Disappointment

Chin up, chin up
Everybody loves a happy face
Wear it, share it
It'll brighten up the darkest place
Twinkle, sparkle
Let a little sunshine in
You'll be on the right side
Looking at the bright side
Up with your chinny chin, chin up!

Ok so I've been feeling sorry for myself lately.  I think I have documented well my Market failures in the past here and here.  But even though I failed miserably after all the stress and hours upon hours of hard work, I decided I woud be fine and kept my 'chin up'.  I thought, well maybe Market's are just not for me?

I decided that perhaps doing some giveaways would help.  I noticed the followers on my blog slowly creeping up.  I was really excited to see it.  After the giveaways, I noticed them creeping back down again.  So some people were only in it for the freebies.  I tried to not let it get to me.  In the meantime, I parted with a good portion of my 'stock'.  But I told myself to keep my chin up and it's still early days.   

So next I tried selling things here on my blog with no success.    But I just kept that 'chin up'.  (I kinda knew that one wouldn't work).

Then I thought, well everyone seems to be highly successful in having an Etsy or Madeit store.  So I got myself organised and opened a Madeit store.  I'm 3 weeks into that now.  No sales, and not even an item listed as someone's favourite.  But I thought, don't let it get you down Christy.  These things take time.  This time round it was getting harder to convince myself.  My chin was starting to feel a little heavy.

So after all the flood devastation, I thought about what I could do to help, and blogged about it here.  I decided I could organise a Softie Appeal, and collect handmade Softies from whomever was willing and able to help and participate.  So I officially launched my idea on my blog here.  Although this hasn't been a big success, I am really grateful for the handful of people who have put their hands up to help.  I think I will send you a little something as a thankyou because you made my chin a little lighter. 

BUT.....

.... then I decided to continue in further efforts to help those affected by the floods.  There was ALOT of talk in the bloggy world to join in with the Auctions over at make it perfect.  So at the last minute I decided to put together three bundles of goodies to be auctioned off.  I was added to the master list and ready to rock and roll and excited at the prospect of auctioning off my goods for a really good cause.  Hopefully they would sell for more then they were worth.  I also figured the traffic to my blog would be awesome (which it has been) and would introduce new followers, and that people would become more interested in my merchandise from all the views.   

This is the part where my chin got real heavy again.  Real heavy.  Two days on and not a single bid. No new followers. 

I'm sure most of you know that people are paying up to $160 for a cushion, and $200 for a book.

And still no bids.  I've considering withdrawing them from the Auction to save myself from further disappointment. 

I sat on my bed and cried for a good half hour yesterday.  I want to put my chin back up high in the air but until I can figure out what I'm doing wrong, I don't think I'll be able to do it.  This isn't something I can talk myself out of.

So this is the part where I'm asking you to be honest.  What am I doing wrong?  What can I improve in?  I really want this to work.  If I don't find an outlet to sell my goods then I will have to stop creating because it just costs too much to buy the materials and get nothing back for them. 

******

Now that you've heard my sob story, can I ask a few favours?  It will really help. 

1.  Please leave a comment and honestly tell me what you think I can do to change/improve.  How can I get more traffic to my blog?  What do you look for in a blog?  What types of blogs do you enjoy?  How can I successfuly sell items in my Madeit store?  Please be honest (just don't be mean!!).

2.  Please take a moment to check out my auctions.  I honestly believe they are great products.  I made them with great care and love and would prefer to see them put to good use then to sit in a basket gathering dust in my craft room (which all of my merchandise is currently doing).

You can see them here, here and here.

3. Please check out my Softies for Smiles Appeal.  Whether you can make a toy, if you have a pattern, if you have fabric you can donate, please let me know.  However you can contribute will make my day.

4.  And lastly, if you have a spare minute, check out my Madeit store.

******

This hasn't been a very enlightening post has it?

I promise to share more exciting things after today.  I still need to show you pictures of my brother's wedding.  And I also was successful in finding some goodies at Op Shops yesterday, and husby and I are overhauling our house - we have bought a tonne of things to upgrade our little unit in the past month.