Tuesday 16 November 2010

Lynwoodcrafts - First Anniversary of Folksy Shop!

A BIG THANK YOU to all the lovely people who have made this first year so enjoyable including my customers, fellow Folksters - who have helped me enormously with practical and design advice, (particularly with 'on-line' tips) and to the Folksy team, who have rescued me from one or two difficulties - including Haptree - who's patient tuition enabled me to start blogging!

This year has marked my return to being self-employed, offering my hand-crafted items for sale, after a few years of doing other things. Tottering on the brink of opening an on-line shop, but hesitant about some of the overseas platforms, I happened across Folksy through a Google search, spent a week or two browsing and learning and then took the plunge. With very limited on-line skills and many craft designs and ideas in  mind, but without a particularly distinctive 'craft direction', I was very excited to achieve my first sales and to receive such generous feedback.

Having reviewed my sales during the year, the feedback I have recieved, and all the very many comments supportively offered through the Folksy Forum, Lynwoodcrafts now has that direction.

EMBROIDERY will now form the focus for Lynwoodcrafts on Folksy. I already have a number of different styles, employing different techniques and materials and have more planned. The range of items which Lynwoodcrafts offers will gradually be extended - all with embroidered embellishment.

I have been looking back at my crafting achievements over the last year. To those of you who have shown your support by reading this blog post so far - Thank You. Give Away details will be posted later today - so please pop back! The following list of small milestones might be a little too tedious for many followers, but I'm thrilled by how much has been achieved.

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Lynwoodcrafts Contacts: 228 people 'like' Lynwoodcrafts Folksy shop, 128 people follow this blog, 104 people like Lynwoodcrafts' Facebook page, Lynwoodcrafts has posted more than 1780 posts to the Folksy Forums
Visits to Lynwoodcrafts Shop My original target, of 30 visits/day for the first year, has now been exceeded with more than 50 visits on most days.
Sales - I have been thrilled to sell 48 items through Folksy - thank you for your support everyone!
Skills learnt - 'How to': (set up and use a Folksy shop!!), blog, use Flickr, begin to network on Facebook, employ my craft skills in new ways, promote/share through Craft Juice, etc.
Collaborative Project with Amy of AmyOrangeJuice - I worked a brooch, based on one of Amy's designs and Amy produced a wonderful stained glass panel based on one of my brooches.
Folksy Friday - I have greatly enjoyed the 27 Folksy Friday blog posts which I have compiled so far. I love to celebrate the wonderful craft skills displayed in Folksy shops. Thank you to everyone who has kindly featured my items in their posts!
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I am now reviewing the targets I have set for the coming year. New banner designs, which better reflect Lynwoodcrafts Embroidery, are top of the list!! 

Thank you everyone for a great first year!

Sue

8 comments:

  1. Well done on reaching you anniversay on folksy. All your items are stunning and unique and you deserve every accolade!

    Here to the next year of creative folksy madness!

    Natalie x

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  2. Huge congratulations Sue, here's to the next year of massive success for you :)

    How do you count how many visits per day your folksy shop has?

    ((( hugs )))

    Helen xx

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  3. Hi Helen - thanks for your kind words! Through Google Analytics - quite interesting to see the differences between 'item views' and overall visits - my Bounce Rate has been dropping recently - which is great!
    Sue

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  4. Great review of the year - only your first year! and so many interesting experiences.... I liked your 'craft swap' with Amy too.

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  5. Thank you Ilovedolly - I made a list of things to include - then lost the list. I really enjoyed that project with Amy - I'll hit the 'edit' button

    Sue

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  6. Well done! I admire your focus,especially because it is all done done whilst chasing around the country after energetic teenagers! All the very best for the next year. I look forward to seeing what lovely things you will be making.

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  7. Congratulations on your splendid first year! Your embroidered pieces are beautiful, so I'm sure it's onward and upward from here. :-)

    Sam x

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