Last day for Scrabble Tile Pendants

Today is the last day to get Scrabble Tile Pendants

in ANY of my Shops

this year.

These are all 'made to order'

and

this year

I do want to enjoy the holidays.

It seems every year since I started doing the scrabble tiles,

I am working like crazy to get these made

and to the buyers

in time for

Christmas.

Then...on Christmas Eve...I can start thinking about

my own holiday.

I really am just getting too old for the added stress...

so I've set December 5th as the deadline for these...

no exceptions.

(though I'm sure there will be one or two

who 'didn't see my announcement'

and talk me into doing some.)

Who knows...this might be the year...I

'stick to my guns'!

In the Coming Year

I've been thinking A LOT about what to do with my life

and my shops

in 2013.

As of December 10th,

 my Rustic Goth Zibbet Shop

will go back to the Basic Shop

of only 50 items.

I really like the site, but unfortunately...

it does have some issues when buyers check out

that require me 'doing the math' and issuing

refunds for overpayments...usually on

shipping.

They have announced improvements

and upgrades to their site,

but it hasn't happened yet so,

I decided to wait until they do to go back to premium.

 

I will not list any duplicates on the site though...

it will only be pieces I've 'retired' from my Etsy Shop

and some pieces 'exclusive' to the Zibbet Shop.

It is also the only places I will offer my

Steampunk Art Calendar and my

Creeper Calendar.

 

I have opened a new shop on Etsy...

it is art for kids rooms...

and is called

Fairytalez 'n Fantasiez.

similar to my

Artfire Shop

Sugar 'n Snails...

I actually had this shop 'in progress' when

all the weirdness went down on Etsy...

I decided to wait to see what was going on before opening it...

and now that it appears to have straightened itself out...

I went ahead with it.

Why similar shops?

Well...basically because of what happened on

Etsy in October.

I don't plan to get 

"caught with my pants down"

again.

Selling my art online is how I pay my bills...

and the unexplained closing (even for only 4 days) of my

Etsy Shop...

which I might add...

has never been explained...to this day...

I'm sure it was a 'glitch' as it coincided with the

'upgrade' to the entire site...

but...

I still think it would only have been courteous

to respond to my emails

to say...

'whoops...our bad'

or something of the such.

I didn't much like just having my emails ignored

with no idea of what was going on or

what happened...and it's left me a bit 'gun shy'.

But...in a nutshell...I will be doing more

'happy' art...for the two newest shops...

fewer 'Creepers'.

Since I'm no 'spring chicken'

I also plan to concentrate on smaller paintings...

4" x 6" to 12" x 16" and 'in between' sizes.

I'll do an occasional 16x20

but not many.

Poll results

Well...I've closed the poll...

"Which Online Shopping Sites do  you prefer?"

and these are the results I've gotten.

Mind you it can't be considered a scientific poll by

any means...it was for my own benefit

to help me decide on my options.

I was very surprised to see only 1 vote each for

ArtFire and Zazzle.

I included 'Brick and Mortar'...realizing that is not an online shopping site 

but,

some folks just do not shop online

so I thought I needed to include it...

it too only got 1 vote.

So..Etsy wins out by far.

Guess I'll see what I need to do

to make Etsy work for me once again.

Getting it all sorted out.

Apparently a job is not in my future...I don't know how many

applications I filled out online...since that is apparently how things

are 'done' now...

and I've only had 1 response...and that was a 'no'.

I have so many ideas 'floating around in my head' that I want

to commit to paintings (either digital or acrylic)

in the coming months...

perhaps I just need to get better at marketing.

I've got approximately 250+ pieces listed...between all of my shops...

but still making very few sales.

I know that I have relied so much on site driven traffic...

and that has pretty much gone away...

now I just need to figure out what I need to do

to drive my own traffic.

And...I'm working on it.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you enjoy family, friends and 'feasting'...

have a very

"Happy Thanksgiving"

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!!

          

Art Business Update II

With the changes on Etsy...my shops on Artfire and Zibbet...

it has become apparent that I am now left to

drive Most...if not ALL...traffic to my sites.

The biggest problem with this is...

How to do it...

without seeming spammy or repeating

myself over and over on the

social media sites I currently do most of

my marketing through?

 

I check my meager stats on Etsy and found that I had

one search term 'whimsical landscape' that

had come in through Google the day

after the election...

try as I might...

I tried that search term in Google

and never did find any of my art.

 

Sooo...

I've recently joined

Wanelo

Ownza

and added new 'boards' on

Pinterest

and really need to update my

Kaboodle...

as these are all sites that

have posting buttons in one or more of my shops.

I'm not a stranger to social media or marketing

my own art...I just think that I'm not very good at it.

So...rather than work on new creations...

as I have a lot of new pieces that are getting much 'love'

at this time...

I've decided to learn much more than I know now

about social media and marketing.

So...while the job search still continues....

I will also be learning more about

how to increase my online presence and hopefully

grow my business to even more than

it was

when Etsy pulled the rug.