I came up with a little technique to evaluate my work/photos/listings/etc. on Etsy, and other online sites. Here's how it works: To see if your photo is front page worthy; open up Etsy's front page in one tab, and your shop page in another tab. Pull the tab at the top for the shop page away from the bar, and it will separate the windows. (I have Google Chrome, but this works in most browsers) Next, shrink the window with your shop page on it down as much as you can, so that only the main photo for that listing shows. (ideally) Then: move that window over the front page window, so that it is over an item on the front page.
Seeing your photo for the listed item next to others that have made it to the front page, lets you evaluate if it is "front page worthy" on your own. If the listing/product/photo is not up to par, you can objectively evaluate, this way, what is working and what is not.
I have only had one item on that made it to the front page, even though my shop sold out last winter, so it is not everything,... but it does let you look at it in a fresh way, so you can see it as a customer would. Would you buy your item? Is there a way you could make your listing better/more appealing?
I am still working through implementing things that I have come up with as a result of viewing it this way, but it has already been helping. I decided to get more into the fashion design aspect of clothes making, instead of the purely craft side of knitting.
(My fall/winter collection is in the works, and is not posted yet. I plan on posting the collection all at once, in August or September. I am having photos taken with a model, and am making several of the same items as "backstock" so that when one sells I have a new one ready to list quickly.)
~Mary (bluebirdknits)
