Getting Analytical

You Etsy sellers out there might have noticed recently that Etsy has made it easy to set up Google Analytics for your Etsy store. Analytics lets you track how many visitors come to your store every day, and how they got there. It's listed under the "Shop Setup" section of your Etsy store.

I've been using Analytics since about January 11th and it's been very interesting to see where visitors are coming from and how many people visit every day. Here are some of my observations so far:

-Being on the Etsy front page rocks! Of course, we all knew this already, but the data given through Analytics really supports that. My store averages between 40 and 70 individual visits on any given day, but on a day when I have an item on the front page, the visits shoot up to nearly 500! Even if no one buys anything on a front page day, they very often will mark my shop as a favorite and then come back to it at a later point.

-Relisting and renewing on Etsy really does drive your visibility. When I was on vacation in mid-January, I used a public library computer to relist a few times during the week, down from my normal 6 to 10 times a day. During that time, I averaged about 20 visits a day. The second week I was gone, I didn't have access to a computer, so I put my shop in Vacation Mode and only averaged about 8 visits a day. Once I got home and go back to my regular amount of renewing, my visits shot back up to the normal range. I guess you really do have to spend money to make money! I budget about $2.00 a day to renewing listings and do almost no other advertising.

-The vast majority of my store's traffic (about 65%) comes from within Etsy itself. The next big category is Google, followed by craftcult.com and twitter.com, which are two sites I know absolutely nothing about. I need to look into this and see why I'm getting traffic from these two places. I think knowing where people are visiting from really helps you figure out where and how to advertise online. My blog is #20 on the list, and my website is #11.

If you have an Etsy store and you haven't set up Analytics yet, I highly recommend it. It's really pretty easy and very eye-opening!

Rings Are Back!

Just a quick note to let you know that rings are back in the shop! My rings have been a hot seller since I debuted them last year, and it's been hard to keep them in stock. I still don't have all the styles in all the colors, but there are some available in the Rings section of my Etsy store, including this pretty cobalt blue one.

To create each ring, I first cut and shape porcelain clay into an oval or round shape, and then glaze each one with my signature reactive glazes. After the porcelain pieces are fired in the kiln, they get epoxied onto adjustable, silver-plated ring bands that have a pretty hammered texture.

Bridesmaid/Attendant Gifts

Last night, I was packing up an order of eight matching pendants for a bride-to-be who contacted me through Etsy. I do several bridesmaid/attendant gift orders like this every wedding season, so it has occurred to me that maybe I should offer a special wedding package deal.

So here it is: if you buy six or more jewelry items from my shop (matching or assorted), you'll get free shipping! Each item will arrive packaged in a pretty jewelry box, ready to give to the lovely ladies who are supporting you through your wedding.

Note: Each item in my Etsy store is listed as having a quantity of one item, but in reality, I usually have several of each item shown. If you need more than I have in stock, I'm happy to glaze some up for you and run them through the kiln. Sometimes it can take 6 to 8 weeks to make enough work to run the kiln, so try to let me know ahead of time!

Wisdom

In my Ceramics IV class yesterday at ACC, we had the opportunity to watch an incredible video on the topic of wisdom. The DVD came with the stunning Wisdom: 50 Unique and Original Portraits by Andrew Zuckerman.

Here's the description from Amazon:
"Inspired by the idea that wisdom is the greatest gift one generation can give to another, award-winning photographer and filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman interviewed, photographed and filmed 50 of the world’s great writers, actors, artists, designers, politicians, musicians and religious and business leaders of our time. He posed seven questions to each of his subjects—all over 65 years of age—and their candid responses offer uniquely inspirational and often surprising insights."

I found this movie to be really thought-provoking and personally touching and inspirational. I found myself jotting down quote after quote, such as Bernice Johnson Reagon's "You just have to go for broke." You can watch a portion of the movie on wisdombook.org.