You know the bit in films where the last carriage of the train uncouples and grinds to a halt while the rest of the train rushes towards the horizon? Well, I feel exactly like that carriage. Etsy has changed to a point where I just do not get it anymore.
Am I getting old? Is this just like some old buffer (see what I did there) who can't use an apple watch? I know these things take time to get the hang of but I no longer see myself bothering even to try to be on that train.
In the past the public forums were the source of information. Folks that are way more intelligent and committed than me would wade through all the posts, Etsy blogs and team posts; to work out SEO, relevancy and how to react effectively to changes on the site. Sometime a few months ago, Etsy became impossible to work out! Maybe it's because there aren't so many of those clever people around and the few old-timers (or should I say kool-aid drinkers) who are, repeatedly put it all on the sellers shoulders. It's you're own fault if you don't get it or it's not working for you. " You're SEO could use some work" is the only solution. Nobody has the big picture anymore.
I am a member of an SEO team. There is a current thread about recent search and statistics news, over 850 posts plus numerous links to google search news with in those posts. Ugh!
That is my real disappointment with Etsy, if you read up in the sellers handbook about all the multitude of things you need to do to stay relevant, given the context of huge levels of competition for relevancy. No sane person would sign up for a lifetime of slavery to the Etsy task. Well, unless of course you have a main- stream product manufactured by someone else and have 500+ listings on auto-renew. For someone who has a small shop with a few monthly rather than daily sales, the competition is pretty much over.
For me, what used to be the hardest things to do, like getting a gallery interested, exhibiting, getting into magazines and blogs, driving traffic to my own website etc. are now looking easy-peasy in comparison.
As an artist, with very niche items, I'm starting to throw my seed on more fertile ground. :)
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3 comments:
What a great post! It expresses exactly what I feel about Etsy. That sad falling away feeling that I'm doing everything wrong. Just one thing, though, does make a difference to all that and that is your amazing work! I can't help but feel that it will rise quietly and elegantly to the top wherever it is placed!
Thank you for your kind words Claire! There must be a lot of people who feel the same who set up shop relatively early on Etsy. It has changed so much. Such a pity it doesn't feel like fun anymore....just a rather deflating experience.
I feel this too.
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