Do You Spend Dollars Only To Make Cents?

(photo cred: imbok2000)

I have been asking myself this question since I read this humorous, albeit, true article on Etsy Bitch the other night. While the motivation of this site is to call out Etsy for all its faults in a snarky, smart-alecky way, there is some truth and useful information hidden in all the muck. The gist of this article was to refute the "Quit Your Day Job" series that Etsy regularly features. While I read Etsy Bitch solely for laughs and entertainment, this particular article has really made me think: Am I spending my ad dollars wisely? The article hit a nerve when it asked:

"Which is a good ad? An insular 10 cent spot on a craft blog with 6 readers running Project Wonderful ads because you like the chick with the blog ? Or A 10 cent Project Wonderful spot on a NON-craft blog?"



OMG: That's me! I've been spending money on ads that I know won't necessarily garner any views or clicks because I've been patronizing my friends and not being a smart business woman. Let me say that this is nothing personal against those I've advertised with in the past, and this is not an attack on anyone I've advertised with in the past. I've been running my business with my heart and not my head, and it shows! So what steps have I taken to rectify this?



For one, I'm carefully researching every site I choose to advertise on before I just jump into it. Secondly, I'm no longer keeping all of my eggs in one basket. I vowed that I wouldn't sell on any other venue other than Art Fire. I've decided to keep my Etsy shop open. As lost as I feel there, I do have some fans there, and there's such a huge audience there, that I'm not willing to let go just yet. I also have my 1000 Markets shop. I have yet to make a sale there since joining in November 2008 (I did blow the one sale I could've made, but I saved it by directing the buyer to my Art Fire shop), but I love the look of that venue. Lastly, I just opened my shop on Funky Finds. I discovered them about two years ago as an advertising venue, and they've just started a selling market about a year or so ago. I am also in the process of re-starting my own website using a dot com and re-directing it to one of my venue shops. Why should I give all the glory to these venues when I'm trying to make a presence for myself? These are just a few baby steps as I have looooong way to go. I'm tired of wasting money, and I'm getting my act together. Any other tips or words of wisdom you'd like to share?

Score This Soap!

I actually found out about this week's score on another, very popular soap blog. I instantly became a fan when I found out that this shop is located in Ashburn, Va. which is not too far from me. Soap Wish makes some of the most unique glycerin soaps I've ever seen. I have an idea about how they're made (another day, another project), but this soap immediately caught my attention. It reminds me of my mom who defied tradition and wore a blue wedding gown to her wedding (I guess being visibly knocked up with my sister played a factor too!) This soap is called Snow Day, and just looking at it makes me smile.

Thank you Soap Wish for giving me yet another memory of my mom!

Where Did All My Regular Features Go?

(Photo cred: Captain Camera)

I've been busy ya'll! I usually do my weekly regulars: Rhymes With and Art Fire Artisan Spotlight. I kinda lost my mojo a bit. Ok, I'm going to keep it real with you: I've just been plum lazy! Don't you just feel like not doing squat sometimes? Well, I'm in that kind of mode right now. I've barely been making any product or listing anything. I'm in my quarterly funk, lol.

I will resume Rhymes With next week, and I'm revamping my spotlight. They were so dang boring to me (and that's nothing against the artists. I really appreciate everyone's participation.) I'm going to make the interviews tailor-made now. I'm going to study the shop and the artist prior to submitting my interview questions, so the read is actually interesting.

I'll be contacting you, my dear followers, too for an interview soon so don't be surprised!