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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Wider Listings, Etsy Bootcamp, Vanity Galleries, and More!

Have you seen the new wider listing page?  You can read about it in Sean's post.  Not only is the new page giving you a big, beautiful view of your item, it's also cleaning up the information below your description.  There will also be a new Favorites button, next to a big "Add to Cart" button.

wider listing page
current listing page
Here's an example of the difference in one of my listings.  The wider page supports a fabulous photo that brings the attention where it belongs; on my bracelet.  I'm really excited for this roll out to complete for everybody.  If you haven't seen the change in your shop yet, you can view the wider listing page by adding  ?listing_wide=2 to the end of your listing page URL. 

If you haven't been working on your photos, be sure to do that now!  Make it yummy!

Are you motivated for the holidays?  Are you doing the Etsy Success Holiday Bootcamp?  I've taken the pledge, and I'm ready to take the next step!  Instructions come out on Thursdays, and I'm ready for tomorrow's newsletter!

Despite the fact that it's been raining for three days, despite the fact that I'm not having any sales, despite the fact that any "normal" person would just give up and throw in the towel, today was a woo-hoo day for me!  I can't explain it, I just know that I'm doing things every day to improve, and that in itself is success for me.  One of the first things I read this morning was an article by Kim at EverythingEtsy about Etsy and the positive direction it's taking.  I'm so glad to be a part of it, and this article really helped me.  I was excited enough about the day that my Facebook page entry today was "Today is the day to make things happen!"  Actually, now that I think about it, I put that up before I read Kim's article!  I was feeling good enough to announce my woo hoo-ness to the world, you can check it out here.

I was invited to show my photographs at a gallery in the mountains of North Carolina.  It's about two hours from where I live, and we drove up Saturday to check it out.  I was super excited to see a  thriving arts district-- it is right next to a state college and in a tourist-y town, and there were lots of people everywhere!  So anyway, this "gallery" was actually a retail store that rents space to artists, and they have upfront costs and a monthly rental fee, with a year commitment.  After posting a question about this in the forums, I know now that this is what is called a "vanity gallery".  As much as I would love to show my work there, it's cost prohibitive for me.  I did send a note to the manager thanking her for the invite and her time showing me around, and I let her know why I couldn't show there.  I also (hint, hint) expressed that if she was willing to show me on consignment, I would love to do that.  Haven't heard back from her, I guess we'll see!  Have any of you had success in this type of "vanity gallery"?

Heading back down the mountain, I saw this sign-- I love a good play on words!  "Wreck Ammended"... tee hee hee giggle!

We also hopped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and took a few photos.  This was the first time my girls have been to the mountains (we usually head four hours east to the beach!), and my six-year-old was amazed by how far she could see!  The sight always takes my breath away, too.

My Girls

Blue Ridge Butterfly

Elk Mountain Overlook

Oh!  And I have just discovered Zazzle!  I'll talk more about it in the near future.  I really need to learn how to make my shop look "pretty".  Anybody out there have success with zazzle?  I didn't find that much in the forums.  I can tell you that I have been having waaaay too much fun designing shoes with my photographs!  Tell me what you think!  Is it ridiculous of me to even think people would buy these shoes??

Okay, everybody, give me some feedback!  I've thrown a lot at you today... any thoughts?  Please comment!

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