Crafters don't put your eggs in One Basket!

As a selling crafter/artist, over the years I've become acutely aware that putting all my eggs in one basket is a recipe for disaster!  I sold my wares on Ebay for years with a modicum of success.  I spent bunches of money in listing fees, photograph fees, and FV fees...in addition to my PayPal fees.  When Ebay made big changes in their fee structure I simply left with hat in hand.

Today I sell handmade mosaic tiles on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/crememagnolia and most recently I've added an ArtFire store to my basket http://www.artfire.com/users/CremeMagnolia.  I'm relatively new to Etsy as a seller but was an on again off again buyer.  I've been on Etsy as a seller for less than six months and have not been able to stock my store inventory commensurate with making loads of sales....but that's all changing in 2011! However I was pleased with my sales on Etsy given my inventory to sales ratio.

My goal is to have 100 items in my Etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop/crememagnolia and 100 items in my ArtFire store. http://www.artfire.com/users/CremeMagnolia.  2010 personally was a very bad year for me yet I have started 2011 with optimism and verve!  I will shameless promote my stores, market my butt off, and promote in every area that is relevant to what I do.

The bottom line for fellow crafters/artisans who want to sell online is the following: Targe and focus your promotions where they will do you the most good. I for one hate Twitter and FB as my experience has led me to believe they are a waste of time given what I sell.  Blogging, owning a website and constantly keeping it fresh will increase your SEO efforts. Open another store so as not to have all your eggs in one basket (be it a BM or Internet). And most importantly...don't forget to keep on keeping on where you craft is concerned.  Don't lose site of what it is that makes you money ~ keep your creative juices going, don't let all the online forum negative crap creep into your mind and enjoy what you are doing!

Today I will ignore the nay-sayers, turn on the tunes and break some plates! Ciao for today.