Yes, I know! I managed to spot it too! Hooray! I wonder if it was through your Facebook share, Joy… 
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Haven’t had a sniff of a sale for a couple of months, I know it’s my fault as I don’t promote but then I never have and I’ve always chugged along before with 2 or 3 a month at least.
Let’s hope we all have a few in the next month 
Passing trade has pretty much dried up for me on here now. It’s a shame. I’ve never been the greatest promoter in the world and I have relied more on getting my listings right to catch search engine traffic because I’ve got quite unique items so I tend to come up quite high for that kind of search. I have been putting backlinks to my Folksy shop out there for over 3 years, and that seems to be for nothing. Etsy is working well for me and is actually growing at picking up organic traffic, considering I hardly ever promote my shop there, that’s pleasing. And my website is still my best source for search engine customers, which is what I was hoping it would be because that’s where I pay no commission . Now I’ve mastered Facebook (it was my goal for this year and I’m glad I did it) it’s where a lot of my shoppers are too.
So, in answer to the original thread question, if I was only selling here, and not direct promoting to my customers (an established customer base who are following me because they like my work), then I’d be struggling too. It does take time to build up a customer base, and it pays to have shops in more than one place so if one stops working for you, you’ve got the backup of the others. And it helps you see that’s it’s not your work if the other shops are still doing the business for you, but it does help you analyse what sort of promotion works for where and what makes no odds whatsoever 
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Well said I find it isn’t working, will probably close here.
That’s a shame because you have lovely things in your shop.
Very kind, thank you Dawn. I have 2 other places which I shall keep open, but will let my stuff expire here an not restock.
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Ditto to the listing versus making!
My sales picked up in October mostly due to Halloween and my 1st sale this month was in my Folksy shop rather than other sites, so I’m a bit happier, but will have to see what happens in the lead up to Christmas. I will never actually close my Folksy shop when things are slow, as I do have faith that this site will pick up eventually and I’ve worked so hard on my Folksy shop over the years, good luck every one!
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Is it worth opening a shop on Et…? I know charges are similar, but with it being such a big site,do sales justify it? I’m genuinely getting to the shut Folksy because the amount it costss at the moment is nowhere near balanced by sales With it being for charity I’ve had nothing to send them for ages and I’m only getting by here because of chat .I’ve lots of things I want to make but the incentive is almost none. If I was a bit more healthy I’d do craft fairs but OH is way off well and I’m at a standstill. Relisting begins soon but at the mo’ I don’t think I’ll bother.
I know some people do really well there, but I can’t say that I do generally. There’s only been one month in two and a half years I’ve been on there that I’ve done better than Folksy. Folksy’s always been my first and best for the first four of my five and a half years here, that’s why I’m really unhappy about what’s happened…
PM’d you, (I hope) Rachel
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My folksy ALWAYS used to be busier than my Etsy, but thats not the case anymore! I’ve seen a real shift.
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I spend less time making and more on promotion, Twitter, which, analysing it, is a waste, as that’s not where my mums will be.
Oh well.
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We really have to promote but not put all our eggs into one or two promotional outlets.
The more places you promote the more people you’ll reach.
So just using 2 places is really not enough.
here is a little list
facebook
twitter
google+
Wanelo
pinterst
craftjuice
instagram
your own business fliers, cards, word of mouth
Make sure your titles use words that people would put into a search engine to find what they want.
And remember never expect to make a profit within the first 2 years of starting any business venture.
Are you in it for the ‘fast buck’ or for the long run?
These are the questions you have to ask yourself.
Hope some of this helps
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I’m not convinced Facebook is particularly effective for advertising anymore.
However, as a potential buyer I am more likely to engage with a post which is more interesting than a ‘‘this is my new listing, you can buy it here’’ type of post.
And as for twitter…being faced with realms and realms of ''I’ve just posted ‘x’ on facebook - with no photo, no other information, just a link - they get to be very repetitive and feel like spam.
When I’ve bought through social media it has always been through an engaging post that draws you in, and never through a one-click link with no additional photo/information.
I think we need to get more inventive with promotion as the regular routes are completely saturated, with the majority being seen by fellow crafters, which is not really the target market long term.
Sarah x
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oh yes and I forgot to add something that really works for me and gets me lots of commission work mostly my knitting and crochet and were all my pattern sales come from.
Be involved with a 2 or 3 very good busy varied craft forums. Be engaging show off your work, have your shop url as part of your forum signature on those forums. Also in your bio on those forums.
It’s amazing how many views I get from the USA as I’m on a large American knitting forum (not ravelry) and lovely comments I get including orders for my patterns.
While on another forum I get commission work from other crafters who don’t do the same crafts I do. For instance I sent off a completed order at the weekend for some knitting and crochet items via a commission from a fellow forum member and return customer as she doesn’t knit or crochet.
For myself crafting forums act as a wonderful platform to get myself known and send me customers. It’s also meant it’s got me into magazines such and Lets knit and Knit today.
Disagree with you about Facebook. It’s a mine of customers for me at the mo.
Totally agree with you about Twitter. I’ve never understood how something that moves along that quickly can be useful for promotion. Unless you have a following like a Facebook following who check in on your Twitter page itself to see what’s going on, rather than hoping to be on Twitter the same time as you’re putting a tweet on. Seems really hit and miss to me. And I much prefer the Facebook timeline which is much more engaging and the Facebook pages which you can mould a bit to reflect you and your brand.
Jo
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Not sure you can say that across the board. Like Sarah just said, reams of ‘here’s what I’ve just listed’ and nothing else type of promotion on loads of promotional sites probably isn’t going to work that well for you.
On the other hand, building a Facebook following that really like what you do and have things in common with you etc. is much more likely to bring sales.
So I think the key is good promoting on whatever sites you do it on, not just spreading yourself thinly just because all these promotional sites are there. You’ll probably find which sites you enjoy using the most, and I would focus on using those, because if you enjoy using it you’ll probably end up putting more engaging posts on it.
Jo
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I only promote on Facebook and a forum I use, and occasionally I join in a promotions thread on here…I don’t have time to promote anywhere else as I’m snowed under with orders at the moment - not that I’m complaining 
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You have to engage but there is one site wanelo that people use simply to find items so you don’t have to engage on their in fact there’s no way to engage it is simply a plateform to find items and/or makers/shops.
Where as google plus for instance is a site that you can engage with other people on.
So you adapt what you do for each different site. One method does not fit all sites. Each is slightly different on how you use it. So some time is required to look around and see how best to use it.