Neatnix Design

A Sad Day

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:35:00 +0000

Monday was a sad Etsy day for me. But then in asking for advice in the forums yesterday, some very kind Etsyians said some very nice things and helped me be a little more objective about the whole thing.

So I've decided to take this as a lesson learned. I will never make everyone happy, I can only do what I feel is right. While I'm on holidays next week I will be creating many more new pieces to list into the fall and holiday season. I've got a plan of attack in my mind as to how to promote and advertise my shop.

My hope is to have a kickass finish to 2008. It would be fantastic to reach 100 sales. So watch me go!

Golf & Etsy...Bah!

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:13:00 +0000

It's Monday, which according to my new schedule means it's blog day. Yay! What to write about today. Well, what has happened during the last week? No sales, but I've been lazy and only renewed items, didn't list new ones. I booked two main showcase spots for Friday AND Saturday with no results other than a few more views and a few more hearts. It's funny, I really thought my mermaid earrings would have sold, I like them that much :)

In non-etsy related life, we went to a friends house a couple of hours north of hear for the weekend. He lives in a fairly secluded area, no traffic, just the occasional neighbor coming home. It's so incredibly peaceful we slept in until 10am on Sunday - which is unheard of for me. Then we went and played 9 holes of golf - and that didn't go well for this novice. My first drive was great. I hit the ball long and straight and the three men I was with said 'brava, good hit, nice drive', etc. It was pretty much downhill from there. It was bad, but not bad enough to make me quit. I bought my pretty purple clubs for a reason and I will conquer the game (picture me shaking my fist in the air here).

Today I realized that Etsy is very much like golf, in the whole 'self-doubt' area. I haven't had a sale in a week so I'm starting to get that discouraged feeling, where nothing is good enough. Yesterday I couldn't hit the ball to save my life, today I can't make a sale to save my life (well, I probably could if I wanted to sell my pieces for a buck, but let's be real). So I have decided that from here out I will be positive about both. I will get my clubs to connect with my damn ball. I will get my Etsy mojo working again. I will succeed in every way!!!

Soooo....I guess I'd better get off my butt and make the bracelet for my friend who's getting married in two weeks. I've only had the supplies for a month. And I'd better write down the schedule in my head so that I stick to it. Tomorrow is Flickr day and I am going to get mine looking respectable :)

Ok, so busy week ahead. Lets hope my golf game improves as does my shop! First gotta move my critter Ziggy from the workbench. As much as he'd like to help, his claws get in the way :)

I Almost Forgot!! Now Introducing....

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:12:00 +0000

http://thepedestriansommelier.blogspot.com/

My husband has started his own blog where he'll be reviewing local and not so local wines! He's a sommelier and is currently studying to become a winemaker. How did I get so lucky, right??

Anways, I know that he'd love it if you could stop by and drop off a comment :)

Holy Moly, March 20th???

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:50:00 +0000

That's the last time I posted? Man, I'm sorry blog. I didn't mean to desert you. I did make a commitment but apparently, my commitments to everything other than my marriage have gone by the wayside. So here we are again....

It's month 8 of selling on Etsy and I'm currently at 44 sales and 300+ hearts. It's a good feeling. It's still a great feeling when I log in and see that I need to leave feedback for a new sale, and even moreso when I see that the buyer is brand new, that they just joined Etsy that day and wanted to purchase something from me! Very, very cool :)

I haven't been a very good business person lately. I've been creating, but haven't taken the time to take my pictures and list my new pieces. I've been relying on relisting and the sales have been slowly coming in - but I know I could be doing so much more. I need - no I MUST - sit down and write out a schedule, even a rough one, of what I will do each day to create and promote and keep myself going! I WILL DO THIS!!!

At least today was a good day, I managed to take pictures of new earrings and list three pairs. Unfortunately I don't think Monday afternoon is a great time to list and the views were low, prompting me to head to critiques asking if they were ok - a moment of weakness I admit :) I've put their pics up here for all to see because I'm actually quite proud of them. I think they're the perfect summer accessory. Hopefully someone else out there will to - preferably with money to spend :D

Keep On Keepin' On...

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:20:00 +0000

I'm in my fourth month of selling on Etsy and I've averaged a sale every three weeks or so. I'm not complaining, in fact with each sale it's still like it's my first. I love thinking about my pieces finding homes with people all over the world - well, at least North America so far! And patience is a good thing, as is actually stepping away from the computer now and then. When I managed to do that this morning I sold something. :D

I've bit the bullet and signed up for the local Farmer's Market starting in mid May, and I'm a little nervous but very excited. Right now I've got the dining room table covered with tile pendants that are drying and will have their bails attached before the end of the nite, I just put away 120 laminated bookmarks that still need to be punched and have the elastic run through, and ALL my beads & supplies are strewn across the coffee table waiting for me to finish organizing them so that I can set to building up my inventory. On one hand I hope I do insanely well, but on the other hand, if I do REALLY well I'll be up till midnite all week just building back stock to sell on the weekend....*fingers crossed*

And The Winner Is....

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:29:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who left a comment for the earring contest last week. Since there weren't that many I thought it would be nice to list everyone's shops, or if they don't have one of their own - to list their one of their favorites they left behind:

http://calloohcallay.etsy.com
http://woolies.etsy.com
http://wyredonwire.etsy.com
http://ellebeestudio.etsy.com
http://unefemme.etsy.com
http://michellescharmworld.etsy.com
http://elegantscarf.etsy.com
http://whimsypics.etsy.com
http://kirby.etsy.com
http://unicocreation.etsy.com

And the winner is Kelli from Red Marionette (http://redmarionette.etsy.com).

Her store is fantastic, you've got to check it out!

Thanks again everyone for helping me out with my marketing experiment!

You Could Win These!

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:49:00 +0000

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

I'm testing how well the showcases work on Etsy. Completely unscientific, but if you leave me a quick comment I'll throw everyone's name into a hat and pick someone to win these earrings, which are my favorites - even though I should be unbiased with my products. I'm only running this promo for the length of time my showcase spot will be up (Tuesday, March 18th) , so come on - tell me your favorite thing about etsy, show me your favorite item in your shop or someone elses, or leave me your blog addy and I'll check you out!

It's a Commitment!

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:59:00 +0000

I promised myself I would blog and add pictures once a week and here I am almost a month after my last post. Instead of dwelling on time lost, I'll recap what's happened with Neatnix Design.

For the past few weeks I've been relisting and listing new items each day, sometimes twice on weekends. In my opinion it's worth the 20 cents each time. It's been paying off, my views are climbing and the sales are hopefully going to come soon. I also bought a spot in the Main Showcase on Jan 25th (my birthday) and I did get many views and one sale from it.

I'm up to 4 sales and 112 hearts, which I'm pretty happy about. Although I did get an email from one of my customers who said her bracelet was not in good condition when she received it, so I sent her a full refund. Lesson Learned: make sure every package is indestructable. Who knows what those little things go through in shipping! Luckily this customer was unbelievably nice and is sending back the beads so I can restring them for her.

Another development is that plaidvalentine (http://www.plaidvalentine.etsy.com) has created me a business package, and you can see my new avatar and banner on my etsy shop. I've ordered my business cards today and I'll be anxiously awaiting them for the next few weeks.

I've been working on the look of my shop today, shortening the announcement and will be adding official shop policies this week. I think it's important to have everything covered, and the reason I haven't done them sooner is because I'm lazy. There, I said it.

One more thing I crossed off the list was to secure my domain name. I used godaddy.com, but I haven't set up the site yet. That's on the TO DO list because it's a bigger project. So, the current TO DO list is:

1. Finish website layout

2. Work on Flikr site

3. Start myspace.com site - although this one I'm reluctant to do for some reason.

4. Figure out a way to promote this blog, through featuring new sellers or something.

So that's it. And I am renewing my commitment to this blog. It's all about the business for the rest of February. We'll see where it gets me!

Happy Reading!

Stepping It Up...

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 06:02:00 +0000

Happy New Year everyone!

With the beginning of 2008 there's been a lot of new ideas and creative juices flowing which is fantastic! I've listed some new Wraparound bracelets on Etsy (pictures above), and I've been taking loads of pics to list more items over the next few weeks. I've also been trying my hand at tile pendants, so we'll see how those work out. If all goes well I'll be listing on a regular basis, creating & photographing & blogging weekly. I'm also looking forward to trying out a couple of local markets with my pieces!

It's time to take this whole crafting thing more seriously!

It's All an Experience...

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 01:27:00 +0000

Today was the second of two craft fairs I'd signed up for during the christmas season. It was marginally better than the first, but there were more product consultants than crafters. From partylite candles to pampered chef they were abundant. Which kinda sucked but at the same time people had an appreciation for my bracelets when they realized that in fact I had made them myself. There was appreciation and surprise when I answered yes to their question of 'You made these?'. Sales were ok, not super but at least I made back the money I spent on the table.

At least my wonderful hubby came with me for the event, which made it much more fun - see corresponding photos :)

A Newbie Feature Blog??

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 05:21:00 +0000

I've been thinking of some fantastic way to get my blog going, and to have people WANT to visit and comment, etc.

I think I'm going to try creating a Newbie blog, one where I feature new Etsy sellers and their stores, stories, etc. I think it will go over well, and it will help new people get their name out there, just like I want mine :D

It might have to wait till new year though before I can spend the time to set it up, but we'll see. Maybe there'll suddenly be 30 hours in the day to get stuff done!! ;)

New Venture...

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 02:40:00 +0000

I'm trying my hand at some scrabble tile pendants, because they're so darn cute and I have some beautiful origami paper that needs to be used for something pretty. I still need to pick up the little necklace pieces, but I've managed to put together a set of really nice little red tiles for my second craft fair of the season next Sunday. I'm hoping that by adding a little more to my table it will draw more people in and BOOM! More sales and a very happy Sarah will go home. I'll post pics when they're finished, which hopefully will be Tuesday. Yay! I love new stuff :D

Progress!!

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 00:24:00 +0000

All in one day I took my photos (which aren't half bad if I do say so myself), listed some of my bracelets on etsy.com, and have added the link to my blog for everyone to see. Yay for me!! Now I'd better list my blog on neatnixdesign.etsy.com so people know where to find me :D

Day One...so it begins

noreply@blogger.com (Neatnix Design) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 01:54:00 +0000

Ok, so I've set up my very own store on Etsy and from what I read in the forums it's a great idea to have a blog going too. And here I am, with not so much to say and a whole lot to do with my store and crafting:

1. List more of my items on www.neatnixdesign.etsy.com to make it look like a real store.

2. Work on my pictures for said items.

3. Get my butt in gear and start sewing all the projects in my head.

4. Make list of all the projects in my head before I forget the important details.

5. Reorganize crafting supplies so I can find things when I need them, not stumble upon them 2 days later....maybe that should be number one. :)

This is kind of fun once you get started. And thank goodness I've finally started because I can justify all the space my stuff takes up in the garage, and on the dining room table, and wherever else it may fall.

Happy reading fellow bloggers! :)