Showing posts with label artisan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label artisan. Show all posts

Friday, June 3, 2011

A New Selling Venue...Three Sisters' Marketplace

A couple of weeks ago, while getting associated with some new groups I joined on LinkedIn, I came across an announcement for a new "handmade" selling venue. I clicked on the link and just by virtue of its appearance I wanted to have my work represented on this marketplace.

The site is very professional, well organized for buyer browsing, the items listed were well presented, artisans' display their offerings in individual "shops" and shoppers are able to checkout all their purchases in a single transaction.

Another very attraction feature for me was that this site is juried. This feature is to ensure that the work being submitted for inclusion is indeed handmade, that it is of the quality and workmanship that the target market would expect and that the items' presentations are cohesive with the overall look and image the marketplace has created to attract buyers.

I don't wish to make this sound like a panacea for indie artisans to sell their wares, not yet anyhow...there are many areas that could use improvement and things that may not work for everyone, but this is one of the nicest sites I've seen in a long time.

AMDesignsbyAngela has no affiliation with this new venue other than I chose to open a new shop there...I am only spreading the word because if there are other artisans like myself who would like to find an attractive venue...and here's the kicker...that is free to join and free to list...Three Sisters' Marketplace may be the site for you.

Three Sisters' is a commission based sales proposition. Some may find the commission percentage to be on the high side, but using calculations of what I have spent on other venues for listing fees, relisting and showcasing fees or monthly fees and ad fees and based on the revenue I have received, the commission rate would be comparable and in line with selling costs I have personally experienced.
The vision of the founders was to have a venue with high quality items, that would be easy and fun to use and be cost effective for all involved. I believe their vision has been realized.

You can see my shop AMDesignsbyAngela at Three Sisters here ...maybe give me a rating???

Sunday, May 29, 2011

My Current Obsession

This month I am joining in on the Starving Artist Team monthly Blog Carnival. This month's topic is "My Current Obsession" which is exactly the reason I decided to join in.
I have been spending lots of time researching what is required to get my ArtFire Studio and my item listings to show up in search results...well not just show up, but show up in the first three pages of results.
Yes, my current obsession is getting to understand and implement good "Search Engine Optimization" so that I can improve my sales results through my Artfire Artisan "Pro" Studio, http://amdesignsbyangela.com .
One of the ways, as I understand it, is to blog. Search engines will crawl blog posts and find the links I've included to my shop and index the keywords I use that are relevant to my shop contents. So, I have made a renewed effort to blog more often and about a variety of topics. I can also improve SEO by having backlinks that search engines will find on other websites...well the "Blog Carnival" allows for an exchange of links among on the participants so my blog will have links on quite a number of blogs as well as the SATeam Blog
Another important element of improving SEO is having relevant titles and keywords in product listings and descriptions...I have been doing a lot of editing of my item listings lately....reworking titles, adding content to the descriptions, adding keywords as they occur to me...it has been a lot of work...and I would really like to see some positive results from it...
So here is one of my current ArtFire listings: What do you think of the title and description? Do you think it is relevant content...good SEO? I hope so!
                         

Handcrafted Artisan Lapis Chrysocolla Sterling Silver Pendant Necklace

                    Handcrafted Artisan Lapis Chrysocolla Sterling Silver Pendant Necklace

 

Product Description:


Handcrafted Artisan Lapis Chrysocolla Sterling Silver Pendant Necklace

A very elegant, contemporary teardrop pendant starring a beautiful Lapis Chrysocolla cabochon. The handcrafted bezel setting is punctuated by a textured background bordered with a square wire rim. The pendant measures approx. 2.25" and dangles from a 20" fancy bead chain.

Artfully Handcrafted Jewelry by AMDesignsbyAngela


You may be interested in reading what other participants' Current Obsessions are:

Galadryl Design

Jewelry Art by Dawn

Bead Sophisticate

Studio DTQ