Not only did we get an all time record in voter participation, but there are also three shops who've had their first sale during the poll! And that is only for the February shops. There were TEN undiscovered shops getting their first sale this past week! You can see the whole list of alumni, as well as shops that are still undiscovered in this thread.
Usually I try to run the promoting and poll as a surprise Random Act of Kindness, but this month was a little different. For past polls, a few people have mentioned they didn't vote because there were too many choices and it would have taken too long to check them all out, so this month I tried to decrease the number of choices in the poll and have a separate page for the whole list of undiscovered studios. That way those lacking time could still vote, and those who wanted to discover more beauty could still check all 24 recently submitted studios.
I COULD have gone the surprise way and used random.org to randomly pick 10 shops out of the 24, but I thought it would be more fair if there was some sort of advantage for the shops who are actively tending to their studio and want to be seen. Now the best way I could think of doing that was to pick a time most people are likely to check their email and send a message out. The first ones to post in the forum or PM me would then be added to the poll. Still random, but with a healthy dose of luck added in :)
The studios answering after the poll filled up were to be entered in a random drawing for regular features during the week the poll would run. I was hoping that would have made it less sad for those who answered later in the day. In fact, since only 15 out of the 24 studios responded, all 5 studios who didn't get into the poll got featured during the 02/01-02/07 week and one of them even had their first sale!
I felt uncomfortable sending out so many emails, so not sure what I'll be doing next month, but nonetheless it was fun to see such an amazing response to the poll call. It only took one hour and 31 minutes for the poll to fill up!! And from the poll results, it looks like some studios have even mobilized their friends and fans to support them! Which is great since that is the first step to promoting :)
This month we also brought back the widget used last December and five artisans have installed it on their sites, supporting this month's undiscovered studios. Thank you!
We also had a #FollowFriday feature for people who have shown their support by being the first ones to tweet the poll. Thank you @hillcountrycoll @cre8urname @TheHobbyRoom @valmade @tadasanatribal @sotocapmania @natashasuter @danilavdesigns @SSSpix @momwithahook!! There were more tweets later, these are just the first ones. You are all wonderful!
There are many more kind souls who have supported this month's undiscovered studios, be it by being their first customer, by bumping the poll threads, by letting their IRL friends know about the poll, or many other beautiful ways to show their love. To all, a big heartfelt THANK YOU! You have made a lot of artisans happy!
Since this month I used a new poll engine, I couldn't build the cute timelapse video of the poll, but you can see how it would look in last month's post. It's VERY cool to see your votes breathe life into the poll! It looks alive, doesn't it? It looks very musical too, almost like an MP3 player display :)
Onto the poll results... we had an astonishing 84 voters this month, 27 voters more than the previous record. While we didn't break the record for first sales during a poll, we still got 3 new discovered studios. How wonderful! A poll where everyone can entertain new visitors, where everyone is a WINNER!
So here is the list of WINNERS for February:
AMAZINGBEADS (first sale)
andeedesigns
biosphere
BootiesByBabylove
BotanicalsFromAbove
carolthompson
cre8urname
distractedbyshiny
ferozasjewelery
Foxgloves
Gourmet_Felted
GreerDesignStudio
heartofthefire
HeathersHaven
HuckleberryBumpkin (first sale)
Ingodesign
JeninesJewels
kiki1990
Leaflette
lindaroseoriginals
mailelani
SandysDesigns
SewWhatDesigns
Silver-Haunt (first sale)
They are all amazing, each with their own talents and beauty! A wonderful group I urge you to visit and discover. You will be blown away :)
Of these studios, 10 were the fastest to answer the poll call. ALL studios were favorited at least 5 times! Again, everyone is a WINNER :)
Now, for the final tally for the TOP 5 by number of votes...
(#) STUDIO - VOTES
(5) DS biosphere - 8 votes
(5) mailelani - 8 votes
(4) DS Silver-Haunt - 10 votes
(3) BotanicalsFromAbove - 13 votes
(2) DS HuckleberryBumpkin - 19 votes
(1) andeedesigns - 43 votes
The TOP FIVE WINNERS will be featured on my blog starting Monday February 8th, and the TOP WINNER ~ andeedesigns ~ will get a special promotion and a surprise gift :)
Since the features are reserved for studios with 0 sales the morning of, mini-features about other poll participants who are still undiscovered may also be posted this week ~ to replace the DS (discovered studios). (One extra studio was discovered before their feature).
The poll is over, but that doesn't mean you can't mention your favorites. That is what the comments are for :)
Looking forward to hearing from you!
But before I go my merry way, here is a preview from andeedesigns's studio:
Isn't this a wonderful gift idea for someone who has everything (including a bunch of lovely grandchildren)?
Great Job mv.
ReplyDeleteWell done to all the new shops, especially those that got themselves a sale.
Val
Thank you Val! <3 I was ecstatic to see those sales happen! I think I'm getting as much of a kick out of first sales as the studios themselves LOL It's like getting my first sale over and over again. I'm having a blast! :) (Ok, I admit that sounds weird, but it's true...)
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