Social Networking Karma!

Check out this week's Giveaway featuring Mama's Little Monkeys!

Celtic Camo Bead Woven Bracelet

What is Social Networking Karma? Why am I talking about it? First let's back up and examine the idea of Karma...

Karma, the Golden Rule, "What goes around comes around," - whatever you call it, it's a concept that has been around for for a long time. When you do nice things for other's, it often comes back to you in wonderful and unexpected ways. Right? 

Now let me ask you a question. Do you ever get tired of promoting yourself? I know I do! There have definitely been times when I get tired of tooting my own horn and where I feel like I'm just blabbing to the universe with no feedback. The various social networking sites were starting to feel pointless. That's when I started thinking about Social Networking Karma. 

Green Kabbalah Jasper Pendant

Now, I don't want you to think I came upon this idea on my own, this has been a long process and I know that there have been a lot of different artists who've given me individual ideas that I eventually pulled together into a whole!

How it works: 

Social Networking Karma happens when you promote artists (authors, bloggers, etc), other than yourself. You can do this in a lot of ways! See something you like? Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Plurk, or your blog! Then, and this is key, tell that person where you've shared it and send them a link. You'll be amazed at the results! 

Since I've started practicing this habit the results have blown me away. I've had people e-mail me and tell me that I've made their day because they had a horrible day and having someone do something nice just totally floored them. I've had people tell me that they were considering shutting down their shop, then I promoted them, and it made them think that maybe there is some value to their work. I've also had a lot of people return the favor and promote me in one way or another.

There's no feeling like it! When they return the promotion, it's great, but it's the people who's day's I make, or who I end up building a relationship with them as a result, that I love :) 

Damask Pin Cushion by Destash City

One of our featured giveaway artist's shops!

I'm going to be talking about some different approaches to practice Social Networking Karma over the next few weeks. Specifically we'll be talking about Twitter, Facebook, and Blogging. I may add to that list as I continue to explore the topic! 

Bloggy Promotions - and a Challenge

Sweet Hearts Ring

In Wednesday's Mish-Mash blog post I put a question out there. What do you do to promote your blog? Now I was planning on posting this yesterday and I spaced (bad Ruthie) but it gave me time to digest what I was really thinking about when I asked that question. I realized that what I should have asked was: What do you do to promote your work?

I know a lot of my readers are fellow artists and we have these blogs so we can share about our creations, promote ourselves, and talk about the creative process. So, really, promoting our blogs is a part of our over all promotions process, not independent of it. In that vein, I'm going to do a series of blogs about promotions, because it's something we all do, and something we can always learn more about! If your not an artist - rest assured I'll post about other things as well! 

Here's Where I Promote my Blog Posts:

(Click to find me on these sites!)

Social Media Sites:

1. Twitter

2. Plurk

3. Facebook

Each of my Etsy Teams

If it's a giveaway there's a list of giveaway blogs I'll go to on Giveaway days, that's new and the list is developing. So what do you do? Can you think of some great sites I'm missing? Or am I doing more than you are? I want feedback!

Ok - my questions asked, and my promotion places shared - now a challenge! One thing I've worked hard to do is always respond to my comments. I've noticed a lot of other people don't do that, but I challenge you to think about it! Why? 

Making sales are about two things: Great Product, and Building Relationships. Even big stores will tell you this, they stay in business because they have developed a relationship of with their customers. However, the tactics a mega-company uses and the tactics a one-man band company uses are necessarily totally different! 

Responding to your blog comments is a great way to build that relationship! The easiest way to do that? Click on the link that takes you to their blog, read their latest post, and comment yourself! Some of these people will be your old and dear friends you would have visited anyway, but you'll also find new people that you just love! So - go out there and give it a try!

A Mish-Mash Post by a Sick Girl

Yes, as the title says, I'm rather sick right now. I've been fighting a nasty cold for awhile now. I thought it was over for a bit last week (long enough to catch up on things!) and then it came back with a vengeance! It has now graduated from a nasty cold into a serious sinus infection. *sniffles* I'm so proud of my little nasty cold, it's growing up!

Seriously though, sick, but trying to do what I can :) My sale is still going because I've been too out of it to updated it :P I am up to processing orders if anyone wants to check it out before I get the inspiration to change it around and do something else :P

Don't forget to check out this week's giveaway featuring Meri Greenleaf!  It's currently rocking along with 30 entries so far! Don't worry - there is still plenty of time to enter - I'll be announcing the winner sometime on Sunday :)

That brings me to my next very related topic. One of Meri's dear friends is Aquariann. She entered my giveaway and I had a lot of fun checking out her blog! It was a return trip for me, and I was delighted to see that she has this going on right now:

I promptly entered it and visited it a few of the blogs. Not very many though :( I've been pretty sick, but I'll visit them as soon as I can! Meri also pointed out that Aquariann had a post about free giveaway sites! So I will be entering all giveaways on this blog at those sites from now on :) Meri did it for me this week (cuz she loves me!) and I'm betting anything that some of these entries (from people I've never heard of) are a direct result of this extra work! What does this mean for you? Well, anyone who's interested in being the featured artist for one of my giveaways can rest easy that they will get more entries than they would have before!

Now a Question I have for all of you: What do you do to promote your blog? I have some things I do, and I'll talk about those in my next post, but I want to know what you do. If I like your ideas, I'll give you a shout out on my blog!

Whew!

I feel like I've been going none stop all day long! I finally have internet access again and I've slowly started catching up on all the blog posts that I missed.  I felt so left out! I'm having fun reading everything, but it's taking me awhile :P So if I haven't been by your blog yet, don't worry, I should be soon!  I've been starting by catching up with my etsybloggers, and I plan on returning to my normal entre card drops tomorrow if at all possible!

Yesterday was really exciting! My dear hubby and I were talking as we drove to the bead store about building a web-site.  He's a geek-extraordinaire, and has offered to build one for me.  My first reaction was, "I'm managing enough sites with etsy and three blogs!"  Then, as I thought about it more, I began to see more and more possibilities for having my own web-site.  One of the things that I'd really like to do in the near future is start working on getting some consignment and wholesale accounts in the local area.  I was thinking I'd try to get cracking on that after the New Year.  So I was thinking that it would be fantastic to have a web-site that I could put in a brochure for consignments and wholesale accounts.  That way I can produce a small brochure, and then say, "for futher examples please see ...."  My dear hubby loved the idea and we talked about the whole to the bead store!

At the bead store I had several things I was looking for specifically, and I ended up in a long conversation with the store owner.  I have a new project I want to try, the patterns from a book, so I was double checking with her that I had the right materials.  As we chatted we ended up talking about many things, and I showed her a macrame piece that I had in my pocket (working on it in the car), she was very impressed! Which surprised me since I've just started working with macrame...  Anyway, next thing I know she was telling me that she loves to support local artisans and if I ever wanted to sell in her shop to let her know! 

I was floored, and super excited! We talked over details and I'll be going back in the next few weeks to set it all up! I couldn't believe that we'd JUST been talking about trying to pursue opportunities like this, and one was handed to me, dropped right in my lap.  Isn't that exciting?

Today was our first radio program on Blockhead Radio! I'll be telling you more about that tomorrow - so stay tuned!  I'll just say for now that I think it really well :)

I wanted to share a blog post with you that a friend of mine put together.  I thought it was really inciteful and I'm looking forward to reading the rest she has to share!  Go here to find the blog post :)

Oh yes, and for anyone who has been wondering, I do plan on resuming my promotions series, hopefully Saturday or Sunday. 

Welcome to the Twitterverse!

A couple weeks ago I stumbled upon www.twitter.com - I was hearing this buzz about it on www.etsy.com and I decided that I had to check it out! Now, I have a loooong list of sites that I need/want to check out, but for some reason I was so intriqued that I jumped right on it and checked it out.  I'm so glad I did! I love Twitter!

So what is Twitter all about? Twitter allows you to post updates, have conversations, and promote yourself, all in little "sound bites" of 140 characters or less.  It's like blogging and instant messaging got together and had a baby - that's twitter!

The main benefits that I see from Twitter are:

1. Builds exposure for your business.
2. Easy venue to create and build relationships.
3. Instant feedback when you have a question about an item or which direction you should go in.

Let me take those one by one. Building exposure for your business - You can browse through twitter for friends.  I started with a few people I knew, looked through their friends, and it snowballed from there! You can also search based on interests such as etsy, art, jewelry, pets, Moms, etc.  This means you can connect to the people that fit in with your world, and your marketing goals. It builds fast too! I have 202 followers, and other than my initial blitz of people I recognized, I haven't been searching for connections! I probably will at some point, but I love that I have the ear of 200 poeple and I don't put much effort into it!

Easy venue to create and build relationships - Do you ever find yourself on a social networking site and not having any clue what to say? Even I, someone who loves to talk, run across that problem from time to time! The great thing about twitter is that people will be posting up what their doing, their newest listings, newest blog posts, questions, and more; which gives you ample opportunity to find things to respond to! I've had fun growing closer to people I already knew, and I've definitely made some new friends and learned a lot in the short time I've been on Twitter!

Instant feedback when you have a question about an item or which direction you should go in - I haven't really done this yet, but I've responded to things a lot of other people have put up! It's fun to have a chance to give instant feedback to others, and I'm looking forward to having that outlet when I need it :)

I have a lot more to say about Twitter - but you'll have to wait for another post! I think it's a great promotions tool and I hope that my ideas, and the ideas of others I'm going to pull in, will be helpful! Have a great day :)

Time Managment - One Approach

Chocolates Daily Planner by edesse designs

If you've read any of my blogs on promotion techniques then you know that there are a LOT of things that you could be doing, right now, to promote your on-line business. Actually, you don't have to have read any of my blogs, your probably well aware with out them! Each of these promotions techniques has positives and negatives associated with them, but the one thing they all have in common is that they take TIME.  Time is precious. We only have so many hours in the day and in this internet world it's real easy to look up at the clock and realize an entire afternoon (or night!) has gone by with out realizing it!  So what's a business-savvy artist to do? Or maybe more importantly, what's an ARTIST to do? We're not always known for being the most business-minded people, after all, we're right brain thinkers! We're known for our intuitive leaps, impulsiveness, and above all, creativity. Unfortunately the reality of trying to make money off your art is that, well, sometimes we have to anchor our right brain thinking a little and venture into the world of the left brain people. I hope the following ideas help you to do that :)

The credit for this idea goes entirely to my friend Jenny of GoGoKioko :) About a week and a half ago I started a thread in the etsy forums discussing different promotion techniques. I had done my first blog post on the topic and wanted more input! So the research began.

Jenny was one of the very first people to reply and she shared with us that she has an actual promotions schedule! I LOVE the idea :) Here's what Jenny's looks like:

"I am working on not promoting willy nilly. I have a promotion schedule-
Monday- Flickr, blog, entrecard
Tues- Indypublic, Deviantart, Project Wonderful
Wed- Blog, research new promoting opportunities, entrecard
Thurs-Deviantart, Project Wonderful, update Craigslist
Fri- Blog, Flickr, entrecard, research new

I also Twitter and post on the forums (though I don't really consider either promoting, just enjoyable!)"

I'm working on figuring out my promotions schedule. I'm thinking that it's going to take awhile for me to really get it cemented, but I'm going to work on it! As I continue to update in my promotions series I'll occasionally revisit this topic and let you guys know how my schedule is developing :) Right now my schedule looks like this:

Daily activities: Responding to e-mail and messages, keeping up with my various team forum threads, Entrecard drops, post to my treasury blog, post in this blog, create, and list when I have new items! I also respond to any thing quick on project wonderful, I don't really do daily management, but if I have an ad pending I pop over quick enough to respond to it.  I also twitter through out the day, but that's kind of for fun and I only keep up with the tweets when I have time.  More info on these daily activities will be forth coming in my promotion series :)

Non-Daily Activities:
Monday: Manage Project Wonderful ads.
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday: Post artist interview in this blog, e-mail next weeks interviewee, set up article to also post to Skwiggazine. Read Skwiggazine :P Run promo thread for teambdc.
Saturday: Update Flickr. Talk in the Etsy Forums.
Sunday: Talk in the Etsy Forums.

Right now my activities are weekend heavy because the week itself is pretty full with the rest of life. Plus I'm adding activities in as I have a chance to research them :P I tend take the time talk in the forums mostly on the weekends because that's when there seems to be the most activity and when I seem to find the threads that are the most interesting :P Technically I'm always in them with the team threads though...

Ok, so by now you may be thinking "that's fantastic for you and Jenny, but what about me?" Good question! Remember how I said yesterday that each person is different? That concept is highly applicable here! I know Jenny manages her business around being the Mom of two wonderful, active, boys. I don't have kids to worry about, and I don't have an out of the home job like many people either. What works for her, or for me, may not work for you with your full time job, or fussy little baby. Here's some ideas to get you started on tweaking your OWN daily schedule :)

1. Write down a list of everything that you currently do to promote your shop. Having troubles thinking of what your doing? Check out this post for a list of ideas :)

2. Break up your list. Separate it into items that you think are important to do daily and items that you can do maybe only a few times a week.  Carefully evaluate each item on your list as you do so.  Some of them you may be able kind of split up. A good example of that would be how I manage my project wonderful advertising. I'll go to the site to respond to any e-mail notifications of ads pending on a daily basis, but I only actually go fiddle with my ads and campaigns once a week. 

3. Don't forget the rest of your life! Your not just an artist and etsy shop , your a mom/wife/daughter/husband/son/employee/whatever! Make a list of the REST of the things in your life that you need to get done.  Both daily and things that are done weekly.

4. Compare your promotions list and your "life" list.

5. Meld the two. Don't forget to leave time to actual create and time to relax and have fun!

6. Keep the list somewhere that works for you. One idea would be to post the daily items next to your computer or work area so your daily reminded of them, and then put the "day dependent" items down in your planner.

Whew - anyone else tired? Me too! Don't worry - only one more step to go!

7. Above all, be flexible! Go back and re-evaluate your plan periodically. What's working for you? What's NOT working for you? Add things, cross things out, don't be afraid to try a new plan!

Oh yes - and I mention planners? Planners are a great thing to keep but they don't work for everyone! I use my planner for keeping track of dates and dead-lines and then use to-do lists to break down each day a little farther. Speaking of which - tomorrow's topic is on to-do lists! You didn't think I was going to go off on that tangent today did you? I could, but I think I've probably given you more than enough to think about for one day ;)

What am I doing?

I was all getting ready to start blogging about specific techniques for promotion, and then I realized something, I never actually shared which techniques I'm currently using! So I modified the list, re-wrote it some, and wrote whether or not the activities listed are one's that I'm currently participating in or not.

I've also decided before I start reviewing different techniques I'm going to talk a little bit about time management and planning. So look for that blog to come soon!

Things done on Etsy itself:
Talking in the forums Yes
Listing/Re-listing Yes
Treasuries Yes
Teams yes

Advertising Sites and Venues:
Project Wonderful Ads Yes
Entrecard Yes
Craigslist Yes
ebay No

Web-sites and Networking:
Technorati No
Flickr sort of?
Indypublic No
Deviantart No
Twitter No
Myspace No
Facebook No
Facebook Ad. No
Facebook Blog Network No
weloveetsy No
Marmalade Pink No
Ning networks No
Trunkt No
YouTube Yes
Personal Web-sites No
GoogleBase sort of?
Blogcatalog No
delicious.com No
ovationtv.com no
linkrefferal.com no
indie5collective no
stumbleupon no
indiecollective no
mybloglog no
ping-o-matic no
merchantcircle no
peganpacks no

Random on-line techniques:
Newsletter no
Include your etsy link in forum sigs. yes
Particpate in promotions yes
Become featured on blogs. yes
Include your etsy link in your e-mail sig. yes.

Blogging!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes :)

Off-line Promoting Techniques:
Carry and pass out business cards and flyers. yes
Wearing/carrying items you make. yes
Sell in locally in shops or markets. not right now
Participate in local special events. No
posting advertisements at trade shows. no
Promotional buttons No
Having your work showcased at the library or elsewhere No
Donating No
Snail-mail post cards. No
Promotional Magnets No
Signs on the side of the car. No
Promotional book marks in book stores. No
Ad space in programs (like theater) no

The Results - and the start to the Journey!

Well it's been a few days since my last post because I ended up having a pretty bad weekend - but I'm still alive and kicking so I'll rejoice in that and move on!

If you follow my blog you know I've been thinking a lot about how to promote myself and my blog. I even did a survey of sorts on Etsy! This is the final results - keep in mind I had 57 people comment on the thread - but a lot of them didn't contribute. I didn't do a final count on how many people did versus who didn't.

Etsy-related promotion:

Talking in the Forums: 7
Listing/Re-listing : 8
Treasuries: 3
Teams: 13
Sneakattacks: 1

Networking Sites:
Flickr: 14
Indypublic: 2
Deviantart: 2
Twitter: 4
Myspace: 5
Facebook: 8
Facebook Ad: 1
Facebook Blog Network: 1
Weloveetsy: 3
Marmalade pink: 1
Ning networks: 2
Trunkt: 1
Random other networks: 1


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

Other:
Newsletter: 2
YouTube: 2
Personal Website: 5
GoogleBase: 2
Blogcatalog: 2
Delicious.com: 1
Various Forums with an etsy link in sig: 2
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
Merchantcircle: 1
PaganPacks: 1


Off-line Promoting:
Carry and Pass Out Business Cards and flyers: 12
Wearing/carrying things they make: 9
Sell in Shops, local, or shows: 6
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
Signs on the side of the car: 1
Promo bookmarks left in book shops: 1
Ad space in programs (like theater): 1

Blogging
19


I'll be mixing in posts reviewing different techniques mentioned here in the list - and possibly new one's as well! I invite you to come alone on my journey with me, give me your thoughts and ideas, and lets see what we can all do to improve our businesses!

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!

Riding the Etsy Roller Coaster

Today we have a guest author on my blog! I met Babble and Blush last week when she started a thread in the etsy forums about how she made 6 sales in one day. I was, of course, intrigued! So I started chit-chatting in the thread, talking to B&B and finding out what the news was all about. I loved reading what she had to say so much that I decided to ask her to write about her experience last weekend for my blog. Enjoy reading it!

Earlier this week I wrote about how I made 6 sales in one day in my online Etsy shop ( http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5853995 ). Basically I camped out on the couch for most of the day in my pajamas and fuzzy socks determined to figure out the secret to making a sale on Etsy. My sales have been pitifully sporadic and I realized that
at this pace I was never going to be a top seller (or even make enough money for my weekly pig out session at Taco Bell). I therefore decided to try and step up my game. My strategy was to get myself out there as much as possible. I figured the more I was "seen" by potential buyers, the more I might sell. I spent the day (literally 8 am to 4 pm) doing
the following constructive things:

1) renewed items that were fixing to expire
2) posted new pictures in flickr groups
3) posted in the forums
4) made a treasury
5) commented on other treasuries
6) listed new items (every few hours)
7) posted in critiques and promotions

and the following non-constructive things:

1) Warned husband to "step off" so I could continue my all day obsession with Etsy
2) Lurked in a self-destructive, argumentative, downward rage spiral of a thread where I marveled at how many Etsians possess the ability to hurl an insult for no apparent reason while at the same time trying to convince you that they are only trying to help you

At 4 pm I shut down my computer and hoped for at least one sale. When I got back
on Etsy around 7:30 pm I had made 6 sales totaling about $125.00! Great right? .... well yes, but then reality hit me. Is this really what it takes to make a lot of sales on Etsy? No one could do this on a daily basis! When would you create and list new items? Package and ship orders? Promote outside Etsy? Sleep?

As I sit here eating my Steak Grilled Stuff Burrito (payed for with my hard earned couch
sitting money) I think about the ups and downs of selling on Etsy. Part of me wishes selling online was easier. The other part wonders if it was easy, would I appreciate it? Who knows. I would like to think that selling a large amount without promoting so much would be great. But thinking about it too much only manages to give me a headache.

So will I try it again? Maybe (especially if I am craving some pintos and cheese). But realistically, I still think I need to discover a much more time efficient way to increase the sales in my shop. So here I sit, busy brainstorming again to see if I can figure out this crazy
roller coaster called Etsy. If I figure out the secret I will be sure to share it with you but in the meantime I only have one question:

My sofa or yours?

Don't forget to check out her shop!