Search results (tags) for: "team tip"

Team Tip: Press Releases!

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:27:00 -0000

In previous Team Tips, we've discussed places and creative ways to promote your Etsy Team and events. Press releases are a tried and true method of getting the word out about what you're doing. A press release is a statement prepared for distribution to the media and a great (and inexpensive!) means of promoting an event. It is basically a mini news story that demonstrates to editors and journalists the newsworthiness of an event or group. There are a few really important things to remember when creating a press release; we outlined some critical points below.

Getting Started

Choose your Targets. Who are the people you want reading this story? Brainstorm all the places that people in your target demographic might visit to find news. If you're a location-based Team, this probably means both on and offline publications. Narrow the list down to the six or eight that you think get the broadest visibility for your Team's event.
Identify your Contacts. Many newspapers, magazines, blogs or news websites will have information somewhere about who to send your press release to. If your press release is for a crafting event, you may want to find the lead arts and entertainment journalist for the publication. Sending your press release to the right person at an organization can make a big difference. Do not spam a contact—have one person from your Team send the press release once for each event. No one likes an inbox crammed full of duplicate information.

Write the Press Release:

Closely follow the standard formatting of a press release. Look at this sample press release for formatting. Since journalists receive so many press releases each day, they have set standards and expectations that you must conform to just to have your release read, let alone published.
Write in the third person. Emulate the language/headlines you see in the publication you'd like to be published in.
Think and write like a reporter! Your goal is to do this so well that the journalist will want to publish your story "as is." The reporter is looking for a story that will satisfy an editor and the readers. They're not interested in promoting you, only in crafting a story that will make readers think "Wow, that's interesting." What makes your story different and special?
The lead paragraph should include the who, what, when, where and whys of the article. If you're promoting a specific event, make sure to include dates and location on your materials. State whether there's an entry fee or RSVP.
Once the details are established, include a quote or statistic if possible to ground your piece, and pertinent links whenever applicable. Link your story to the "big picture." Why is this story news, as opposed to simply being an advertisement for your event?
Include great images. While the press release itself should adhere to formatting rules, additional promotional materials can really help the story shine. Find out what the newspaper/magazine/blog's requirements are for image size and resolution, and stick to those guidelines. Use beautiful photos. Don't overwhelm the reporter, just include a few strong images.
Proofread! Show your press release to people you know who are good writers and harsh critics. Make sure it passes muster before you send it out into the world.

Follow Up
If you have the opportunity, try to ask attendees how they heard about your Team and the event. If it's an online event, follow up via email with buyers to inquire about how they found your shop or items. Share this information among your Team members next time you meet, to determine what the most effective means of promoting was. You might also send strong, clear photographs of the event with a wrap-up report to blogs, papers or other places the press release was published, summarizing the success of the project, and giving dates of future similar events you may be planning.

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Resources at team.etsy.com. Etsy Teams are growing really quickly, and we love that so many sellers want to join in to promote their shops, Teams and Etsy. For more information on Etsy Teams, check out the Teams pages and this page of Frequently Asked Questions. Don't forget to read our interview with this week's Featured Etsy Team. Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Mentoring Within Your Team

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:24:00 -0000

Etsy Teams are a great way to network, collaborate on group projects and get advice from fellow sellers. We've noticed that some of the most dynamic and successful Teams do some mentoring for each other — sellers with more experience in certain areas of selling provide expertise and knowledge to sellers seeking advice. These mentoring partnerships within a Team benefit the entire group because as the Team members' shops get better and their products are of a higher quality, it raises the bar for the entire team and increases your sales across the board. You can set up a mentoring program among your Team by:

Determine what areas of expertise would be useful for your Team. This can include things like item photography, the listing process, specific skills for the craft your Team makes, photo editing skills or customer service.
Seek volunteers to be mentors in those areas. Perhaps people new to Etsy can volunteer to mentor in areas they know from previous experience, like issues in making a certain type of product. More experienced Etsy sellers can share their knowledge of using the site with newbies.
Distribute a list of the sellers who volunteered for each area of advice to your Team through email or your private online message board.
Members can get in touch with one another to ask a simple question or seek some coaching on areas they're having issues with. Mentors might also politely reach out to give suggestions to members on how to make the most of their Etsy shops.

Team members are such a wealth of information, and mentoring is not only a wonderful way of improving the quality of your Teammates shops, but also getting to know one another and your strengths and weaknesses as a seller and as a group.

Team Tip: Card Swap!

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:52:00 -0000

Card swapping is a low-cost, easy way to get your shop's name out. By swapping cards with members of your Team, you can promote each other's shops by word of mouth and give potential customers something to remember to check it out. Team members personally recommending a shop means the buyer is more likely visit, mark as a favorite, recommend to a friend, or even buy something for themselves. Most Etsy Team members who are sellers have business cards with their Etsy shop addresses on them. There are countless ways to make these cards to promote your shop, including inexpensive ways to make cards yourself, using stamps or having them printed in bulk.

To begin the swap, post publicly however your Team communicates (through email, a Flickr or Google group, etc.) announcing a call for participants in the swap. Card swaps are most effective when the swapping occurs between shops with complementary styles. Consider your target demographic and the demographic of the other shops you are swapping with.
One person should be in charge of collecting all the mailing addresses via email from participants. Set a deadline for sending in addresses (there should be an end date to the swap).
Once the emails are collected, compile a list or spreadsheet with all of the addresses. If there are fewer than 12-15 participants, send the whole spreadsheet to everyone on the list. If there are more than 15-20 participants, break the list into smaller, more manageable lists, and send each list to the members of that list.
Each participant sends a small stack of their business cards to each address on the list.
Once the cards are received, each participant includes cards from other members in packages they mail out from sales in their shop, or distributes the cards in person to potential buyers or at craft shows or markets.

Your Team can organize card swaps as often as you see fit, and organizers can take turns putting the swaps together. Enjoy! And get creative about what types of promo items and cards you swap, and how you distribute the cards you receive from the swap!

Team Tip: Improved Etsy Teams Blog Ring

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:00:00 -0000

Ever wish there was a way to browse through all of the Etsy Teams blogs and catch up on all the wonderful, amazing things Teams are up to? Look no further, faithful Etsy Team Blog reader, as we introduce a new Etsy Teams Blog Ring. All Blogs run by Etsy Teams (this Blog Ring is not personal blogs, sorry!) are welcome to join in, and can find instructions on how to do so here.

What is a Blog Ring and why should you check this out? A Blog Ring is links that have been placed in the sidebar of a series of blogs, that enables you to click through and read related blogs. With the Teams Blog Ring, you can now easily flip through to learn what the most active Etsy Teams are up to, find specials, information on events, and learn a lot more about many Etsy Teams. We're really excited about this tool for catching up with fantastic Teams!

There are probably some of you scratching your heads and thinking, "But I thought there was already a Teams blog ring?" And you're right, there was. The previous Teams Blog Ring had some technical issues, so this Teams Blog Ring is the real deal from here on out!

Team Tip: Etsy Teams Survey!

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:26:00 -0000

We love getting feedback from the Etsy Teams, because Teams are such a unique and dynamic part of the Etsy Community. This week we've created a survey for Etsy Team members to take. We hope all Team members (all 14,440 of you!) will click the survey link and take the opportunity to give us some insight on how your Team communicates, what you're doing and why you're doing it. It should only take moment or two to answer this short series of questions. This information from you will really help us understand the best and most important ways for us to strengthen the Etsy Teams program. Thanks so much!

Update: Thank you to the many, many Etsy Teams members who took a moment to participate! The survey is now closed.

Team Tip: Using Email to Promote Your Team

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:46:00 -0000

Collecting email addresses for your Etsy Team at events is a really great way to develop a community of contacts who are interested in knowing what your Team is planning. All Teams — Local and Virtual alike — should have email address sign up sheets at every event booth any Team members have. In addition to collecting contacts in person, you can also collect them on your Team's blog. To insert a place for people to submit their email addresses on your Team's website, you can get code from a site like Response-O-Matic.com. This code will give you little information fields to put on your site, and send addresses that are submitted to the email address you choose. From there you can use a free or inexpensive email list-serv, or even a service like Google Groups, to manage these contacts and create informative emails for your potential customers.

Here are some email list tips:

Do not be spammy! Don't include email addresses from people who have not willingly given you their information. Emails to people who have chosen to be on your list are more effective, anyway.
Limit how often you send emails to your list. You don't want to clog inboxes! No more than once a week, but ideally only when you have news or an upcoming event is a good rule of thumb.
Have at least one other person proofread the emails before you send them.
Be sure to include ways for people to get more information or contact you. The brilliant thing about an email is that it reminds your customer about your Team and makes it easy for them to follow up by visiting your shop or blog. This is especially great after an in-person show.
Always send emails to a list in a manner which makes all email addresses not visible. Respect information privacy.
Don't forget to include a way for people to unsubcribe to your Team's emails.

Team Tip: Form a Shop Chain!

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:20:00 -0000

Now that Etsy sellers have the ability to include live links to other places on Etsy in their shop announcements, public profiles and item listings, Teams have a great opportunity to promote one another from shop to shop! For example, let's say that pheajean, aardwolf, mwmdesigns, insitudecorativearts and JenMcCleary from the Philadelphia Etsy Team decided to form a chain throughout their shops. Setting that up might work a little something like this:

They should all agree on a little blurb of information to include with the live links. For example, a good, descriptive sentence might be, "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team," or something similar, followed by a link to the next shop on the list, with the last person linking back to the first shop.

pheajean would post: "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team - http://aardwolf.etsy.com" in her shop announcement.
Then aardwolf should include: "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team - http://mwmdesigns.etsy.com" in her shop announcement.
Pidge from mwmdesigns would post: "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team - http://insitudecorativearts.etsy.com" in her shop announcement.
insitudecorativearts should post: "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team - http://JenMcCleary.etsy.com" in her shop announcement.
And JenMcCleary would link back to the top of the list, and write: "Click through the shops listed in our announcements to find all the creative work of the Philadelphia Etsy Team - http://PheaJean.etsy.com" in her shop announcement, bringing the chain to full circle.

Promoting the work of your Team members by promoting their shops is a big way for Etsy sellers to join together to help bring each other success! Be creative about other ways you can all drive more traffic to one another's shops. Forming a strong alliance among your fellow Teammates, encouraging each other and working as a group is what Etsy Teams are all about. We'd love to hear your suggestions in the comments below!

Team Tip: Make a Plan!

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:03:00 -0000

For most people, the holiday shopping season seems lightyears away. The weather is drastically different than it will be at the end of the year, and everyone is thinking about free time, lazy days and travelling. But as purveyors of goods and wise marketers, we know that this is the time to begin mapping out your holiday plan, if you haven't already started.

Meet with your Team — either in person, in a chat room or Virtual Lab, or through a Team forum. Discuss what your Team's holiday selling goals are, and your plan to achieve them. There are many things to consider and to start working on. Here's a checklist of ideas to think over:

Do you have a list-serv with email addresses within your demographic? Whenever a Team member has a table at an in-person show in the next few months, have a sign-up sheet for the Team Mailing listso you can collect email addresses from interested buyers. It's never too early to start collecting information!
Is your Team interested in cross-promoting one another's shops? With live links between Etsy shops now active, you can link to related or complementary items in the shops of your Teammates!
Would your Team be interested in cross-promoting or collaborating with another Team so everyone reaches a wider audience? With over 300 Etsy Teams, surely there's another Team that would be a perfect pairing for yours. Leaders can contact one another, brainstorm and begin working out details.
Is your Team's blog living up to its potential? Include Etsy Minis from Team members, a field for readers to give their email addresses to join your list, and update, update, update!
What types of promotional items might be useful, memorable and interesting for your Team to distribute around your local areas?
What other ways can you reach shoppers to get them into your Etsy shops?

Check Team Tips from previous weeks and Team Guides to spark some ideas if you need inspiration. Join Etsy Teams admin in the weekly Team workshops at noon on Thursdays to learn more! By working far enough in advance, you'll also give your Team enough time to apply for a Team Grant, if that fits into your marketing plan. Don't forget the old adage that "failing to plan is planning to fail" — thinking ahead and working together is key!

Team Tip: Committees!

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:48:00 -0000

For creative people, working in large groups can be difficult. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, and organization among many members can be a daunting task. The best solution is to group your Team into different committees, according to people's time and talents. This gives everyone a chance to get involved, and helps delegate the work from one or two people onto the group as a whole.

Some ideas for Team Committees for getting things done might include (but are, of course, in no way limited to):

Membership: This committee would work together to get new members in the loop of communication and make them feel welcome on the Team. A member would be in contact with teams@etsy.com to keep the Team's profile page up to date, and the committee might coordinate keeping contact information for the membership up to date.
Outreach: Reaching out to other communities on the internet and in real life is an important aspect of promoting your Team. An outreach committee might consist of people who like to keep the Team's blog fresh, exchanging links with other blogs (other Etsy Teams are probably great candidates for this!), helping to ensure great photos are added to the Team's Flickr pool and writing press releases for notable events your Team is undertaking. You can also submit photos of your Team's goings-on to the Etsy in Action flickr pool (there's a feed in the Storque's Events Section).
Treasuries: Yes! Everyone loves making Treasuries! Curating beautiful Treasuries full of items made by your Team members means a chance for your Team to land some time on the front page. Be sure to include your Team's name somewhere in the Treasury name or description.
Design: Does your Team have members with graphic design skills? You should form a small committee dedicated to making beautiful banners and graphics for your Team's blog, which are also great for personal blogs or in extra photos on item listings in Team shops. This committee should also undertake making flyers (for printing or posting virtually around the web) and just making sure things are aesthetically pleasing and consistent with the message your Team wishes to spread.
Ideas: This committee is charged with the responsibility of brainstorming what the Team's next moves should be. The Idea Committee should read the Team Guides and weekly Team Tips, as well as the Team Digests, to inspire their own ideas and see what has worked for other Teams.

These are just some ideas to get you started organizing a large group of creative people among people who all want to achieve the same thing. Yay teamwork! A strict, stringent hierarchical system of long titles and assigning authority doesn't seem very Etsian. Every Team will be different, based on the expertise and time availability of its members, and we want to hear what's worked for you too. Post in the comments below: how has your Team facilitated productivity?

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com. Etsy Teams are growing really quickly, and we love that so many sellers want to join in to promote their shops, Teams and Etsy. For more information on Etsy Teams, check out the Teams pages and this page of Frequently Asked Questions. Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Creative Marketing for your Team

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:07:00 -0000

In marketing, just getting your name out there is great. But what's better than simply advertising yourself? Doing so in a really creative, memorable way. The best marketing tactics are the kind that people want to tell their friends about and really stick out in people's minds.

A few weeks ago in a weekly Teams Workshop in the Virtual Labs, a member of the fairly new Etsy Team EtsyPHAT (the Etsy Plants and Horticulture Arts Team) mentioned a promotional item their Team had designed — seed packets intended to be used for "guerrilla gardening" (read more about it in this Storque article!) — a slightly anarchist approach to greening abandoned open spaces. This very idea was intriguing to me from its first mention, since I live in South Philadelphia, an urban area in need of any greening we can get. And, lo and behold, a little package full of seed packets from EtsyPHAT appeared at the Etsy Labs recently. The handmade packets clearly promote EtsyPHAT, with the address of the Team's blog and instructions to search for their team tag on Etsy on the front, with directions on how to make use of the seed packet on the back. So brilliant!

Take a little time, schedule a brainstorming session with your Team, and consider how your Team can think outside the typical marketing box to creatively market itself — who is your Team's audience, and how can you engage them?

EGCG | Trashion | EcoEtsy | Environmentally Friendly Gift Guides | Earth Tones Series

Team Tip: Call for Events!

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:25:00 -0000

You may have noticed an article last week where we asked our excellent Storque readers to tell us about the events where Etsy should have a presence — the music festivals, conventions, markets, etc. These should be events that you know are well attended, would reach a new audience and be a great promotional opportunity for handmade goods. We're looking for all kinds of events, all over the world, so that we can find Teams who might have members in the area that would like to go and promote, promote, promote!

This week's Team Tip is to let us know (in the comments!) of any events you think we should send a Team to, and also to apply for a Team Grant if your Team wants promotional materials to distribute at an event near you! This goes for Global (craft and interest based teams) just as it does for Location-based Teams! Do you have a cluster of members all within driving distance of a particular city? Get together and promote!

Etsy Teams are growing really quickly, and we love that so many sellers want to join in to promote their shops, Teams and Etsy. For more information on Etsy Teams, check out the Teams pages and this page of Frequently Asked Questions. Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

Team Tip: Growing Your Team

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:37:00 -0000

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

Are you a Team that wants to be far-reaching and have lots and lots of members? Or do you think you'll accomplish more as a small, solid, core group of really active Etsy sellers? There are pros and cons to having a super big or very small Etsy Team. Thus, the question becomes: how should Teams attract new members, if that's something you're interested in doing?

Big Teams mean lots of members spreading the word — promoting each other's shops, linking to and from all sorts of blogs, talking up your big events. It requires an extraordinairy amount of organization, teamwork and communication. Thus, you need to make sure all members are helping the Team achieve its goal, and that everyone is on the same page in terms of what your Team is about, what's expected of members, and the information you're spreading.

Some Teams opt to cap membership at a number that they feel is effective for working toward their goals. If you seek membership to a Team that isn't accepting members at the moment, never fear: there are literally hundreds of other Teams you might join, or you can start a new Team. Having a limited number of members might mean your Team's work is juried, so that you know every member is selling goods that mesh with the feel of the Team. Or perhaps a local Team feels it's too hard for a group bigger than a certain number of people to meet or organize local events. Whatever the reason, if a Team isn't accepting new members, don't take it personally! Step back and re-evaluate to find another Team to join.

Members of EtsyDUST in Sydney, photo by EstaSketch on Flickr

If your Team is using the convo tool to find new members, you might have butted heads with Etsy's infamous spam-bot. While it's great for blocking spammers trying to convo many people in rapid succession, the 'bot does make it hard for Team members to shoot convo's to multiple sellers quickly.

An important point to remember: there's no need for sending copy-and-pasted conversations to recruit. While a short note indicating that a seller is a great fit for your team is friendly, you don't want to organize a mass campaign of spam from your Team. Convos to potential Team members should be personal and genuine, sent to individuals from individuals. Don't try to "sell" people on your Team — odds are people you recruit via mass convo won't make very active members anyway.

What are good ways to expand your Team?
Your Team Leader should include joining information on your Profile page. In the "How To Join" area, indicate if you're seeking great new members (it's also helpful to say that Team is not accepting new members on your Profile page, if that is the case). Write up information about how to join on your Team's blog or social networking pages. Spread the word via your individual shop announcements or in the Etsy Forums. There are lots of ways to get the message that you're growing as a group out there.

Team Tip: Guides for Teams!

Mon, 26 May 2008 18:51:00 -0000

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

With so many new Teams forming very quickly (over 285 Teams at last count!), we know there are lots of questions out there in the community. So, now we're presenting lots of places to find answers! There is the Teams area of the Etsy Forums, articles here in the Storque (click "Etsy Teams" under the "Indiepreneur" heading in the left-hand column to find all articles about the Teams), you can email us at teams@etsy.com or check out the Guides written specifically to answer commonly asked Teams questions at the Teams pages.

Some of our favorite, most helpful guides for Teams include:

There are also resources, downloads and more at http://team.etsy.com (see the little blue "teams" link at the bottom of every page on Etsy or find a link on the Community page). Also, you can ask questions and talk to the Etsy Teams Admin, Daniellexo and sarawearsskirts each week at the Etsy Teams Round Table Discussion in the Virtual Labs on Thursdays at noon. Check to make sure other members of your Team know this useful information and how to find it! Spread the word!

For more Team Tips, please check back each week. Also, you can keep up with Team Tips, news and ideas by signing up for the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tip: Post Your Event!

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:28:00 -0000

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

We get a lot of requests to publish events in various places around Etsy. We totally understand that your Team wants to promote itself and its amazing events. Since there are an ever-growing number of Teams (275 at last count!) and so many great things happening, we publish as many events as we can in the Team Digests regularly, here in the Storque (have your Team leader email your event or promotion to Teams@etsy.com to be included in the Digest). The Digest is always an interesting article, chock full of information, but maybe your Team wants to do a little more. This isn't a problem, because the internet is huge!

So where should you promote your Team event? Sites like Going.com let people browse by interest. Or you can have a group for fans of your Team on Meetup.com, for example, and let them know when your Team has an event. If you're a Global Team, you each live somewhere specific, so think about all the resources at your Team's disposal if everyone on the Team is promoting on location-based sites all around the world, all over the web.

Consider your town or city — is there a local forum or blog that lists things happening around town? Does your town's tourism board have a blog? Then, there's always good old Craigslist, a relatively easy and completely free way to post about your event and provide links to your Team's blog or shops. Also, think about specialized shopping sites — DailyCandy.com has different sites for different cities around the country; your Team might consider sending in a press release to a site that appeals to your Team's demographic.

The best thing to do is take a moment to consider what you read and where you get your information. How do you decide what to do on a weekend? The listings in a weekly paper? A blog full of local nightlife? Word of mouth through social networking sites? A local magazine with information on art shows? Check out how much a small ad or write-up is in the places you read, and if the publication is available online or only in print. More resources than you think are probably free. If there is a small cost, you can apply as a Team for an Etsy Team Grant and check if Etsy can help your Team cover the cost of advertisements. Recipients of Team Grants are also published in the Events Calendar. Remember: be creative, think local and make it big!

For more Team Tips, please check back each week! We'll be posting tips here in the Storque, as well as on the Teams Resource page. You can also keep up with Team Tips, news and ideas by signing up for the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tips: Etsy Mini Swap!

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:16:00 -0000

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

This week's Team Tip is to exchange Etsy Minis with another team! Use at least one blog post this week to highlight the exceptional handmade goods of another team — a complimentary Global Team's work, or the wares of a Team from cross the country or around the world. You can contact the leader of the team you'd like to highlight (check the Teams profile page to figure out who that is) and get the Mini embed code from them, or mark their work as favorites to make a Mini yourself. This is a great way to become familiar with one of the many new Etsy Teams that are always forming, or to promote a Team you really admire. To find out how to use the Etsy Mini tool see this past Team Tip!

Check out some Teams using Etsy Minis in a fantastic way on their blogs, and leave a comment below if your Team is using some Etsy Minis in its blog!

Etsy Vintage: EtsyVintageDirectory.blogspot.com
Jewelry on Etsy Team: Jewelryonetsyteam.blogspot.com
Arts in Rhode Island: Arts-in-ri.blogspot.com
SF Etsy: SFEtsy.blogspot.com

Team Tips: Green Your Team!

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:28:00 -0000

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams, groups of Etsy sellers who get together to promote their crafts and art forms. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

With Earth Day just around the corner, there's lots of buzz about eco-friendly ideas and items. There are several Etsy Teams based on eco-friendly principles, but every Etsy Team should consider how to do its part in making less of an impact on the planet.

For location-based Etsy Teams, encouraging your community to shop local reduces some of the embodied energy in your handmade wares by reducing the distance products are shipped. Letting neighbors in your town or city know about the existence of artists and makers in the area gives them an alternative to shopping at big box stores, which have pretty nasty environmental footprints, and a chance to support the local economy.

Global Teams are likely doing a great job communicating and marketing themselves in a paper-free way: by connecting with other Team members and buyers virtually, your Team isn't creating more waste for landfills. How else can your Global Team step up its greenness a notch? Perhaps deciding as a Team to use as many recycled shipping items as possible (like the Eco-EtsyTeam encourages) or featuring sellers on your Team with creative approaches to recycling and upcycling in their shops.

Some Earth-friendly Etsy Teams you should check out include:

Being environmentally conscious isn't just a fad — it's an important thing for everyone to consider all year long. Etsy Teams are such a powerful force of creative people, and we're sure there are infinite ways that Teams can set a positive example for all handmakers.

Is your Team acting in an environmentally responsible way? Let us know in a comment!

Team Tips: Know Your Contest!

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:03:00 -0000

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

Many Teams get very excited about contests, challenges and competitions as a way to promote their Teams. Etsy admin love a good challenge and we've held some great contests, as well, but it's important to make sure you're abiding by local laws for your contests, no matter how big or small your Team. Before your Team gets ahead of itself in offering up a prize, check out this Storque article about Contests on Etsy from SarahSays (Etsy's legal counsel) and sarawearsskirts (Etsy Teams Coordinator).

For more team tips, please check back each week! We'll be posting tips here in the Storque, as well as on the Teams Resource page. You can also keep up with Team Tips, news and ideas by signing up for the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tips: Team Promotion!

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:22:00 -0000

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

For this week, decide upon an across-the-board promotion for your Team. Pick the time span you'd like to conduct the promotion in — a weekend, several days during the week, perhaps only in the evenings for a couple weeks, whatever works best for your team — and then decide upon what the promotion will be. Will it cross over from shop to shop — i.e. buy from two sellers on the Team and receive a percentage off from each seller? Perhaps free shipping if the buyer purchases more than one item in any shop? This is most effective if all the shops participating are clear and consistent about the sale.

Now that you've worked out the logistics, promote! Use the strength in numbers of your Team and work a bit in advance, promoting right up until the sales event is almost over. Everyone should use their social networks, blogs and email lists to promote the event, as well as requesting other Teams swap information to promote each other's events to reach a broader audience. If your Team is working in advance, you can possibly submit information for inclusion in the Teams Digest in the Storque by emailing team@etsy.com.

One really great way to promote is to use consistent graphics across the Team so that the sales and the members participating in the sales are recognizable. Having members include a graphic in their avatars and banners is an easy way to make a sale visible. Encourage shoppers to click on a tag used specifically for the event to find other items included in the promotion.

For more Team Tips, please check back each week! We'll be posting tips here in the Storque, as well as on the Teams Resource page. You can also keep up with Team Tips, news and ideas by signing up for the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Team Tips: Using the Virtual Labs!

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:46:00 -0000

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

Have you explored the Virtual Labs yet? Give it a try! The Virtual Labs are an asset to the Etsy Community because they're a place where Etsy sellers and shoppers can get together. In the Virtual Labs, you can post polls, discuss specific questions and interact in a little virtual room. The Virtual Labs are a tool that both Global and local Etsy Teams can use to meet to plan or hold events. There are many fun things to use in the Virtual Labs — throwing fun little icons, posting listing cards and submitting questions to the queue. To reserve a room in the Virtual Labs for your Team, simply fill out this form about a week in advance. You can read this Storque post to find out more about the Virtual Labs and how the interface works.

Need some ideas on ways your Team can use the Virtual Labs? Teams can meet and chat, exchange information, give demonstrations, show off a new product line, hold a Question and Answer session, give shop critiques or interact via webcam. Ideas for events include scheduling a guest speaker, running a virtual trunk show using listing cards and interacting with potential shoppers through messaging, giving a skill share or demonstration to share information about your Team's medium, and holding Team meetings with the ability to review a transcript afterward.

Please join us in our Weekly Team Workshop, held in the Teams room of the Virtual Labs, at noon (EST) Thursdays!

Team Tip: Team Tags!

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:07:00 -0000

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

Does your Team use a Team tag in item listings to identify your items as being created by an Etsy Team member? Perhaps you should! Team Tags can be useful for a variety of reasons. By agreeing upon and using a consistent tag among your Team members, it becomes easy to tell buyers how to search on Etsy for items in your Team members' shops. Then on your blog or website, you can provide the link to the search results. You can also publish the Team tag on promotional materials you make for your Team.

But how does a Team decide upon a tag to use? Your Team Tag should include the word "team" in it, whether at the beginning, middle or end of the tag. The tag, ideally, is a word that isn't commonly used for other means of tagging — for example, the New England Street Team, or NEST, realized that "nest" isn't a useful tag for their Team because many items on Etsy are tagged "nest," and rightfully so, because they're object that are bird nests! Currently, the Team is using the term "nesty." Using the tag "NewEnglandTeam" might be a better tag, because it's highly unlikely that anyone who isn't on their Team would be interested in using that tag for items.

Please refrain from tagging your items with tags of Teams that you are not a member of. Mistagging is confusing to Team members and to buyers. Perhaps inquire about joining the Team if you find you'd like to tag your items with a Team's tag. If a tag includes the word "team," it's a Team tag. Teams work very hard! Be respectful of the work Etsy Teams do, and don't tag your items with Team tags unless you're a member of that Team.

Etsy Team Tips: Etsy Teams Blog Ring!

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Team Tips are a weekly series of tips and ideas from the Etsy Teams. You can find more Teams Guides and Resources at team.etsy.com.

Etsy seller and Baltimore Etsy Team member JenMenkhaus has helped to create a Blog Ring for Etsy Team Blogs! This is a really wonderful way for the Teams to interconnect, catch up on what other Teams are doing, and direct more traffic to their blogs. To join, visit the blog created to host the blog ring. Update: To join, visit the Etsy Teams Blog Ring page.

A few things to note - this ring is not for personal blogs, even the personal blogs of members of Etsy Teams. Rather, it's a ring for blogs maintained on behalf of Etsy Teams. However, you don't have to be a member of Etsy Teams to click around the ring and check out all the fantastic things the Etsy Teams are up to! Anyone can read through this ring, which is what makes it such a great tool for the Teams.

Thank You Notes: Artful Expressions of Gratitude

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:04:00 -0000

My husband and I live very far from our family and friends. For us, the winter holidays are a whirlwind of traveling and visiting, gifts and fun events.   Though I initially welcome the quieter space of our little home when we return, it is not long before I miss all the people with whom we were lucky enough to share the holiday.

I've learned this is the perfect time to begin writing thank you notes. For me, the purpose of this little note is not solely to acknowledge a gift or kindness, but also to let that person know he or she is still in my thoughts.   I find the process of choosing (or making) just the right card and thinking about what I want to write brings that person close for just a little while longer.

Not surprisingly, the same kinds of feelings that accompany sending a thank you note are also true on the receiving end.   When that hand-addressed envelope appears in my mailbox, I'm always pleased to find inside a reminder of the good time we shared.

I know that for many people the task of writing thank you notes is more chore than joy. This can be particularly true if your holidays are filled with many gifts and events, leading to a long list of thank you notes and some pressure to get them all done quickly.   Though etiquette may suggest you write and send these cards within a few days, I would like to encourage you to take your time.   The recipient will be as delighted to hear from you in three weeks as in three days. This is even more true if you are thoughtful about your choice of notecard and sentiment.

["Merci" card by moderncard]

Michelle from CicadaStudio was gracious enough to offer some tips on the art of writing the perfect thank you note:

First, grab yourself a fabulous EtsyGreetings thank you note and make sure your favorite pen has ink. Then, get a piece of scrap paper for an initial draft (you may not get another chance if your Etsy card is one of a kind!). Finally, get down to the business of writing!

Step 1

Salutation. This is easy! "Dear Aunt Sally"

Step 2

Thank the recipient of your note. Feel free to use adjectives to embellish! "Thanks so much for the lovely frame."

Step 3

Discuss its appropriateness and possible end use "I have so many pictures that I've wanted to display. Your timing couldn't be better."

Step 4

Try tying in the person somehow. Flattery will get you everywhere. "I've always loved the way you displayed your collection of family photos on your mantle."

Step 5

Say it again- it's okay, no one will think you're being redundant. "Thanks again!"

Step 6

Signature. "Your loving niece, _________"

That's all there is to it! Don't forget that thank you notes are not only for gifts, but for event hosts and favors given. You can even send one to someone for just being who they are.

[Thank you card by adorebynat]

Further Resources:
Members of the EtsyGreetings Team offer an incredible array of greeting cards, making it possible for you to send a thank you note that truly represents you. Our 350+ members are as diverse as they are creative. We feature letterpress, photography, watercolor, paper piecing, digital design and a host of other techniques for you and your recipients to savor. What we showcase below is just a glimpse of what is available to you here at Etsy!

The Team's blog can be found at http://etsygreetings.blogspot.com.

Etsy Team Tips: Join the Etsy Teams Mini-Mailing!

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:22:00 -0000

If you're a member of an Etsy Team, now there's new way for you to stay in the know!

You can opt-in to our brand new Etsy Teams Mini-mailing list and receive a periodic little email newsletter with news, events, tips, juicy gossip, tricks, how-to's, special announcements and more. (To be honest, there will be a lot more news and tips and things than juicy gossip - so maybe come for the juicy gossip and stay for the useful information?)

The mini-mailing list is a great way to learn more about being an active, involved Etsy Team participant, whether you're a part of a local team or a global, interest-based team or both. Basically, it's a simple, easy peasy way to be a good teams member.

To join, just go to http://team.etsy.com and insert your email address in to the box. That will deliver an email to you, and you can sign up for the list there (you can also sign up for some other helpful, amazing emails, but be sure to check the "Etsy Teams" box). We promise not to spam you or to send an overwhelming amount of email. You can be removed from the list by request whenever you'd like, we don't share info with ugly, evil companies (or any companies, for that matter) and we think you're the bee's knees. Yay!

Etsy Team Tip: Make Team Promos!

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:21:00 -0000

Ever try to explain what an Etsy Team is to someone, and wish you had something to give them so they'd remember your conversation? Just like promoting your shop, having a little something for someone to walk away with can jog their memory and make your marketing more effective.

Business cards or stickers can be relatively inexpensive, especially when multiple team members split the cost. You can include your team's name and a little blurb about what you do. If you're a local team, maybe include something about the importance of supporting local artists. For a global team, you may want to include what all of your shops have in common - like a common medium or cause. You can also include any search phrases or tags your team uses, along with a blog URL, a flickr pool address or other sites of interest.

Make sure your promotional items are easy to read and really pop - people are more likely to keep and use something that looks really good! You can even hold a design challenge, like the Etsy Glass Team did, before you order cards. Once your promos are made and arrive, everyone on the team can take a big ol' stack to hand out when they're talking up Etsy, or to include in packages they ship out from their shops.

For stickers, business cards or other promos, browse on Etsy or check out the forums for recommendations from other sellers on where to get promos made.

Etsy Team Tip: Build a Team Etsy Mini

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:19:00 -0000

Did you know that you can make an Etsy mini to show off your team's items?

Our tip this week is to make an Etsy mini for your team that members can put on their individual blogs and web sites.

If you don't have one already, create an Etsy buyer account for your team. Then stock the "favorites" with the best items from team members' shops. Use this great collection of images to build Etsy Minis, which you can paste in your personal and team blogs, and any other place your Team members hang out on the web.

What is an Etsy mini, you ask?

An Etsy mini is like a little dynamic treasury you can make and import into your other web spaces, like on your personal web site or into the sidebar of a blog. If you go to "Your Etsy" and click on "Etsy Mini" in the sidebar, you can walk through the steps of building one of your own. A mini can have images drawn from your favorites or your shop inventory. It's a groovy tool!

Check out our past Team Tips in The Storque for more ways to promote your team!

Etsy Team Tip: Running a Promotion Online

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:31:00 -0000

The PlushTeam this week is holding a really awesome contest this week, which inspired me to write this week's Team Tip of the Week.

This week's tip is to team up with other sellers on your team to run a joint promotion online. Create a reason for people to browse from shop to shop and have every participating shop promote the online event. If your team is rather large, perhaps break it down into smaller groups of shops that compliment each other. Cross promote with other groups on blogs, with your Flickr account, on social networking sites and through email. Getting people clicking through your shop for fun is a great way to gain exposure!

Etsy Team Tip: Promoting Your Team for the Holiday Season

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:27:00 -0000

The first step in promoting your Etsy Team for the holiday season is to take stock and start simple. Does each member of your team include a link in their email signature and personal blog to your Team's blog, Treasury or Team page on Etsy? Members can also list the address of Team blogs and locations in their shop profiles. Some Teams make a little graphic or button representing their Team to post anywhere they can on the web and on promotional materials. Teams can also include a little team symbol in member's avatars, creating cross-Team branding which can be highly effective.

These simple strategies can go a long way, and will support your bigger promotional efforts such as Team-wide sales, contests and other events.

Stay tuned for more tips on promoting your Teams this holiday season!

How to Promote Your Shop - Portland

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:30:00 -0000

Trillium Artisans, a nonprofit organization in Portland, Oregon, USA, will be hosting a special workshop on Wednesday, September 26, for artisans in the community, including members of our group and of the PDX Etsy Street Team.

Our guest speaker will be Ryan McAbery of Littleput Books. This will be Ryan's "dry run" for the class she is teaching at the Etsy Labs in October - "How to Promote Yourself on Etsy - Tips, Tricks, and Secrets from a Successful Etsy Seller."

Trillium Artisans is a community economic development program that empowers low-income artisans by actively connecting them to markets and supporting them in growing their "green" crafts businesses. We offer consignment opportunities through our gallery, our website, and our Etsy shop, as well as credit card processing services, contracting opportunities, small business counseling, and help with product development. The products that we carry are all made from a minimum of 50% recycled, reclaimed, salvaged, found, and "trashion" materials. Our product lines include gifts, women's accessories, home decor, garden, and pets. We promote a triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit for all.

Trillium falls under Etsy's description of a "collective" - "A Collective is a group of people who know each other personally and make things together: either sharing a studio space and/or sharing knowledge." Our artisans do not share studio space but we do have a collective gallery where our work is sold, and one of the ways we share knowledge is through our monthly artisan meetings such as this one.

This project is funded by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, which awarded us an Arts Builds Communities grant to maintain our monthly artisan meetings. The meetings are used to educate our artisans on a variety of business related subjects, and to facilitate peer networking.

Past meetings have included field trips to galleries, presentations by bankers, artists' representatives, and boutique owners, and speakers from Portland Supercrafty, Lov.li, and Craftypod.

Selling art and crafts online through Etsy.com is a very hot topic right now, and our artisans are hungry for information and assistance about how to use Etsy and market their work on the site.

The meetings are free to our artisan members and $5 for other community members who are interested in joining us. When we announced the workshop to the PDX Etsy team, the response was overwhelming - it filled up within about 8 hours!

We have approximately 30 people attending the workshop, 18 of whom are Etsy sellers. The remaining twelve are Trillium Artisan members who are interested in starting Etsy shops and will most likely do so after the workshop.

This is going to be an amazing class. We are so grateful to Ryan for donating her time and skills toward helping us meet our goals by showing our artisans and team members new ways to grow their sustainable micro-enterprises.