Getting your Social Media groove on! - Part One

Awesome Facebook profile cover by Bettyoctopus

So you got all tech savvy and got yourself a blog. You then upped it by signing up for a Facebook page and you even decided to throw a Twitter page into the mix.

Now you're getting lovely blog comments from that very interesting piece you wrote about knitting those funky gloves, someone wants to order one of your fab items through Facebook and someone has hash-tagged you on Twitter and you're like 'whhhhhattt is going on?', aaaaannnd to top it all off, you're running your Etsy siopa on top of all this. You, my friends, are busy and from the sounds of it, in demand too.

Don't worry, I've been there. Social Media can be overwhelming but only if you let it be. The key to running (successfully) all these great tools is to be organised and if you're not the organising kind, then you need to get your Hootsuite and Evernote skates on folks. Failing that, a cute notebook and equally cute gel pen will get you started. you could even try this adorable notebook....in fact, I need it in my life now.

However there is a difference, a big difference to running all of the above tools and running them well. You might be updating your Facebook status on the hour, every hour. You might be tweeting like it's no one's business, but lets not forget quality over quantity. Ask yourself, Are you really engaging your current and prospective customers and followers? Are your updates exciting, current, informative and interesting? Are you doing all of the above and standing head and shoulders above the rest?

If not, here are some helpful tips that you might need / should / would like to avail of which will be discussed in a three part post series.

First up, me old mucker Facebook. I do like me a bit of Facebook and I follow a large number of craft pages and other types of business Facebook pages and here is what sends me into Facebook crazy lady overdrive and sees me un-liking your page.

Some lovely prop display from Nice Day Designs

- You update on regular basis but don't include interesting images. Here's the deal, crafts people are supposed to be visual people. They're creative folk and if you're making items, don't just talk about them, share the image too, even if it's a work in progress. People like to see what goes on behind the scenes. As for finished pieces of work, be imaginative in how you photograph them. Use props, colourful backdrops or even people! It gives customers an idea of how large / small your item is and perhaps where they can see it placed in their home.

Bringing some 'real life' to products - Nice Day Designs

- You update on a regular basis but include bad, blurry images. If you've gone to the trouble of taking an image, ensure its clear, well light and taken correctly. You don't necessarily need a fancy camera, iPhones do wonders these days. Just take the time to share beautiful images.

- Grammar, grammar, grammar and spelling, spelling and spelling. You are a business. You are a professional. You are your brand. So it makes sense to represent it well. Write all the clever updates you want, but if they're full of bad grammar and spelling errors on a regular basis, I will walk away from you. Always double check before posting. This goes for everything....emails, tweets, blog posts, the whole shib-bang my dears.

- Sharing items, pictures or competitions that are in no way relevant to your business or business page. Sure I'd like to win an overnight stay in some local B and B down the road from you, but what has that got to do with your craft?

Sure I'd like to win a hamper from Johnny the Butchers a million miles away from me, but again, what has that got to do with your craft business page? Keep these kind of posts to your personal page only and always, always keep your customer in mind and the reasons behind them liking your business page in the first page.

-You're boring and I don't get you. Don't be afraid to inject a little personality into your business page. If you see something (craft / design / art related) that inspires you, brings a little happy to your day - perhaps it will do the same for your followers. It will show them a down to earth side of your personality and Facebook is the perfect platform to do this. There isn't a need to over share and there's a real skill in doing this correctly. For perfect examples, check out Nice Day Designs and BettyOctopus, both of whom command a large following from home and abroad. Notice, how professional their pages are, how they interact with their customers and how they follow all of the above rules!

Nice Day Designs sharing a lovely, outdoors painting day!

Now, go have a look at your own page and see what you can do better. It takes practice and patience, but with time you'll get there. If you currently own / run a Facebook page to run alongside your Etsy shop, leave a link below for others to check you out and don't be afraid to ask a question or two in the comments.

Next week, part two and Twitter.

15 Tips for Using Pinterest

I mentioned last week that I would write up a guide to Pinterest, it seems like my Timeline and Blogging articles were popular so I might as well continue imparting my nerdy skills. If you are at all involved with crafts/design you will probably have heard of Pinterest, that is if you are not already a member. It's a website  where people share their taste via virtual pin boards, basically it's like bookmarking with pictures in a shared community. For designers its an amazing resource for two reasons, one it's fantastic for research and information; I've learned tons of new techniques for both crafts and computers since joining. Secondly it's as a way of sharing your own creations, I pin most of my blog posts and some of my etsy listings so my followers (and virally millions of others) can see them.  Even though it has one twentieth the users as Twitter it generates nearly the same referrals, which just shows you the power it has to generate traffic for yourr brand/website. I've been addicted since before Christmas (go here if you would like to follow me) so I've learned a few things along the way:

1. Set up an account;

For some weird reason the site is still invite only, but you can either request one when you go to Pinterest, or if you leave your email in the comments section I can send you an invitation.

2. Don't just repin; 

There are two ways to pin; either by repinning an item that someone else has pinned or by pinning something new to the site. After you've been on the site a while you will see lots of the same tutorials floating around, the community depends on people adding fresh items or it's gets stale very fast. Some of the hardcore Pinners say that you should contribute 1 new pin for every 5 that you repin. But I'm gonna be realistic and say that I do 1 for every 10, I see way too many cool things not to. You can install the pin button on your tool bar that makes pinning cool stuff from the internet really easy.  

3. Pin with the correct link; 

After a while you will notice that not everyone knows how to use Pinterest properly and that some images don't link to the proper site, as a user this is insanely headwrecking!! Please don't be one of those users. for instance if you are on a blog and you see a great post, don't just pin the whole site and click the picture you like, you have to click into the link of that individual blog post and then click your 'pin it' button. Otherwise other people will be brought to the main site rather than that specific post. I hate it when I see a pin for a fantastic tutorial and then I can't find the page. Another thing that people do is pin images directly from Googe images, giving that as a referral link rather than the website, leading people to a dead end, which is also really annoying and breaks the rules of Pinterest.

4. Find a lost pin;

If you get stuck in the above situation but you really want to find the source there is a way. Right click on the pin, then 'open the image in new tab', right click on that and 'save as'. Open up Google Images an drop the file into the search bar, it will then give you a list of sites that this image has appeared on (this is also a good way to see is anyone stealing your images online without permission).

5. Organise your brain and your browsing;

I used to use bookmarks but I really hated them as I always lost sites or forgot what I named them. Pinterest is fantastic for sorting out this kind of information. I have a borad for loads of helpful articles for selling online that includes loads of marketing tips that I can refer back to when I need them. The same goes for card making, sewing tips and cookery. Now when I sit down to make cards I take a look at my board first and scan for inspiration (just like I do with my scrap booking magazines). I also keep a cookery board, so if I can't think of anything to make for dinner I can take a peek at my board and see if anything takes my fancy. I use Pinterest as a place to store ideas until I need them. 

6. Add text to your image;

This is something I haven't quite gotten in the habit of doing yet, but I see it used a lot to great effect. If you are doing a blog post that you intend to pin, or something useful that you would expect others to pin then add text to one of the images. For instance for my blogging article I made images to go with the piece and included the phrase '20 blogging tips' in the picture. There is a pin description, but sometimes people leave this blank, for these instances your pin will still have an explanation embedded into the image. Another tip I read was also to include your website address in the image. This has two benefits; 1. If the link gets lost along the way or someone pins it incorrectly then people can still find your site. 2. It creates brand awareness on Pinterest, if your posts get popular people will start to recognise that brand. 

7. The ins and outs of linking to FB and Twitter;

I have to raise my hand and say I learned this info the hard way. In my settings I linked my account to my Facebook timeline, thinking it would show on my page; not knowing that it would update all my friends about each pin (can I add that I'm addicted so that's a lot of pins). When pinning something it gives you the optiont o share on Facebook and Twitter, you can do this sporadically so you don't spam all your friends. At the start I was frustrated that I couldn't share my business page, but I figured out how to do it. After you pin something a box appears asking if you want to share your pin, click the Facebook one, then go to your page in the drop down menu. 

8. Write good descriptions;
Writing a good description makes it easier for people to search for this item. Even though it's tempting to write 'amazeballs' as the descriptions, ''chocolate sponge with caramel glaze,they are totally amazeballs cookery# baking# cake# chocolate#' will mean that more people will find it. I must admit that when I'm repinning I don't always edit them to make them better for searching, but it's worth the effort. You can also use the @ and # symbols like you do on Twitter.

9. New profiles;
Pinterest just changed their profile layout recently, and you can now choose what image represents your board. Just click the main image and choose your cover image from your pins. Pinterest users are very visual so try to curate your profile like you would an Etsy treasury, I thought about what images and colours matched each other. Also make sure to add all of your relevant links to your profile, I've stated following lots of new blogs and Facebook pages because I've been interested in their taste of Pinterest. I also added my business name in brackets after my own name just in case people don't know me as Ruth.

10. Find out who is pinning you:
I pin quite a few of my blog posts, but other people pin them too, and it's nice too see what is popular. Just type in www.pinterest.com/source/yourwebsitehere/ and you will see all the pins that link to your site.

11. Be Seasonal;
Every time a new holiday/season rolls around Pinterest is flooded with pins for that event, so at Christmas and Valentines there are endless recipes, present ideas, craft tutorials and shopping guides. If you are trying to promote your own seasonal wares or articles make sure to post them early so that they have time to circulate. Or if you like writing craft how-to's then think about the seasons ahead of time and write up some tutorials geared towards these holidays.

12. Share your profile;
Add links to your Pinterest on your blog and business page. Promote it just as much as the other sites that you are part of, if someone finds you on one platform they will want to know where else you are. Make it easy for people to follow you. I even mention that I'm addicted to Pinterest in my twitter profile. You can also add a link to your account to your email signature. Recently I started using social networking icons on my business cards and labels, and on my latest batch I added the P to represent Pinterest.

13. Add the Pin It button to your posts
Sometimes you will see a little red Pin It button on blog posts, this is just like a facebook or twitter sharing button. You can go here to get your button and just paste the html into you post template so that it appears in each of your blog posts like a signature. You can find this in Settings, and then go to blog posts, and paste in the html.

14. Pinterest is a community
You are able to like and comment on pins just like on Facebook. To take part in the community more comment on other peoples pins to interact with them. You can also use the ' symbol to tag another user if you see something that you think they might like, or to let them know you are talking about them. I must admit that I'm guilty of not doing this, but I'm very excited when i do get a comment because it happens so rarely!

15. Set a timer/limit;
Be warned Pinterest is incredibly addictive, and time can easily fritter away. Because of the nature of the site it always leads you to more sites, with more cool stuff, with other links, and so on. They estimate that the average regular user spends 1 hr 17 minutes on it per day. To stop yourself whiling away the hours looking a pretty things set a deadline for yourself, trust me I've learned the hard way.

Helpful Links:
Pinterest deconstructed infographic
Guide to Pinterest infographic
Marketing tips for Pinterest
How to find the original source on Pinterest
7 Ways to use Pinterest
and saving the best til last...
The ultimate guide to Pinterest

Blogging Pt III: 12 Steps to More Traffic on Your Blog

This is the third and final part of the blogging series by Ruth from Nice Day Designs, these pieces were originally posted on her website and were republished here with permission. This installment is about increasing your traffic, make sure to follow the links to read part 1, blogging basics, and part 2, blog design.

I don't claim to be an expert in getting traffic to my site, to be honest it's probably the thing I'm weakest at. But I've made lots of mistakes along the way which means I've learned loads too. Here are some tips that I picked up:

1. Use Your Tags:
When writing a post make sure to use your tags, it will help people who are searching on Google. On blogger there isn't a categories option but I used tags as a way of making easily defined topics, each of my posts uses one of my 12 set tags. Try to think about your article and how a reader might describe it if they were trying to find it.

2. Share on Facebook and Twitter:
Make sure you share all of your new blog posts on your social networking sites. My facebook business page has been a massive help to my business and my website, it is a large source of my daily traffic. Some people prefer to comment on fb or Twitter on your posts rather than comment on your site, make sure to engage in these comments. I also like to share specific links with other users if their conversation is relevant to one of my older posts. For example if people are talking about good films they have watched recently I might comment with a link to a review I wrote. Be careful not to do this too much or in a spammy way, only post it if you genuinely think people will be interested.

3. Join Pinterest:
Pinterest is an amazing site where people 'pin' or bookmark images from sites, and create virtual mood boards that are catagorised by topic. It has been great for bringing new traffic to my site, from other members pinning my posts. I also pin some of my own posts too, like this series on blogging and other crafty how-to's. I will be doing an in depth post on the ins and outs of Pinterest in the next two weeks for those of you unfamiliar with the site.

4. Ditch Your Networked Blogs Feed:
I used to use Networked blogs as an automatic feed for my Facebook page, and I thought it was great as I didn't have to manually post the link. But I noticed that Facebook has started to group topics in the news feed, so all posts from Networked Blogs would come up as one single update. This means that if 10 people that I follow were using this tool had new blog posts in the same day I would just see one update in my news feed, something that could be easily missed. To avoid this just uninstall the tool, and go back to manually linking from your Facebook.

5. Guest Post on Other Blogs:
A great way of reaching a new audience is to do guest posts on other blogs. Lots of people that have never heard of you before will be able to see your site. I really enjoy writing for Etsy Ireland, and last year I was thrilled to guest on my favourite blog Lupin.

6. Add an RSS Option:
To be honest I've never used RSS, and didn't know what it was until recently, so I didn't pay any attention to it. But other people use it to follow blogs and find out about new updates, so you need to add the option to your site. Blogger have a gadget which you can add to the sidebar. I noticed that Wordpress sites have welcome box that can be added to each post with invites people to follow via RSS. I tried to get a posh one online but it wouldn't work, so I just added a basic text one. A simple bit of text can be added to the body of each of your posts by going to Settings-Posts and Comments- Post Template, in there just enter your html for your RSS welcome message.

(Note: I created my html by going to New Post, typing in 'Did you find this post helpful or interesting? To follow my other posts here is my RSS feed'. I changed the background colour to blue, and changed the text colour to white to make it stand out. I then highlighted RSS and added the link to my RSS feed. I then switched to html view and copied this text over to the Post Template. Here is the code you will need for the atom feed, just make sure to replace your own address in the text)
 http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default
(Also note that RSS feeds do not work for Google Chrome)


7. Do Featured Posts:
I regularly do posts based on a theme usually around something that is trendy at the moment, like beards, alternative weddings, or tattoos. I usually feature lots of images from Etsy shops or crafty how-to's. I make sure to link to these shops, and then I let them know via a convo to their Etsy shop. I normally say that there is no need to reply but a comment on the blog or sharing on the fb or Twiiter would be greatly appreciated. I prefer to do these posts than make treasuries on Etsy, as I think they get seen by more people. They also help traffic to the site as people will find them in Google searches, I still get lots of traffic from my post about weddings.

8. Host a Giveaway:
I haven't done a giveaway in ages but it really helped me at the start to get some followers. Make it a condition of entry to become a follower, and give bonus entries for sharing on Facebook or Twitter. If your prize is from your Etsy shop make sure to post it on Etsy Giveaways to let people know about it. Or alternatively you could host another persons goods as a guest giveaway, Ruby Clover did this with great success, and even hosted one of my own giveaways many moons ago.

9. Add Your URL to Your Email:
It's such a simple thing but lots of people forget to do it. Create an email signature with links to your site and your shops. Also when ever you send a convo  on Etsy make sure to have a link to your website, fb and Twitter, it's annoying that you have to type it out each time, but it's worth the effort. Here is a great article on creating an email signature.

10. Business Cards:
If you are blogging for your business make sure you have a card, or even if it's a personal site it might be fun to have cards too. I hate when I meet bloggers in real life and we have a great nerd chat about blogs and neither of us have cards on us. Even though I have my flyer that I use for work with all my details on it, I still get Moo cards printed just so I can always have my business cards handy in my key ring. I also enclose my flyer in every online sale, and in the bag with every real life sale, you never know who will hang on to that info or pass it on to someone else.

11. Add Share Buttons:
Make sure to have share buttons on your posts, both Wordpress and Blogger have options for this, so there is no excuse not to have them. You want to make sharing your posts as easy as possible for readers.  To add the tool on blogger go to Template, and click the middle box that says Blog Posts, and you will see the option there. I also added a Pin It button to all of my posts since I became a Pinterest addict. This is a little bit of code I grabbed from the site and added below my RSS signature, so that it comes up in each post.

12. Use Images:
I talked about using images before and how important they are in breaking up the space and making your blog look prettier. But images are also great for searches too, a lot of people do Google searches through images instead of text. Getty Images is a good source of free images if you don't have your own graphic or photo. Always make sure to link back if you are using somebody else's image.

I hope this series has helped you all, I mostly did it for fun, and I must say I learned loads while researching it. If you have any more tips please leave them in the comments section, I certainly don't claim to know it all, and I'm always hungry for more information, so please share!

Helpful Links:
21 tips to increase blog traffic
25 tips for blogging
Creating an email signature
Hosting a blog giveaway

Pin It

Blogging Part Two: 10 Steps to Design

This is Part II of my blogging series, last week I gave you 20 basic blogging tips and today's post is about blog design, stay tuned for the last part next week on promotion. It can be a little daunting when you first set up you blog to decide on a look, especially if you've been reading blogs for a while.

1.Look at other blogs/websites;
This is a good place to start, go to your favourite sites, bookmark or make a pin board of the ones you feel work the best. Judge them on functionality and aesthetics, look at things like colour, layout, and what makes them unique. Finding what appeals to you is the first step in developing your own style. After all this is going to be your blog so you want it to represent you. You also need to figure out what your blog is for, is it crafts, technical, personal, or foodie? Knowing who your audience will be will help you direct the look of the site. The style needs to be appropriate to the topic; a technical one needs to be slick and professional, a craft blog should look textural and personal.

2.Keep your look Consistent:
If you are trying to brand yourself across multiple flat forms like facebook, etsy, blogspot make sure your aesthetic is the same for all your pages. People are visual creatures, and most readers will remember images more than a name. I read so many different blogs that I remember the banner and look of the site far more than the name. If you have your logo designed already make sure it's integral to the colour theme to your site.
In the past year I went through two big design overhauls on this site, to read about them go here and here.

3. Choosing a Template:
Since I'm working on blogspot that will be the focus of this discussion, but the ideas will still hold true for other platforms. Before you do anything you should choose your template. It's in your dashboard under 'template'. There will be an option to choose template, these are basic outlines, the colours and themes can be altered afterwards, so don't be put off by the palette. What you will be looking for is the way the tabs are laid out, are the corners rounded, are there floating transparent boxes? For this blog I used the second option on Picture Window.

4.Get Editing;
Now you can start getting rid of the ugly blogger preferences. Go down to 'backgrounds' and click the picture, this gives you the options to choose one of their images or to upload one of your own. It's nicer to get one of your own as it will make your site far more individual, I generated this polka dot one in Photoshop. You can also choose from endless free ones online like Shabby Blogs or Simply Fabulous (follow the sites instructions if it needs to be installed as a widget). After that go to 'adjust widths', this decides the proportions of your main window and your sidebar. I prefer a wide window as it looks less cluttered, but it's totally up to you. This is also related to 'layout' below, you need to decide if you want a three column or two column layout. Be careful not to have your site too fussy, this is why I go for a right aligned single sidebar, so that there are some gadgets but they don't over power my content. Work through the advanced section step by step picking your font's and colours, try to keep your palette consistent with your logo and background. click apply to blog to save all your changes.

5. Making your Banner;
Your banner should represent the ethos and content of your blog. Look at it like your etsy banner, or facebook cover page. People landing on your site will decide in a couple of seconds if they are going to stay, so try to make an impression. Depending on how wide you have set your width will have determined the size of your banner,to get the pixel size just go back into 'adjust width' in templates and note down the figure. Be careful not to make it too tall, people should still be able to see the top part of your first post before scrolling down. If you are handy with Photoshop spend some time playing around with some designs. I found a great site last week that is giving away free Photoshop templates designed to be Facebook cover images, but these would work perfectly . Alternatively you can use Picasa, Pixlr, or Picnik to edit a photo you have and add some text. I found these pretty free banners that you can add your own text to. Musings of a house wife has a great step by step guide, and for some cool fonts head over to Dafont. If you reach a dead end and aren't happy with what you have done you can pay someone to do it, there are loads of very reasonably priced designers on Etsy, here is one lovely one. When you have your image finished and saved as a jpg go to 'layout', near the top you will see 'header', click this and it will open a window. Click the option for instead of title and description and also tick the box shrink to fit, then save.

6.The Importance of Pages:
Pages are the tabs at the top used for things like 'about me' and 'contact'. It's good to keep all this very important information in an obvious place that is easy to find. It also helps to clear out some unnecessary info from your sidebar. Pages are how people will navigate through your side, so if you have a cookery blog it might be an idea to have an index of recipes here to make navigation easier, same being true for craft tutorials. Try to limit it to about /76 pages so that you can keep them in just one line. If it goes over this go back into template editor and alter the font size of your tabs/pages. Pages come under posts in your dashboard, this is where you can add new pages, either as text or direct links to other websites(be careful with this second option though as you don't want to send traffic away from your site). I only recently discovered that you can publish pages that are not visible on your tabs this is a great way to have information on your blog that you want to link to, but don't want to be visible initially.

7.Make Buttons;
Design some buttons to divide up the space in your sidebar, and to add to the consistent look of your site. I really don't like the appearance of Twitter and Facebook plugins so instead I designed my own buttons in Photoshop and loaded them as a picture gadget. Go to 'layout', 'add gadget', look for the picture option, then add your image making sure to add your Facebook link. I made similar buttons to break up the rest of the space using a links, categories, and Youtube button. Here is a good tutorial on designing your own.

8.Your URL:
Changing your URL isn't essential but I felt it was a very important step to get rid of the .blogspot in my address. This can now be done very easily on blogger and it only cost €10 a year, and don't worry you won't lose all your old fans and followers the traffic is redirected. Go to settings and basic, under blog address their should be add a custom domain. It's been a while since I did mine so I can't really remember, but  I do know it brings you through step by step.

9.Add a Favicon:
This is only a little touch but I feel like it takes you another step to being more professional and not just another Blogspot blog. A favicon is the tiny image that appears at the very top tab above the website address bar, Facebook have their 'F' and Blogger their orange 'B'. Go to layout and above header on the left you will see the favicon loading option. Chose something very simple as this is going to be tiny, I picked my sun and cloud logo.

10.Gadgets;
I know I've talked lots about cluttering up the sidebar, but you still need to have some stuff in their, you just need to decide what is important to you, and what is your order of preference. A search tool needs to be very near the top, it's the default place that people go if they are looking for something. If you are an Etsy seller it's important to have an Etsy Mini so people can see what you make at a glance, at the end of the day that's a large part of why you are blogging. It's also important to have an archive, it saves people trolling through 'older posts' options, and also gives a gauge of how regularly you post. Again these are all decisions you will have to make yourself, but don't worry if you are not happy with them you can just get rid of them later.

I hope these tips helped, if you have any more tips please add them in the comments section, I don't claim to know it all, so I'm sure I've missed loads!

Helpful Advanced Links:
Making an image based nav bar on blogger
How to make seamless wallpaper
Building a better blog

Thank You Notes: A Simple How-To

Thank You Notes: A Simple How-To

This is republished with thanks again to Ruth from Nice Day Designs!

I include thank you notes with all of my online orders. I always make them in bulk though so I have them ready to hand when I get orders. It's a nice little touch that makes my work stand out from the crowd and makes it more personal. People shop on Etsy for these little extra handmade touches, it's part of what sets it apart from buying from faceless multinationals.


In an effort to keep costs low I make my own rather than buying them. I always take notice more of a handwritten card, rather than a business card thrown in with the order. Here is a simple how-to for how I made my most recent cards: 


You will need:
Scissors
Ink pad (two colours preferably)
Clear stamps of your own choosing
X-cut corner cutter (optional)
Blank Cards (small) I used something similar to these
Envelope (optional but it makes it nicer)
Printing sticker paper (optional)

1.  Since I make cards I also have a lot of odds and ends or cards lying about the place. I have chosen to cut them in half so I can get better value for money. For a neater finish cut either side on the centre crease, making two cuts. 

2.  I love rounded corners on cards, I think it adds something elegant to them, I know it's more work but it's worth those extra few minutes. You can get one here at a reasonable price, and it's great value for money, I use mine all the time. 

      3. Since I sell crafty items I chose a scissors and thread stamp from my               collection (I also like that it kind of matches my tattoo). I've been building up my collection over the past year because I make cards, but you can easily pick these up in your local craft shop. I first stamped my image using black ink. I then found a thank you stamp and used red ink for the lettering to make it stand out more.

4. It's always important to keep on branding yourself. I made up these little stickers in Photoshop in a few minutes. I added my website address below my logo, and also the Facebook, twitter and blogger logos so people know they can search my business name and find me. This is a lot tidier than typing out all the addresses, handy when working with a small space. Weirdly I picked up a pack of 10 sheets of sticker paper in my local €2 shop, and I can use them in my printer at home which is really handy. I fit about 40 of these stickers on a sheet, the sheet costs €0.20, so that works out cheap as chips!

5. I put the sticker on the reverse of the card, and write my message of thanks to my customer just below it. 

I hope you all found that as useful as I did. Much thanks again to Ruth for allowing us to republish it.

If any of you have any information that you would like to see included in this blog or if you have any articles, advice or tutorials that you think might be useful please get in touch with me, Caroline, through my Etsy Shop Cari Design. 

Thanks again

Caroline

Packaging Orders - Some Useful Tips

Hello
I would like to thank the lovely Ruth from Nice Day Designs for allowing me to republish some of her articles/tutorials - they are full of useful information and advice

Enjoy!

Packaging Orders

As much as possible I try to make systems for all of my work so that things run smoother. I'm not naturally inclined towards being organised so I've spent years training myself to do this to try to make running a business less stressful. When I first started selling on Etsy getting orders was both very exciting and hugely time consuming. The first few orders I got, I had to walk down town to buy packaging, then spend ages rooting out the Sellotape. Thankfully things have changed, now I have what I like to call my 'postal station', which has:
Pens
Markers
Envelopes of multiple sizes
Thank you notes (see my how-to here)
Business Flyer
Return Address labels
Wide Tape that never leaves this basket so I always know where it is.
Craft freebie magnets(see here)
Bubble wrap
Velvet gift bags
Zip lock bags

Having all these things easily to hand makes life so much easier, especially when I get a few orders in the same day. Also I've kept the colour scheme consistent with my logo, the blue is carried through from the flyer, thank you note, the sticker on the envelope with my logo, the logo on the promo magnet and even the blue in the return address labels. This is to reinforce my brand and also to give a slick professional appearance. I make sure to keep these extra touches to a minimum though so that it doesn't hike up my costs. I've bought lots of stuff on Etsy over the years and it really makes a difference, the shopping experience becomes even more special. Bonzie and Magpie and Button are two people who pop into my mind who went the extra step and really personalised their packaging. If this is a selling point in your pieces it wouldn't be a bad idea to put a photo of your wrapping/parceling in your last listing image like Balanced does. 

Balanced Beautiful Packaging

Thanks again to Ruth for allowing us to re-use her article - very informative!
If anyone else would like to share their knowledge, experience or advice with us please contact me through my Etsy Shop Cari Design.
Thanks
Caroline

Selling Your Work To The Right Person in The Right Place

All of us a crafters would like to know how to sell more of our stuff. We all try hard selling online on etsy, our websites, on facebook and through markets and shops. Recently I've come across a few opportunities that has opened my eyes when it comes to selling my work. I have a wide range of products that I sell at a weekly market, The Milk Market in Limerick City. Even though it has a great footfall and I've tried really hard trying to brand and display my work properly, sometimes I worry that the right type of person isn't seeing my products. For example I might have a cool geeky badge, but because it looks like a girly craft stall a male hipster is not going to stop at my stall. So I lose a sale.

I started thinking more about what type of person would buy each of my items, and then trying to think about where that person shops. I wanted to bring my work directly to the right person, place it under their nose, rather then wait for them to come to me. Here are a few examples of the products that I'm now selling in a different way.

I make an alphabet magnet set for children, they are all my own illustrations, and obviously all handmade. So the kind of person I'm aiming at is probably someone looking to give this as a gift. At a €20 price tag it's not something you pick up on a whim. Also because of the price I'm not aiming towards the Pennys cheap and cheerful buyer. My friend Claire runs Ecobrats an eco friendly business that caters towards a mother and baby's needs. The type of people who buy from her are willing to pay a little bit more for a higher quality product, her customers think about the materials used, and the work that goes into making something. Exactly the type of person who will pay a few quid extra for handmade. On top of the obvious fact that if they are at a baby stall they will be more open to buying baby products. We work together at the market and she kindly suggested to me that she could sell some of my sets, and within an hour she sold a box. Also over the next couple of weeks I will be making christening and new baby cards for her to sell at the stall. She gets a lot of people asking for them. It's better to have them there, rather than if she sent them to my stall they might get distracted by something and forget to come over to me.

About a year ago I invested in a badge maker to make my own pocket mirrors as I was frustrated with ordering them from the US. In the past year it's really helped to expand my business. One thing that I've been really pushing lately is hen party orders. If someone would have said to me this time last year that hen parties would become my bread and butter I never would have believed them. Part of what has helped spread the word was contacting bridal and hen party websites and facebook pages directly. Rather that hoping that prospective brides would find me I went out and hunted them down myself. It was free and very easy, I just sent off a bunch of emails. If websites got back to me and asked me to pay a fee for advertising I politely declined; there are plenty of bridal blogs looking for things to write about that will do it for free instead.

There is a a vinyl stall at the market I sell at. I approached the stallholder a few weeks ago to see if he would mind me putting a board of rock and pop badges at his stall. We go 50/50 on the sales so both of us are happy. Since putting out this board a record shop has approached me about doing a similar deal with them. It was simple idea that grew legs under it-music people go to record stalls, music people love badges-simple! (Note: I know I'm breaking copywrite laws with these, but I figure Bono won't mind about a little stall in Limerick making a few quid, I won't be selling them online, and won't stock anywhere else with them).

 Facebook is an amazing marketing tool. It was Pride week in Limerick last week, I was very disorganised and only made up a batch of Pride designs the day before the parade. But I snapped a few pictures, uploaded them to facebook, and then sent a link of the album directly to the organisers of Limerick Pride, LGBT, and a few others. I had quite a few customer who came to my stall the next day to specifically buy them. After I finished work I pinned all my badges to my canvas bag, walked down to the after party and sold them to people on the street. I figured I'd make a few extra quid on my walk home! Again I went directly to the person who I knew would buy my stuff, rather than wait for them to stumble upon me.

Try to think about what you make, who would buy it, where that person normally shops, and how to get your products into that place. It's all about the right context. Has anyone else had experience with this kind of thing? I love to hear your feedback..

Fresh 5 on Friday - Back to School

Today's Fresh Friday picks were chosen by Nicola of NicsGifts. She's getting us ready to go Back to School with some lovely handmade offerings from the Etsy Ireland Team!


1.
from nicedaydesigns - A-Z Children's Magnet Alphabet Set 26 Pieces


2.
from LoftFullOfGoodies - ABC Magnetic Alphabets (52 pieces)


3.
from designbirdie - party invitation and bunting pack


4.
from dottyspotsdesign - pencil case / zip purse / make up bag in orange flowers oilcloth


5.
from SnagBreac - Planets of the Solar System Felt making Kit



If you would like to suggest or curate a Fresh Five on Friday collection of your own, just send me an Etsy convo :)

- Rach
balanced

Are you ready to sell?

Yellow and Blue Heart Favour or Proposal Box by Nice Day Designs

Today I posted a packet with 8 Purls of Colour items to Limerick to be (hopefully sold) by Ruth from Nice Day Designs at the Etsy Ireland pop-up shop at the Catherine Street Cultural Dig on 13-15 May 2011. I am really excited about this fabulous opportunity to display my knitwear somewhere else in Ireland! It's also great to see something happening that we've talked about at team meetings and on the blog for some time, namely our own pop-up shop.

Thanks Ruth for not letting this opportunity slip by!

 You're amazing by Lucky Rainbow Designs

Of course it is scary to part with something I've worked on for some time and give it into somebody else's hands, but since I am not a natural-born seller and far too precious about my own creations, it was high time that I did send off a few of my pieces to be displayed and sold elsewhere. I am supposed to sell my knitwear, not just make them and then put them into a storage box!

However, this opportunity yet again makes me realise the question of being ready to sell. I haven't been blessed with many sales on Etsy - most of my sales and commissions happen through friends and family - so I somehow still haven't really managed the whole aspect of presentation and packaging.

 Brown paper package in red ribbon card by Paperpennies

Well, since my funds are lower than certain celebs' necklines, I never invested much money into wrapping paper, little gifts and packaging material - and on top of this just ran out of business cards. My parcels are created with cheerfully recycled materials, which suits me because I like doing my bit for the environment. But I am so unprepared - when a sale happens, then I start rushing around, looking for envelopes, looking for a Belfast card to add to the piece, scrambling for tissue paper and bits of yarn to wrap everything nicely - leaving my studio in total disarray and myself in a total frenzy. If there suddenly were a big rush on my shop, I think I'd run for the hills (and probably would have to collect leaves as wrapping material...).

Vintage cameo Grecian girl wall plate pin dish by Irish Bounty

Preparation is the key! You have to be prepared to sell, have envelopes, thank you cards and wrapping paper ready before a sale, and not end up in a frenzy once you get the lovely 'Etsy transactions' message. Maybe being prepared is sending a strong message to the sales fairy in the sky and she will whip out that cornucopia, overflowing with sales vibes...

 Heading to Limerick...

Somehow your head has to be in sales mode to be an Etsy Success! poster girl, so I need to tackle the aspect of getting ready and preparing for the sales, and also to stop clinging to my pieces as if my life depended on it. Sending the parcel off was a big step to do so. I had to be prepared, organised, think about the pieces I was going to send, write the descriptions and prices on sales tags and make sure that everything was included, because once the parcel was sent, I could not rely on a last-minute stroke of creativity to compensate for the fact that I had forgotten something. I also did for once not allow myself to be distracted by a sudden urge to knit another (and very special) item for the parcel.

Now the parcel is away and I feel inspired and ready to sell...


To send your own parcel to Ruth for the wonderful opportunity to show off and sell your pieces at the Etsy Ireland team pop up shop, check out the blog article on the Catherine Street Cultural Dig and email her at ruthcrean@yahoo.ie

Idiot Guide to Facebook Business Pages

For a long time team members have been asking for an idiot guide to facebook pages. Since I manage a few of them I thought I would wave my hand in the air and volunteer. Firstly....

Why bother setting up a page?

They are a fantastic social networking tool, since I set mine up about a year ago my online and real life sales have increased exponetially . People are on facebook anyway and business pages are like an ad that they have agreed to sign up to. You can let you 'followers' know about new products, events or even how many cups of coffee you already drank today. It's a way of getting the word out there to new people about your business but also putting a personal face to it too. But you only get out of it what you put in, if you only update once a week and are not creative with your output then you are not going to see much return from it.

The difference between Business Pages and a personal account?

All businesses should set up a Page rather than a personal account for their business. I know a lot of people don't do this, but it's against facebook rules and also it annoys people who are any way facebook savvy. It's harder to build up followers with a business page, but there are reasons for doing it the right way. Being a 'friend' allows people to see the personal information of all those who are friends with you, ie access to photos, status updates, etc etc. I know I don't want any business having access to that, especially if I have things like my email address in my personal info. Whereas with a business page a person just 'likes' the pages, meaning they can see the pages updates, pics etc, but not visa versa, the business does not have access to the 'likers' info. As people are getting more and more clued into personal security online they will be less likely to be 'friends' with a business.

Do I need a personal account to set up a business page?

Yes you do. I would recommend joining facebook with your own personal name, and spend at least a week getting familiar with the site. Become friends with everyone you know as this will help you down the line when you are setting up your business page. I know lots of people who set up their personal account and their business page in the same day and they are totally confused by the whole thing. It's a bit alien at first but figure out how to use the status updates, uploading photos, and sharing links. If you get stuck go to the help section, most things are answered there.

Getting Started.....

When you feel comfortable with the site and you want to set up a page go to any existing business page, here is one, and look to the bottom left hand side and you will see 'Create a Page', click this and it will bring you to a list of choices that would best suit your business, browse through them and choose. Underneath is a text box where you type the name you want for your business page, ie. Nice Day Designs. You will then be brought through the steps of uploading a picture, sharing with friends, etc etc, all of this is fairly self explanatory. But the end of this process you will have a bare page with a profile picture. Now it's time to get crackin'!

Spreading the word:

At this initial stage you will need to depend on all those friends that you built up on your personal account. Do not be shy with your friends, request your neighbours, aquaintances, old school friends, BUT NOT STRANGERS! The more people you are friends with, the more people you will probably have liking your page, and then some of their friends etc etc. You can not request that just anyone like your page, like with a personal account, you can only 'suggest' it to the people that you are already friends with 'suggest to friends' button, this is on the right hand side. After you have suggested this to your sister, neighbour, granny and cat, you will start to see the numbers go up over a few days. (please note this function might only be available after you have gotten 25 'likers') With people who know you well you could send them a message asking them to help you network your page, by posting it on their status update. Facebook are finding

new and horrible ways to make running a business page more difficult, 'suggest to friends' used to be open to everyone but now they seem to have locked that down (which I only discovered while writing this tutorial). A way around this would be to add another administrator to your page. You can find this by going to edit page, and manage admins, then you can add anyone you are friends with. They can now control your business page and also suggest to friends. This is helpful for things like a group page like the Etsy Ireland one where it's easier to run with a few people.

Updates-Be professional but personal:

Now that you have a page and some followers you have to keep them interested and engaged or there will be no point in going through all that effort. In all the research I've done on this, they say the best approach is to be business like but with a human face. For example don't just talk about the same thing all the time, giving links to your new listings or you will soon lose all your followers. People are being nice enough to subscribe to this form of advertising from you, they don't want to be spammed. So the trick is to be personal, but not in an 'over-sharing' way, it's like talking to your posh auntie about work, ie you aren't going to talk about politics, religion or sex, and you're not going to curse, you will be pleasant instead,your best food forward. You can put a personal face to your business by talking about having to rush out to post orders, or that you're car broke down, or that you are taking a break from crafting with a coffee and cake. These kind of updates mixed in with links to treasuries

, blog post, and listings will give people a picture of what you do. Post daily if you can, about 1-4 post max. but spread them out if you are online over the day as you will hit different demographics. Also linking to other crafty arty things of interest will help with the community spirit but will also make your readers interested in what you have to say. If you are on your way to an exhibition then post a link to the event if

their is one. Or link to other etsy shops, if they have an interesting blog post, most of the time this gesture of good nature will be reciprocated.

Photos:

People love photos on facebook. Take pictures of items you've just made, supplies you just bought or your favourite shops to go supplies shopping. Also upload albums of images from your etsy shop, in the photo description copy some of you etsy description and then give a link to the item in your shop. I did this last week and I got a few sales about an hour later. Also you can include pictures of sold items and custom orders so people have some idea of what can be ordered off you. Lots of people include scanne

d in images of any press they have gotten, this helps to make you look impressive and famous!

Links:

Facebook pages really come into their own when you have everything linked together. I wrote this helpful article last year about linking your blog to your page, and also to your twitter account. I don't really go onto my twitter account that often but I have regular updates and therefore lots of views on the items in my shop because I have it linked from my page. Also don't forgot to link up your etsy shop to your page, this can be done from etsy and there will be a step by step guide. It all about making things easy for people, they don't want to have to search for your stuff, if everything is linked to each other you will have much higher visibility and hopefully traffic. Also another way to help with linking pages together is link to another page in your status updates. Have you ever noticed when the text of someones name is blue and is a link to them? Well you can do this once you are friends with them or like their page. All you do is type the @ symbol with no space and then start typing their name, you will see a drop down menu appear and just click it to choose the link. This means the update will appear on their 'wall' too, letting them know you are talking about them (in a good way!).

Promotion:

When you've gotten yourself established but you feel like you've hit a wall with new followers there are things you can do to help the profile of your page. You can host a giveaway, which we all saw was very successful on the team facebook page. It's very easy, just pick a prize, a deadline, and ask people to comment on your page, and give extra entry tickets for those that share the competition. Someone can only comment on your page if they like it, which means your numbers of followers will increase. Also try to encourage interaction on your page, ask for feedback on new products, reply to comments. Comments on other peoples pages, this is even easier since facebook recently allowed pages to comment on other business pages with their own business name rather than their personal account.

In the end I feel like I could talk about this forever, it's a big area and takes a while to figure it out. You'll get there in the end, it's taken me a year but now I have a steady following and the other day I just gave my first paid lesson in setting up a page! Without fail every week I have new customers at my stall who say they found me through facebook, so I know it's really helped my business. I hope this helps some of you out and if you have any questions just leave them in the comments section.