Hello everyone, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been truly active here at rensfibreart… so what have I been up to, you ask? Well, over the past few months, my mojo has been rather sluggish. It happens to us all at sometime & getting it back can be tough. Letting things coast along as they are is easy. However, stepping out of your comfort zone can be daunting & requires a degree of bravery.
First things first: I’ve had this wordpress website for over 10 years & it’s always served me well but the theme has become old, unsupported & not mobile friendly. It definitely needed a change. This had to be my 1st challenge so I took the plunge. There was a bit of a muck around getting photos back in line on all the information pages for better reading & to keep the page attractive. All in all, not too difficult, just time consuming; hopefully I’ve succeeded.
Secondly: My Etsy shop; again, it’s been open since 2009 &, I have to say, Etsy has been good to me. It’s given me lots of exposure & the fabulous opportunity to sell my creations to a worldwide audience. I’ve made some wonderful friendships & loyal customers who have given me the confidence to keep going. However, Etsy has become so big that small handmade sellers like myself are getting lost in the crowd. My sales are still OK but nowhere near what they used to be. Of course there are many of reasons for this: the slow economy, saturated markets, more competition, perhaps handmade is losing its appeal. Whatever the reason, a rethink was definitely on the cards.
So my next step: was to upgrade my site to business & open my own WooCommerce shop. This was the biggest gamble of all. A huge learning curve that I’m sure will be ongoing for some time. The support team here at wordpress have been fabulous & an enormous help with my bumbling efforts.
The outcome: I now have a mobile friendly website with a ecommerce shop. I will keep my Etsy shop open for the time being selling all my crochet patterns &, as items expire, I’ll transfer them into my rensfibreart shop. The biggest obstacle & my main concern is getting traffic. That’s something I’m going to have to work hard at & learn more about as I go.
The whole experience has certainly taxed my brain, energy &, at times, my patience, but at the same time it’s given me new drive.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years, I hope this will be a fresh, new beginning. I’d love to hear your thoughts & comments & welcome any suggestions.
Thank you Kay… much appreciated… all the best to you also 🙂
Good Morning from the USA. You ha e taken in some daunting tasks. Congratulations. I love your patterns and admire your talents. I too have taken a new direction in life and it can be time consuming. Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you and wishing you great continued success.