Ways to Connect with Customers: QR Codes

Hello!  I am a QR Code.

You have probably started seeing these little codes popping up everywhere lately: on products, flyers, advertisements.  But what are they for?  QR stands for "quick response" code.  It is a kind of bar code that can be read by lots of devices like smart phones.  (You do need to have a QR reader app on your phone in order to read QR codes, but there are lots of free ones that are easy to download.  Just search for "QR reader".)

The way it works is that you scan the code with your device and it can do all kinds of things, like take you to a website or send you a coupon code. You can even do things a little outside of the box.  For a gallery exhibition, I created a piece of embroidered art that had the QR code as part of the design.  If you scanned the embroidered piece itself, the QR code would send you to a blog page that was a journal documenting the piece, showing all the steps of making and embroidering it.

Some ways you might want to use QR codes:  The QR code above links you to my etsy shop.  The one below brings up a message that gives you an example of free shipping coupon code.  I can save these QR images and print them on my business cards, put stickers on my packaging, or print them on flyers or postcards that I hand out.  You could even go crazy and print one as a door magnet on your car or wear it as a brooch - anywhere you think someone might scan it.

It is easy to get QR codes for yourself! Visit http://qrcode.kaywa.com/  (This is just one example, there are other sites that will also generate them.)  Type in the information you would like the code to link to. Save the image and you are ready to go. (Click to see image larger)

The example above goes just to my main shop, but you could also make codes that link directly to a specific section or even a single item by grabbing that URL and making a code from that.  You could link to your Facebook Page or the form to sign up for your mailing list.  It's a quick way to get someone directly to your information without having to remember and type in a long complicated URL.  Here's a great link for more ideas on how you can use QR codes: http://youtu.be/QjNh2NGALpM

Author: Becka Rahn is a fiber artist and co-Captain of the Sellers Assisting Sellers Mentoring Team.

Resource Article: Self Promotion vs Marketing

Another interesting read from the Craft your Independence blog about Self Promotion vs Marketing and your "marketing mix".  (Edit: Sorry for the broken link!  Fixed now.)

Marketing, however, is the process of communicating with your people, about your product, your business and how it can help them. Promotion is only (a small) part of the marketing equation.

Resource Article: Plain Speaking & Etsy Success

A great article from the outright.com blog that helps translate basic "Etsy Success" business advice into really simple step by step explanations: http://outright.com/blog/decoded-analyzing-etsy-success-tips/

There are some everyday success tips that will work well for almost any Etsy shop. The good news is these tips are simple, basic business steps. Though they are simple and basic, they must be implemented correctly. What if you’re not sure how to take apart a bit of advice and make it work for your shop? Here are some proven Etsy success tips, decoded, to make them easier to understand, implement and benefit from.

(Happy Leap Day everyone!)

It Takes Teamwork

As you all know, Sellers Assisting Sellers (Team SASsy) is a team of volunteer advisors dedicated to
helping Etsy sellers who are struggling or have questions. I have been a member for over a year now and know that the team works hard to help when it is needed.

I also belong to two other teams; Eastern Washington Etsy Street Team (EWAET) and the TAG Treasury Team, which was started by a group from the EWAET team specifically to do treasuries. Both teams are the friendliest and most supportive groups I have ever belonged to. They daily work to support and promote each other by using Etsy’s treasuries.

Each week, one shop from the EWAET team is chosen as the Featured Shop. The team members rally around that shop and create as many treasuries as possible for an entire week. The average number of treasuries created for each shop has been around 35. This project has proven to be a wonderful thing for several shops which came into the project with few or no sales and now have hundreds.

The EWAET team has done many experiments to find how to best use the treasury. Since Etsy does not publish rules for moving up in the treasury pages, it took quite a bit of detective work to find the best method for rising to the first page. They know that while getting on the Front Page is a real feather in your cap, but the exposure only lasts for a 30 minute period. It was determined that the best exposure comes from reaching the first page of the treasury where you may stay for 12 hours or more. Having many hours of being viewed results in a better chance of sales for each featured shop.

The experiments took place over many weeks and with many treasuries. What the group found was if the team all supported the treasuries, along with the featured sellers, they could affect the movement of the treasury. The first thing a curator does is inform all of the shops that have been featured, including a link to the treasury and a request that they visit, click and comment. Next, they send an email message to the team so other members can visit the treasury, click on favorite items and leave a comment. This will normally get the treasury within the first 10 pages. The curator monitors the treasury and if it does not continue to move up they let the team know so that those that are available can revisit the treasury a second time leaving another comment. Additional activities used to help are teaching all of the members how to make attractive treasuries, and encouraging those members who use social networking such as Twitter and Facebook to post the treasuries. One of the key elements to the success of the system is being a member of a group emailing system. The treasuries could never be as successful as they are without that. This concerted team effort has resulted in first sales for some shops. When one of my shops is featured my views go way up and generally there are sales to go with that. It sometimes seems like a lot of work but there is no denying that the efforts have given new life to some shops that were struggling, not to mention bringing new hope to some shop owners who thought they could never succeed in the Etsy marketplace.

Teamwork is the key ingredient. Truly caring about how the other shops are doing and supporting each other means we all win.

Article written by www.digitalexpressions.etsy.com

Top Tips from Kreated by Karina

Written by KreatedByKarina.etsy.com


I've recently celebrated 4 years on Etsy! To mark the day, I thought I'd share some of my best-kept secrets from running Soap That Makes Scents (well, ok, they are not really secrets but rather segments of advice I have given out in the forums or in convos as a member of the Sellers Assisting Sellers Team). An FAQ of sorts, and it's all here in one place for you--might be a long read but you can pick out the parts you find useful to reach your own level of success:

~ Promoting ~

Probably the most common question I get asked is "how do you promote?"

My best tip is to figure out your target audience and promote directly to them.

Promoting to a wide audience is fine, but in the end you'll save yourself a lot of time, money and energy focusing your advertising strategies on those people who are more likely to purchase your products.

Think about the ideal person who would shop in your store---how old are they? What sort of websites/blogs would they most likely visit? What kind of magazines do you think they likely to read? What areas of the city would they live in? You can expand to other brainstorming questions but those few should give you a good start in figuring out the type of people who frequent your shop (as well as the type of people you want to direct your items to).

Once you've figured out your target audience, you can then take out ads on those same blogs, websites, magazines etc. Or concentrate on doing craftshows geared towards that "type" of audience.


~ When Selling, Think Like A Buyer ~

For instance...when trying to figure out how to tag your items, think of how YOU search for items when shopping. Do you search by color, or by certain keywords you find yourself using over and over? If so, use them in your tags as well. A great way of figuring out how to describe/tag your item is to ask friends and family. Let them take a look at what your selling (or give them a sample!) and ask what single words they would use to describe it to others. Pick out the most relevant and common ones and use those as tags if they fit, or incorporate some of their suggestions into your item descriptions.

Also---think about what promotional tactics work on YOU. Do you sign up for lots of newsletters? Maybe it's time you offered one of your own to your customers. Do you find yourself throwing away business cards, but keeping magnets and always reminding yourself "to check out that store" everytime you see it on the fridge? Invest in getting some promotional magnets made to give out with your orders or to people you meet. Things like that.

~ Organization Is Important ~

When I started out, I had supplies laying around everywhere--and I mean *everywhere*. My husband used to joke that at times he felt as though he lived in a warehouse. I realized that I was wasting a lot of time by having to go to one place for a box/envelope, one place for a pen, one place for a business card and soap sample, one place to collect the invoice, etc. Now I have a room dedicated to packaging, shipping, wrapping and labelling--Everything is stored in clear plastic bins, and out of reach from tiny hands. Recently we moved the computer in there as well just to make things even more easier. Keeping everything in one place can streamline the process from the time you receive an order, to the time it's shipped out.

~ Going Full Time~

(I took this part below from part of my QYDJ Storque interview so it may seem repetitive if you've read it)

Another common question I get is about how I made the transition from part-time soapmaker to full-time soapmaker. The easy answer would be "I just took the leap, and everything worked out fabulous!!" The more realistic answer is that it was a lot of planning ahead of time, tight budgeting to make my business self-sustainable and turn a profit, plenty of sacrifice (time, energy, luxuries), a bit of luck, and old-fashioned hard work.

If you don't have a Business Plan drawn up, I seriously urge you to get one. You can find lots of information and templates (as well as full examples) at http://www.sba.gov/ It truly is my opinion that no business can succeed fulltime without one. My husband and I sat down and wrote ours several years ago. A business plan covers not only your company's mission and planning out your target audience, but also your fiscal projection for several years ahead, all costs associated with running it from the beginning (ie. licence cost, capital needed, utilities, supplies, advertising budget and a slew of other areas), HOW you plan on covering these costs, short and long-term goals, and will become your Business Manual of sorts. Plus, if you need to go to a bank for a loan to finance your business at any time, many will want to see your business plan (which should then also cover how you plan on paying your lender back).

As it stands now, Soap That Makes Scents pays for itself, with enough left over to pay our bills and rent, as well as groceries, etc. Etsy has been incredible in exposure and while they are the forefront and a large part of my business, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that craftshows, wholesale accounts, and private soap parties (and online soap parties!) make up a large portion of my income--although I wouldn't have gotten any of those accounts if it hadn't been for them finding me on Etsy.com

It's our goal for my husband to quit HIS day job in either 2011 or 2012 by the latest. He's already taken the first step by reducing his hours at work.


~Newsletters Really Do Help~

It was just after the holidays last year that I discovered the wonderful world of having a mailing list. I used to have a blog, but stopped posting in it 'cause it a) seemed too difficult to come up with something exciting to say each time, and b) started to get disheartening wondering if anyone was actually READING it. Starting a mailing list can be one of the best moves promotion-wise. People should hav eto opt-in to receive your email blasts and you know that it's going directly to people who are already interested in what you do and are most likely to shop in your store.

http://www.bravenet.com/ is a simple site for setting up a free mailing list (you can have up to 500 subscribers at no cost and send unlimited emails, plus receive statistics on who's actually read your newsletter). I keep my newsletters to once a month, and advertise my newsletter sign up at craftshows, in my auto-Message To Buyers, and in my shop announcement/profile. My shop views and sales have risen due to special offers given to readers-only.


~But What About Money??~

Budgeting is an important factor at any time in your business, but moreso in the begining stages. You should have a tight budget drawn up before considering quitting your dayjob as well as a sizeable nest-egg set aside to help you through any rocky starts or rough patches along the way. I didn't entertain the idea of quitting my day job to make soap all the time until my online part-time business was already sustaining itself and turning a good profit. A good experiment to see if you can survive on your craft alone, is to bank your paychecks for a period of one year and just live off of what you are making from your home-based business. This not only teaches you a valuable lesson in what are really the neccessities in your life, and where you can cut future costs but also gives you an accurate figure of how much money is coming into the household vs. how much is going out.

Even if you have no plans to take your business full-time you'll want to draw up a budget and stick to it as best as you can. A simple way to keep track of things is to keep organized receipts for everything month-to-month....your crafting supplies, the ink you had to buy for your printer to make your labels/promo materials, your packaging supplies, (even the tape you buy to secure your envelopes properly), anything and everything. Also keep track of your Etsy bills and any other online fees you pay month-to-month (project wonderful advertising, domain name hosting, etc.). This also makes tax-time so much easier, believe me.


~It's Ok To Keep Track Of The Competition~

Really---big companies keep ontop of each other all the time. It's ok to be aware of what your direct competition is doing and perhaps learn from them as well. I'm not saying be fanatical about it, or obsess over every little move they make, or try to copy everything they do thinking it will work for you (most of the time, it won't). What I'm getting at is being aware of who are the "big sellers" in your category and why you think people are drawn to their store. For example, If you notice one of your competitors is frequently on the Front Page or chosen for Treasuries...take a look at their photos, study the techniques they use...or the props chosen that may best show off their items, and get your inspiration for improving and tweaking your own shop photos from there. Take a look at their tags if they carry like items and see if you are missing any key ones (like color of the item, size). Read through the feedback left for them and see what stands out most to you in a buyers' own words: is fast shipping frequently mentioned as a high-point of the transaction? Is that something you can improve on for your own shop? What specifically gets mentioned time and time again? Do dozens of customers rave about how wonderful the communication was from the seller----and do you think that's something you can work on too? Feedback from customers is the #1 way of figuring out how to improve, and give a buyer what they want...you can learn from them whether they are your customers or your competitor's.

Well, that's about all there is for now--I know it's a long read, and by no means is my word the be-all or end-all of anything-...the opinions/outlooks above are based on my own adventures in EtsyLand, and overall business...best of luck with your own journey!

Karina

Written by KreatedByKarina.etsy.com
Find Karina on Facebook

A little Secret about Promoting

Photo: 3 Gorgeous Silver Keys by StarofSupplies

Yesterday I was talking to my sister about how to promote her Etsy Store. I had already given her a long list of ways to promote, including using facebook, twitter, blogging, giveaways and the Etsy forums (see the end of this post for useful links to these) which she is already doing.

My sister was asking if there was anything else she could do, and then it dawned on me that there was something else. Something that I had not ever really considered "promoting" as such, but it had definitely helped me become a relativity well known face on Etsy.

What is this secret you ask? Well, it is sharing tutorials and bits of advice... a just like I am doing right now. By giving back to the community you become better known and at the same time you are helping what I like to call your Etsy Karma. Giving your time to help others really is a reward in it's self, a little bonus is that you become known for being a helpful person, which can only help your brand.

"But what advice can I give?" You say to me "Everything has already been written! There are already loads of articles and blog posts about every aspect of Etsy and running a business"

Well yes, this is true! I am not certainly not the first to write articles on how to compile your Shop Policies, or how to make a light-box and edit your photos. But I did not copy these other authors (Plagiarism is a plague on the internet, please do not lower yourself to this level - people will be able to tell when the writing is not yours) I simply wrote from my own experience and understanding. I include things that I have discovered for myself, and share my knowledge in a way that I hope will help other sellers succeed on Etsy.

Still stuck? Here are a few ideas to get you going:
- Choose a topic you are interested in. Readers will be more interested in your subject if you are
- Share tutorials on how to make things, use lots of photographs.
- Is there something you know that could help other Etsy sellers? Perhaps you found a useful website to help you collect together data, did you discover a clever way to pack shipping boxes faster? Share with your fellow sellers and they will remember you.
- If tutorials and blog posts are not your thing, is there something else you could do for the community? (this is why making treasuries is such a beautiful idea, you are helping others and boosting your Etsy Karma)
- Has someone asked you for help with something recently, or expressed a frustration that they don't understand an aspect of Etsy properly? Did you know the answer? This is a great way to find ideas on what knowledge you have to share.
- Did you spend hours trying to figure something out when you first started on Etsy? Share what you know!
- DO NOT directly copy other people articles or use their photos. Doing this and getting caught (and you will get caught) will only serve to make your store very very unpopular! The Etsy community does not take kindly to this kind of behaviour.

So there it is, a little secret that could make a big difference to your store and help others at the same time.

~-~

Here are the other links I promised:
Get the Etsy Sales you want: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6356278
Pimp your shop: http://tinyurl.com/yghs9kh
Places to promote: http://tinyurl.com/crj8ya
Etsy forum threads on promotions:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6120752
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5797668
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5453881&page=2

Free Marketing course! This 5 day course is the BEST I have found yet:
Day 1: http://handmadeologyuniversity.com/members/?p=240
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Written by Anna from The House of Mouse

Promotions

Written by KreatedbyKarina

There are tons of ways to promote..and even MORE threads on "the right way" and "the wrong way". While finding the most possible places to hawk your wares may seem like a brilliant idea, the results you get aren't always going to be the same as the person who swore up and down that it worked for them. Why? It depends on the type of budget you have, what kind of items you sell, and the audience seeing your promotion. My best tip is to figure out your target audience and promote directly to them.

Promoting to a wide audience is fine, but in the end you'll save yourself a lot of time, money and energy focusing your advertising strategies on those people who are more likely to purchase your products.

Think about the ideal person who would shop in your store---how old are they? What sort of websites/blogs would they most likely visit? What kind of magazines do you think they are more likely to read? What areas of the city would they live in? You can expand to other brainstorming questions but those few should give you a good start in figuring out the type of people who frequent your shop (as well as the type of people you want to direct your items to). Once you've figured out your target audience, you can then take out ads on those same blogs/websites/magazines etc.

Another tip I have is to stop thinking like a seller when listing items/promoting and start thinking like a buyer.

For instance...when trying to figure out how to tag your items, think of how YOU search for items when shopping. Do you search by color, or by certain keywords you find yourself using over and over? If so, use them in your tags as well. A great way of figuring out how to describe/tag your item is to ask friends and family. Let them take a look at what your selling (or give them a sample!) and ask what single words they would use to describe it to others. Pick out the most relevant and common ones and use those as tags if they fit, or incorporate some of their suggestions into your item descriptions.

Lastly, think about what sort of promotional tactics work on YOU. Do you sign up for lots of newsletters? Maybe it's time you offered one of your own to your customers. Do you find yourself throwing away business cards, but keeping magnets and always reminding yourself "to check out that store" everytime you see it on the fridge? Invest in getting some promotional magnets made to give out with your orders or to people you meet.

Promoting is the bread and butter to being successful in any business---putting your best foot foward is important, yes, walking in the right direction is too. Best of luck with your shops!

What are banner ads good for?

(by Judit from vadjutka)

Let me start with a personal confession: back in my technology journalist past, I was clearly against banner ads. "No one clicks on them, and they are rather a nuisance than something useful for the internet users" I thought. Now, as I manage my own online business, I changed my mind. They definitely do have a place under the Sun, but they are not going to bring traffic and sales directly. So what are they good for?

The success of a banner ad is measured by the so called Click Through Rate (CTR): through the years it has declined significantly from around 5% (in the 90s) to less than 1% (nowadays). This CTR number is the ratio of the number of users who clicked on an ad on a web page and the number of times the ad was delivered (impressions). According to a longitudinal analysis of 5000 websites across Europe, done by tech group Adtech, the performance (CTR) of ads are low: they vary between 0,35 and 0,24%. Not much, hm? Experts say, that it can be much higher (1-2%) if the ad runs on a targeted site: for example in the case of a banner of a film on a movie site. Also, the performance of the banner depends on number of other factors, like the design of the ad, the size of banner, the place of the banner on the site.

The table below shows the click-through trends of the last four years

(by Adtech)

This means, that we should not expect sales directly from a banner campaign. I think that banners are good for showing your face to the public, to show that you and your shop exist. It is good for image and branding purposes, as part of a mid-term strategy; or at least this is what my experiance of using banners says. (I had banner campaigns on several sites like Glibea's Blog, Indie Shopping Blog, Scoutie Girl and Paper'n'Stitch.) Spending your money on banners systematically may result in sales, but first of all: visitors of the hosting site will learn your and your shop's name slowly.

OK, so if you decided to run a banner campaign what factors you should consider when choosing the host for your banner?

- type and thematics of the site

If you have a jewellery shop - like I do - it is more likely you will be noticed on site about fashion, lifestyle etc., though you may consider running a banner on a paper art site...after all its readers are likely to be interested in jewellery as well.

- traffic of the site

The more popular site you use, the more chance you have for being noticed. BUT: usually these sites have more banners than others, so the "banner noise" is bigger.

- cost of the banner and additional services

Some of the sites - with themes about handmade, fashion, design etc - offer blogpost mention or some kind of mention embedded in the content.

Etsy Sellers Tip #6 - Featured Items

Below is a tutorial on how to activate and edit the featured items in your store, if you already know how to use this feature then skip to the end of this post where you will find a couple of tips on how to use your featured items more effectively.

How to activate and edit your Featured Items

The featured items in your Etsy store allow you to show off 3 listings of your choice right at the top of your page. Unlike your other listings that are ordered by the date they were listed, these 3 are hand picked by you and seen first by visitors to your store, like a shop window.

To choose your featured items, first log on to Etsy and then click on Your Etsy at the top of the page.

Each of your active listings will be displayed here, you can select a featured item by clicking the star next to it so that it turns green. Choose at least 3 items to feature. When you have made your selection you can rank your featured items by clicking rank featured.

On the next page you can move the listings up an down as you wish. The first 3 items are the ones that will appear on your shop page, if one of them sells then it will disappear from your featured items and the 4th featured item will move up to replace it.

Tips on using your featured items more effectively

Choose more than 3 featured items. This will help you avoid a blank space when one of them sells.


Choose listings that show a variety of prices in your store. For the best effect on your sales choose the most expensive listing, the cheapest listing and one from in the middle. Most customers like to buy a middling price item - not too cheep, not too expensive - and seeing the whole price range easily like this will help them choose quickly. When I started doing this is had an immediate effect on my sales.

Use your featured items to make your Etsy Mini look like a treasury. Did you know that if you have an Etsy mini, the items in it are always from your featured items first, and then from your recently listed ones? This way you can make all your Etsy minis look beautiful no matter if they are on your blog, website, myspace, facebook or anywhere else! Choose a colour theme or show off all the items from a certain section. Change them up often to keep your viewers watching!

Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.
Do you have other tips on using your Featured Items?
I love to learn more!

--

About the Author: Anna has been running her store The House of Mouse for just over a year, for more information please check out her blog.

Etsy Sellers Tip #5 - Promotions

Photo by MajoReyStore

For most creative people the prospect of promoting our work is just plain scary. We hate shouting "Look at what I made!" because it feels boastful and takes us way outside our comfort zone. But the truth is that if you don't shout about what you do then no one will.

I know from experience that you can get past the shyness and awkwardness that comes when you start marketing your product. There are literally hundreds of ways to tell the world about your creations and you can start with the ones that you feel most comfortable with and work up to the ones that scare you.

I certainly don't recommend that you try to do all of these things for your store at once. Some of them are time consuming, especially to set up. Allot yourself a certain amount of time per day/week to spend on promotions and don't allow yourself to spend all day on your computer. Get yourself set up with Google Analytics so that you can see what promotions are working for you and which aren't. then you can spend your promotions time much more efficiently by cutting out the sites that don't bring you views.

Your choices for promotions will depend on many different factors; time, money, confidence, target audience etc. I have tried to include a little run down on the pros and cons of each one so you can pick an choose what works best for you. I have also included links to posts on how to get the most out of each promotional tool where I have found them.

Twitter - Social Networking Site
How to use Twitter as a marketing tool
Pros
- Free to use
- Fast and easy to set up
- Very popular right now
- Simple and easy to use
- Share links and chat
- Build a fan base quickly
Cons
- Limited message size
- Only use links, no space for images
- Saturated by other sellers
- Addictive

MySpace - Social Networking Site
How to use MySpace as a marketing tool
Pros
- Free
- MySpace groups enables you to find your target audience faster
- Share images, videos and other embedded HTML
- Post bulletins, blog, photo albums and chat
- Possible to get a large number of sales and hits from MySpace
- Your page is totally customizable making branding much easier
Cons
- Time consuming to set up
- Posting comments regularly is also time consuming
- Need to learn some basic HTML to get the most out of it

Facebook - Social Networking Site
How to use Facebook as a marketing tool
Pros
- Free
- Relatively easy to set up
- Facebook groups enables you to find your target audience faster
- Facebook applications make it possible to share images
- Chat and comment
- Improvements being made to the site all the time
Cons
- Site is less geared towards promotion than MySpace
- Takes a while to figure out
- Addictive

Flickr - Image Sharing Site
How to use Flickr as a promotional tool
Pros
- Free
- Quick and easy to set up
- Flickr groups makes it easy to find your target audience
- Share comments
- Easy to network
- uploading new photos is quick and easy
- Friendly artist community
Cons
- Not allowed to overtly promote your store on this site. You can leave links in your profile but you will get removed from the site if you advertise in your photo descriptions.
- Addictive

DeviantArt - Artist Community and Gallery
Pros
- Basic package is free
- Easy to set up
- Have your own gallery and sub galleries
- Share comments and network with other artists
- Get critiques and advice from other artists
- Features include a blog/journal newsletters and forums
- Can post links to your store in photo descriptions
- Friendly artist community
- Sell prints of your work through this site
Cons
- To get all the features you have to subscribe
- Print shop takes large commission on any sold prints
- Has some mature content (there is an option which allows you to block mature content)
- Addictive

The Ning Network - Collection of Social Networking Sites

Pros
- Free
- Easy to find your target audience
- Share photos and comments
- Endless ways to take part in your community
- Reasonably easy to set up
- Make contacts and network
- build your own Ning network if you want (LOTS of work to do this)
Cons
- Photo sharing is slow to upload
- Some Ning networks are better than others - takes time to find the good ones
- Addictive and easy to waste time here

Word of Mouth
The easiest way to gain a reputation is my word of mouth. To make sure that they are the right words work on making your customer service and packaging the best it can be. Make sure that your buyers will want to tell their friends about your product!
Pros
- Free
- Easy
- Probably the best advertising there is
Cons
- To get it right you must have great customer service skills and beautiful packaging helps too!

Blogging - Online Dairy
Blogging tips for beginners (Blogger)
There are several different pieces of software for blogging but the best one for beginners is Blogger. it is easy to use and does not require that you understand HTML coding to get a good looking page.
Pros
- Share your experiences and new listings
- Helps your buyers get to know you
- Comment on other blogs to make connections
- Share photos, video, stories, anything you like
- Add advertisements and even make money from blogging
- If you love to write this blogging is a lot of fun
Cons
- Time consuming
- Requires continued input to be successful
- If you don't like writing this isn't for you
- Customizing your blog takes time
- To get the most out of it you need to learn some basic HTML

Blog features - Getting Featured
Being featured by another blogger is one of the best ways to get sales, especially if their blog is a popular one. However getting that feature can be hard work. It requires time and effort to write to other bloggers and tell them about your work, most of the time you won't get a reply but occasionally you will get that feature. Personally I think the time spent on this is worth it. Sometimes bloggers want free samples for the feature, it is up to you to decide if that is worth it.

Business Cards
It is so simple and yet many Etsy sellers forget this wonderful marketing tool. You can get some great deals on business cards from vistaprint and you can Google for some great coupon codes for massive discount. Keep them with you all the time and hand them out to anyone who is interested in what you do.

Forums - On Etsy and Off
Pros
- Free
- Make friends and network
- Share your knowledge and advice
- Gain a reputation
- Find forums for your target audience
- Connect with people of similar interests
Cons
- Easy to waste time in forums
- Forums can get nasty, learn to walk away when the claws come out

Paid advertising
(not a lot of pros and cons here because I don't have a lot of experience with this medium yet)
Pros
- Target your advertising to the right people
- Gain large numbers of buyers
- Prices to suit everyone
- Millions of places to advertise
Cons
- Cost (be smart and find slots that fit your budget)
- May get more sales that you can deal with

Craft Fairs
Pros
- Meet people face to face
- Network with your local community
- Make a large number of sales in 1 or 2 days
- Have a fun day out
Cons
- Organization to get set up
- Confidence to do your first one
- Fees to rent your stall (these vary wildly so do your research first)

Wholesale - Pitching your product face to face
If you have enough stock then you are ready to sell wholesale. The best way to get interest here is to walk into your local stores and present yourself (I know, seriously scary stuff)
Pros
- Make BIG sales
- Gain a reputation locally
- Make contacts with local store owners
Cons
- Takes lots of confidence
- Need a lot of stock
- Set up contracts and legal agreements

General tips for marketing
- Have great photos. Most of marketing is a visual experience, make sure your images are the best they can be. Take the time to learn how to get them looking great.
- Choose a marketing style that you are comfortable with. You don't have to be like that pushy sales guy at the car dealership, you can be more subtle and advertise your work with great photos, humor and genuine interest in other people.
- Don't let marketing take over your life. Allot a certain amount of time per day/week to promotions and stick to it.
- Build friendships with those you meet on social networking sites, it is not about the quantity of friends you have but the quality of those relationships that is important.
- Always keep your communications professional. Don't become whiny, rude or argumentative - this will quickly damage all the work you have put into it.
- Once you have built a reputation and people know about you, you don't need to spend so much time on marketing because Word of Mouth will do a lot of the work for you.

Other places to advertise
(no pros and cons here because I have not tried them properly yet)
Project Wonderful
Squidoo

More advice on promotions

Pimp your shop Etsy Blog Article
HUGE list of places to sell, advertise, network, and more Etsy forums
Ultimate Craft Guide - tutorials, advice, suppliers.... Etsy forums

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About the Author: Anna has been running her store The House of Mouse for just over a year, for more information please check out her blog.

Setting up a newsletter for your customers!

Hello! It's Renovia from Endless Whimsy again!

Newsletters can be a great tool to get information out to your customers. They are cheap to produce and keep your customers informed. Be careful! You don't want to send out too many, people hate spam, once a month is usually OK. Use your newsletter as an occasional tool to offer great deals to your subscribers or let them be the first to know of a new product.

If you know how to use a web page editor like iWeb or Dreamweaver or other WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor then you can send out a web newsletter! Hooray!

I'll walk you through the process of Google Docs, putting a form on your blog, newsletter design, importing subscribers addresses and sending the newsletter.

Google Docs & Blog

1. Add a Google Form to your blog or website. Sign up with Google Docs (it's free) and click “New” and “Form”













2. Title the Form, Edit the “Name” field, Change the word “Name” to Email and DELETE the “untitled question” at the bottom of the form. Click DONE!

3. Go to “More Actions” and click “Embed”. Then copy this code into an HTML/Javascript widget on your blog or website (usually found in 'settings or layout').









iframe ------------------------->



Result:
You can tweak the settings and placement and confirmation message within Google Docs.














Design your Newsletter

In your web site editor, design a page exactly the way you would like it to look if you were to receive it in an email. Be sure to include your banner, a click to view online link, an unsubscribe link and copyright. Name your page “newsletter” and upload it to your webserver. It's ok if it doesn't link to other pages within your site.




Import your subscribers addresses

Go to Google Docs and copy any emails of subscribers and import them into your address book under a group called “YOURSHOPNAME”. Don't forget to check your email preferences to be sure Group Emails do not display individual emails but keeps them private.

Send your Newsletter

1. open up the online version of your newsletter (http://www.example.com/newsletter.html) in SAFARI.

2. Go to the File menu in Safari and click Mail Contents of this page. It will open up a new email within your computers default mail program.

3. Address the email to the “YOURSHOPNAME” group. Check to make sure everything looks the way you'd like, a trial run to yourself isn't a bad idea.

SEND!

Uploading your items to Google Base

I have seen my share of forum threads discussing the process of uploading products into Google Base. I for one never had the time to sit down and learn the big 'how to'. I was however very excited to learn of the site Let's Ets. This site has some very clever tools but the one I was eager to try was the Google Base Formatter. All you do is plug in your Etsy ID or username and click the fetch button.

On the next screen you will see a list of your etsy products, images, descriptions, and price. Look them over very carefully so all is in order. (*Note only the first 100 items are included)


At the very bottom of the page click the 'download bulk file' button. A window will pop up giving you the choice to either open or save. Make sure you click save. The file name will be your username followed by the .xml file type.



Now on to uploading that file to Google Base..... http://google.com/base Once there click the data feed button and login if necessary. At the top there are two tabs. Click settings and make sure to include your etsy shop url in the website box. This is important when uploading your file. Click next and register your feed. Insure you select products from the drop down menu. The data feed file name is the same file name you downloaded earlier (usename.xml) Register your feed.

Once completed you will see the file name. Next to that is uploads. Click to manually upload your file now. Locate the file on your computer using the pop up window. Click upload and process file. You should now see the words 'Processing'. In a few moments (hours) your items will be uploaded and visible using the my items tab to the top right. If for some reason it comes back 'failed' try this processes over again and make sure all file names match. Your feed will stay live for 30 days. At that time you can repeat all of the above and stay active in the google shopping searches. Good Luck.


About the author: I am Amanda, owner extraordinaire of Sygnet Creations. I have been selling on etsy for over a year now and I loving it! I am a full time mom and military spouse. I tend to know a little about everything and I am always a friendly ear and convo away. Ask me anything.

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.

Free ad space and a mini too!

I havent been giving this blog the attention it deserves lately. I want to rally everyone (myself included!) together to make this something awesome. This is the hub of our team. A place to connect, support, and help out one another. We are almost there, and I've got some ideas to push us in the right direction.

I want to encourage our current authors to post regularly. I know we all get busy. A post doesn't have to be a big deal, so don't stress about them. Just share a little of what you know, or tell us about someone you see doing things right.

*As a bonus, all active authors will get free ad space on the blog! Yeah, you heard me. Free! Thats some incentive right there folks.
If you are part of the Sellers Assisting Sellers Team and have something to say, contact me and let me know and I'll add you to the authors list.

*Also, the author of the most current post will have their Etsy mini run for a few days. More free promotion. Are you typing yet?

One last thing, if you are a team member and also have a blog and would be willing to put a little link up to this blog, we would link back to you. An ad square should be available soon, which would be even better than a little 'ole link.

Thanks everyone for taking time out of your busy schedules to take part in this blog and the team. You all rock!

Just a note to current authors...the authors list over there ----> links to your blogger profile, so be sure to utilize that little space. Add your correct links and a little bio.

Update! I've added a little code to the site (which my amazing son wrote) which will automatically update the sidebar to display a mini for the author who has posted most recently. You wont have to send me your code for your mini! Let's get some posts up and see if it works!

Cheers- Andrea
Kits & Caboodles

How to get the Etsy sales you want

Improve your shop and learn to promote it. Every bit of information you need is already out there, and most of it is right there on Etsy!

IMPROVE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS: This is - I think - the most important part (which is why it is at the top and has the most links).
Achieving Clarity and Crispness in Your Photos
How to Style Your Photos
Photographing for Success
Photograph Your Way to The Top!
Make Your Photos Pop with Histograms and Levels
Using EV and White Balance to Make Your Photos True to Life

FIND A MENTOR - a mentor can help you with the personal disputes you cannot ask about in the forums because of the "calling out" rules. They can also give you great advice from experience on ways to improve your shop and get more out of Etsy. The new Team Etsy Mentors list includes detailed information on the specific areas of expertise our members have, so you can quickly find the right mentor to help you.

LEARN TO PRICE YOUR WORK CORRECTLY! If you underprice your work viewers will undervalue your creations and be put off just as much as they will be by an overinflated price.
The Art of Pricing

WRITE GOOD DESCRIPTIONS! Help the buyer connect with your work
Making the most of your descriptions

WRITE CLEAR CONCISE POLICIES for your shop that make the customer clear on what they can expect from you.
Hello Policy!

WRITE A PROFILE that sparks interest in your store! Help your customers get to know you.
Crafting a profile page

LEARN TO TAG EFFECTIVELY! Tagging is how your buyers (and treasury curators) find you! Remember to tag for colors too as those are the most common tags curators use when looking for treasury listings.
Tagging on Etsy
International Tagging

PROMOTE YOUR SHOP! If no one knows you are there then they can’t see your beautiful creations. Learn to shout about what you do.
Pimp Your Shop
The Ultimate Craft Guide

STAY POSITIVE! Maintain a positive, friendly & helpful attitude in the forums -- a cheerful face is more likely to be remembered and added to treasuries than a grumpy one! Negative attitude in the forums affects the way people view you and your shop. Branding is not just about a logo, it is about everything you do in connection with your store. Many visitors to the forums actively avoid aggressive, whiny or rude members and their stores.

JOIN A TEAM! Teams help to promote their members and are also a great resource for honest advice about your shop. Teams often make treasuries featuring their own members. Take the time to be part of a supportive community!
Etsy Teams

BE UNIQUE! Find a way to make your product different from your competitors. Even if you are selling the same thing as 1,000 other people, you can still find a way to stand out from the crowd.
Book: Purple Cow: Transform your business by being remarkable
Blog: Make a great product

CONTINUALLY RE-EVALUATE YOUR STORE! Even if things are going well, there is always something that can be improved.
An outline to self critique your shop

SIT IN ON A WEEKLY CRITIQUE! Even if you don't get critiqued you can learn a lot just from sitting in, watching and listening. Check the virtual labs schedule to see when the next ones will be.
Virtual Labs Schedule

READ THE NEWBIE GUIDES – even if you are not a newbie! They are full of useful links and tips.
The Ultimate Newbie Guide
A Beginner's Guide to Starting a Shop on Etsy

OTHER GREAT RESOURCES:

Ultimate Craft Guide - tutorials, advice, suppliers....

Storque how tos

How to make it to the front page

TIPS FROM OTHER ETSIANS:

jealousydesign.etsy.com says:
"When I relist something I change the #1 picture. have noticed that some items that had almost no hearts or views before can get much more after this little change....."

nyblaque.etsy.com says:
"I always change up my "Featured Item" photo in my shop every other day. To keep things looking fresh on Etsy and on my Etsy Mini, I have my Etsy Mini on facebook, myspace blogspot..etc. I usually, change them and/or make a theme out of them.. like all necklaces, or one color, brand new listings, etc.... kinda makes a person go" oo I didn't see those on her mini last time". I just got a sale yesterday from a buyers who told me she reads my blog and saw my new items in my Etsy Mini!! COOL:)"