I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season (including tonight's New Years' celebration... stay safe!!)!!

I'm back and ready to rock for 2009, so make sure you keep Made By Moms in mind for all your baby and toddler gift needs!  We'll be adding a few new lines this year, so keep your eyes open for plush toys, organic blankets and lounge pants for babies!

Before I run off again, I come bearing our huge After-Christmas Clearance Sale.  I need room in my closet (so says the husband), so I'm cleaning out some of our older styles to make way for new ones!  What is it they say at this time of year?  Out with the old, in with the new!

We just listed a bunch of items on Art Fire between 50% - 75% off and we'll be listing more in the coming days.  Go and check it out -- we have blankets as low as $10 (wow!).

Check out our Art Fire for more information:  Made By Moms

Take care and Happy New Year :)

Jen

Alrighty all, before I head off to sleep, I figured I'd fill you guys in on some stuff...

First, I just listed new items on Art Fire including a Winnie the Pooh blanket and blankets featuring Amy Butler and Heather Bailey fabrics.

Check them out here: 

Second, I posted a new blog... so check that out ;)

Lastly, I'm going to be at Homegrown for the Holidays in downtown Orlando on December 20th from 11 am until 7 pm.  Please come and visit, check out our purchases... if you say you saw us on the internet, we're offering 20% off!

Take care everyone and have a super-fantastic day :)

Jen

So, I've been looking around for prospective websites to list on.  Etsy is nice but it has huge issues that I've yet to see resolved in a year of buying and about six months of selling -- the search function is a huge one.  It's tough to gain recognition or traction there and it's easy to spend boatloads of money listing and relisting items on a daily basis to keep yourself at the top of the list.

So, I found a place called Art Fire -- http://www.artfire.com -- that has two different membership levels.  The first level is completely free -- no monthly fees, no listing fees, no selling fees... Absolutely.  Free.  The second level is a "Verified" membership that is $7 a month and opens up all sorts of new possibilities like the ability for site recognition through their featured artisan spotlight, ability to join guilds (teams), etc.  The $7 is limited, though, to only 5,000 people and after that it'll go to $20.  We need to start spreading the word to all those who buy and sell handmade items...  The search function is great, the admin truly respond to your concerns and the community is fantastic -- just the way Etsy was a few years ago when they actually cared.  I'm not meaning to sound like I'm dogging on Etsy because I really do like them, but they've snubbed the sellers far too often... and when something new comes along that actually offers things that Etsy doesn't, well... it's hard to pass up.

Let's be realistic...  I have the same blanket listed on Etsy and on Art Fire.  I listed it on 11/26 and it has received 48 unique views, it even shows me unique links and referral IDs through Google.   On Etsy, I have only 101 total views and it's been up there for over three months *and* I promote it heavily on the forums.  So while the traffic isn't that high at Art Fire overall, I'm gaining a whole heck of a lot more traction there than I ever had on Etsy.

Anyway, do me a favor and check Art Fire out (buyer or seller).  If you do sign up for a Verified Account, please use the referral link below -- right now they're running a promotion where you can be Verified for life FREE if you refer 10 people.  It's a neat way of giving back to those who promote their site the heaviest.

Register on ArtFire.com