Treasury Crazy

I don't know when Etsy changed their Treasury system so there isn't a mad dash to make one, but I'm having a great time making a few. Here I give you my favorite selection (or one of them, when I can't pick!) from the treasuries I've made over the last few weeks. And a link so you can enjoy the rest of them. Click the title for the treasury, the shop name or picture for the item

"Ornaments to Die For" Treasury:
I love Christmas ornaments, so I've chosen a few of my favorite handmade ones, including this hand painted ornament from Gwydion's Garden.


From my "Geek Out Your Christmas" Treasury comes this fun personalized photograph. It's not my favorite at My Magic Me's shop, so you should definitely check out the other options for a really unique gift there.


In my "Compost and Garden Daydreams" treasury I give you a few items to keep you gardeners over the winter... and growing your compost pile in the meantime! I adore this compost crock from KB Originals, etc.


Steel being one of my favorite materials, I created this "Man (or woman) of Steel" treasury, featuring this adorable yoga pose skeleton by Zed's Zombie Ranch (and there are several other amusing steel skeltons to be found in his shop)
And finally, I celebrate the spirit of Yule in my treasury "The Holly King and the Oak King", featuring this magnificent oak carved out of oak by Treewiz. Do check out the treasury, it was really hard to pick a favorite from this one.


There you have it, five items from five treasuries that I thoroughly enjoyed making. Happy holidays!

What Artfire is Doing Right

I wasn't getting much out of my $7 a month at Artfire, back when I had an account for $7 a month. It's up to $12 now, and I'm seriously thinking of going back and putting more effort into my Artfire account as a Verified Seller. Here's why.

1) I love that I can customize my shop. But that's really kind of an aesthetic thing. I'm cruising around, though, and there's a blog available here, a detailed bio section... heck this could almost be my website. If I type a link in at Etsy, it's dead and the linkee has to paste it into a browser. That's lame, Etsy. Artfire even lets me link to my Etsy shop, if I want to.

2) Google Analytics isn't that difficult at Etsy, but it's a BREEZE at Artfire. You can click on your item in "My Studio Stats" and see exactly what search was typed in at Google, and exactly where your traffic is coming from, with no visit to Google Analytics' somewhat confusing site. I LOVE this. Why is this awesome? If you know what tags are bringing people to your shop, you can hone them to bring more traffic. If you know you have a lot of people coming from Twitter or your blog, you can put more effort into Twitter or your blog.

3) Oh my god, the help guides section! Okay, I don't have to be a paid user to use these, but I'm in love with the fact that there is SO much helpful information on marketing right there in that left column. You really need to go check them out if you sell online. I particularly recommend the Social Bookmarking guide and the Social Networking guide. It breaks down terms like SEO and really helps you figure out your strategy.

4) I'm starting to hear that some of my co-crafters are selling better there than they are on Etsy. That means that the traffic I wasn't getting over there, the reason I abandoned my paid account, is starting to show up. To be fair, I wasn't putting much into my Artfire shop then, so that had to have had a lot to do with it.

5) If I can get my production up, and I list 60 items a month, this account has already paid for itself in 20 cent Etsy listing fees, with no sales. No listing fees, no percentages of your sales going to anyone. Just you. Are you giving Etsy or eBay $12 a month?

6) Rapid cart makes it really easy and handy to sell on your own website or blog with hardly any fuss on the part of the buyer.

7) If I refer 10 people for paid accounts, my $12 monthly fee vanishes, and I am selling for absolutely free.

Which, of course, brings me to the plug: if you're NOT selling on Artfire, try it out with me by clicking the little picture at the top of this post, then get your friends to sign up so you can get it for free too.