Circles?

[Former_Member]

This may sound like a pretty silly question, but is having a lot of people in your circle good? I only joined about 1 month ago and I just added people randomly to my "circle", so now I have around 150 - but it is slowing my activity feed down, so when I click to see me own shops "activity" it won't show it to me anymore, so I cant see what people have favourited my items. I want to delete people off but I am not sure if it will help my shop views etc or offend people.... to be honest I am not totally sure what circles are for! any advice? :)

[WilliamsGiftshop]

I am constantly deleting people from my circle. Never had any complaint.
My circle is full, so to add someone, I have to remove someone else.

Not only is my circle full, but I have been added to a lot (!) of other circles too.
Even though my favorites are set to private.
Just like you I can hardly get my activity feed to load. It is very slow.

Circles, as apposed to favorites, are more of a social tool, not a commercial one. So I would not worry about shop views, etc., when removing someone from your circle.

[TheBuckeyeandtheFrog]

I don't do circles at all any more. Even with shops I really like, I don't necessarily want to see each time they post a new item or add something to their favorites list. If I want to see what they're doing, I look at their shop. Frankly, when I look at my activity feed, I want to see my own shop's activity, not someone else's.

Unless they're keeping track - highly unlikely - no one will know if you've deleted them or not.

[Mollymoojewels]

Thanks Grace, I am glad you brought this up! I was unsure as to what the circle thing was all about and didn't like to delete people off in case I offended. But now having read Janet and BeaG's responses, I'll take some off without worrying about it.

[Former_Member]

I like having circles. Gives me a quick chance to see what people whose tastes I like are favoriting and might be good for the shop whose item is being favorited. If I only want to see my activity I just unchecked the first box on top of the activity list. :)

[Former_Member]

I agree with Kerri - I enjoy a quick scan of favorites of others. I find some great items that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. Also, if I don't have time for that I just go directly to my own feed by unchecking the first box.

[Former_Member]

I did uncheck the first box, but because I had so many in my circle it would never load - I have deleted a fair few (I think a few of them were spammers, some had ten thousand favourites!) and kept my favourite people, thanks for the advice everyone :)

[Former_Member]

Grace, I have very few since the advent of etsy inspired circles.

I find that I end up deleting those who spend too much time on favoring, treasury building, creating catalogs of seller's and circling. When I check my "activity" (sometimes three times a day).......if I find the SAME seller's choices ALWAYS in my activity I delete them. Because I'm NOT getting a good cross section of other fav's stuff in my activity.

I use my activity to see new stuff, see newbie's and see who's checking my shop. Normally, when I see one of my items then I know soon that item will be sold. Basically that's how its been working. The item either sales or that item will be in a treasury.

[Former_Member]

I really dont like the circles. Its kinda cool for some selective friends whom I have similar choices with and are picky in what they heart.....but some folks man they are insane 0o.

I quit a perfectly good team other wise b/c they made it mandatory you follow the leaders who would heart every single new item posted in the team. Not a fan of massive white noise.

[anythinggoeshere]

i don't think it matters how many people are in your personal circle because your circles shows you what others favorite. have as many or as few as you like. i only have two people in my circle because i love what they find.

being included in a lot of other people's circle can be another story. that is the number on your shop page. if you are in a lot of people's circles then whenever you favorite someone's item, shop, or treasury your avatar is shown.

it is a way that people will be reminded about your shop. does it increase sales? i am not sure, but it does indicate that people like your style and want to see what you favorite.

[Former_Member]

I've been wondering about this. I've seen some sellers advocate for having as many circles as you can to increase your views and sales. I don't think it does a thing for me. Also, I wonder if making treasuries really helps your views or if it's just something fun to do for other sellers. Finally, I get sick of the activity feed entirely because people will heart you and then un-heart you later, (why?), so it is misleading in that regard too. I am wondering if all that stuff is just another gimmick to keep you busy?

[anythinggoeshere]

i keep my circle small because i only want to see what i really like come up in it. i have my circle notifications turned off so i never see if someone circles me or encircles me.

i have never made a treasury, but i love been included in them. so i don't know if making treasuries are good for more sales.

personally i think great photos, good tags and titles, and concentrating on adding items is a better use of my time.

[Former_Member]

Thank you for this post. This topic has been weighing on me for months! I hate the idea of someone adding me to their circle and me not adding them back, but I just can't afford to miss people favoriting my items because the people in my circle are busy posting new items, favoriting new items, and making treasuries.

Thank you for giving me the okay to tighten my circle a bit! :)

[Former_Member]

I add people who 'favourite' my shop to my circle because once I have added them they will get an email in their inbox saying "donkeystudio has added you to their circle'. This is a reminder that my shop is there and they may come for another visit.

I think circles is also a way to get new buyers and sellers to keep coming back to the website instead of joining and forgetting about it...

[anythinggoeshere]

Donkeystudio from Donkeystudio says
I add people who 'favourite' my shop to my circle because once I have added them they will get an email in their inbox saying "donkeystudio has added you to their circle'. This is a reminder that my shop is there and they may come for another visit.

~~~~~~

if they have their notifications turned off they will not see anything in their activity feed about your shop.

[Former_Member]

Ok seems to be some confusion here....Circles are not a two way street.

If you add me to your circle(and I dont add you).....you get to see stuff I fav, I see Nothing of yours. Same as if you like my FB biz page, that doesnt mean I then get to see your biz pages posts.

You adding millions of people to your circle does not benefit you...in any direct way at all. Even you being added isnt a huge perk, as they dont really see your stuff they see stuff you fav from others. Better to add peoples shop to your favs imo for that one.

Indirectly they might take a look at your profile and decided to add you as well....but even then your not hearting your own items, its a very round about thing.

But this isnt and shouldn't be used as mainly marketing endeavor, so dont waste time circling people randomly.

[WilliamsGiftshop]

Funny thing is that many people add me to their circle, BUT I have set my favorites to private. So I hardly ever show up in their activity feed (only if someone else in our mutual circles favorites my shop or items).
I think many of them added me because they like my work and some because they want me to notice their shop.

I only add people to my circle because I love their work or, every once in a while, because I want to encourage them (being new or having low views/sales).
And yes, I could use shop/item favorites to do just that, but I decided to keep those private (for reasons I don't feel I need to share).

I don't think it is worth the time to use Circles as a (sneaky) way of promoting. There are better and more efficient ways to promote.

Some people think (and feel the need to tell me) that nobody should add me to their circle, because my favorites are set to private and adding someone to your circle is all about checking out the favorites of your favorites. Me being added to so many circles obviously shows there are other reasons too.
Some people remove me from their circle because they cannot see my favorites. That is perfectly fine with me.

Use it any way you like. But don't waste your time on them if your only goal is to (sneak) promote.

[Former_Member]

I agree with Kerri and Susan. I have a smaller circle of 37 so I can manage it better. I use it to see what type of styles are popular and what people are liking. Also to see if I get any favorites. I like to favorite others to help them as well. Puts us into "play" a little bit. I've had people purchase from seeing a favorite. And it's happened more than a few times so it does help.
Anything helps, right?

[Former_Member]

Thank you for all the responses guys, have dramatically reduced my circles and it has actually helped my shop!! xx

[PorcelainJazz]

I find my Statistics to be an easier and quicker way to keep track of who favorites what and what is happening in my shop than the activity feed so I never look at my activity feed. I circle or favorite because I like a shop's work and/or I want to encourage the person. And I make treasuries when i absolutely have to. Otherwise I try to be SEO wise on my shop structure and list and renew and am active in teams to promote on Etsy.

[WildflowerSalvage]

I only have family members in my circle. I love to use there favorites for buying them gifts. I do not use circles for anything else because it bombards my activity feed.