The Break Room

[#1]

This is an off topic chit chat spot!

Im going to start with a set of my jars made it to the Home & Living main image and my views are crazy!! Im in shock my picture is there! Like I cannot believe it!! lol

Now if it could include some sales! ha ha!

I dont want to post in the main forum but, I had to share with someone! :D

[Former_Member]

My own vent... Urg I want to do a full styled wedding shoot with a model/all Etsy sellers and Im getting nothing from the teams! Its all baby stuff! Boo!

I wish I could post in the forums... another boo!

Ok rant over! lol

[Former_Member]

Thank you for giving me some perspective, Kelly. You're right, I need to pick my battles and this isn't one that's worth my time. I will take your advice and leave a comment though. :D


As for your photoshoot, what types of items were you looking for? For my old shop I was always looking for a photography for product exchange groups and 99% of the time it was baby items and baby photographers. :/

I've stopped visiting the forums all together. I'm much happier now lol.

[PaperDotCo]

Nessa from LaLasParty says

I've stopped visiting the forums all together. I'm much happier now lol.
------------------

Tru dat.

[Former_Member]

I just meant I want to post a thread in the forum about my shoot! :) I know Id get more bites for items, the photo teams here are worthless! lol I cant post this in the forum.

I dont mind the forums, i get to socialize a bit in the am with my coffee! ha ha I dont see or talk to people much working from home... Thats one thing I do miss about working a 'job', people. Well the people at the hardware store talk to me, Im in there enough buying paint! LOL!

Im going to have to do the shoot without Etsy sellers and I Really wanted all Etsy seller items because Im blogging the shoot. I just cannot afford to buy all this stuff for a shoot. Im already doing the set up/hiring a model/styling/shooting so I just want fair trade. I'll even send the items back! lol

[Former_Member]

Woo hoo my first order through my website came in yesterday!

[Former_Member]

I find this so photographer interesting. Read her about me. Such raw interesting work and story. I was stuck browsing the site for over an hour! lol

http://www.vivianmaier.com/

[PaperDotCo]

Congrats on the order through your website!
That's a great start.

[Former_Member]

Thanks!

Hows the week going everyone? Are any of you in any test modes? How do you like it?

[Former_Member]

Congrats on your first order via website! Very exciting. :D

Right now I'm in 2 tests and I really like what I'm seeing. Took me no time at all to figure out where everything is now. The only thing I can't seem to find is the Shop Payment Page. I can only see the little square on my dashboard.

How about everyone else?

[Former_Member]

This last couple rounds I only see the test on my boyfriends phone and his laptop on IE. I wont load IE on my computer! lol I think it browses better on phones now over the old shop front.

The app is clunky and cluttered so if I phone view I usually do it outside the app. I just use the app to get message alerts and the cha ching! ha ha

[Former_Member]

Glad to hear it's working better on mobile. At least half of my views come from mobile and the page as it is now is definitely not mobile friendly.

We're in the same boat, I only ever use the app for the cha-ching and messages. Lately though I've been noticing the app is "eating" my messages and not giving me a notification. :(

[Former_Member]

Hows life ya all? Hows your blogs coming along?

[Former_Member]

Life is crazy! Two young Amish girls were kidnapped close to home this past coupe days! They are home safe now... A happy ending, suspects arrested and you would never think in a million years looking at this couple they be kidnappers! They look like 'wholesome' everyday neighbors!

Urg, what has this world come to!? Boo!

[Former_Member]

Oh no that's awful, Kelly! So happy to hear they are safe and sound though. The world gets crazier everyday :/

Around here things have been busier than usual (which is awesome) but I haven't had much of a chance to sit and chat. I did get a chance to watch some netflix last night and I've been reliving The X-Files. It never gets old <3

[Former_Member]

A random thought I had today "Never listen to a blogger that doesn't follow their own advice."

Ok, so it wasn't really a random thought per se, more of a realization after reading half a dozen blog posts with conflicting information.

I've been looking into revamping my about page and it seems like while a lot of bloggers have advice about what you should or shouldn't do, most of them don't actually do what they tell their readers to do!

I've learned more by actually looking at actual about pages than reading blog posts about them.

How is everyone else doing?

[Former_Member]

Ya know, I try hard to come up with ways to paint mason jars that are 'fresh'. Urg a blatant copy cat! Boo!

[Former_Member]

Boo to copycats!! :(


I spent the beginning of the week in the emergency room so that was ~fun~. Now I'm catching up on all my work and blogging. How is everyone doing?

Happy first day of October! :D

[Former_Member]

Nessa, sorry to hear about your emergency room visit. Hope all went well. Had my own little emergency that is ongoing and I'm so off schedule--just when I was picking up steam:) Hopefully, by the end of this week, I'll be back on schedule.

[Former_Member]

Nessa, I saw your post on Holloween. Are you accepting photos of Holloween table centerpieces?

[Former_Member]

Shirley, I hope you're feeling better real soon and can catch up without any problems! It took me about a week to get back on track and I'm still feeling a little sluggish on my feet. :/ Yes! I'm accepting any type of Halloween/Fall decor so please feel free to share any links or pics you have :D

[Former_Member]

It's official. I now get more hits on my blog per day than I get views in my Etsy shop. Why is this important, you may ask? I have 2 goals for my blog: drive traffic to my own commerce site and to monetize my blog.

I've been blogging for nearly 3 years and following all the wrong advise. Finally ran across an excellent site on creating/building a blog and a companion forum. Over the last 2-4 months with the exception of 2 weeks, I write 2-5 posts a week. I do very little soc media to advertise my blog simply due to time but definitely hope to regularly include soc media later. Still, I'm starting to see a significant increase in organic traffic.

All this while steadily watching my Etsy shop fade into oblivion. After last years Etsy programming changes, the introduction of manufacturers, increased international shipping rates and then the constant testing and programming changes during this year, my views/sales are down about 75%. I no longer fret about it. I'm looking for a particular market and am slowly learning how to reach it.

In the meantime, I'll just keep polishing my blog and continue to strive to write quality content posts.

Well, I'm off to work on and get my Halloween post out:)!

[Former_Member]

Wow Shirley it sounds like you've reached a big transitional moment in the life of your blog and business! I'm sorry to hear that your Etsy sales/views are down but I'm glad you're seeing positive growth on your blog. From the tone of your writing it really seems like you are at peace and satisfied with where you're going. I wish you lots of success!

P.S: As for social media, have you considered a tool ike ifttt.com ? It basically has codes (they call them recipes) and you can set it up to automatically promote your blog posts on social media every time you post.

[Former_Member]

No doubt everyone is pretty busy as these major holidays approach. I'm slowly working through some major changes on my site. Just added a cover page (a new feature on Squarespace 7) and banner, part of which I plan to build my favicon and icon. Will soon be making the changes to my other sites so that I have one look.

But I'm so nervous about this latest look, I hope that someone has time to review it and let me know 'how it made you feel.' Here's the link to cover page (my landing page is actually the blog page): http://www.annsliee.com/new-cover-page-1/

Recently learned that Google loves internal links as well. The cover page is just another source for me to build these links.

Thanks for your time.

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone! I just joined. I dont actually have a blog, but am kinda interested in starting one.
I craft with recycled fabrics, and am in love with denim! I only started my store in july, so it is still small. :)
Would any of you be interested in hosting a giveaway for me?

[Former_Member]

Shirley, I love the cover page and it immediately screams cozy and professional interior design!

Corsara: Hi! Welcome to the team! If you're looking for a blog to host a giveaway here are some Etsy teams that specialize in connecting shops with bloggers:

https://www.etsy.com/teams/8156/blog-and-sponsor-connection
https://www.etsy.com/teams/13461/blogger-collaborations