Torn and needing input.

[Former_Member]

My shop started as a jewelry shop. I always intended it to be a gift shop with many different kinds of items to choose from. And it reflects that. I call it a Jane of all trades, master of none...But I've gotten some harsh criticism for not picking one type of craft. So I am torn.
I've always loved glass. I trained in stained glass and loved it. But I have three young children, one has special needs, and have not the time nor ability to do that for now. Glass beads offered a way of still working with my favorite medium.
But since becoming a mom, I've self-taught myself how to sew and even crochet baby blankets and burp cloths. I've even started these quirky and simple little ragdolls. Also pillows for kids. I love doing this!! I have so many more ideas. I want to do a line of weighted sensory blankets. I made one for my son, he is Autistic, and it has been such an AMAZING help for him when he has a meltdown.
But one leader on another team called my items cheap and lacking creativity. She kinda forgot the constructive part of the criticism. It left me unsure of my path. Not to mention a bit upset. Annoyed and insecure. Bad combanation.
So...I'm reaching out to another team, asking for your opinion on what path I should take, any advice and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism! I really do want to know, from an outside source, what my strengths and weakness are.

[Former_Member]

Have you tried to open up different shops for your items to keep everything separate? I think your items are really cute! It is just a little hard when everything is mixed up together. I know it would be a little difficult. I had multiple shops opened at once and it wasn't too bad. I linked both of my emails together so I would be notified

[Former_Member]

I've thought about it, but I think it may get to be too much. I don't want to give more to one and ignore the other....But thanks, I appreciate it a lot!!

[Former_Member]

I think....shops that are filled with a good variety of items that Fit together. Sell the best here. Unless your aiming to be idk Amazon...which you cant be, your aiming to be best Of... Something! Your target audience, isnt looking for amazon. Jack of all trades tend to kinda flops here. :/

On another note...I love glass too and switched from stained glass to hot glass. B/C crap who wants glass shards everywhere and 1 thing to take weeks.

Really ya just have to find your thing....

[Former_Member]

lol, yeah, with small kids glass splinters don't work well...course neither does a blow torch!!
good advice.
thx!

[SasperryDesigns]

Hi Lynn,

You have an array of beautiful things!

As Ashley mentioned, I think you would do great with two shops. I see a lot of great things geared towards children (the blankets, dolls, cloths etc) and then a lot of stunning jewelry. It is a bit of an odd mix to see them together.

My shop started off much like yours, a variety of things. I sold vases, coasters, key chains, rings and paintings. My first year I sold a little bit of each and then I ultimately started phasing things out that either a) weren't selling or b) I didn't enjoy making anymore. Now my design line consists of only paintings and since then I can honestly say I have seen a huge increase in sales.

You don't have to decide anything right now, but I would highly suggest eventually deciding to narrow down your product line. Whether that means separating it with two shops or cutting things out.

Good luck! :)

[KiltedWoman]

I think it looks fine! That Jane Austin necklace is beautiful. I would not divide a small shop into two shops, you will get more views with a diverse selection. I have a variety of items in my shop, some don't fit in well but it brings in customers who might not be looking for Scottish jewelry.

Your main issue, in my opinion, is your titles. You have named your creations but how many customers are searching "silly boys" or other names you've put in the title. Change your titles to exactly what the item is including color, materials, theme etc. I noticed a huge jump in views when I worked on my titles and changed from "Whirlpool at night" to "Scottish Sea Glass Necklace Cobalt Blue Sea Shell Charm Silver Gift From Scotland" and then repeated all those words in my tags. I am not an expert in this but titles and tags are KEY to views and sales.
As for someone criticizing your work, they are full of crap and rudeness. You fit right in with the other craft shops on etsy. You aren't making $1000 pieces of art and there is nothing wrong with that. I think the weighted blankets are a great idea with a large potential niche market.

[KiltedWoman]

Additionally, I would flesh out your descriptions. How long is that necklace? What does it look like on a person? I have a hard time buying from a shop that doesn't have enough info about the piece.
Here is some help,

http://www.handmadeology.com/writing-expert-product-descriptions-for-your-etsy-shop/

[Former_Member]

Lori and Sarah, thank you both. You each come at it from different viewpoints, but it helps.
I know I need to work on my titles and tags. Honestly, it's easier to create the items than those for me!!

Lori, you've got the two geographical halves of my heart!! Even after two decades in Texas, I still think of myself as a girl from Wa state!! But there's no place on earth I love more than the Highlands of Scotland!! From Aberdeen to Skye, Glasgow to Inverness, I loved them all. I'll never get rid of the Doc Martins that I hiked in!! 😊

[UrbanCoutureJewelry]

I think Lori pretty much stated what you can work on as far as your title and tags go. I have too have different items combined in my shop and it has worked fine so far. Don't let naysayers discourage you in doing what works best for you. I know the demands of motherhood and keeping it simple works just fine for me. You have a lovely shop, just work on your seo and keep listing as much as you can.

[cornishandslim]

Lynne, do what YOU love doing! There is no reason your shop shouldn't have different crafts in it. Like you, I started with one type of product and I am gradually adding more.

It can require more effort if you work with several different mediums and it normally requires more space. But potentially it will increase the number of customers your work appeals to.

The important thing is the quality of your work, that your shop is aesthetically pleasing and that it works for you.

Good luck! :)

[Former_Member]

Hiya,

I don't think it matters if you have a range of different types of crafts in your shop, as long as the look of the shop is coherent. At the moment when I look at your shop I feel that the look between the jewelry and the textiles is quite disconnected.

I know coherent is kind of a bit wishy washy and hard to define, but e.g. to make your shop a little more coherent you could either
a) plan your shop around a specific niche customer base- e.g. mothers or mothers of special needs children, and allow that to tie your products together.

AND/OR b) plan collections around a particular motif/colour/theme so that you have small ranges of jewellery, stationary and textiles that all fit together.

I am still on the road to making my shop more coherent myself, but just thought that this might help you.

[MariaJoseTreasures]

My shop also has a mixture of things that I sell, and I've thought about opening another one, but don't want to be bothered with it, so I'm just like you. I like your shop and what you make, and not sure why you received such negative criticism in the other team. Good luck to you!

[Former_Member]

Find a common thread in your items – it seems that "gifts for ___" may be a good one for you. I don't think you have to separate all of your shops out! Mine are one for homemade beauty product supplies and one for graphic design – those wouldn't really go together, but even I see that they are both "tools for Etsy sellers" and could be put in the same shop.

Your items, though, are all made by you! Unless you're trying to become the #1 seller of a particular item and want to have your glass beads in one shop alone so you can promote it widely as "GLASS BEADSTRAVAGANZA!" it seems to me that using categories will work fine for you.

[Former_Member]

One thing to consider is to also rearrange your shop so that all the items of one kind are together. It looks much more cohesive that way. That's how I do it.

Now you could say that will make it look like you have only one or two kinds of things when someone's looking at storefront, but that's a choice you can make. I like the way mine looks. (Of course, you have to rearrange it every time you list something, but oh well!)

[TooSplendidSupplies]

Two shops is not an easy thing to keep up with. If you're comfortable having all your items in one shop, I wouldn't worry about someone else naysaying it. The biggest thing I would say is with all your different mediums, your front page should be more cohesive. One easy way to do that is with color, but also your horizontal lines of the same items are great, except in the cases where you can't do that, like the autism bracelets.

Also, one thing that stood out for me is that not all of your first photos have every product that comes with the listing and sometimes what the item is is not prominent in the beginning of the title. In a search, people only see a few words from your title and the picture. Your picture should show them that they're not just receiving a bracelet, and your title should say early on that the item is a bracelet, not a necklace.

[Former_Member]

I truly cannot say how much your support means to me. All of your advice will be acted on!!

THANK YOU!!!!💗

[WilliamsGiftshop]

Make what you love to make!
And don't let anybody else tell you it is no good.
If it feels good to you, it IS.

Making what you love to make is the only way to stand out from the crowd and to be happy about what you are doing.
There will always be people that don't like what you make, but you don't have to worry about them, since they are not your target market.

Now you want to put your efforts into increasing your inventory, finetuning your listings (there's a lot of helpful info to be found on Etsy) and letting your target market(s) know about your shop and your products (marketing).

Wishing you many sales!