What's the magic number?

A couple weeks ago, I wrote that I thought that I had cracked the code
on Etsy listings when I started listing my Monster Bags under Geekery
instead of Purses. That strategy is still working decently. I've had
more online sales in the past month than I had in the previous three
months. That's going well -- knock on wood -- and makes me more
committed to online sales channel.

But I've noticed something else that is perplexing. As a part of my
quest for enlightenment, I've been reading Etsy's Storque articles for
ideas on how to do a better job with my online store. JJM Finance has
written several (probably self-serving) articles about using hearts
and views to project sales
(http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/the-numbers-game-ratios-and-your-shops-popularity-2146/)

So, I've been checking my hearts and views pretty often, using this
Heart-o-matic tool:
http://www.craftcult.com/heartsitems.php?userid=artsibitsi&submit=Submit.
JJM Finance says that I should be looking at the ratio of hearts to
views. There's a golden proportion that will let me know when I'm
about to have a sale. For example, he says that for his shop, "my
heart-to-sale ratio has consistently been around 3".

After spending a good 45 minutes pulling down data and wrestling with
it in a spreadsheet, I have this. 

Over the last five months, my
hearts-to-sale ratio has averaged about 4.65. The low point was in
September where I had 20 hearts and only one sale. But that was
rapidly followed by a few weeks where my ratio was really good, like 2
hearts per sale. And now for the last month or so, it's been closer
to 4 or 5 hearts per sale.

:-)

A year in monsters

The Way of the Monster.

This is HUGE

EtsyTeamColumbus is giving away $100 in gift certificates to member stores.  Check it out: http://etsyteamcolumbus.blogspot.com/2008/11/win-over-100-november-fall-giveaway.html

Buy Handmade and Help Women Entrepreneurs in Africa and Central America

I'm a world traveler.  Seriously.  I've visited more than 160 cities in 17 countries, including Peru, Guatamala, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Greece and Tanzania.  Sometimes I think that the only reason to work is to make money, so that I can go see another part of the world (got a trip to Tanzania and Amsterdam lined up for next month).

Anyway.  One of the most affecting experiences, and the biggest takeaway of my travels has to be seeing the different ways that people live in other parts of the world.  For a lot of people, $4 is a days wages.  For me, it's a good cup of coffee.  It's hard not to feel a huge burden of guilt about that. But what can one person do about it?  
Well, here is what I am doing.  It's small, I admit.  But what the heck, I'm sort of a small person.  
First, whenever I travel, I look for the artists.  There are always hundreds of people selling mass-produced crap.  I try to find people who are making nice things of their own design.  

This photograph was taken in a very small village on the Amazon River in Peru, called Las Palmas.  This is their market where the women (it's almost always women) sell their handcrafts.  I spent about $18 here and got a painting, an etched gourd, a macrame-type water bottle carrier, and a wood carving of a mama monkey with a baby on it's back.  It's so moving.  Here are these people,

 most of them living practically a stone-age existence in primitive huts, doing these incredibly evocative paintings and carvings of their world.  Art is what makes us human.  Gotta support that.

The other thing, that I just started doing, is making small business

 loans to women in the countries that I've visited.  Because women often get stuck trying to keep their families afloat.  And because economic autonomy is a stepping stone to social and political power.  So far, just  using the money that I have in my Paypal account from Etsy sales, I have made SEVEN loans.  

You can see my Kiva lending portfolio here: http://www.kiva.org/lender/artsibitsi

And here is the story of one woman that I made a loan to today:

Mrs. María Rosaria is 54 years old, belongs to the Communal Bank Mujeres del Mañana and the Comedor Popular (an eatery for low-income families) in her area.  She lives on the street Manuel Gonzalez Prada s / n, district of Agallpampa, province of Otuzco, department of La Libertad, Peru.

She studied until the third grade because that was the custom in the towns; it was believed that women should not be educated because they would write letters to the men to fall in love, she says.

She is a single mother and has a son who is already married. She started her business breeding and selling animals, and had capital but unfortunately fell ill for nearly a year and started again from scratch, she says. She accumulated capital and it was the Movimiento Manuela Ramos, through Credimujer, that supported and helped as much with their education as with their loans.

She currently has a wine cellar in her house. With the first loan of 300 soles, which was paid back in 4 months she bought items for her grocery store. With this loan of 1,200 soles (US $400), which will be repaid in 6 months, she plans to invest in groceries. Maria dreams of having a nice house to fix up to accommodate her son with his family.

Creature Featured

A variety of vessels: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=18683

:-)

Five-Ps of Marketing Decoded?

ArtsiBitsi has had a good week.  Well, a good three days.  Now, it might be premature (or bad luck) to celebrate, but I really feel like I learned something important about the craft's business this week. 

So, to recap, there were five Ps of marketing: Product, Price, Position (Placement), Promotion and Package.  A few weeks ago I looked at these different aspects of my business and felt distinctly discouraged.  I didn't understand why my customer would buy handbags or any creative product online.  Since then I've pursued some different strategies and tracked the results.

Here's where I am now:

Promotion and Package -  I haven't done very much in these areas yet.  On the promotions front, I have been blog posting and such, but I don't think that it's having much effect.  I looked at buying a spot on an Etsy showcase, but other sellers report that it's not an effective use of advertising dollars.

Product - It's all about the Monster.  Buyers have so many choices; these bags are the one thing that I can make that is really distinctive and original.  

Price - The formula says that I should charge $40 for a MONSTER BACKPACK, considering the time and materials that go into making one.  Unfortunately, forty dollars is a lot to spend on something that is not going to be an everyday item.    The new MONSTER MINIS are substantially cheaper at $13.

Position - Here's where I have made the most interesting discoveries.  First, in the real world I have spent a lot of time with the folks at the Open Door Art Studio.  Not only do I find it very easy to talk to Courtney, Ashley and Jon about business and art concerns, they give me a physical presence  in a real space.  This is, I think, very important.  As I've said before, people who buy art need to see it, feel it, smell it before they can buy it.  The ODAS people are also taking my bags to shows, which will give them even more exposure in the real world.  

Second, I have been experimenting with my listing categories on Etsy.  I listed two MONSTER MINIS.  For one, I put it in the Purses category;  the other one I listed under Geekery.  And something amazing happened.  The mini-bags started to SELL.  I've sold one a day for three straight days.   My theory is that geeks are more comfortable buying online.  We'll see if the trend continues and whether a similar re-positioning helps the other items in my store.

Watch this space.