Yay for Me and Kevin!!

I was nearing my goal of 100 sales but was afraid to say anything for fear of jinxing myself like I jinxed Kevin. I kept holding my breath and biting my tongue. I watched carefully as the hearts accumulated and the views went up on my items as I would list and relist. I was stuck on 99 for what seemed like days and days. I thought for sure I wasn't going to make my goal. My one year anniversary on Etsy (November 17th) was fast approaching and I would be stuck on 99!

Yay!, originally uploaded by msbellee.

Then this morning (after my bust of a Storque Showcase last night (more on that later)), I woke up to 101 sales!! Yay! I did it!! Talk about a happy camper! And almost even cooler than having broken 100 is the fact that the two pairs of earrings that sold will be traveling all the way to Spain!! I'm thrilled! That now makes seven countries I will have shipped to. MsBelle. Little ol' southern gal me. Who wudda thunk it?

Thanks to all my customers, wherever you may be. You make my day! And thanks to my family who make up a large part of my sales. I really appreciate your support. It means so very much to me that you all like what I create enough to want it for your own. I truly mean that. :)

And last but not least, thanks to all of my Etsy friends and family, and other moms who are all there to support me and let me rant and rave and bounce things off of. You have made a world of difference in my life, no matter where in the world you are. You are all dear to me.

~~~

So today was a good day for that reason and for another reason. Kevin went back to school today!! But let me tell you, he had a time of it late last week:

• Wednesday he missed Halloween because he had a fever of 102.3 after just having seen the doctor that afternoon after school (he went to sleep and slept 18 hours)
  (This is also the day we found out he has tonsillitis pretty bad and that's where his fever is coming from. They also did a finger stick for a blood count to test for mononucleosis (it was negative.)
• Thursday I kept him out of school due to fever and sore throat
• Thursday night he ran a temperature of 104.3 (scary)
• Friday they switched his antibiotic yet again due to contining fever (did this over the phone--no doctor visit this time)
• Saturday got another shot of Rocephin
• Saturday developed fever blisters on his upper lip (blisters due to his high fever)
• recuperated Sunday, but now is stricken with diarrhea from all the antibiotics he's been on
• Monday (yesterday) follow-up to doctor where he had no temp, and another blood count from another finger stick came back normal once more

He was cleared to go back to school even though he still has tonsillitis and fluid behind the left eardrum. He has a lingering cough, a sore finger and a sore left 'cheek', but no more temperature and he's eating well again. He still has to take his meds. He still has the blisters on his lip although Carmex is doing the trick on those. But now he is playing and eating and coloring and drawing and reading and writing and spelling and he's my Kevin again! (I pray I don't jinx him.)

So this morning I did a happy dance for both of us. This afternoon I picked him up from school and learned that he got a smiley face for the day. Yay! Then I went to vote and Kevin got to 'vote' too. He skipped into the polling place and I felt like skipping too! (I was so happy to see him skipping.) Then we came home and celebrated by eating some of his 'trunk or treat' candy since he didn't get to go trick or treating on Halloween, poor baby.

We had a good time and a good day. Both of us.

It's like I can breathe again....

~~~~~

Storque Showcase

I did my own little experiment of sorts with the Storque Showcase I had on Monday, October 5th. In the 24 hours I was in that showcase I received 3 hearts for the entire day that I suspect came as a result of the showcase. Another heart was in response to my hearting them first, so I am not going to count that one. I received 12 and 15 hearts while I was in the Main Showcase October 26 and 28. Also, my views from the Storque Showcase were next to none. Almost non-existent. I'd watched when I changed the ranking of my items to see if it got viewed or not. Not much. Not many AT ALL. Truly disheartening.

So today I relisted 4 items at different times throughout the day. I received many, many more views. Even received views up into tonight while I'm writing this. I received 4 hearts today, the same amount as yesterday and today I have no showcase, only relisting items. (So you can't tell me that being in the Storque Showcase is going to get you noticed.) I also don't believe I received many hearts on items from this Showcase because I got practically no views. One can't get hearts if there are no views. Another thing I didn't do on the day of my Storque Showcase was relist any items. I wanted to see just what kind of attention the Storque Showcase brought in and I did not want any interference with that. Well, I certainly found out it was negligible. I don't know what might have happened had I relisted while being in the Storque Showcase, but I feel I would have received hearts and views from the relisting, not from the buried showcase. I believe it is now evident (to me at least) from my test that our money is not well spent on the Storque Showcase. But $15 for the Main Showcase???? Hmmmm.....

The sale that pushed me over 100 the day after the Storque Showcase was a heart from a while back. It was not a newly received heart, nor a heart from the Storque Showcase. However, of the items that were bought, one was relatively new and one was older. One happened to be in the Showcase and one was not, but it was on sale. I'm not sure if the customer purchased as a result of the Storque Showcase or not. The newer piece was in the Showcase as my top ranked item for a big part of the day. I'm not sure what to make of it when I think about that. I suppose I could ask if it was bought because it was seen in the Storque Showcase or because it was a newer item in my shop that she just found. Perhaps that would be the thing to do. Ask.

It's interesting to watch the views mount up after listing or relisting an item. It's also sad to watch in horror as your showcase ends in a dismal failure. I'm just glad it was only $7 I threw away instead of $15. Who knows? Either one can probably end either way on any given day, depending on who you are and what you sell I suppose. Right? Right???

I won't be spending much more of my money on showcases, at least not the Storque. And certainly not two a month at $15 a pop. I do better listing and relisting. The Storque is so hidden away. It's like in a dark dungeon that nobody bothers to frequent unless they have to. I'll spend my money on the listing.

Thoughts?

Until later....