I have a few of those braided headbands up there as well as two of my patterns.
So, that was a success! How does that relate to writing a knitting book? Well, let me tell you. I want to have an audience to launch my book to. Snce it will be self-published, I really need to have plenty of eyes on me in order for my book to do well. Launching an Etsy (and the other things I'll mention in this post) is meant to contribute to my goal of building up an audience.
Ok, so my Etsy shop has been opened for business! But in this post I want to share with all of you something very important I learned this week. I was listening to one of my very favorite podcasts, The Seanwes Podcast, and Sean said something that blew my mind:
"Do more of what works."
In the episode I was listening to he was discussing capitalizing on the things that have worked for you, rather than getting caught up in "shiny object syndrome" (as he calls it) and chasing every new thing that looks fun. My mind immediately turned to the Tulip bag (the one I re-formatted two weeks ago). That's by far my most popular pattern. There are people out there who like it. And there are plenty more people out there who would like it, but haven't seen it yet. I want these people in my audience! So I did something major. Well, major for me at least...
I took out ads on Ravelry for Tulip! Starting November 1st, you may just see Tulip on the main pattern page of Ravelry as a featured pattern. How cool is that?
So let me give you the breakdown:
-This particular ad space costs $40. Spaces in other places on the Ravelry website (like forums, notebook margins, etc.) don't cost nearly as much. The home pattern page is holy ground, hence the price.
-The ad will run for 2 weeks, which breaks down to $20 per week, or $2.86 per day.
-There are 24 more knitting patterns and 8 crochet patterns that have claimed this ad space. The 33 ads will cycle through the ad space as visitors view the page.
-You have to advertise ONE pattern. You must link to that pattern's page and have only the pattern's title displayed on your ad. So basically, the only thing you can advertise is a pattern, not a group or a designer.
-Your ad must be 225x175 pixels. I kept my ad simple with a nice picture of the bag + a retro-looking transparent title:
So that's that! I'll be sure to let you know how this works out. Hopefully it's worth the investment! If not, that's perfectly fine too. I can check that avenue off the list!
And speaking of doing more of what works....
My Goal: Week 3
This week I'm going to be creating a submission for the Knit Picks' Independent Designer Program. I've always wanted to give this a shot, so I'm gonna go for it! This program essentially allows any designer to be featured on the Knit Picks' pattern page, selling their pattern either for free or sale. Also, the fantastic thing is that Knit Picks doesn't charge any fee to do so (LOVE them!). In order to do this, I must create a submission page, which has to be formatted in a specific way. That's what I'll be working on this week.
So, what pattern am I submitting? You guessed it, the Tulip bag!
All right, I'll see you all on Tuesday!
Until then,
Grace
PS. Don't forget to check out
