Tuesday, February 9, 2010

If it were Me

If I was determined to find more buyers for my crafted products, using the internet, what would I do?

Personally, I'd build my own website and have it hosted at a cost of anywhere from $6 to $12 a month. Most of them have their own web page builders and if not, I'd use a free website builder I could find on tucows.com.

Then I'd join every possible community where crafter's gather. Those like the one I happen to have built at Crafter's Corner  and many others where crafter's can talk about themselves and show off their goods.

Then I'd put my products into a selling platform online, places like Etsy, as long as the fee was taken out of the sale. There's also bonanzle.com and of course, ebay.com.

I would add my website address to all my outgoing emails in the signature and everywhere I went online, that would let me put in my web address, I'd add it.

Then I'd join facebook.com and twitter.com and just start posting. You can just do updates on the latest product added, stuff like that.

Since the idea is to attract buyers, I'd also snoop around and find forums and blogs just for people looking for a good time or the best restaurant or better than that, places where shop owners are looking for products.

I'd comment on other people's blogs, leaving behind my website address. Not spamming but actually getting in there and adding quality content.

If I did craft shows, I'd be sure to have business cards that included my website address. If I felt I could afford it for awhile, I'd get a google account and start running google ads for awhile.

Considering that I'd be busy producing my own products, I'd have to find cheap ways of riding someone else's tail, someone who's already out there doing all these things. And by the way, that's exactly what I do with our Crafter's Corner. Why more people have not joined and participated, I'll never know. Is crafting business dead?

The more places you have your name and website address, the more you become 'known' and the easier it is for people to find you through searches. Anybody interested, I can help with things like keywords, to help in search results turning up your site.

Now, this is just what I would do if I really wanted to sell.

2 comments:

Daril Atkins said...

Hi Judy,
We met on My Sculpture.
You have inspired me to follow your lead.
True, that there is talent out there. However, when it comes to crafters, most of us lack the business acumen.
I will be purchasing your ebooks to learn ceramic techniques.
Keep it up Judy!

Daril Atkins
Sculptor & Anaplastologist

Judy said...

Welcome aboard my tiny ship. :) Blessings to you and your efforts. I hope that in all you do, it's fulfilling.

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