Very first post?

Hmm, what to say.

Well, I guess I'll just jump right into it!

Since I started my shop called SunflowerSeedStitch in August I've been struggling. I've learned a couple of things and the biggest of that is this:

Online retail isn't just about making a listing and letting the cash roll in. In fact, it's not even close. I've tested this method and let me tell you, it doesn't work.
Only in December did I really put myself into high gear and work hard at getting my shop going and by January I noticed a huge increase in views and sales and had doubled my sales and quadrupled my views!

In September I was working for a family friend babysitting a Window Installation booth at the local fair and (bored out of my mind) had been knitting to keep myself occupied. That day I had come up with this super cute skirt design with a knitted white ribbed waist band and a ruffled tutu skirt using a Pirouette Ruffle yarn from Patons. Here's the skirt with a hot pink ribbon tied around it:

This is really where it all started to pick up. I didn't know it yet, but I had stumbled on what my shop would be roughly based around that day.

I started busting out these skirts willy-nilly not stopping to think of what size I was making them, and only realizing I was making skirts big enough for five-years-olds with babies in mind for the intended recipient! Ha! Well once I figured that out, I started planning out properly with my gauge and getting the amount of stitches right for the right size.

In October I had the brilliant (and I mean Brilliant with a capital B) idea of turning this skirt into a Christmas themed Santa skirt: 

I know for a fact that this skirt would have been a game changer for my sales during the Holidays but I was too dopey to figure out that you can't just list items and expect people to be able to find it. One person did, and that was great, because she just so happened to be a professional photographer and owner of Lola Sam Photography.

Well this was going to turn out to be a big deal for me. I just didn't know it yet.

December came and went, and it was practically useless as far as a Christmas season goes... I had no sales. Huge bummer. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong and was so frustrated, but I'm the type of person who tends to push harder when I get frustrated instead of giving up. I'm a problem solver, and I HAD to know what I was doing wrong.

Then January hit. I knew I needed to bust my butt getting Valentines day stuff out as soon as possible and came up with this little gem, a cross between the skirt I had made back in September and a crochet dress:

I had 5 sales of this dress within a week and a half, more sales than I had gotten TOTAL in 4 months! I'm not sure exactly what I had done right with getting this dress found, but people seemed to be flocking to it. It was great! I even had some people ask for custom dresses like this in different colors. 

Now it's February and I'm working on getting some new products out. I'm in the design/create phase of a high-waisted, crochet bodice, silky printed fabric pleated skirt dress with a handmade silky flower attached at the waist. So far I have completed a pink top with blue butterflies, and a yellow with pink flowers 

 

My biggest focus right now is working on improving my search tags to improve my Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which I know almost nothing about. I've been doing some tests with some of my listings and getting great results, so I think I know what I've been doing wrong. Instead of tagging "silk" "crochet" "dress" "easter" "baby" "clothing" I should have the tag be "silk crochet dress" and "easter baby clothing" 

I need to be more specific and think like the customer!! 

Well, that's what is going on right now! I have a new dress in the works that's just about done and read for listing, here's a sneak peek! 

See ya later!

Sarah