One more super easy SEO trick to boost your blog

In my last two blog posts I shared some tips on using basic SEO to get more traffic to your blog. I hope you've had some nice results from these tips. Today I've got one more thing you can do to build on the last post.

In the last post I suggested using Google Analytics to find out what keywords people were using to get to your site, and then blogging about these keywords. Using that trick, let's go one step further.

1. Go to Google Alerts and type in your keyword. Select what kinds of sites/blogs you want to search, how often you want to be alerted, and where the alert should be sent. In my case, I set up a Google Alert for "ceramic paint pens" (in quotes so Google searches that exact phrase.)

2. Like in the last blog post, you'll need to give it a week or so for the results to show up. When they do, browse through the links and see if anything would be of interest to your readers. I found this intriguing and related blog post at Re-nest. (The tea set shown there is amazing, isn't it?)

3. When you've found something interesting, blog about it, using your keyword three to five times. Write your own content with your own opinion and viewpoint. Be sure to get permission to re-post any relevant pictures found on the other website. Include a link to that site - partly as a courtesy to your readers if they want more info, party to add credibility to your own post, and mostly to give credit to the owner of the original content.

Your loyal readers will appreciate you sharing some interesting and related info and you'll have something fresh for your new readers. Don't be surprised if you get a mention at the other website for sharing their info with your readers.

Where else can you use this SEO trick? It depends on what your keyword is. Instead of just setting up a Google Alert, I have also found great content to blog about with a keyword search at the following sites.

Crafts, handmade goods, art - Etsy or Artfire

Food - try recipe sharing sites such as Recipezaar

Local stuff, travel, scenery, misc - Flickr

(If you have a Flickr account, you can set up your blog(s) from your account page. Then, if you see a picture you want to blog about and the picture owner has chosen to allow others to blog it, just hit the "Blog This" button and blog it from there. Easy peasy.)

If you try this on your blog, comment here and let me know how you liked it.  Don't forget to get permission before using any photos - and let the owners of the original content know that you've posted about them whenever possible.

Cheers!

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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?

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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.

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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.

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Etsy Hacks

Have you heard of Etsy Hacks?



I stumbled across this site while cruising through the Etsy forums. It's a huge time saver for me, especially since I hate listing new items - what a time consuming pain in the butt.



Etsy Hacks is a site where you can get tools to do handy things such as:

• Heart-Unheart


• Fast Tagging


• Bulk Image Uploader (Upoad all 5 pictures at once! Oh my gosh, how much time will that save you?)


• and more

My opinion: If you sell on Etsy, you need this.



While Etsy Hacks can work through your Internet Explorer bookmarks, it works best as an add on for your Firefox web browser.



When you visit the site, you'll see that when you click on a hack title, such as Fast Tagging, you go to that hack's page to view a screenshot of how it works, installation instructions (pretty easy), and other information. Check it out - it's sure to make your time spent on Etsy much more productive.



http://www.etsyhacks.com/greasemonkey/

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Blog Header for Etsy Tutorial

About six weeks ago I showed you a fun tool called a Blog Header Generator. While this would be nice for a blog, this could be awesome for Etsy.

If you missed the earlier post, you can check it out here: http://www.pamhawk.com/2009/02/flickr-blog-header-generator.html

I am currently building a website for my high school. The school closed in 1990 when the school district dissolved (very sad for all of us) and now we have an all school reunion being planned for next year. I'm using this technique to create a header for the website, but you can use this technique to a header for your Etsy shop, your blog, a website, or wherever.
This is soooo easy.

1. Find a picture you want to use.
In this example, I'm using a photo scanned from an old yearbook.

2. Run your picture through the blog header generator (There's a link in the sidebar, too.)
After trying it with Center, Upper Left, and Lower Right, I decided on Center. Here's the blog header that was generated. Save it to your computer.

Why not just crop and edit in flickr or another program? I could, but this crops it to ideal dimensions and scales the picture to the correct width. It's just easier and faster this way.

3. Upload the picture you just saved to your flickr account.
Click Edit, then click the tab that says Create.
Now click Text to add your title. Adjust the color, size, font, and placement until it's perfect.

In this case, I used the name of the school, since that's also the name of the website. You could use your blog name, your Etsy shop name, and if you're using this header for a special sale or special event you can customize your text to promote this event.


Ta dah! Finished product. You can see that after adding text, I also clicked Frames and added rounded corners.


If you want to see this in action, you can take a peek at the school website at www.ondossagonaggies.com

Meanwhile, if you try this, please comment here with your links so we can all visit your shop and see your handiwork!

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Another important tool for your Giveaway

Several weeks ago I posted about how to host a giveaway on your blog. If you're using this info, you must add this brilliant blogger to your arsenal of giveaway tools: Handmade Showcase. The link has been added to the sidebar under Giveaways Toolbox.
See it there?

What makes her site so special?
She conducts an interview with you, posts several pictures of your products, and conducts a giveaway of your item(s) for you.

According to her Project Wonderful stats, she has a lot of steady traffic, which means a LOT of people will see her feature of you and your shop. (Yes, I looked at her PW stats. I always look. More on that subject later...)

I browsed through the items and Etsy shops featured... she features some beautiful, high quality items ranging from baby goods, jewelry, other sewn items, paintings, paper goods, bath and body products, scarves...

Please go check her out and consider contacting her to sponsor a giveaway for you.

I'm heading over there myself, to see about sponsoring a giveaway with my plates.


(And remember, all comments are do-follow, so your comment left here supports YOU.)

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Seven steps to hosting a Great Giveaway

Do you regularly host a Giveaway on your blog or website? This is a great way to increase your traffic and get your products in front of new potential customers. It's also a fantastic way to drive a lot of new traffic to your online store, if you have one.

Today's question is: How do you conduct a Giveaway?

1. Plan on what you will give away. It could be:
- Something from your online store and/or something you have made
- A gift certificate to your online store or to your favorite online store
- One of your favorite products (a new one, of course!)
- Something your regular readers would love to have - perhaps a hobby or lifestyle item?
- Something related to your blog topic or something you frequently blog about
- Advertising space on your blog
- A one-year membership - like a pro account from Flickr.com, for example
- Entrecard credits, if you use them

2. Take clear, well-lit pictures of your item on a simple background, then write up an irresistible description of the item. At this point you could package up the item and get it ready to be mailed. Include any promotional material you have for your shop, if applicable. Just make sure you label the outside of the package so you remember what it is.

3. Calculate your cost to host the Giveaway, including shipping. Since this will cost you some money, you'll need to decide if this is a hobby or a business. If it might be a business expense, you may want to consider how to categorize it. I am not a bookkeeper or accountant, so I recommend contacting yours to check on the best way to calculate the cost of the Giveaway into your accounting method, whether it's part of your advertising budget or belongs in a different category.

4. Write out your Giveaway rules.
a) Do you want people to perform specific tasks, such as visiting a certain website and/or leaving comments about anything in particular? Several Etsy shops require contest entrants to visit their shop then leave a blog comment about their favorite thing in the shop. Some bloggers ask contest entrants mention the Giveaway in their own blogs. Others ask for everyone's answers to a specific question. Requiring a specific action, while not necessary, can make the giveaway fun for everyone.
b) What are your Giveaway dates? Note the time zone of your start and end times.
c) How will you pick the winner? There are a few online places that will randomly pick a winner, such as Random.org or Contest Machine. Actually, Contest Machine collects entries, then randomly picks and contacts the winner for you. If you're really into hosting Giveaways, you may want to look at Contest Machine to help. At this time, use of the widget is free for up to two Giveaways per month.
d) Write up your entire Giveaway announcement and doublecheck it for clarity.
I am also not a lawyer so I cannot give you legal advice, but I recommend you look into any laws that your Giveaway will need to follow.
e) Where do you want people to put their Giveaway entries? You could have them leave comments on your blog or if you're expecting a lot of traffic you could install a Mr. Linky widget to take care of that for you. (You'll have to register to use the Mr. Linky, but there are two basic Mr. Linkies for free with a basic membership.)

5. Just like sending invitations to a party, invite people to your Giveaway.
a) Make an announcement on your blog at least a week prior to the beginning of the Giveaway.
b) Include a signature line in your outgoing emails with the Giveaway dates and a link to your site. (Be careful not to spam people with emails about your Giveaway, though.)
c) Get the word out. Notify all the blogs and other websites that announce Giveaways a day or two in advance. (Keep in mind it may take them up to a couple days to announce the giveaway, so you may want to consider running your giveaway for up to a week. Experiment and see what works best for you.)
Please follow the submission rules of each site, of course. Some places to start are:
Tip Junkie
Etsy Giveaways
Blog Events Dex
Blog Contest Station
Mom Giveaways
The Giveaway
Barefoot Mommies
Prizeatron

If you look at my sidebar you'll see a "Giveaway Toolbar" where I will continue to list these Giveaway announcement blogs as I find them. If you host a Giveaway blog not listed here, please comment below and I'll add you to the list!


d) If you advertise via Project Wonderful, The Indiego, or through other sites, run an ad for your Giveaway. Schedule your ad to end a couple hours before the Giveaway ends.

6. Get ready for traffic. Giveaway time is like tv sweeps, where you are offering something fantastic to encourage new visitors to stop by and check you out. Clean up and spruce up your blog, if needed, and schedule some great blog posts for first time visitors to read. If you don't have a "Subscribe to this blog" button or a "Follow Me" widget (available on Blogger,) add one near the top of the page to make it easy for new visitors to become a regular reader.

7. Unleash the hounds! Post your Giveaway announcement with the picture of your item and watch the traffic zoom in. When it's over, announce the winner to everyone, thank your visitors for stopping by, and send the prize to your happy winner.

Related post: A Brilliant Giveaway Strategy

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Host an online Spouse's Shopping Event

Hey Etsyians, boost your sales during the upcoming holiday shopping season by hosting an online Spouse's Shopping Event.

Send a card to all of your customers using snail mail. In this card, invite them to browse through your shop for their favorite items. Have them note their favorite items and spouse's name on a pre-paid post card that they send back to you.

When the card comes back, send a card to each spouse, introducing your shop and mentioning the favorite items chosen by your customers. Offer a discount, free gift wrapping, and any other specials you would like to extend for this shopping event. Make sure you note a time limit so you have time to get orders wrapped and packaged and shipped out in time for the holidays.

Your customers will love their gifts and their spouses will appreciate the personalized shopping assistance.

Note: By sending cards to your customers via snail mail, you are not violating Etsy's strict no-spam policy (which is a good policy) and your card is more likely to be opened and read by your customers.

Stay tuned for the next blog post which expands on this idea

Interview with Laurie Beth Beggin

Dear readers, today we have another interview with my good friend and very talented stained glass artist Laurie B. I have mentioned her and linked to her several times here and now is your chance to find out more about her promotion techniques. If you're not familiar with Laurie B, please visit her Etsy shop to see her work. She is skilled in the Tiffany style of creating stained glass and her pieces range in style from flowers, craftsman, mosaic, abstract, and a collection of custom-made angels. Have you seen her Harry Potter? Wow.

Do you blog for the sake of blogging or do you blog to promote another activity? If you blog to promote another activity, please tell us a little bit about it.

My primary reason for blogging is to promote my store on Etsy, 27lauriebethbeggin.etsy.com. I do REALLY enjoy it though. I enjoy photography and as I go through my day I'm always thinking about topics to blog about, and picture to share on my blog.

Of all the blogging tools, blogging communities, blogging techniques, and widgets and gadgets, what do you think has made the biggest impact for you?

I'm still so new to blogging that this is a tough one to answer. I recently joined Interior Design Team and they seem incredibly organized. I'm really trying to dig my heels into that group. At this point I'd say Marmalade Pink has been the most supportive and helpful. Amy has great articles and she's so willing to share her knowledge.

What is Marmalade Pink and how does it help you?

Marmalade Pink is an online community for networking of artists all around the globe. It is a community on the Ning network that you join. It has a place for blogging, photo sharing and the main page has wonderful articles, a list of members who you can befriend and a spot for advertising.

How much time do you spend at Marmalade Pink?

I spend at least a 1/2 hour every day surfing Marmalade Pink to see who is new, what the articles have to say, read the marketing articles, new posts, etc.

What kind of results have you had?

I think with all marketing and networking it takes time to see the results. I've made a direct sale from this group but I think more importantly I've made consistant, wonderful friends. Since I'm so new I think it's going to be six months to a year before I see results from all of my hard work. I just keep connecting and trusting that it will bring results down the road.

Regarding your Etsy shop, what technique has been the most successful in generating sales?

I relist at least one item once or twice a week on Esty.

How do you relist an item on Etsy?

To relist an item you simply go to your expiration dates, click on the item you want to relist, and click renew. You're then charged the listing fee to relist the item. You don't have to wait for it to expire to relist it...

How much time do you spend doing this?

Oh, probably 10 minutes a week at most.

Has it increased overall sales for you?

I think this has helped my sales, but only slightly.

What one piece of advice would you like to tell other bloggers or Etsians who want to increase their traffic and/or sales?

Blog EVERY day, share interesting stories about yourself, your art, your life and SUPPORT OTHER ARTISTS! Commenting on THEIR life, their art and their blog is very important.
United we stand!
With gratitude, Laurie Beggin http://lauriebethbeggin.blogspot.com

And so, Dear Readers, please look for Laurie B on these various networks and visit her Etsy shop to see other breathtaking stained glass work that she has done. Is there one listed that you can't live without? Please visit her blog, as well. Like I've said in an earlier post here, visiting her blog is sure to inspire, inform, and entertain you - if you haven't been over there, please take a look. If you also have an Etsy shop please do check out Marmalade Pink and consider how becoming a member can help you promote your own shop.
.

Promotion tips from Joanna Goldman

Dear readers, in following up with more interviews with Etsians and bloggers, I present to you some valuable information from Joanna Goldman. She is doing an outstanding job using many different places to market her Etsy store, and when she replied to my request for people to interview for this project, I immediately recognized her work from the car loaded with Ikea packages to the soulful little elephant with the big eyes. Perhaps you have seen her work here and there?
So Joanna, please tell us about the techniques you use to promote your Etsy shop.

As an Etsy seller, I'm basically trying to get my name and shop out "there" (the mega-giant world wide web!).

All my promos have a consistent branding feel to them. I think that this is important. I recently had a customer who saw my shop a while ago and liked my stuff, but didn't buy right away. What got her to purchase something was seeing one of my ads on majaba.org. It just goes to show that a strong presence makes a difference.

I use a number of different promo techniques to get recognized:

Blogs: http://www.joannagoldman.blogspot.com
I blog mostly for promo purposes. On my blog you will find my latest creations, articles that i was recently featured in, and coupons etc for my Etsy shop.

Website: http://www.joannagoldman.com
My website useful and more "professional" looking than my blog. It basically cuts out all the fat and shows who I am and what i do. I try and keep it as clean and simple as possible.

Other sites:
I use flickr, facebook, myspace, Etsy forums, other forums, (and a whole bunch of other stuff that I'm forgetting about) as promo tools. This kind of marketing doesn't usually lead to immediate sales, but I've had success months down the line.

There is a great forum post that lists a billion places to list yourself on the web. http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5703544
I'm am steadily making my way through this list, and I think it's helping!

In addition to the free promo-ing, I've been sponsoring events, donating my items to be sold for charity, and participating in online contests.
I've started doing paid advertising too. So far I've done majaba.org, project wonderful, and I have the handmade children's showcase on Thursday. All of these have gotten me tons of hearts and more exposure. I am sure they will pay off in a few months time.

In addition to Etsy, I am also consigning out my stuff to 3 stores: 2 in Toronto, Canada, and one online (http://www.trendyshoppes.com/)

It is important to keep in mind that building a business takes time. You have to plant many, many seeds before you can start to see any results. So far I've only sold 71 items off Etsy, but I'm still relatively new to this. I'm confident that this holiday season will be a successful one.

Stay positive, stay motivated, work hard and success will follow.


Thank you Joanna, for sharing your many different avenues for promoting your Etsy shop. I too, will go check out that Etsy forum post to work my way through the billions of places on the web to list my own shop.

Dear readers, when Joanna touches upon her consistent branding as part of her promotion (in her second paragraph) that basically means that once you see one of her promotions or ads or visit her shop, you recognize and remember her every time you see another promotion or ad. This is important, because it takes a while for a new advertisement to sink in. As long as your message is consistent, each view will work its way deeper into your customers' subconscious until they can't live without what you have to offer. This was true more than 120 years ago and is still true today. Joanna has figured this out and her consistency is paying off.

Now please go and check out her Etsy shop and her links! I bet you'll find a favorite or two!
.

Interview with UneekDollDesigns

Today we have an interview with UneekDollDesigns, who makes the most amazing little dolls based on historical figures from all periods in history. Just visiting her Etsy store is an interesting history lesson. Each doll is one of a kind, as she does not use a pattern. This talented lady took a few minutes out of her busy day to talk about what she does to promote her Etsy shop.

Lady Jane Grey in Red

What online tool, technique, or activity has been the most successful in generating sales?

That's a good question! Being fairly new at this, I am sure there are better ways that I just haven't found yet, but thus far I would have to say photo sharing websites have been a help to me the most. Even though you can't blatantly advertise your wares with your pictures in most cases, you can get pictures of your items out there where many people can see them. That sparks curiosity, and that may lead to a sale. I also participate in forums. You don't want to get on there and seem like you're just there to advertise yourself- but participate in the actual topics and adding your URL if allowed also gets you out there!

Is is easy to get your pictures into photo sharing websites or participate in forums?

Not being computer savvy, blog savvy, or computer savvy, I'd have to say this activity(ies) as stated above are what I call "anyone can do this if I can". That is really what I look for- easy and uncomplicated tools to promote.

How much time do you spend doing this?

I would say a possible 15 minutes a day- give or take. If it takes too much time from me in creating my art, I just don't think it is worth it.

King Henry VIII Miniature Character

How has doing this increased product views? How about overall sales? How long did it take for you to see results?

It is really hard to say. I have honestly not tracked every sale to see how they found me in most cases. I did have a customer (repeat customer, by the way) find me by seeing my pictures I had posted on Flickr and seeing my profile there. Unless you ask every customer, you would have difficulty knowing what gets you the customers for certain. I do a little of whatever I can afford to do and figure it can't hurt. Just getting yourself out there as much as you can without being a nuisance is good. (By being a nuisance I mean forcing business cards for the umpteenth time on your friends to the point they run when you enter a room!)

Eliza Doolittle

What advice would you like to tell other Etsians who want to increase their traffic and/or sales?

First, make sure you have something that doesn't look like what 50 zillion other sellers have. Being different helps.

Second, watch your manners at all times, especially in the forums and to your potential customers. You'd be amazed how being polite and personably professional will help your business grow.

Look for every opportunity to let others know about your shop. Keep business cards handy at all times...if an opportunity knocks, answer it for Pete's sake! (smile!)

Lastly, keep your chin up. This really is an up and down type of thing. Sales come and go, they occur in clusters, or they may space out over weeks. Just realize each sale is one more step in a chain reaction- someone buys your item, they like it, they tell someone, and on it goes! Also, the less you grumble about lack of sales, the better your attitude will be and that will reflect in other areas, too.

Thank you for this opportunity, it is very kind of you!

And thank you, UneekDollDesigns, for sharing these promotion tips with us.

Dear readers, please take a moment and check out her Etsy store as well as her flickr photostream. I am sure you will be amazed at the talent, skill, and keen eye that went into creating these truly unique dolls.



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Interview with UneekDollDesigns

Today we have an interview with UneekDollDesigns, who makes the most amazing little dolls based on historical figures from all periods in history. Just visiting her Etsy store is an interesting history lesson. Each doll is one of a kind, as she does not use a pattern. This talented lady took a few minutes out of her busy day to talk about what she does to promote her Etsy shop.

Lady Jane Grey in Red

What online tool, technique, or activity has been the most successful in generating sales?

That's a good question! Being fairly new at this, I am sure there are better ways that I just haven't found yet, but thus far I would have to say photo sharing websites have been a help to me the most. Even though you can't blatantly advertise your wares with your pictures in most cases, you can get pictures of your items out there where many people can see them. That sparks curiosity, and that may lead to a sale. I also participate in forums. You don't want to get on there and seem like you're just there to advertise yourself- but participate in the actual topics and adding your URL if allowed also gets you out there!

Is is easy to get your pictures into photo sharing websites or participate in forums?

Not being computer savvy, blog savvy, or computer savvy, I'd have to say this activity(ies) as stated above are what I call "anyone can do this if I can". That is really what I look for- easy and uncomplicated tools to promote.

How much time do you spend doing this?

I would say a possible 15 minutes a day- give or take. If it takes too much time from me in creating my art, I just don't think it is worth it.

King Henry VIII Miniature Character

How has doing this increased product views? How about overall sales? How long did it take for you to see results?

It is really hard to say. I have honestly not tracked every sale to see how they found me in most cases. I did have a customer (repeat customer, by the way) find me by seeing my pictures I had posted on Flickr and seeing my profile there. Unless you ask every customer, you would have difficulty knowing what gets you the customers for certain. I do a little of whatever I can afford to do and figure it can't hurt. Just getting yourself out there as much as you can without being a nuisance is good. (By being a nuisance I mean forcing business cards for the umpteenth time on your friends to the point they run when you enter a room!)

Eliza Doolittle

What advice would you like to tell other Etsians who want to increase their traffic and/or sales?

First, make sure you have something that doesn't look like what 50 zillion other sellers have. Being different helps.

Second, watch your manners at all times, especially in the forums and to your potential customers. You'd be amazed how being polite and personably professional will help your business grow.

Look for every opportunity to let others know about your shop. Keep business cards handy at all times...if an opportunity knocks, answer it for Pete's sake! (smile!)

Lastly, keep your chin up. This really is an up and down type of thing. Sales come and go, they occur in clusters, or they may space out over weeks. Just realize each sale is one more step in a chain reaction- someone buys your item, they like it, they tell someone, and on it goes! Also, the less you grumble about lack of sales, the better your attitude will be and that will reflect in other areas, too.

Thank you for this opportunity, it is very kind of you!

And thank you, UneekDollDesigns, for sharing these promotion tips with us.

Dear readers, please take a moment and check out her Etsy store as well as her flickr photostream. I am sure you will be amazed at the talent, skill, and keen eye that went into creating these truly unique dolls.



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Interview with artist Jessica Simanowski

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Continuing to share what other bloggers and Etsians do to promote themselves, today's interview is with Jessie Simanowski, a talented painter and creator of plushies and fun accessories with two distinct Etsy shops: her paintings are sold at http://www.jessicasimanowski.etsy.com/ and her fabric designs are at http://www.jsartist.etsy.com/

If you are an Etsian, what online tool, technique, or activity has been the most successful in generating sales?

I think the best tool on Etsy is the renewing items function because it makes people find and see your stuff. Also the treasury is a great promotion tool. Making it on the front page is indeed the best promotion on Etsy.

In your opinion, what is the best way to promote yourself on Etsy? What method do you use?

To be added to treasuries it is best to make yourself known on Etsy. That works again with renewing your items everyday or show up in the Forums to connect with other Etsians.

How much time do you spend using this, per day? Per week?

Usually I spend around one hour a day on Etsy.

How has renewing items increased product views? How about overall sales? How long did it take for you to see results?

To renew your items makes more people come to your shop, therefore you automatically will get more views and more people who will heart your shop. If you are lucky some of these people put you in one of their treasuries and maybe you even make it to the main page. From there on many more people will heart you and put you in their treasuries.

Being on the main page has not always been a guaranty for me to sell something that day, especially not with my original paintings which are higher priced. If I had an item from my other Etsy Shop (JSartist.etsy.com) on the front page I sold something the same day.

What one piece of advice would you like to tell other Etsians who want to increase their traffic and/or sales?

I would say to renew everyday. And sometimes it helps to write in the Forums to make connections to other Etsians, that will always cheer you up.

One thing Jessie also mentioned is that she has a promo video about her paintings! She only mentioned this is passing, but this is a fun technique she has found to promote a lot of her paintings as if they're all part of a very curious dream.

Thank you Jessie, for taking the time to share some of your promotion tips and a lot of your creative work with us! Dear readers, please visit Jessie's two Etsy stores (links at the top of this post) and see more of what she has to offer.

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Interview with Jodie of Pretty Little Love Objects

Last week I posted a question to bloggers and Etsians, asking how they promote themselves. The response was tremendous and I'll be posting the interviews here as they come in. My hope is that this interview series will help a lot of newbies figure out where to start and also give seasoned bloggers/Etsians some ideas on where to focus their promotional energy for the best results.

Today's interview is with Jodie of Pretty Little Love Objects, an indulgent Etsy shop featuring her handmade jewelry and paper goods.

Do you blog for the sake of blogging or do you blog to promote another activity?

I blog over at 'Pretty Little Love Objects' http://prettylittleloveobjects.blogspot.com primarily to promote my Etsy shop http://www.blinkingmouse.etsy.com, where I sell individual love objects in the form of jewellery and cards. I talk a little bit about my general life but mostly I'm focused on my crafty side of life and I have my Etsy mini up at my blog permanently.

I also promote the beautiful things that other handmade sellers create. I have a Flickr group that I choose people from, regularly ask for tutorials at different crafty sources and have just got a big crop of seller interviews by appealing on the forums.

Of all the blogging tools, blogging communities, blogging techniques, and widgets and gadgets, what do you think has made the biggest impact for you?

I think when I placed the Buy Handmade button on my website that made a big impact in my blog traffic. I was getting 40 hits a day for about a month.

Also I find that when I do seller interviews with someone who belongs to a street team that massively ups my blog traffic as the whole team will pop along to see what's been said about a fellow member.

In terms of web search traffic most of my Google traffic comes from people looking for tutorials. Almost every day a few people will be brought to the blog by searching for a mini food tutorial or a way to make leg warmers.

What is the Buy Handmade button and how does it work?

I found the Buy Handmade button on Etsy. You sign up to take the Handmade pledge, stating that you will try to buy mostly handmade from now on. You just insert the code for the button in your blog layout and you get a pretty pink, green and white button.

As for finding tutorials and sellers to interview I usually post notice on the Etsy forums and at Craftster or Indiepublic to say I'm looking for someone interested in a little bit of exposure on a blog to help me out with some content.

How has the Buy Handmade button increased your blog traffic? How long did it take for you to see results?

Buy Handmade had results straight away but it's become less of a massive draw over time. It gets you a great amount of initial traffic though and shows that you really support the handmade movement, making you more popular with your fellow sellers.

How much time do you spend on blogging?

I try to have something new at my blog at least 3 times a week.

When selling on Etsy, what online tool, technique, or activity has been the most successful in generating sales?

Truthfully I think so far Facebook has been the best tool so far in terms of sales. I've made a lot of sales to friends by putting up pictures there and some of them have also agreed to hand out business cards for me.

Views have been generated by posting on Craftster, Myspace, Etsy forums, Flickr and various social networks as well as contributing articles to a few places. I'm also starting to do a lot of offline advertising.

How do you use Facebook to promote your Etsy?

I put pictures up at Facebook after I do a big product photo shoot. I put in my full Etsy description and a link to my shop. If someone wants to help me advertise they can find the link easily.

How often do you do this?

I don't do it that regularly, usually once a month.

How has using Facebook increased product views? How about overall sales? How long did it take for you to see results?

It's increased views and sales to friends are good as they boost my overall Etsy 'scores'. Friends tend to think of me if they need some fun and different jewellery now. I've also opened a business Facebook page to see if that makes a difference.

What one piece of advice would you like to tell other bloggers or Etsians who want to increase their traffic and/or sales?

Online advertising is all well and good, social networks are great places to meet other crafters and get fast, free advertising. However I think many customers are not viewing these adverts and are more exposed to traditional forms of advertising like fliers, business cards, bulletin boards so remember to diversify your marketing strategy.

Jodie, thank you for taking a moment to talk about how you promote your Etsy store. It looks like you are finding success using many different kinds of places to promote. Your comment to remember traditional forms of advertising, I think, is also one that many of us tend to forget about when working hard at promoting ourselves online.

Dear readers, please check out the pretty little love objects over at Jodie's Etsy and visit her blog to read some interesting interviews, find a tutorial, and learn about other very useful tips.

Thanks again Jodie, and I wish you continued success!

How do you promote yourself?

Reading various Etsy forums, I have started to notice a particular topic over and over:

"How do I promote my blog and/or store?"

I'd like to use my blog to post interviews with several Etsians/bloggers about their experience using various tools and techniques to help everyone else with this question.

By tools I mean those little badges you have on your blog sidebar, like:

• As seen on Delightful Blogs
• Blog Catalog
• The Mom Blogs
• Entrecard
• Advertising via Project Wonderful or Indiego

And techniques such as:

• Posting in the Etsy forums
• Commenting on other blogs
• Participating in communities like Indiepublic or MySpace

When publishing the interview with you, I'd like to include a little bit about you, share links to your blog and/or Etsy store, and show off some of your pictures.

Hopefully this info will help others figure out where to start and which direction to head with this overwhelming amount of choices for promotion.

If you are interested, please post a comment here with links to your blog and Etsy store, if you have one. I'll work my way through the list and contact everyone and start sending out interviews.

Sound good?
Good.
Can't wait to hear from you!
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