Wednesday, May 27, 2009

151 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas :: Business Card Advertising

Today's Low-cost, High-impact Marketing Ideas focus on Business Card Advertising.

For the full list of ideas, organized by category, check out this post.

  1. drop cards at hairdressing salons, cafes
  2. drop posters on bulletin boards at work
  3. drop flyers in kitchenettes at work
  4. I did have an intranet classifieds listing at work- unfortunately they're onto me and it's gone now :(
  5. make gifts for children of friends- with card included for Mum!
  6. Print your business card on a pen and leave them everywhere - when you sign the check at a restaurant, when you sign in at the doctor, when you write a check at the grocery store, when you sign your kids out early from school...
  7. tape your business card to the inside of a bathroom stall
  8. What about cards left in taxis? And pockets of clothing you try on (those that aren't sewn up that is!) Or giving a bunch of stuff to a thrift store with tags attached?
  9. Whole Foods has a bulletin board in their front entrance and they let people put things up their all the time.
  10. Coffee shops are great for leaving cards.
  11. i put flyers up at "public" places; laundromats, the community building, the library, the park, the beach etc.
  12. a cafe owner had wrote "free coffee with this card" on the back of all his cards, that way the card finder has to come into the cafe to get some coffee, it's working and FAR less expensive than "advertising"
  13. On a side note, another good place to advertise is at your daycare. Lots of mom's picking up their kids would probably really love a free goodie bag & some business cards to boot!
  14. I carry a large Ziploc bag with half sheet sized flyers I made on PS and copied onto brightly colored paper at Kinko's in my van, with a roll of Scotch tape and a pack of thumb tacks. You never know where you'll end up that'll need some Etsy love. :)
  15. I leave my business cards with the tip in restaurants, and I hand them out to the staff at doctors offices Of course the key is to leave a good tip!!!!!!!
  16. I went to my OBGYN today for that oh so fun check up... DR asks me what I have been doing lately (of course I am sitting there in just a paper napkin and he wants to chat) anywho- I tell him about my new little biz adventure and he suggested I bring by some fliers and stuff and he will let me advertise there (perfect for me, baby items at the OBGYN office!) talk about multi tasking! LOL
  17. What if those of you who screenprint, had a little onesie, or burpcloth printed out with something like "I love Dr. so and so" or "Delivered with love by Dr. so and so". Something cute, but also giving a little promo to the Doc. I bet some obgyn's would love to purchase some of those to give out to new moms, and if I were a new mom who loved my obgyn, I'd have my baby wear it.
  18. For those who do animal-themed work, like I do, finding out if any of your local vets would be okay with you posting a card on their bulletin board
  19. Then, you could work out a deal, either by putting your etsy address on the item itself, or having the doctor include your business cards, or having a little tag on the item that says that the item was made by you, a local artist and mom who has more items available at *****.etsy.com
  20. When I leave business card or my booksmarks someplace. I mark them in a corner with the first two letters of the name of the place that I left then. Like I added 60 booksmarks to my son's goodie bag party and on the back I put the letter LE. LE stands for Long Elementary. I I go to the library I put DL, stands for Downtown Library, SD Supermarket Davidsons, SS Supermarket Safeway. This way I can ask them what letter are on the back this way I know where they pick up the bookmarks. Also I give them 10% off if they buy using the code: "Please mention the code on the card and you get 10% 0ff." This way I can see which place is working out for me.
  21. Everytime I use an ATM machine, I leave a business card on the little ledge beside it or on the keypad.
  22. Another good place is at fabric stores. The one that I go to has a board where others leave their business cards and flyers.
  23. I leave biz cards in my shopping cart/basket after I check out at the grocery store
  24. I've tucked mine inside those Sky Mall magazines tucked behind the seats in airplanes!
  25. i leave aceos in tip jars
  26. What places are you thinking of putting your cards? For my cooking class I teach at the city's rec center, I put flyers at the library, the Whole-Foods-ish grocery store, and a Starbucks or two. For my Etsy shop I'm thinking of putting cards/flyers at places moms and babies go but am having a hard time thinking of mom-places that have billboards
  27. Try asking any friends or family that work in office buildings to take some of your cards and leave them in the break rooms and cafeterias. I see them a lot in the building where I work, usually on bulletin boards or stacked by napkin dispensers.
  28. If you are selling multiples of the same item and sell one, you can include a few "tell a friend" business cards with the order - that include a photo of the item they purchased. Customers will sometimes share these with people who ask them about your item.
  29. I have been selling some items on ebay. When I package up my item for shipment, I include a small card that reads "thank you for your purchase - be sure to check out my other items on etsy" and have my etsy address at the bottom. I also include my (etsy) business card.
  30. Last night I gave the property manager a stack of my cards and he is going to put one in each of the new tenants(homeowners) welcome package! I also went around and hit up every bulletin board in the apartment complex.
  31. Whenever I take a flight I leave cards in the seat pocket and/or the magazines.
  32. I leave free buttons with my biz card attached pretty much anywhere I can without being caught. Mostly bathrooms etc.. Its my PIF with a motive I guess...I dont know if Ive gotten any looks but what the heck... I usually use my Canadian Girls Rock! buttons....I cant wait till that day Im standing in line at a coffee shop and see one of my buttons on the napsack of the girl in front of me...I might cry! LOL
  33. Got business cards. They have a description of what I sell, my name, my email address, my store address and the line "Come see what I made today!" I hand out two to each friend I see during the day, the babysitter's mom, and enclose two in every letter and package I send out.
  34. I got some great results by leaving fliers in stores around town, any store I went to that would allow it got a nice little stack of my fliers. I would also put them on the bus and subway seats. I had a few people report they found out about my business that way.
  35. I would only put on your business card, your name, your etsy store name, your etsy web address and your e-mail address. I don't have my address or phone number on there. If people want to contact me they can get to an e-mail address with a computer or they can come and leave a message by going to etsy.
  36. I live in a college town and the students are back so I grabbed a pal and hit the high-rise dorms. They have bulletin boards by all the elevators usually covered in weight loss or work from home ad's. I did 4 different dorms each with 25 floors! My feet hurt.
  37. Whenever there's one of those raffle boxes for a prize or to enter your info to be on someone else's mailing list--instead of filling out the little form (and hunting down a pen) I just drop my business card in the box instead--it's a lot quicker for me, and all my contact info is already on there.

With all of these great business card ideas, there are also some safety concerns to think about.
BUSINESS CARD SAFETY

  • I would only put on your business card, your name, your etsy store name, your etsy web address and your e-mail address. I don't have my address or phone number on there. If people want to contact me they can get to an e-mail address with a computer or they can come and leave a message by going to etsy.
  • Archdiva said: There was another discussion here in the (Etsy) forums about putting a phone number on business cards. Several no cost or low cost options for voicemail were discussed which would allow you to have a contact number on your cards without giving out your home or personal number.
  • I wouldn't put my home address on business cards that I drop here and there. Instead I use a PO Box so creepy people can't locate me so easily.



As mentioned in this post, the ideas in this post came from my snippets of ideas saved from Etsy forum posts over the last year. If you provided an idea listed here, please comment and I'll credit the idea to you with a link to your shop, ok?







Did you like this post? How about subscribing
in a reader or by Email?

Monday, May 25, 2009

151 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas :: Cross Promotion

Today's Low-cost, High-impact Marketing Ideas focus on Cross Promotion (aka Joint Ventures).

For the full list of ideas, organized by category, check out this post.

  1. After getting the OK from the other seller to do some cross-promotional listings, you could look at some of her items and find the ones you think would "match up" most successfully with yours. Then at the bottom of your description, write a gift hint along the lines of, "If you like this item, be sure to take a look at *seller name*'s *item name* as well." Then post the URL of the item. Etsy will automatically convert the URL to a link if it's placed on a line by itself.
  2. I carry cards with me Everywhere, and put some at each business i stop at that will let me. if it's a local shop i love, i take some of theirs to pass along, they scratch my back, i scratch theirs
  3. If I use something of theirs in my pictures to display my items, I put a link to their shop right in the listing.
  4. One of the things I like to do with my customers is include a little packet of samples from other Etsy shops. By samples, I mean SMALL samples of things that are sold: little slices of soap, tea candles, etc
  5. I also like to make a note about how many other sellers items were used to make that item. Most of my products use at least one seller item, sometimes 2 or 3. people keep buying that piece, I keep getting that supply :)
  6. I mention other sellers if they choose colors or inspire an item.
  7. trade business cards and promo items with other etsyians
  8. some people put Etsy mini of their favorites on their blog
  9. When I find something I love I email it to all my friends. And of course all of my friends love to fw fw fw fw ....

As mentioned in this post, the ideas in this post came from my snippets of ideas saved from Etsy forum posts over the last year. If you provided an idea listed here, please comment and I'll credit the idea to you with a link to your shop, ok?





Did you like this post? How about subscribing
in a reader or by Email?

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Marketing Tips from the Etsy Forums

Have you had enough great marketing ideas to set your business on fire?

No?

Ok. Today I'd like to take a little break from the huge list of ideas and share a few links with you to check out:

Etsy's ChristianHaylie created this post:
25 Marketing tips to get your products moving!
and also
More Marketing tips to get your products moving!

FluffyFlowers shares:
1 little tiny Marketing tip

soapdeli says:
Are you new to selling online? Marketing tips to get you started.

mrsdstahl tells a great story about her advertising experience to help you understand where to focus your marketing energy and advertising dollars:
More Great Marketing Tips Revealed

FlyingButtons make a very good point with this forum post:
Just hit my 100th sale in 8 weeks, thought I'd pass on my key marketing tip

You have to check this one out... so easy.
contrariwise says:
Marketing Tip: how to drive more people to your Etsy shop from your blog
Here's a link to the blog post she mentions in the forum. Great tutorial.
And please observe how she has her blog laid out. She doesn't mention it, but basically her blog posts are nestled between two columns of her own creations so you can't help but be amazed at her items. And yes - they're all clickable links to the Etsy listing.
Smart.

Designsbyreese says:
BLOG LOCAL!

DBlankPrints brings up the topic of URL tagging:
(Don't overlook this simple trick.)
Have a simple marketing tip? I'll suggest the first one...

saratams gets into the nuts and bolts of creating and establishing an online presence:
Marketing Tips

Because outdoor market season is upon us, Neogami talks about her experience:
First time selling at market ends in 100's...want tips?


On Monday 5/25/09 I'll post the next category from the huge list of marketing ideas...





Did you like this post? How about subscribing
in a reader or by Email?


Monday, May 18, 2009

151 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas :: URL Tagging

Today's Low-cost, High-impact Marketing Ideas focus on URL Tagging.

For the full list of ideas, organized by category, check out this post.

  1. I like to post my URL only in weird places so people go out of curiousity. I do most of my advertising (for my own webpage, my etsy shop is not up yet) on Public Transit. I have a rubber stamp with my URL and I will warm it in my hand for a few minutes, then stamp with no ink onto the frosted or icy walls of the bus shelter. It "etches" the URL in and it stays there until the next thaw and people come out of curiousity. I live in Canada, so I can easily do the ice stamp and it will stay there for a few months. I guess it won't work for some of you guys down there. Maybe you could write your URL in the sand at the beach?, so the ice stamp can stay there for 5 months sometimes.
  2. Put your shop url on any form you have to fill out at the doctor's, credit card applications, etc. Also enclose with bill payments.
  3. I've got my etsy site address on the back window of my car
  4. Magnetic car stickers & bumper stickers = http://www.vistaprint.com/car-magnets/car-door-magnets.aspx?GP=4%2f25%2f2009+6%3a01%3a46+PM&xnav=top&rd=21
  5. I have a decal on my car windows with my etsy username, shop address and tagline. I have the same info on a tote bag that I basically use for a purse
  6. Temporary tattoos
  7. my myspace name is my actual website
  8. Put a link to my store and "Come see what I made!" in my email signature.
  9. If you have an actual physical location, or are at a craft fair with sidewalks, use sidewalk chalk. "Awesome cool Whatever It Is You Make" and an arrow works amazingly well.
  10. I write my web address and add a graphic using a stencil with chalk on the sidewalks wherever me and the kids go
  11. I remember someone saying they go to Best Buy and put all the internet linked computers on her Etsy shop. Ditto for the Mac store
  12. Put stickers or get a stamp made with your web url/shop name etc. and stick them on and stamp anything :)
  13. When paying bills, sending mail, even send them to school with the kids on notes to the teacher, hand one to the door greeter at wal-mart
  14. in chat rooms i tell people not to look in my shop
  15. Oh yeah, I have my url on my envelope labels too.
  16. I also have my URL on the back of my car, super big! The sticker only cost me $20 and you can read it from a few car lengths away!
  17. I have a return address label that has my return address on it and 2 spaces below has my Etsy website. I asked my Postmaster if that was OK & he said "fine".

As mentioned in this post, the ideas in this post came from my snippets of ideas saved from Etsy forum posts over the last year. If you provided an idea listed here, please comment and I'll credit the idea to you with a link to your shop, ok?



Did you like this post? How about subscribing in a reader or by Email?


Wednesday, May 13, 2009

151 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas :: Gifts

Today's Low-cost, High-impact Marketing Ideas focus on Gifts.

For the full list of ideas, organized by category, check out this post.

  1. Rebekah commented on this post with a great idea:
    Give a gift to a blogger and let them write a review! :)
  2. my USPS clerks love getting custom stuff at xmas
  3. nice little gifts for all the teachers, they work so hard with our children all day.
  4. just giving my stuff as gifts has resulted in a lot of requests for my work.
  5. i have my paintings on greeting cards and i use them for all sorts of occasions
  6. send them as gifts, and "What do you think? How could I make this better?" It's not pushy so long as you are truly giving it as a gift.
  7. and the most shameless of all: at a baby shower I made a blanket for the newcomer...she held it up and told everyone I made it and I sell them.. I was passing around business cards for the rest of the party ;)

As mentioned in this post, the ideas in this post came from my snippets of ideas saved from Etsy forum posts over the last year. If you provided an idea listed here, please comment and I'll credit the idea to you with a link to your shop, ok?





Did you like this post? How about subscribing
in a reader or by Email?

Monday, May 11, 2009

151 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas :: Community Involvement

Today's Low-cost, High-impact Marketing Ideas focus on Community Involvement.

For the full list of ideas, organized by category, check out this post.

  1. You could donate to a fundraiser, chamber of commerce mixer, or grand opening of a local business. Where we live, there always chambers and small businesses who clamour for freebies to giveaway as prizes at local events, put in their silent auction or prize package -- and this usually gets your logo in whatever advertising they have!
  2. Most public libraries are so community oriented that they would probably be willing to have a poster for your shop or even a display case to show your wares.
  3. Speaking of libraries, ask them if you can display your items there. My local library has a display. When I first started I asked if I could put some of my prints in their display window. I offered them a commision as an incentive. They let me keep my work in there for a little over a month. That worked for me.
  4. Teaching & demos. I have had the best luck in reaching folks in the community this way. First, you get free advertising (if you are doing it at a gallery, local arts center, or as part of a group of community ed classes). At the class/demo, I usually have a mailing list sign up sheet, business cards, etc. I just finished an outdoor show last week, two thirds of my last class from a couple of weeks before came to the show. One person actually bought something, had 2 other orders, and some wore their piece they made. If you do this, the show and classes and promote each other. Advertise your classes to people visiting you at the show, then when you have the class/demo, invite them to the show. You can offer discounts for them to attend the other venue.
  5. I go to little one-woman vintage B&Ms that are struggling, and tell the owners about Etsy. I'd like them to stay in business, too, and what goes around comes around. Someday when I have my B&M I hope someone is so kind to me. Last week I saw a place with $2 aprons. Instead of snatching them up and making a profit off her, I did the "teach a man to fish thing" and asked her if she could use a computer, and yes, and then all about how to set up on Etsy, and how to convo me if she needed help. She's got kids to feed, and I know she can get $8-10 for those on Etsy, and help bring in new customers, too!
  6. Your local chamber of commerce or local chapter of BNI holds monthly meet and greet meetings and that has probably helped my business more than any other single thing i've done over the years. join in on community projects, etc. to become known in your community....
  7. I always advertise in local concert playbills, use the "local artist angle" and it brings a lot of business.
  8. So my best promotions still remain craft fairs and classes taught offline. If you can make those regular, your name, cards and face are out there all the time and you make contacts that come back.
  9. I am also active in my community. It truly helps to develop relationships with people - they may not purchase from you but they may know someone who will.
  10. I donated a blanket to my mother's family reunion.

As mentioned in this post, the ideas in this post came from my snippets of ideas saved from Etsy forum posts over the last year. If you provided an idea listed here, please comment and I'll credit the idea to you with a link to your shop, ok?





Did you like this post? How about subscribing
in a reader or by Email?

Friday, May 8, 2009

151 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas You Can Use


This should be called "151 Low-cost, High-impact Guerrilla Marketing Ideas Collected Over The Last Year From Etsy Forum Posts."

When I see a great idea, I save it to a word document. The other day I organized my collection of ideas and decided not to keep them to myself any longer. Since I just clipped each idea, the original posters of these ideas are unknown. (If you provided an idea listed here, please comment and I'll credit the idea to you with a link to your shop, ok?)

The complete list is obnoxiously long, so I'll list one category of ideas per post, two posts per week, starting this Monday, 5/11/09.

As I post them, I'll add links below so you can bookmark this post for future reference.

Categories:
Business Card Advertising
Community Involvement
Contests
Conversation Starters
Craft Shows & Home Parties
Cross Promotion
Gifts

Ideas from the Etsy Forums
Magazine Submissions & Articles
Media
Memorable Business Cards
Samples
Tell-A-Friend 
URL Tagging
Video
Wholesale
Your Identity






Photo credits:
Scarf = http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimrose/
Pangea Box = http://www.flickr.com/photos/theogeo/
Black package = http://www.flickr.com/photos/halfbisqued/
Gift Box = me
Finger Pin Cushion = http://www.flickr.com/photos/crafterella/




Did you like this post? How about subscribing
in a reader or by Email?

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Reactions to the 11,000 Twitter followers post

On Monday, I republished parts of a 28-page Etsy forum post about how CatherinetteRings got 11,000 Twitter followers and how it has helped their sales.

Today, I'd like to share some forum comments from other Etsyians:

I've already more than doubled my twitter followers in just a day thanks to the great advice! :)

Wow. Took some of the advice on this thread and I have so many new followers. Definitely see that it gets me more views.

I've gotten at least 2 sales from twitter and I have less than 2000 followers.

Actually, a single tweet that reaches a potential market of 11,000 people is a very good investment in time. I've found many a great item for sale on Twitter..

I too thought Twitter was the most ridiculous thing until I started seeing how many Twitter followers were actually visiting my sites using Google Analytics...really took me by surprise.

It's a great marketing tool, as long as you remember to not just Twitter about your business, or at least make your biz tweets fun and engaging.

Do your twitter research and see the BIG NAMES using it because it works. It doesn't matter whether you "get it" or not, it works. If it translates into even just one sale a month, it works. I get so amazed at the folks who simply don't use something because they don't like it or get it or whatever the reason. If Twitter is good enough for the Fortune 500 companies, then its definitely good enough for me.

I only have just over 100 followers, but according to Google Analytics, I get quite a few hits coming from Twitter. I don't know how many purchases that has translated into, though.

it sounds like another marketing tool that is going to stick around the way it has caught on. if barbara walters can tweet, so can i! :D

I tried an experiment: I listed two similar items on Etsy. I tweeted about one and didn't tweet about the other. The tweeted item got a phenomenally higher number of views!

I have a very different approach to twitter than the original poster, but to those asking it DEFINITELY can result in sales! I've had numerous sales and private custom orders as a direct result of twitter. I love it when someone says "I found you on twitter and I'd like to buy this..."

Next to blogging, twitter has been the best thing I've done for my little business.

I have at LEAST 15 sales because of Twitter in the last month, I ask people who buy from me where they heard about me and a lot of them said twitter. Oh and 2 of those sales came back and purchased items again

And my favorite comment:

marking this for when i get smart enough to twitter

You can learn more facts about Twitter in the second post on this page.





Did you like this post? How about subscribing
in a reader or by Email?


Monday, May 4, 2009

Sharing my Twitter Strategy : 11000 followers

I just read through an entire Etsy forum post (26 pages and still growing) about how Etsy's CatherinetteRings has used Twitter to increase her sales. Her info is a fantastic example of how Twitter can help increase your sales, as well as a step by step tutorial on how she made it work.

The entire forum post is here, entitled "Sharing my Twitter Strategy : 11000 followers" and his tutorial is listed in the original post. Please check it out.

A summary of the next 26 27 28 pages includes a more in-depth explanation by CatherinetteRings:
(The quoted text that follows is used with permission.)

How has it increased Catherinette Rings's traffic?
"Whenever i post a link to an item , i get from 30 to 70 hits within minutes . You don't get that many hits by renewing items these days . "

Google Analytics stats:
"1. (direct) / (none) 4,139
2. adn.entrecard.com / referral 1,661
3. twitter.com / referral 1,652
4. google / organic 1,287
5. entrecard.com / referral 798
6. steampunkrings.blogspot.com / referral 551
7. craftcult.com / referral 436
8. facebook.com / referral 251
9. deviantart.com / referral 152
10. catherinetterings.deviantart.com / referral 135
And these figures are growing . 1652 referral would cost me 250$ of google add"

"Everything that brings more traffic , eventually brings sales . twitter is in 3rd position and represent 11 % of the traffic i get . I have received many Direct message after a purchase or note to seller saying they found me with twitter . "

Does this work?
"I get lots of sale from Twitter . Many buyers told me they found me on twitter . "

What does CatherinetteRings tweet about?
"Personal vs. Business :You can use twitter for personal but i recommend that you use a separate twitter account for your business . Personal stuff is not relevant to business , you need to build an image that reflects the nature of your business on twitter , for ex saying that you are going to take a walk because its sunny outside might not interest those who follow you for your craft . This way you can keep tweeting about something relevant to your business . Work in progress , new design , tips ...etc "

"You have to filter what you think will be interesting for those who follow your business on twitter , When you say your working on something , some of your followers sometimes replies to that , that's when you get in and interact with them and engage in a discussion . I dont tweet all day and say everything i do . That would be boring . "

"Also you can comment and reply to others tweet , when you find something interesting . You can RT : retweet content from someone you follow so that your followers can also read that tweet . "

Ok, so how much time do you spend managing this?
"Building a followers list to 11000 takes times but once you have them , you can post tweets that takes just a few second to write and get 100 hundreds of views from just a line less that 140 character long , hard to beat and less time consuming that blogging . Now , i can just sit and wait an still my followers list grows by it self , the more followers you have the more popular you become . "

"One advantage i have is that im a full-time artisan . My priority is custom orders , post office first and adding new rings to my shop . Then when im less busy i put all my effort on promoting . Then i get a rush and i have no time for promoting and i just do customs until it slows down . I alocate time to promoting depending on the flow ."

"The majority of twitter users are already using it to promote their store and I only have about 400 updates , i don't spam twitter . Twitter users have the choice to follow or not to follow so if you don't like the way someone use twitter you simply don't follow them . 56% of twitter users are using it for their business, so there is no reason to be afraid to promote your business with twitter . You can choose the way you want to use it . I use it the way i have learned to use it after reading a lot of business oriented tips from various sources on the web . "

Pam's note: There were a lot of questions in the forum, and several people mentioned their dislike for someone with so many followers, which is fine. Obvoiusly, 11,000 people don't have a problem with this and like CatherinetteRings said in the original post, it took some time to build the list. Other Etsyians voiced their concern over spam tweets, which CatherinetteRings addressed when discussing what he/they tweet about. While I didn't post a chronological repeat of the entire forum here, I did organize the info into an interview style for my summary of the post.

Thanks again, CatherinetteRings, for permission to republish!

On Wednesday, I'll post some of the follow up comments from this forum. Meanwhile, you can learn more facts about Twitter in the second post on this page.








Did you like this post? How about subscribing
in a reader or by Email?