AAA Cafe' Daily Chat 03/12/2015

[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!

Another grey day with rain forecasted later on, I haven't decided yet whether to go and open up shop or not, I'll see after walking Blake. Sometimes I think that I should maybe move my shop to a town, where you don't have to rely on visitors and weather so much and trading is a 12 months affair rather than seasonal. Uhm.

Somebody posted the link to this video in a thread in the forum yesterday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5dWpwStzMg . It's 36 minutes long so I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, it's made by an Etsy seller whose shop seems to be quite successful and he gives tips on SEO, Photography, Branding etc, so perhaps it's worth having a look when time allows. I'm amazed at how many videos there are on Etsy on youtube, it looks like it may take a solid week to watch them all LOL.

I've seen that there are a lot of new team members, so a big welcome to you all! As you may have seen we talk about all sort of things in the Daily Chats, and we are here to help each other to make our shops as successful as possible, whether you are 1 day old on Etsy or a veteran with many years and sales under your belt. There is always something to learn! Please do ask questions and let us know if you would like to see any particular topic covered (and this goes to everybody of course :) )

Do any of you have Easter related items in your stores? How are sales going for Easter? I don't do seasonal clocks as you know, so I'm curious to see how everybody else is doing. Oh, and St Patrick's Day too, as that's next week.

Have a great day everybody!

[TurningTrueStudios]

Good morning! Yesterday was so fun to receive so much love from this team. So glad I joined.

Wondering who might have an idea for me on my photos that I use in my About page. I have tried to upload a logo and it cuts it off so badly I should probably remove it. It is an oval shape. For some reason I am not understanding how to adjust it to fit. I don't have any photo programs but was thinking maybe Photoshop might be useful to buy.

Sunshine all around today! Wishing the same for you!

[CherryPicks]

Hi Laura! Try this - Etsy Banner Maker: bannerfans.com/banner_maker.php?bnew=1&pses=1a256d05

[HollyODesigns]

Good morning! It's grey and yucky here today as well. It's been like this for the whole week. I'm ready for some sunshine!

I'm going to have to watch that video sometime today. Thanks for sharing! I sat through a webinar a couple of days ago about marketing/promoting on pinterest. The first 30 minutes were really informative. The second 30 minutes lost me because it was a complete sales pitch about a marketing tool.

Good points from that video:
Best time to pin is early in morning or late at night. Saturday morning has the most pinterest traffic.
Take advantage of key words and put them everywhere. In your board titles, in comments under pin, in your about section. Everywhere! My keywords would be wedding, gifts, jewelry.
Don't just pin"products". Keep it interesting. They suggested informative pins, like creating a checklist for your wedding day, a tutorial on how to clean jewelry etc...
I found some of it useful and will be working on my pinterest account throughout the next week. I am a huge fan of pinterest because I get a lot of traffic from there.

Laura, I am a big fan of the photoshop express app. Photo cropping is still a trial and error thing for me. Lol! I have spent many hours centering and cropping my photos to get them to look right. I still need practice..... Maybe someone else will have better advice. Lol

[HollyODesigns]

Cherry, that's a great tool!! Thanks for sharing!!

[Former_Member]

Good morning all! Long time no chat.

I do try and read the daily chats, but I have not participated in some time. Sorry :(

Been so busy, with not much desire to make anything. it has been such a cold winter and my studio is in my basement. Well, yesterday was finally warm! Yay!!!! and all the meltage went into my studio. vacuumed up water for 4 hours yesterday. and we still have a lot of snow still on the ground. Hopefully the thaw will be a bit slower. LOL!

[NaturalClocks]

Nice to see you again Beyond! Hold on, Spring is on its way!

Thanks for the tips Holly! It's always a difficult one deciding what's the best time to list or renew and to be active on social media. Besides, I'm 5 hours ahead of EST, so I just end up doing things when it suits me. Even though the largest market is in the US, I figure that there is always somebody up and connected to Etsy/the internet in the world LOL.

Laura, I think that the problem may be with the size of that photo, it may be too big, that's why it cuts it that way. I have photoshop and I took the liberty of copying and resizing it for you. I'm sending them to you via convo, see how you get on and let me know if they work, if they don't let me know and I'll keep resizing it until we get it right :) And yes, photoshop is a good investment in my opinion.

[NaturalClocks]

Sorry Holly, I've just seen it now. As far as cropping goes I don't have any particular advice, it's trial and error, I just go by visuals and instinct haha! You'll soon develop and eye for it.

[RedRiverValley]

Good morning team and welcome to all our new members!

Another unseasonably warm and sunny day here... and I can't wait. I love this warmer weather!!

I have both Easter and St. Patrick's day items in my shop. I have sold 2 Easter items already. Last year was I listed some Easter items and they have proven to be some of the my most popular items in views. My Easter items get views and faves year round. I wish I could figure out what I did so right with those items and do it will all of my items! Easter has been my best selling holiday followed by Halloween.

Photos are definitely the hardest thing for me so I am not going to offer any input lol. I totally admire people that have the gift of great photography!!
I have an order to finish up and then hope to get started on some new items tomorrow.

[Former_Member]

i do not have the photography gift either. I think i do ok on Instagram...but for regular shots, not so much.

I often rely on the talents of others for that. ;)

[ZingRetroFinds]

Hi All,

Welcome to the new members. I have gotten a lot of advice right here.

I have used Bannerfans and find it very helpful.
No Easter or St. Patrick's day items. Not sure if women want jewelry for those occasions.
I recently updated an items photographs using my MS Picture Manager. I chose a different background, better lighting, and fine tuned it with this program. The old photos were just not as good as this new one.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/180548745/dragon-necklace-vintage-chinese-red?ref=shop_home_active_1

Have a great day

[COLDHAMCUDDLIES]

That's a very dramatic photo Donna - and against the black background too. Just shows that all this talk about having a white background to show up one's items is not necessarily the way to go!!!

I've spent an instructive few minutes going around Clare's garden this morning. There are some lovely spots in it, particularly in a spectacular rockery she's inherited where some of the Cuddlies toys will look very much at home. Obviously the Puppets and Slippers have to be taken inside somewhere suitable, but am now looking forward to the better weather, and to rephotographing the Cuddlies in their new surroundings.

My problem is that I don't like getting rid of all my photos - and they take up so much space on my computer. I have a hard disk extension thingey, as well as my usb stick. The latter is full to the brim, and I might need to find space on it, and the hard disk has loads of space, but am not sure how best to store them. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

We had a beautifully sunny, but chilly day until mid-afternoon down here. Now it's clouded up, but hopefully, it's not going to rain. That's if the weather is listening to the forecasters.

[Former_Member]

Hello, Team!
These are my new items.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/225660424/sprig-hat-and-fingerless-set-knit-hat?ref=pr_shop

[DoorCountyVintage]

Hey guys I would really appreciate some people to try the new eye spy game if you dont like it so be it but you never know unless you try right :)

Welcome new members!

A few new items!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/225838993/1976-looney-tunes-pepsi-glass-warner?ref=shop_home_active_1

https://www.etsy.com/listing/225848692/1973-looney-tunes-pepsi-glass-warner?ref=shop_home_active_1

https://www.etsy.com/listing/225611562/lobster-red-glass-vintage-drinking?ref=shop_home_active_3

https://www.etsy.com/listing/225592389/belt-buckle-4x4-vintage-truck-logo?ref=shop_home_active_4

[HollyODesigns]

I watched the you tube video link. It's worth a watch. Lots of helpful info!! Thank you for sharing it with us.

I made a sale today!! The best part is I think the item was found using search. I have been obsessing over my tags and titles, so it's nice my OCD is helping me, LOL!

[RedRiverValley]

Congratulations Holly! Hard work always pays off!

[GoldFeatherStudio]

Congrats, Holly!

And thanks for the useful info on Pinterest! It's a frontier I have been meaning to explore, but had no clue how to use it or where to start. For those of you who do use pinterest, do you have a separate pinterest just for your shop? I have a personal pinterest page, and I wasn't sure if I should create a new one.

Photography is hard too. I find I get so frustrated photographing artwork because a lot of my art has a lot of white negative space which can come of grey, blue, or who knows what else in photographs. Doesn't do the real thing justice. Although I have tried brightening things up with a photo editor.


The sun has finally come out in Maryland, and I hope it is here to stay!

I also apologize for inconsistent participation on chat from here on it. I was on vacation, but now I am back to juggling school, work, art, cooking, and maybe a little bit of a social life---still figuring out where Etsy fits in with these things but will try my best to keep up because this is clearly a neat community!

Have a great day/evening!:)

[naturepoet]

Sorry I haven't been around much. It's been a crazy busy week. However, I am moderating the threads and checking, or trying to, out the daily threads.