Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Making Etsy Front Page, Whadda ya mean there's NO SECRET?!

Happy HumpDay Friends!

My apologies for neglecting blog world for awhile. I was pretty sure we were in the grips of FLUmageddon! But now I'm back in actiom, and I want to talk about making Etsy front page with a treasury curation,
Many treasury curators within Etsy still belive there is a secret or trick to making front page, and that is just not true.

What I want to do today is (hopefully) give you some insight,direction and possibly information you weren't aware of behind curating a Front Page worthy treasury.

Here is my most recent front page treasury. It was my 10th treasury to land Etsy home page and this one made FP this past Friday.








I want to take you through step by step my process for curating this treasury.

*The inspiration for this treasury was the print in the first spot. I had added it to my favorites a few days prior and really wanted to use it in a treasury.

*Next, I knew I wanted to create something for Mardi Gras (this was a popular tag search found on the treasury home page to the right along with a list of other popular tags)

*Another high priority for me was to include my team mates (from Treasury Supreme Team) where the rules state 3 members must be included in the top 12 spots.

*At this point my treasury held the print in the first spot, the bunting shirt in the second spot (which didnt start out there, but ended up in that spot at the end of my "gathering") and the spring garland in the eighth spot.So I started searching team mates listings and found the beautiful feather necklace from MojosFreeSpirits.

*My next step (still with only 4 items in my treasury) I went back to my favorites and searched "colorful"
bringing up the hot air balloon I had favorited from my taste test results a few days prior, along with a print from digtheearth. I added the balloon, and the print from digtheearth (which wasn't a good fit, but I loved how colorful it was, so I simply went into their shop and found this pyramid print and added it instead)

***The key to including multiple prints in a treasury (in my opinion) is to not place them next to one another. I always put items in between prints. However, sometimes a print and a still life photograph look fine next to one another, especially if there is a human still life being used in the photograph. But use your best judgement.

*My next step was to return to the team and find a member item to include. I wanted something purple because of the Mardi Gras color trends as well as to use the "amethyst" tag (the Feburary birthstone). I remembered PearlesPainting used a lot of purple in her creations (which is great!) so I headed to her shop and found the ornament trio.
*** Using a seasonal item like ornaments in a treasury out of season WILL hinder your chances of landing front page IF it's July and the item is hanging from a Christmas tree. But I didn't pause for a moment to reconsider including Pearl's ornaments,because they are on a white background. And while most people don't want to see a Christmas tree when the holiday is many months away, they do still shop for the holiday! And the color matching was perfect for my treasury!

The rest of the items were selected by knowing I wanted to include some of my favorite shops, who I knew would have perfect fitting items (the feathers from DragonpopSalesNStash,thedoll head airplant holder from EarthSeaWarrior,and the earrings from PoleStar) and by searching rainbow,green and amethyst in my favorites. With one spot for a team mate remaining, I found a ring that I loved from CStarStudio and although it wasn't a color pop,it was a bold item that fit my theme and the rest of the treasury!

I try to always use clean,crisp pictures for my listings. Non distracting backgrounds and items that match current trends or themes.
I always keep track of the current trends by reading the Etsy blog and Merchandising Desk.
Also,what works for me and makes me feel like I curated a treasury that is visually pleasing and front page worthy, is variety and flow. By flow, I mean, I didn't put a ring next to another ring. I didn't put feathers beside feathers, I didn't put feet in the top row and a lamp in the bottom (to me it is visullay distracting to see a pair of feet in the top row, when my brain is telling me feet belong at the bottom! That could just be my own personal quirk!) and I stuck to my theme and style from start to finish.

If you see something that catches your attention and you think might inspire something later on (like I did with the Fused print) add it to your favorites and come back to it later.

Try to add a varitey of price ranges to your treasury. Remember Etsy Front Page is their store front, and they want shoppers to know they have a variety of options.

As you can probably guess from my descriptive quest, I don't just find colors that match a throw together a treasury. I take my time and try to do justice for each piece by making them all a part of something beautiful and attention grabbing.


Here is a link to Merchandising Desk, which you may or may not already know about. I refer to it often for current trends, themes, and special occasions to help inspire my treasury curating!

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/from-etsys-merchandising-desk-february-2012/

If you have any curating questions or concerns, you can leave me a comment. While I don't claim to be an expert, I am always willing to help.

5 comments:

  1. Nice article! I like your tips, I mostly make them by feeling, i must admit color often is the main inspiration, unfortunately almost none of my treasuries get noticed! I believe it's easier to be considered when you've already broken the ice!
    Or am I wrong?

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  2. although most times actually, when I think about it, I find an item and then base others around them :)

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  3. I do have reason to believe that they do check in on curation of people who have already made front page, but that is just a hunch. Who knows how they really make the selections.
    But looking back to my first treasury that made front page. I stuck to the same tips then that I offer today. I would recommend to you, Ingrid, to go to the merchandising desk and choose a word from the page that you think is fun and interesting, but not something you would normally pick and challenge yourself to make a treasury around it. Sometimes a fresh idea with a theme helps liven things up!

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  4. Great stuff, Alana! Thanks for sharing your expertise!

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  5. I'm sorry I missed this post- you have great advice here! I hope you are doing well and come back to our little team soon! I miss you! :)

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