Make A List And Check It Twice

Currently I run four Etsy shops, two blogs, a retail brick and mortar shop and I have several wholesale accounts. Some of you may be wondering how exactly I find time to do it all. The honest answer is I don't! Oh, I do manage to get most of it done each day, but I cannot find the time to do it all every day.

The only way I manage to get through as much as I do is with lists. I have lists all over the place. On the fridge, on the bathroom mirror, on my studio wall, in my iPhone, in my car. I literally have lists everywhere. I try and consolidate the lists each week. That way I am always sure of what needs to be done.

Each list item I write, I try and estimate the time it will take to complete. This helps me when it comes time to priorities what needs to be done. Some tasks I can get done in 10 minutes or less while others take several hours. For me, creating a routine requires my lists.

Do you make lists of things to do? If so, what tips do you have to offer? Leave them here as a comment or send me an email MarketMyShop@gmail.com

7 Time Saving Tips For Etsy Sellers

Making time for all the things that need to be done can be a daunting task. For Etsy shop owners it is an even more daunting task. I decided to come up with a few tips to make time management easier.

1. Create draft listings. It can be really productive if you are on a roll listing items. However, what if that really productive time is 2:30am on a Wednesday? To get the most exposure for your listings, save them as a draft and list them during peek hours.

2. Schedule your posts when you can. I wrote an article about it here: Scheduling Your Social Networking Posts By scheduling your posts you can free up some time. You can also post during times when you would not normally do so.

3. Cross connect your posts. With linking Twitter to Facebook or Pinterest to Twitter you can accomplish more with less work. No more jumping back and forth to post the same info on each site.

4. Make a schedule. Yep, I say it all the time but it is still the best way to get into a routine. Budget your time. Use a stopwatch or the alarm on your phone to make sure you do not go over budget on your time.

5. Schedule a break. One of the biggest problems most people have is not allowing themselves a break. Productivity will suffer no matter what you are doing if you don't give your body and mind a break. I suggest 15 minutes every two hours minimum. Give yourself a longer break if you are doing something physically or mentally strenuous.

6. Consolidate Post Office Trips. If running to the post office is taking a lot of time schedule a daily pickup from your mail carrier or make plans to go to the post office every other day. Order your postal supplies online to save trips.

7. Work Smarter Not Harder. For me it is easier to set up and make 25 of one type of item than to make one of 25 different items. Sometimes I feel like a manufacturer rather than an artist but that is okay. Lay out all of your materials. Get several things ready to solder all at once. Get several patterns ready to cut at one time. Sew multiple items in one siting. Try and do like tasks at the same time.

I realize all of these tips will not apply to all of you. Take what you can and feel free to add to the list. Let me know if you have any questions or leave a comment here or email me at MarketMyShop@gmail.com

Making Time For Social Networks

Several of you have asked about how to make time for posting to social networks. I have written a couple of articles on Time Management and Making Lists to help with time management. The articles can be quite helpful to get a plan started. However, as one reader writes "Sometimes I get caught up in social networks and don't have enough time to make new items for my Etsy shop."

It is very easy to get distracted. Though I have nothing much scientific to back it up, every creative person I know tends to get distracted easily. There was this one time I was watching this squirrel. The very best thing to do is to write out a schedule and keep to it. 20 Minutes on Twitter, 15 minutes on Facebook, 30 minutes on Pinterest, etc.

Fortunately many of the social networks you can schedule your posts and also cross post automatically. I will be creating a few articles on how to do just that in the near future. The main thing to remember for now is if you can keep to a schedule you will be more efficient in the long run.

That is all for today. I just used my 30 minute allotted blog time and I must move on to the next thing on my list. Keep the questions and comments coming. Leave them here on the blog or email me at MarketMyShop@gmail.com and don't forget I have a couple of helpful eBooks for purchase in my Market My Shop Etsy Shop.

Daily Etsy Checklists

If you have had a shop on Etsy for any length of time you'll agree that there is plenty to do every day. Of course it is also possible to spend way too much time on Etsy. I try to follow a list of things to do on Etsy to make sure I have a daily presence but don't spend all day lost in Etsy land.

I have not made a treasury in several months. I really should be ashamed of myself. Treasuries are great for building your circle and making new friends and sometimes customers. In my experience, Tuesdays and Thursdays were the best for treasuries. Early morning treasuries seemed to do better than ones in the after noon.

I try and list new items daily. Or if I do not have a new item to list I will renew an item. I do this so that the item has a chance to pop up on people's "Newly Listed" feed view. I generally make several items before I add them to Etsy. I do several listings at once and set them to Draft so that when I want to list one I have several to choose from.

I also post new items to all the teams I am on. Most of the teams I am a member of have a thread just for listing new items. Several people will favorite the items and that shows up in their feeds. That helps get the word out. I also tweet every new listing. Within 10 minutes every new item I list has 15 to 30 views.

I also like to put some of my items on my Facebook Page. This usually gets a little bit more interest for the items. If you'd like to see more about that go "Like" my Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/TangledMetal and you can see some of what I do.

I also do quite a bit of tweaking titles, tags, descriptions and even rotate photos. I try and change things up a little depending on what is trending. I add Mothers's Day or Prom or Spring Fashion and other trending and seasonal descriptions to appropriate items.

All of the above can be done in a couple hours a day by creating a list and prioritization it. Allot specific amounts of time and stick to it. Use a timer if you must. But try and get a little of everything done rather than a lot of one thing and none of another.

That is all for today. More tomorrow. Let me know if you have any questions or comments!