Cyber Monday?

Well, so far it's been a bust. But at 20 cents a pop, I think Etsy is making a young fortune today on sellers who are re-listing lots and lots of items, LOL!

I have been concentrating on getting some more holiday-themed packages into my shop. I've recently added a Holiday Penguins Handmade Soap Gift Bag, and a little handmade sparkling red felt Christmas Stocking Vegan Lip Balm Trio. I also just added my all-time favorite soap fragrance, Relaxing.

Here's a peek at my little Christmas stocking.

I don't know if I mentioned this or not before, but I'm switching all my lip balms to a vegan formula. And I've added some fantastic new flavors: Chai, Latte, Pina Colada, Sangria and (my personal fave) Rum Raisin! Check them out!

I've been shopping around IRL and online for new holiday packaging ideas and found some adorable 12 oz. clear cookie jar-type canisters with blue snowflakes on them. I'm thinking they'd be perfect for bath salts.

Something I'm trying to do a couple of times a day is spend 15-20 minutes in the Promotions forum on Etsy. Often after I've posted a link to a thread asking about specific kinds of products, I'll get a sale. At least often enough for me to notice and feel that it's worth doing. You start a thread that says "L is for..." and chances are I'm going to post "Lemongrass Coconut" with a link. You ask about products with penguins, I'm going to post a link to my Holiday Penguins gifts.

Seems pretty straightforward and democratic to me. Sellers who invest time and energy in capitalizing on these opportunities to promote their shops are likely to get more sales. After all, it's not kindergarden where everyone is guaranteed the exact same number of oatmeal cookies. We gotta work for our cookies on Etsy. So I'm sometimes amazed at how many people complain about how other sellers are too aggressive or pushy in promoting their products.

Um....hello? It's the Promotions forum, right? Instead of complaining about sellers who make an effort to promote, put that energy to work in a more positive way to get your own products noticed. Or sit around going "Wah, no one complimented me on my widget, they just posted links to their own widget," it's up to you. Working hard to get noticed doesn't necessarily making you a philistine. But it might make you more successful.