Treasury making for Newbies!

Contributed by:  Tina of AdornMeJewelry
I've had several people now ask me how to make, and find, a Treasury. I figured maybe I'd lay out some basic information for those of you who want to make a Treasury but don't know where or how to start.

Start here: the Poster Sketch at Etsy. Bookmark that page. It is where you can lay out the items you want to put in your Treasury and can see just what they'll look like once you catch your Treasury. The easiest way to add items is to go to the page of the item you want to add and copy the last 8 numbers in the listing URL (after "listing_id="), as you see in the photo to the left. Then click "edit" so the item field opens up. Then



paste the item number into the field for each item in your Sketch, and then click "edit" again. You should now see the item you want to add to your treasury. Once you have them all added, as well as four alternates, you can drag the items around to arrange and re-arrange until it's just how you like it. Just so you know, you may choose one of your own items, but admin will not use your treasury for the FP if you do -- but if they like your treasury enough to use it for the FP they will usually switch your item out before using it. I never put my own items in my treasuries for that reason. Plus, it just seems like inappropriate self-promotion to me, but YMMV. Also, for the same reason keep in mind that you should not use more than one item from the same shop.

Next, here is a great site, Craftopolis. It's a great resource for us Etsians, and especially those of us who pay attention to, and like to create, treasuries. Go there and type your store name in the field and it will show you if you're in any treasuries. Bookmark it now. That way, it will automatically load showing the treasuries you're in without you having to type it in each time. If you click the Treasury Clock tab near the top it will tell you how long it will be until each treasury opens up, Main and Treasury West (TW for short). If you click the name of the Treasury (Main or TW) it will take you to the main page for that treasury.

The main treasury has to drop below 333 treasuries before you can get one. TW has to drop between 222 in order to get one. You want to be there as soon as it drops -- the second it drops. You want to click on the Expiration arrow until it's pointing up, so you can see when the various treasuries expire, and you want to see the ones that will expire the soonest. The page self-refreshes, so you don't need to refresh it as it counts down. As a matter of fact, if you do try to refresh and it's too close to the time when it's going to open, you might miss it. Just leave the treasury window open. When I know it's going to expire soon I keep it to the left of my monitor, so I can see the numbers as they drop out of the corner of my eye, while I work in another browser page to the right. Be aware that some people delete their treasuries before they expire, so that the treasury can open up earlier than you think, so if it says it opens in 2 hours, say, keep that window open and keep an eye on it, as it will likely open up sooner than that. When it gets close enough (just a few away, if it's only going to be a few minutes, and not like an hour or something), I stop working and have the treasury window front and center. Have the name of your treasury ready and copy it to your clipboard so that the second it drops below 222 or 333, depending upon the treasury, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and click in the box, do a Ctrl+v and paste the name into the box and hit Enter immediately. You want to do this fast, because you can lose out in a few seconds if you're too slow. Then you just go and start pasting your items and your alternates into the new treasury and viola!

You can also add a kind of tag line right under the name, and put a link to your blog, or a cause, or something interesting, if you like.

Now, give your treasury a good start by clicking each active item. You do this for two reasons: first, to make sure that none of them are sold; if they are, replace the item with an alternate or something else you've just found that seems like it would be perfect. Also, you are allowed to give your treasury one view, so you're starting your treasury off with views.

When you click on each item, you can hit the "contact" link on that item and tell the person you have added them to your treasury, and paste in the URL of your treasury so they can go see. This is within Etsy's rules and is not considered to be spamming or a violation. Many people like to know when their item is in a treasury and most will go look, click and comment, which is what you want. Some will even write you back, thanking you. It's all part of being friendly neighbors, promoting each other and maybe even getting to know someone new and wonderful. I've made several friends this way. There are SO many fantastic Etsians that it's heartening and makes it feel like a real community, and not *quite* so small a fish in a big pond.

You can also tweet your treasury, list it on your blog and/or your FB fan page, and the front of your store page if you like. Treasury-making is fun, and looking at them is fun, too. When you look, it's always nice to click the items and leave a comment. It's not compulsory, but is a friendly thing to do. Have fun with it!

Hope this has helps. Happy Treasury making! :c)