This online promotion thing..

The last few days, I've been trying to help my husband set up his shop, his blog, and try to explain at least the basics of promoting to him.

He had a website for four years and didn't make a sale off it - mainly because he did absolutely no work driving traffic to it. He's an extremely talented artist - but that's just not enough.

So I'm trying to bring him around to my way of thinking. I'm by no means an expert - but at least I sell stuff, and people actually read my blog and visit my shop!

So I thought I'd post my strategy here in case it might help someone else. It's very simplistic - but hey.

Getting Organised

• Before you start adding items to your etsy shop - make sure you're all set up. It may sound obviously - but there are endless threads on the forums along the lines of - Yay! I made a sale - now what?
• So do your research - Find out how much are your items are going to cost to ship (visit usps.com) and set up your shipping profiles, and order some boxes and envelopes while you're there to get you started.
• Fill out your policy page - decide what you think is reasonable for returns, non payment etc etc - and make it as clear as possible. There's no right or wrong (well actually - if you take paypal, you have to take returns and you ARE responsible for items lost in the mail) - but have a look at other shops to get ideas for wording and all that jazz.
• Make yourself a nice banner and avatar (or buy one from a talented etsy seller) - this is going to be your "face" around etsy, and how people get to know you.
• Fill out your bio - people on etsy do want to know who you are - if they wanted anonomous they're go to Walmart.
• Add sections to your shop - this is going to make your life easier later on when you have lots of items, and your potential buyer's life easier immediatly.
  

Listing

• Think about your title - this is a space where you can use key words to help people find your item. A title like "Magical Moonlight" sounds lovely - but is anyone going to search for that? Think like a buyer: If I was looking for a pair of purple long dangly earring, what would I search for? This doesn't mean you have to be all ebay with your title - it can still be pretty - but do think keywords.
• Description, again - think about what the buyer needs to know - how big is it? Use measurements in metric and imperial if you can (I know I'm guily of not doing this - but there are only so many hours in a day) and don't use a coin as a reference - remember that etsy is international, and your average Aussie/Brit/ Hong Konger is not going to know how big a quarter is.
• Materials - add everything used in your piece as some people search by that.
• Tags - try to use every single one - this can be hard, but again, this is another way for people to find you. Some ideas are colour, style, size, era for vintage, event for clothing/accessories, content... even using random ones like "weird", "silly" etc can work - bloggers tend to search by these words when they're looking for content.
• Pictures - again - try to use all 5, and while arty ones may get you on the Front Page - include at least one where the buyer can actually see the whole product.
• Price - don't just try to undercut everyone else - think about the time and money you've invested in your pieces. There's a great spreadsheet here on how to price your work. You ARE worth it.

Promoting

This is where your real work begins lol. Yes - Etsy has in built traffic - but also in built competition. Why should people buy for you? People are far more likely to buy from you if they "know" you, for example if I'm after a hat, I far more likely to look in my 'friends' shop first. So how do you get known?

• Be active in the forums. There are some lovely, lovely people on etsy - and all sorts of interesting disscusions going on all the time. Don't be shy, jump on in there and start chatting - and while your there, you never know who may click on your avatar and visit your shop.
• Twitter. I've only recently joined twitter - but it's great fun!Don't spam though - yes post a new item, but don't let that be it - that's boring. Again, people want to know who you are.
• Get a blog. I never thought I'd find enough to write about, but now that I've gotten into it, I love it! It helps me get in the mood for work, organises my thoughts, and I've met some fab people too. Plus once you get going you can host Project Wonderful ads and use that money to pay for your own ads - but that's a whole other blog post...
• Tell people about what you're doing. Etsy is a great place - and just think - if your friend clicks on to see your shop - sees how amazing it is and tells all their friends, who tell their friends.....
• And I'll say it one more time - go read TimothyAdam's blog - he is the master of self promotion, and has really good, simply laid out ideas on how to get yourself out there.

This turned into a rather long essay.. oops... but I hope it helps. Oh - and do go show some love to my Dear Husband's blog - he's trying bless him.

www.danielfisherworks.blogspot.com

(And I've nearly fiinished my castle!)