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Tuesday 24 July 2012

July and Mega Desicion Making

Ok, fed up with lack of sales so time to go into action! For some time now I haven't been making ANY sales whatsoever on my own website Cathys Curios. I research all the right things to do as far as SEO is concerned but yet I'm still only graded No.1 (being the lowest) on Google search. Although when I look things up for my shop, I'm always on the 1st page. Just can't fathom it out. So after muchas humming & arrring I've decided to close it down. The problem is if you're a bit of a layman, like me, you really might be best to pay someone to provide a bit SEO support to your site. I considered myself pretty much ok on a basic level but clearly that isn't good enough. My website host didn't provide SEO support so hence the closure. Plus SEO support can range from £200-500 a month and that's a lot of money for a small business.

So --- what am I going to do about this hiccup?! Aswell as this disappointment, ebay sales have also gone down the plug hole. I think the world recession is most definitely kicking in for the little business people. I will continue with my ebay shop as the sales are at least trickling in. I also have one of my freebie shops still turning over at Groovy Cart. Whilst this shop can only have 30 items and limited sales, it's still free and I have had a couple of sales from it. Also opening up a shop on UK Etsy. This again has its limitations as you either need vintage or hand made. I'm only putting my really good stuff in this shop and I haven't opened it yet, as I need to build it up first. I'll report back at a later date on that one. I've also got the hubby surfing the net for an alternative for me. I would love to open a website with a company that has SEO support but just too expensive for my tiny budget.

Now then, on top of all the sales downturn issues, there are also stock issues. The UK has had nothing but rain this summer so the car boots or flea markets that are mostly outdoors have been very poor. This puts me back in the auction housess. Actually I love the auctions, gives me a bit of a buzz, all that haggling. With sales down then profits are down and therefore purchasing stock is down. Haven't quite hit rock bottom yet and hopefully will bounce enough not to get there, but time will tell. Any kind donations gladly accepted.

Ladies dresses still selling well. Jewellery not so good and as soon as stock is sold, I'll be dropping that category. If you can afford silver and gold then you would do well, but costume jewellery is just so widely available cheaply from China, and not just for wholesale but directly to the customer on a smaller order basis.

There you have it for now. Cathys Curios is closing down. I am also going to buy a new domain name that has more effective keywords in it. Still plugging my ebay items on Twitter & Pinterest, not sure it does any good but it's free marketing.

My dream when I started all this 3.5 years ago was that eventually I would have a tiny bricks and mortar shop. I would only open when I'm working there and capture the odd passer by.  My main customer will always be on the internet so it shouldn't matter about the bricks and mortar base being a great seller.  Plus I want to travel around the UK and maybe even France seeking those great treasures. I'm still working on the dream and haven't given up hope --- yet!

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