Community and Competition

Part 2 - Street Teams

A little while ago, I read that street teams were growing at a really steady clip over at Etsy. This got me thinking more about the original purpose of street teams and what they have grown into. I used to work at a music store and had more than my fair share of experience with the street teams that work for music groups. They are generally hard core fans that do promotional work without any compensation, save for the occasional free CD or other promo material. They are passionate about their cause and seem willing to do most anything that they are asked.

Flash forward to Etsy street teams. When they first appeared they were exactly the same as the music versions. People so enamored with Etsy that they were willing to do the foot work in their community to get the word out. Then something weird happened. The first street teams based on demographic rather than geographic location started cropping up. The first one was the now defunct Etsy Dark Artists. I know that because I was in that one. We all sold different products that appealed to the same basic customer base. Well it made good sense, we could target a specific group with ads that would help us and Etsy. We got along very well, until money and participation issues got in the way. We imploded partly because we were misunderstood by others and partly because, like any large group of people, we disagreed on what our individual contribution to the group should be. Some of us were looking for a community and others were looking for a lucrative business arrangement and we discovered that the two could not co-exist for us.

At least we were careful to not let too many of any one craft in, so we were never competing with each other. That is why some of the new street teams have me scratching my head. I mean, if you had a brick and mortar store that sold baby clothes, would I want to not only invite 12 other baby clothes retailers to move in next door, but advertise with them as well. I'm all for community spirit, but it seems a little backwards to me. What would make sense as that same store owner is to invite a maternity store and nursery furniture retailer and a toy store store to move in and combine advertising.

If you wouldn't do it in the real world why would you do it online? I have heard the argument that since everyone has different taste, as long as your styles are varied you can still support each other without cutting into your own potential sales. It's a valid argument, but that's not really what I see happening with these street teams from the outside. I don't honestly know how each of them really works, but you can see what's got me a little confused based on the original purpose of the street team. I imagine a lot of them have the same business versus community argument brewing under the surface. Maybe we just need to redefine the street team or just rename it. I'm afraid I don't have a solution with this one, just a whole lot of questions and concerns.

Of Course I Like You...Now Buy My Stuff!

Community and Competition
Part 1 - Promotions

Let me start out with the positive stuff. Etsy was my very first forum experience, I met my first troll, saw my first flame war, and over the last two years, I watched some truly amazing acts of kindness unfold. We are, it seems, all in the same boat and because of that we are bonded in a very real way. People freely give advice and wisdom without hesitation. I wonder however, amongst all this goodwill, if people are really forgetting that we are all ultimately, in competition with each other.

Some of us are only competing in a loose sense, for the disposable income of consumers, but others are in very direct competition. I've always been a bit confused at the way this dual relationship plays out, especially in the Promotions forum. To make my point, I'd like to break down the basic kinds of posts we see there:

• New Listing/re listed, etc. - Basic cry for attention.
• Show me your Red/vintage/wedding/flowers, etc. - Focused cry for attention, slightly more likely to draw customers with a specific need.
• BNR/buy from this list - Snake eating its own tail.
• Sale/Milestone/Hearts and Views - advanced cry for attention, unlikely to draw customers, only other sellers with a similar need.
  
• Let's support each other - often begins with the phrase, "aren't you just sick of people who post and run". Seemingly designed to make people who have other things to do with their time, feel bad.

The weirdest promotion thread, in my opinion, is the last one. I'm sure that there are people around that honestly just want to support the community, but how can those people fault others for wanting to make a buck without wasting time in the forums. I've noticed that most of the top sellers stay out of the forums for any length of time. They come by and chat in etc., or offer wisdom or ask questions in one of the other categories, but rarely venture into promotions. Why do you think that is? I think it's because they have separated the community and the competition of etsy. They are probably spending time promoting in places that more consumers gather and making quality products.

Let's face it, we all want a little attention for our shops, for our products and for ourselves, but does that mean that we need to spend hours making false compliments and replying in the same forum thread to legitimize posting your newest item. I get it, I do, you don't want to spend your time looking at my listing, if I'm not gonna look at yours. What I think a lot of people don't get is, getting views, especially from other sellers does not equal sales. Sure, we've all gotten a sale or two from the forums, but not because you spent an hour complimenting other people. You got a sale from the forums because someone, a buyer, saw what you posted and liked it enough to buy it. That same buyer could have seen you on the time machine or a simple search.

After I had my baby, I took a long forum break. When I returned, I began to quickly notice that the familiar faces were gone from the forums, but not etsy. I tried to get back into the swing of things on the forums and I'm ashamed to say it took me a long time to figure out why they had most likely left. I'll still jump on the promotion bandwagon from time to time, but I refuse to feel guilty for not looking at something I'm sure I won't buy or not leaving an insincere compliment so you'll look at my stuff. No one really needs 100 views on an item from people who would never buy it, when 1 view from someone who would is so much better.

Next: Part 2 - Street Teams