Big Knitting - Guess what it will be

For my birthday at the beginning of June I received some very large knitting needles 25mm diameter , which is over twice the size of any needles I had in my tube of knitting needles ! Wow I thought , I should really be able to create some monstrous creations in record time now. 

Of course in reality this never happened. Big knitting needles have their own problems and there is no way that you can go at any speed.  You have to have lots of space as it is impossible to tuck the needles under your arm pits as you do with ordinary sized needles. I took over the 3 seater settee when using mine. 

Casting on and doing the 1st row is probably the most difficult and then once you have got over that you are on your way.

My 1st item is on Etsy , unfinished !! I created a sort of guessing game to try and get people interested and to try and get some hearts on the item before it was actually finished. Here it is- http://www.etsy.com/listing/76119823/big-recycled-red-chunky-cashmere-knitted . Please heart if you want to see the finished result.

The FeminineTouch has started knitting me in this gorgeous recycled cashmere yarm , so thick and beautiful you wouldn't believe it.

She is knitting me using a pair of enormous knitting needles with a 25mm diameter , so big that you can only fit around 30 stitches on it!

Notice the 20p piece in the photo , WOW ! I'm going to be truly BIG !

She needs to find some chunky recycled buttons or beads for fringing to enhance me even further , and in the meantime she is going to keep you (and me) guessing as what my role in my new life is going to be.

If you want to see how I turn out , then please "heart" me , so you can keep track of me

Please do not purchase me yet , I'm not ready and the price and shipping costs have not been worked out correctly

TheFeminineTouch tells me she intends knitting more accessories with her enormous knitting needles so you need to keep an eye on her too.

A strategy to increase Etsy views

I said in my most recent blog that I was going to come up with a strategy to try and increase my views in the US; as given that 70% of people using Etsy are from the US and Canada it was reasonable to think that views from there should well exceed those that my shop gets from the UK.

I decided to take a 4 pronged approach to this.

The 1^st approach was targeted at the US and Canada market. I knew that views on items increased dramatically when an item was renewed and so I decided that I needed to pick a prime time for renewing my items. A time when lots of people from the US and Canada would be using Etsy. I did a bit of research and found out that 80% of the US and Canada people were from eastern and central areas  (this equates to 57% of Etsy).  It is thought that in general people browse Etsy mostly in the evenings  from early evening to midnight , peaking between 8:00pm and 10:00pm. Those people that are on a mission to buy will do this mid morning between 9:00am and 1:00pm.  Further  research told me that eastern and central US  were 5 and 6 hours behind UK time. So if I could coordinate some listings around their peak time of browsing and shopping then in theory  I should have some wonderful viewing stats. 

I spent a week from the 8^th June re-listing 3 items during the late evenings between 10:00pm and 1:00am, hitting US and Canada from early evening onwards.  I can honestly report that I did NOT see the usually increase in views after I re-listed any item. It was like my new listings were invisible to the US and Canada market. I soon gave up on this.

My 2^nd approach was to try and get to the bottom of why my re-listed items seem to not exist in the US and Canada. I have been involved in numerous forum threads on Etsy trying to understand this. I’m hoping this strategy of getting involved and trying to get Etsy to understand that their software changes might be causing this, will pay off. 

My 3^rd approach was targeted at everyone that uses Etsy. I decided that my photographs were the key thing for people to decide whether they even liked my item never mind wanted to buy it.  I watched Etsy videos on how to take good photos and the kind of photos that need to be included on each listing. I’m not saying that I have followed their advice to the letter but I’m sure my photographs have improved. I have purchased a mannequin to display my scarves and I have taken “situation” photographs to try and show the accessory off.  In a few weeks time I plan to use my daughters rented property to display some of my homeware items. Her house is full of white walls , dark wooden floors and great big beams , ideal for photo shoots.

These are the videos I watched - http://www.etsy.com/storque/seller-handbook/make-it-work-an-etsy-success-photography-workshop-12754/

And here is some other useful info

 http://www.etsy.com/storque/seller-handbook/etsys-guide-to-photography-10979/

http://mylavenderave.blogspot.com/2011/06/etsy-photo-shoot.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa5kAgSIlko

 Here are some of my before and after photo's. Look how the scraves look llike scarves now.

And then some of my "situation" photos - I call them "abandonment"

My 4^th approach was to somehow get UK people to know about Etsy , come to the site and buy from us.  More of that in my next blog posting.

Etsy viewing stats by country

Hi everyone

There have been lots of discussions on Etsy about sales decreasing or near enough disappearing over the last few months. I have been one of those culprits that has been joining the Etsy forums trying to find out from Etsy if the recent changes to Etsy (regional front pages or the Taste Test) has been making the difference.  We may never know the answer !!

   I  decided to do a bit of digging around to find what was happening with my shop views , so I could come up with a strategy to make some improvements to views and then sales. I have used GA to plot my views over the last 5 months on a graph. As you can see above the USA and the UK are fighting for a lead in the viewing stakes. Which at 1st I thought was really good,  but then I got thinking.  70% of Etsy are in the USA and Canada , so why aren't the views for them really high. And the other point was , I was promoting and promoting like mad , chatting on UK forums , taking part in UK BNR's and this was getting me lots of views (about the same as those I get from the USA).  So , If could do the same with US Etsians my views should go sky high. 

The graph also shows the blip in views somewhere in March / April. Does this correspond with the changes to Etsy I wonder. With a little more digging I'm sure I can find out exactly when those views dipped.

Watch out for my next post. I will be telling you my plans for increasing those US views.