Sunday, May 03, 2009

Pleasure and Purpose

"Pleasure," 2009 by Lea Keohane. All Rights Reserved.

Last month I had a goal: to post enough new items in my shop to have 100 items listed. I fell just short of it--with 94 listed on the last day of the month and one sale that afternoon, I had 93 by the end of the day (yay!). However, I still feel that I reached my goal, as I have 95 items listed at this moment and more than enough new drawings and paintings to bring that number over 100 (I like to space out my listings a bit rather than posting them all on the same day).

What is the point of such a goal? For me, it is two-fold.

From a business standpoint, I have noticed that some of the more successful artists on Etsy have a LOT of items in their shops. Like, hundreds. How does this help them? Well, first of all, due to the number and variety of items listed, they are more likely to come up in various searches. Due to the frequency with which they are listing, they are also more likely to come up at or near the top of those searches. Secondly, it means that they are constantly creating new work which keeps their shops fresh and their customers interested.

From a personal standpoint, having a specific, numeric goal helps me keep focused on what I am doing from one day to the next. It motivates me to get off the computer and get to painting. I always find it fascinating that I should need that motivation--after all, painting is what I really love, not marketing or answering emails or blogging. I like doing those things too, but the painting is the driving force behind them, not the other way around! However, as I'm sure many of you know, it is easy to get lost on the internet, moving from one hyperlink to the next and procrastinating on the things that we really love to do the most.

So, the goal for this month? Get 110 items listed. That, despite the two shows I have coming this month and any and all online sales, too! So, if you really want to challenge me then get to shopping! ;)

2 comments:

Ms.March said...

What beautiful work! Good luck with your posting :) I'm going to post a link to your etsy on Facebook and show you off!!

LeaKarts said...

Aw, thank you Alisha!!! ♥