Granny Square Blanket Number One

As I said in my last post I was going to start working on depleting my large supply of yarn. My first project was a sage green baby blanket. This blanket is made in a Granny Square pattern. I love granny squares because they are not only fast and easy but have a great pattern that is so much more interesting than straight rows.

I am very proud of myself for listing this item right away. I usually hang on to things and let them pile up till "I have more time"( my usual excuse). Finishing an item and listing it as soon as possible is the best way to make the most of my product. A product that sits around in my apartment not in my Etsy Shop is wasted product.

Here is the blanket:

A "Real" Artist not a "Cheap" Artist

I've been think about the pricing in my photography shop and wondering if I am selling myself short. Someone told me that I was in my crochet shop and that I should not settle for less that what the quality of my items demand. I don't want to be thought of as a "cheap" shop. I put a lot of hard work and effort into my items. So a little while ago I raised some of my prices so that my shop would not look "cheap."

I think of it this way. I want my shop (ANiemanCrochet) to look like a Sleek Contemporary Crochet Shop, as my tag line states. Look at it a month ago it did not resemble anything like what my tag line suggests. Over the past month I have put a lot of effort into cleaning up shop and I think it is coming together nicely.

The economy is difficult right now but I do not want to cheat myself. I could have a profitable, successful business if I make the right moves. Making cheap items and pricing them cheap is one thing. Making quality items and pricing them accordingly is another. I have a great deal of pride in my products.

In the beginning I was afraid of overpricing but after two years on Etsy I think I have seen what people list at and what people are willing to pay for things. My lack of business, I can safely say is not due to my pricing. It has everything to do with my marketing. This is a huge revelation and I am glad I have finally come to it.


This leads me to my other shop. Looking around at the other photographers on Etsy, I would have to say that my images are cheap. I believe that I am a great artist, although still learning a lot about photography and my skills. I am cheating myself of what my art is really worth. So therefore I no longer will be selling my at a such a cheap rate. My prices will increase by the end of this month.

So why and I announcing this? Why not just do it and hope no one notices? This is why:
I want people who do notice to understand why I am doing so. I also dislike companies that keep things from consumers. I also want people who do pay attention to my blog or shop to be able to have a last chance to purchase my art at the lower pricing. It is only fair to give you a chance to buy my art at a lower price and hopefully you will come back when they are at higher prices because you think that my art and customer service is worth it.

Thank you for your time!
Have a Great Day!
ali

Yart Sale Links

Here are some links to the Yart Sale on Etsy.

The Promotional Forum Thread

Search for Yart

Business Forum Thread

My Yart Sale Section



Happy Shopping!

200 Hearts and Counting

It took three years but I finally got 200 hearts. I see a lot of sellers who have hundreds and even thousands of hearts and I always wondered how they got them. Then I started increasing my effort into my shop and have seen a definite increase in my hearts. Hopefully with an increase in hearts there will be an increase in sales to follow! ( can't hurt to be optimistic!)

Three Pages

In one of the helpful forum post I read that three pages is the magic number for jewelry shops. I figured if it helps them it could help me. So I have been trying to add all my inventory to my shop and fill three pages worth.

It is a lot harder than I expected. I guess I did not realize that there were soooo many item that could fit onto one page. Yesterday I finally listed enough to start the third page. Amazingly enough I had enough merchandise already made from when I sold at the gift shop.

I still have a few more items to add, including some purses. By the time I get those items listed I should be sufficiently set for a while. That will leave me time to make more merchandise and do more marketing.( Which I really need to do!)

Have a Wonderful Day!

One WHOLE Day Spent on Etsy

Due to my spend to pay the bills, I have to work somewhere other than Etsy. I wish I could spend all my time and efforts on my crocheting and photography but many factors are preventing me from doing so.

So I finally had a full day to do nothing but Etsy. As I have said before in previous blog posts, I pulled out of the gift shop that I had been selling in and as a result have a large amount of inventory that I needed to post on my shop. Yesterday I finally went through a great deal of it.

Here is a list of the links to the items that I added yesterday:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11928423
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11918736
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11917830
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11905465
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11904629
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11903682
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11902586
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11887029
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11886873

I think this is the most items I have posted in one day!

I also worked on my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aniemancrochet/. I haven't really done much with this site since starting but I figured out how to do certain things like add my photo's to group pages.

Also I put some more bids on ad space with Project Wonderful. I have definitely noticed my views increasing since I started using Project Wonderful. This is a site that if you put more money into your going to see more results. I will say though with my less than $5 a week budget I have been putting into it I think I have been getting my money's worth. I would definitely suggest this site to other Etsians.

As you can see I had a very productive day. OH! and almost forgot! I had my 1st international sale! The sale was to Japan. Despite the distance and not having a scale at home I did not under estimate my shipping. Having a good experience with selling international makes me more confident about doing it again.

The only thing I did not do yesterday was blog! Ha!
Thanks for reading!
Have a Nice Day!