Sunday, November 15, 2009

Happy Anniversary to Me

A selection of pieces sold from my Etsy shop, WillOaks Studio,
during the first several weeks after it first opened in 2008.


I love to mark anniversaries of all kinds--major and minor. Well, today is a new one for me. One year ago on 11-16-08 I opened my little Etsy store. Now mind you, this is only the date I signed up. Although I had a large body of work finished, I was pretty clueless about 1.) Product photography, 2.) Product descriptions 3.) Uploading 4.) Tagging, and frankly, the list went on and on. It took me until after Thanksgiving day last year to fully list some things for sale because I struggled with the mechanics of it all. Then on 11-25, I made my first sale.

To tell you the truth? When I got that notice that I'd sold my first thing on Etsy (first sale on the internet) I was again at square one as I had no idea of what I was supposed to do next--I remember the panic! I must have figured it out because there were a number of sales as the countdown to Christmas continued. As I look back as these memories, I think it's kind of quaint and I marvel at the progress I've made over past year!

I've managed to sell, as of today, 166 pieces on Etsy. I've been marked as a "favorite" ('hearted' in Etsy lingo) 821 times (I'd love it if some of these "hearts" turn into actual shoppers!) And best of all, I've met a bunch of very cool fellow artists AND new customers, several who I now consider friends because we keep in touch!

Bad timing, bad luck for me that the economic downturn would escalate so much as my first year of online art selling was trying to get a footing, but like everyone else, I hope that we'll get through this cycle and prosperity and confidence will return to our country eventually.

So year two, onward and upward for WillOaks Studio! I have a little special going, that some of you might want to take advantage of. Free shipping through 12-17: look here to get the inside scoop (you need to use a secret code!) Next, I'll be having a couple of give-aways of my work here through random drawings over the next few weeks--more details on this are coming soon so do stay tuned!

19 comments:

J. M. P. said...

Congratulations! Your Etsy store looks awesome.

Unknown said...

Congratulations Karen!

You have made a "comet-carrier" on Etsy.
We opened our shops at approximately the same time. If you have made 166 sales since you opened, you must be doing something right!

By comparision, I have only sold 17 items, and many artisans sell almost nothing at all.

But I see your ad everywhere, and you are always listing new pieces. And your jewellery is beautiful and has its own "personality". You have worked hard and put in the time for this. You are living proof that it is possible.

But for different reasons it is not this way for everyone.

Hope you continue to thrive in year number two!

Best wishes
Anna

Dig The Earth said...

Congratulations on your first year! Wishing you much luck and success for your second :D

Kevin
http://ilovehandmadeblog.blogspot.com/

Dori said...

Congratulations to you! :)

Unknown said...

congratulations on your anniversary! i love your jewelery and hope to own a piece or two some day.

hugz to you my friend!

Hot Rocks said...

Congratulations on your year of success!
I enjoy reading your blog, and have the One Lovely Blog award for you! You can read about it, and collect it on my blog!

VanillaSeven said...

Congratz on your anniversary Karen!
Hope this coming year will be a very good year for you!

http://vanillaseven.com/2009/11/16/blue-window

Sandee said...

Happy Anniversary to you. What a delightful post.

Have a terrific day. :)

Rose Clearfield said...

Congrats Karen! I just celebrated my first year anniversary as an Etsy seller as well. I've had 22 sales and 242 hearts since then. I am so impressed by your number of sales and hearts! Keep up the great work (including blogging!) and beautiful jewelry. :)

Ann said...

Happy Anniversary and congratulations on a good first year. Here's to an even better year ahead.

Amy Lilley Designs said...

Happy Anniversary to you...wonderful success story...and such a beautiful portfolio you have built up...a precious gift...:)))

Theresa said...

Congratulations on all those sales and your Etsyversary! Sheesh I'd be happy with half those sales. Guess I need to copy all your designs and sell them for cheaper....JOKE! I could never make anything as beautiful as you do :)

BeadedTail said...

Happy Etsyversary to you! You've had a successful year and I wish you even more success in the future!

•°°• IcyBC •°°• said...

Congratulation on your anniversary! May the new year brings in more customers..

juditsd said...

Happy Anniversary - thak you for sharing with us! I wish you even more success!

Artsnark said...

Congrats on your Etsyversary!

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary - much success to come, I'm sure

Split Rock Ranch said...

Happy EtsyVersary! Your work is always stunning.

kandi-o designs said...

Karen,
Congratz! on your one year aniversary and sales with Etsy. I always love looking at your new pieces and wonderful photos you take.
Your always keeping it creative! hugs, Kandio

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