Social Media, Here I come!

Last week, I was gifted with a smart phone of my very own for the first time in my life. Until now, I've been using Hubby's phone for any on-the-go searches or social media usage. I had Snap Chat, Facebook, and Instagram in the past, and gradually deleted all of my accounts for various reasons. Now that I have my own smart phone to use, and I'm really working on promoting my jewelry business through Etsy, it's become apparent that I need to be using social media to promote my work. So I created a new Snap Chat and Instagram account, and I'll be using those to share my current inspirations, designs, and finished products. I'm hoping to build up a solid following, to help spread the word about my jewelry, and get some useful feedback about designs and trends to look out for as I make new pieces. So look me up, check out what I have to offer, and click 'Follow'! 

SnapChat: melanie.motley

Instagram: Melanie Motley

Even More Shiny Things! (Plus, the learning curve on Etsy)

So! My last post included some of my newest designs for my Etsy shop, and stated that I would be adding new designs every week. In the time since then, I've been photographing, editing, describing, and creating listings for as many of my pieces as possible in the time I've had available. I believe I'm about 1/3 of the way through photographing, and maybe 1/2 way through the listings.

I've been publishing new listings nearly every day, in the hopes of seeing which days (or designs) get the most views and generate the most interest. Sadly, I have to admit that there has been next to NO interest or views on any of my designs, and since there haven't been any views, I can't see if there are any days or times that are better for my shop's visibility.

Still, all is not lost! Once I realized that the problem was rooted in the low visibility, I started researching how to boost my views and ensure that people see my listings. That's where I learned about the importance if having excellent tags, listing titles, and descriptions. As I read, I thought to myself, "Well. There's the problem right there!"

I readily admit that my descriptions are a bit lacking in the creative areas. I tend to list the features in a no nonsense sort of way, thinking that if I create more artistic descriptions, people will think I'm over selling, or trying to push them into buying. However, that's pretty much what I need to do, right? Nobody will buy something that the creator isn't excited about, and they certainly won't buy something that has a lackluster description in an unknown Etsy Shop. There's way too much competition out there to be using descriptions that don't shine.

So now I have my work cut out for me once again. Not only do I need to finish photographing and listing the rest of the pieces I have available, I also now need to go through the current listings and revamp the tags and descriptions. Here come the adjectives!

In the mean time, I'll leave some photos of the designs I posted throughout the week, and I hope to see you guys over at The Motley Market soon!