31 Days of Etsy Challenge 2011 Wrap Up

With the challenge being over and things settling down, I finally have some time to write my wrap up post on the 31 Days of Etsy Challenge.

Here are the weekly reviews:

• Day 1, the kickstart post!
• Week 1 Review
• Week 2 Review
• Week 3 Review
• Week 4 Review
• Week 5 Review, the last 3 posts!

I started this challenge because I wanted to begin 2011 with a bang, to become motivated to create new modern miniature pieces, and to sell on Etsy to will help fund the hobby, or rather, my transition into miniatures full-time. (Oh I didn’t tell you that yet? ;-))

Other than that, I really didn’t know what to expect and I was surprised at how much this experience taught me.

On-Demand Creativity is Rough: There were points during the challenge where I had a lot of trouble deciding what to create next. I simply was not inspired to make anything that would be fun and interesting for me and for anyone browsing through my shop. In some cases, I had to wait to feel inspired and then go on a mad dash making stuff while the going was good. You can see evidence of this in the image above!

On-Demand Creating is Rough Too: There was a slew of activities going on in January. It ranged from prepping for taxes, to finishing current web design projects, to two rather large custom mini projects (and I ended up taking on a 3rd at the end of Jan), to fulfilling my current Etsy and web shop orders, and to special events like baby showers and birthdays. It also did not help that Massachusetts was PWN’d by a bunch of snow storms in January. With everything going on, it was hard to find the time to make anything too complicated or time consuming.

Perseverance, Baby: There were times when I did not want to post anything or do anything. I was tired/uninspired/aggravated/<insert excuse here>, but I FORCED myself to stick to it and for the most part, I did what I was supposed to do. And because of that, I got the hits, the hearts, the features, and the sales. It helped motivate me to keep on truckin and the cycle of awesome just continued.

Fabulous Blogging Fodder: I love blogging, but sometimes it is difficult to think of interesting posts to write about. The essence of this challenge is all about creating and creating anything means an easy blog post!

Cross Promotioning: I started the challenge with the intention of it being a personal thing and never thought of it as a group challenge, but of course, Lyssa joined in! Having a buddy in the challenge not only allowed us to cross promote each other’s works, but it also provided someone to encourage and complain to! For next year’s challenge, I am hoping to get more people involved. The more the merrier. 😉

The Domino Effect: For some time now, I have been reading the Etsy blog to get tips on succeeding there. Here are the more obvious tips that I’ve learned: 1) have good photography, 2) join teams, and 3) post listings often. In regards to the tips, 1) I’m fine with the photography tip since I try to take good pictures regardless, 2) I joined Team MIDS on Etsy, and 3) frequently listed due to the one-listing-a-day-rule for the challenge. While all tips helped with promotion, I firmly believe the most effective one was listing frequently in conjunction with having nice product pictures. It caused a domino effect. Here’s what it looks like:

More listings posted -> getting featured higher up on the category and search listing page -> getting found easier + pretty pictures -> more hits, more hearts, more sales!

In learning from this, when I do create batches of different miniatures in the future, I will not be listing them all at once, but will break them into daily listings to get the most out of the exposure on the category and search pages.

Treasured Treasuries: From the extra exposure with the good photography, I experienced an explosion of treasury features. Check them out below and don’t forget to give props to the curator!

• 01/12/2011 – Tiny & Real: A Peak into the World of Miniatures, featuring Set of 2 Modern Miniature Wall Art in Distressed Frames
• 01/14/2011 – My Etsy Mini, featuring Miniature IKEA Inspired VIKA Desk in 1:12 Scale
• 01/17/2011 – Heartfelt, featuring Miniature 3D Paper Wall Art, Titled “Inner Heart” made for 1:12 Scale
• 01/18/2011 – Some of My Favorite Items from My Hearts, featuringMiniature 3D Paper Wall Art, Titled “The Island” made for 1:12 Scale
• 01/20/2011 – Retro office, featuring Miniature Modern Bookcase/Room Divider in Translucent Baby Blue Resin, 1:12 Scale
• 01/23/2011 – Tiny Treasures, featuring Miniature Modern Minimalist Black Twin Bed, 1:12 Scale
• 01/25/2011 – Hearty Heart Heart – Treasury Challenge, featuringShadowbox Paper Wall Art, Titled “Heart” in Pink & Yellow made for 1:12 Scale
• 01/27/2011 – Touch Me if You Dare, featuring Shadowbox Paper Wall Art, Titled “Heart” in Pink & Yellow made for 1:12 Scale
• 02/01/2011 – Fog Dreams, featuring Miniature IKEA Inspired VIKA Desk in 1:12 Scale
• 02/01/2011 – Winter Sweet, featuring Miniature Shadowbox Paper Wall Art, titled “Inner Wing”

In retrospect, I’m glad I am as anal retentive as I am with the photography and photo editing. The time and effort it took to make the pictures presentable paid off when I listed daily.

For those interested, I’m keeping track of any new listings on my Etsy Page.

In Conclusion

This challenge was a great learning experience and I’m planning on doing it again next year. There is a possibility that it may be moved to a different 31 day month since January has too much administrative stuff going on (*ehem* taxes). I’ll probably bring this discussion up again later this year.

I do hope to organize the challenge as a group event and get more miniaturists involved and it will be announced earlier so participants can have adequate time to prepare. The goal is to have it be an event where the mini-participants help each other in cross promotions and to get those that want to get started on Etsy some motivation and support to do so!

Lastly, to anyone celebrating the Lunar New Years… HAPPY NEW YEARS!