The California Crafters Club of Etsy (CCCOE) is a group of independent artists, crafters, & artisans from California who sell their wares on Etsy.com.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

That February Day

To find the items in this blog post, I searched "cccoe team valentine". The top categories were "Jewelry", "Paper & Party Supplies", "Home & Living", "Accessories", and "Clothing". Which gives me a great jumping off point...

Jewelry for Valentine's Day? Hmmm... Sounds like a plan...

Conversation Heart Necklace in Lavender - KISS ME - Valentine's Day Jewelry
Conversation Heart Necklace by Love Your Bling

NERD LOVER text box... stamped sterling silver necklace
NERD LOVER text box by Vision Quest

Paper & Party Supplies? Oh, right, cards...

Heart Monster Valentines
Heart Monster Valentines by EmoSeal Creations

In Home & Living we find...
And finally, in Clothing... 

Queen of Hearts - Adult Teen Pre-teen Costume Tutu - Custom Sewn Tutu - up to 36" long - For Halloween and Birthday
Queen of Hearts Costume Tutu by Tiara's Boutique

Lots of fun things if you celebrate February 14th. Make sure to check them out.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Tagged

How strong are your tags? 


Etsy has gained visibility in Google Search. This is good news for Etsy sellers. It means more people can find our shops.

But no one is going to find your items or your shop if your search terms aren't strong enough.

I've mentioned Marmalead before. They just recently came out with a tutorial to help us all create stronger tags. (Which I won't rehash here. If you're interested, I'd recommend checking it out.) Better tags lead to better visibility in searches, first in Etsy and perhaps in Google as well.

How do you create good tags? 


You want to
  1. describe your item
  2. using terms people are actually searching, and
  3. use words that have minimal competition.
Because if you're using tags with lots of competition, your item might get buried where shoppers rarely go. And we don't want that. 

Constructing tags is a challenge for me. But lately I've been playing with it a bit. For example, I've been working on the tags for my knitted cell phone holder... 

Knitted Cell Phone Cushion Stand

When I put "cell phone holder" into Marmalead, I get a cloud of tags that looks like this...


Lots of search terms. And I notice that many of them aren't describing what I'm selling. Which is bad. Because that means that people who find my item probably are looking for something different. I need to figure out how to describe my item in terms that people who want this type of item are using.

So, I break this up into parts. 

Firstly, people aren't really searching for cell phone holders that necessarily are knitted, so while I may still want to include this in a tag, I won't use it more than once. Which means I want to play with the idea of a cell phone holder, finding ways to describe it that a buyer would use.

There are several ways that someone might search for "cell phone"...
  • mobile phone
  • iPhone
  • Samsung Galaxy
  • Android
...and I'm sure you can think of some others. Then, "holder" is probably not the best term to use. I could use...
  • dock
  • stand
  • cushion
  • caddy
  • storage
  • bedside
  • prop
  • station
(Most of these other ideas I got from those tag clouds after searching my tags.) 

So, now it's time to mix and match. Tags are limited to 20 characters per tag, and there is a limit of 13 tags. The trick is to find the tags that are getting the most searches and views, but that don't have so much competition that your item will get buried on page 20. (And remember to use CCCOE Team as one of your tags so you can be found for team-related compilations.)

This is going to take some time...

Do you have any good tagging tips for us?

Monday, January 11, 2016

Get Organized

Was getting organized one of your New Year's Resolutions? Need some help? We've got some ideas...

Want something vintage for your files?

Wooden File Box Globe Wernicke 7310 C
Wooden File Box from Vintage Patriot Girl

Or how about a stash of envelopes to keep various odds and ends contained?

32 teeny tiny envelope note sets handmade in jewel tones miniature mini square handmade stationery weddings guest book table number party
32 teeny tiny envelope note sets by teenytinyenvelopes

Scrapbook albums keep our memories intact.

Moments Scrapbook Album
Moments Scrapbook Album by studio deb

And can you have too many magnets? 

Six Mini Colorful Button Magnets in Hinged Metal Box, Refrigerator Magnets in Juicy Orange and Red,Decorative,Useful, Home Office, Message
Six Mini Colorful Button Magnets in Hinged Metal Box by Stone, Bone and Button

Where do you keep all your kitchen utensils?

Utensil Holder Ceramic Utensil Holder
Utensil Holder by LoJoCeramics

Your makeup isn't all over the bottom of your purse, is it?

Makeup Cosmetic Bag, Zippered Pouch with Eye Shadow and Makeup on It, Medium Zippered Pouch, Toiletries Bag, Cosmetic Bag, Handmade
Makeup Cosmetic Bag by anniekdesigns

And traveling with jewelry can be tricky. Here's a great solution.

Jewelry Travel Organizer Case Storage Gift
Jewelry Travel Organizer by Falling Star Lane

How are you getting organized?

And a special thanks to annie k designs and Olde Tyme Notions for finding all these wonderful items for us.