Monday, October 20, 2008

Etsy Shop Promotion Tips

There are so many great ways out there that you can promote your etsy shop. I'm going to list a few and then have the comments open for everyone to share their favorite methods.

1. Blog every day. I don't necessarily promote my shop in every post but by blogging consistently, you can build up a readership that gets to know you and is more apt to shop from someone they have a personal connection with. It also helps to have my etsy mini placed near the top of my blog so people can see my favorite items.

2. Use an email signature. Most emails will allow you to have a signature. This is a line or two of text that shows up on every email you send out. It is easy to delete if you are sending an email where it wouldn't be appropriate, but I make sure my etsy shop link is at the bottom of most emails that I send.

3. Make friends on etsy or other online locations. By participating in the forums, message boards, twitter, etc... you can promote your items. Be careful to not to just promote. Remember, this is more about contacts. Etsy shop owners are also etsy buyers. Get to know the shops.

4. Trade. This is a great way to get your product into the hands of others. Word of mouth is then a great tool for promotion. See if there are some etsy shop owners that would be willing to trade with you. Many shop owners are open to trades. Just, don't take it personally if they don't want to trade. It doesn't mean that your product isn't good...it just means that it might not be what they are looking for at the moment. Try someone else!

5. Craft in public (if possible). Crafting in public gives so many opportunities to hand out cards and share your items with people that may have never even heard of etsy (they still exist).

6. Get featured on blogs. By responsibly contacting blog owners, you may be able to have your products featured. This might include sending them a product to try or being allowed to be interviewed. Many blog sites are constantly looking for new content and if you have something to offer, go for it! I'll plug my own blog here and let everyone know that on Mondays I host a blog carnival called, I Made it Myself. Each week you have the opportunity to share your handmade items with my readers from all over the world. Here is the link to the one from today.

7. Post pictures of your products online. Flickr is a great resource for this. If you tag your item properly and make sure you mention that your etsy shop link is in your profile (you can't include it with your picture), you will be able to get hits and possible customers. Join flickr groups and post your pictures there as well (as applies).

8. Join an etsy team. There are great opportunities to be had on etsy teams. Our local team, Lincoln Handmade, is a great resource! There are also teams relating to specific crafts and causes. Check them out!

I think that is about it from me. We can continue the rest of the conversation in the comments. What is your best promotion tip?

1 comment:

oobbles said...

I'll post three, related to what I see right in front of me!
1. Follow other blogs, if they put up the list of followers, there is your photo or icon, right there on their page!
2. Comment on other blogs! Maybe they will take a look at your page!
3. Use great keywords in your blog. This will generate more traffic.