Facebook. . .

 Facebook is annoying me, this is nothing new really facebook has been annoying me in various ways for years now. 😏

I have a business "page" which they said would be good for sharing and promoting a business and products. But it has never really worked that way, you only get seen if you pay for ads. I know that sounds cynical but 5 years of experience says it's just the way facebook works. My page has been building a following for years and sadly even though I have over 230 "likes" and over 240 "followers" when I post to my page my stats show an audience on average of 20 people.  So facebook does not serve my content to all my 240+ followers, which stinks considering those people took affirmative actions and clicked the like and/or follow to express their desire to see my content. 😕

I have known that for a couple of years now, as even my best friend never sees what I post on my business page even though she has both "liked" and "followed".  Now maybe she just doesn't scroll far enough in her feed or more likely facebook just doesn't put my page posts in her feed. 

Now for the last year facebook has been nagging at me via suggestions and notifications and other methods that I should start a "group" in support of my business "page". Until recently I resisted because it didn't seem to make sense, it seemed repetitive and pointless, and like a lot more work coming up with more posts, more content. However, in discussions last week someone else said something that made me re-think that. . .see when you are a member of a "group" and someone posts in the group you get a notification of the activity, most will click the notification and go to the group and see the new post, whereas when I post to my "page" no one gets an actual notification and it may or may not ever get served in their feed. 😐

So I caved and created a "group" from my business "page" RainbowMaille shows as the group creator/owner, which is cool but now I can't get anyone to join it.  Literally, facebook will not let me invite my "page" followers to join the "group" in spite of there being a button for exactly that.  

When I click the "invite" button it gives me this stupid pop up that says I have no one to invite. 

That's totally bogus, what about the hundreds of "followers" or at least the 3 friends that have achieved "top fan" badges??? Why am I not allowed to invite anyone, is this a glitch or just more of facebook being annoying on purpose?  😕

Just as annoying as that dysfunction ^ . . .when I created the group yesterday it made a post on my business page saying I had created a group but apparently that post has not been shown to ANYONE. 

So seriously how the H*LL is one supposed to get anyone to join a "Group" for a "business page" when they won't let me invite my followers and they won't even show the page post to anyone?  😠
😣😟😒😖😵😶

P.S. It took a week after reporting my issue but suddenly the "invite" button for the group let me invite people, not all 240+ people but some people, so it's a start. 😇

productively non-productive. . .

 Sometimes it's necessary to be productively non-productive.

You may be wondering what I mean by that, I know productively non-productive may sound contradictory, counter-productive and even oxymoronic. 😏

When it comes to running my business there are many productive non-productive things I do, my husband would refer to these as "value-added" or non-value-added.  I can be doing valid, even important, things but they result in no product. Marketing, this very blog post, taking photos, editing photos, verifying inventory, tool maintenance like re-dipping my pliers are all examples of me being productively non-productive.  I do lots of stuff but I have nothing new to physically show for it in the end. 😕

Some days my husband comes home and asks how was my day or what I did today and I feel silly because even if I ramble off a list of a dozen things he just looks at me like I'm crazy. 😌 

I took out the trash, ran and emptied the dishwasher, separated the mini-magnets from the wire trees into different binders, updated my art notebook, shot photos for instgram and my blog, made 5 social media posts, stripped and re-dipped 13 pair of pliers, then cooked dinner.  It just doesn't sound that impressive, there is no perspective on just how much time each thing takes.  I would say I was productive as I accomplished a lot of different things but I have no new fabulous art or jewelry to show him so it's hard for him to understand that I actually was busy All Day. 😒  I may be a "housewife" but I do not sit on my couch watching soap operas and eating bon-bons all day every day. 

Even when I do spend hours sitting still on my computer it is reading, researching, marketing, social media, testing keywords, editing listings, etc.,  Just think of the duck on a pond analogy on the surface it appears calm but below the surface his little feet are flapping like mad. 😉

So while today was too windy outside to spray more glossy finish on my painting and the lack of sunshine in these clouds means I couldn't shoot photos for all the jewelry in that pile that still needs to get listed, instead I took care of my pliers and shifted some inventory storage. 

I hate facebook. . .

 Seriously folks, I have always hated facebook, it took years for my Mom to convince me to make a profile and I only did it to send her bonus stuff for "Ghosts of Mistwood" a game that no longer even exists. 😕

I have never trusted facebook they collect and track too much personal info. People on facebook are entirely too trusting those stupid 20 question games that ask things like"what's your favorite color" "what's your pet's name" "what was your first car" those things are designed to provide info for hackers, think about it those are the answers to standard security questions, throw in your momma's last name and your birthday and welcome to total ID theft. Yeah those are covered by those what's your stripper name posts where they ask the month and day you were born to pick from the lists to make up something goofy.  😐 Layer onto that the number of people who use facebook on their phone to "check-in" basically telling everyone where they are and that it's a fine time to rob their house since they aren't home. 

I think you get my point(s).  The only reason I created my business facebook page is because everything says a business should have a facebook presence, but facebook limits the reach of small business pages. It has reached the point where you have to pay for ads to even be seen by one's own followers, which I think stinks since the notion that someone liked and/or followed the page means they are interested in the page/business/content.  So why should I have to pay for ads to reach people who have already agreed by affirmative actions that they Want to see my posts?  Simple answer facebook is greedy their entire business model is based on selling ads so if they hide your stuff unless you pay up they win. 

Yesterday they shoved a new layout page format on me, like I logged in and BAM there it was in my face. 😒  It is ugly and I am hating it for many many reasons, not just that it's new. 

My business page now gives me a headache to look at, I have to scroll forever to see my post from yesterday, there is a bunch of crap at the top that I am not interested in and have no desire to see, including a repeatedly appearing pop up suggestion to set up ads. 😠  I have x'd it out 3 times but every time I come back from a group or another page it just reappears.  It gave me notifications that I shared my own post, like I need a notification for that, I did it I already knew.  The off-center cover photo makes  me feel like am sitting crooked. The giant side menu that does not collapse and just eats screen space is ugly and stupid while being a total waste of space.  The "rounded corners" are the worst, boxes are square, squares have corners, corners by definition should not be round, the phrase "rounded corners" is oxymoronic and makes my brain hurt.

I switched back to the classic and filled out the survey telling them how much I hate the new one and everything I think is wrong with it. I can only hope that enough people also complain that they re-think this disaster or at least make some modifications. Sadly, I doubt even if every single person on the planet complained that it would actually change anything.  😕

Once the new fugliness becomes permanent I will use facebook way way less, I cannot spend extended periods of time on a site that gave me a headache in 10 minutes.  😐

learning goimagine. . .

 I have written before about how when I start on a new site I like to spend some time literally hovering every inch of screen and clicking every possible button, just to see what it does. 😁

I know it may sound weird but there are so many things you can find and learn by simply taking the time to investigate.  While hovering your cursor around a screen watch for things that change color, watch for the cursor to change, watch for things that are underlined, look for little arrows, there are a lot of sometimes subtle clues. 😉

I have been on goimagine and working on my shop since April so I have over 4 months in watching the site and vendor interface evolve and become what it currently is and in that time I have learned a lot about how it functions.  Some of the things I found where pretty well hidden. Some of the things I've learned, I learned don't always work exactly as expected. 

One of the things I learned fairly early that is very helpful is that you can edit prices, qty, and status straight from the "Product" list without ever opening the listings individually.  If you hover over the price or qty, or just click where they are, type-able boxes appear and you can make changes right then and there, just remember to click the "Save" button up top in the corner. 😉

The next awesome and helpful thing I learned is the bulk editing options, which are pretty amazing.  Goimagine's bulk edit allows you to edit as many listings at once as you want up to and including all. Now selecting them all can be tricky because the checkbox to select all is virtually invisible until it's clicked, the arrow for the drop down does not appear unless you hover or click right there.   

Once you have selected the listings you want to edit a magical new menu bar appears with several options. The "edit selected" gives you the amazing list of things to edit, it comes as a pop-up box with a massive amount of choices.

I highly recommend scrolling down to the "unselect all" to start.

You can pick whatever you want to edit, you can edit multiple things for each listing, just click the checkbox(es) with what you want to edit and click "Modify selected" and edit away. This can be handy for many reasons, if you want to add seasonal search terms, adjust your shipping time frames, change your shipping box sizes, etc.,

With Labor Day coming many may be thinking about having a "Sale" and while goimagine does not yet have coupon options you can definitely have a "Sale".  Actually, there are multiple ways to achieve that, you can simply change the "Price" from the "Product" list, you could use the bulk edit option, or you could use the "Global Update" which can be tricksie as many don't even know where it is. 

The "Global update" is similar to the bulk editor but more specific.  It can be used to set discounts on any or all listings but it is a multi-step process. First you don't select the listings first, just click the gear and select the "Global update", that will take you to a new screen. 

In this process you can set a discount by $dollar amount or %percent, note that in order for it to be a "Discount" you need to put a minus - so that it is subtracting. Then you select the products you want the "Global update" to apply to, you can only select so many at a time, even if you click the top checkbox it only selects the ones on the shorty page unless you change how many appear on the page.

Although, the search function in here is cool if you want to only discount a specific style of product or category, like just the earrings and not necklaces.   

Once you've set your discount and select items just click "Apply" up in the corner. 😇  

Now a bit of a warning, I know NOW a warning. ~LOL~  Yes while setting a discount with the "Global update" option is an easy way to discount lots of listings at once, there is no time frame the discount will remain in place until you undo it.  

WARNING : if you try to undo a "Global update" discount by reversing the process (using global update to increase the price back up by the same percent as the discount) it will not reset your prices to full regular retail, rounding and math and stuff. It will in fact be off by change. 

So your best option to reset your prices after a "Sale" is to manually reset them by just typing them in on the "Products" list so that your "Price$" and "List Price" match again.  😉

Good grief . . .

Reading the esty forums this morning I found multiple threads of people complaining about receiving infringement notices and/or having their shops shuttered "for no reason". (as if, there is Always a reason) 

I find myself rather annoyed with these people because when you look at their shops and realize that : 

One of them was reproducing stolen art. Literally found a picture of a painting, copied it without permission, and had them re-printed through some print on demand service and drop-shipped from god knows where. The "Seller" didn't do a darned thing they didn't create the artwork, they didn't print the repro, they aren't even seeing or shipping the product. 😡  This pisses me off, as someone who spends hours actually painting one of a kind artworks, I hope this fraud gets more than one notice and has their shop closed and is permanently banned from etsy. Lucky for them none of the stolen art they have listed is mine. (But I have seen POD people in my etsy stats, so I keep an eye out for my stuff.)

Second infringer example, "fan art" selling art based on very obviously trademarked and/or copyrighted characters. Their defense they draw and paint them themselves, never mind that it is someone else's original creation and famous cartoon characters are and should be completely off limits. Draw your own characters not copy Sailor Moon, the lack of creativity and originality is really troubling considering the art actually looks really good, the person has some talent just no morals or ethics or understanding of "Intellectual Property" rights. 😕  

Final prime example of what not to do, reselling junk.  No joke, not a single thing in that shop is handmade. Honestly, I do not believe that any of it is even qualified as vintage. New brand name make-up and commercially produced jewelry that looks so shiny and new, it's like the person decided since the wedding is off they should sell their engagement ring. Half way thru the comments the seller admitted they finally just read the seller handbook and if they had read it to begin with they never would have started on etsy. 😶  

Seriously why don't people read the "Terms of Service" or Handbook rules or anything really. ~sigh~

Too much fun. . .

Sometimes I have too much fun playing with graphics and making banners and cover photos.  Sometimes getting them just right size wise for facebook and pinterest and the blog is tricky mainly because they all need to be just a bit different. 😏

  I make them using Adobe Spark because they have templates that you can just add photos to and adjust here and there.  Spark also has, aside from the templates and layout, a resize option with preset sizes for assorted social media use.  However, in the years I have been using it I have noticed that the facebook sizes never fit quite right. 😏  Which may be why I always end up making at least a dozen. 

I find it ironic. . .

 I have been on etsy for just over 5 years and in those years I have watched them ignore sellers opinions and input, even when they send out surveys and ask for seller opinions they do the opposite. 😕  

That may sound like a joke but it's not.  I have seen many in the forums complain that the surveys don't work, won't open, tells them they already completed it when they haven't.  When the discussions happen about surveys everyone tries to interpret the questions and guess what they are up to and regularly thanks to group-think we get pretty close.  However, in the discussion of fees no one wanted them applied to shipping but they did it, in the discussion of advertising fees no one wanted it to be mandatory or auto-enrollment, or more than 8% then the program came out with auto-enrollment, mandatory for sellers over $10,000 and 12% 15% so basically the exact opposite.  This is not new it's a pattern I've noticed.

For years many sellers have been asking for more photo slots, the ability to do videos in listings, more options/variations for listings, better support, marketing stuff, control of resellers and infringers, all sorts of things.  Most of those things have not materialized, they did increase the # of photos from 5 to 10 a few years ago but until this year that's about it.

So this spring when goimagine was created and started its beta life listening to the sellers. . .vetting for handmade, not allowing infringement, unlimited photos in listings, unlimited options and variations, fast and responsive support with actual answers, reasonable fees, no mandatory marketing fees, promising to give to charities, supporting sellers and offering marketing materials.  I am sure it got etsy's attention.  I know for a fact that it did because there was a forum thread where someone said they had signed up and were encouraging others to take a chance on goimagine.  That thread had over 400 replies when it got shut down by an admin, it didn't get closed right away but eventually "While it’s ok to discuss alternate venue and their relationship to Etsy, we ask that you not post direct sign up links, private team invites from off-Etsy sites, promoting your off site listing’s (with direct links), or support style discussions that do not pertain to selling on Etsy." 

I know it had to bother them to have the open discussion and direct comparison with goimagine (and realize they were going to lose) because in the 5+ years I've been reading those forums the number of discussions about ebay, amazon handmade, mercari, artyeah, and every other possible place have been pretty numerous but the comments have always been etsy sellers telling each other that etsy was better than all those other places and those discussions were rarely if ever closed. 😏

In the meantime, in the few months that goimagine has existed and etsy has been aware of it, etsy sudden released videos for listings, and special etsy packing tape, both things that goimagine has. 😏

Oh I'm sure those facts and their ironic timing have absolutely no relation. Now if only we could convince etsy to give their profits to charity. 😁

Just days. . .

 😮  😯  😱  😲  😳  😵

OMG!! I can't believe it's only days until the official public LAUNCH of goimagine.com I have been working on my shop and listings for 4 months and now it's just a matter of days.   😶

Having a hard time deciding what I am feeling most. . .excited. . .nervous. . .scared. . .hopeful. . .anxious. . .

I have added the new "google feed" category info on all my existing listings.  I have been working on my "How it's Made" section(s) but that has been complicated by needing to do 3 different versions for the different types of products.  I have all the paintings finished (I think). I have most of the chainmaille listings updated, I think I have about a dozen to go.  Today I plan to get on updating the wire tree listings. 😎  That will be the last of the "How it's Made" sections.

In the last week I have changed my banner, put my founding maker badge in as my shop logo, and got a "Featured" product section squared away.  I have re-done my RainbowMaille pinterest board deleting 192 pins that linked back to etsy and I am working on re-pinning the items but with goimagine links. 😉 I have been instagram posting and even using the "Stories" which I don't normally do.

I still have listings that need photos.  I have at least a dozen paintings that need photographed and listed.  Unfortunately, this week I have spent entirely too much time on this laptop and no time making new things. 😕  However, I'll just have to power through the next few days and get as much done as fast as I can, maybe next week I'll get to go back to painting and creating. 😇

How it's Made. . .

 How it's Made. . .no not the TV show, the new tab available in goimagine listings. 😉  ( I crack myself up)  😊

So this week's site updates/upgrades include a couple things I am really excited about. First the "Featured items" ability 🎯 score!  This is a great thing in my opinion.  I was able to select a variety of my products to highlight at the top of my shop, which I really like the look of.  Instead of a wall of art or trying to figure out what is under which "category" now the top of my shop showcases an assortment of chainmaille and wire trees, showing a broader range of my work.  This is also a step towards sellers having more control over the appearance and arrangement of their shop fronts. 👍

The second thing I got excited about was the new "How it's Made" tab on our listings.  This had been mentioned previously and I was looking forward to it becoming available.  It allows up to 3 photos and there is a format-able large text box that we can write whatever we want to describe our process, our materials, show off our studios.  To me this is a great opportunity to really try to connect with the buyer, to allow the buyer to see where the art was created, possibly even work in progress photos.  😀

So I jumped right in and started edit listings.  I wrote like me, all about how I do things, because as a one woman show it is all about Me. 😄  I am the artist, I am the owner, I am the creator, I am the photographer, I am the copy editor, I am the shipping clerk, I am the marketing department.  I thought what I wrote was fine but when I showed it to my husband, he literally looked at it for about 5 seconds and said "hmm. .seven I's in 5 sentences. . .not good". 😕  Now to be clear he's all corporate executive guy and all about "teams" and he has been trained against using "I" declaratives.  I sat and listened to him and fought my desire to get annoyed with him because he was just trying to help and I should not get mad about that. 😇  

I thought about and although there is a big part of me that thinks all my "I's" are fine because of the sole proprietorship nature of it all being just me, I cannot totally ignore what my husband said.  Mainly because he is a really smart guy and has had decades of training and exposure to some marketing guru types that have told him all about the psychology behind such things.  However, all of that is in the context of huge commercial businesses and not handmade small businesses selling one of a kind art items, so. . .I am torn.

The original text I wrote: 

I buy pre-made medium-weight cotton duck canvases that are pre-stretched, kiln dried, and pre-primed.

I prefer to stick to with smaller sizes 8" x 8", 8" x 10", 10" x 10" 11" x 14" because it helps to keep shipping easier and reasonably priced.

I use mostly acrylic paints these days, although I do have some watercolors for sale.

I prefer Liquitex brand products including paints, mix-ins and varnish, although I do use some Krylon spray sealants.

I use a variety of brushes, pallet knives, my hands and some other non-traditional tools as well.

This morning's rethink edit : 

My art starts with pre-made medium-weight cotton duck canvases that come pre-stretched, kiln dried, and pre-primed, it saves a lot of time.

By sticking with the smaller size canvases like 8" x 8", 8" x 10", 10" x 10" 11" x 14" it helps to keep shipping easier and reasonably priced.

Currently using mostly acrylic paints these days, although I do have some older watercolor works for sale.

Made with Liquitex brand quality products including paints, mix-ins and varnish, although I do also sometimes use Krylon spray sealants.

I use a variety of brushes, pallet knives, putty knives, my hands and some other more non-traditional tools as well.

Now I don't know which one to use. 😟

goimagine.com

 I mentioned months ago that I had found a new platform for selling #handmade I did it in kind of a sneaky way because it was still in beta and I was still working on my set up. Imagine that. . .(previous post)

While building my shop and working on adding listings one at a time I noticed some people in the facebook group having troubles with one thing or another mainly because it was all new and different.  I saw a couple of them expression frustration and a desire to give up so I wrote a post encouraging them to keep trying, ask for help if they need, and don't give up just because New can be scary. . .(previous post)

As the months have passed I have mostly made up my mind that I will be moving to goimagine and eventually shrink my etsy shop.  The realization of just how much etsy was costing me with those little .20 cent listing and renewal fees was kind of shocking honestly, which lead me to say and so it begins . . . (previous post) 

I have felt from the beginning that goimagine.com was going to be different, it was in the way Jon and Steph were so present and engaged. They were always asking how sellers wanted things to work, always willing to listen to everyone's view point. The weekly webinars explaining how things worked and why they decided the things they did, asking for feedback, being willing to change things. I love the charity aspect of donating the platform's profits to charity, I love that they chose children's charities.  This past week they have done yet another thing that I love by recognizing the sellers who were willing to join early and help build the site during the "beta" testing phase, to me this shows a level acknowledgement and partnership with sellers that no other platform has. Also I just love my Founding maker badge. (previous post)

"Founding Maker"

I am so proud of this badge.  

I am actually pretty proud of myself, if I'm honest about it.  You see I am not exactly what they call an "early adopter" of new technology.  I don't usually like new things, I have trust issues, normally I would wait until it's been around a while and see how everyone else's experience goes. 😏

Seriously, I didn't join facebook until 2012 even though it started back in 2004. I didn't start my etsy shop until 2015 even though etsy started in 2005. So you see how slow I can be. 😊

I have been disappointed before like when I joined the A.C.Moore marketplace right after they opened. That sadly did not take off due to a lack of follow through and commitment from upper management and ownership. 

However, I got a good feeling for and decided to take a chance on goimagine.com and I am so glad that I did. I think Jon and his team are doing an amazing job of building this #caringeconomy and seller community, they are hardworking, responsive, thoughtful and honest.

I am so happy to be a part of this new platform and I am super happy with their acknowledgement of those of us that joined early. 😇

And so it begins. . .

Today I posted my first "exclusive" to goimagine.com listing. 😁

Since I signed up with goimagine months ago I have been simply working on copying all my etsy listings, one by one. I have a considerable inventory in finished goods and things like chainmaille which can be remade I like to leave listed even when they sell because I can usually make another.  So the transfering of hundreds of listings has taken up quite a bit of time, especially since some (many) have needed new listing photos. 😒

In the meantime I have still been creating new stuff that just has not been getting listed anywhere. 😏 This morning I decided to add a "new" item to goimagine, a fresh from scratch listing just for goimagine.com not available in the etsy shop.  I think I will be doing more of that in the future, I am considering cutting back the # of listings in my etsy altogether and limiting the art I put there. 

Forever Love family tree