVJu85M7LwYGuPaTeXuIyMkv-5AuZbF7HhljUBjDQaZxztStgwHdz9Lw71TaO/s1600/RoadTrip2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="960" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYG5F-cj5TTg8AFbhYLC6A8kxI-Rq3zUd9a61J07d5xSrCGbKt1j273N4c3dqcfDSm621eJClhxu6p7_gUVJu85M7LwYGuPaTeXuIyMkv-5AuZbF7HhljUBjDQaZxztStgwHdz9Lw71TaO/s400/RoadTrip2017.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Summer 2017 Road Trip--Oregon to Minnesota and back again--Painted Hills, Spencer Opal Mine, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead, Glacier & Silverwood Water Park.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To all of the awesome, amazing people who have supported piddix (and thus me) over the past 11 years, a huge hello and lots of love heading your way from the other side of <a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/2016/10/what-brain-surgery-looks-like-seven_78.html" target="_blank">brain surgery</a>. I’ve tried a dozen times to write about my experiences over the last two years, and I just can’t. At least not yet. Suffice it to say I’m here. I’m 98% recovered, and, as long as I get a good solid 8 hours of sleep, I’m feeling great. We even took a huge, 4000-mile camping trip this summer. It was time spent with my boys I will always treasure.<br /><br />With all I’ve learned about myself and my business during this process, I’m planning to switch up piddix quite a bit in the next few months. I will be phasing out my printed collage sheets from <a href="http://www.piddix.com/">www.piddix.com</a>, though you’ll still be able to find them online in places such as <a href="https://anniehowesjewelrykits.com/collections/collage-sheets" target="_blank">Annie Howes</a> and <a href="http://www.firemountaingems.com/search/?keywords=piddix" target="_blank">Fire Mountain Gems</a>. My focus is moving more toward art licensing, including several new home decor and wall art lines with some amazing companies that I’ll share at some point. <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/piddix" target="_blank">Digital collage sheets</a> will stay on etsy for a while, but I’m not sure yet how much time I’ll be putting into launching new images. Etsy is just too unpredictable as a company right now, so I’m waiting to see how that all goes.<br /><br />In the mean time, please know you are all in my thoughts. The love and support I’ve received from so many of you for so long is incredibly appreciated. Absolutely no way I would be where I am without it.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />All the best,</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Corinna </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-67418552007305465032016-10-13T17:05:00.000-07:002016-10-13T21:47:29.706-07:00Piddix Design Roundup 2015-2016<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It’s time for my annual review of all the art I made this past year, and it is fascinating to compare it to <a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-year-in-life-of-full-time-designer.html" target="_blank">the last time I did this</a>. Designs below include artwork I created for class, products that have already been made such as calendars and wall art, and new printed collage sheets and digital designs. So fun to see it all in one place.</span><br />
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piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-54364607793634185812016-10-11T14:17:00.001-07:002016-10-11T14:17:45.573-07:00What Brain Surgery Looks Like, Seven Months Later<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsWCbiFm7lMbicXHgXM13q7WphWNLqw8vC32L2Rd1jmD-RaVRLy4-cSvwz26lXhGhMruSU4XBSLIJGk5lVl76a2e7q8W-Vk8Gp1TngQLjgnXPe7BPBSPSqxJabucFaRemwZq7XsjaldkE/s1600/piddix_Surgery6mos_200px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsWCbiFm7lMbicXHgXM13q7WphWNLqw8vC32L2Rd1jmD-RaVRLy4-cSvwz26lXhGhMruSU4XBSLIJGk5lVl76a2e7q8W-Vk8Gp1TngQLjgnXPe7BPBSPSqxJabucFaRemwZq7XsjaldkE/s1600/piddix_Surgery6mos_200px.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Left to Right: 1 day after surgery, 1 week, 1 month, 7 months</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Last March I went through the most difficult, frightening and painful process I’d ever experienced: a craniotomy to remove a 2.6-cm tumor hiding in the right side of my brain. After surgery I awoke in overwhelming darkness, every part of my body strangled by wires, tubes and compression sleeves. Nurses kept telling me not to touch my stitches. “What stitches?” I had no comprehension of the 54 new stitches that now framed my face, let alone the parade of physicians assistants, doctors, and nurses that came in and out of my room at all hours. I only knew that I was in pain. I had reoccurring hallucinations of iron giants crushing my head with their solid metal boots, or of being trapped in a nighttime car crash, waiting at the bottom of a canyon for help that would never arrive. The pain—paired with a complete and total confusion caused by both the anesthesiology and someone mucking around in my brain—led to a rough time in the hospital.<br /><br />By day seven I was discharged. I remember being driven home—on a road I must have been on 100 times before—and not recognizing a thing. I had no sense of context. I could see a tree, or a human face, and recognize it as a tree or human, and yet have no understanding that the tree was on the corner of my street, or that the face was a friend I’d known for years. The best way I can describe it is that my brain was like a computer hard drive that had been completely wiped clean and was now slowly trying to rebuild itself.<br /><br />I’d also developed superpowers (yes, seriously). My eyesight was incredible. I could see the texture of the wallpaper from across the room, and yet had no ability to focus on one thing, which meant I could take everything in all at once with absolute clarity. “Were those photos always up there on the top shelf? Do you see how the light streams in from the window like crystals?” Oh, and the hallucinations continued. This time I had no sense of perspective or sizes, so the door to my room appeared 14 feet wide. It was a trippy, trippy ride, and in the times where I felt well enough to sit and take it all in, I appreciated the amazing wonder that is our world. Weeks later (when I once again needed glasses), the physician’s assistant said I wasn’t the only one to have experienced these odd side effects.<br /><br />Some day I’d love to write down all the good experiences I had that came along with the bad. There was the incredible support of friends and family, and especially my husband, who was with me every step of the way. About 10 days in I also had an absolute sense of clarity of everything important in life: why we’re here, what’s important, what really matters. I’ll have to save that for another time.<br /><br />For now though, I’m focusing on my joy of living life seven months later. The recent post-op scan came back thankfully clean (knock on wood). And only now in the past week am I finally feeling well enough to routinely work and make art again (despite the big numb spot on the side of my head). Feeling normal has never felt better, and I am appreciating every moment.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisidjpCVco-48ftaTxFzFK7n3TgIGut8xlknAawwuKZeAGXlA8RcQTJKvqQAEOM-BPAeKchGMUhMk8hJmlxz2Mut3Chx3KlvgKnCmDhhVJ0AvuzYC_9RvvJe8kj7crBa8AyXs52-t-tgoM/s1600/piddix_Watercolor2_5x7Ratio_500px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisidjpCVco-48ftaTxFzFK7n3TgIGut8xlknAawwuKZeAGXlA8RcQTJKvqQAEOM-BPAeKchGMUhMk8hJmlxz2Mut3Chx3KlvgKnCmDhhVJ0AvuzYC_9RvvJe8kj7crBa8AyXs52-t-tgoM/s1600/piddix_Watercolor2_5x7Ratio_500px.jpg" /></a></div>
piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-79469593694945384252016-01-17T12:24:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:34:52.791-08:00January 17th: The Ups and Downs of Selling on Etsy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnoxa2z0EE3Mp9TLlgV2RgomploCribQxR4pcHxrKWoga9P14dvemX747SDkg_A9DWL79cPGPy8wpIxZbBs9pK-MG_O9xm1V-JtO4CJ4UHAKIYMwsQxjL1bQQ3KBAZEzs-GeUyykLrt6MQ/s1600/piddix_Jan2016Stats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnoxa2z0EE3Mp9TLlgV2RgomploCribQxR4pcHxrKWoga9P14dvemX747SDkg_A9DWL79cPGPy8wpIxZbBs9pK-MG_O9xm1V-JtO4CJ4UHAKIYMwsQxjL1bQQ3KBAZEzs-GeUyykLrt6MQ/s1600/piddix_Jan2016Stats.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Oh etsy, you're suck a fickle, fickle beast. As soon as I decide "I'm outta here! No more!," I get a rush of sales. And of course the opposite happens as well. When it seems as though etsy sales will finally pick up: crickets. Just check out the stats above. There's three or four decent sales days and a whole lot of nothing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There's <a href="http://www.sparrowsalvage.com/2015/12/the-huge-etsy-change-you-probably-dont.html" target="_blank">a recent article</a> that talks about Bushnell's law and how it relates to etsy. Basically, etsy will give you just enough sales to keep you around, but not enough for a full-time living. I'm not sure if I agree with that idea exactly, but the article is worth a skim (it's really, really long):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="post-title entry-title">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.sparrowsalvage.com/2015/12/the-huge-etsy-change-you-probably-dont.html" target="_blank">The Huge Etsy ‘Change’</a> You Probably Don’t Know About - And How to Beat it</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There's some gems in there, along with a decent amount of fluffy math
and quasi-logic. Its general conclusion is that it's up to us, the shop
owners, to bring in our own traffic to etsy. I've heard this over and
over from etsy as well. If someone with a handler complains to etsy
about their sales and views dropping, they're told it's their own fault not bringing in their own shoppers. But honestly, if we're going to be bringing in our own customers anyway, shouldn't it be to our own sites?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Overall, etsy sales are higher than last month, but down from just about every other January I've had on etsy. Still plodding along at the moment. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Jan 1st-17th</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2009: views not tracked, $2099.80 sales (in 17 days)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2015: 6443 views, $279.48 sales</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2016: 3928 views, $222.23 sales</span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-61813845965423752072016-01-12T14:49:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:35:12.081-08:00January 12th: Selling Printed Collage Sheets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qAvJCnoSR5w9rpRd_QSmxeUBfOM_6wtWsMVCAc6_NvfJXpzsstQALB77JWAnFaepxB8IvSS9SATFUK95IZbPy-VoPfW09FCkZ8KTD5lH9W7_yuo-pt6YRvqh8hEEGVe998sEGhD04Ikb/s400/piddix_CollageSheetHeader.jpg" width="400" /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've been selling printed collage sheets wholesale around the world for several years now (for example at <a href="http://www.firemountaingems.com/search/?keywords=piddix" target="_blank">Fire Mountain Gems</a>, who are awesome by the way). It's going well, and recently I added the printed sheets to <a href="http://www.piddix.com/collections/all" target="_blank">my shopify store</a>. While I initially set it up as an easier way for wholesale customers to purchase the in-stock sheets, retail customers have been finding the site as well, and purchasing ever-more-frequently. With a bit of work and some advertising, retail sheets could definitely replace etsy income. Today was another day where my stand-alone site far outpaced my etsy sales.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Day 43 - January 12th</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy Sales $7.88</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy Views: 291</span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-80512389673064776442016-01-03T15:04:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:04:38.266-08:00January 3rd: Selling Places Other Than Etsy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://instantcollagesheets.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://instantcollagesheets.com/" border="0" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwIjUBNYMZqtB56GGbFPy3EIM2z8gjzyTvDX55lVLv5y8Wmr-LNYxsQEKZ_YRHHTX1VuwLhAobfjwH2UJgJxk4q86SxVs7mG7u_RPsvl2vFzdzKeOcqT7Ke-96GOwAcb8cwdHEMmmsxIA/s640/main.logo.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It happened again. My ugly, unfinished <a href="http://instantcollagesheets.com/" target="_blank">stand-alone website</a> sold way more than my etsy shop. And on a day where etsy sales were decent, too. Perhaps it's time to actually work on a better digital site, whether on <a href="http://instantcollagesheets.com/" target="_blank">instantcollagesheets</a> or my <a href="http://www.piddix.com/" target="_blank">main shopify store</a>. Who knows, if you click on the instant link above years from now, maybe it won't be so bad?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Day 34 - January 3rd</b></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy sales: $55.62</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy views: 264</span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-4851865523820472732016-01-02T13:25:00.000-08:002016-01-18T13:32:48.545-08:00January 2nd: Doing What You Love<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0ige1GjuV3kIp7lPPOxh7PlEZnn5HQJK6E8Pnwk65MUhxPfyZMRGOE54MPxenaRZ7P-4Aq0cMGDvbZvr6wic9LQXFmfHukNz3Tg2KpwfYZXtQD-7E65TZeDa8gqSVrZiDbV1AMrbdRfC/s1600/FromMATS_Venn-650x470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0ige1GjuV3kIp7lPPOxh7PlEZnn5HQJK6E8Pnwk65MUhxPfyZMRGOE54MPxenaRZ7P-4Aq0cMGDvbZvr6wic9LQXFmfHukNz3Tg2KpwfYZXtQD-7E65TZeDa8gqSVrZiDbV1AMrbdRfC/s400/FromMATS_Venn-650x470.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Lilla Rogers for <a href="http://makeartthatsells.com/" target="_blank">Make Art That That Sells</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I watched <a href="http://makeartthatsells.com/2016/01/01/happy-new-year-from-lilla/" target="_blank">an interesting video</a> for artists today that suggested to start 2016 with a Venn diagram. In one circle, list your artists passions, what you love to do. In the other, put items that make money. Somewhere in the cross-over is the sweet spot. For me, I realized etsy no longer exists in either circle. I like making art. I like selling it. I especially love getting positive feedback from my customers. What don’t I like? SEO. Search terms. Playing a game where there are no clear rules, and as soon as you’ve figured something out, the rules change.</span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-56249587690000562192015-12-31T14:47:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:36:19.081-08:00Day 31: One Month of Trying to Make a Full-Time Living on Etsy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/262429930/printable-steampunk-alphabet-in-15-inch?ref=shop_home_active_4" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.etsy.com/listing/262429930/printable-steampunk-alphabet-in-15-inch?ref=shop_home_active_4" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjkJIHZ_Azz_JVK7XSdqAbW08n_Ji2v4xkttwlN3mZHkQR1d2RhMOYz8Z3RdwAvp9sIwL4-cgp-uadBDhu7W_5jwzzK0F6nMttWk5MCo8KfHO7a1BS4AJ1NiwkZpgWU3RafzGzbXVFQF8o/s320/piddix790_AlphaSteampunk1.5inCircles_sam1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It’s been a full month of trying to revitalize <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/piddix" target="_blank">my etsy shop</a>. So far I’ve:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">* listed 13 new collage sheets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">* sent out a newsletter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">* created several new types of first images (showing images as pendants, longer, more pin-able images, etc.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">* added new tags and titles on 20+ and made over 5-10 new first images</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">On average, I’ve been spending 1-3 hours per day on etsy. Not much compared to the 10+ hours per day I used to spend, but a decent enough chunk of my time currently that it should be bringing in results.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I’ve also been tracking my views, sales, and search relevancy, along with that of 20 or so of my top competitors. Here’s the stats so far:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>December 2015</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Total sales: $261.08</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Views: 6917</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>December 2014 </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(with no new listings, tagging or time spent)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Total sales: $377.08</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Views: 9440</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Tracking Similar Etsy Shops</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In looking at the top 20+ similar etsy shops over the past month, their average net after paypal and etsy fees is $429.61, with numbers ranging from $123.19 to $1728.22 (only one shop is over $1000).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">While I won’t say it’s impossible to make a full-time living on etsy with digital collage sheets these days, I’m coming to the conclusion that the amount of time I’d need to put into my shop to even break $1000 would end up paying me about half of minimum wage.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-25937650313501218482015-12-28T15:06:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:33:42.770-08:00December 28th: How Important Are Etsy Categories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9zs044YoO-k2TBkB_dtI_fpoeJeutdYa2IlgS4_m37AMEHbry_lc2EKJLk7XlKQPfcZN6Eq8yeZxOMcB83dO_B17gJF1v2FO6qMmbNCcg-mhvpnzSc0zByYKq2nWRlobXJVhD0s1DfQD3/s640/piddix_EtsyCategories.jpg" width="640" /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you've shopped or sold on etsy recently, you may have noticed the categories prominently listed on the top of every etsy page: Clothing & Accessories, Jewelry, etc. Clicking on the links brings up further subcategories, and overall it's not too bad of a way to shop on etsy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For digital collage sheets, however, it's been a disaster. At the exact same time etsy began </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">emphasizing categories, they did away with the category “digital collage sheet.” I recently wrote to etsy and asked what category collage sheets would fit into, and SEVEN days later they got back to me and said, essentially:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"Items go into categories based on materials, how it's made, who made it, or who it’s for."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In other words, there is no longer a category for digital collage sheets.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You can see the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/help/categories/seller" target="_blank">full list of categories on etsy here</a>. There's football helmets (7000 of them), train cases (3000 items). Heck, there's an entire category devoted to golf bags (<a href="https://www.etsy.com/search/bags-and-purses/sports-bags?q=golf+bag&ref=esearch_group1" target="_blank">all 294 poorly tagged results</a>). And yet the more than 100,000 items that are tagged "collage sheet" have no home.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A recent <a href="http://www.sparrowsalvage.com/2015/12/the-huge-etsy-change-you-probably-dont.html" target="_blank">article on etsy search and SEO</a> sums it up well: </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"I'm sure we've all noticed that invasive new drop-down menu that takes
over half the screen whenever you mouse across it; these are the new
Browse sections and many shoppers use them. <i>If your item doesn't fit in
these you got problems</i>." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well poop.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Day 28 - December 28</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Etsy Sales $0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Etsy Views: 239</span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-20709086841017849832015-12-18T13:20:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:36:59.230-08:00December 18th-21st: Getting Positive Feedback<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I love positive feedback. When I listed my first collage sheet eight or so years ago, it sold 20 minutes later and I knew I’d stumbled onto something good. That’s definitely not the case now. Hours spend on etsy yields very little feedback (so far). This morning I woke up to five incredible emails about licensing, printed collage sheets, and major graphic design projects … but not one etsy sale. At this point I’m proceeding on more stubbornness than hope. Perhaps a routine of an hour a day spent on the etsy site can help roust some sales?</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwB79C3RAwA95WqhELfYXEkWxOSwy6GyAGNhnx6G_9QY9H00Grtcg4nAZO2e3fYW-y1Xi0UNNRluKKagb-TDiQ8xugLq5Y4fwJ0F2GzRCBgCICxELa3NqP4PIzVdcDkudW1qg7AnzNtlVh/s1600/piddix_InstantHomeSite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="499" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwB79C3RAwA95WqhELfYXEkWxOSwy6GyAGNhnx6G_9QY9H00Grtcg4nAZO2e3fYW-y1Xi0UNNRluKKagb-TDiQ8xugLq5Y4fwJ0F2GzRCBgCICxELa3NqP4PIzVdcDkudW1qg7AnzNtlVh/s640/piddix_InstantHomeSite.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today I received more sales on <a href="http://instantcollagesheets.com/" target="_blank">my stand-alone, instant site</a> than on etsy. To put that in perspective, take a look at the screen shot above. Do you see the categories on the left that just say “Custom Page 1…..Custom Page 2…..Custom Block 1….” Do you see the sign up at the top that says “We’re just getting set up here”? Do you see how UGLY the whole thing is in general? And the “newest” media is from 2009 I think. Basically, I uploaded my sheets to this site years ago and haven’t touched it. And yet, more sales there today than my whole etsy site. Okay, honestly, that wasn’t hard since I had zero sales on etsy. But still….</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Dec 18-21st</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">views: 792 (198/day)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">sales: $15.83 ($3.95/day)<b></b><br /> </span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-76355558183682477372015-12-18T01:09:00.003-08:002015-12-20T17:00:52.306-08:00December 17: How Much Money Can I Make Selling Printables on Etsy?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RlE97-qTFn_RBnK8fs_hcw8NvqWe16cEaP3idBc53WtX6jeMNQemOk4WXtkVCL2LoDXG8h8Et6ezooQzE6FZ8YJjBiMkpUj41yWuDYlynfIhfVnd_Qve79JMJrgeHx1miVXnEFcHEoxH/s1600/piddix_NoViews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RlE97-qTFn_RBnK8fs_hcw8NvqWe16cEaP3idBc53WtX6jeMNQemOk4WXtkVCL2LoDXG8h8Et6ezooQzE6FZ8YJjBiMkpUj41yWuDYlynfIhfVnd_Qve79JMJrgeHx1miVXnEFcHEoxH/s640/piddix_NoViews.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was having my own little pity party on etsy today. I’d listed six new collage sheets and, after 13 hours, had a total of one view. ONE!<br /><br />So I decided to check out the competition to see if it was just me. You may remember that <a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/2015/12/day-2-tracking-competition-on-etsy.html" target="_blank">back on December 2nd</a> I’d gone through Craft Count and picked out about 20 of the top, comparable sellers of digital collage sheets. In an excel spreadsheet I wrote down their total sales up to that point. Now, 15 days later, I checked in to see how they were doing. I recorded total sales, average price, and subtracted estimated etsy fees. Guess what? It’s not just me. Out of 23 stores—the absolute best of the best selling collage sheets on etsy—only one is netting more than $1000 per month (around $1700). The average is just over $400. To put it in context, not one seller is making above the U.S. poverty level from etsy alone. By comparison, my average sales on etsy in 2011 were $3000-$4000/month.<br /><br />I know that not every category is down on etsy. There’s even other types of printables (invitations, templates for photographers) that are doing quite well. <br /><br />But my own niche of jewelry-specific digital downloads isn’t looking too great at the moment. <br /><br />I’m not pulling the rip-cord yet on this <a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/2015/12/can-you-still-make-full-time-living-on.html" target="_blank">experiment of mine</a>. But it’s becoming more obvious that digital collage sheets on etsy alone will not pay the mortgage.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Day 17 - December 17th</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy Sales: $8.94<br />
Etsy Views: 230/day<br />
Total Etsy Items: 398<br />
Updated Etsy Items: 12/398<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Piddix/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> Likes: 322 (up one)<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/piddix/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> Followers: 500</span></span></span></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-37092547730719050522015-12-16T13:03:00.000-08:002016-01-18T14:59:37.532-08:00Dec 16th: Do Sales Cause More Sales on Etsy?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/51552358/valentine-download-vintage-valentines?ref=shop_home_active_8&ga_search_query=valentine" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.etsy.com/listing/51552358/valentine-download-vintage-valentines?ref=shop_home_active_8&ga_search_query=valentine" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1zY-jP-MxoTi9L7Tn-MhvjnS_Jk7pMsMIlk4XPvF2nYveYZdtU2HOoUziknVOgCpCEcnfhyphenhypheniAAGSH3y3vBIjv958fpEl4acI7ntdnMfFqq1ch8trMBpmH70CUFs_Fm0e37T6J7IBzw8_X/s400/piddix448_1950sKids2.5in_sam1.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ha! Remember yesterday when I thought I’d have a sales bump after the piddix newsletter? Nope. $4 all day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In theory, part of search relevancy is how much an item sells, so after sending out my newsletter yesterday (and thus getting several sales) piddix collage sheets were trending slightly better in search. Normally, I have two sheets in the first 50 pages of “collage sheets,” while for most of yesterday and today I’ve had 4-5. My eventual goal is to have at least one item on every page of that search.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">But the small search bump definitely did not bring in more sales. Back to the drawing board.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Day 16 - December 16th </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy Sales: $4</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy Views: 352 (way up due to newsletter)</span><br />
<br />piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-57100511139196307492015-12-15T23:59:00.000-08:002015-12-16T20:36:53.135-08:00December 15: Newsletter Time<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDELrJHCd_LfORArTBLhjILsMKRD3lhuVua4-XuhzR5gaSR8yltK2n37dDmGuhm7mI4OlYESFZskhQb4GH7ENU7nTPer0-4vB1IpWwiH4YsCyB9E8Gwa1yvml1FZw52fZyN63dQDwHH3uu/s1600/piddix_Newsletter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDELrJHCd_LfORArTBLhjILsMKRD3lhuVua4-XuhzR5gaSR8yltK2n37dDmGuhm7mI4OlYESFZskhQb4GH7ENU7nTPer0-4vB1IpWwiH4YsCyB9E8Gwa1yvml1FZw52fZyN63dQDwHH3uu/s640/piddix_Newsletter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
For a long time, one of the benefits of <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/piddix" target="_blank">etsy</a> was that it could bring massive traffic to your shop, much more so than a stand-alone website where no one could find you. Lately, though, I think that situation has reversed: it’s much harder to be found on etsy now with the increased competition, whereas sending customers to your own shop means they not only “stay” in your shop, but there’s also less fees. <br /><br />When friends of mine have asked their etsy handlers about their drop in sales or search relevancy, they’ve been told it’s their own fault; they need to promote etsy over their own personal sites, which is of course a bunch of malarky. <br /><br />All that to say I’m of two minds when it comes to how to promote my digital collage sheets, and where to send potential customers. For the moment, <a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/2015/12/can-you-still-make-full-time-living-on.html" target="_blank">I’m all about etsy</a>. So when sending out my newsletter today all the links pointed to my etsy listings (thus a higher than average day sales-wise). And since sales often beget other sales, in theory there should be a snowball effect for the next couple of days. That said, it’s definitely time to re-vamp my personal site as well. Being beholden to a company that can make major changes on a whim is not a great long-term solution.<br />
<br />
By the way, here's what <a href="http://us9.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d0a00e59ccba8cb6027fadc29&id=050e45661b&e=[UNIQID]" target="_blank">my most recent newsletter looked like</a>, in case you're curious. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost"><b>Day 15 - December 15th</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy Sales: $36.78<br />
Etsy Views: 608/day<br />
Total Etsy Items: 392<br />
Updated Etsy Items: 5/392<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Piddix/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> Likes: 321<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/piddix/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> Followers: 500 (finally!)</span></span></span></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-9282733537056545702015-12-14T11:59:00.000-08:002015-12-16T01:04:16.332-08:00December 14th: Promoting My Etsy Shop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/260607443/first-week-special-printable-bohemian?ref=shop_home_active_5" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.etsy.com/listing/260607443/first-week-special-printable-bohemian?ref=shop_home_active_5" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicR19jAfm-MoYMwNJhV4nWkF6_W_pv1FAEcm4qWfjU0qv-0QYkUCwOlJls29fZqMQLuHPGEYXs9fTl2Kx0sbkrmZhjBgPQfhPam9Ple2Ou29SHaeu0wcPSqTZT81tirPPHTTqXxiT6skBt/s320/piddix1085_WoodlandBoho2.5inCircles_sam2.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost">Back in the saddle again: pinning and promoting the etsy shop. I even <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/260607443/first-week-special-printable-bohemian?ref=shop_home_active_5" target="_blank">listed a new image</a>. It seems to have helped. Views are up, and even had a sale. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost">I looked at my promoted listings, though, and the numbers are not good (I spent more than I made so far in December). Definitely something to address.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost"><b>Day 14 - December 14th</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy Sales: $11.15<br />
Etsy Views: 272/day<br />
Total Etsy Items: 392<br />
Updated Etsy Items: 4/392<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Piddix/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> Likes: 321 (up one)<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/piddix/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> Followers: 498 (down one)</span></span></span></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-86485195517602379522015-12-13T12:19:00.000-08:002015-12-15T12:22:28.325-08:00Days 10-13: Etsy vs Craft Shows<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgblnxdjXqPMWNvXRdfcnCeXb6nhkkt2r8thrWbGa8T9uH_1Va4IcB_kd6itwzBxZqZ8sIAJdPavreX-cBTnbzf-VBMXSwt-5WdgdMmCKAlfiv82I8FbSZNItaXouD_oFYAYBO3gpk_sGaN/s1600/piddix_DeclanCraftyWonderland_cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgblnxdjXqPMWNvXRdfcnCeXb6nhkkt2r8thrWbGa8T9uH_1Va4IcB_kd6itwzBxZqZ8sIAJdPavreX-cBTnbzf-VBMXSwt-5WdgdMmCKAlfiv82I8FbSZNItaXouD_oFYAYBO3gpk_sGaN/s320/piddix_DeclanCraftyWonderland_cropped.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Setting up the Crafty Wonderland booth for <a href="http://oregonrocks.com/" target="_blank">Deck & Lock Rocks</a>.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Things have been quiet here on the <a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/search/label/100%20days%20of%20etsy" target="_blank">etsy re-vamp front</a>. Instead, we spent the last three days at <a href="http://craftywonderland.com/" target="_blank">Crafty Wonderland</a>, selling more in 2 days than I usually do in 7 months on <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/piddix" target="_blank">etsy</a>.
Talking with another long-time etsy seller there, she said that this
year etsy for her was down by 70%, while Amazon.com’s handmade was
picking up. It definitely begs the question whether the time spent on
etsy is worth it. Are there better (and easier) ways to make money with
crafts? Definitely seems like it.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I’ve been with etsy long enough, though, and perhaps I’m just stubborn enough, that it seems fair to give it <a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/2015/12/can-you-still-make-full-time-living-on.html" target="_blank">one last shot</a>. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Over
the last four days I’ve averaged $8/day, and that’s without any time
spent on etsy or in making any improvements. For the most part, etsy is a
fire that needs to be constantly stoked. In other words, ignoring it
for 4 days isn’t doing my shop any favors, but I also really can’t complain too much about $30 with no effort.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost"><b>Days 10-13 - December 10th - 13th</b></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Etsy Sales: Average $7.78/day<br />
Etsy Views: 174/day<br />
Total Etsy Items: 392 (20 expired)<br />
Updated Etsy Items: 3/392<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Piddix/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> Likes: 320<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/piddix/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> Followers: 499</span></span></span></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-51085719167579879252015-12-08T11:00:00.000-08:002015-12-15T00:04:26.270-08:00Day 8: Making Pin-Friendly Images<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I wrote yesterday about coming up with new "first images" for etsy that were fresh but still true to my personal style. After a lot of futzing, I ended up with an extra tall image that has a collage at the top and sample uses at the bottom. On etsy, I can arrange the image to only show the top collage, but on pinterest or once someone clicks on the listing, it will show the entire piece. So far it's been testing well, with the new design outperforming similar images that have the collage only. I might keep playing around with it a bit, but for now it seems like a good direction in which to head.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8ud9gRNg2FRPLAyJqrwrf3C37SrUgkG15Oip2zk7TRSgILve0QkkRrb3HlDj1oBHAovegF5EIxBRIJqw5GZrrgyogDnbmHEiIvKxOgld7i589VBA1rVHPqGD9GIUmh0uZgYfFkMyS0Fr/s1600/piddix853_SwimmingFlying.875x1.875in_sam1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8ud9gRNg2FRPLAyJqrwrf3C37SrUgkG15Oip2zk7TRSgILve0QkkRrb3HlDj1oBHAovegF5EIxBRIJqw5GZrrgyogDnbmHEiIvKxOgld7i589VBA1rVHPqGD9GIUmh0uZgYfFkMyS0Fr/s640/piddix853_SwimmingFlying.875x1.875in_sam1.jpg" width="186" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost" style="font-size: small;"><b>Day 8 - December 8th</b><br />
Etsy Sales: $0<br />
Etsy Views: 212<br />
Total Etsy Items: 412<br />
Updated Etsy Items: 3/412<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Piddix/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> Likes: 320<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/piddix/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> Followers: 497</span></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-52425650022619680512015-12-07T02:53:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:38:48.763-08:00Day 7: Better Photos and First Images on Etsy<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost">Having really, really good "first" photos on etsy is key. You can have an amazing product, but with dark, blurry, bad photos, you won't get many sales at all. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Roughly half of <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/piddix" target="_blank">my listings on etsy</a> are just low-resolution, watermarked version of the full sheet (see example on left below). Nothing fancy at all, and hard to see online. So as I go about <a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/2015/12/can-you-still-make-full-time-living-on.html" target="_blank">my shop remodel</a>, I'm looking for new, better ways to portray my digital downloads.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/60950487/valentine-cherubs-in-1-inch-circles-two?ref=shop_home_active_24&ga_search_query=valentine" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.etsy.com/listing/60950487/valentine-cherubs-in-1-inch-circles-two?ref=shop_home_active_24&ga_search_query=valentine" border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_gYha1BtctSIEaNNf0uQGLSCmPlWDBP9c6m_CuAJD4TJgqBkOwXyXYtH6wamLDdyWH03xYshrUQS5lszrxZ26b8PWGVTmMX9eWubKpRFAntja_yIMcw_AvvFbR3s9JYIy6OQjlP_FKoX9/s400/piddix_ValentineComparison.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At first I thought I'd show the images in use. Quite a few sellers are mocking-up their images on pendants and glass tiles and they look good. I tried it....even scanned in dozens and dozens of blank pendants and set up ways to input my images...but it just wasn't me. It didn't feel right to follow that particular trend. In general I'm stubborn, and would rather innovate than follow. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilV5bH4SSJyidySd-l__SdaEOLHR2IlBdNdGWK5QmaxFsP4MhngdAqdk05bM7AHYpFHYh1DegLgVR5JHsmYSYDuhIfVhyphenhyphenqRX48wU0r1RqsEY7n2IX0X90-m9Wvi8Z3vdwL0dUW25D2P8Hx/s1600/piddix_PendantComparison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilV5bH4SSJyidySd-l__SdaEOLHR2IlBdNdGWK5QmaxFsP4MhngdAqdk05bM7AHYpFHYh1DegLgVR5JHsmYSYDuhIfVhyphenhyphenqRX48wU0r1RqsEY7n2IX0X90-m9Wvi8Z3vdwL0dUW25D2P8Hx/s400/piddix_PendantComparison.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So for now I'm scrapping the pendant mock-ups in favor of my old collaged style default (3-4 larger images as the focus, like the Valentine circles at top right). I like it; it's my style. And companies have even licensed those first-image-collages for products such as wall art and calendars. I'm worried my reluctance to copy other successful shops' styles is short sighted; that sometimes it's better to be a follower. But having thought about it over several days, I just can't do it. Thus, the next step is seeing if I can improve upon my current collaged style. Perhaps there's a hybrid version that's still me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In other, very, very exciting news, a good amount of sales today. I really hope this is the beginning of a trend!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost"><b>Day 7 - December 7th</b><br />
Etsy Sales: $20.82<br />
Etsy Views: 189 (down quite a bit)<br />
Total Etsy Items: 412<br />
Updated Etsy Items: 3/412<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Piddix/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> Likes: 320 (+2)<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/piddix/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> Followers: 497</span></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-12144387159441431132015-12-06T11:41:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:39:23.584-08:00Day 6: Customer Experience as "Negative Factor" in Etsy Search<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/207959941/digital-collage-sheet-world-tour-in-2-x?ref=shop_home_active_20" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.etsy.com/listing/207959941/digital-collage-sheet-world-tour-in-2-x?ref=shop_home_active_20" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiviLuqpr9aHH19KfxlQIbNggm5DO-Akv9WVa4ZI54qkkps7clsKY-4oc0sNz2Dlv5ZyM2JfxguXWUV4zTztsvHeiXZ2PLSgL6iiUmujtrlgJxGQ03SJjeHK9MGfHVdJ0KfFMQrEqEl2W6E/s320/piddix987_WorldTour2inSqTwo_sam1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost">In their recent announcement about search, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/help/article/34234144469" target="_blank">etsy warned that</a> "</span>recent cases and past intellectual property infringement issues can have a negative effect," while completed "about" pages and shop policies can have a positive one. I believe this is an attempt on etsy's part to stop shops that pop up quickly full of copyrighted knock-offs, since many of those shops don't necessarily take the time to fully complete their profiles. Yet the announcement caused stress among many shop owners <a href="https://www.etsy.com/teams/7716/announcements/discuss/17024759" target="_blank">who asked what specifically was defined as a "case"</a>? What if someone brought a copyright case against them but the matter was found in their favor; would that still count against them? And for how long?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I, too, had some stress about the ambiguity of the statement. Two months ago I went out of town and completely forgot to pay the last $30 of my etsy bill. I was late for a whole four hours before getting a reminder notice, then hopped online and paid it off. Not a big deal, right? But for four hours my shop was suspended. Would a suspended shop count as a "case"? I was pretty sure it did, since that coincided with a big drop in sales.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So I wrote a note to etsy support and asked about search factors, and received a surprisingly helpful answer that no, a temporarily suspended account does not cause etsy to denote or diminish sales or views (thanks Andrew). If you have any questions specifically about any cases or issues against you in the past, a visit to the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/help/contact?ref=help_contact" target="_blank">etsy help page</a> may hopefully bring some illuminating details or reassurances.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost"><b>Day 6 - December 6th</b><br />
Etsy sales: $4<br />
Etsy Views: 291 (not bad)<br />
Total Etsy Items: 395 (whoops; look like 10 items expired)<br />
Updated Etsy Items: 3/395<br />
Facebook Likes: 318<br />Instagram Followers: 497 (+1) </span></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-5938593131521348342015-12-05T23:30:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:39:44.448-08:00Day 5: Getting Sales on Etsy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/62749515/circles-cd-volume-6-1601-circles-on-49?ref=listing-shop-header-1" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.etsy.com/listing/62749515/circles-cd-volume-6-1601-circles-on-49?ref=listing-shop-header-1" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGJSA2reIYRPPJn-j8qCn-GxVHfthOiDkfeMw_inDZimNu3zA-r4n5xERe_Z5RTDN2jc0qidFRGweKpL7BfeUM_aJZC2qQOLWTTRiSWKkKOjnyi0no5BYIHc3nE6LOsB6gZ0ahL7iZSrZ6/s320/piddix_CD6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I got a sale! The biggest one so far in my <a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/2015/12/can-you-still-make-full-time-living-on.html" target="_blank">100-day-attempt</a> to revitalize <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/piddix" target="_blank">my etsy shop</a>. I feel like a total etsy newbie with her first sale, which is kind of fun.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Views and hearts are both way up, too. Previously it had always been the case that sales beget sales on etsy, and it did seem like after the sale piddix was showing up higher in the search rankings, and views definitely increased. It would be great if the increased views could carry on into the next day or two. Definitely baby steps, but still exciting. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="fullpost"><b>Day 5 - December 5th</b><br />
Etsy sales: $19.95<br />
Etsy Views: 357 (Up by more than 150)<br />
Total Etsy Items: 405<br />
Updated Etsy Items: 3/405<br />
Facebook Likes: 318<br />Instagram Followers: 496 (actually went down by 3; boo) </span></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-64161933311595998962015-12-04T23:33:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:40:38.637-08:00Day 4: Getting Seen in Search on Etsy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/259134219/bird-and-flower-collage-sheet-in-1-inch?ref=shop_home_active_4" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.etsy.com/listing/259134219/bird-and-flower-collage-sheet-in-1-inch?ref=shop_home_active_4" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDuGyA39LZhpK0I11ApOPlmX1as4UzobRo49lHHrSEvJ74uLZtqK3Jfx1VIDRXP3Hu-pRFPL5f478kqNJ0eRT4BNLFu4Zv7IFJDbJMGS67DmUtVNu_ykd-zXJ_NxO3xnl0ufkQJqsLBTf/s320/piddix820_BirdsBlossoms1inSq_sam1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Every few months it seems, Etsy changes their search algorithm. For shop owners this equates to frequent shop updates and a frustrating guessing game: changing titles, re-doing descriptions, testing whether renewing and advertisement dollars still result in sales.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In November, 2015 <a href="https://www.etsy.com/teams/7716/announcements/discuss/17024759" target="_blank">etsy announced</a> they were changing how search works, with criteria now including:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">- Relevance of titles and tags </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">- Listing quality</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">- Customer and marketplace experience</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">- Recency</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">- Shop Location</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">- Shop Diversity</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">According to the related <a href="https://www.etsy.com/help/article/34234144469" target="_blank">etsy help article on search</a>, listing quality...increases "if a buyer clicks, favorites, or purchases an item after they’ve seen it
in search results." In other words, the higher the number of hearts or purchases per view, the better.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So in addition to listing a <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/259134219/bird-and-flower-collage-sheet-in-1-inch?ref=shop_home_active_4" target="_blank">new item today</a>, I also joined a <a href="https://www.etsy.com/teams/20372/fms-favorite-my-shop" target="_blank">marketing team</a> that focuses on swapping hearts. I discovered this concept recently when I kept seeing items with 500+ hearts and only 200+ views and tried to figure out how that happens. Basically, you join a view/heart sharing team, post your item, and then favorite X number of people and they'll favorite you back.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It feels a bit pyramid-scheme-y, to be honest. But I'm trying to throw everything possible at this etsy re-vamp, so figured it's worth a try. At least for today, hearts are up, but sales are still down, so we'll see how it all goes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Day 4 - December 4rd</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Etsy sales: $0</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Etsy Views: 195 (Down, but 50+ new favorites)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Total Etsy Items: 405 (+1)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Updated Etsy Items: 3/405 (+1)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Facebook Likes: 318</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Instagram Followers: 499 (+1) </span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-39608753516815596992015-12-03T23:54:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:41:11.018-08:00Day 3: How to Increase Views on Etsy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0_LP0cAy4tq7EWj_qLFTWjQsrAr1fO-5a96L00_pH5DSh61kfQeYR9NibCQLE4td2lJmvxP9s7Tm2EoT3i0-tW9ZRk7_T11O489YDW1CHu800v-cIyOjqGe76InCs7VSbRNOoLXl-Jz_/s1600/piddix_EtsyViews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf0_LP0cAy4tq7EWj_qLFTWjQsrAr1fO-5a96L00_pH5DSh61kfQeYR9NibCQLE4td2lJmvxP9s7Tm2EoT3i0-tW9ZRk7_T11O489YDW1CHu800v-cIyOjqGe76InCs7VSbRNOoLXl-Jz_/s640/piddix_EtsyViews.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today was all about getting more views on etsy in an attempt to increase sales as well. You can see from the above chart my views have been going down all of 2015 (with the exception of May, which is when I advertise the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/transaction/1041659284" target="_blank">piddix subscription</a>). Last month was just 6,000; that includes total shop and item views (the blue and purple lines). By ways of comparison, in 2014 my total views were over 10,000 per month, and back when I was full-time-etsy they were closer to 15,000.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To increase views, I listed a new collage sheet and posted it to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Piddix/photos/a.183975601726032.6392.183067768483482/318140858309505/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">facebook</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/58828338860381039/" target="_blank">pinterest</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/-2fqtgkjRJ/?taken-by=piddix" target="_blank">instagram</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/piddix/updates?ref=shopinfo_shopupdates_leftnav" target="_blank">shop updates</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And added almost 20 items (17 that were sold out, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/259161626/retro-vintage-christmas-collage-sheet?ref=related-7" target="_blank">1 brand new</a>).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I also started using the "<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sell-on-etsy/id860815329?mt=8" target="_blank">Sell on Etsy</a>" app, feverishly checking the "Stats" tab for both views and favorites.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And it worked (kinda). Views went from 174 to 223, which is nice. However, today's sales were a big fat zero. Well poop.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Day 3 - December 3rd</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy sales: $0 (boo)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Etsy Views: 223 (+49)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Total Etsy Items: 404 (+18)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Updated Etsy Items: 2/405</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Facebook Likes: 318</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Instagram Followers: 498 (+2)</span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-57914900856135392842015-12-02T23:00:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:41:35.786-08:00Day 2: Tracking the Competition on Etsy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/259161626/retro-vintage-christmas-collage-sheet?ref=shop_home_active_2" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.etsy.com/listing/259161626/retro-vintage-christmas-collage-sheet?ref=shop_home_active_2" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TWAEOraujWkO5m9mMD3_r11kxbzZmfYPJMwnqeJ6sb21fHTXaZtFN13a6Fguckp9OgyFZWjlYS65dnzR_g1xWMLrgRgwm0epyrfduj1LYdMlzoDs-5P4drE8Yp1o-hzqouytnDKrB6xZ/s320/piddix824_RetroChristmas1.5inSq_sam1.jpg" width="265" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Day two of performing CPR on <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/piddix" target="_blank">my etsy shop</a> involved lots of competitive research. Specifically, I wanted to see if selling my product (digital collage sheets) on etsy was still a viable option. Is anyone still making money with jewelry and mixed media printables? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I started with <a href="http://craftcount.com/category.php" target="_blank">Craft Count</a>, which lists top sellers by category. I went through all 100 top digital collage sheets sellers and chose about 20 based on similar products, pricing, and high quality to briefly track. So far it's not great. Even the top shops are only selling 10-20 items per day. While that may sound like a lot, it's nowhere near the numbers the category once had and most of the products are low-priced ($3-$4 each). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Then a took a look at general themes, strengths and weaknesses. For example, Christmas is definitely trending (makes sense) and many of the shops with blatantly illegal images are no longer there. Having a good, consistent look and feel was common for the best shops, while a scattered non-cohesive look anchored the lower performers. All bringing up points I can improve upon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also pulled up my old <a href="http://www.mudstuffingindustries.com/joomla/UncleGravyInstall.php" target="_blank">Uncle Gravy</a> account to check out my relevance for search terms, discovering that I'm only on 2 to 3 pages out of the first 50 for the search term "collage sheet," while others are on every page (really not good for me). Tags and titles are definitely something I'll need to tackle soon to be seen in search. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Now on to the details.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Day 2 - December 2nd</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Etsy sales: $7.93 (hey, that's twice the day before!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Etsy Views: 174 (slightly lower)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Total Etsy Items: 386 (all the rest are the same)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Updated Etsy Items: 0/386</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Facebook Likes: 318</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Instagram Followers: 496</span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-67187863248738397802015-12-01T10:28:00.000-08:002016-01-18T15:41:55.838-08:00Can You (Still) Make a Full-Time Living on Etsy?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkc3Eo_OJi-e4JReG8s2Tpq8k55lHuc5GaxCp5iPUOcXVeCzZcBKsXKe44mxYNkhCgXa7dhREdzCOGzJGUVZi3OJjeGRoAQkkBx-BjbyJ-gFzV5gtQeAiAqC8e71o2AxT_E4u_DmunyT0/s1600/piddix_Day1Etsy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVkc3Eo_OJi-e4JReG8s2Tpq8k55lHuc5GaxCp5iPUOcXVeCzZcBKsXKe44mxYNkhCgXa7dhREdzCOGzJGUVZi3OJjeGRoAQkkBx-BjbyJ-gFzV5gtQeAiAqC8e71o2AxT_E4u_DmunyT0/s640/piddix_Day1Etsy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I have a confession to make: etsy, I’ve been ignoring you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">While back in the day (2008-2012) etsy was most of my income, ever since they started offering instant digital downloads two years ago, I’ve put <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/piddix" target="_blank">the shop</a> on auto-pilot. I average $250-$300 per month in digital sales, which isn’t too bad considering I do almost nothing to keep the shop updated (most of my income these days comes from <a href="http://www.piddix.com/pages/licensing" target="_blank">licensing</a> and wholesale <a href="http://www.piddix.com/collections/all" target="_blank">printed collage sheets</a>). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I also seem to have lost faith that etsy is still a viable income source for small-time designers, even asking back in May “<a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/2015/05/is-etsy-dead-insiders-view-of-handmade.html" target="_blank">Is Etsy Dead</a>?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In talking with other full-time sellers, their experience seems to be a mixed bag. While most had their best etsy year in 2012, and all have opened their own shopify stores as back-ups, there are still plenty who have stemmed the tide, who have made all the crazy changes (titles, tags, photos) necessary to keep relevant in a sea of mass-produced goods. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So I’m curious: now that both my boys are in school and I have a bit more time, can I bring my etsy shop back from the grave? Is etsy still a viable option to make a full-time living? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Because I know I do well with <a href="http://piddix.blogspot.com/2012/11/striving-for-100-rejections-in-100-days.html" target="_blank">100-day challenges</a>, I’ve decided to spend the next three months and totally re-vamp <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/piddix" target="_blank">the etsy shop</a>. I’m going back to the basics: new product images, better item descriptions, re-doing tags and titles, growing two specific social outlets (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/piddix" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/piddix/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>) and most excitingly: lots of new collage sheets. I currently have 386 items in stock and would love to have 700-1000 by day 100. I also have a very ambitious financial goal: from $7-10/day to $70-100/day by the beginning of March. Gulp.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And because I’m the type of person who loves and is inspired by seeing hard numbers, I’ll post here every day to share my daily sales, stats, and goals with the hope that it can inspire (or perhaps warn) others. Here we go:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Day 1 (December 1st)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Etsy sales: $3.96</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Etsy Views: 184</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Total Etsy Items: 386</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Updated Etsy Items: 0/386</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Facebook Likes: 318</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Instagram Followers: 496</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I’d be curious to hear how etsy is doing for others. Do you think etsy is still a good option? Is there anything you’ve done or noticed that works (or doesn’t)? I feel like I’m starting all over, which is in many ways very exciting. Thanks for coming on this journey with me.</span><br />
<span class="fullpost"></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-81169369506841650762015-10-29T00:46:00.003-07:002015-10-29T01:56:16.277-07:00More Miles Than Money<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3jayBDMH2v42opnO1vsKZoTP7QUyQ0Ye2m4ytYep09_gi8nHYLZET8yq0cXGTkeOFx8j98XahOMU-FXhvpSr_mtnS60rwM2t8Z8xL7SCPciVSL-MtAMe3hv1fvCFM7XBrtgCEkur_1mK/s1600/IMG_0672.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3jayBDMH2v42opnO1vsKZoTP7QUyQ0Ye2m4ytYep09_gi8nHYLZET8yq0cXGTkeOFx8j98XahOMU-FXhvpSr_mtnS60rwM2t8Z8xL7SCPciVSL-MtAMe3hv1fvCFM7XBrtgCEkur_1mK/s320/IMG_0672.jpg" width="303" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">New baby cousin!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Portland public schools sometimes have more days off than on, so for a recent 5-day break I grabbed the boys and flew down to sunny Santa Barbara to hang out with family and a new baby cousin.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We're lucky in that we get to travel quite a bit, often for free.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For a long time I didn't see a collaboration between being crafty and saving money, then I stumbled upon a graduation speech by <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chuck-closes-advice-to-his-younger-self/" target="_blank">Chuck Close</a> that made the connection:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"I’d like to say something to the parents of the art majors. This is
probably not what you had in mind, you know? You hoped maybe—I don’t
know, maybe medical school, maybe a degree in law, but I want to tell
you that a life in art can be a wonderful life. Artists live better at
near-poverty level income than yuppie bond traders do at much larger
income."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For me it's fun to come up with creative ways to do amazing things for free. For example, for the Santa Barbara trip I grabbed two Alaska Airlines credit cards. They each come with a 25,000 mile sign-up bonus, and if you <a href="http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/05/10/repeatable-bonus-for-alaska-airlines-visa-with-100-statement-credit-is-back/" target="_blank">use this special trick </a>they'll even PAY YOU $100 to use them (which covers the $75 annual fee). So we ended up with three free airplane tickets and $20 in my pocket after taxes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In fact, we've received around a million points/miles over the last several years with similar programs. If anyone is curious, I might write up a longer description of how exactly to go about traveling for free. Or here's a couple of good places to start:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://thepointsguy.com/beginners-guide/" target="_blank">The Points Guy Beginner's Guide</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.creativelive.com/courses/make-your-dream-trip-reality-chris-guillebeau-stephanie-zito" target="_blank">Make Your Dream Trip a Reality</a> (or <a href="http://chrisguillebeau.com/category/travel/" target="_blank">his free website here</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It mostly works if you have 4-8 hours per month to coordinate different trips and cards, love excel spreadsheets, and can pay your monthly bills off each month. It's definitely not for everyone. Or even most people. But for those with some creativity and a "why not" attitude, traveling and staying at <a href="http://thepointsguy.com/2015/01/maximizing-chase-hyatt-visa-free-night-certificates/" target="_blank">places like this for free</a> is pretty awesome.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUwRwt5x4zjbm720SvQFwLPsE73g0eSpoBNWN7eeMUmWBrjc62nzteFEX7nLnA12xAu4mUl-th85-bmFSfpZT9fISwt9VTeqgSojzgyjTgPczMSh-hkbcmD3_w-wbCvjBBhSG_DX5rEJT7/s1600/HyattPointsGuy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUwRwt5x4zjbm720SvQFwLPsE73g0eSpoBNWN7eeMUmWBrjc62nzteFEX7nLnA12xAu4mUl-th85-bmFSfpZT9fISwt9VTeqgSojzgyjTgPczMSh-hkbcmD3_w-wbCvjBBhSG_DX5rEJT7/s640/HyattPointsGuy.png" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Park Hyatt Maldives, where you can stay for free with your Hyatt certificate (photo from <a href="http://thepointsguy.com/2015/07/park-hyatt-maldives-category-6/" target="_blank">The Points Guy</a>).</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-503169743587377526.post-20419745073792563952015-09-30T09:18:00.000-07:002015-09-30T09:23:11.630-07:00Fearing Change (Even Awesome Change)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8or2zFDx7knL2lPzB7FJXXrSnVZZsVatjQTuNCyL2ZCvku1nsCSfvSqTuEfLoMYR4hQQ710RcNy31j5TViOkh7VB9QG-7x3cO0M_H61quBot7XXNfMtWoYnPi4hj8BgYb-1An8mdr2Zzz/s1600/VoiceYourFears.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8or2zFDx7knL2lPzB7FJXXrSnVZZsVatjQTuNCyL2ZCvku1nsCSfvSqTuEfLoMYR4hQQ710RcNy31j5TViOkh7VB9QG-7x3cO0M_H61quBot7XXNfMtWoYnPi4hj8BgYb-1An8mdr2Zzz/s400/VoiceYourFears.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My youngest started preschool this month, which means for the first time in five years I won’t have to work until 3 am. I was so excited! But the transition has been much harder than I expected (for me). In fact, I'm writing this at 2 am when I really should be in bed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I’ve been procrastinating during the day, filling my time with busy work instead of what really needs to get done. My sock drawer is all cleaned out (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308/" target="_blank">thanks to this book</a>), I started two new websites (<a href="http://oregonrocks.com/" target="_blank">on Rocks</a> and <a href="https://allisonhdean.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Architecture</a>), yet the most important piddix work I need to do I ignore. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It’s frightening to admit, but I’m scared. Scared that now that all the excuses are gone, I won’t be able to make <a href="http://www.piddix.com/" target="_blank">piddix</a> work full-time as I once did. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I’m not sure what exactly is going on, but I’ve come up with three theories:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. I need time to transition. It’s been almost a month, and I’m still on my swing-shift schedule. Perhaps like a cure for jet lag I need to force my body to readjust to a more normal routine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. I need time for myself. After years of only focusing on two things (piddix and family), I need time to have fun. Since my version of fun is taking on new projects, I’m filling up what I thought would be extra time with new ideas I’ve been sitting on forever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. I’m self-sabotaging. This is the scariest idea because it seems ridiculous, yet is probably true. I finally have exactly what I want. Two boys in amazing schools. Time for family and for myself....so what's the problem? Here goes: I’m afraid that if everything is too perfect, something horrible will go wrong. In my mind, life is meant to be a balance of good and bad. And if there’s too much good… I’m just waiting for the other shoe to fall. I’m afraid of this perfect life that’s just outside my grasp. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it. So I delay. I procrastinate. I won’t take those last few steps I need to get there. Perhaps I feel I don’t deserve it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have no idea how to overcome this resistance to change I’m experiencing. And feel ridiculous for having such a silly first-world problem. Which is why I suppose I'm writing this down. Getting my fears and doubts out of my head to make them dissipate, and sharing my goals and dreams to help make them real.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These larger questions feel like wispy smoke I cannot grasp, so I suppose I'll start with something concrete that I can control: bedtime. My plan for October is to go to bed every night at midnight, and hope that getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night for a month it will bring some clarity for next steps. Well, that and bribes. If I get off my bottom and send out the piddix newsletter today, I get to <a href="http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Trick-or-Treat-40122" target="_blank">open and build this</a> with my boys after school. Sometimes it’s the little things.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbSNr0X2imkSGEHJheIibDUPtCaG6IwSWkMKLkHxH4nh8aG0QJfYEURzNmwcv9U3Oqcg6W0cArd2NUMPVRuvvY4cxgz7_niMQBjS0VCNYBI1wZy_z2521r_zoWqtHCfP_-2o3SVS8Gum2/s1600/SpeakYourDreams.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbSNr0X2imkSGEHJheIibDUPtCaG6IwSWkMKLkHxH4nh8aG0QJfYEURzNmwcv9U3Oqcg6W0cArd2NUMPVRuvvY4cxgz7_niMQBjS0VCNYBI1wZy_z2521r_zoWqtHCfP_-2o3SVS8Gum2/s400/SpeakYourDreams.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
piddixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06243246478847429971noreply@blogger.com0