Merchants Menagerie

The breathtaking scene above is a picture of an vibrantly-colored painting titled "Christmas Shopping Cityscape" by Renie Britenbucher.

Christmas shoppers are already pondering over which gifts they want to get their loved ones for this years festive beloved holiday. The Etsy Recyclers Guild Team is prepared and ready to fulfill the shopper's dream as well as offer many of the hottest trends of the season; which can be found on the Etsy Blog in this month's Etsy Merchandising Desk.

In this blog article, I would like to acknowledge some of the hot trends of the season mentioned in this month's Merchandising Desk and feature Etsy Recyclers Guild Team members who have trendy, related shop items with high-quality pictures that would look AWESOME in your next Etsy Recyclers Guild Team Treasury!!!

STEAMPUNK!
"Vintage Ornate Labyrinth Art Nouveau Sterling Silver Pendant Necklace" by Etsy Recyclers Guild Team Leader Storybook Artifact

PLAID!

"Eco 13 inch Laptop Bag in Blue Black and Green Wool Plaid" by Etsy Recyclers Guild Member WrapCycle

PEACOCKS!
"60's Black Velvet Handpainted Peacock Sweet" by Etsy Recyclers Guild Member Sweet Lucies

POLKA DOTS!

"Vintage 70's Black Collar Polka Dot Dress XS Maxi Full" by Etsy Recyclers Guild Member Soulrust

HONEYSUCKLE PINK!

"Vintage 60's Honeysuckle Pink Newport Stripes Scarf" by Etsy Recyclers Guild Team Captain Eco-Friendly Freckles

LETTERPRESS BLOCKS!

"2 Piece Print Blocks Signature New Jersey Scrapbooking or Collage Mixed Media Work" by Former Etsy Recyclers Guild Team Captain RetroChalet

VIDEO GAME INSPIRED REFERENCES!

"Nintendo Notebook Journal Recycled from a Monopoly Game Board" by Etsy Recyclers Guild Member HeavenSentCrafts

OWLS!

"Large Vintage Owl Pendant Gold Pewter Metal" by Etsy Recyclers Guild Member RecycledWares

This blog article was contributed by Etsy Recyclers Guild Team Captain Jessica of Eco-Friendly Freckles

Etsy Search Ads: What Is This?

Word Search Pillow from pillowhappy

Republished From the Ira Mency blog...

Etsy has revealed that they are now selling search ads to help get your item "found." These ads are based on keywords and search terms that will help your item get premium placement in Etsy searches. To make a long story short, the cost associated with the search ad is based on the number of impressions. For example, if you invest as little as $5 you can get 5000 impressions of your items (or section of items) on the creme de la creme of the search pages. Keep in mind that impressions are how many times your item will show in relevant searches.  

Cons:
Keep in mind there is no guarantee that someone will click on your item. This is not a cost-per-click (CPC) campaign.  This is a fee paid service. 

Pros: 
The pros certainly outweigh the cons in my opinion.

• For as little as as $you set the rate per week it has it's benefits. For instance, you can set it at $2 or $5 or $25....For those of you who have a hard time tagging or finding relevant keywords, or unsure how to title your items this may help you get better placement and help you get your shop noticed!

• There are fee tiers which means you can choose the impression plan that you can afford. 

•  It is cheaper than the previous "showcase" slots where in the old Etsy days you could feature an item for $7 for one slot and it was for one day only.   

• The basis of it is simple. These impressions are ran over a week, and you can set up auto-renew and cancel at any time.  Items you sell are dropped out of the impressions automatically so you won't be wasting impressions on sold items!

• Starting at only $5 is affordable for the low-selling seller. 

Seek Print : Canton Box Company

It is also possible depending on the algorithms (ie: calculations) used those of you not paying for such a service may be bumped out of prime slots. For instance, if you are a seller whose items were coming up high in searches lately since Etsy has redone their Relevancy searches , you may lose your slot so someone paying for this. Although you are used to having relevant keywords, tags, titles, sections etc...it remains to be seen if you now run the risk of  bumped out or second slotted to someone who is indeed paying for this service.  We shall see!  Proof is in the search ads!

If anyone tries it and has feedback, do let us know!


MORE INFORMATION:

On Etsy about Search Ads here.

In the Etsy blog here.

Further Reading outside of Etsy: 

Ad Program for Etsy Sellers   or further reading on AuctionBytes

=================================
Additional Free Resources:

Check out this "Free Help for the Etsy Seller" page on VintageChalet blog which lists a ton of resources for the Etsy seller! 

Check out Ira Mency Designs for free graphics and Etsy shop banners!

Promoting Your Artwork Online, Courtesy of ArticlesFactory

Good 'ole Dog by Leuckit

Reprinted with Permission from ArticlesFactory

Promoting Your Artwork Online

Marketing Articles | March 28, 2005

You are a budding artist but if you don’t promote your artwork, you would probably have a hard time selling. Internet is one of the easiest and cost effective ways of promoting art. This article shows you how.

Web site:

Have a web site of your own. You can put up photographs of your art work, be it sculpture, painting etc, provide a short write up about yourself and your contact information. Hosting the website and promoting it can take some effort, which is where professional art web sites make it easier for you.
These web sites display your art work for a small fee (some even do it for free). Art dealers, private collectors and galleries regularly visit these sites looking for good quality art work. One such site is
EyeoftheArt.com

Art communities and forums:

Become a member of art communities and forums. They provide numerous resources for artists and bring artists and buyers together. Besides, it gives you a platform to make friends with fellow artists.

Email promotion:

Do not miss any chance to collect the emails of prospective buyers. Any time a prospect mails you showing interest in your art work, make sure to add him/her to your address book. Also, collect email addresses while displaying your work at the various shows. Once you have a sizeable email database, all it takes to announce the sale of your new paintings, upcoming shows etc is just a simple email !!!

Search Engines:

Getting listed in the search engines enormously increases your web presence. For example, you can submit your web site at yahoo under the “Arts” category at http://dir.yahoo.com.**

Spend a little time (atleast 15-20 minutes) everyday promoting yourself and your work. If you do it regularly, you will notice that it’ll become effortless and be very effective.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com **Submit to Yahoo for Free HERE.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chiruvan has been writing articles on ways of promoting various business online.