The Dog Days Are(n't) Over.

When I am in Etsy chat rooms, I see these questions a heck of a lot:
"How long was it before you had your first sale?" "Who here is having a sales-slump?"
Then the vibe of the chat room changes. Almost like a plague of panic and self-pity sets in and some chatters chirp up:
"Buy One Get One Half Price!" "Free Shipping To Chatters!" "20% off to Chatters!"
While other chatters state:
"No sales for a few weeks." "Haven't even had my first sale yet." "Who wants to be my first sale?"
I go into the chat rooms to chat, general/crafty/life/love/inspiration - the works... and I have come across quite a few lovely people in the chat rooms who I would like to call, my Etsy Friends. These chatters are switched on and there for the same reasons. It is chill out time, time to just take a break from whatever it was that we were doing and zone out for a few minutes. Then leave... and obviously, back to work!

As I am heading closer to 1000 sales on Etsy (quite the milestone!) - it has given me a chance to reflect on my time so far, with selling online. My first sale was approximately 3 months after I first listed an item... My photographs were terrible, the lighting was all wrong and ugh, yuck! I have now got it down to a fine-art (so they say!) and heck, the proof is most certainly in the pudding! (sales!)

This observation brings me to something rather amazing and helpful, that I stumbled across.
If you are new to Etsy, or struggling to get yourself out of the Post-Christmas-Rut (yes there is such a thing!) then I suggest you head over to The English Muffin Blog and grab a cuppa, take five minutes and read the blog entry about small business, small steps.

and stay positive!