Back in Action

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...


Back In Action It's been a busy few days, and for a change I feel like I'm on track with things! Including doing some new stuff like furthering my web presence on the blog, getting more exposure for the Monday Magic-ers by bringing them into the Etsy Treasuries, even getting a few new prints on the go :) I also sold a copy of Coco Pink earlier in the week which brightened my spirits and a lot of my efforts in recent days have has really positive responses from all that have been involved (and especially the kind few that have returned kind gestures of their own!)
I thought to myself on Monday that it'd be great if I could bring more views in for the Monday people that manage to get featured and thought I'd see what would happen if I created an Etsy Treasury, themed on our newest stars to Etsy... and it has had a tremendous response, I have to say I am really pleased with the feedback so far and I have decided that every Monday Magic group will get inclusion in any treasury I manage to grab (you have to fight for the things!) from here on. I don't know how many people pay attention to the stats of sellers when they find shops and items through Etsy search, or even if anyone checks Etsy pounce regularly which I do try and do because you never know what little surprises you may find with the emerging talents as opposed to what is already known to be fabulous with the established Etsians. I think the treasury on top of the Monday Magic post, although only focusing on 12-16 sellers a week is a step in the right direction for giving the newbies a chance to shine and get acknowledged before they and their items get smothered under the increasing amount of items and sellers adding themselves to Etsy every day. It's something anyway!
A couple of people got in touch with me with lovely kind gestures of their own which I thought was very nice of them, and wanted to give them a shout out because they're so lovely!
TurcoArts, a fellow photographer may I add sent me a message thanking me for showing interest in their work and offering 10% off any purchases, not only for me but anyone that I refer to his store in the future. I told him I'd mention this in the blog which I know made him quite happy and to remind anyone that visits his store from the link on here that plans to buy a photograph, to let him know that you had a referal from moonangelnay! Also I wanted to share a gesture from Wintergarden on Etsy whom kindly included my print Against the Grain in her gorgeous spotlight on byhand.me which is well worth checking out, its a stunning collection of items as is her store of beautiful knitted flowers! Thanks ever so much for that!
So regarding the community my fingers have been very busy on my keyboard! In my own little world however when not chasing my son and being booted from the inside by the baby.. and housework, I have somehow found the time to get a couple of new prints and like I said earlier, get some further word out about things like the blog and also my store... Infact I made an interesting discovery earlier whilst checking out the vault on CraftCults heart-o-matic site and found out that my print Twilight Rose had made the front page on Etsy on September the 18th 2009!!!! LOL! I never knew! I wish Etsy would tell people when they make the front page! At least I know why it's had a zillion views!

Anyways I'll leave the rambling at that as I have a new week to focus on after this and more newbies to find!

moonangelnay x

SUNDAY... Coffee and Cake

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...




Sinuses, Snow and Slipped Stiches Well I think I'll apologise to begin with as my poor blog, Etsy and general internet activity have been on a virtual standstill for over a month now. I have slowly began doing little things like last week as you are aware, Monday Magic is back in action and regarding Etsy, I have popped into the forums a couple of times as well as catching up with my relists (as opposed to them catching up with me!). I honestly thought it was bad when I was running around helping mum and getting consumed by Christmas and I can't believe how hard it hit me, only the week before the big day I had the worst chesty cough imaginable that literally stopped me from doing anything. Bless my other half for doing as much as he could to help me regarding my son. It was bloody awful, each cough threw me into long coughing fits and I won't even go into the amount of tissue boxes I went through lol!!! Funnily enough my best day was Christmas day itself, where to my relief I was able to cook our lovely Christmas meal, as well as enjoy all the fun that the day brought to our household! Then to my dismay, Boxing day I started getting jaw and face pains, couldn't breath most of the time and generally looked like the living dead. Diagnosis... sinusitis! I still have it mildly now!!! but back then I was lucky if I could make it to the bathroom without writhing all the way there... I have never had any sort of winter bug like this. So as you can guess that is why my usual Etsy and Blog activity had to stop!
The past 2 weeks I have been able to get on with things again, so my priorities have been housework and knitting... knitting because in the days where I could barely move, it was the one thing I wanted to do the most, that I couldn't!!!! LOL! So I'm getting that out of my system to treat myself! so far I have made 2 hats and about to start a beautiful blanket for our new baby girl who is now in her 24th week residing in my tummy :) Not long now before she's here!
Another joy recently has been able to make the most of the crazy weather we've been getting in the UK. Around Christmas time when we had a bit of snow, but I was unable to get out and be a happy snapper being so unwell :( So the past couple of weeks have been wonderful, and besides working on some gorgeous new prints I have been able to have the best snow wars with my little boy and other half! Well worth the wait if you ask me! When you're not able to do much for yourself for weeks at a time, things like heavy snow, despite how much everyone around you seems to hate it is a real special thing to enjoy!
Anyways! Here is to health, knitting and some blooming independance! Hurrah!

moonangelnay x

SUNDAY... Coffee and Cake

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...




Puppies! Hello! Oh my goodness, I have had a mental couple of weeks. I don't know if I said before but I have had a partner in crime when it comes to pregnancy and 2 weeks ago she had her babies! SEVEN of them!!!! Thank goodness she's a doggy that's all I can say lol! but WOW! What an experience! I was out with my partner and son when I first heard the news. Specifically standing under a doorway in the middle of the city center eating a cheese and onion pasty when my mum called me to tell me "Sascha" was in labour! I had been asked to assist the birth you see so after wolfing down my lunch I had to speed back to the car and make a move, yet before we even properly got going she called me back to say the first had been born! We were so excited, and knowing how big Sascha was we knew we had to get to my mums as fast as possible so not to miss the rest although the boys weren't going to join in on the spectacle so they just dropped me off. Unfortunately after I arrived it was another 2 and a half hours before puppy number 2 was born! couldn't believe it! And to top it off she was still massive so we knew there were more.... 6 hours later and all 7 had popped out! What a girl! And I moan about the trouble I have carrying one! LOL! Well I must say I felt very privalaged that Sascha allowed me to be "midwife" and very hands on at her birth, considering dogs are very private and protective at that stage. Poor thing had a terrible life prior to being rescued by my mum. She's still a puppy herself, under a year old and has seen abuse no one should see so early in their life at the hands of her previous owners and who knows who else. I think that may be why she was glad of the support, which has been a moving thought for both myself and my mum. Bless her. Well this is the reason I've not been so attentive to the blog, as being the more dog savvy I have been making frequent visits to assist my mum and advise too when it has come to the pups and their mum! Anyways I'll post their progress over the weeks for those that are interested! For now I'm off to play with my lil boy :)

Moonangelnay x

SUNDAY... Coffee and Cake

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...






Reflection on Inadequacy
Ahhhh, to think it was only a week ago that I was having the panic of the century over losing the internet... I have been thinking about it and to be fair as much as my Etsy work and Blog had come to a standstill, the fact I was pretty ill that weekend with the Rotavirus came at a good time as believe me there was absolutely no way I was going to get anything done whilst living in the bathroom for a few days! Yet it left me feeling insecure which is something I have spent the week trying to reflect upon. That tech guy was right about one thing throughout his non-discreet sexist insults. People do heavily rely on the internet, whether it be for work in my case or just for fun in many cases. Being a stay at home mum I really do find that my escape only comes in the form of doing my own thing, and being busy about it... and I do get that from trying to get my business working as I am passionate about being an artist, and also about the handmade community. I guess being the drama queen that I am, the loss over that weekend left me feeling helpless and ordinary which was amplified by having a nasty bug to contend with! But it's funny how I really did feel a bit insecure without that little bit of independance I rarely get in other forms. Shows how much I love what I do!
But it got me thinking like I say about the lessons being laid out for me. I spent one of the mornings this week, having being blessed with a lie in! chatting to the other half about it. For as long as I can remember I have felt pretty inadequate and small in such a big world... events as they do, happened to make it worse... Like never knowing my dad, going through puberty before I reached 9, having relationships that stripped me of my self esteem are but a few examples which could have been worse, but did unfortunately leave me feeling fearful of losing things that DID give me confidence in myself. Then god bless my fortune, I met my current partner and have lived a very happy life ever since. Surely I should just feel better about everything now! I guess it doesn't work as easily as that... However I do know that I really sould be feeling good about things now, and reached an epiphany when I finally said to myself that I was actually being an absolute retard thinking in any other way! The past is the past come on woman! Seriously, I think it is so easy to fall into the trap of inadequacy you forget to remember that when good things are around, you ARE actually allowed to recognise it and reflect it within! I see so many sad stories in the news about people taking their own lives, or murdering other people due to their own feeling of self loathing and it goes to show the extremes that can come out of true fear. I feel I have learnt a valuble lesson having my partner and son as my guides this week, that true blessings really are disguised if you're the one throwing walls up at every possibility. I think the reason I am an artist and developed an interest in photography in recent years is not just the idea of my soul trying to project the beauty I see in the world, but mirroring the beauty I have been desperate to see in myself for so many years. It makes me more grateful to be doing what I am, whether business can be slow like all of us handmade lot know and experience daily. I understand why i felt lost this weekend, and it has only made me fall deeper in love with art, nature and who I am.

Moonangelnay x

SUNDAY... Coffee and Cake

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...





I have had a pretty good week for a change when it comes to getting things done, so you've probably noticed already i finally have new prints in my store... 6 infact!!! go me! I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself up until i managed to fashion organisation into my head at some point about 6 days ago, and since I have been on fire! I've even managed to get a tonne of housework done!

At the same time I have been celebrating reaching the second trimester this week, managing to get a hospital appointment for a dating scan after all hell broke loose last week with my GP and chosen hospital since my referal had magically disappeared weeks ago, which frighteningly left me with no place to have the baby! A million phone calls later, and I am now looking forward to my first appointment this week *sighs*. yes! and yesterday I had a Halloween party with my other half, son and his lil friends. That was a good end to a busy week. All in all I am happy... OHHHHHHHHH and to top it all off yesterday I was also asked if I wanted to showcase my work in a shopping event at the Warwickshire Exhibition Center which left me elated at the prospect!!! Emphasis on prospect... my only downer... that I may not be able to do it, but I am awaiting more information to see if I can because, OMG my own little stall in an EXHIBITION CENTER... WOOP!!!! Also I have previously turned down 2 other opportunities this year like it and I REALLY dont want to have to for this one because of the usual money issues... short term ones I mean, as obviously longer term it would be a good spend as I would sell the work and make up for it, but unfortunately the short term really does leave the whole idea in question so I need to think very hard and carefully about it... and HOPEFULLY, I'll be able to do it! I'm so chuffed that I had been found on Etsy and asked to take part. I guess even if I can't it's a nice feeling to think that event organisers 3 times this year have liked what I do enough to go out of their way to find and contact me!

So whilst I'm puffed up with pride and achievement this week I think I'll leave this short entry here for this Sunday :)

SUNDAY... Coffee and Cake

Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...



I'm currently in the process of discovering the classic joys of pregnancy as most of you probably know from my previous Sunday post, and so far this week I've been under the hopeful (yet very naive) belief that because I am approaching the 2nd Trimester, all of the lovely things that have been happening to me lately will cease to plague my days. However I am wondering if I'm going to be one of the lucky ladies that lives in the 1st trimester throughout the entire 40 week period, as so far I haven't noticed any let up in my pregnancy symptoms. Only that they appear to be getting worse! Eek!

When I was pregnant with my son I loved the fact that despite having physical trauma towards the start, and the need for chiropractic care 4 times a week for many months I was pretty fortunate to not experience morning sickness, nor the loss of appetite thing and the like... but bloomin heck, I dont know what's worse at the moment. It's pretty frightening actually, as I'm sure highly amusing for anyone that watches me heaving 100s of times a day, but I have completely lost my desire for food, and because my sense of smell seems to be amplified, any food stuffs I approach sets off this uncontrollable need to be sick. It's terrible and I don't know what to do about it. If it was just the sickness that's fair enough but to loose my desire for food and find every smell I come across physically unbearable worries me a lot, particularly as it seems to be getting worse. I hear a lot of women get this problem but I never imagined morning sickness to go as far as this. I look forward to the day that I dont have to retch all the way through my cooking and spend millions of years trying to get through meals, I only hope that it lets up soon!


Despite the fun and games, I have been back on form all week enjoying finding lots of newbies to help promote and making the necessary alterations in my store (slowly but surely). Glad to have successfully managed it all too in amongst all the goings on at home too, but I have felt that despite the changes something feels a bit empty. The great things I think have been making more time for myself on top of my usual duties, but for some reason there is this feeling that with the blog in particular there is a need for something more. I have been considering adding a new weekly post, which I thought could involve linking to helpful resources, focusing on the arts, design, marketing, business... you know, the generally need to know's for I guess a lot of people trying to work from home as there is SOOOO much that I have found to be handy myself, and not enough venues that list all the need to knows in one place. I personally have 1000s of links bookmarked in my browser and most of the time I'm driven nutty trying to go through what I find to be particularly helpful to me, as my internet habits normally involve me coming across these kind of things then bookmarking them for later reading (lack of time factor). As I do have a lot of good one's (that I have managed to check out) I know for me and anyone that's interested, to have them all available in one place will be handy for future reference. This will all need planning though as I still havent worked out how to make this idea an organised idea, nor how I plan to catagorize topics on the blog to keep things minimal yet accessible. So this one is one that'll come in time. I'll keep ya posted :)

I think maybe I'll end this one for today, as the week has been more of an adjustment to changes than interesting things to share that have occured so hopefully next week I'll have a lot more to talk about, now that I'm back into the swing of things!

SUNDAY... Coffee and Cake

Sunday - Coffee and Cake

I'm Back!!!

After an astonishingly awkward few weeks, I can hope that this is the beginning of a most definite return without disruption!

Wow things have been hectic. Infact that is a slight understatement really, so much has happened it's any wonder I haven't lost the plot yet but to my relief I think things surrounding our life at home will return to normal fairly soon.

Unfortunately my other half's very poorly dad passed away about a week ago, so in amongst everything that has been the saddest part of our busy few weeks. However it's good to know that he is no longer suffering. I commend Elric for being as strong as he is being about it. He has had such a difficult time lately, I am really glad that he's now ready to move forward.

As for me and my pregnancy, things are going well of which I am glad about. No scans booked yet but I shall be seeing a midwife for the first appointment in a week or two so hopefully I'll know more about what's to come then, including which hospital is willing to take me! I'm excited as unlike my first two pregnancies with my first ending prematurely, this one minus the morning sickness seems to be going pretty well to our relief! I only hope that things continue this way, minus the morning sickness LOL!

So let me inform you of my plans... I intend to bring back Monday Magic tomorrow, and my Friday finds interview this week also. As for Sunday Coffee and Cake, I will be continuing the post however because of time and planning that is involved with the articles, I will be intergrating normal posts like todays as an example into the updates each week. So Sundays may not necessarily bring an article, but sometimes just a normal blog post about whatever may inspire me at the time! It means I can be an organised lady and reserve just the 3 days I usually use for the blog instead of 7 days which was what I had to do before (mainly for the Sunday posts... planning and writing!). With a busy family life and busier one to come, I think this is a fair deal on everyone at home, and still allows me to help new sellers on Etsy without any changes in how I do things on both Mondays and Fridays. I look forward to doing this again :)

I'd like to announce that I now offer flat rate FREE POSTAGE worldwide on all photography in my store. I am due to make some new price changes too, to make the process of understanding how much different sized print costs more easy to understand as I know at the moment my prices can be one of two things depending on the work put into the photograph during editing. I intend to make this cost flat rate for the size, without taking the time of working nor the type of paper into account. This will make my work more affordable and a lot more straightforward when it comes to choosing what you would like me to create for you. This change should come into effect shortly!

I also have lots of new prints coming into the store that I have been diligently been working on lately. They are perfect for the halloween and colder seasons as they are very mystical and gothic in ways. My work always seems to reflect my moods so understandably you'll know where the inspiration is derived from considering recent events, when you get to see them.

All in all I think that is all I wanted to say. I am off now to search for my Monday Magic peeps for tomorrow! If you're a new seller with 0-19 sales, then get in touch and I'll be straight over to your store for a peek :)

All the Best everyone and thanks to those who have left such lovely supportive messages lately, my love to you all.

moonangelnay x x x

SUNDAY... Coffee and Cake

New Prints On Etsy - Click Images to Visit Listing




Sunday - Coffee and Cake



Hello!

I'm a bit rushed today, as so far my week has been a mixture of battling through a never ending crashing PC, new ideas for my Etsy store, and tasks unrelated to the stuff I do online. So being VERY behind is an understatement. In the long run however I'm hoping that I shall achieve peace with my computer and digital files on my Etsy store. For now my focus is today's article which I know is a week late! Apologies!

For today this is more of an opinion than anything that is of the record, but I hope that my little insight is worthy of consideration. I'm certain that what I am going to write about has been said before as with most things everyone has their own way of taking on board information and then displaying it for others to see. So this is just my take on things.

Objective Thinking : I am one of those people who have a firm belief in what is known as "The Secret", although I have been well aware of the Law Of Attraction for many years having being blessed with the freedom to find my own way through my mind. My mum is a very Spiritual person so naturally for me I was left open to think objectively about the world, without too much influence of my mums ideas but having the freedom to choose to take them on board if i wanted to.

Without thinking about it consciously, I always found myself taking on board new ideas without taking them on board, if that makes any sense? I think in order to have a point of view that is unhindered by bias or immediate belief, you must have a strong sense of self. Not necessarily eradicating self consciousness which in New Age society is the "thing" to do in order to be completely "self aware", but to have love for your ideas is actually part of the journey to loving yourself. The thing that is most important about having "your own" ideas is that any incoming ideas trigger conscious thinking on your part, and not any sort of immediate lemming response "without" conscious thought. Not to say that everyone is a lemming, but in a lot of instances when you think about it no-one really has an idea that is their own as we are born into a world that likes to impose itself on us from birth, and we have to rely on our teachers and elders to show us the path to making the right choices in our lives. In order to do that, we also have to be able to 'identify' with these people in order for their ideas/ways etc to have that sort of impact on us. Even if you're the most lonesome person in the world that doesn't really talk to anyone that maybe does form ideas of your own, the place that you're in didnt happen by mistake and more than likely your life events, choices and surrounding entourage from the earliest of your days will have lead you to that point of existance (or non existance if you find yourself completely absent from any social interaction.)
It's not something we think about either, as we all know babies are like sponges, and you too were once a squidgy porous little thing that literally sucked up everything that displayed itself infront of you. So I guess the first thing to realise when trying to work out the beginnings of where you may pick up things from is truely within yourself. Unfortunately as a baby you can't really stand up and know who you are to the point where your ideas can really do great things, but 'Knowing' who you are and having confidence in that is where you can say that maybe more than a person that follows the crowd, you have more potential to be a dream weaver and know that your ideas are influential to others. Until you can think for yourself you are not really able to think objectively. Without being able to think objectively you will more than likely always have finality, bias and judgment ready to leap out and do the talking, when in reality being able to embrace both polarities from a neutral perspective without being clouded by immediate responses will lead you one step closer to freeing your mind and helping you feel more confident in your descisions. Ultimately without a mindful attitude, how can you be sure of anything?

SUNDAY... Coffee and Cake

New Note Cards and Prints On Etsy - Click Images to Visit Listings




Sunday - Coffee and Cake



Hello again :)

My son is currently asleep, and the other half is a busy bee dealing with some things that have cropped up this week, which has left me this short space of time to get on with todays article.

I have spend 5 weeks so far discussing the various things I have found to be helpful throughout my networking journey, to bring awareness of my work and other things like this blog for example. I think that I have pretty much covered everything i have tried and tested, and have found that some of these things have worked for my readers too, after getting some lovely responses to my posts ^_^ So for that I'm glad, that's what makes sharing this info so worthwhile! Unfortunately I have come to an end (new topic starting next week), with today being the last of the Networking articles but you can always catch up with the past Networking posts by clicking here, or searching for the tag "Coffee and Cake" within my blog.


Today, I will focus on something that initially won't help you spread you name around online, but in the long run will do just that. That is "Tagging" appropriately, whatever it is you are trying to bring to peoples awareness, be it an item in your Etsy store or a blog post, Tweet, or even MetaTags for a website.


Networking Part 6 : Tagging, for good SEO (search engine optimisation) is essential if you want to get yourselves listed into the search engines, to put yourself close to the top of the pile and to make easy navigation in things that may have it's own internal search engine. I think nowdays that the search engines automatically search around for pages to link to with the use of spider bots, which is why it's important to be prepared by tagging appropriately, as lack of tagging or bad tagging isn't going to do much for you in the competative world of website listing. You still get the option to manually list sites anyway, but even still, if these spiders think you site is spammy (based on how you incorporate SEO), or if it thinks the content is lacking, you'll find yourself in the back of the queue (or worse, blacklisted) when your ultimate goal should be to aim as high as you can! Tagging is pretty easy and like I say, can even help people navigate your pages/sites/items much easier than to have them go through pages and pages to find what it is they're looking for.


With Meta tagging for example (on a website) you'll find there are 2 places in the HTML coding that is worth putting a few words about your site. Those are literally the Meta Tags, and Meta Descriptions. You don't want to write paragraphs as the spider bots only pick up a small amount of text from what is left there. I'm uncertain of the exact number but think Twitter and call it 140 characters for each... it may be more, it could be less... but it's not a lot when you could go on for days about what it is you're trying to describe! So you need to be clever about it. Use words that aren't too unsual and infact try and think of what you reckon people will will look for that is relatable to your content, but also try and make a name for yourself. Summerise your business or site, and throw in as many keywords as you can in the description. The more "keywords" you can use, the better really.


Some people, when writing on the body section of their homepage like to include a more detailed welcoming description that I believe can also be used to optimise your pages for searching. This applies to everything I guess, like with Etsy you get a measly 14 tags per item, yet if you can use a bit of flair with your descriptions, or better yet try and put yourselves in the shoes of a search-ready customer, predicting what kinds of words someone would use to lead them to your product, something like that could change the way you would initially have written your tags to begin with. Tagging is more than just describing and catagorising your item, it should be about identifying with what your customers want.


On Etsy, Artfire, Misi, etc... the shop home should be reasonably descriptive, but not necessarily over done (not just for SEO but I found a lot of people get put off by reams and reams of writing before they see your items. Only recently!). That will help your shop gain more web presence for sure. and anything else really that gives you opportunities to tag and write descriptions, use them! you dont have to be a poet, but an intelligent use of descriptive words will always help. There are so many places to take advantage of for this. Blogger is one of them! Myspace! Indiepublic and We Love Etsy on Ning.com! I've even caught Tweets in the search engine, and particularly picked up via third party twitter sites! At the end of it, the way people find things online is if they search for it, unless they already know where they are going! If they don't then they will describe what they want and click search, and you want to be nearest the top of the end of that search as you can be! Remember you don't have to write novels. Just give good descriptions and tags!


That's all. Until next week, Coffee and Cake will be introducing a new topic of discussion! Look forward to it. :)


moonangelnay x

Sunday - Coffee And Cake!

New Greeting Cards and Prints On Etsy - Click Images to Visit Listings




Sunday - Coffee and Cake



Hello again :)

Had a bit of a crazy week as usual. It's been a couple of weeks since I have managed to just write a normal blog post, and I'm not trying to be lazy I promise! Time has just really been my enemy, which I am hoping should change in the following week, what with the other half going back to work and me being back to my full time duties exclusively! Should have plenty to talk about besides the features which'll be nice, considering all that I've been doing lately is work work work on Etsy. I've already written out a plan of what my son and I are going to get up to from tomorrow... aren't I organised! ^_^



Anyway today I want to discuss Social Networks. This is nice and easy so don't worry about me boring you to death lol!!!



Networking Part 5 : Social Networks Like I've said, this is easy as pie. A bit time consuming to set up but once they're going you can really intergrate yourself into the handmade community outside of Etsy, which so far I find is a great way to meet like minds and to also get your name out there. Like with Twitter and Blogger, Social Networks also allow you to link up all of your web efforts into one place, so any visitors will know of all the other places they can find you! A great thing if say someone who hates Myspace, but loves Facebook would rather link to you on there :)

I think one thing that puts people off Social networks is the security side of things. At least it did for me with all the scaremongering you get about them. With Facebook for example, I would never link my business to my personal page... the same way i dislike the idea of mixing work life and home life... you get the picture.
Facebook allows businesses to use their services without the need to mix in their personal profiles. It's simply, Facebook Pages as opposed to Facebook Profiles. I'm not sure if you need to have a normal Facebook profile in order to have a "page", as i was fortunate enough to already be an avid Facebook user prior to creating mine, but once up and running I think it's a create way to network with fellow handmade artisans.
It has a system on there which allows you to create ads that link to your page (at a cost however), and obviously it gives you presence in the searchable world that is Facebook.
It allows people to "become a fan" of you page, which once done allows you to update them as you update your page, without having to go through reams of email addresses to manually update them on your endeavors. A bit like a mailing list, but a little more snazzy. Users will see your updates on their own Facebook homepages in real time. They can also interact with you by leaving comments on your page or message you direct, so it's a great way to keep the communication flowing.
You can use various applications to make your page more interesting. I use Networked Blogs which pulls the feed from my Blogger Blog into my page without me having to go back and forth copying and pasting links. Facebook is one of my favourite methods of keeping people informed of what I'm getting up to.

If you want to be able to have something that you can tweak a little more, that uses templates or HTML and looks a little less plain like Facebook, you can join lots of Ning social networks like, Indie Public, We Love Etsy and Twittermoms (obviously one for mothers!). They all use a similar kind of interface, but you'll find the communities on there are vast and there are plenty of opportunities to communicate with these communities. All of the networks I mentioned give you access to a blog, of which when used gets updated at the top of a list similar to the way listing an item on Etsy works. This can be viewed in the "blogs" tab, where your updated blog will be at the top, along with all other blog users. Like with Etsy, if someone else updates a blog, then you'll get bumped down the list. Not one to be abused, you should only ever update when you genuinely have something relevent to say or announce! They all also have forums which are great for meetings other artists and for promotion. You can personalise your homepages too by uploading photos, RSS feeds, and various other things. Another place that I've already mentioned that could be used, if you like the idea of controlling how your page looks is Myspace. This may take a little more time, but if you're tech savvy in anyway you can make beautiful pages, completely personal to you that will look great if you want to establish a name for yourself. If not there are HTML editors now intergrated into Myspace that walk you through the steps of creating a look from scratch. Once up, you can link to your shop by using your Etsy mini, various other widgets if you like, and have a lot more flexibility than any other of the Social Networks when it comes to sharing everything that you want to and having that sort of control.

Mixxmade.com is a place I'm new too myself, but the one thing that is fab about it is that it allows you to link items into a sort of classifieds ad, in the Marketplace section. You have to write your listings out from scratch mind you, and type in links for people to visit (as your ad won't link to your item directly). But it's just another Idea... I think it's relatively new, but it's a community that is growing and definitely worth checking out.

There are loads of social networks out there besides the ones I've mentioned, but I do think it's worth giving it a go. Particularly for ones that you think your potential focused group is larger (ie: Facebook & We Love Etsy). If you're worried about security, then just don't make it personal and keep it solely for business. (You can still be friendly lol!) Also, change your passwords regularly and make sure they're not one's you'd use all the time. These kind of things always have the potential to get hacked, the same way any other site would do so for piece of mind I'd keep a log book of your passwords incase you forget, and regularly change them so you're always in control.

That's all that I'm familiar with anyway. Until next week!


moonangelnay x

Sunday - Coffee And Cake!

New Water Series Mandala Prints - Click Images to Visit Listings


Sunday - Coffee and Cake



Late again! I was early! Seriously! What would have been around 5.30am for most of Etsy (about 10.30am for me) I was ready to begin this article, but though to myself, no I'll give it a few hours until most of the universe on a Sunday morning would be awake! So I went shopping. Little did I know my son would be Mr Wiggle and delay us a bit whilst we were there, nor did I expect to come across a NEW venue for me to print my canvases SO close to home. That would BLAST the huge wait people would have by a few weeks if there was a long wait so I hope to research that later. But then I had to respond to all the fab applicants for tomorrow's feature, AND try and list some stuff online, whilst inbetween all of this, play trains with my little boy when he wouldn't nap in his room. Fun times! So I'm on it now :) Looking forward to this one. Nothing particularly strenous today. Shouldn't be a long one, for I want to discuss YOUR Etsy store :)



Networking Part 3 : Your Etsy Store Now I wanted to talk this week about Blogging. But I think it can wait a week as I MUST talk about Etsy, as I have seen many MANY stores this week that I have come across through loads of means, and some are incredible! But there are some that are struggling to get noticed and unfortunately it is noticable as to why.



People I'm sure are desperate to know why they don't get enough views on Etsy and it does take a lot of TLC in your store to make it worth noticing. You'll come across millions of resources to help you optimise your store for viewing, but I do wonder whether people go out of their way to find them? I know it took me a few months before I became away of the helpful articles on Etsy itself, and that was because I made a point of browsing a section I wouldn't normally have done one day, and POOF there it was. In the months prior to that what was I doing? I'm sure a lot of new sellers on Etsy are in the same boat wondering why they didn't look before when it was always there! another fab resource for all things handmade and selling related check out Handmadeology. It rules and the amount of helpful things on there would surely surpass what I do on here every week. But the reason I do what I do is because I try to make a point of letting people know it is here, as I have been lucky enough lately to have the time to find these helpful things to share with everyone. And I'm a time scrooge! I can totally understand when people say they just DONT have the time to look for things, so that's why I find you and lay out the things that have helped me for you to see :)



Anyway... Here are the reasons I feel from my early none-view days that I went wrong with my Etsy store, besides not marketing outside of Etsy. I didn't market WITHIN Etsy, I took bad pictures, I mixed alsorts of things in my store, I didn't do any market research, I didn't make a good banner, I didn't optimise my store text with relevant keywords (nor my profile for that matter), and importantly I didnt research PRICES. Since changing the lot, I have started slowly but surely making sales, and my traffic is abundant like you wouldn't believe!
You wouldn't believe the hours I have put in changing, re-changing, and completely eradicating things from my store, but seriously, if you are serious about your business you need to shake off your pride and consider that you will have to put in more effort. You have FABULOUS work! You need to make people want to notice it!



I'll break down my past mistakes because I see all of them regularly, and I know for a fact that it's important to realise when people go shopping, as much as you hate to think the world isn't superficial, first impressions unfortunately are EVERYTHING. That's why the supermarkets treat food like cosmetics, that's why any baker you walk into will smell AMAZING, that is why the big guys go out of their way to make sure you cannot resist their products, period. It's awful, but even if you have the best thing in the world that everyone may want, if you take a dark picture, no one will look at it.



Photos - Don't just try to make them look pretty, LIGHT is imperative! Camera flashes will work against you. They don't look natural and they ruin your beautiful work. You need to take your photos in the day time in natural light where you can get a lot of it shining down on your items. Having a good camera will help, and making use of your macro settings! If you can't get a good camera then just make sure you take your photos in good light, and make sure they are not too fuzzy! There's a big difference between macro and blurry! If you can't do day time pictures then make yourself a lightbox! you can buy them but here's a fab video to show you how to make them.



Storefront - You need to use plenty of descriptive "related" words for what you're selling in order to optimise your store, within your beautiful store introduction. Google will pick up on the first few lines of your store, and you want to be sure it's noticed in the search engines. But lists of words will go against you. Don't write lists, that's the kind of thing that'll bump you down the chain. Be honest, be yourself and talk about what your store is about. Sell yourself! People looking for specific things will never find you if you don't have it in your storefront. Make a good banner, or invest a couple of dollars to someone who can do it for you (unless you know a nice person who'll do it for free!). That will be the first thing anyone sees! and it needs to look good! As for items. Don't mix them. Eg: If you sell jewelry and pottery, have 2 stores. Don't put them in the same place. Why? It puts people off as it confuses them. As multitalented as most of Etsy are, you're better separating your stores. I have recently done it myself, and my reason is exactly what I have said. Someone actually said to me 3 months back that they loved my work, but the mish mash of stuff in my store confused them. So I keep my photography and art together, and my crafts will appear in another store a little later.



The Community - Etsy people rule. So you need to talk to them! The forums are ace! you can meet new people, sellers help eachother all the time with advice, promoting eachother and alsorts. It's a great place to meet new faces and make your presence known within Etsy. The promotion section is particularly grand as some of you may know already. I'd recommend making the time to go in and have a chat with the community :) (Etsy chat will do you some good too!)



Listings - You need to ideally list every few days. I personally try to list everyday IF I can. Not always possible, but you can always relist or renew items. The power of relisting bumps you items back up to the top of the pile so they'll more than likely be noticed. But it will still cost .20 to do so. It's not everyones cuppa tea, but if you do make a lot of stuff, rather than bunch it all up on one day, try and spread the things out a little. Showcasing is something I have tried a few times, and it gets you a lot of views, but I have never received a sale from it. But people do, and I see people that regularly showcase so it must work for some!



I have made all of these mistakes and it is the most gutting thing in the world to realise that you need to change what you have done and put hours into. I guess anyone in the world with a business would do this regularly, as you always have to appease the market, not just yourself. But believe me, your work IS worth it and you are worth it too. If you are struggling then simple things like new photos, and listing regularly can really help within Etsy. Coupled with marketing outside of Etsy, people will come in droves! You always need to assess what you're doing. And go to the forums! People will help you if you ask them! Ask for opinions, and be open to constructive critisism. It could be the thing you need to turn everything in a positive direction!



moonangelnay x