it definately matters. . .

There is a raging debate on Etsy over whether the number of listings matters to a shop so say it does some say it makes no difference.  However, I can attest that in my shop it made a huge difference in the amount of views a day stat.  I have been steadily building this little shop for over a year bit by bit views crawled up very slowly.  

Thanks to a couple of custom orders over the summer there were sales and fresh reviews which gave a bit of a search bump.  I started doing promoted listings and tried the google ads even but it didn't make too much of a difference until I made it over 100 listings.  

When I had more than 100 listings I had views and favorites everyday often double digits of both.  With the most recent sales I am back below 100 with only 98 listings and the last 2 days I've had 5 views total for the 2 days.  :-(   Yeah huge difference.  

So my goal for the day is to photograph and list the 5 trees I have finished and get back over 100 listings and hope my stats go back up.

 

up and down. . .

Well I'm up to 21 sales but that means I'm down to 98 listings.  LOL  So that whole break 100 listings aiming for 110 is not looking so easy, I hit 105 before dropping back.  It's all the wire trees too.  My shops list of "Sold out" listings is almost entirely wire trees which looks funny but the chainmaille listings have multiple quantities so they just renew.  :-/  However, even when I'm really trying I can't manage to make 2 trees look exactly alike.  

I donated this one to my husband's office gift exchange and made someone very happy.  Now I have custom orders to make for those that didn't get lucky in the gift drawing.  LOL  

Lucky for me I have 5 new trees finished and ready to add to the store, well after I photograph them anyway.  ;-)  

 
 

adding and subtracting . . .

I have been making a new tree almost every day, I added more new ones and a few more sold.  I have one I haven't added to the shop yet and I'm going to make more because they keep selling.  Add a few listings get a sale, add more listings.  I'm hovering around the 101 listings mark, I made it to 105 but then back down to 101.  

I am happy to have the sales, I just wish the chainmaille sold as well.

Working on new stuff. . .

I've been making more wire trees because they keep selling.  LOL  I had to add more to the store to get back to my 100+ listings.  I have 3 new ones that I haven't added yet because it has been cloudy and I can't get decent photos.  :-/  I got 2 added the other day.

I have developed a habit of check in on the etsy forums and I'm going to have to stop because the repetitiveness is driving me MAD, like mad hatter mad.  o.O   Seriously there are a handful of basic topics that are just posted over and over and over and over because no one has the common sense to READ what has already been answered a thousand times.  Honestly, even when it was posted 5 minutes ago and is right there on the damn front page.  I am so sick of typing the same answers over and over and over and over and over and over and over. . . .   :-o  

 

Happy Thanksgiving. . .

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

 

My BLACKFRIDAY coupon code will be good through Cyber Monday.

Improving views. . .

Ok so I'm not ready to confirm that 100 listings is some sort of magic thing but since I broke the 100 listing mark I have had pretty steady views and another sale.  Lucky for me the sale was an item that had a multiple quantity so the listing auto-renewed.  Plus I made another fabulous wire tree so now I'm at 102.  
 

Holidays are rapidly approaching and I'm working on my promoted listing bids and google ads.  I did a Facebook post with coupon codes for nearly the whole month. 

NOV10 is 10% off any purchase of $10 or more it's good for most of the month.  

THANKSGIVING is 15% off any purchase of $10 or more it's only good for a couple of days (23-24th).  

BLACKFRIDAY is 25% off any purchase of $10 or more and it's good for the whole weekend through Cyber Monday (25-28th).

I'm also considering making a special banner for the shop with the coupon codes on it because everyone always says no one reads the shop announcement section, so maybe if I put it in a huge colorful picture it will get noticed.  LOL

 

Yee-Ha !!!

Total "hot damn" moment I broke 100 listings.  

Ok, so I kind of cheated by listing the necklace and matching earrings separately instead of as a set.  ~LOL~ 
 

So I now have 101 listings all with "A" grades that show up well placed in search and sadly no huge surge of views or sales.   :-/

I'll just have to keep plugging away at the Facebook and Instagram and promos.  

 

Oh so close. . .

Ok so I had a goal of 100 listing and I've been making things pretty steadily.  I was making real progress too, I was up to 97 and had a few in the works that would have made it 100.  However, I actually had a sale over the weekend, I did a little happy dance when the cha-ching sounded.  I love sales, but then I realized I'm not going to hit 100 when I list the things I have finished.  LOL

 I'm going to end up with 99 listings, oh so close to my 100 goal.

 

Oh I like that alot !!

I bought some odd rings a while back, not my typical material or size and twisted.  Literally, square wire twisted as it's coiled makes for very cool looking results.  They are gunmetal plated brass nickle free not too shiny and with a nice weight.  I only bought a limited quantity at the time because I wasn't sure I was going to like them.  The rings have an interesting look on their own and they are not easy to get smooth closures on because of the tiny corners but once worked into something wow. 

 The texture and depth they add are simply amazing.  I made a couple of bracelets and I seriously think I need to order more of these rings.  I only ordered them in 1 size initially I think this time I may have to buy a larger quantity and more than one size.  LOL

I am sorely tempted to keep one of these, not that I need another bracelet but it's just soooo darn cool.  

 

New New New listings. . .

I have been adding new listings for earrings and other things, new styles and chain patterns.  I am at 93 listings now and still aiming to break 100.  Over the weekend I made a new rainbow boxchain necklace, it's awesome.  

I need to shoot the listing photos for it but it will soon be number 94.

 

New listings. . . .

I have continued to work on photos and listings I'm beginning to think it will be a never-ending process, so I gave up on adding photos, there are in fact about a dozen listings that are still short a pic or two. 

I have instead moved on to adding a few new listings.  I found a full diamond Japanese 12-in-2 bracelet that had never been listed.

 

I also decided to go ahead and create a secondary listing for the Leather Barbed Wire necklaces in 2mm. 

 I think I'm going to add a few more earrings, try to have an even dozen listings for that section.  I think I should also add the old gridlock bracelet to the clearance section along with a few pairs of the older earrings that match it, maybe I'll just make it a set like the others.  

I'd like to hit 100 listings before the end of the year.  There are conflicting opinions but some say that 100 or more listings is like a  magic number in Etsy and leads to more views and sales.  ~fingers crossed~

 

New listings, new photos, new new NEW!!!

Ok so I have been working on new listing photos, not just adding 1 or 2 photos so that each listing has all 5 but in some cases completely changing all the photos to newer better ones.

Many of the original listings had photos taken with my phone on the dining room table.  LOL  So the fact that I now have my full shop with all it's bank of lights and my actual back-drops and stands and a new Nikon camera means that I can get much much better photos.  I'm actually adding some photos of me wearing them.

While going through the box that is my chainmaille jewelry inventory I have found or more accurately I have not been able to find a couple of things, maybe they sold at the last event, I think one of them I gave to a friend.  However, I have decided not to take the listings down because I can easily make another but I can't shoot new photos of things I don't have.  The flip side of that is I have found things that I had never listed.  Plus I made a new Hogwarts School Crest tree that I actually listed for sale.

So I've added a few new listings and I have a few more to add yet.  I have been rearranging the photos on some of the listings making the new photos the first photos, hopefully they will get more attention in search that way.   We'll see if there are any stat improvements, as I've also been tweaking titles, descriptions, and tags while I'm at it.  

Some of them I have staged and laid out different than before.

Some of them I really do like the new photos way more than the old.

I am hopeful that the photos of me wearing them will help people with scale and seeing how they hang/lay/drape.

I seriously doubt that I will actual do all new photos for all 80+ listings mainly because I'm kinda bored with the process already but I am hoping to at least have 5 photos for each listing eventually.  I am going to have to re-make a few things first in order to make that happen though.  In the mean time I am planning to add a few more new things and pray for sales.  o:-)

 
 

Oh EtsyRank you . . . pain in the a$$

I have admitted before I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Etsyrank.  It can be, has been, is a helpful tool but it is also an ever-changing multi-faceted pain in the ass.  

I spent over a month going listing by listing changing wording, lengthening titles, making the description and titles match up with the keywords.  SEO the bane of my existence, I worked so hard to make all my listings "A" grade because supposedly it improved relevancy and would increase views.  I won't lie I was hoping it would get some sales if I was easier found in search.  

It sort of worked.  I got all my listings to "A" grades and for a couple of weeks had views, lots of views, got some favorites even.  Sadly only a couple of sales.  

I decided to shift and focus on social media, I've been working the facebook page, got the instagram off the ground.  However, neither really seem to drive traffic to the Etsy shop, I don't know how people do it.  The facebook page is up to 99 likes, the instagram yo-yos on the followers, people are fickle.  

I went to check Etsyrank to see if my efforts were getting anywhere and they have added a new thing for "missing images".  ~sigh~  Great something else I have to work on.  :-(   So I checked out the new tool and damn 52 of my 82 listings did not have all 5 photos.  I knew there were some that didn't have as many as they could have because when shooting photos of the jewelry not all of them turn out.  It's not easy getting crisp, clear, detail photos of shiny things.  I had thought I'd rather have 1 or 2 good photos than 5 crappy ones.

So I made a list and now I'm working on updating/upgrading listings.  While I am looking through my existing photos to see where I can just add 1-2 before I have to do a massive photo shoot.  Also while I am opening and editing listings to add photos I have been tweaking titles and descriptions hopefully it will do something.

I've been at this for 4 hours already and I don't really feel like I'm making much progress.  I was really hoping to get this version of updates done in a week but it seems to be taking quite a while, hopefully it won't take a month like it did last time.  :-/

 

That's not right. . .

Sometimes I see people in the forums compliment each other's shops and I wonder if they are just being fake as hell.  I'm sorry but not everyone's stuff is that nice, honestly some of it is amazing, some of it is mediocre, and some of it is just crap.  :-/ 

Everyone and their cousins' neighbors' dog "makes" jewelry these days.  However, if you've been to a craft store like Micheals' or JoAnn's lately you can easily spot the ridiculously cheap mass produced charms on cheap pre-made chain.  I am sorry but I do not count attaching a couple of store bought charms to a store bought chain as making jewelry.  

I actually make chain one ring at a time, opening and closing every ring, varying colors and patterns.  I actually cut leather and braid it and decorate it, punch holes, install snaps, set rivets and spots by hand.  I actually tie every knot on my barbed wire.

There are some amazing artists on Etsy that are real metalsmiths and truly make jewelry, there are chainmaille artists that spend hours and hours creating chain.  Then there are literally truckloads of people who buy stuff from China spend 5 minutes slightly modifying it and then sell it as "handmade".  :-(

Happy Birthday to me !!

Ok, so I photographed and listed the most recent "Forever" wire tree, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  

I have been using my social media stuff, posting on Instagram and Facebook.  I have created "an offer" on Facebook for my newest coupon code, HAPPYBIRTHDAY will take 20% off any purchase over $10.00 this coupon is good for the next week.

So wish me HAPPYBIRTHDAY while saving yourself 20%  


 

There is still hope. . .

I actually had a sale this week.  I really do like the cha-ching sound that the app makes.  LOL  The day I got the sale I only had 12 views total for the day and 1 favorite that was not what was purchased.  :-/

Since then I think the bots are crawling because I had nearly 50 views in a 2 hour period last night and this morning I woke up to over 300 views the overwhelming majority of which came at 2am.  

I have no explanation for the out of whack stats but I find it ironic that nearly 400 views in less than 24 hours results in no sales when the slow day of only 12 views had a sale.  o.O

I finished another wire tree sculpture, this one is a double "family" tree style with red and gold and silver and purple.

 Once I shoot the photos I'll add it to the Etsy listings, it's just in time to replace the one that sold.  ;-)

Harry Potter themed Hogwarts house colors bracelets. . .

I love Harry Potter and I know I'm not alone in that love.  I have made bracelets in house colors before in multiple patterns, matching earrings and necklaces for the Helm's chain too.  

 And I must admit I love them all, they are great color combinations, they are some of the most searched and most loved listings in my shop.  So last week I started another set of them in a new pattern.

 I'm really liking how they are turning out and I'm thinking these will have matching earrings too, maybe necklaces I don't know it's kind of a dense pattern so necklaces would be a lot of rings.

 

RainbowMaille on Instagram. . .

I've been working on the Instagram, learning hashtags, trying to post regularly, attempting to be engaging and interesting to gain followers.

The cats, Harry Potter stuff, and wire trees seem to be the most attention getting.  The food stuff not so much.  So cute cats, house colors, and wire trees it is.  In the week I've been at it I have several photos with lots of love, the Hogwarts school crest trees has 19 likes and even a couple of comments.  I have 7 followers already which I think is pretty decent for only a week.

The real challenge will be if I can make it translate to some sales on Etsy.  I've read plenty of other sellers in the forums say that their Instagram does generate sales so hopefully it will work for me too.

 https://www.instagram.com/rainbowmaille/

A little work. . .

The tiny butt took a liking to the window seat and unlike his big brother he also took an interest in my craft supplies.  LOL  So I packed up all the wire and beads to keep the baby from chewing on them and scattering them about.

I am still crafting just in a more focused way now, with everything packed I have to know what I'm looking for to get it out.  Instead of looking at the scattered pile and randomly picking things I have to have a plan before hand.

Due to kitten attacks I didn't get to finish it in one sitting as I have always previously done but I did get it finished and I am pleased with how it turned out. 
    

So life goes on, new listings get added.  I've started an Instagram for RainbowMaille but I am including photos of my cats and food, as a way to show I am more than business. 

 

tiny disruptions . . .

Of the adorable 2 pound kitten variety his name is Jaspurrrr and he does purr a lot even when he's biting the hand that's trying to pet him.  LOL   He is our 3rd black cat, the tiny one in the middle.  ;-)

He's been with us just over a week and although, initially very shy and skittish he is adjusting well and has started playing with everything, literally everything.  I had to pack up all my wire and beads for the tree sculptures off the table because chewing on wire is not the best thing for tiny kittens.  :-/  

Now that he's getting used to the house and his brothers I am hopeful that I can get back to a bit of crafting soon.  o:-)

Crafting break. . .

I am taking a short break from crafting new items because I adopted a new kitten.  <3  He's an adorable 4 month old tiny 2 pound baby who like all babies thinks every thing should go in his mouth.  LOL 

So I have packed all the beads and wires for the trees into a tote and stacked all my jars of jumprings in the cabinet for a bit so I can focus on the ball of super cuteness I brought home.

kjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjz
okl

That was a little keyboard dance. LOL 

Woo-Hoo. . .

I finally received all the charms I have been waiting on to re-make the Hogwarts Crest themed wire tree.  Someone custom ordered the idea of a Harry Potter themed wire tree with all the house colors, I took it a step further with the notion that I could add charms to represent each house.  Being a Potter fan myself I did a bit of checking and studying and realized it would be fairly easy to make the school crest by separating the colors into quadrants and placing the right charms in the right place.  Finding the right charms turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than I anticipated by I succeeded.
 

I literally fell in love with the completed tree, it turned out even more fabulously stunning than I imagined.  I really wanted to keep it for myself but knew that I couldn't as it was a custom order and must be delivered to the proper owner, who had actually ordered it as a gift for a friend.  Happy Birthday/Merry Christmas lucky recipient.  

It took me 4 days of research and scouring the net to find all the animal charms in large quantities.  I originally bought the first set from a fellow Etsian where they were incorporated into a set of wine glass markers, but knew I could not afford to buy them at that rate repeatedly.  I finally found what I needed as far as the animals and I decided that I wanted to change the center H to a block letter instead of script to make it closer match the real school crest.
 

Mine is a larger 7" version on a silver hoop, where the original custom order was a 5" version on a gold hoop.  However, I am happy with the larger one in some ways it holds the charms better and makes it look not quite so crowded.  Although I think I will stick with 5", 6", 7" sizes for this, I don't think it would look right on a 10" or 12".  However, I am seriously considering small 3" individual house versions too.  I have not made multiples yet to add to Etsy but when I do there will likely be 2 listings, one for the whole school crest and one for individual houses.

 

Well nevermind then. . .

For months I have been reading repeated forum threads by buyers about how some sellers never answer their conversations or take several days to reply.  I understand their frustrations waiting for days on end for a response would annoy me too.  I personally try to reply as quickly as possible, I put the app on my phone so even when I'm in my shop working and not at the computer I can get the phone ding notification.  I know not everyone has a smartphone, not everyone wants to be that connected, everyone has to sleep sometime, people deserve to have a life, whatever.  

I noticed a Facebook feature I thought might be helpful on Etsy so I posted a discussion thread about a "response rate" stat being added to shops along with sales and reviews.  I thought it would be handy if there was a stat that clearly stated this shop has a 90% response rate with an average 4 hour reply time, just so buyers would have an idea what they are getting into.  For instance if it said this shop has a 10% response rate with a 4 day average then people would know not to expect an immediate answer.  I happen to think it's a great idea, just another tool for buyers to choose a seller they will be happy with, a way for sellers to have solid data and possibly improve their customer service.   

I understand that the Facebook system is flawed, and I don't think Etsy should just copy Facebook, there would have to be adaptations but I think it's doable and I think customers would like it even if it seems shop owners hate the idea.  I am a bit shocked by the snarky defensive negative responses by sellers honestly.  I don't understand the resistance to something that could help you set your shop above and highlight good customer service.  The insane notion that not having a 100% would be a bad thing or that sleeping at night and not responding within minutes to every message would somehow kill your shop just boggles my mind.  

I'm having one of those "please get a grip and come back to reality" trips. 
 

Not all chainmaille is created equal. . .

No one is perfect and there is no such thing as a perfect jumpring.  To see exactly what I'm talking about you can click on the photos to make them full screen and better see the details up close.

Jumprings are generally made by coiling wire on a mandrel and then slitting the coil.  The problem with this method is you lose a little material with the cut, the width of the saw blade, which means when the rings are closed tight they will no longer be exactly round.  Also depending on the blade and exact process there can be burs, sharp edges or angled ends instead of flat.  Machine cut are even worse than saw cut though as they have pinched ends that will never butt properly.  I have learned this the hard way in my years of making chainmaille.  I have become very particular about the rings I order.

I also have a tendency to spend hours working the rings before I begin assembling them into anything. I like to make sure they are flat and as close to perfectly round as I can get them, that the ends butt tight and proper, that they line up side to side and top to bottom.  Call me crazy but do aim for perfection.  I am not saying I always achieve it but at least I try.

I have seen some cheap and sloppy chainmaille for sale, whenever I see low price chainmaille I can't help but wonder are they using cheap poor quality rings or are they just sloppy because they rush and don't care? 
 

Maybe it's both, maybe they don't know any better, maybe they just don't care.  I just wonder how long something like that will last, as every misaligned, sloppy closure is an opening for snagging and stretching.  Plus it can't be comfortable for your jewelry to scratch you all the time or get caught in your hair.  :-(

My chainmaille is not cheap because I use quality rings and I work hard to make it as smooth, snag and scratch resistant and comfortable to wear as possible.  I don't sell $8 or $10 bracelets I can't sell my work that cheap I spend too many hours working on them to undervalue them that much.  Again I am not claiming to be perfect, I am not saying my chainmaille will never snag, I'm saying if you look closely quality is often visible.  

Thinking about things. . . .

I'm thinking about expanding into more social media but I'm wondering if it's really worth it.  I know it takes time to be active on multiple platforms and it takes time to build up a following on each one.  Ideally I'd like to have lots of followers everywhere liking and buying my stuff, recommending it to others, but I'd rather be making stuff than advertising.  

I already spend quite a bit of time keeping up this blog and the Facebook page while regularly working on the actual Etsy shop, editing listings, adding listings, etc.

Some days I just want to make make stuff.  :-/

 

Twitter mentions. . .

I don't use Twitter, I mean like at all, I don't have an account I've never looked at it, I don't follow anyone.  I am actually pretty clueless about Twitter and how it works, I know there are tons of people who do use it, I know it's pretty much everywhere you look everyone's talking about it.  

When I use EtsyRank there is a page just for social media reports, where aside from Facebook and LinkedIn it recommends and analyzes Twitter, Pintrest, and Instagram.  Now I know my Facebook page is not the most popular and is under trafficked. I don't have an account on any of the other sites so it's been basically a blank page with a row of red X's.  

However, I noticed yesterday that someone tweeted one of my listings of a wire tree sculpture.  I was a bit shocked but happy to see it and even happier that 2 others "re-tweeted" it. :-o  The original "tweet-er" also posted it in her worldpress blog.  

The Hippie Corner 

I'm not the greatest at social media so it's nice having a bit of a boost by random strangers.  o:-)

 

No sales. . .

I am starting to get frustrated again.  I know my SEO good, I have all "A" graded listings now.  I have promoted listings on too.  Last month I only had 327 views resulting in 37 favorites, I had 3 orders but there were all a result of custom orders from a show not really etsy-web based.  This month after all that SEO work and turning on promoted listings I have 564 views (and there is still a week left) but so far only 32 favorites and no sales.  :-(  

I've been doing a lot of reading about etsy's search changes, crazy theories about shop black outs, rotations, bucket sorting.  I have no control over how etsy sorts, manages, or presents search results and it's so frustrating.  I blog, I facebook, I try to stay active and regularly list new items all things that should help lead to sales but I don't seem to be getting anywhere.  

I am splitting categories on the the new wire tree listings putting some as art and some as home decor to try to get more exposure.  I have even posted in the "promo" section of the forums even though there is a general consensus that no one actually shops from there and it's just all sellers continually drive-by posting their own stuff.

I get views and I get favorites and for weeks I was happy about it thinking it would lead to sales but now I'm really wondering if it ever will.  :-/

 https://www.etsy.com/shop/RainbowMaille

New designs, new accents. . .

I have been contemplating new chainmaille patterns I would like to learn but I have been absorbed with the wire tree sculptures lately.  

When I go to the craft store I always find new beads and accents that I think would look cool on a tree.  I have quite the growing pile of stuff but I think I have to stop for a while.  I have added a full dozen wire trees to the RainbowMaille shop but I have only sold one this month from the regular listings.  :-/   

I keep making more, trying to make different color combinations to have a variety available so people can have their favorite color or find one to match their decor.

 

I have at least one of every size listed except the large 12" which I am working on now.  I have been reluctant to list the larger ones because I am still waiting on USPS to delivery my order of shipping boxes.  

 

from time to time . . .

From time to time I have this problem, I make something and really really really want to keep it.  Sometimes I do decided to keep things just because I really love the way they turn out, but with custom orders I don't have that option.  This is one of those times I really love this custom order.  I loved the idea when it was requested and I am incredibly proud of how it turned out.  This thing is stunning if I do say so myself, if it were not a custom order I would definitely be keeping it for myself.  

In case you are not a huge Harry Potter nerd like me and my customer, this is in fact Hogwarts school crest turned into a wire sculpture tree.  This thing is pure art, with the colors of all four houses including their icon animals, it even has the center H for the school itself.  It is simply amazing, I am positive my customer will love it and probably feel much as I do when it comes time for her to gift it to the person she is buying it for.  

 

Custom orders. . .

I can and have done custom orders for both chainmaille jewelry and the wire wall art.  I have no problems doing custom orders but from what I have been reading in the forums it seems there is a chance that it's not helping my shop ranking or search.  I have always know that Etsy's search is "weighted" giving an advantage to shops that have "aged" and have a good record of sales and positive reviews.  When I was new last year I couldn't be found anywhere in search, I have worked hard on my listings tags, keywords, titles, descriptions to improve my position but now I'm wondering if it simply was an "age" factor that help more than all my hours spend tweaking and re-writing.  Once I got a couple of sales I moved up, one of my sales was to an online friend and she left a 5 star review and I moved up.

Now my concern is I have seen others talking about how selling the same listing over and over along with favorites and clicks increase it's relevance in search.  So my custom listings and one of a kind things that become "sold out" aren't really helping because when something becomes sold out instead of renewed and relisted you lose the clicks/views and favorites.  Making new listings rank lower than renewed reused listings?  This seems weird and a bit unfair and I'm not sure what to do about it.  I suppose I can try renewing the custom tree listing for the next custom tree but I'd have to change the photo and description to reflect the new one and I'm not sure if that would change the photo in the review from last time to the same new photo making the "custom" look like a generic reproduction instead of showing the two different.  

I have no problems using the same listings for most of the chainmaille as it's easy to reproduce the same item in the same colors, but with the wire trees no two are really alike, even when I tried to make 2 alike the didn't really turn out the same.  :-/  So I think I may be stuck just letting them go "sold out" since I can't really reproduce them exactly.  

 

Wall art up for sale. . .

OK so I went ahead and did it.  I've been thinking about it for over a month and after selling most of the first round while on vacation I decided I was going to add the wire tree sculptures to the things I sell on Etsy.   However, when I came home I only had mine hanging around the house so in order to add them to the sale listings I had to make more.  I didn't want to open a new section in the shop until I had several of them done, in case they started selling right away I didn't want to add one or two and end up with an empty page.  

I had been hoping for a full dozen and having all sizes available but I settled for 7 and only 3" inch and 5" inch.  I got some decent photos, they are not the greatest but with the wires being so thin and shiny they are not easy to photograph, actually harder than the chainmaille.  ~LOL~  I still have a few more things to try as far as photo tricks for the next round but in the meantime I got them posted.  I shot against 3 different backgrounds and it's not like one is superior the background color influences the tree coloring but at the same time clear beads are virtually invisible on a white background but stand out great against the black.  So I think I'm going to use the black and the white and create "collages" for side by side.  That uses 3 of the available 5 slots in a listing and it gives a good idea of the fact that where you hang it can effect the look.  
 

 Afterall, they are wall art so depending on the paint color of the wall you hang it on it's going to look different.  I also like the occasional over-flashed photo as sometimes it catches fine detail that otherwise blends.  The purple background did not work for the majority.

 I guess the photos I used aren't too bad because they are getting views and one of them sold in a matter of hours.  I think that I would be selling more of them now if I had more available, more colors, more sizes.  That's what I'm working on now, I've made 3 more in 6" and 8" so once I make some 10" and 12" I'll have at least 1 of each size.  

 

I guess it worked. . .

Ok so I had been working on my SEO and rankings for over a week, doing a few listings each day.  I noticed a slight improvement in views, like I was actually get views daily. *LOL*  So this weekend I spent hours and hours making sure I did all 65 listings and reworking them over and over until I hit "A" ranking on all of them and overall for the whole shop.  It was a lot of work but when I had all A's I felt really good like I had accomplished something.  o:-)

Yesterday I had over 40 views and 4 favorites in just one day, that's a frickin' record.  Seriously I don't think I've had that much activity in a single day the whole year it's been open.

I hope it keeps up and I hope I get some sales from all that work.  I have shipped a couple of custom orders and while I got an email form one of them saying he really loved what he ordered I really hope that eventually they will take the time to write me some nice reviews.  

Victory !!!

I have conquered Etsy SEO, at least I think I have have for now.  :-/

I know SEO is an ever changing animal dancing on shifting sands but right now at least all my listings have A grades and my shop is typo free.  ~woo-hoo~

Pardon my happy dance but I am thrilled to have accomplished such a huge task and glad to move on to other things.

I made an adorable tree yesterday so I am hopeful that I can get a few more finished quickly and add the new section to the shop.

EtsyRank. . . .

OMG!?!?   EtsyRank makes me want to cry, seriously it is a helpful tool I guess but I have worked so hard to use all 13 tags and re-do my titles and make sure all the right words are in my descriptions.  I really thought I had made great progess but then EtsyRank upgraded and changed format and I checked again only to find I have an overall C rating, many of my tags are not scored well and my attempts to cover all the spellings of chainmaille (chain mail, chainmaill, chain maille, etc.) are counted as spelling errors.  :-(

In the "external links" section it for some reason doesn't count the links from this blog or my Facebook page, but maybe that's because there is a separate section for "social" stuff.  However, since I don't use Pintrest, Twitter, LinkedIn or other sites my sad little Facebook page and this underutilized blog don't fare well in comparison.  :-(  

So while I am planning to expand my listings and know that I need to re-shoot most of my photos I now know that I also need to re-do most of what I thought was done to improve things I apparently suck at.  ~sigh~

Expanding the line up . . .

I have decided that I am going to expand the line up in my shop and list the wire tree sculptures for sale.  Everyone seems to like them so much and I really do enjoy making them so it makes sense.  I am working on a couple of custom order chainmaille necklaces at the moment but I hope in a couple of weeks I'll be able to add new listings for the wall art.

This will mean a whole new "section" in the shop and a whole new set of tags and search terms to work on but I am hopeful that it will increase views and sales by reaching more people looking for something other than jewelry. 

Pricing vs. value

There are a lot of jewelry crafters in the world, tons of them have Etsy shops.  There are a lot of styles of jewelry, I only make chainmaille and simple leather.  I can appreciate the intricate beading, braiding, weaving, metal smithing, etc. but that's not what I do.

When I look at other shops with chainmaille I am often shocked at the huge price variations some use sterling silver and charge a fortune and some sell so cheaply I don't know why they bother to sell it at all.  I am flabbergasted by $5 bracelets, seriously I spend hours and hours making each piece, depending on the pattern an 8" bracelet can easily be 100 rings or more.  

Ok so maybe some of the cheapies are made with cheap rings or the person making them can throw them together in a flash but is that a good thing?   I try to use quality rings, nickle free findings and make sure my closures are tight and well aligned so as to not snag on things.  So my rings may cost more and I take my time that is reflected in my pricing, I am not a sweatshop worker I have to place some value upon my time.  

Testing Etsy Mini. . .

Never-ending process . . .

I shot some new photos and separated the braided chokers from the embellished braided chokers but honestly I don't feel like I made a lot of progress.   The idea of selfies wearing them didn't work so well, I am not one for taking selfies normally so I'm not good at it.   Most of the photos I shot were not good enough to use.  :-/   

I only tried the leather stuff though not the chainmaille.  There is still a whole long list of things I should re-shoot but with vacation coming up I kind of need to clean the RV and start packing so I guess I'm stuck with what I've got for a while longer.

I have been really enjoying the new wire sculpture work.  I have made over a dozen of them and they are in nearly every room of the house now.  Every time I post a photo of one there is a very positive response, many people have said they would like to buy one, some people want to request specific colors or special beads even.  I said at the beginning I wasn't going to sell them but I do enjoy making them and eventually I'm going to run out of places to hang them. ~LOL~   

So it makes sense that eventually I'll have to give up a few or stop making them and I don't want to stop making them so . . . I guess one day I will open a whole new section in the Etsy shop and list some of them for sale.  However, that opens up the whole can of worms of trying to figure out pricing structure and value, shipping costs, packaging, etc.  Let's just say I'm not in any hurry to start a whole new thing which will need photos, and tags, and keywords.  More never-ending work. . . ~sigh~   I like the crafting part a lot more than the business-y part.

More work to do. . .

I have decided I am going to keep working at improving my Etsy listings.  This morning I have worked on the jewelry "Sets" and changed the way they are listed and priced, instead of just one price for the whole set I have added a "variation" so I can separately price individual pieces and different combinations.  

I have also made a list of listings that could use new and/or more photos.  I want to buy one of those hand shaped display pieces like everyone else uses to improve my selection of photo poses.  There are some of the earlier listings that need to be re-done to have more continuity in the backgrounds, just to make an overall more standard professional appearance.  I am also thinking some of the necklace listings should be re-shot on my neck, not an easy task normally it's easier to shoot those kind of photos on a model but since I'm alone all the time and don't have a model I'll just have to try some selfies and hope I can crop and photoshop them into usability. 

That took forever. . .at least it felt like forever.

I have finally finished going through all 64 listings in the store, I have re-worded titles, expanded descriptions, added "style" selections and the hardest part of all used all 13 "tags" on every listing.  I used EtsyRank, which I found somewhat helpful as it finds typos in tags and highlights which listings aren't using all 13 spots, it also ranks your web-search-ability and social media effectiveness.  I found there is quite a lot more I could be doing but I am not exactly a social media mogul, I don't have a Twitter, Pintrest, or an Instagram and my blog and Facebook page are really underutilized.  ~sigh~

I have been thinking about trying to add a Twitter or Instagram but honestly I'd rather be making stuff than spending more time at my computer.  Although, I think the re-wording and adjusting on the listings has helped views seem to be up and most of them are not clicks from the promoted listings, lucky for me as I get charged for those clicks.  Sadly views and favorites are no equaling sales.  :-/

I have seen several people suggest that more listings equal more sales, possibly just because a larger variety means people are more likely to find something they really like or possibly because Etsy itself is biased towards shops that are fully like over 100 listings.   I have a way to go to hit 100 listings, I mean it's possible I could re-do some of the existing listings and separate things, like the plain braided chokers could be a separate listing from the embellished ones.  

I've also been thinking I should re-do photos on some of the listings and just add more photos as some of them only have 1-2 currently.  

 

Try try again. . .

You know the old saying, "if at first you don't succeed try try again".  So I just keep trying, in spite of low views and few sales, I keep plugging away at the Etsy puzzle.  I would compare being successful on Etsy to solving a Rubic's cube, not something that I've ever been particularly good at but I'm too damn stubborn to give up.

I have been re-wording titles, adjusting and adding tags, re-writing and expanding descriptions. ~sigh~  It's a long and slow process considering there are now over 60 listings in my shop.  I have also turned the "promoted listings" feature on, however, I have set a very low budget and low bids because I can't afford to spend a bunch of money that I don't really have on advertising that may not lead to any sales.  

I also changed out my small "banner" for a larger "cover photo".

That was no easy feat and it's still not 100% right.  It's an odd size so getting something to fit, fill the space, and actually look good was a bit of a challenge.  To be honest, I'm not totally happy with how it fits but after days of working on several attempts it's really really close so I let it go and moved on to other things.  I'll come back to it eventually and try again.  

 

I was right. . .I don't like it.

I had concerns about the format changes to Etsy shops, I didn't like the look of the previews and I was right I'm not a fan of the new layout at all.  Apparently, the look of the layout was only part of the recent changes, there have been other changes internally as to how search ranking functions and how keywords and tagging work.  Also whatever they have done on the servers behind the scenes seems to have affected search engine searches like Google too, so all the server bots will have to re-crawl and that means for a while nobody's stuff is getting results they used to get.

RainbowMaille has not had the same level of views since the change, my average is even lower than usual.  It's kind of super annoying because I had worked pretty hard at keywords and tagging and the Facebook page and this blog to promote the shop and my views had previously been on an upward trend.  This month they have dropped by half so I am working my way through all my listings checking and adjusting the tags, changing titles, re-wording descriptions, basically having to re-do the whole damn thing.  As if I have hours and hours to spend doing that stuff AGAIN, when I should be crafting cool new stuff.  

At least I am not alone in my annoyance and frustrations, I've been reading the forums on Etsy and plenty of other people have suffered drastically reduced views and sales, while some have had significant increases.  I think these shifts are a by product of the shifts in keyword/tagging and search rankings, it's helped a handful of shops while killing others.  My biggest problem is I'm now unsure of what exactly will correct it for my shop because it's new it will take everyone time to figure out how to manipulate it.  
 

Finally listed. . . .

Ok so I finally got more than a dozen of the embellished chokers finished. ~yay~   Yesterday I listed them in the leather section of the Etsy shop.  New Embellished Suede Chokers

 I didn't get all the new braided stuff listed but that's ok there is always more to be done.