Fun ways to promote your shop

I've owned my own business before Etsy and every small business owner will tell you that the first thing you do is order business cards, and postcards, and tons of promotional material. So when I opened my first Etsy shop I did the same thing. That is how to promote your business, right?

The first shop did pretty well and by the time I opened the second shop, I was too busy to promote it and too strapped to order more than business cards. Guess what? It did well too. I will never know if advertising and getting promotional material "out there" is beneficial to business or not, it can't hurt I'm sure. But I am certain that developing quality products and providing great customer service are pivotal. And I'm also convinced that Etsy is it's own little biosphere. The more involved you are, the more your shop is seen and noted. Take great pictures, join some teams, pop in the forums from time to time, pester admin with your ideas, write articles for the Storque. All of these will help your shop be seen.

Recently I discovered a fun new way to give your shop some exposure while doing something nice at the same time. Michael over at handmademovement.com has come up with a fantastic idea that fosters community spirit and gets a new shop some much needed sales and feedback. Plus its super sweet and funny. From his site you can sign up to sponsor a "Sneak Attack", which means that you will organize a seek and buy mission on Etsy. You scout new shops with few or no sales and choose one. Then you start a forum thread announcing the sneak attack will be in half an hour or so. Here is an example of a past sneak attack thread. At the appointed time, everyone pops over to The Handmade Movement site to see the name of the shop and hopefully, visit it a find something nice to buy. The last sneak attack made 39 sales in one day. Most in a matter of minutes. Can you imagine that sellers face when she logged in?!

I thought it sounded like too much fun so I volunteered to sponsor Thursdays Sneak Attack. Join me in the forums at 7:00pm EST, Oct. 9th.

I think it would be fun for the SASsy team to be a permanent sponsor. A different member could select and promote the Attack on "our day". It could be an effective way to promote our team and be active in the Etsy Community. Let me know what you think and if you would like to be a SASsy team Sneak Attack sponsor.

Have a great day everyone.

A little bit about me: I'm Andrea from kitsandcaboodles.etsy.com. I have another shop as well and have been selling on Etsy for over a year. Kits & Caboodles is relatively new but has done pretty well thanks to a bit of experience and some good advice from my mentor. I'm thrilled to be able to share what I have learned with others. Also, I really like lists.