And what a great meeting it was! It was a whirlwind of Etsians, craftyness, cups of coffee, dips and Liz, Director, International Business Development at Etsy, who came to meet the Crafty Ireland team.
An exact number of who was there will be published once I get the list from Liz, but there were 25 people on the pic, plus me, so we were at least 26!
The Market Bar was a great place to meet, and most of us were crowded around a long table, asking Liz lots of questions and listening as to what she told us about the latest developments on Etsy. Some of the Etsy info can't go on the blog, because these are only ideas yet and may or may not happen. But here's a summary about all the other things we discussed and what we can do as a team to promote our craft on Etsy.
About Etsy:
- Established five years ago, there are now roughly 6 million people registered on Etsy, and there are more buyers who are not sellers than sellers (who are also buyers, of course).
- The name has nothing to do with Elephant tusks or the like. It's a made-up word!
- There are roughly 800 million page views per month.
- 140 staff in total are working in Etsy, mostly on the technical side. Liz has been working with Etsy since January 2009.
- Etsy does not do advertisements, but works in partnership with magazines and papers to publish features, profiles, campaigns. They also run programmes with schools and universities/art colleges.
- Etsy's trade is 28% non-domestic, of which Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, France and Skandinavia take the biggest share. However, Ireland is usually in the top 15, so people do buy from Ireland!
- And you will be pleased to hear that Etsy Ireland team is a very strong team on Etsy. Small island, big team!!!
Etsy is very keen to develop the European market, so here are some upcoming developments:
- The general information on Etsy will be translated into German and French, so that more people can access information on how to use the site in their own language.
- The Shop Local function will be fixed so that you can search local sellers for the products you are looking for.
- There will be a new search tool based on common tags.
- You will be able to change the shopname and also be able to add your real name if you so wish.
- Etsy is also looking into the issue of shipping costs, and Liz mentioned u-ship, especially for bulky items.
- Currency, Etsy is looking into ways to make it easier to pay in your own currency.
- There will also be a new express checkout function.
Liz also asked about the reasons why people don't buy on Etsy, and a lot of people said that people don't like registering.
Liz gave us some tips as to what the Crafty Ireland team can do to raise their profile:
- Add your location, which is really important if people are looking for products from Ireland. So, if you are from Cork, put in as much information as you can about the location, ie Cork, Ireland, Europe.
- Create more treasuries! That's how you get on the Front Page!
Try not to include your own items in your treasury, and combine a number of different types of articles across all price ranges. Also, come up with new themes for treasuries, for instance do treasuries from specific cities. - We should also do a City Guide for Irish cities - examples are on the German and French Etsy Blogs:
Berlin
Lyon
We did start something like this with a map of Ireland a while ago, so it might be worth reviving that. - We should get in touch with Amity of the UK blog and suggest more Irish features.
Mary asked about Etsy funding, because she explained that it would be great to exhibit at the RDS Christmas craft fair, but the stall fees are too expensive. Liz said that we should apply for a team grant for next year.
Mary also came up with an idea for a challenge, ie if somebody wants something produced but it's not on Etsy, there should be a way of asking for it. This is not the same as just one product on Alchemy though.
After the meeting, we got our group photo taken.
Who is who?
1.) Susan
2.) Naoise
3.)
4.)
5.) Margaret, IrishSeaGlass
6.) Ann, Torran/ Amg-Arts
7.) Angela, Artysmarty
8.) Helen, FashionfromHelen
9.) Fi, Patchworkdelights
10.) Odette, Swannandsmerlin & Packagesandstrings
11.) Judith, Aboxformytreasure
12.) Mary (Mac Neill)
13.) Mandi, Designbirdie
14.) Yvonne, BonzieDesigns
15.) Liz, Director, International Business Development at Etsy
16.) Mary, Awishforyou
17.)
18.)
19.)
20.) Liz, Silkstonedesigns
21.) Alex, Lexrey
22.) Anne-Marie, byAmor
23.)
24.) Mo, Huggleknits
25.)
26.) Brigitte, PurlsofColour (gone to the loo!)
I thought, that it would take at least 10 mintues to get everybody ready for the pic, and dashed to the toilet. When I returned, it was all done and dusted - so that's why Purls is not in the picture! I don't think I've ever seen a group picture done so quickly!!!
Mingling and chat after the meeting:
Liz, Odette and I walked back to O'Connell Street to get our respective public transport. And I got my photo taken with Liz, because I missed out on the group photo! Odette and I ended up in a cafe, talking about the meeting until I had to get my train.
A great meeting was held by all, and I am only sad that I didn't have a chance to talk to everybody who was there!!!
So let's see if we can put some of these ideas into practise. Rachel our Treasury Currator, who was not at the meeting, has already something in the pipeline to encourage more treasuries.
Big thanks go to Letizia for her work in organising the meeting - she was very much missed in Dublin - and Angela for making the reservation at the Market Bar - I loved the venue! Also for Odette for taking most of the pictures!
And thanks to Liz' lovely Etsy lip balms she brought with her, my lips are now nice and kissable - now where is that frog...?
