My head swimmith

(who cares if that isn't a word in "real life". It is in "able mabel life".)

All this talk about SEOs is making my head ache!! I'll try to see if I can explain it...I'll probably biff it quite badly!

When you list a product on any site, the search engines pick up key words in the title of your item, tags and descriptions. Most important is your title. (Am I right so far?) Search engines pick up on key words in the title first. Those sellers that have it all figured out know which words to put into their titles, tags and descriptions so when someone types, say "baby blanket" into a search engines, their items will show up before those of us who are completely clueless!!! (Ummm...that would be me...the completely clueless one.)

Lately the forum board on Etsy has been on full of posts about how Etsy is ruining their shops because they've added in some words to their titles. (For example the title will have something like Handmade Baby on Etsy before the title.) It's quite interesting to read, especially when tempers start flying.

I've stayed out of the whole mess and have begun to "smarten" up my titles. Whew! It's a lot of work!! ArtFire has some great guides that explain it all quite well. I'm thankful for those. I've learned a ton since I've started able mabel in many areas!!

Alright! Who's still awake?!? I'm not, my face hurts from yawning...

I suppose I should

quit kissing my baby for a bit and blog. You should see her though. Just the sweetest baby around!

Told you she is irresistible! She's being a bit of a stinker today though. I keep trying to put her for a nap but when I go check on her, she's laying there kicking her chubby legs, a gleam in her big blue eyes, grinning at me with the dimple in her cheek. She's no dummy, she knows how to get me to pick her up!

I sold all the humor magnets I had listed on ArtFire yesterday. Don't worry, I have more in the works. Some are the same quotes but some are new ones. I had to order more chipboard. I found some from this seller.

I think I'll like ArtFire. My biggest complaint upfront is the lack of views. Looks like I'll have to work it!! I'm going to start some PW ads, directing traffic there. JB and I have talked about adding various items to our shop but have held off because of one reason or another. Now we won't have to. There aren't as many sellers on ArtFire so I think it'll be easier to be noticed.

What? You mean this isn't a typical morning scene at your house? :)

I'm not sure where this critter came from. He's on the couch, winter hat and all, "playing" Tetris. At one point he looked at me with his big toothy grin and said "Watch Mom, no hands!" Guess he likes to just watch the pieces fall. He's a goofball and a keeper, this one. If this is as daring as his "no hands!" gets, I'm cool with it.

This weekend I only had the three little girls home. Talk about easy street! Hubby had the rest camping with our church's youth group. I was able to sew most of the day on Saturday. I've had this fabric forever but nothing to match it until about a week ago. It's upholstery weight so I'm sure you'll be seeing it again. I made two pouches out of this fabric. One for Etsy and one for ArtFire.

Now back to kissing Babes before I try lay her down again...

I'm debating

about what I should do.

For a while now, I've felt that our Etsy shop is too "cluttered" yet I haven't wanted to open a second shop. Too much work to market two shops. I've liked having all our product in one spot so people can easily see what we have to offer. On the other hand, we've been able to kick out so much product that we're ending up with pages upon pages to search thru.

There has been much hubbub on Etsy about their new changes. I felt like we were on a roll thru March and April, sales-wise, only to have them nearly stop in May. Looks like we're not the only ones experiencing the sudden drop and some are blaming the changes Etsy has been making. (Something about how the listings are being submitted to search engines.)

Last night I decided to "bite the bullet" and I opened an ArtFire shop. I'm still fairly torn about the whole thing. ArtFire is an "up and coming" site with high hopes.

My swirling thoughts:

• How should I divide up our stuff between the two shops since most of what we make is a one of a kind? Some things can be duplicated but not all.
• What if someone wants something from both shops, then what?
• Do I put some kind of announcement in the shops regarding combined shipping?
• I like that ArtFire lets you have a cart on your blog.
• ArtFire is super easy to list product on.
• ArtFire has a flat fee every month. It makes more sense to list magnets on there than it does to list them on Etsy.
• I feel like I've "sort of" figured out a bit of a marketing strategy so two shops doesn't really scare me anymore.
• Should each shop have a different "personality"?
• Should we stick to paper products in one shop and fabric items in the other, or mix them all up?
• Was I nuts to open the ArtFire shop?
• It's easier to organize an ArtFire shop.
• Etsy has more traffic, for now.
• You can buy from ArtFire without opening an account.

Definately food for thought. My solution? Go sew some more....