Art Business Update III

Well...once bitten, twice shy...as the saying goes...

still worried my Etsy Shop could close

at anytime.

In spite of all of my 'upset' with the recent

changes...I think I've decided I don't want to 'voluntarily' close this shop...

I've had it for five years and have built a loyal customer base...

 

But, I have come to realize that I need 

to expand my online art business to other sites.
I was under the mistaken impression that it was
necessary to devote all of my time and resources
to one shop and make it the best shop I could
possibly make it.

And while I have made some very nice sales and
built a loyal following on Etsy, I also put myself
and my business in the hands of a single site that I had
very little control of.
So...here I am, at what should be my busiest time of
year, starting once again...from scratch.

I am not complaining, mind you, it's just a "lesson
learned".  "Don't put ALL of your eggs in one 'basket'."
For one thing, I am having to learn a whole new set
of do's and don'ts...what works and what doesn't

on the new sites I have recently joined.

 

I plan on staying with all of the shops I currently have

Etsy

ArtFire

and

Zibbet

as and, if, they are...until after the first of the year.

I know it is mostly duplicates offered on all three sites...

the reason being...

I wanted to see which site I thought would

best suite my needs.

All of the sites are now based on 'relevancy' rather than 'recency'...

which basically means...

I have to learn and implement a lot of SEO...and do a lot

of promoting to get any of my sites seen.

But..since all these sites are owned by someone else...

(I just basically 'rent' space there)

I made the ultimate decision to open expand my current website

to include a small 'shop'

in early 2013.

 

It's too late in the season to have to worry about trying to

bring customers to a brand new website...

and besides..

I need to concentrate on the shops  I currently have

if I have any kind of business this holiday season...

but

I want to 'CONTROL' my own online destiny

and I think the best place to do that would have to be

my OWN Shop on my own website.

So...decision made...hope everyone has a great holiday season...

especially my fellow online sellers!!