Treasury Thursday :: Good Car-Ma

As an new Etsy shop owner, I am here to tell you that it is a fantastic feeling when someone finds your shop, or one of your listings and ♥’s it! It’s as good as someone walking up to you and saying, “Hey, I like you!”.  Imagine for a moment how that would feel…

In the spirit of paying it forward, setting up a Treasury on Etsy is a fun, easy way to tell people you like them. Well, their handmade goods that is. But for handmade goods makers, it’s kinda the same thing. Trust me.

If you have never set up a Treasury, it may seem a bit tricky, but with Etsy’s help it can easily be done.  And to make it even easier, I will show you how.  Right here, right now!  And, at the end, I’ll share one of  my recent Treasuries with you. If you are  Pinterest fan, it is very much like pinning!

Ready?  Set. Go!

{personal photo}

Get Ready

1. Log into your Etsy account
2. Click here to get started on the Etsy Treasury page
3. You will see a long list of Treasuries that others have already created – take a look at a few to get an idea of how they look
4. When creating a treasury, you will need a theme. It can be a color [red!], an item [watches], or a combination, [purple jewelry?]. The idea is to create something you are interested in, items you ♥ and to try to make it fun and creative.
5. When you are ready, head over to the right side of the page, in the box titled ‘Curator Tools” click the link to create a list.

Get Set

1. A page will appear where you have fields to enter a list  name, description and tags.
2. On the list name, get as creative as you can.
3. Tags are keywords or short phrases that relate to the items and theme. Be sure to enter a few!
4. The next section is marked “Privacy” with options of Everyone or Only You. I will comment on that more a little further on.

Go!

1. Now the fun begins. Start creating your Treasury!
2. I like to open two browser windows – one where I am logged in [so I can create the Treasury] and one where I am just on the Etsy site but not logged in, so I can browse happy.
3. Go to the Etsy site and in the search box, type in a word that relates to your theme.
4. A page will appear with hundreds if not thousands of items. Wow! When I typed in “purple jewelry” it shows that there are 162, 989 item listings that match that description!  There is a place for everyone!
5. Start shopping, uh, I mean viewing items and when you find one you ♥ click on it!
6. After reviewing the listing and you decide it’s Treasury worthy,
7. Scroll to the very bottom of that listing page, below the shipping info; and there you will need the item’s listing number
8. Highlight and copy the listing number [you don’t need the # symbol]  and go back to your logged in Etsy window to the page with your Treasury in progress.
9. In one of the 16 boxes/squares, copy and paste the listing number where it has grey text saying Listing URL. You can also copy the URL from your browser’s address line if that is easier for you.
10. Click “ok’ and watch the image of the item you ♥ suddenly appear. I know, you are hooked already. I have good news for you. There is no limit to the number of Treasuries you can create. But, you get only 16 spots per Treasury, so choose wisely.
11. Continue on, filling up the 16 seats of your Treasury, following the same process: search, find, copy, paste, and wha-la!
12. If you don’t have time to finish it all in one sitting, that’s ok. These are big decisions after all, and you wouldn’t want to rush it!  Just remember to save before you exit the page.

Item Listing #

Wrap it up

1. You have to enter at least 4 items to save your Treasury.
2. This is where the Privacy button comes in. If you want to mark it private until you are done, you can. Just remember to go back and share it with “Everyone”. That’s the whole point here – sharing the love.
3. You can always go back to edit your Treasury Lists. You can add/delete items and rearrange the order of the listings.
4. When it’s ready to share, consider sharing it with your other networks: Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.
5. And, remember to check back periodically. Others will start seeing your Treasury, making comments, clicking and well, it’s just cool when others like what you like. Shop owners whose items you feature will likely express their gratitude for being selected. You will get to be part of that warm fuzzy sharing thing I was talking about!

So, below is a Treasury I created recently.  A few weeks ago, my car was stolen from my driveway while I was home sleeping. At 6 in the morning. My husband left for the gym and the car was there. When he came home, the car was gone! So, in the spirit of spreading some good “car-ma”, here is a Treasury List featuring a variety of items relating to the car, or travel.  You can view it in Esty here.

Items featured in my Etsy Treasury titled: Good Car-ma

Keep in mind that there are a few guidelines for putting together a Treasury List.

• You can create a list of items for any purpose.
• Be diverse! No more than one item per shop.
• Don’t include your own items. Spread the love!
• Make it beautiful.

Have fun creating a Treasury.  Be sure to share it with your social sphere to really really share the ♥ !

I’d love to see what you come up with – add a link here to let me know what you create.

— OR —

Give me a Treasury Challenge! Give me a word, a phrase or a concept and see what I come up with. I will feature your challenge in one of my Treasury Thursday posts! I promise. Because I know how cool it is when others say, ‘hey, I like that.”

And, it’s just good karma.

Peace.

Ps…an update on the car. It was found.  That’s a long story for another day!