The Top 10 reasons why I like having a shop on Etsy.

1. When I check my Google Analyics, I find that my shop receives visits from all over the world, from all continents. This warms my retired Geography teacher heart! And, with the most visits coming from the USA and Canada, distance from Ottawa is a significant geographic variable in determining the number of visits.

2. My sales data show that my customers are overwhelmingly from Canada and the USA. I get a kick out of visiting the local Post Office with a parcel for Vancouver, New York, a small town in Wisconsin, or for delivery to Texas or California.

3. My purchasing records show that I buy from Canada, the US, the UK and even Europe. Without my sales on Etsy I would not be making purchases.

4. By participating in Etsy chat groups, I gain a lot of good advice. Advice about photographs, about organising the shop, about pricing etc. And the chat participants are great for validating the worth of the items I have for sale.

5. I also like the feedback I get from reviewing and taking part in the Forums on Etsy. Lately, the "Business Forum" has been a place I turn to to see which topics interest other Etsians and me.

6. I enjoy the validation I get from Etsians who focus their sales in the areas I focus on. It is very satisfactory to receive positive comments from other basket-makers on Etsy, and also from other specialists in Vintage items.

7. The world of Etsy introduced me up to the world of blogging. Etsians recommended blogging as a way to promote your Etsy shop. While this is one function of my blog, blogging to me is much more. It enables me to write and think about so much more than sales.

8. Similarly, Etsy introduced me to the virtual world of Social Networking. Again this was promoted as a means of developing sales. But my Facebook ventures have been so much more than that. Through that medium, I have reconnected with many old friends as well as relatives I had lost touch with.

9. Etsy has also allowed me to explore new areas of basket-making I might never have known. It was through an Etsy contact that I came across the idea of making a wicker hot-air balloon. The challenge of trying to do that myself was one challenge I could not resist.

10. And last, but not least, the intermittant nature of Etsy is in and of itself a natural, persistant and effective reinforcer of the Etsy habit. Sales are made at irregular intervals. New hearts come irregularly. Views go up and down. Chat comments flow randomly. And, like Pavlov's dog, I salivate every time a reinforcer occurs.