Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Ode to the Sales Fairy!

On Etsy, we often pay homage to the mystical being known only as: The Sales Fairy.

A mystery to many of us trying to drive more sales our way, this Sales Fairy is thought by some to be a distant relative of the groundhog. For it seems that she too shows up only once a year to see it's shadow.

We conjur, we chant, we dedicate full threads to her in the promotions forum...yet...this magical creature remains elusive.

So I ask now, how...HOW does one get this mavelous being to touch up on us? To come down and sprinkle some of that magic fairy dust uponst our shops? (Basically, what do we have to do suck up so that we can get more sales???!)

As I end this update allow me to say to all...May the Sales Fairy Be With You!


(And may she find my shop!!!)

Until next time...

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Treasury Madness--The Sequel



My addiction was fed again with yet another new Treasury today!

It's a hot, humid day and something cool just seemed the way to go. So my theme for this one???

Minty Fresh!

I've had wonderful comments made and the sellers whose works I've picked have all been so nice.

Speaking of the sellers, we need to touch base on something I left out of my last post...contact.

When you create a Treasury, be sure to let the sellers know that they are being featured! Let's face it, if it wasn't for their items, you would have no Treasury!

The easiest I've found is to contact them from their item page itself--this way they know exactly which of their products is being featured.

Just a quick note is fine...no need to write a novel's worth. A short, "hi I've featured you in my Treasury" is appropriate--and oh yeah--make sure to include your Treasury's link in the convo!

I've found that 99% of the time I will get a very nice thank you back, which is always great. I've also ended up having some great back-and-forths with some of the sellers I've featured...learning and sharing a lot with them.

Remember, your not just creating a Treasury, you are also networking. Promoting your own store by making contacts and in some cases, forging friendships.

Sending a note a seller's way also gives them the tools to promote as well. "Hey, I was featured in so-and-so's Treasury! Come take a look!" Or doing what I'm doing by posting screen shots both on here and on my Facebook Jewelry page.

I'm a big believer in 'what goes around comes around'. You help other sellers and they will help you out in return.

So go forth and create your new Treasury and once it's up and live remember...GO TELL THE SELLERS! :)

In the meantime. go check out mine: Minty Fresh

Until next time...

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Treasury Madness--The Why's and What-fors


Today I was lucky enough to score a new Treasury. I decided to do a Swirly type of theme--fun, whimsical, and lots to choose from!

I'm a Treasury addict. I admit it.

I love going in and discovering other artists...seeing how people put together their choices and how they go with the titles they chose.

If you don't know what a Treasury is, it's a special feature on Etsy where members (both buyers and sellers) have the opportunity to create a gallery of works done by Etsy artisans.

It gives the curator a chance to show off their favorites and give sellers some extra promotion time. (And what's better than free promotions?)


Getting a Treasury is pretty much a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Treasuries last between 2-3 days and when they expire (in real time) and get below their minimum numbers, a form will come up at the bottom of the page inviting you to create your own page. (There are much better instructions on Etsy itself--main page>treasury>scroll to bottom.)


Many times, depending on the chosen theme, I try to include items that use my Treasury title in their item title. Doesn't always work out that way, but that's how I like to start off.


One of my last Treasuries had the theme of colors in the Crayola Crayon 64 box. I used items that had the actual color names from Crayola and used this list as a guide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Crayola_crayon_colors


The result was this Treasury:



Another big thing I like to do, once I come up with a theme is....while doing my search for an item, I don't like to take pieces from the first few pages unless there are only a few pages.

Or to be clearer...for my new Treasury (first pic) I chose a 'Swirly' theme. When I put the term 'swirl' in the Etsy search, there were 1113 pages that came up. So, I go right to the last page. Why? Because I search by date listed and those at the end have been listed for a much longer time than those on the first or second pages and I like to give those sellers a chance to be seen.


Let's face it, I know when I'm looking for something, I'm not going to go through all 1113 pages!

But those items deserve to be looked at as much as those most recently listed so why not add them to a Treasury?


Now that you have my insight, go in and take a look around! Just go to Etsy.com look at the left-hand side menu and look for the word "Treasury". The rest is up to you!!!


(You can always start with my current one as a jumping-off point: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=72179 just remember, it expires in three days!)


Until next time...

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Technology Good vs. Evil

I had one of those days where technology both worked for and against me.

On one hand, my new Craftopolis ad that I've got running this week has already been brining traffic to my website. I've gotten more hits in one day than I've had in a while. I'm thinking this is a good thing!

(now if the sales fairy would find me it would be even better)

At the same time all of this has been going on, I did some site updating today and while trying to do so, my program froze, the coding got all screwed up and it took hours longer than I thought it would.

I'm happy to say that after much frustration and threatening to throw my laptop out the window, I figured out the problem and all is right with the world again.

It always amazes me how life balances out sometimes.


PS. The laptop has survived the ordeal and will be here to live another day.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

The first post...

Welcome to TheGoblet.com's new blog brought to you by Goblet Designs Jewelry.

I design mainly using sterling silver, gemstone and lampwork glass beads. You can see some of my work on the right-hand side of the screen and clicking on a piece will take you to my Etsy shop.

One of the first questions I always get is, "how did you come up with 'The Goblet'?"

Well, my answer is this...

The name came to be when two ideas combined into one. When I started designing in 2000, I had a big love of all things Medievil. And when I would be 'blocked' for ideas, I would take this silver goblet that I had and throw handfuls of beads into it to see what ideas would come about just by looking into the vessel.

Think jewelry design meets Iron Chef!

The block would end and suddenly I would come up with idea after idea. Sometimes it would be finding a much different color combination I've never done before, or just really taking notice of beads I may have overlooked...that goblet was a blocked designers savior!

(now I use a bowl)

When it came time to pick a name, I thought about what I did and what I use as far as tools and materials. I came up with a ton of names and did hours of searching to see just how original I really was.

After I decided to stop obsessing about a name, it came to me. One night I was making a few pieces, saw the goblet on my table and ta-da!

I like having an original name. It stands out, it's memorable, and most of all, it's mine. :)



So welcome to my blog. Make yourself at home and I'll be back real soon!