Search results (title) for: "advertising how-to"

Seller How-To: Top 10 Graphic Designs to Give Your Shop the Edge

2009-07-23T10:17:00-05:00

There is a proverb which says that experience is a formidable teacher — it hands the test first and the lesson afterward. Graphic design, the studiously crafted personality profile of an individual, is one of most formidable teachers of all. A graphic designer has to tread on speculation and potentiality, and there is a certain degree of risk involved in the creation of art that looks not inwardly to oneself, but to the customer.

However, good design does not simply "exist." It also "does," and it is most effective when communicating objectives close to our hearts. In my little sphere as a graphic artist, good design teaches that we are not here simply to make a living, but to bring back locality and handmade value in a world of increasing abstraction.

This is a list of 10 different (and progressively expansive) ways in which graphic design can give your shop the edge by building a professional, consistent image, while letting the world know you mean (handmade) business!

Custom Etsy Banner By jackandmolly, $30.

1. The banner. The first step of graphic design, and one's immediate identification for sellers and buyers alike, banners can be made using a wide range of graphic programs — from the free (but very good) GIMP to the more challenging Adobe Photoshop.

Custom LOGO DESIGN and BUSINESS CARD by ARTbyNIKA, $120.

2. The logo. More expansive than the banner (which can be changed as often as desired), the logo is a symbol of constancy and becomes one's business ID to the world. Consistent use of the logo is the key to clear communication and maximum visual impact. It acquaints others with your shop.

Custom Character by McPrincessMaree, $50.

3. The custom-character. Similar to the logo in creating an identity, but far more detailed is the custom character. Its style can range from humorous and simple to high-fashion, and is an endearing, memorable component of branding. This is becoming more popular with online, socially-networked sites and may be used as an avatar.

preFAB Business Cards by nbcreative, $15.

4. The business card. This is by far the most efficient method of making oneself known to the world, and is therefore extremely important. Many people collect striking designs; to quote a fellow Etsian upon seeing some formidable business cards, "These will end up being retained by the recipients as art!"

Custom graphic design Twin Stylish Marketing Brochures by CraftyChefGraphics, $150.

5. The postcard or brochure. For those who wish to give product details and photographs that cannot fit within the storage-space of a single business card, the brochure is a very useful (and personal!) way of communicating with one's audience.

Darby Website Template - Complete 4 Page Site by byMasselyn, $100.

6. The website. When it comes to websites, as elsewhere, less is more: simple, easy-to-navigate and stylish designs inspire. If you have many photographs that you wish to showcase, a personal website is the ideal place to do so. Look for a web-designer who knows how to install a Coppermine photo system for easy uploading, clear layouts divided by category, and minimum maintenance work.

Dark Spark Hang Tags - Build Your Own - 2 Sided by lolaness, $30.

7. The product thingamabobs. This is a wide-ranging section which can include anything from product labels and stickers to ornamental gift tags. A stylish and eye-catching label exudes confidence, consistency and professionalism, encouraging the buyer that they have made an excellent selection.

Custom Rubber Stamp - Girl on Bike Bookplate by babyjewels, $21.

8. The vector. Vector graphics are two-dimensional, flat images — beautiful for their austere simplicity and limited number of colors. They are perfect for letterpress work, for the creation of stamps, and can be easily transferred onto the less conventional wood or acrylic gift-tags.

PREMADE graphic design personal chef or catering logo, business card, postcard, and letterhead for fliers by CookingClipArt, $75.

9. The letterhead. These are slightly sneaky (yet very professional!) ways of influencing others to visit your shop without having to ask. A good letterhead design is thus a powerful marketing tool with many benefits.

Etsy Business Package by Thompsondesigns, $50.

10. ...and finally, the horn of plenty! To maintain consistency, it is important to use the same graphic designer throughout. For that reason, many graphic artists offer a cornucopia of selections in a single package.

Do you have any graphic design tips for sellers? Post in the comments below!

Seller Handbook | Shop Makeover Series

Holiday How-Tos: Online Marketing Tips

2008-09-03T11:40:00-05:00

Dear Sellers,

Now is the time to organize your Holiday marketing plan! Get out your calendars and start plotting your plan of attack. There's lots you prep work you can do right now so that you'll be organized and ready to go for the holidays. The following ideas should help you start thinking about your plan, but really these tips are just the tip of the wintery iceberg. Do you have some tips for your fellow sellers? Please post them in the comments below or join us this Thursday (September 4th, 2008) at 4:00 pm EDT in the Treehouse of the Virtual Labs for a discussion on this topic!

Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to keep in touch with your customers this holiday season. The first thing you need to do is build your mailing list and choose how you are going to send your newsletters. You can create a Google Group or Yahoo Group for free and by inviting your customers to join these groups (a great place to do this is in your Message To Seller field in Your Etsy), you can build an easy mailing list that is simple to use. (Here's an article I found that can show you how to do this.) If you don't mind paying for a more versatile service try ConstantContact or VerticalResponse (or one of the many other newsletter programs). These will allow you to create HTML newsletters, get stats and creatively manage your contacts.

This does take a bit of work to set up, but once you have your mailing list established, you can easily contact your best customers and let them know of your new items for the holidays or a sale! Another great way to use this is to send out a newsletter a week before the last day they can order from your shop in order to get their package before Christmas to let them know the deadline is fast approaching!

Tip: Remember to ask your customers to opt-in to your mailing list! Emailing about a promo without permission is considered spamming.

Blogging

If you don't have a blog yet, now is the time to set one up! Like newsletters, blogging can keep you in touch with your customer base and let them know about your holiday specials, new designs, deadlines for holiday ordering and more. In addition, you can get your customers thinking about the holidays early by pointing out what you are doing to plan for winter. Blog about gifts you might be giving to friends and family, decorating how-tos, your favorite holiday recipes, etc.

Tip: Create a weekday series (for example: "Tuesday's Tips for Holiday Decorating"). This will keep you — and your readers — coming back to your blog!

Social Networking

In a previous article, Pimp My Shop, I wrote about the importance of social networking. Here are a couple of ideas for utilizing social networking sites over the holidays:

Offer an exclusive special or free gift with purchase to all your contacts on one social networking site. This will reward your contacts for following you and make them feel special!
Spend some time wishing your contacts a happy holiday season. Here's my suggestion: No flashy graphics! Just leave a personalized comment to those of your contacts who you are familiar with (ie. past customers, Etsy friends, bloggers). For example, "Dear DeeDee, Thank you for supporting me this year! I wish you all the best and hope it doesn't get too cold in Colorado this winter! Happy Holidays!"

Tip: Now is the time to add one or two more social networking or social shopping sites to your daily routine. Try Indiepublic or StyleFeeder (if you haven't already).

Advertising

Freshen up your advertising and start early! Put together a frosty photo-shoot and get some great crisp shots to use in your online advertising. Think snow, icicles and glitter! Get those holiday ads out right after Halloween, which means you should be lining up your favorite place to run online ads now. Don't know where to get started? Check out your Blog Roll. Many of your favorite blogs offer adspace, and if they don't they might start with you, just ask! Another great resources is a site called ProjectWonderful, where you can bid on adspace for as little as $0.25!

The holidays can be an exciting and fruitful time of year for sellers. Make sure you've done what you can to bring in new customers and connect with your previous customers. These tips should help you start to form your plan.

Need more inspiration for your holiday marketing plan? Remember to join us this Thursday (September 4th) at 4:00 pm EDT in the Treehouse of the Virtual Labs! This will be the first in a weekly discussion on organizing your shop for the holidays. Hope to see you there! And make sure to check back for more Holiday How-Tos!

13.5 Questions about Showcase

2008-08-05T17:12:00-05:00

1. What is Showcase?
Showcase is Etsy’s internal cooperative advertising program. We don't sell outside advertising to companies, but we do sell ad space to our sellers. By purchasing a spot in a Showcase, Etsy sellers can show off their items and help boost their sales and shop awareness. The Showcase is a great way to get more hearts, favorited items, and sales.

2. How does it work?
Showcase spots are sold as 24 hour chunks.

For $15, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24 hour spot in the Main Showcase, which is linked to from a prominent banner on Etsy's homepage.
For $7, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24 hour spot in The Storque Showcase, which cycles through on the homepage of the Storque, Etsy's blog.
For $7, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24 hour spot in one or more of the Category Showcases. As of mid November 2007, we offer showcases in each Category. These Showcases are located at the top of the respective Category's pages.
For $7, Etsy sellers can purchase a 24 hour spot in one or more of the Jewelery Subcategory Showcases.

3. How many Showcases are there at a given time?
Usually there is the Main Showcase, The Storque Showcase, Gift Guide Showcase, Category Showcases and the Jewelry Subcategory Showcase one at any given time, but for holidays and special events, we often create additional themed Showcases.

4. Showcase spots were selling out so fast, I could never get a spot. Did you ever do anything about this?
Because of the great demand for promotional opportunities on Etsy, we started to expand Showcase throughout the site. We will always keep it affordable so we can help as many sellers as possible have access to this excellent promotional opportunity. See bethela's Showcase Deconstructed article.

5. What currency are the $7.00 and $15 fees in?
US Dollars.

6. What time zone determines the twenty-four hours of the day?
Eastern Time in the USA. This is GMT -4:00

7. Can I cancel a spot after I'd made a reservation? Is the fee refunded?
We will only cancel and refund spots under very special circumstances. Deciding you are no longer interested in your spot does not fly. If you feel like you really have a valid case please email support@etsy.com.

8. How many spots can I reserve?
You can purchase up to two spots per Showcase each month. On a given Showcase, each seller can have only one spot per day. For example, your jewelry can be in the Main Showcase, the Storque Showcase, and the Gift Guide all on the same day. But you cannont have two spots in one of those Showcases on the same day.

9. How do I choose which items appear on the Showcases?
The Category Showcases only draw from your items in the corresponding category (with the corresponding first tag). Go to Your Etsy and look for the Showcase link under the Promote section. There, you can manage which correctly tagged items you want to feature. With the Main Showcase and Storque Showcase (and our occasional holiday Showcase), you can change up which items you want featured on the fly and the changes will be reflected live in the Showcase.

10. What happens when an item being displayed sells?
When one sells, it pulls up the next featured item in your shop, then the next, then the next etc… If all your featured items sell and you do not add more, the Showcase will randomly pull another item from your shop (or in the case of Category Showcases, it will pull another one of your items from the corresponding category). This random item will change each time the Showcase is loaded.

11. What happens if the site is taken down for maintenance and I am on the Showcase?
You will be given bonus time to make up for the trouble.

12. How do I purchase a spot?
Step 1: Go to the Showcase Gateway.

Step 2: Choose the Showcase in which you'd like to reserve a spot.

Step 3: Select from the available dates on the top right side of the page.

Step 4: Hit the purchase button.

Yay! You are all set, the fee will be added to your normal Etsy bill.

Still having trouble? Check out the Step-By-Step Showcase Help Guide.

13. I cannot remember my scheduled Showcase day! What Do I do?
Remain calm! No need to post in the forums or email support. Instead, please login to Etsy, click Your Etsy, and check out your Etsy Bill. It will tell you the day of your Showcase and serve as a receipt for your purchase.

13.5 How do I know if the Showcase is right for me?
Some sellers have done very well with the Showcase in terms of exposure and sales, some not so much. We recommend you check out bethela's article Showcase Deconstructed for tips on what considerations you should think about before purchasing. Exboyfriend also did a great 2-part series for the Storque all about online advertising, A DIY-Friendly Guide to Online Advertising.

Team Tip: Creative Marketing for your Team

2008-06-16T12:07:00-05:00

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?

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

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

Etsy Cooperative Advertising Pilot Program

2008-02-01T11:34:00-05:00

UPDATE: The Etsy Cooperative Advertising Program is going strong! See Cooperative Advertising posts to get info on the latest opportunities and details on how to participate.

Many of you have asked if Etsy would ever sponsor cooperative national print advertising. We have heard your requests, and we are excited about the idea. In an effort to help support our artists, we are exploring a program that gives Etsy sellers a chance to show off their work in a variety of magazine advertisements offered at subsidized, cooperative rates. This is one aspect of our marketing plan for 2008, mentioned in an earlier article by Matt.

Print advertising can be very expensive. For example, a one page, full-color ad that appears once in Lucky magazine costs $92,420. You'll need to shell out a cool $255,840 for a page in Time. So, in order to get the most bang for our collective bucks, we will have to be selective about which magazines are chosen. This is where the subsidy comes in.

Etsy will pay for half of each ad.

Now for the cooperative part. We will take out print ads in a variety of magazines. We will design the ads, and offer spots in them to Etsy sellers at affordable rates. Some of the ads will be similar to our 2-page spread in Craft magazine, pictured above. By combining our purchasing power, everyone can benefit from the exposure without having to make the costly expenditure needed to advertise alone.

Other important details: You will get to display an image of one item, its price, and your shop name. The limit is one spot per seller, per advertisement. They will be sold on a first come, first serve basis.

Poll:

This is where you come in. The following is a list of the magazines that we are currently considering, along with the price for each one. If you would be interested in participating, please leave a comment below that includes which magazine(s) you would consider advertising in. Please note, that Etsy will also be undertaking our own advertising initiatives in other on and offline venues, but want to give you all the opportunity to get in on the fun.

This poll is only being used to gauge your interest! The exact details are subject to change, and your answers do not constitute any sort of agreement. Thank you for your input.

Venus Zine: Full page, 30 spots, $25 each

Craft Magazine: 2-page spread, 36 Spots, $70 each

Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion: Full page, 30 Spots, $75 each

Bust Magazine: Full page, 30 Spots, $100 each

Readymade Magazine: Full page, 30 Spots, $450 each

If you have other ideas for magazines where you would like to see advertising, please email them to adam@etsy.com.

Showcase Deconstructed: Why We've Augmented Etsy's Cooperative Advertising Program

2007-11-02T10:30:00-05:00

Dear Sellers,

Beth aka bethela outlines some things to consider when thinking about buying a spot in the Showcases, Etsy's internal cooperative advertising program.

Beth works for Etsy on the Business Operations Team. She's also writing a series The Art of Pricing for the Storque. We'd also like to refer you to ExBoyfriend's how-to series called a DIY-friendly Guide to Advertising Online and Matt's 13.5 Questions about Showcase post.

Main Showcase
So the price for the Main Showcase is $15. When we decided to raise the price, we mentioned that the reason for the increase is because of the tremendous demand — but we didn't talk about why demand is higher.

Increased traffic to Etsy: Etsy has put a lot of effort into our public relations and outside advertising efforts. In addition to word of mouth and our sellers marketing their own shops, this effort has been highly successful, bringing a tremendous amount of traffic to Etsy. As our traffic continues to grow, the Showcase spots increase dramatically in value. Every spot has an increased opportunity to drive more traffic and more exposure to not only the item highlighted but also the seller's store. For more on Etsy's growth, see Statistics posts on the Storque.
Location on site: Just like in real estate, location is everything on the internet. Our homepage gets the most traffic and the Main Showcase is highlighted on this page.
Success stories: We have many examples of great successes using the Showcase. Some sellers have seen an immediate increase in sales, selling many items from an individual Showcase. The value however, is beyond the immediate sales. Most report that the increased exposure that the Showcase provides drives future traffic and sales. We are developing additional tools for sellers to measure the performance of their store and evaluate success for themselves.
Value: Compared to other ways to promote and advertise items or a store, the main Showcase is a great value. Yes, even at $15! It is up to an individual seller to decide whether purchasing a Showcase spot is good for their sales strategy and the types of products they are selling.

Category Showcase
Due to the success of the Main Showcase for our sellers, we looked for additional ways for sellers to highlight their work, strut their stuff so to speak. In addition to responding to a call from the community to create these opportunities, we believe it will also be an additional way our buyers can find great items.

Category Showcases are valuable for many of the same reasons as the Main Showcase. A key component for the Category Showcase is the ability to target a buyer that you already know something about. For instance, if I click on the Jewelry Category, you know I am already interested in jewelry. If you are a seller of jewelry, what better way to target a customer than one who has already expressed an interest in jewelry?

Obviously, we don't have success stories or traffic data to illustrate directly the value of a Category Showcase. That said, we have done a tremendous amount of research to better understand how people shop on our site and what is helpful in guiding people to find what they are looking for. The outcome of our research led to the creation of the Category Showcase. I know I am looking forward to watching how it does.

Advertising and Promotion
In general, advertising has been helpful to many of our sellers. However, listing in the Showcase may not be for everyone. Just like in pricing your items, promoting your items or your store takes some consideration. Advertising or promotion is an important component of your marketing and sales mix. Here are a few considerations:

Your products' presentation – Is your product compelling from a thumbnail perspective? Great pictures (here's a link to some photography tips and how-tos) and good descriptions help tremendously.
Type of products – Some products may benefit more from advertising than others.
Depth of your store – Will advertising help drive sales to the rest of your store?
Inventory – How much do you have to sell? How much would you like to sell?
Past successes — Has advertising worked for you in the past?

I have recommended to experiment with pricing. Experimenting with Showcase spots is also something to consider. Maybe the Main Showcase works great for you and that exposure is all you need to keep a good flow of sales going. Since every item is unique and every store has its own character, there are no magic formulas for advertising and promotion. What works for one seller may not work for another. One way to test what works for you is experimenting with Showcases on different days of the week, Main Showcase vs. Category Showcase vs. Storque Showcase, a combination of both Main Showcase and Category Showcase, proximity to a holiday, etc.

The changes in the Showcase reflect our efforts to give a larger, wider variety of sellers the opportunity to promote on Etsy. We want our sellers to do well and utilize the tools on our site in ways that work well for each individual seller. Our sellers' successes are our successes.

As always, lets keep the dialogue open. Please convo bethela or ask your questions below.

A DIY-Friendly Guide to Advertising Online (Part Two)

2007-10-17T13:04:00-05:00

So Many Advertisement Opportunities, So Little Money

With so many options for advertising your business online, it's sometimes difficult to know which ones will most effectively meet your needs. There are several factors to consider when evaluating an ad purchase decision. First and foremost you want to ask yourself: Will this advertising opportunity expose my brand to people who are likely to make purchases with me?

A well-targeted ad campaign is going to bring you the best results. When comparing an ad that costs $20 with one that costs $100, try to look beyond those dollar figures and consider which ad is likely to expose your brand to real potential customers. An inexpensive ad is a waste of money if it isn't going to bring you customers, and you won't get much bang for the buck.

The next thing to decide is how you are going to evaluate the effectiveness of an ad campaign. Just because you do not see a huge jump in sales overnight, that doesn't mean the ad campaign was ineffective. Think about a beverage company like Snapple; when they advertise on a highway billboard, their expectation is not that drivers will immediately pull into the nearest gas station for a Snapple. Their goal is to increase their brand awareness so that next time those drivers are thirsty, Snapple will come to mind. The same is true for your advertising efforts. Don't expect people to immediately pull off of the information superhighway to make a purchase from you. Some people may, but a lot of people won't.

What you are really after is having your brand in the forefront of those consumers' minds when they are ready to make a purchase. Those ads you ran back in September that may have only resulted in one sale may really pay off come early December when the people who bookmarked your site months ago return to do some holiday shopping. Your results will be even better if you advertised on the same site in October and November. The daily readers of the blog that you've been advertising on for several months who maybe didn't bookmark your site back in September now have so much exposure to your brand that when it's time for holiday shopping, they'll still come to you. Plus, they'll remember how to find you because they saw you on their favorite blog every day.

While all of this sounds a bit nebulous, there are indicators you can look for to see if your ad is generating interest from people who will make future purchases. Click-through rate is of course going to be one of them; if people are clicking through to check out your products and website, that's a good sign. If they are bookmarking your site, (some traffic analysis software can make estimates about this for you; AWStats is one of the programs that does this) that is also good. If they are signing up for your newsletter, that's terrific. Don't have a newsletter, you say? Get one, posthaste. People love deals, sales and giveaways, and offering these sorts of goodies as an incentive to join your mailing list will not only encourage purchases, it's a great way to keep your brand on consumers' minds. You want to email them each month and say something like "Remember us and our fabulous products? Just for you, loyal customer and mailing list subscriber, I am offering free shipping for a limited time." It is a call to action, to come back and make a purchase, and an incentive for doing it right now.

The bottom line is a marketing campaign is about building relationships with customers, not only about producing sales immediately. Going into a marketing campaign with sales as your singular goal is both unrealistic and short-sighted. When you consistently expose your brand to potential customers and offer them incentives to take an interest in your brand, you are establishing interest and familiarity with your brand, and that is what will ultimately lead to brand loyalty and consistent sales.

Meredith Keller is an artist for Ex-Boyfriend and the founder of IShopIndie.com, an advertising co-op for indepedent designers. She has extensive experience running internet advertising and promotional campaigns on the internet for Ex-Boyfriend and IShopIndie.com. She has served as a consultant to other internet businesses on how to promote online. She has recently launched a service that is dedicated to co-op based promotion for independent online retailers.

Ex-boyfriend's series on Internet Advertising continues here. Her previous post, dealt with the terminology and different options for buying ads.

Post your questions and comments below! Let Ex-Boyfriend know if you want more info about online advertising!

A DIY-Friendly Guide to Advertising Online (Part One)

2007-10-10T06:27:00-05:00

CPM, ROI... WTF?!

Muddling your way through the online advertising world can be tricky business. It's got a lingo all its own and requires finesse to make the most of your advertising dollars. In the following article, we're going to discuss the most common ways internet advertising is sold and the benefits and drawbacks of those models.

CPM advertising — CPM stands for cost per mile. In English, it means the amount you will pay for every 1,000 impressions. (An impression means your ad has been viewed.) So, if a website says their advertising is $10/CPM, and you spend $500, your ad will receive 50,000 impressions. Is this a great deal? Well, maybe, but it depends on what you are comparing it to.

The average banner ad campaign typically results in a click-through rate of less than 1%, so you are probably going to get 500 or fewer people visiting your site in the above example. You may see an above-average click-through rate depending on several factors, though. Consider the placement of the ad; is it going to be highly visible to site visitors? Is the ad a terrific match for the site you are going to advertise on? Maybe you sell yarn; a good match would be to advertise on a website for knitters. If you've got an especially eye-catching, fantastic ad, it might perform exceptionally well on that site and you might see an above-average click-through rate and above-average conversions (“conversions” is a fancy way of saying sales).

CPC advertising — Cost per click advertising means you only pay when your ad is clicked on. Sounds like a pretty good deal, right? Maybe, maybe not. Google Adwords is one of the biggest providers of CPC advertising, and they have a huge audience to offer you.

One issue with CPC advertising is poor click quality can burn up your budget with no sales to show for it. If you've selected popular keywords, you might be paying $1-$2 per click and getting lots of people on your site, but they're just coming to browse with no intention of making a purchase. This can easily burn up a small budget with nothing to show for it. If you have a large budget, the losses you will be taking from this type of visitor behavior might be acceptable, but if you're strapped for cash, this might not be the best deal for you.

The other major issue with CPC advertising is click fraud. Generally, the way CPC works is that content providers (bloggers, website owners, etc.) have a relationship with CPC providers like Google. The arrangement is that the content provider, such as a blogger, will run ads for a company like Google and the content provider gets paid when people click from their site to yours. Unscrupulous "content providers" have come up with elaborate ways to foil Google's system so that they get paid and you get nothing. You'll know this is happening when you check out your site's web statistics and you see in your list of referrer sites like freecheapvacationsnow191.ws. If you go check out the site, you'll see it actually has nothing on it but adword campaigns and pop up ads. This site didn't deliver you a potential customer at all; it's a site owner who is manipulating Google's ad serving software for profit at your expense. You could spend all day blocking these fraudulent sites, but that will be an ongoing job for you. You could also block Google's content network, but this means you are keeping your ad out of sight from a potentially large audience. There's no right or wrong approach to dealing with this problem. It's something you will have to determine how to address on based on your own unique marketing campaign, budget and products.

CPC advertising is probably most compatible with products people actively seek out, rather than products people purchase on impulse. A CPC campaign would be great if, for example, you were an internet retailer selling used replacement car parts. Generally people who need a alternator don't just see an ad for "alternators" and think "I'd love to have one of those." Typically, customers for a company like that will seek out that company's products when the need arises. So for a company like that, having their link pop up when people search "used alternator" on Google would be ideal. If you sell something that's more of a luxury or novelty item, you might be better off with another form of advertising.

Flat Rate Advertising — Many content providers have a flat rate that they charge to advertise with them for a set amount of time. For example, a blog might charge you $100/week or $300/month. The nice thing about this model is that content providers who sell their advertising this way often make discounted pricing available to advertisers who commit to several months of advertising at once.
Evaluating flat rate advertising can be tricky, because this form of advertising can be a stellar deal or a huge waste of money.

To evaluate this kind of opportunity, you will want to know about the site's average number of page views and unique visitors. Keep in mind that the average click-through rate is less than 1%, so if a site wants $500/month and they get 1200 unique visitors per day, on average you are probably only going to see about 360 visits from this ad. You might wind up with a better click-through rate if the site is particularly well-suited for marketing your products or if the site includes a newsletter mention or an advertorial (an editorial write-up advertising your product or service, paid for by you) with the deal.

The next thing you want to consider is click quality. Click quality refers to how great these clicks are going to be for you. Are these click-throughs likely to result in conversions for you? If you are selling expensive items and you advertise on a site whose readers have an average household income of $30,000/year, you might see lots of click-throughs but no sales because the audience just can't afford your products. To evaluate click quality, you will want to ask the advertising venue for a media kit. This media kit should tell you some statistical information about their audience. This information may include gender, race, geographic location, and/or average household income. All of this data can indicate the kind of click quality you can expect. Many venues that offer flat rate advertising allow you to buy a short-term ad at a somewhat inflated price. Meaning they may charge $300/month, but they will let you try an ad for $100 for one week. If you are unsure about the ad venue you're considering, this is a great way to test the waters.

Further Resources:
BlogAds — A marketplace for blog advertising. Offers self-service ad purchases, flexible terms and sites that are appropriate for a variety of budgets.

Google Adwords — The leading provider of cost-per-click advertising.

Federated Media — CPM based advertising available for a variety of blogs.

I Shop Indie — The author's co-operative internet advertising for indie designers.

Merkell.net — The author's service dedicated to co-op based promotion for independent online retailers.

See more Storque posts all about advertising your shop, especially Part Two of this series!

I Heart Marketing My Etsy Shop and You Will, Too! Part 3

2007-09-20T06:00:00-05:00

I have recently fallen in love with a new craft (of sorts). I think of it when I am not doing it, I do it when I am not thinking about it. It is loads of fun and super rad and makes me think in new ways every day. What is it?

Marketing my Etsy shop.

Yep, it has become my new passion. Talking to my fellow shop owners and reading the forums, I know that not everyone has embraced this part of the indie craft experience like I have. So, I am going to share what I have learned.

What follows is the third piece of a series. Here's the first and second, if you'd like to start at the beginning. Let's go!

Outside Sales

I have often read in the forums, “What is Etsy doing to get us buyers?” To this, I think, “What are you doing to get yourself buyers?” Of course Etsy is working hard to bring new buyers to the site, but I firmly believe that we know our own products and audience well enough to be gathering our own customers, too. This is what I truly love doing. See the Internet as your access to an entire world of buyers, or maybe even a world of new friends who dig what you do. It is your job to help these people find you.

Google Adwords

Set up a Google Adwords Campaign. You can spend as little or as much as you want per day. Experiment. Spend $1 one day, nothing the next, whatever you want. You are in complete control over how much you spend.

How does it work? You create an ad and pick keywords. When someone searches Google for your keywords, your ad may display next to the search results. You can also set it up so that your ads display on Google’s content network, which means blogs, forums, news sites, etc. The best thing about this is that you are likely advertising to a group of people who are already interested in you. This is really key and something that we need to think about in all of our Etsy marketing.

Now, here's a tangent. Follow the tangent with me. The best way to sell anything to anyone is to find someone who already wants your product, rather than trying to convince a random person and “make him or her” want your product. The Internet is the best tool to do this. Target your marketing so that you don’t have to create a hard sell situation. Find the right person BEFORE you try to sell them your stuff. The way to do this is to know your product, know your brand and know your niche. Tangent done! However, this is something to think about in everything that we do.

In general, only try Google Adwords if you have a specific item with very specific words that you know someone will be searching for. With my zombie and sea monster shirts, this is easy for me. I know that someone searching for “zombie” and “shirt” will likely dig my items when they click on my ad. I also try to think of things that people might be searching for and try to buy those key words, too. When the zombie movie 28 Weeks Later came out, I added the movie title as a key word and got some clicks this way. I also saw my ads next to reviews of the movie on The New York Times website. Think about how products fit into culture and target your ads. Only you know your niche and products, but I bet with some thought you could make Google Adwords work for you.

Once you have used Google Adwords for a few days, find out what websites your ads are showing up on in their content network. I did this and found out that there are dozens of forums out there where people are talking about zombies and ghosts and Cryptozoology! I had no idea there was a website called IamHaunted.com! Now I do and I can buy an ad for my ghost shirts there. Thanks, Google!

A Million other Places on the Internet

Along those lines, buy ads on other indie craft sites. There are too many of these sites to list, but start looking at communities like Craftster.org or The Sampler. Blogs like Indie Fixx and Design*Sponge also good places to try out ads, or email sponsorship. The price for this type of thing totally varies, as does the benefit.

Look for and join online communities where you think your potential customers might hang out. Make stuff for kids? Find parenting blogs, forums, podcasts, etc. Join, comment, or even buy an ad on these sites. Just remember not to spam! You get the picture: there's a website for every niche out there. If you are comfortable, also try social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook or Flickr.

Start a blog where you document your craft. A blog is mucho work. Only go this route if you think you have time for it. I firmly believe that a blog is a “build it and they will come” venture. There is no need to tell everyone you meet about your blog a million times. If you write often, people will find you via search engines, which will lead to links from other blogs. If you blog for marketing purposes only, we will be able to tell. So try to blog from your heart and your life.

You can also join an Etsy street team, or better yet, start your own collective or online marketing team. LemonCadet and I are launching a website called Yeti Loves Seamonster that will spotlight our favorite sellers of kid’s items on Etsy. Don’t be afraid to buy URLs and set up websites to promote yourself and others. I firmly believe that the more you promote others, the more they will promote you. Create friendships and community and conquer the world together!

I have crazy dreams about the future of online marketing. I want to be able to modify your World of Warcraft characters to wear my shirts and hand out links to my shop. I want to map my items to my husband’s Xbox 360 Splinter Cell dude. These seem like crazy dreams, but I know that we will be doing these things in the future. The thing is to not be afraid to think big. The worst that can happen when setting impossible goals is failure. And truly, what's worse: failing, or not trying at all?

Marketing in the Physical Realm

Promotional materials are important. Duh. But have you taken a good look at your promotional materials from the standpoint of someone who has no idea what this Etsy thing is? Try to avoid business cards with just text on them. We need to see what you make! Think about creating your promotional materials to double as products. Want to send out a postcard with orders to remind people of your shop? Why not create an art card with a really cool picture of one of your items? If you put your shop name on the back of the card, it turns into a freebie rather than an advertisement. Been making badges or refrigerator magnets with your business name on them? No one but you cares about your business name and logo, really. Instead, I put my designs onto these promo materials, with my business name small in the corner. This turns promos into gifts that people will keep or give away rather than just toss or not remember.

And don’t be afraid to be generous. I always send extra stuff with orders. If something costs me less than a dollar to make, it doesn’t hurt me to send it for free. An extra badge or card or magnet sent to someone who buys a shirt, often becomes a gift that they give to a friend. That friend almost always shows up to purchase. The more that you put out into the world, the more you will get back.

Wear or use your own items out in the world. When someone asks about it, give him or her your card. This is obvious, but I often forget to do it! Along those lines, get your items into the hands of people! Have friends in bands or with theater companies or with kids or whatever? Give them stuff to wear! Your stock isn’t doing you any good sitting in your house.

Let craft shows work for you. Even if you do poorly at a craft show, give out postcards and samples to people who seem interested. You will see them again. I thought I wasn’t doing very well at a craft show a few months ago. I was totally bummed, but I was nice and gave out lots of free magnets and postcards and things and guess what? I found my shop written up in three popular blogs the next week. You never know who you're talking to, so be rad all the time.

I really believe that with some time and hard work your marketing efforts will pay off. Marketing should be fun. See it as a new craft. A new skill. A new friend.

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft. She is a guest blogger at The Crafty Bastards Blog, where portions of this article originally appeared.