When producing item photographs for your online store, photo editing tools become essential to ensuring your potential customers accurately size-up your items.  “One of the best ways to market your products on Etsy.com is to have more professional product photos,” says John of FotoFuze.com, a professional 3D product photography and 2D image washing service.  “When a consumer is faced with the choice of buying from a shop with good photos and buying from a shop with worse photos, the consumer always picks the better photos. Even if the product with the worse photos is a better product!“

With so many photo editing options available for handmade sellers, our HandmadeMarketing.org team looked into what sellers recommend.

Etsy seller Vidalbuttons recently shared some tips with another Etsy seller in the Etsy.com forums.

“Use a program similar to Photoshop. This programs helps a lot!! If you don’t have the money to buy it, use picnik.com or site like this. It’s a site where you can edit your pics with the editing tools similar to Photoshop.”

Picnik prides itself on being a photo editing tool that is easy to use, yet powerful enough to get the job done.   Sellers can even get creative with a wide range of available effects, fonts, shapes, and frames.  Users can use the free version of Picnik, or upgrade to a premium version if they need more options.

In another forum post, Etsy seller SecretSafeBooks shares thoughts on using Picasa for photo editing.  “I love staging my product photos, and I can’t live without Picasa to enhance my pics. With it I can put in a watermark with my shop name, pump the contrast and crop,” the seller tells others.

Picasa is an image organizer and image viewer for organizing and editing digital photos.  The site also includes an integrated photo-sharing website.  Picasa has been owned by Google since 2004.  Picasa is free to download, and Picasa Web Albums provides 1 gigabyte of free storage, which ends up being enough space for 4,000 wallpaper-size photos.

John, from FotoFuze.com, tells our team that the website is a new technology which enables online sellers to increase their attention and profit by providing high quality 360-view pictures on their sites.

FotoFuze gives users access to technology to help automate the photography process, using methods to clean up photos.  That way, handmade sellers don’t have to learn the ins and outs of a photo editing program to get great photographs for their online shop.  “On average, you will sell more products with FotoFuze’s images than without,” the company says.

“To help keep your business looking fresh and up to date,” John tells HandmadeMarketing.org, “you can add sets of photos to our website and our software will process those photos into professional looking product photography for a reasonable price or for free, which you can access from any computer, any time when you Join FotoFuze (also free!).”

Which photo editing tool or software do you use for your photos?  Which programs do you recommend?  Which tools would you tell other sellers to skip?

Share your tips for optimizing your photographs for your ArtFire, Etsy, or other handmade shop site!

Why share? Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Don’t forget to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org here.

Amanda Kezios, from Mojo Spa, recently shared her tips for how to brand you handmade business successfully with HandmadeMarketing.org.

“I have been making handmade beauty products and cosmetics for ten years,” Amanda told our team at HandmadeMarketing.org.  “I understand the power of branding.”

Mojo Spa began with Amanda’s quest for the perfect lip balm. Amanda began as a personal chef, and then turned into a beauty product innovator.  She quickly made use of her talents in the kitchen to create a unique and natural lip balm.

When she first started her business, Amanda said she wanted two things:

1. Make products that were natural
2. Make sure those products were fun to use for customers

“On one hand, I noticed that natural beauty companies had plain generic packaging,” Amanda told us.  “On the other hand, the fun and trendy beauty companies produced products that were based in artificiality.”

Amanda set out to combine natural with fun.  She created the slogan “Get Your Mojo On” for hear handmade beauty product line.

“I used “Get Your Mojo On” to spark interest in people whenever I was talking to customers, interviewing, and selling my products,” she said.  “I used it on labels and packaging. Soon people were remembering the slogan more than my name!”

For Amanda, branding was a simplification of what her company embodied and what the average consumer would remember about her products.

“I took a picture of myself mixing a batch of lotion and from this created a cartoon-like two-color image that was made into a stamp, t-shirts, and signs,” she said.  “I put this image on the sign outside of my store in Chicago, on my website, everywhere. When people thought we were a large franchise, this served as a visual reminder that all the beauty products were handmade.”

For those new to selling handmade both online and office, Amanda shares her valuable advice.

“Write down what you want to be known for and what you want people to know about your products,” she suggests. “Create everything around the intersection of these ideas. Also, keep adding to and improving these ideas.”

Amanda tells sellers to always remember that things change, and your shop’s branding should be able to accommodate and improve with changes.

“In the past 2 years my slogan changed from “Get your Mojo On” to “Where Beauty Meets Comfort”. I opened the comfort spa in at my store in Wicker Park and the products I was developing created a cohesive idea of comfort. It only made sense to modify our slogan to incorporate this,” she says.

Amanda’s business has grown over the years.  Today, Mojo Spa sells over 200 innovative bath and beauty products inspired by comfort foods and nostalgic treats. Each of her products utilize natural food ingredients, aromatherapy blends, positive affirmations, healing crystals and sound therapy.   Even after her success, all products continue to remain handcrafted in small batches.

You can learn more about Mojo Spa by following their Twitter feed @MojoSpa or by visiting Mojo Spa’s website.

Share your tips for expanding and growing your business!  Why share? Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Don’t forget to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org here.

Jackie, from the Etsy blog called Etsy Item of the Day, featured handmade seller Rebecca D. Dillon, famous for her soaps listed at SoapDeli on Etsy.com.  In this feature on Etsy Item of the Day, Rebecca shared ten tips she has for handmade sellers.

Rebecca shared an impressive list of tips for sellers who are selling their handmade items on Etsy.com.

“Be sure to read these over and a big thanks to Rebecca for sharing all this info!” Jackie said in the Etsy feature blog post.

You can read all of Rebecca’s ten tips for selling more handmade here.  In this article, our team wanted to focus on more information about promotional items.

Rebecca’s seventh tips was to look into using promotional items to get your Etsy shop’s name out into the public.

Rebecca says a goal of handmade sellers should be to get product into the hands of buyers on the Internet.  She says one of the best ways is to create “promo” items.

Don’t worry, if you are wondering what a promo item is, you aren’t alone.

“Generally promotional items are samples of your product or a useful item that represents you shop – such as a magnet – and reminds a consumer that you are there and where to find you,” she says in her feature on Etsy Item of the Day.

If you’re lucky, these promo items will be saved or used, whereas business cards are often lost or thrown out.

Referring back to her fourth tip in her top ten tips for Etsy sellers, Rebecca reminds handmade sellers to always include your established .com on any promotional material.  That way, the potential buyer has an easy path to purchasing your items.

So how do you get these promo items into the hands of potential buyers?  Rebecca has a few suggestions:

• Distribute samples or promos when you sell at craft shows.  Simply pass out the promo materials to anyone who stops to look at your work.  “In the case of samples, sometimes “try before you buy” can make a huge difference! Include samples or promos in bags with buyer purchases,” Rebecca says.
• Rebecca suggests swapping promo items with other sellers online who sell complimentary but different items from yourself.  “These swapped items can then be included in online purchases or distributed at fairs and markets,” she suggests.  Unsure if this will work for your Etsy shop?  Rebecca insists this worked for her.  “I have had a fantastic response from good sample and promo items,” she says.
• Another idea Rebecca has is to include a coupon code for a discount or free shipping helps to entice buyers even more.  As a double benefit, using a coupon code can tell you how effective your marketing efforts are.  Play around with this one – try using different codes for different venues to see what works best for your Etsy shop!

Rebecca says she has tried sample boxes on multiple occasions from various sites, but never noticed sales from doing so.

“Everyone’s products are different and reach different audiences. I would never discount sample sites without first trying them as others have reported success,” she said.

You can connect with Rebecca by visiting her shop’s Facebook page, Twitter feed, or the seller’s website.  You can also visit SoapDeliNews to see the newest things happening at her Etsy shop.

Visit Etsy Item of the Day to see her full feature, including Jackie’s favorite item from SoapDeli.  You can submit your shop for a feature on this Etsy blog here.

Share your tips for using promotional items to attract more buyers to your Etsy shop!

Why share? Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Don’t forget to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org here.

Jackie, from the Etsy blog called Etsy Item of the Day, featured handmade seller Rebecca D. Dillon, famous for her soaps listed at SoapDeli on Etsy.com.  In this feature on Etsy Item of the Day, Rebecca shared ten tips she has for handmade sellers.

Rebecca is 35 years old and has a Bachelor in Fine Arts from Roanoke College, where she studied a bit of everything from photography and screen printing to art history and poetry.

“I enjoy reading, shopping and making soap. I have a 13 year old son who enjoys playing soccer and running track. He currently wants to be a psychiatrist when he grows up though his career path seems to change from year to year. I am bipolar and my business is the one thing that I have been able to do to help keep my life on track and allow me to support myself,” Rebecca told Jackie from Etsy Item of the Day.

Rebecca shared an impressive list of tips for sellers who are selling their handmade items on Etsy.com. “Be sure to read these over and a big thanks to Rebecca for sharing all this info!” Jackie said in the Etsy feature blog post.

1. Branding. Rebecca told Jackie that she thinks branding for Etsy shops is very important. “It shows you are serious about your business and helps to promote familiarity. It also adds cohesiveness to your business and your shop and makes you appear professional,” she said.

2.  The Basics.  Rebecca tells handmade sellers they should have  the following for your Etsy shop:

• An Etsy shop banner
• Etsy shop avatar
• A logo for your handmade shop
• Business cards
• Related or matching labels and tags for items
• A description of what you are offering that tells consumers why your products are top notch.
• Clear policies on shipping and refunds for those buying your goods.

3.  Great Photographs of Items. Rebecca tells handmade sellers to be sure to have clear pictures of items sold in your Etsy shop, in order to give consumers the best perception of your products as you possibly can.

Rebecca says a focus on the item’s thumbnail is crucial.

“Always carefully consider which photo will be displayed in thumbnails for online venues. I’ve seen lots of photos that I often simply skim over because it’s hard to tell what is being sold in the photo due to the size of the thumbnail and a busy background,” she told Jackie in the feature.  “I’ve found that photos that highlight the item in detail or the most interesting feature of their item as the first thumbnail draw the most attention and encourage click throughs.”

If selling clothing on Etsy.com, Rebecca suggests including a shot of the product on a person or mannequin if possible so the shopper can see how the clothing is going to fit.

“I’ve seen clothing online and in stores that I thought looked horrid in the photo or on the rack, but when seen on a model looked fabulous. Consider how you shop and how others shop,” Rebecca said.

4. Purchase a Domain.  Rebecca tells handmade sellers that it may be a good idea to create a central location for your Etsy shop by purchasing your own domain.  If you are worried about the cost, Rebecca reminds sellers that there is no need to pay for hosting.

“You can have your domain point to a free blog such as blogger,” she said.  “This .com can then be placed on all of your business cards and on product labeling. On your .com be sure to list all venues that you sell on along with dates and locations where you will be selling in person. This makes it easy for your customers to find you even if you change venues and sell at different markets and fairs. They can’t buy from you if they don’t know where to go.”

5. Sell at Craft Fairs.  Rebecca encourages sellers to establish themselves locally or at craft fairs if at all possible.

“It really is in your best interest to sell in person if you can. Consumers enjoy touching products and looking them over in person despite how clear your photos are,” she says.  “It gives them a better sense of the quality.“

“Bath and body is especially important to sell in person because people not only like to see and touch, but they really want to smell as well,” Rebecca said on Etsy Item of the Day.  “Buying scented products online is difficult as everyone has different ideas of what things should smell like and describing scents is difficult and subjective.”

In addition, selling locally or at craft fairs gives handmade sellers an opportunity to tell potential buyers more about the work.

“Put your best foot forward when selling in person,” Rebecca advises sellers.  “Consider your display and make it as attractive as possible. Use a business sign if possible as well. We have bars above the tables at my city market for hanging signs so I had one painted to match my branding. A local artist was willing to do it for $100 and I thought that was a deal. It was a great investment. It makes finding my booth easier in addition to attracting attention.”

When selling crafts in person, be sure to remember those business cards!

6.  All Business (Cards).  “Always have business cards with you,” Rebecca reminds Etsy sellers.  “If someone walks away without buying, ask if they’d like a business card for future reference and let them know you are available online as well.”

Rebecca says she also includes business cards in the bag with every purchase at a local craft fair.  Although she knows not everyone keeps business cards, Rebecca thinks it’s still a great idea.

“You’re doing this for the few that will keep that card for later when they are looking for a specific gift or want an additional product from you. And if some of your customers are not local to your area – I know we get a lot of out of town visitors to my market – if they love your product, that business card makes it simple and easy to order from you again online,” she says.

7. Promo Items.  Rebecca says a goal of handmade sellers should be to get product into the hands of buyers on the Internet.  She says one of the best ways is to create “promo” items.

What is a promo item?

“Generally promotional items are samples of your product or a useful item that represents you shop – such as a magnet – and reminds a consumer that you are there and where to find you,” she says in her feature on Etsy Item of the Day.

If you’re lucky, these promo items will be saved or used, whereas business cards are often lost or thrown out.  Referring back to her fourth tip above, Rebecca reminds handmade sellers to always include your established .com on any promotional material.  That way, the potential buyer has an easy path to purchasing your items.

If you’re looking for tips on distributing your promo items, check out the ideas Rebecca shared in this article “In Buyer’s Hands – Distributing Etsy Promo Material“.

8. Engage the Handmade Community.  “The amazing thing about the handmade community is that there are many talented people who love other talented people and are happy to help by offering them a little free exposure,” Rebecca said.

She recommends sellers look for opportunities to get their business published online.  Many sellers, crafters, and artists have blogs where they feature interviews of Etsy sellers.

“Request an interview and be sure to follow up in a timely manner if possible,” she says.  “You may also be able to “swap” interviews or shop write ups as a form of cross promotion with other sellers. Many artists are very happy to cross promote especially if they like your work. But you don’t know what additional opportunites are out there unless you ask. The worst they can do is say, “no.” And if that happens, it happens. Don’t take it personally.”

9. Connect with High-Traffic Sites.  “There are a number of high traffic handmade targeted shopping blogs happy to take suggestions about the products they feature on their blogs,” Rebecca said in her feature.  “Review the guidelines for submission and then send a brief email highlighting your best work. It’s easy to find blogs more specific to your market with a simple Google search.”

10. Get Social! Rebecca, along with many Etsy sellers, recommend social networking to get your products out there for potential buyers to see.

“Social networking or marketing seems to be something a lot of people don’t understand or give up on too quickly,” Rebecca explains. “I’ve seen time and again where people have said they don’t “get” Facebook or Twitter.”

However, when Rebecca hears this from sellers, she brings up a great point.

“The thing is, it doesn’t matter if you don’t understand it right away because millions of others do,” she advises sellers.  “The key is to build your network. The larger it is the more effective it becomes.  The bigger it gets the better the chance your posts and tweets and updates will make rounds not just within your network, but within your follower and fan networks as well. That is where you start to see the effectiveness of social marketing.”

Rebecca advises sellers to take the time to get to understand social networks and pick at least two to get started on, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or a host of other social networking sites.

“It takes some time to build a good network, but your hard work will be worth it in the end,” she says.

Rebecca said there are lot of communities specifically built for artists and crafters on the Internet that are worth checking out because they are effective.

“There are many general and specific communities with a number of tools to help you market your product and get seen,” she says.

In fact, Rebecca says one such growing community is Ning.

“Ning offers users the ability to create communities around specific topics and offer resources such as blogs, picture uploads, forums, etc. to discuss similar interests with others. Ning recently reached 1M communities created through their software. One of the Ning communities you may be familiar with is Indie Public,” she said in her feature on Etsy Item of the Day.

However, keep in mind that not all communities are for everyone.  In the same way, not all communities work for marketing.

“My advice is to pick the ones you are interested in. Participate as much as possible. Then go back after a month’s time and look at your site statistics to see where your traffic is coming from. You can then start to weed out communities that aren’t working and put more focus into those that are,” she said.

You can connect with Rebecca by visiting her shop’s Facebook page, Twitter feed, or the seller’s website.  You can also visit SoapDeliNews to see the newest things happening at her Etsy shop.

Visit Etsy Item of the Day to see her full feature, including Jackie’s favorite item from SoapDeli.  You can submit your shop for a feature on this Etsy blog here.

Share your tips for optimizing your efforts on Etsy, ArtFire, or other handmade selling site!

Why share? Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Don’t forget to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org here.

Handmade seller Steff, from Etsy’s steffmetal, recently shared her tips for blogging in “Staying Organized While Blogging – Seven Simple Tips“. Steff is back with some other great ideas for readers of HandmadeMarketing.org.  In this article, Steff talks ebooks.“In the past, when we wanted an answer to a question, we headed down to the library or local bookstore,” Steff says.  “Now, we google, squidoo, stumble or otherwise browse the internet until our information needs are fulfilled. The people profiting from our quest for information write “information products” – articles, blogs and ebooks.”

Steff says she’s been reading and writing on the Internet for a few years, and she’s witnessed firsthand how the ebook industry has gone crazy.

“And it’s no wonder,” Steff tells HandmadeMarketing.org.

“Ebooks are cheap to produce, easy to sell, and you can profit from them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – even while you’re sleeping.”

Steff says she likes this part best of all – it makes checking your email every morning a delight!

“If you sell any kind of product or services online, you can add an ebook to your website – and that goes for handmade businesses,” Steff tells handmade crafters.  “Not only will you increase your income stream, you’ve also helped your search engine ranking, and stamped yourself as an expert in your field.

Steff says some sellers think ebooks are always about how to make money online, how to lose weight, and or even how to write ebooks.  She often hears handmade sellers reject the value of ebooks for their own business.

“It’s true that weight loss and online marketing are very lucrative markets for information products, but they’re also glutted markets,” Steff says.  “You’ll compete with thousands of high quality sellers with loyal customers.  But the handmade market, say homemade jam for example, is a potential gold mine.  That’s because it is a niche market. How many people try your delicious jams and decide they would love to make their own.”

Sticking with the jam example, Steff says a seller may currently teach jam and preserve classes at home. With classes, you can only reach a small local market. Steff encourages sellers to think big.

“Why not write an ebook about making jams and preserves?“  Steff suggests.  That way, those interested can download your ebook to learn – even though they live a world away!

Some sellers may have questions about the ins and outs of actually writing an ebook.  Luckily, Steff has some great tips.

“Now you’ve found the topic of your ebook, you need to fill in the content,” she says.  “If you’re not a competent writer do not write the ebook yourself.  A poor ebook will reflect badly on your business. Hire a professional writer to write your ebook for you. You get what you pay for – a professional writer will return a high quality product, and anything with your name on it should be high quality, right?  Alternatively, you can produce your ebook yourself. But whichever route you choose, you need to decide what content will appear in the ebook and write out a plan.”

When thinking about what to write about in your ebook, Steff tells handmade sellers and crafters to give your ebook a simple focus.  For a crafter who makes homemade jam, for example, How to Make Homemade Jam would be a simple and effective title.

“Don’t choose a poetic title – Jamming with Aunty Jean – because people typing ‘how to make homemade jam’ into a search engine won’t find it,” Steff advises.  “Think of your customer as a friend who has come to you – the expert – with their question, and you’re providing them with a detailed answer.”

Next, Steff suggests writing down each step in this process as a series of headings.  Then, add sub-headings and even sub-sub-headings.  Using an outline in the planning process to help organize your ebook can provide many benefits in the writing process later.

Below is a basic beginner example of how your outline should look.  You will see two headers (”What You Need” and “Jam Recipes“) followed by sub-headings.  The “Fruit” sub-heading even has some sub-sub-headings (”Choosing Fruit“, “Storing Fruit“, etc.)

“Next, fill in under each heading with your information,” Steff says.  “Keep your sentences uncomplicated. Watch out for passive voice. Likewise, keep paragraphs short and snappy – only 1-4 sentences each. The ebook format means you’re not limited to words. I started off writing 5-10 pages ebooks for clients – and I now write my own 250+ page ebooks.”

Steff says handmade sellers and crafters can add some fun extras to their ebooks such as step-by-step pictures, tables, graphs, videos, links to websites and blogs, or even links to items in your online Etsy shop or ArtFire studio.

“If you’re having a writer produce your ebook you’ll probably still have to complete this plan – the writer goes over your notes, expands each of your points, tidies up your writing (some writing needs a TON of tidying, trust me) and ensures everything fits together in a logical order,” Steff says.  “Your writer will then email you a PDF copy of your final book for your approval.”

“If you’re writing your own ebook, you will need to complete several rounds of edits. Check for spelling and grammar, complex sentences and consfusing language, pictures that don’t show up, broken links and links to bad websites,” Steff says.

When you’re happy with your ebook, Steff suggests taking some time to design a cover and convert your ebook to a PDF file.  “You can do five online for free at Adobe,” she tells sellers.

Next, sell your ebook!  Steff suggests adding your ebook to your website as another product.

“Write (or have your writer produce) a sales page – look at other popular ebooks for examples. Send out free copies to popular food blogs for review, inform your regular customers via your mailing list, add a note on your craft-fair flyers, and any other promotional activities you can think of.”

“All this talk of jam has made me hungry. It’s also made me keen to find a Homemade Jam ebook. Ebooks are really something to get excited about – they can be a true asset to your business!” Steff says.  “And remember, if you ever need any help writing your ebook – drop me a line.  I’ll even let you pay me in jam!”

Thanks to Steff for the awesome advice!  Ebooks are very exciting and we hope to hear more tips for how to make great ebooks from other sellers.

For additional tips on how to write everything from Etsy item descriptions to creating a brochure or leaflet, visit Steff Metal on Etsy.com.  You can also follow Steff on Twitter @steffmetal.

Share your tips for writing and selling ebooks with us!  Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Be sure to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org here.

Handmade seller Rena Klingenberg, from JewelryDisplayIdeas.com, shared seven unusual places to display handmade items with HandmadeMarketing.org.

1. On an iPod. “If your iPod, MP3 player, or cellphone can hold and display photos, why not load it up with a few dozen images of your handmade items?” Rena suggested.  “Then, no matter where you are you can show people a selection of your best work.”
   Rena says this can be especially handy if a potential buyer asks about your products, and it’s tthe one day you don’t have any samples of your work with you.
2. In a Notebook. “If your items are fairly small, you can make a portable display from a three-ring notebook,” Rena says.  She suggests you may want to use a zip-close binder.  “Fill your notebook with clear plastic baseball-card pocket pages or slide pages, and fill the pockets with your small handmade items. Bring your display notebook whenever you leave the house, so you can whip it out for a quick show-and-sell,” she says.
3. In a Candy Box. “Of course, you’ll have to make the sacrifice of eating the candy first, so you can use the empty box! But an empty compartmented candy box (or one filled with ruffled paper candy cups) can be a charming option for displaying small handmade treasures,” Rena tells handmade sellers.
4. On a Rattan Roll-Up Shade. “Hang up your rattan shade, and get some inexpensive “S” hooks at a hardware store,” Rena told HandmadeMarketing.org.  “Hang the hooks strategically around on the rattan shade. Lightweight items can hang on the hooks, showing nicely against this neutral, rustic backdrop. And the rattan shade takes up no display-table space since it can be hung on your art show tent frame, or on the back wall of an indoor booth space.”
5. On a Christmas Tree.  Rena says she has some dichroic glass jewelry – earrings and a charm bracelet – that go on her Christmas tree every year. “The glass is beautifully enhanced by the tree lights, and the charm bracelet looks like an old-fashioned holiday chain dripping with dichroic icicles. Displaying your items on a Christmas tree also helps people think about giving them as holiday gifts,” she says.
6. On a Mirror Frame. “A standup mirror with a metal scrollwork frame can do double duty in your booth – especially if you sell clothing, jewelry, or accessories. You can display your small handmade items by hanging them on the metal scrollwork, and customers can also use the main part of the mirror when they try your items or hold them up to see how they look,” Rena suggests. “Mirrors like these can be found in overstock stores, secondhand stores, garage sales, and antique stores.”
7. On a DVD.  “Burn a slideshow of your handmade items onto a DVD so it can be viewed on a TV or computer. One great use for this is to send it to the galleries and shops out of town that already carry your work, as an easy way to show them your new stuff,” says Rena.

Looking for other ideas for displaying your handmade items?  See hundreds of clever, DIY display and packaging ideas shared by jewelry artists on Rena Klingenberg’s Jewelry Display Ideas website.  You can find the image for this article on Rena’s site here.

Share your tips for displaying handmade with us!  Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Be sure to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org here.

Juliet Williams, designer from www.JulReDesigns.com‏, is a personal image specialist. As President of Image Management Systems, LLC, she helped her clients achieve personal satisfaction and superior self-confidence.

She is a member of The International Jewelry Designers Guild and the American Craft Council. Juliet is certified as an Image Consultant by the Institute for Image Communications in New York City.  She is also a former Member of the Association of Image Consultants International (AICI).

Recently, she shared her thoughts with our team at HandmadeMarketing.org about how to connect with locals in your community to market your art.

“The social media phenomenon is fantastic and can bring customers and connections to your website or blog that may otherwise never know you exist,” Williams said.  “But don’t forget to step away from your computer from time to time, get out of your studio and meet people face to face! Talk to your neighborhood barista, your dry cleaner, your green grocer. Go to workshops and seminars for small business owners. Join organizations in your industry. You never know who you will meet and how they can impact your business.“

Juliet Williams advises handmade sellers to keep the focus on not only products, but themselves as people.

“The handmade industry is all about the products and the artists behind them and believe me, your existing and potential customers want to connect with you directly,” she told HandmadeMarketing.org.  “I met a fashion stylist at a workshop for image consultants and style advisers who ended up using my jewelry on a fashion segment on NBC’s Today Show as well as Weekend Today in New York. It was an invaluable, profitable experience that led to many other successful marketing/PR opportunities. And it may never have happened if I hadn’t explored life beyond my design table.“

Juliet Williams’ exquisite wearable art consists of a wide variety of high quality semi – precious and precious stones and metals. Juliet’s jewelry has been featured on NBC’s “Today Show”, WNBC’s “Weekend Today in New York” and in Heart & Soul magazine. Her designs are inspired by her undying love of color and fashion.

“I get inspiration from the rapid pace of the fashion world and the beautiful colors that nature bestows upon us. The mind, body and spirit connections help me to remain balanced and creative. The love and support of my wonderful family and friends keeps me grounded and centered. It all comes together in harmony through the beautiful pieces I love to create and share,” Juliet says on her website.

Williams continues to provide wardrobe consulting services to individuals and programs in image management, communication skills, customer service and business etiquette to companies and organizations. Her clients include top executives and professionals to whom she also coaches on visual, verbal, nonverbal and interpersonal communication skills.  You can learn more about her work on her website JulRe Designs.

Share your tips for marketing handmade crafts, art, jewelry, and photography with us!  Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Be sure to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org here.

Tess Richardson, handmade seller on Etsy.com, was interviewed by Walton.com about her experience using the website’s free SEO guide.

Tess’s Etsy shop started with selling rosaries.  “As a “cradle Catholic,” I’ve always been fascinated by rosaries. I enjoy pushing my designs beyond the traditional to create unique and very personal rosaries,” Tess shares in her Etsy shop profile.   Next, Tess added homespun yarn to her Etsy shop.

Recently, Tess said she found a great niche line of products to sell. The products are centered around “The Hunger Games”, a young-adult science fiction novel written by Suzanne Collins and published in 2008.

“I got a great idea for a charm bracelet based on the young adult trilogy,” Tess, from Wisconsin, said. “A friend turned me onto the books, which are really starting to gain traction and may be the next big thing, like Twilight, but there is almost no merchandising yet.”

Although she hopes to establish herself in the homespun yarn market, Tess has found the bracelets seemed like a way to bring in some early sales. “It was an untapped niche with an eager market,” she said.

To take her shop to the next level, Tess knew she had to look to search engine optimization (“SEO”). After months of procrastinating over SEO for her Etsy shop, she came across a posting in the Etys.com forums for a free SEO download.

“I thought I’d give it a look as it sounded like what I needed,” she said.

Tess downloaded the free guide (called “The Simple Guide To SEO”) and started getting busy. In a short time, Tess saw success with her efforts to utilize SEO tips and tricks to drive traffic to her Etsy shop.

“In the two days I’ve been searching out, and talking on, websites related to my Etsy products, my Google Analytics has shown a jump from 0 to 132 page views,” Tess told Walton.com in her interview.

Although Tess isn’t new to the world of communications and marketing, she found the SEO guide provided valuable insight.

“Until last year, I was a communications and marketing director for an employee benefits consultant,” Tess said. “I am not new to some of these concepts, but I had never tried them before and did not have a comprehensive understanding of them until I read the free download. Before that my knowledge consisted of bits and pieces: use really good keywords, inbound links, converse on other’s sites/blogs in a meaningful way. I never had time to put this knowledge to work at my previous job. I really needed someone to put it all together in terms I understood.”

Tess told Walton.com that one of the first things that jumped out at her was the suggestion to have a blog.

“Since I’d been hemming and hawing for months on whether I should start a blog, what would be the focus, what free blog site should I use, would it be a waste of time (and all the other second-guessing) that was like a bolt from above,” she said. “I set up my blog 2 days after reading the book.”

Tess also picked up another small, but valuable, tip from the guide. The guide suggested using bold and italic. “I had never read that elsewhere,” Tess said.

The guide included a number of features that Tess found helpful including:

• A glossary
• Light, readable style
• The pricetag – “I love that it’s free!” Tess said.

After reading the guide, Tess started to focus on her target market for her Etsy shop. Her target market is tween and teens who love the books her items are centered around.

“I thought about where I could find my target buyer and started Googling for fan sites,” she told Walton.com. “That got me a few hits, so I began visiting them to get a feel for the audience, what was discussed and how open I thought they might be to shameless self-promotion. Some sites I had to join, like Facebook Fan Pages and Fanpop.com.”

“I was afraid I would have to spend weeks becoming a familiar and accepted visitor to these sites, but teens and tweens are pretty open to anyone with something to offer that strikes a chord,” Tess explained. “I seriously just posted once to the sites I visited this week. Since I’m a fan of the books, I was able to “speak the lingo” about characters, and be authentic, not fake. And I tried to be humble, not pushy; just another fan who wanted to share this great tip about something others might like. And if I had to register to post, I chose a fan-specific username.”

Tess found SEO groundwork does not come easy. “It was time consuming,” Tess shared. “I spent an entire morning on it and maybe posted on 4-5 sites.”

Tess found the registration process for some of the fan sites to be one of the most time-consuming obstacles. “I’ve got enough usernames and passwords to keep track of!” she said.

However, Tess found that SEO efforts on fan sites paid off for her more than her Etsy shop posts.  “My Etsy product page doesn’t show up on Google, but my one post on Fanpop.com make it to second place on the first page overnight!” she said.

In the end, Tess admits that the entire process to utilize SEO practices for her Etsy shop was relatively easy.

“I believe in my product and think there are a lot of girls who would love it. Since I am a fan of the books, it was not hard “hanging out” on the fan sites,” she said.

Tess advises other Etsy sellers that some market niches will be much harder than others to see results quickly and without much effort.

“My homespun yarn is going to be an uphill climb because the market is so full of competitors,” she said. “But it’s something I’m passionate about, so it’s no sweat to read and comment on other people’s spinning and knitting sites. Really, the challenge of developing a unique product and finding that “blue ocean” is harder than the SEO stuff.”

In the end, Tess says her experience building good SEO for her Etsy shop made her look at future product endeavors with new eyes.

“I realize, for example, that I don’t really want to spend time chatting on Catholic sites and will probably drop rosaries from my Etsy shop,” she said in her interview with Walton.com. “On the other hand, I’m thinking of maximizing my time spent in finding and joining “The Hunger Games” fan sites by developing other products for fans. New products will give me more legitimate reasons to revisit and repost, so I’m not just the nag who keeps hawking her stuff over and over.”

Tess is already thinking of future projects to test out her SEO knowledge.

“Having tasted just a bite of success, I am in the progress of self-publishing my first novel–a historical fiction,” she said. “My head is already buzzing with ideas for getting out there and making online connections with history fans.”

Keep up with Tess and her new projects by following her on Twitter @HomespunLife and reading her blog.

Thanks to Tess for sharing her recent SEO interview with Walton.com with HandmadeMarketing.org!  Download the free SEO guide from Walton.com here.

Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Be sure to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org.

Freelance writer and artist Steff lives in New Zealand with her husband. She has held various jobs over the years including an archaeologist, a museum curator, a novelist, and a roadie for a heavy metal band. Currently, she transcribes braille and produce large print and electronic books and resources.  She also sells her original artwork and Etsy writing packages at her shop on Etsy.com.In 2009, Steff created a blog and has been learning how to balance a blog and other areas of her life ever since.

“I created the Steff Metal blog in 2009 for several reasons,” Steff writes on her blog.  “Mostly, I wanted a blog to ramble on about metal, books, music, fashion and life. I also wanted a place to live-blog some of my epic metal journey (a three month jaunt around Europe and the Middle East with my husband and two friends) so my friends at home in NZ could swoon in jealousy.”

“Although blogging is an awesome hobby and a great way to promote your handmade business, it’s not something you want to spend every day worrying about and preparing for,” Steff told HandmadeMarketing.org.  “You need to spend time with your family, hang out with your friends, design and create you wares, go on adventures, eat delicious food, see concerts and watch movies.”

Steff shared seven ways she keeps her personal and business blogs – and her clients’ blogs – organized and easy to manage:

1. Utilize RSS Readers.  Steff suggests using Google Reader, or any other RSS reader, to stay on top of your favorite blogs.  Learn more about Google Reader in this HandmadeMarketing.org article “What is Google Reader?“
   “I check it once a day and that’s it – no typing in URLs or flipping through your bookmarks wondering if such-and-such has updated today,” Steff explained.  “Google Reader can also be a useful way of collecting links for roundup posts. I “star” items my readers might be interested in. Once a week, I compile a list of interesting links. I do this every week on my Steff Metal blog – it’s called the Linking Horn. I would say using Google Reader saves me around an hour each day. Yes, I’m serious. One. Hour. Every. Day.”
2. Organize Your Bookmarks Into Folders. Steff suggests creating folders in your browser’s “bookmarks” to save time. 
   “I created a folder for each of my blogs, one for submission guidelines for writing markets, one for “real life” (with my bank website, etc.) and one for misc,” she tells HandmadeMarketing.org.  “Whenever I bookmark a website, I add it to the appropriate folder. This really saves time searching through long bookmark lists.”
3. Use a Physical Filing System. “My husband brought me a multi-colored drawer unit for my office, and I designate one tray for every blog,” Steff said.  “In this tray, I keep all my printouts of bank statements for my taxes, notebooks about the blog, scribbled ideas, pictures for scanning, etc.“
4. Develop a Posting Schedule. “If you don’t discipline your posting, you give yourself permission to post willy-nilly, and you get behind so easily. If you’re constantly starting blog posts with “I know I haven’t posted in ages, but …”, you will know what I mean,” she said.  “If you set yourself a schedule, you’re less likely to fall into the ‘oh, I’ll post something later” trap. You must post something, even if you don’t feel you have anything to write about.” 
   For her Steff Metal blog, she posts an average of five to six days per week.  Her posting schedule is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and sometimes Sunday.
   “Monday is Linking Horn day, Tuesday and Wednesday are in-depth articles and Thursday is Up the Irons, a book review, or a guest post, Friday and Sunday are for quick, fun posts like Cthulhu’s Closet (my daily outfit posts) and Metal Mixtape,” Steff explains.  “Having this structure really forces me to write regularly. By spacing the quicker posts at the beginning and end of the week, I have breathing room to write the in-depth articles at a slower pace, which makes for better articles.”
5. Schedule Posts Ahead of Time. “On both my blogs,” Steff tells us, “I try to stay ahead of myself by writing several posts at once and scheduling them, or at least saving them as drafts and reserving them for days I haven’t anything to post. Having posts in reserve allows me to take a break if I’m feeling worn out. I can go on holiday for a week without worrying about the blog. It also gives me a buffer zone if something goes wrong.”
6. Start an “Epic Post List”. Steff suggests keeping a journal to jot down blog post ideas as they come. 
   “My journal follows me everywhere and I’m constantly writing down post ideas – just a title or sentence describing a possible post topic,” she says.  “On days my creativity lapses, I use ideas from your list to fill in your scheduled posts.”
7. Give Yourself a Blogging Timeframe. Many bloggers will admit that blogging and thinking about blogging consumes much of their time.
   “Sometimes too much time,” Steff says.  “You’ll sit at the computer for three or four hours, tinkering with this and that, finishing tasks, creating work for yourself.  How much of that time is actually spent on growing your blog and business? I tell you – not all of it. Probably not even half of it. Focus your time. You should be spending one hour blogging and three hours with your family, not the other way around.”
   Steff suggests setting a time limit and sticking to it.  “30 minutes or 1 hour only, per day. Set a timer. See how much you get done,” Steff said.  “You’ll quickly find the less important activities – checking your Analytics every ten minutes, tinkering with your template and swapping around your widgets – fall by the wayside and you use your time more productively.”

For Steff’s valuable tips on how to write everything from Etsy item descriptions to creating a brochure or leaflet, visit Steff Metal on Etsy.com.  You can also follow Steff on Twitter @steffmetal.

To hear other tips for how to manage your time while selling handmade online, read time-management tips from handmade seller Amy Vander Vorste in her article “Too Much to Take In – Eating a Marketing Elephant“.  Another resource is “Time – Keep Up Etsy While Keeping Your Life” on HandmadeMarketing.org.

Publish your tips and tricks on HandmadeMarketing.org!  Tell us what you have found helps you keep up on your blog.  Do you use a tool online like Google Reader to stay current on your favorite websites and blogs? How do you keep an active blog while still maintaining other areas of your life?

Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Be sure to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org.

Hannah Piper Burns, a video and multimedia artist, art writer, and curator, shared her five tips for writing an outstanding artist’s statement with TheAbundantArtist.com.  Hannah serves as Communications Director for the Museum of Pocket Art and Research Club, and as Social Media Outreach Coordinator for artist and filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson.

“Artist statements: the bane of almost every artist’s existence!” says Hannah.  “Maybe it’s because artists are such visual thinkers, or maybe because it’s literally impossible to translate between mediums. Whatever the reason, writing a new statement is enough to make anyone pull out their hair. Am I right?“

Below is a quick overview of the five tips Hannah provides for improving any artist statement.  You can read more about these tips at TheAbundantArtist.com.

1. Start Off With a Bang.  Hannah suggests avoiding starting out with the words “My work is”, “My painting/drawing/sculpture/video/performance is inspired by”, or “In my work”.  She suggests taking a risk and standing out from the pack!

2. Less is More.  Hannah says her artist statement is six sentences long.  “If people need to read paragraph after paragraph, they might think your work can’t hold up on its own, and that is a big-time kiss of death,” she tells TheAbundantArtist.com. “So keep it short and sweet!“

3. Learn to Love Language. “Short doesn’t have to mean content-less,” Hannah says.  “Maximize your impact with unique, fascinating verbiage. You’re an artist, after all!” Hannah provides valuable tips for how to use onomatopoeia for effect, and also has recommendations on varying sentence length at her article on TheAbundantArtist.com.

4. The Words Should Match the Work.  Hannah suggests making sure your prose reflects the qualities of what it describes.  “Using verbs and adjectives that really match the qualities of your creative output will create a statement that both excites and informs,” she writes.  She recommends looking for inspiration online from those you admire or influence your work.  Artisans could also look to the art theory books gathering dust on shelves.

5. Get a Second Opinion.  “Just like when we make artwork, sometimes we are so involved in the process of writing a statement that it can be hard to be objective,” Hannah says.  For tips on how to make the most of a second opinion, be sure to read her article on TheAbundantArtist.com.

Looking for an example of a well-written artist’s statement?  You can see Hannah’s artist statement at her website.

A special thanks to Cory Huff (@AGoodHusband) for sharing Hannah’s article with the HandmadeMarketing.org community!  You can read more of the articles published by Cory at TheAbundantArtist.com.  Articles include website advice and outstanding interviews.

Get your tips and tricks published on HandmadeMarketing.org!  Tell us what you have found works best when writing an artist’s statement.  Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Be sure to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org.