Oh the weather outside is frightful...

but the sales on Etsy are so delightful!

Okay, so perhaps the weather isn't so frightful yet, but you know it's just around the corner. I was just thinking the other day that Thanksgiving weekend marked the first bit of icey weather we got here in my part of Arkansas a couple of years ago and that weekend is just 2 weeks away! I don't know about the rest of you, but the impending turn of the weather is reminding me that Christmas is just around the corner. In fact, it's only 44 days away.

Yeah, I said it, it's only 44 days away.

There was a HUGE movement that swept the internet/indie/crafty industry by storm last year. That was the "Buy Handmade" pledge. I signed up to do it last year and tried my best, I really tried to adhere to it. Alas, I failed. Guys are hard to shop for. However, I'll do it again this year, with more gusto, with more determination, and with more time spent looking for the perfect gift on Etsy (hopefully within AREtsy).

One way to get people to your shop for the Holidays is to promote a sale or special of some kind. Many shops on Etsy are gathering together for the Artisans for the Holidays Sale taking place Thursday,November 27 (hey, that's my birthday, don't forget it... oh, and it's Thanksgiving) through Monday, December 1.. There is a thread in the Etsy forums with more information here: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5903305&page=1.

If you think you can pull off their requirements - a bit of promotion and such - then go here and sign up for it: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5903349. Make sure to read the ins and outs of signing up listed in the first post.

If you are thinking a site wide sale isn't for you, please think again. I'd love to see a bunch of us AREtsy members join in on this. A few of us participated in the site wide "Yart Sale" this past summer, and I can't speak for everyone, but it resulted in a good handful of sales for me.

Original art above by bmacre at bmacre.etsy.com