AAA Cafe' Daily Chat 03/11/2015

[NaturalClocks]

Welcome to new members, welcome back to returning teammates! If this is your first time here - this is a place to ask questions, share your most embarrassing secrets, or just chat about the slow and boring bits of your day…we want to hear from you!!

Be sure to check out the discussion board. There are games to be played and threads to explore. The more you promote your fellow team mates, the more you get promoted, so be sure to participate on a daily basis. Check out our blog and our Facebook page, as well as the other links provided below.

IMPORTANT LINKS:
* Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/301427606658253/
* Etsy Calculator: salecalc.com/etsy
* Etsyology: www.etsyology.net/
♥ Online Photo Programs: fotoflexer.com/ or www.picmonkey.com/
treasurypin.com./ and editor.pho.to/
arwmedia.net/tools/pixlr_express.php
* Etsy Craft Tools: www.mycrafttools.com/
* Etsy Gadget: www.estygadget.com
* Craftopolis -Edit multiple listings: www.craftopolis.com/#com=ee
* Etsy Banner Maker: bannerfans.com/banner_maker.php?bnew=1&pses=1a256d05
* Craftcount - craftcount.com/teritory.php
* Google+ tutorials blog.kissmetrics.com/personal-google-plus-account/ and moz.com/blog/tips-to-use-google-for-s
* Chrome Treasury Box: brittanysbest.com/treasurybox-chrome-extension/
* Google+ information plus.google.com/communities/112658132414010568954
* Etsy team page: www.etsy.com/pages/aaasupport
* Check your keyword relevancy in search: www.tools4etsy.com/Wall-e/Relevancy/Keyword
* 50 Reasons you're not getting Etsy Sales: www.handmadeology.com/50-reasons-youre-not-getting-etsy-sales/
* Betsi Lite: www.blugrin.com/ (make sure you click on Lite at the bottom of the screen, as that is the free edition!)
* New Category List: www.etsy.com/help/categories/seller#node-id-1250

Please don't forget to post in the AAA Support Team thread in the promo forum :)) www.etsy.com/uk/teams/21915/promos/discuss/15267796

Good morning team!

Nice and sunny at the moment, but a heavy band of rain is moving towards us from the Atlantic, good things never last, do they? lol.

Yesterday I reached a little milestone: 1000 admirers in my shop. I hope that one day I will be able to celebrate 1000 sales hahaha!

So this brings me to today's topic, since it was also mentioned in a chat a few days ago: admirers and followers, as there is a difference between the two and it can be confusing for a new seller. When somebody becomes an admirer of your shop by faving it, they will get to see in their activity page the new items and renewals whenever you list/relist them. A follower instead won't get to see any of that, but what will appear in their activity feed are the items that you fave from other sellers.

Personally, I would rather have admirers than followers, as those are the ones that get to see my items, I have seen that quite a few of my buyers have faved my shop, so if they log in to Etsy regularly they would get to see my new items in their activity feed, and who knows... repeat customers at some stage?

Following on the other hand helps with promoting and I compare it to ripples in the water when you throw a pebble in. Lets say I fave one of Sara's items: my followers will get to see it (well, those that check their activity feed at least!), some or even just one them may fave that item, which will get to be seen by his/her followers, and who knows, that may end up in the activity feed of somebody that will think "wow! that's just what I was looking for!" and purchase that item = Sara gets a sale.

Well, that's what I understand about following, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm really looking for further information on the positives of following somebody. I really never look at my activity feed nor at my home page, I was following a few people at the beginning but I soon stopped following as those little blue numbers were doing my head in, so I admit that I don't follow anybody at the moment.

I look forward to read your opinions and tips on the matter.

Have a great day everybody!

[naturepoet]

Good morning, Val,

It doesn't matter if I follow or not. Those little blue numbers drive me a bit crazy. It may say there is 99 and when I check, nothing.

I too, would rather have admirers than followers. I like it when people admire my shop because it does have the ripple effect, which helps us in the long run.

Congrats on 1,000 admirers and yes, one day you will pass 1,000 sales. It just takes time.

[NaturalClocks]

Thanks Mary :) I don't get as many blue numbers as I used to get though, has something else changed in Etsy?

[GlensWorkshop]

Good Morning Everyone,

Another day in paradise but this is a moving day as we end two weeks of full hook ups and move back to dry camp. Our new site is on the water front so both of us are pleased. I expect to be less active here and on Twitter due to the work involved; yesterday was similar as it was a packing day.

Val - congrats on the 1,000 admirers. I hope to not be too far behind as there are 963 admirers of GlensWorkshop as of this moment. Admirers may be another reason to regularly renew listings as it keeps your shop in their activity feed.

There is a limit to the number of shops we can follow. I ran into this limit again recently at 1,000. My response was to cull any shops which kept their Favorites secret and those whose Favorites numbered 200 or less. My thinking is this retains those most likely to Fave one of my items and put that into the activity feed of their Followers thus promoting my items more widely. I hope those Followed by me reciprocate.

Have a great day everyone.

[ItsSewYouDear]

Good morning Val and all!

Gorgeous day here and I am getting ready to go get some horse lovin'!

Val, congrats on your milestone. You explained admirers and followers well, that's how I understand it as well. For me personally, I don't even notice followers, and even favorites, I feel that my numbers are highly inflated with team participation. Don't get me wrong, I fave and love to get faves lol, but I feel that most of team members aren't faving to buy my stuff but rather helping promoting, which is great on its own.

Happy Wednesday all!

[ZingRetroFinds]

Hi All,

Another nice day here. Snow is still melting so there are increasing patches of grass when I take a neighborhood walk.

Val, congrats on the 1000 admirers. Its easy to see why.

I don't know much about admirers so I checked. I have 224 after 1 active year on Etsy. As to followers I don't know where to find that number. I rarely check my feed. Is this important to do? I guess there is still a lot for me to learn.

Have a great day.

[Former_Member]

Good morning -

Fog has finally burnt off this morning and now it is sunny. Snow is melting off and it is great to finally see patches of my yard again.

Donna - to find your followers, click on your name on the left hand side of your shop and that will take you to your profile page and on the left you will see Followers along with a number (mine shows 107) Hope that helps out.

Val - Congratulations on your admirers. I am about halfway to that right now (520) It was a nice feeling though to reach 500. I can't imagine 1000.

Busy day ahead for me today and I am hoping to finally be able to get new photos soon of my signs I have. Have a great day!

[COLDHAMCUDDLIES]

Have to confess that I hadn't really considered the difference between Admirers and Followers. I've been addicted to the latter since a very kind Etsy gentleman, in my early days on Etsy and before I was invited to join here, showed me how to play the Follower game, and how it would help to heighten the profile of the Shop.

Could someone enlighten me how one attracts Admirers, and how one checks, please? Have noticed them, I think, when I go and have a brief look at my Stats. As most of you know, they're figures - and figures confuse the old mind, so I don't often do that!!!! However, if Admirers will help, I'd like to know more, if someone would be kind enough to clarify!

Another beautiful Spring morning today, but alas, the ever-present cloud has arrived although, so far, only accompanied by spots of rain. Long may that continue.

Off to attend to other Etsy duties, but will call back later if time allows. If not, I'll check in tomorrow and read up if anyone has been kind enough to answer my query.

[NaturalClocks]

Lucky you Isobel! It was awful here today, I didn't even bother to go and open up shop today, it would have been a waste of petrol!

To check Admirers is very easy: go into your shop front page and look on the left hand side, underneath Reviews and Sales: you have 2028 Admirers, well done!! That means that whenever you list a new item or renew something, it will end up in the activity feed of all those 2028 people. Whether they look at it or not is a different matter, still, it all helps to get your items seen :)

No idea how to attract admirers though...

[NaturalClocks]

Donna, I don't really think that it's important to check your feed, I rarely do... If anything, you may see something in your feed that you may decide to a) buy or b) fave/refave. I think it's more important when other people check their feed and see OUR items and decide to buy them or fave them. Sorry, this sounds like a rather selfish behaviour, but I'm just talking from a seller's point of you and the benefits of checking our feed.

[Former_Member]

Good day, All.
Followers and admirers: I get the two confused regularly.
Just as I regularly forget the correct spelling of turmeric. I know the two seem unrelated, but it has to do with remembering I tend to remember incorrectly, then remembering incorrectly again and reinforcing the incorrect-ness.

On a related note--I had come to utilize and enjoy the previous front page/feed. The new one annoys me. There isn't a way to utilize it. It's like force-feeding. 'Curated by *blechnorp'. Non, merci.

Last night there was major wonkiness on the site--Both listers non-functional, check-out non-functional, and other, I forget all. They did some announcements about it. Forum kept working, so many were communicating about it. I bugged out, so to speak, and cleaned the house.

[Former_Member]

Hello!! I am new to Etsy!!! Thanks for all of this!

[COLDHAMCUDDLIES]

Thanks Val for that explanation - how very flattering to know that I'm admired by so many folk!! Will go and have a look see for myself - not that I'm doubting you for one instant, you understand!

Welcome Amanda - hope you'll enjoy yourself here. Certainly you'll find out a lot about what to do on Etsy if you participate in this thread. They're a very friendly, and helpful, bunch of crafters!

[Former_Member]

Hi, team!

Amanda, welcome to the team! There's so much to be learned here!

Val, congrats on your 1000 admirers! And you too, Isobel -- that's a lot of admirers.

I have 310 admirers, and 110 followers. I never knew the difference between them, so thanks to all who explained it.

I am fit to be tied. The computer that I just had fixed two weeks ago has crashed yet again. I cannot afford $140 every other week to get this piece of junk working. Pam's going to look at it this after noon. Meanwhile, I am unable to list my latest tote bags. I could just scream.

Off to take Pam to see her neurologist. Have a great day, everyone!

[RedRiverValley]

Another beautiful day here. Our snow is pretty much gone!! Woo Hoo! May the warming trend continue!!

Since the first of the year I have been focusing on gaining more admirers and followers through different promotion threads in teams and as part of my RAKs each week. As Val mentioned the ripple affect I am hoping that will help real in a few sales. I had more sales in Jan and Feb of 2015 than I did in 2014. Now whether that is a direct connection to increased followers and admirers I don't know as there are many other factors at play too, but I figure it can't hurt.

Glen, good luck with your move today! Try not to work too hard.

Welcome to the team and Etsy Amanda!

[DoorCountyVintage]

Hey guys I have the two newest history items posted so let's see those Thomas Jefferson and Bell Bottom Jeans items!

Also guys lets not forget to welcome the new members in the new member meet and greet thread! :)

[HollyODesigns]

Just popping in to say Hi!! I've missed a couple of days, so I'm going through old threads to catch up on some games. I'm also pinning items from our team tonight as my RAKs. Hope you all are having a great night!!

Congrats on 1000 followers!!
Welcome to all the new members! This is a great team!

[TurningTrueStudios]

Would we actually see anywhere when someone new follows or admires us? Or does it just show up without notifying?

[naturepoet]

Val, we never know what all is going on behind the scenes in Etsy. There is some kind of other testing going on, but I don't remember what it is. I'm really tired, as I haven't slept the last couple of nights. I hate spring clock change. It sends both Brandon's and my internal clocks out of wack. The fall isn't quite as bad for us.

[RedRiverValley]

Laura, I get notifications about followers from the etsy app and I get emails. Admirers show up in your stats and on your dashboard activity feed.

[Former_Member]

Good Morning all you wonderful people! Quite a surprise for me this a.m. to see all the faves I got on my stuff. Thank you. It was very nice of you to visit my shop. My sales are doing fine and I just re-opened my store and selling account on eBay yesterday - have a sale there already, too! I hope you all have been well this cold, harsh winter. I managed to get through with just a sinus infection (2 months of it). Good luck to everybody, and thank you again for visiting my shop! :)