How to wash your woollies

When you buy from The Feminine Touch you can be sure your hand knitted and felted items will have a high wool % content. 

It's important then, that such a loved, quality item should be handled with care when it comes to washing.

This is a simple guide that I've put together, just to help you along

1. Place the item in a sink, cover with luke warm water and  some woolly detergent.

2. Soak and squeeze your woolly, being careful not to pull it out of shape.

3. Let out the water and fill the sink again with clean luke warm water. Soak and squeeze again to get rid of all the detergent.

4. After soaking & squeezing, lay the woolly between clean towels and roll the towel up to take up the extra moisture.

5. Lay your woolly out on another clean dry towel and leave to dry. 







Hope this helps in keeping your woollies as nice as the day you bought them <3




If you are wondering why I brought this little tip bit to your attention , well I was told a little sad tale the other day. One of my most loyal customers was purchasing yet another hand knit headband from me and I asked how her daughter liked the one that she got last Christmas? Sadly she said that she hadn't thought about how to wash it and had just bunged it in the washing machine. Well you can guess what happened can't you, the poor little thing turned out twice as small and could not be stretched over her head whatever she tried.  That was just a headband and could be remedied by quickly knitting up another for her. But I would hate it if something as wonderful as a lace shawl or a bolero was ruined just because you didn't think before washing. I'd rather customers contacted me to ask for advise any day than to see this happen. 

Have you had any disastrous washes ? Many years ago I had a lovely red dressing gown bought by my husband reduced to child size :( just because I put it in the wash , lol

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Revamping my web site TheFeminineTouch.org.uk

I had been talking to one of my knitting colleagues about the success of her web site, and she told me of an instance where all of a sudden she stopped getting visitors to her web site. Before that day she was getting at least one order a day from her web site and then nothing. So what did she do? 

She contacted her web site account manager and asked for advise. They looked around and found something had been changed which affected the whole thing......... it got me thinking.

You see , even though I had a web site, I have only had one enquiry from it and when I checked through Google Analytics the number of visits my little web site was having was abysmal :(

So I thought, I need to contact my account manager, see if they can see what I'm doing wrong with my web site. 

The reply was really helpful and made me wish I had contacted them earlier.


I'll break it down into blocks


1. SEO - metatagging 


I can see that you have worked on your SEO, however it can take a minimum of 6 months to make an impact with your SEO and climb the rankings of search engines. Therefore for some more advice on your SEO I'd suggest taking a look at our fantastic guides.

I can see that you have filled out some meta information, but more could be added to help improve your search ranking. Just looking at your page Meta Info, not all of the fields have been filled in. Make sure to fill in <TITLE> Tag:, and the Metatag Description: and not just the Metatag Keywords.

If you had a shop set up within your website, then you could set up metatags for each of your products, which again helps for SEO purposes. 


 So what have I done? - set up products in my shop, currently about 40. I have also completed ALL the meta data , Title , Tags and Description for all my products and all the web pages. 

 2. Social media

 I would also advise using social media to build a more public personality for your business. This way you can reach a wider audience and connect with other businesses who can help you grow. Why not take a look at our guides below on how to include Facebook in your site, as well as Twitter and maybe even Pinterest!

 So what have I done? I have added twitter , facebook and pinterest widgets to my web site side bar so they get seen on all pages. I have also added some of my pinterest style guide boards to the home page.

3. Blog

  A good way to keep people coming back is perhaps setting up a blog within your website. Maybe post something one a week, to keep your readers interested and coming back to see what you have been up too. I see that you have one with blogspot, but you can create your own blog within Create. That way the numbers being directed to your website thefemininetouch.org.uk should increase. 

So what have I done ? nothing for now. I blog on a regular basis anyway here, maybe I need to make my web site more prominant on here.

4. Professional image banner 

Maybe you could add a professional image banner to your homepage? This creates a nice motion banner on your page, which gives customers something interesting to look at, as it is not static. If you would be interested in adding this, please see the guide.

So what have I done? I have set up a banner , taken some of my products and re-photographed them , added some text and made them the size they needed to be for the banner. 

 









5. Side bar images 

Your images on the side column, which links you to your Etsy store. Instead of it being red, I may make the purple to go with the rest of the theme on your website, as it looks a little out of place. 

So what have I done? completely the opposite , I have added a red theme into my banner so it blends in more.

In my next blog I'll tell you about other features I have added to my web site. In the meantime, please browse away.

 

Polyvore - How I got started with it

I'm so impressed by the beautiful collages that can be created via Polyvore. Its an easy way that you can pull together wonderful coordinated fashion items into one picture , incorporating your own work and that of others , even high street or designer items. 

I found this piece of software by accident and been fascinated by it ever since. Its great for showing off ALL my products , from the woolly accessories I make for the home..... to the chunky or lace scarves etc that I make for the modern woman. 

I was a little hesitant about having yet another social media to worry about and I was adamant that it would not take over my life. Already I have established that this piece of software could become very addictive, it records number of people viewing and liking the collages (sets they call them) you make. Which means that you could get over anxious trying to find ways to get your collages seen by loads of people on Polyvore. You can join groups and share your collages with group members , hoping they will like them. You can follow others and they can follow you AND ...... you can join in the competitions , even perhaps winning a prize for the best themed collage.  

See how you could spend hours and days , lost in this minefield of collages.


So I have made myself a little list, just so I stick to my first initial thoughts on how this software could benefit my business.

1. Collages will be made to show off my items. When its appropriate (and not all the time so people get sick of them) these will be promoted via twitter , pinterest, facebook , tumblr and blogger. 

THIS IS MY MAIN AIM - I really see the advantage of my potential customers seeing my goods alongside something they could buy on the high street for example. 

2. When I get notified of someone else on Polyvore using one of my items in their very own collage , then I will actively promote too.  

I think this is a good starting point for me to ensure I don't spend too much time with this great piece of software.

And just so you know , this blog post was created straight from Polyvore , the picture at the top of the blog post and the brilliant list underneath was created automatically , with direct links to each Etsy shop included in the picture , how cool is that.  

Thinking of Weddings? by TheFeminineTouch

Eyelet dress
etsy.com

White prom dress
etsy.com

Green prom dress
etsy.com

Wedding lingerie
etsy.com

Mohair Bolero Jacket in custom colour. Mint Green wedding party...
etsy.com

Leather shoes
etsy.com

Floral handbag
etsy.com

Wedding bag
etsy.com

Engagement wedding ring
etsy.com

Vintage style wedding jewelry
etsy.com

Stud earrings
etsy.com

Chain bracelet
etsy.com

Pearl bridal hair accessory
etsy.com

Feather hair comb
etsy.com

Flower wedding dress
etsy.com

Rose skin care
etsy.com

Black and white nail polish
etsy.com

Personalized home decor
etsy.com

Ceramic bowl
etsy.com

Gold Love Script
etsy.com

Wood Clutch // CREME
etsy.com

Ampersand sign custom wood wedding engagement decoration Shabby Chic...
etsy.com

knitted lace in silk coltton mix with vintage lace trim
$43 - etsy.com

White Silk Rose Bud Hand Tie (2 Dozen Roses) - Bridal Wedding Bouquet
etsy.com

Butterfly Place Cards - whimsical, neutral, escort card, placecard,...
etsy.com



And if you are interested in using Polyvore to enhance your business and want to take it further too , then here's a little reading list

Polyvore , the biggest site you have never heard of (until now) -  http://microexplosion.com/tips-2/polyvore-the-biggest-site-youve-never-heard-of/

Polyvore clipper tool -  http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/clipper

Customising your items -  http://blog.polyvore.com/2009/10/introducing-custom-background-tool.html

Ideas for creating Polyvore sets to illustrate your blog posts -  http://wso.ucoz.com/publ/ideas_for_creating_polyvore_sets_to_illustrate_your_blog_posts/1-1-0-465
   
Why and how should e-commerce brands should use Polyvore for product marketing - http://cmrstrategies.com/polyvore-for-product-marketing/

How to maximise and use Polyvore to increase sales -  https://www.convertwithcontent.com/maximize-use-polyvore-increase-sales/

How to get more Polyvore likes - http://www.polyvore.com/how_to_get_more_polyvore/set?id=44309112

How to make your Polyvore collage popular -  http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Polyvore-Set-Popular

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.

Testing the Etsy treasury point scoring

Hia

Remember a while ago I let you know about some interesting information I had found out about how treasuries get HOT ! . Here it is if you can't remember - http://bloglaunchfemininetouch.blogspot.com/2011/02/etsy-treasury-point-scoring.html#comments

Well , with my Craft Brittania friends http://craftbritannia.blogspot.com/ we tried the theory out last weekend. A group of us got together and picked some of our best items to include in 3 spring themed treasuries. Kitzie made some lovely treasuries for us and then we clicked , commented and viewed each others treasuries. We read the rules and knew that it was no use commenting on our own treasuries , we had to comment on the ones we were not featured in. And guess what  - I think it worked. 

Within 5 hours we had one of the treasuries as hot as you can get and the other two were only a little way behind.

So was this a fluke , or was it because we were taking note of the information I supplied. 

I'm hoping that I can get some comments from you all as to what you think? Did you take note of the information? Did you click , view and comment on the other treasuries?

Please leave your comments