Promote your blog via Flickr - part II

I had posted earlier about how to promote yourself via Flickr. In that post I suggested submitting your photos to various groups. Here's an expansion on that idea:

Have you ever stumbled across blogs that showcase handmade items? Two fine blog examples are Gift Rap and Cuteable.

Where do you think they get their ideas?
Flickr.

Aha! I can just imagine the lightbulb going off in your head and the ideas are starting to churn.

Yes. You are correct in your thinking: Join the flickr group for these blogs and submit your pictures to them.

-------------------------

In fact, here's part of the Cuteable flickr group welcome page:

We regularly check the group for new pictures, and occasionally select outstanding entries for posting on the Cuteable blog!

To small and home-based crafts businesses: the Cuteable Flickr group is a great way to spread the word about your product(s) and get FREE advertising.

Be sure to include a nice description and high quality pictures, as this will increase your chances of getting some mega-primo-time on the main Cuteable blog.

Cuteable stats are here. Good news is they get a LOT of traffic. Bad news is that they have a lot of submissions. My advice is to submit your stuff and continue to keep up with your other promotion methods.

-------------------------

Here's a little blurb from The Gift Gurus flickr group page:

Get the latest tips and suggestions from the www.gifts.com "Gift Gurus," check out cool items from the "Gift Rap" blog and share your own gifting photos and stories with other gift-giving (and receiving!) aficionados.

-------------------------

Cuteable and Gift Rap are not the only ones out there who use their flickr group to collect new ideas. If you do a search for Flickr groups based on keywords that fit your item(s), you'll find more. Don't forget to check the following keywords: blog, gossip, shop, buy, baby, fashion... etc.

Now before you go running off to send your stuff to Cuteable, Gift Rap, and others, here are some rules and suggestions.

Rules:

• DO NOT include a link to your Etsy shop or any other commercial site in the description of any of your photos. Ever. This puts your entire flickr account at risk of being deleted without warning. If you must add a link, it can go to a blog or other NON-commercial site.
• Don't submit multiple shots of the same subject. It's overkill and can make you seem spammy and/or desperate.
• Refrain from adding "please feature me on your site" in your photo description. That's tacky and is more likely to get you ignored.
• Just use common sense when posting, follow the flickr TOS (even if other people are posting their Etsy links,) and have fun.

Suggestions:

• Include a non-salesy description of the item in the picture. Write as if you were showing it to a friend, not as a sales pitch.
• Use the best photo you have, with a clean background, good lighting, etc. Edit it to improve it, if necessary.
• Post photos of new items regularly, maybe once a week or so, to keep your flickr name reappearing. Psychologically, this builds your credibility as a serious crafter/artist.
• Just like in blogs, comment on other people's photos. Be complimentary, ask questions, and make your comments relative to their subject.
• Last, like in my earlier post, blog about your picture (if you have a blog) before submitting it to the group, and the include a link to your blog post in the photo's description. Here's an example -

The PlateWrap is a fun, re-useable cloth "gift wrap" for your Pass It On Plate.

This particular plate started its journey in northern California and you can track it here: passitonplates.blogspot.com/2007/07/200706150005.html

Excited about this? Go see what you can find out there. I'd love it if you would comment here with other groups come across.

Oh. And as of this writing, there are only 24 members in the Gift Gurus group (as opposed to 2500 at Cuteable). I'm going to watch and see how we can make this little group membership simply explode.

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