Thoughts on Promotion

If you read my blog post yesterday with guest writer babbleandblush then you already know I've been doing a lot of thought about promoting my business. I'm at a point where I have a pretty good inventory in my shop (109 items) so, while I I want to continue to create and add to that, I feel like I can also spend some time focusing on getting my name out there and building a customer base.

This is also on my mind because of the current economic state. As a person, it can be frightening, as a small business owner, it's depressing. The way I look at it I can react to the current economic situation in two ways. One, I can whine about the lack of sales in my shop right now and the fact that people have less money to spend right now. Or Two, I can do something about it.

I've decided to do something about it. Now, obviously, I can't go out there and just magically create sales. It doesn't work like that. And, as babbleandbush pointed out in yesterday's post, you need to find a productive balance between creativity and promoting. Sure, sometimes you can go out there and spend a day on the couch and drum up a bunch of sales that day. It's not fool proof though, and most of us can't live on our couches! Especially not and continue to create. So I've decided to get some research done.

As a start to this research I started a thread in the etsy forums asking what people do to promote themselves and their stores. Please go visit it and add you input! I'm still gathering data and I'd like as much input as I can possibly get! I'll be sharing my findings through this blog, so please tell your friends and help me get as much data together as I possibly can!

After one evening of chatting and talking to people this is the information I've gathered. Sorry if it's not all 100% in the right categories - some of these things I know nothing about!

Etsy-related promotion:

Talking in the Forums: 7
Listing/Re-listing : 8
Treasuries: 3
Teams: 12
Sneakattacks: 1

Networking Sites:
Flickr: 12
Indypublic: 2
Deviantart: 1
Twitter: 4
Myspace: 4
Facebook: 7
Facebook Ad: 1
Facebook Blog Network: 1
Weloveetsy: 3
Marmalade pink: 1
Ning networks: 1
Trunkt: 1
Random other networks: 1


Advertising Sites/Venues:
Project Wonderful Ads: 4
Entrecard: 5
Craigslist: 1

Other:
Newsletter: 2
YouTube: 2
Personal Website: 4
GoogleBase: 2
Blogcatalog: 2
Delicious.com: 1
Various Forums with an etsy link in sig: 1
Participate in Promotions: 2
Become featured on Blogs: 2
Ovationtv.com: 1
E-mail Signiture: 3
Linkrefferal.com: 2
Indie5Collective: 1
Stumpleupon: 2
E-bay: 1
Indiecollective: 1
Mybloglog: 1
Ping-o-matic: 1


Off-line Promoting:
Carry and Pass Out Business Cards and flyers: 9
Wearing/carrying things they make: 8
Sell in Shops, local, or shows: 5
Participate in special events: 1
Posting advertisements at trade shows: 1
Slipping Business cards into books at the library: 1
Buttons: 1
Talking to the person in charge of exhibits at the library and showcase your work: 1
Donating: 3
Snail-mail postcards: 1
Magnets : 1

Blogging
18


Again, I'm trying to collect as much data as possible, so please stop by my thread! Also, feel free to send me a message through my shop if you want to chat more, I love to talk!