Etsy for Everyone

Forwarding a domain through name servers

Okay, 99% of you will have no clue what I am talking about now. :)

Domain registration
Usually, when registering a domain without hosting, your provider will allow you to point that domain to another website, for example your Etsy shop. GoDaddy does that, and it really is the cheapest way to use your professional domain name.

For the first time ever, I came across a provider (DreamHost) who doesn't offer this. They are clearly forcing anyone who registers a domain name to add expensive hosting to the deal. You can't forward your domain, only change the name servers.

What's worse, you have already paid one year with them when finding this out. And ICANN (the registration office) won't even let you move the domain to another provider, at least not for 60 days. So you are stuck.

Techno babble
Every domain is hosted on a name server. When you enter that domain name, the name server tells it where it needs to go next. When your provider allows you to add domain forwarding, it actually adds the redirection info to the name server. Now what do you do if you can't add that redirection info to the existing name server? You need to find a different name server.

Unfortunately, name servers aren't something that regular people have or access. It's buried deep within the Internet's backbone, and I have never before dealt with one.

Solution
If your provider does not allow forwarding, you can get access to free name servers at ZoneEdit. They rule.

You sign up, then add a zone - the first 5 are free. When configuring the zone, all you actually need to do is add the domain name, and where you want to point that domain.  ZoneEdit will automatically assign two name servers - that's the info you need for your provider.

You will now go to your provider's control panel and see where you can change the name servers - usually somewhere concerning the WhoIs. If you can't find it, mail them...

It takes app 2-3 days to take effect... and then it is magic! No matter how unhelpful your gagging provider might be, you will get the most out of your domain!

Increase your views with one click - StumbleUpon

Update - I think we might have broken it. Very possible that Stumble has blocked Etsy listings for a while. Wow... my blog has the power to break stuff! :)

_________________________________________________

This is probably one of the best-kept Etsy secrets... you can have your views increase by 60-120 within one hour. How? Just StumbleUpon it!

Now don't get all excited - it's just views. It means someone hits on your item, and most likely clicks away within less than one second.

But - maybe they like it. And maybe they will heart you or your shop if they are already signed up for Etsy. And maybe, just maybe they will stay, look around your shop, look around Etsy - and we have found a new fan.

About StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is a gadget. When I click the link in my toolbar, it takes me to a random site. Well, not so random - you can set what kind of topics you are interested in, so you will only see those related pages.

I have set "crafts" as a category, I think, so I end up on loads of websites and blogs and forums with cool tutorials for pretty much anything.

When you say you like a page (in this case your listing), you get to enter which category this page belongs to and add some keywords. If someone has set this category as his preference, chances are that he will randomly see your item when he stumbles.

It takes a while for your page to be added to the random database. And then it will eventually leave the random database again. If someone presses the thumbs-up, it will get more time in the database.

I have had views increase after 30minutes, but more likely after a couple of hours. That listing is usually displayed to 60-120 Stumble users before it leaves the database again.

So what do I do?

First, you need to sign up, then download the toolbar - it's available for Firefox and Internet Explorer. This will install an extra toolbar in your browser window.

If you want to recommend one of your listings, just press "I like it" when on that page. You will most likely be asked to enter a short review, determine the category, and enter some tags - that always happens when a new page is "discovered".

This is what it looks like when I recommend a listing (please click to view):

Note that I chose "Toys" as a category, and have then added some keywords.

Then lean back... and app. 30-60 minutes later, you will suddenly get more hits. Sometimes it takes longer, depends how many people are stumbling, I guess... And they might never increase, though that hasn't happened to me yet.

Those are short-lived, don't get too excited, but it's nice nevertheless. But I can't promise that it will work every single time... I have no clue how StumbleUpon really works.

By the way - StumbleUpon is also great fun when you are bored! Just set your preferred topics through the toolbar, then hit StumbleUpon to view a random site... you might find interesting stuff!

Another showcase experiment

Okay, I am really only doing this for you guys... I'm spending $15 on a showcase on December 4th.

After doing the category showcase (never again) as well as the one in the gift guide (maybe), I felt as if I was missing something. So, main showcase. After that, I can really evaluate... I hope.

___________________

Update 5-12-07

Surprisingly enough, the main showcase was pretty good. No sales, but I have had a really quiet two weeks. Possibly because being located in Germany, so Christmas is getting too close for comfort.

I switched products in between,  and have to admit that my critters looked awesome on that page. I was the only one with extracted white backgrounds, and they really  stood out.

The first one got 200 additional views, the second one 65 additional views. Overall, my shop got 15 new hearts, which is pretty good. No sales, but I am still happy. :) 

My showcase stats on Cyber Monday

First things first - 2 new listings, 1 renewal, 1 category showcase, 1 gift guide showcase, 6 new hearts, no sale. Even the 6 new hearts are way below my average... so somehow Cyber Monday wasn't my day.

But - Etsy as a whole broke some records again, with more than 12,500 items sold. Oh well... :)

I can now tell you about my two showcases, though! I took special care to feature different items, and changed those once at 4p.m. EST.

Category showcase
My category showcase was for "Toys", and featured Ringo first, then switched to Sunday. Ringo got 32 extra views, no hearts. Stubby got 42 new views and no hearts.

So, suffice to say, I wouldn't book a category showcase again.

Gift Guide showcase
My GG showcase started out with Helmut, who got 105 extra views, one heart. But - that heart isn't due to the gift guide, I am sure... it's a returning customer. Sunday got 17 views and 1 heart while being featured.

Conclusion
Well. I did my best with the showcases - I definitely picked items that really popped in the list, mainly because I have white backgrounds and good pictures. Yet that wasn't enough. I am not talking sales, those don't worry me - but 6 hearts is nothing for me, so I can safely assume that my things weren't seen.

Will I book those spots again? Hell, no. $14 for two showcases is just not worth it...

Cyber Monday for YOU

What, you have been so busy with your own shop that you haven't done your own Christmas shopping? Or you want to get ME a present? :)

Then these are some of my favorites - go on, I'll even tell you my address...

How we read online

Yeah, it's the day before Cyber Monday, I am way behind on everything, but I still want to have a cool post. So what do I do? I share some of Seth Godin's goodness.

As you might have noticed, I now have advertising in the left. Only from people I approve, and it will usually be Etsy sellers. And no Paranormal anything. Yes, someone wanted to advertise restraining order. Paranormal ones. Just don't ask...

So my ads are placed on the top left. Why? Because Seth said so. These aren't actually his findings, he only summarized them on his blog - but I wanted to post the original source, only their domain is down. Not good for eye tracking, me seems.

The highlights on eye tracking (concerning my ad placement):

• Ads in the top and left portions of a page will receive the most eye fixation.
• Ads placed next to the best content are seen more often.
• Navigation tools work better when placed at the top of the page.
• Users initially look at the top left and upper portion of the page before moving down and to the right.
• Users spend a lot of time looking at buttons and menus.

So there are my ads, right below the "important" search, RSS and e-mail. Hope you like them? Go on and click - great shops!

Oh, are you wondering how eye tracking is done? I can even tell you about that!

There is one way (which doesn't work), where you are meant to click somewhere on the page whenever you look at that. But clicking in eye tracking are two different things.

The really cool way is when you sit in front of a screen. Just that, basically, though your head is fixated. A little box that is integrated into the screen is trained to record and see your eye movements. It does that by performing a 2 minute testing, where you are meant to follow dots and look at certain pictures.

After that - just surf like you usually would. And the tracker will record where your eyes go. Very, very cool stuff - especially when they then display a hot spot graphic of your movements...

I saw this one done by a Scandinavian company (forgot the name, shame on me), and I was mighty impressed.

Why would i know these useless tidbits? Because I used to work for the coolest company ever - NetQuestionnaires, located in the Netherlands. They make web-based software to generate really cool online questionnaires (it's in the name, baby), without any web design skills. And even without statistics skills, because the online stats rule.

If you are ever in the market for a multi-language tool, check them out. And say hi from me... I miss those guys.

Squidoo testing

I just set up a test Squidoo lens: Sock monkeys rule.

It's 1 a.m. here, so I can't explain everything there is to know about Squidoo - but it's a sort of interest website that you can build, including pre-set components from Amazon, Flickr, and other provider.

What I love best about Squidoo? It is an initiative by one of favorite marketing bloggers (and authors), Seth Godin. And proceeds usually go to charity, unless you are the greedy kind. :)

If you are bored (probably not, but hey), go play around with it...

Getting ready for Cyber Monday

Black Friday is over, the day after Thanksgiving, when all of America seems to hit the malls and take advantage of every big corporation's sale.

What, you were expecting huge sales on Etsy, and nothing happened? That's because Cyber Monday is the day to kick off the online shopping season for the holidays!

If you haven't done so yet, use this weekend to get your shop ready. Is your profile filled out? Can you still tweak some pictures? And most importantly - do you have new things to list (or renew) on Monday?

While everyone is starting shopping in the States, my own Christmas season is almost over - my cut-off for shipping to the States is beginning of December. After that, I just can't guarantee items arriving in time, though I will of course try!

Cyber Monday at Strumpfkunst means a category showcase, a gift guide showcase, and a bunch of new critters that will go online throughout the day. In order to rate the different showcases, I will need to assign different critters to the category and gift guide, to actually see if any of it is worth the money...

So get going - and let's hope that Cyber Monday will be a success!

Etsy in numbers

I will post some general statistics whenever I feel like it - and maybe we can see a trend?

Sellers: 96,500
Items: 885,000
Sold daily: 8,000 - 11,000 (source: Etsy Tools)

The challenge of being Etsy

Imagine running a company, consisting of CEO, marketing, product management, accounting, IT, customer support.

Product management develops a road map and determines future features, along with deadlines. While IT was heavily involved in developing this  road map, they are of course constantly moving deadlines. Marketing approved the road map, based on strategy and market research; once new features are introduced, they will be the ones to spread the word.

And now imagine 90,000 individual customers running around your office, rummaging through drawers, dictating new code to the engineers, taking a red pen out to correct the marketing plan, slashing your press release and brochures, re-writing your pricing and financial statements - and doing all that while screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs across the hallways.

That first scenario is a regular company. The second one is Etsy.

Etsy has chosen to have a close affiliation with its customers, the sellers. They are inviting our opinions, our feedback, our ideas. We know the names and faces of every employee, we know their user name for convos, we have spent time with them in the chats, seeing them on webcam... we know where to find them.

And we do.

21 threads currently have the word "Gift Guide" in the title. No matter how the thread initially started out (and 90% started out negatively), one of three things will be mentioned in every single on of them by page 2:
- Favoritism/ Unfair
- Search should have been improved first
- Gift guide is pulling customers out of individual shops.

I am not saying this is right or wrong. I am not saying that those 90,000 sellers do not have every right to feel rejected, treated unfairly, and vocal about their concerns.

But I am wondering when Etsy will be forced to work like a regular company. With a strategy, a road map, and a roll-out to stick to. When a new feature is introduced without pages and pages of communication with sellers. When it won't be feasible to have every strategy-related decision approved by the forums.

And I wonder what that will do to Etsy. To Etsy the community, the we-love-handmade indie company that doesn't sell out, where the customers truly are a part of the company.

How much time is currently spent on appeasing customers? How many resources are pulled away from Etsy's road map, just to defend/ change/ re-design whatever was introduced that week?

I know what I would do. I would introduce a community marketing manager that works closely with marketing, IT, and support.

Someone who anticipates all of the public reactions, and is responsible for managing the introduction of new features with only one thing in mind - getting positive reactions and minimizing re-design, negativity, and mutiny in the forums.

All it takes is some forward thinking, getting everyone on the same page concerning communication, anticipating all the negativity that any new feature is sure to generate...

Dear Etsy, give me a call - I am ready to relocate to Brooklyn. ;)