Announcement at Artfire About Google Algorithm Change

Hello, and Welcome to PassnItOn! Things are drying, and I have been checking them over before I picture, and post the next projects I have completed. I am having fun! Till then, this is something that came from the forums at Atfire that I wanted to share with everyone. All of us always watching announcements with Google, watching how we list, have the rules changed, how can I better rank and be seen, etc. Well, here is something that was posted today at Artfire for Google Algorithm Change:


It is rare that they announce these.  But this one affects a large portion of queries.  And it reinforces AGAIN how duplicate content will be further penalized and how your item pages need to have more content.


Google Announcement Here


Best Practices

1) Do not duplicate content across marketplaces - a site like Etsy has higher authority than most and can get away with more duplicate content ( other duplicate sites will be penalized)

2) Do not duplicate content on the marketplace - try to keep your items unique from one another.  This change is targeting content farms that run massive duplication of content to try to snag Google traffic.  If you use the "easy method" of copying listings you are behaving like a content farm in the eyes of Google, your listings may suffer.

As we have said in the past - easy for you is BAD for your business.  Difficult for you is probably better for your business.

3) Do not write short, low-value descriptions -Longer descriptions with more information, discussion of product, how the product is made, how it can be used, even testimonials will index better.

Why?  Because  Google says so in the announcement.

"At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on."





Make sure to read the link that is towards to the top for Google Announcement too. Also, visit PasnItOn Artfire Shop, and see what is now there, and watch for what is coming. Thanks again for visiting everyone, and feel free to share or comment about anything too. Have a super weekend everyone!

Photo File Names Should be Descriptive For the Google Searches

All Photo File Names Should Be Descriptive

The article below has been copied from Treasure Seekers Unite Social Network for Sellers, and People in search of Unique Treasures. Angie the Owner has added this discussion for the members of the sight to read, and contribute to. Pretty neat, and very helpful too. Since Angie has noted this for any new pictures I have done for my listings I do title, or name the pictures to better help me with searches. The more help, and the more knowledge we can have of such things is so much, but so beneficial when we can share these things too. Visit Treasure Seekers Unite for more discussions, and to see what others are sharing too. 

We all know that item titles should be descriptive, yes.  What I'm talking about here are the actual file names (photo.jpg) that you upload to your online store, website, or blog.  Did you know that Google reads these too?

If someone searches  Google and chooses to limit their search just to photos...and your photo is called ivory-pillar-candle.jpg it will show up!  However, if your photo's file name is 12345.jpg it will not show up in this type of search.  

SIDE NOTE:   Google reads spaces as "%20" so if you upload a photo called "my photo.jpg" (notice the space?) the actual URL for this photo would be http://www.mysite.com/my%20photo.jpg - which causes a lot of links to be broken if they were not linked to properly.  You should either use _ (underscore) or a - (hyphen) for any file that will be used in a URL.  The hyphen is preferred because Google reads these as a keyword separator.   The underscore, while it does prevent broken links, is treated just like another character and Google sees "tealight_candle" as "tealightcandle" with another character in between.  Whereas, "tealight-candle" is read as two separate keywords.

Quite interesting, and useful too. That is one thing I like about this social network, the things that are shared by all members, and the things we all learn together too. Very beneficial for the sellers, but also for shoppers too. When you can, visit my PassnItOn Shop at Artfire. Also, I have 2 websites I am working with to keep everyone updated, posted, and to show things too. Visit PassnItOn Website, and also PassnItOn at Weebly. Slowly getting them into order, and organized. Once things start moving a bit more, I hope to add buttons for shopping right from the sites too. Till then, it's all a working progress.

Thanks again for visiting with PassnItOn Blog today. Feel free to ask questions, or leave comments too. Everyone is welcome to share. Have a super day everyone!

 

 

Elegance Artfire Collection

Hello, and Welcome to PassnItOn! I have been included with another collection on Artfire called Elegance. Very nice items shown, and wanted to share this so all of you could also view it too. Elegance Collection  Nice collection, and please visit this to see. 

Instead of crafting this weekend, so far anyway, I have been thrifting for more pieces to repurpose, and offer for all to see and buy. I have found some really neat glass pieces, and have been gently washing all of them clean, and drying them, and now playing with them to see what will work together between what I have bought, and what is already here. The weather was nice, and I enjoyed the time of thrifting to find pieces. 

Still working on my website for me, and having an issue with how the page is arranged, and how to fix it. I am not computer literate, but hope to soon have it worked out. Till then you can visit my weebly site at PassnItOn. I pretty much have this put together, and am also adding my rapid cart from Artfire there too. 

Tomorrow while hubby watching his races, I hope to be gluing, and putting things together. Weather sounds like more snow, so good for me to stay home to work on crafts. 

Thanks for visiting with me, and please visit anytime. Any questions, please ask. Also, if you wish to share something I am glad to hear from you. Have a great evening everyone.

 

PassnItOn Blog, Website, Web Presence, Come Follow Me

Hello everyone, and Welcome to PassnItOn! Glad to have you here, and glad to be able to share with you what I have been working on the past few days, and at times pulling my hair a little bit too. 

Yes, I do have a project I am working on to finish for the store, and got some other creative ideas I am working with too. I am finishing up making a cloche right now. I have found a glass bowl that I am adding my own cloche handle to it by decorating it with some simple lace, and flowers. I have a plate that it nicely sits into making this a cloche with the dish too. Pieces are all in great shape, and look almost new too. Hope to have that done next couple of days to show all of you:)

Ok, what I have been steadily working on are my blogs, but mostly websites for this store, and for the other store I have had for much longer than this. Yesterday I was working on my website for this venue when my grand daughter got on my lap, and bumped the keyboard, and not sure what happened from there. Thought I had the issue fixed last night, and finally walked away from it, but found earlier this afternoon was not fully fixed. So, I have removed everything, and trying to get back to the beginning to start it all over again. Hopefully I can fix it as it was looking so good too. 

I have decided I sell with different venues, some market places I am signed with, but do not do much with them anymore. It's hard to find a place to call home that is agreeable for what I do, what I sell, and to work with what my needs are. So, a long time ago I had read a blog about a woman, and her husband who had moved from their long time home in CA to Ohio I think it was. They moved their business there, and it was doing well. But, like all of us we are always looking for more ways to get our names out there, show our business, and do it as cost efficiently as possible too. Let's face it, things cost to do. Having your own website can cost with hosting, domains, shopping carts, if you pay someone to design it, and so on. 

Anyway, this woman had proposed the idea of how you could bring yourself out by having a blog, and a website, and do it almost for little to nothing cost. She felt it could still work, and was going to work on it to show it could too. The last I knew of she was showing progress with her ideas, and I was happy for her. The idea she had of this had always stuck with me. So, you research, read, see what others are reporting, work on your own venues in between all of this, and keep trying to put it together. 

Well, as of today I think I seen a light that is starting to make sense, and is actually coming together for me. So far, biggest cost has been having my domains with GoDaddy. I have a .com for PassnItOn which leads to my blog here, and I also have a .com for my other name of LilacsNDreams which also leads to my blog. I got a special that I took for 2 years with LilacsNDreams, since PassnItOn is new I have taken a domain for 1 year here, and when I visited GoDaddy today with a goal in mind I got my .net for LilacsNDreams at $9.99 for the year. I haven't even spent $50 yet, and have been setting up websites with google sites, weebly, and using my blogs. What a deal, huh?

What I have decided to do is keep everything pretty much between 2-3 sites for everyone to follow. Much easier to remember, easier to find, and with all the sites I am working on there will always be clickable links that take you to the market places you would like to visit where I am selling, and to also visit other sellers too. And, I will also have the links for both of my store names between the sites too. So, if I ever decide to move from a market place, slow down with sales at one and focus with another venue, instead of trying to keep up with where I move to it, and follow me to the the venue, it will be noted between my blogs, and websites. 

So, I like to think I will only be a "click away", and hoping it will be more convenient for the customers, friends, those who follow me, and etc. Right now for this store name I have this blog, a website I am working with and reconstructing after yesterday, but do have another website I have found that I rather like too which is at weebly, and is coming along nicely too. So, if you feel the need to visit one of the websites, or my blog all the info will be noted with those places. With my blog here you will see on the right side bar clickable links to these places. With these places you will find links, pictures, and which venue the pictures are for that the item is listed with. So, instead of roaming through many different stores looking, you can visit my blog, or websites to get your ideas before visiting me, and don't forget all the other wonderful sellers that have their wonderful listings too.

I do apologize if this sounds a bit confusing. I am excited, and after working on things for a while, not being computer technie, and trying to understand things when I seen a light, and felt it coming together I got excited:) I hope I can do what I am planning, and have been planning. It all takes time, a lot of work, a lot of devotion, and I am fortunate to be able to be home to do all of this. Please bear with me, and I will keep you updated as things move along here. Thank you for your patience, understanding, following me, and visiting with me. Thanks for visiting, and drop by anytime to see what is happening next. Always welcome to ask questions, leave a comment, share, etc. 

Junking-Love It, Treasure It, and Craft With it Too!

The weather here is gorgeous compared to all the snow, and winds we have had! Love it, ready for spring, and so anxious to open windows for fresh air, and to maybe do some painting too. 

I have been roaming blog land a little bit today, and I just LOVE it when I can find others who share their work, and the same love and desire for junking, thrifting, etc! I love seeing work of others which inspires me not to copy them, but to look closer at pieces I already have at home, seeing them in new ways. It also makes me anxious to get out, and dig for some treasures to bring home, and work on too. Hmm....

Ok, here are 3 blogs I visited today that I would love to share with you. I hope you like the work, and can be inspired by what they have done, or by the work they show of others. http://www.junk-fest.blogspot.com, http://www.bec4-beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com, and http://www.fabulesslycrafty.blotspot.com. Hope you enjoy your visits with them as I did....Have Fun!:)

Thanks for visiting PassnItOn today. Any questions, or comments do not hesitate to do so, ok? I found it very helpful, nourishing, and great when things can be shared amongst ourselves, and with others too. Have a super Sunday everyone, and Happy Thrifting!:)

An American Dream-Life is Good

http://www.accesswealthstrategies.com/1086/cnbc-business-nation-how-i-made-my-millions-part-2/

This is a link to the story as seen on MSNBC. Be inspired, and watch the short video. It is about 2 brothers who started selling t-shirts from their van, hit the road, traveled, few years later coming home not wanting to give up on what they believed in, and wanted to do. There was their inspiration, a sketch they called Jake_Life is Good. Thus is the start of their business that is now a million dollar industry. No advertising, just down to earth traveling, pushing and striving to make it happen, and it did. Below is more pictures, and such copied from the forums at Bonanza where I read the article myself, and copied it to here for all to see. Inspiring story for all to see.

* * *

In 1989, Bert and John Jacobs designed their first tee shirt. They knew nothing about the business.
For five years, the brothers hawked tee shirts in the streets of Boston and traveled the East Coast, selling door-to-door in college dormitories.
They collected some good stories, but were not very prosperous. They lived on peanut butter and jelly, slept in their van, and showered when they could.
Chicks were not impressed.

Bert and John street hawking, South Boston, March 1993
By the Fall of 1994, heading home from a long, less-than-fruitful roadtrip, Bert and John were desperately searching for answers to keep the dream alive. Little did they know, the only answer they needed was back in Boston, hanging up on their apartment wall.
Jake’s contagious grin, simple as it was, seemed to express everything the Jacobs brothers believed in.

Original Jake drawing, July 1994
One fateful September day, they printed up 48 Jake shirts for a local street fair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They laid the shirts out on their rickety card table. By noontime, all 48 of those tees were gone. A star was born.
Soon Jake was introduced to local retailers, and his simple message of optimism was embraced like nothing the brothers had ever seen. As demand for product soared, Jake’s team grew, and the Little Brand That Could began to spread across America.
Today, the New England based brand stays close to its roots, with an emphasis on simplicity, humor and humility. Through Life is good Festivals, positive products, and a steady dose of ping pong, Jake’s crew does its best to keep the good vibes flowing.

First day ever selling Life is good, Cambridge Street Fair, September 1994

Believe in yourself, have faith in what you are doing, be persistant with what you do, and know that it can happen to anyone. Inspiring story is something to think about. Thanks for visiting with PassnItOn today. Take care everyone, and have a super weekend! Best of luck in all that you do!:)

  

The Softness of Pink Collection Completed at Artfire by PatchworkMountain

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=collections&op=details&cid=13633&comment_posted=Your+comment+has+been+posted.#comments

Hello everyone, and a Happy Monday to you!:) I had to stop by, and leave the link for everyone to visit a collection I was placed in at Artfire, The Softness In Pink. Stop by to check it out. If you like pink you will like this. 

It's cold out here, how about where you are at? Usually on days like this I will spend time gluing, putting pieces together, taking apart, rearranging, and hopefully deciding on something to keep it as is, glue it, picture it, and then show it in my shop at Artfire for others to see, and purchase.

Well, gone most of day today. No snow, so took off to get some things done while I could. Nasty winds, frozen areas, I wanted to come back home and be warm, but went about getting things done. So, got it done for the week, and now hopefully spend time working on other things here. I would honestly hate to invite anyone to our home right now....what a mess! I think I am getting cabin fever, wanting spring, going through things to down size and donate, and also finding things to work with for repurposing, and upcycling too. Now...to get to work with it!

Hope all are having a great day where you are. Stop by again anytime, and don't forget to visit my shop PassnItOn at Artfire too. Hope to see you again.

 

Etsy Forums Are Gone Join a Team to Get Your Answers

Hello everyone, and Welcome to PassnItOn! Glad to see you here, and hope you enjoy your visit:)

Well now, just came from etsy forums again. Looks like it started with the Forums, but I thought it was suppose to be mid February that they started with the forums? Anyway, a lot of the forums are being locked. You can view what was said, look for an old post, but no more comments can be made. 

So, that then brings up the issues of the Teams that are replacing the forums. First of all, you have to join Teams. You have to apply for them, and be approved for them before you can participate with them. If you have pictures that are not good, or acceptable, a Team Captain can deny you joining the Team. Then, if you go forward, correct what was not acceptable before trying to join a Team, you will then have to contact the Captain to ask them for reapplying. Also, if the Team requests for the Captain to accept the member is another way to gain access I guess. 


Wow! Was much simplier when you could go to the forums, and look for the issue you were needing help with. A place where you could openly share, and promote your stores, and if you had a glitch or a bug, you could inquire right away about it. But, now if you have any issues you cannot just openly ask about it. You will have to go through the process of joining a team. But, if you are denied a membership to a Team....where do you go then to have your questions answered? Are they going to start a Team for Bugs and Glitches? If so, what if you were denied a membership to that? Then what?


Sorry, but this sounds very complicating, and very unethical too. This is not a very professional business way to handle a large group of people who make the selling venue what it is. Sorry, but this is really upsetting to hear this, and I am trying to understand it as many other members of Etsy are also trying to adapt, and having problems with it. 


So, what do you think? Do you think the Forums being removed was a good thing? Do you feel that having Teams for the forums was the right move? How comfortable are you with selling at Etsy with all the changes happening? Please, feel free to respond to these things everyone. Have to have some where to vent a bit:)


Tomorrow Super Bowl Sunday! Hope ya'll have a great day with family, friends, or watching yourself. Enjoy the day, best of luck to all, and Be Safe!

Is Etsy Still Truly, and Legally a Venue OR are They Social Like Facebook

Welcome to PassnItOn, and glad you are here! I have slacked a bit lately with my Artfire store I have with this name. Stayed busy with other shop there, and today was looking at some more pieces trying to decide what to do. 


There are have been changes that happened at Artfire with their forums. Looks better, more organized, and everyone seems to be adapting well. 


Now, are any of you associated selling, or buying on Etsy? If so, I would strongly recommend to be careful right now. There is too much happening that is sending some tidle waves around there, and they have people closing their accounts too. 


It has been a spiral with Etsy. One thing after another, and it keeps happening too. They had the issue of the treasuries a while back where personal names, and information was going out about sellers there, or those who had accounts. Then there was the coral fiasco which was not good. Another issue not long after that was with a seller there, and the kind of cards they were offering that were very offensive, and very disruptive with everyone. It was bad enough that this issue made the CNN news with it. How sad. Next is the issue of the forums at Etsy, and that they will be rid of them soon. Oh, they will keep a few areas, and they are pushing the circles, and the teams that you will have to join to find out anything, get any information, ask your questions, and so on. But, they have just recently redone their forums, and the layout, and not sure what to think. Are the getting rid of the forums, or not now? 

Lastly, there is the issue of the privacy that is really making many of the members mad. Etsy wants you to ok the release of your address book contacts to them so that they can store, use, sell as they see fit. Their excuse has been so that people looking for you can find you through your email addresses. You will have the option to opt out of this, but if someone else you bought from has your address, and they opt in, well...their goes your information. During this time of disruption with the privacy issue some started to experience issues with facebook....they had their etsy shops connected to facebook, and had the applications accepted at facebook for etsy. But, some had their personal information coming out from this too. Their personal names, and it wasn't just hitting the fan pages. Some reported it happening to their profiles with their personal pages. 


I would recommend stopping by Etsy, and reading through the forums while you can, while they are still there, and searching through things a bit to see what is really happening. For the sellers it is not good, for the new members it is not good, and also for the buyers it is going to be an issue too. Especially if you bought from there, even if it was a long time ago, your address is there, and I have to apologize for everyone. When this rolls out with this last change, if you get spammed, I am so very sorry it is happening to you.

Many things to think about here, look at, read, and draw your own conclusions. But, what do you think of Etsy now? How do you feel about what is all happening at Etsy?