By Donna aka Glassandwiregems

How do you help the customer find your products? You take advantage of a process called search engine optimization or SEO.

Caleb, ArtFire’s Director of Search Engine Optimization stated that their main goal “is to inform and teach our members about SEO, encourage them to be proactive and test different methods of listings, and give them as much freedom as possible so that they can have an impact on their own SEO.” With that goal in mind, ArtFire has written a number of guides to help their studio owners take advantage of all options available to increase their rankings in the search.

Before you can use SEO effectively, you have to know what is involved. A customer searching for a product uses a search engine, i.e. Google, Bing, etc., to search for the product they want to purchase using what is called a keyword. These search engines then use a multitude of factors in determining which pages are appropriate or relevant and what order to rank them in. Basically, search engines check a page’s content looking for the keywords together which what that page links to. The pages are indexed and follow more links to find new pages. This process is repeated again and again. The search engine uses the data it has acquired to build an index. That index is used to display the results. This result is a SERP or search engine results page.

You can influence your ranking in two different ways. These are called off-site optimization and on-site optimization. Off-site optimization essentially acquires links to your website from other sources, i.e. if one site has 1,000s of people linking to it, that site would be viewed as a better resource than the one that only has a few. Therefore, it is important for studio site to create content that is unique so that others want to link to it.

On-site optimization involves creating good keyword content. Strong meta tags, titles and descriptions are needed to optimize your page. One example of this process is a customer searching for a “custom opal bracelet.” If your web page has those words in its title and product description, you can be fairly sure that your page will come up higher in the rankings than one that says “opal jewelry.”

When you are writing your titles, meta tags and content, consider how someone would search for your product. If you have described what you are selling accurately, you have enhanced your use of SEO.

ArtFire considers their listing page as the most important page on the entire site. The members are given as much control as possible over their items page. The items page has been created in such a way that the information a member provides is optimized for their item. ArtFire stays up-to-date on any changes and news regarding SEO and plans accordingly. They are on top of current trends, i.e. The Alice in Wonderland blog blitz. They take SEO very seriously because they have “found it to be the best way to drive, new, interested buyers directly into our members studios.”

If you want your product to noticed, you should too!

Picture courtesy of Mod3artdesigns

One Shop or Two?
by contributing columnist Ashley Pahl aka AshleyPahl

Having an Etsy, Artfire or Folksy shop can sometimes be a very time-consuming activity. Why would a person want to open a second shop? There are many good reasons for making the decision to have two stores, and sometimes it is the right choice. Some good reasons for opening a second shop include:

1. Introducing a new line of items or a different style.

2. Selling handmade if you own a supply shop, or vintage if you own a handmade shop, etc.

3. A shop appears cluttered and is overwhelming to shop browsers.

4. Separating the popular money-makers from the more serious art forms.

5. Dividing a wide range of prices into two so that shoppers can focus and better compare products.

Buyers may have an easier time focusing on the items they are looking for if they are separated from the additional miscellanea that you sell. For example, if you mostly make knit hats, but also have your handmade earrings peppered in your shop, it may be too distracting for shoppers who came to your shop looking for hats. Alternatively, if you have a shop that specializes in sterling silver jewelry, it may help a shopper to focus on what they really want if the more expensive pieces are separated from less expensive “silver-toned” pieces.

Having a second shop may even get you more exposure. You can be listed in directories twice, in Etsy’s search engine twice (when searching for sellers), and could be stumbled upon twice.

The downside, of course, is that a second shop is twice the work. Two shops to stock; two shops to market and promote; two shops to make listings for; two shops to answer messages for and complete feedback for. Additionally, if you decide to move items that you already have listed in one shop to a new shop, you will need to do so manually: copy and paste the titles, descriptions, and materials, re-type the tags, make new shipping profiles, and upload the photos all over again. Not only that, but you will lose all of the hearts and views you have accumulated for such items. Your shop’s feedback will be back at zero and you’ll have to find a way to bring shoppers to your second store.

For many, it may be worth adding a new product line to the original shop and see how it fairs. Additionally, it may help to organize the “clutter” of the first shop into something more manageable for browsers. The shop sections feature and Rearrange Shop feature are both great for accomplishing such a task.

If the pros outweigh the cons and you decide to go for it, here are some things to remember when opening a second store:

1. You will need a second email address. Each email address can only be linked to one account on Etsy.

2. You will need to disclose your additional shops. You must link from your first shop to your second shop and vice versa either in your shop announcement, profile, or shop policies page.

3. All listings must be manually re-listed. There is no way to just switch them to a new account, and you will have to pay listing fees again.

4. The same PayPal account can be used for multiple Etsy accounts – there is no limit.

5. If you are not using the same banner, avatar, packaging materials and business cards that you use for your first shop, you may need to get new ones, which will add additional costs.

All in all, the decision to open a second online shop is really an individual one. What works for one business may not pan out for another. It may be worth the financial risk to open a new store, or it may be more practical to better manage your first shop. Many Etsy businesses do quite well with multiple shops, and as the old adage goes, “you never know until you try”.

Poster image courtesy of   The LoveShop

“Open” image courtesy of   The Back Porch Shoppe

Picture courtesy of 3gwoodworks

By contributing columnist Pam aka ElectricPenquin
Once your fabulous picture gets a customer to open your listing, it’s the description that makes or breaks the deal. That’s a lot of pressure on a few sentences! Here’s how I attack the description demons:

First, I come up with the answers to these questions. One good way to answer these is to pretend you’re describing it to someone over the phone. What words would you use then?
- To start with, what is it – necklace, terrarium, hat, coat rack?
- What materials is it made of?
- What color(s) is it?
- For necklaces and bracelets (and anything else that closes), what kind of clasp does it have? Extender chain?
- What size is it overall? Most of the world is metric, so measurements should be listed in both inches and centimeters (confession – mine are not!).
- What sizes are the components? I just list the main pieces, not every single bead.
- How is it packaged – gift wrapped, organza bag, recycled padding?
- Any instructions or information the buyer might want to know beforehand – can’t get it wet, will arrive unassembled?
- Is it custom made? If so, it may take longer to ship out than usual.
- If a component was truly handmade and bought from a fellow Etsyian (like ceramic beads or pendants), I think it’s a really nice gesture to mention that. I usually go with something like “The ceramic beads were handmade by xxxxxxx.etsy.com” (no period at the end of the sentence). That syntax puts a link to their shop, once the listing is saved.

Then it’s time to type all of those answers into a persuasive, item selling group of sentences!
- The first sentence has to be snazzy and attention grabbing, as it’s what displays on a Google search. This is the most difficult part!! I try to put as much in it as possible, while still staying at around 100 characters. I always use the “View a preview of how your item will appear in Google search results” link to see the final result, and tweak it as needed.
- I try to type in coherent sentences, with proper cases and grammar. For terrible typists like me, spell check is a requirement!! Hint – put it in Word or an email, and check it there.
- I proper case the title and keep it to a reasonable length. Arrggh, I can’t stand titles that contain 30 words all in caps! I won’t even open them even if the piece looks really cool.
- Finally, in the beginning, I had someone else look at the final version as if they wanted to buy the piece, and had them tell me what they thought was missing.

Ta da, you’re done! Next, it’s off to the dreaded tags. More fun!!

It took me forever to write up just one item when I first started, but now I’m pretty fast. Descriptions do get easier the more you do them, really they do!

By Contributing Columnist Victoria Wilde aka Victoria Wilde

There are some traps that every online seller will fall into, and must fall into, to truly learn their lesson and avoid it in the future. Offering free priority shipping and realizing that it eats up all of your profits? Been there, done that. Realizing that magnets don’t work through a layer of modpodge like you thought they would? Yes, thank you. But there’s one lesson that I think is both hard to avoid, yet crucial when starting out a business.

Everyone on Etsy and other online shops knows how important return customers are. For some they are the lifeblood of their shop. It’s why people are putting extra effort into their packaging by putting in personalized thank you cards, wrapping things with tissue paper and special boxes just to go the extra mile. It makes their customers smile and think fondly on their purchase beyond the actual item they bought. So here are a few tips to help you get past the pitfalls of ‘made to order’ and ensure that you can start making repeat customers with your first order, rather than your fiftieth:

1) Never list something that you don’t have the supplies for.
2) Don’t offer too many options
3) Likewise, be SPECIFIC with your options

When a person buys something in the store they get it right away. There’s nothing like that online. Buying online, wonderful as it is, is not an instant satisfaction market, and let’s face it, a LOT of things sold on Etsy, and other Indie shops, are ‘impulse buys’. They’re not necessary for living, they’re things that pretty much everyone can survive without.

It’s YOUR job to make the purchase an experience, and waiting for something that a person paid money for is not a good experience at all. You want to speed up the process of shipping as much as humanly possible. I recently purchased something and it took ages to get here when it should have taken much less time; and this was in the holiday rush season, so it’s understandable why it was late, but even as a seller, knowing how shipping works, I still feel somehow gypped because I didn’t get the item for nearly two weeks later than I should have gotten it. Your customers? It’s a safe bet most people don’t know much about how long shipping takes or much about the postal system. They will not be as understanding and will feel even MORE gypped if there are any delays.

Even if it’s something you can go down to Joannes and get, get it before you list it and make sure you have ENOUGH of the item to make however many you need for your listing. If you have to wait a week and a half for Joannes to stock it, then you have to make it and ship it, that’s an extra 3 weeks before that person gets their item, IF it gets shipped priority mail. If not, then it’s a whole month or more. It’s not a good impression for your business to leave on a customer, and there’s nothing worse than having to say ‘Well sorry, I have to wait to get supplies even though you’ve already paid for the item.’

Don’t offer too many options.

It seems like the more options there are, the more something can get messed up. Say you’re custom making mugs with people’s names on them. You can offer a choice for color and the font of the name. Two or three customizable features are great. But when you start offering different types of cups with different types of handles, fonts, extra sunflower doodles, etchings, textures, combination glazes, it all gets a little crazy. It can also intimidate a buyer who might not really know what they want, and being presented with 50 different things to specify is a little daunting. Even at Starbucks you only have so many options.

If a person really wants a special order with a bunch of specific stuff, then they’ll send you a convo; or better yet you’ll have your Alchemy set up to receive such specific requests.

Likewise, be SPECIFIC which options you offer.

While we’re talking about mugs, a while ago I bought something for a friend of mine, with her name on a mug. Now, the picture had a kind of ‘Times/Capital’ font, and I thought it looked great. When I got the mug, I was a little disappointed to find out that the font was actually something very different. She still loved the mug and I left positive feedback because it was beautiful- BUT- the example of the mug was not specific, and nowhere in the listing for the customizable mug did it say anything about different fonts.

Even if it seems trivial to you, make sure that you write it in somewhere. Say ‘the ribbon will be a random color’ or ‘you may not get this exact tag/stamp pattern/paper’ if it’s something that you do randomly or is out of your control. Your buyer can’t feel, pick up or see the actual item in person they’re purchasing, and buying things handmade often feels like a gamble; you never know if you’re going to get a truly honest buyer or someone making shoddy items and just trying to swindle people out of their money. Do everything you can to convince your customer that you’re the real McCoy, it’s a quality item, and that they will KNOW exactly what they are getting.

by Susan Rosen
THE EXCITEMENT?
As one of the founders of Indiesmiles I cannot tell you how my soul has been warmed recently due to the excitement surrounding the Etsy Black Friday Extravaganza! I will be filling you in on what’s happening with this huge SALE, but first a little bit about the birth of Indiesmiles and the coupon directory history.

THE PAST INDIE COUPONS
When El and myself headed up a project for EFA “Etsy for Animal’s” Birthday bash there were over 180 shops participating in a very successful Discount Coupon Program. We had set-up a directory in the EFA blog so that customers could purchase from a one stop shopping place and find discounts in all of those wonderful shops. Needless to say, if you have ever ran a program this large you can imagine the record keeping nightmares of how work intensive the blog posting can be in regards to running this type of huge sale!

THE BIRTH OF INDIESMILES
After this successful Coupon Sale, El and I decided to start Indiesmiles with the Coupon Directory in mind. We thought that if shops were having a sale how would they normally be noticed unless you happened to stumble upon their shop announcement, a forums post, or a “sale” avatar. The hopes of getting the word out is almost futile! At the same time Artfire was in the midst of developing their coupon system and if you run a sale in Artfire your sale can get listed within, but we thought to ourselves, if you are not part of Artfire…how would someone find your sale?

SHOPPERS?
The main thought was “How can SHOPPERS find discounts offered in the endless amount of shops on Etsy, Artfire, websites and blogs! “

GET A SMALL TASTE:

SOLVING THE PROBLEM!
El and I sought to solve this problem by creating a portal where as you could submit your own text ad, so to speak, and then announce the details of your sale, using an online format. Then by advertising the portal in Google, Facebook , Project Wonderful as well as handmade blogs and other venues. We wanted to get the word out to SHOPPERS! Just as commercial shops are able to advertise their coupon codes in Coupon Directories, we wanted to have an Indie presence in regard to discounts! October of last year, the Coupon Directory and Indiesmiles was born.

WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO SAY?
Read what some bloggers have said about Indiesmiles:
From Tailortaste

Finally! Someone out there gets it. Indiesmiles is a one-stop-webshop for all things indie – meaning: emerging + unique talent.

And from:
Gifted Designs
We’re also lucky to have Sue, head honcho at Indiesmiles.com, support us in our site-wide effort at promoting handmade by offering us directory listings in her super fun Coupon Directory!

Indiesmiles has also been featured in Killer Startups
and our Twitter Background is featured in the Twitter Gallery:

SUE GOES SOLO
Coming from two different academic backgrounds, El with a technical background and myself with a marketing background the partnership was a good meld. We had many days of brainstorming and developing Indiesmiles together and it was a blast! But in time, sadly El found that hosting Indiesmiles as well as going to Med school full time was just too much for her schedule. Since I’m in home sales and business is slow in my “day job” I decided to keep Indiesmiles up and running on my own. I invited on wonderful Contributing Columnists with vast knowledge of running handmade shops or craft sales!

THE BLACK FRIDAY SALE EMERGES!
Now lets get to the bread and butter of this article! Deon of Poocheze had a thought. In the Book Titled the “The Greatest Secret” by Earl Nightingale, he speaks of all great things occurring with just one thought! Poocheze’s thought was to start an Etsy Black Friday sale and she began by getting the word out in the Etsy forums. With the Law of Attraction always putting the wheels in motion, many shops jumped on board. Several shops offered to help in any way that they could, one shop in particular, gifted designs, took on the big job of designed the all the images and another shop, Zeba, offered to design a blog. A Facebook Fan Page was also started so that ideas and deals could be announced.

THE COUPON DIRECTORY REVISTED!
Indiesmiles and Poocheze put their heads together and talked about Indiesmiles supporting the sale. After all, the coupon format was already in place. But it just didn’t seem right to charge everyone to join this endeavor, the coupon text submission usually runs $2.00 (which doesn’t break the bank) but since we were inviting a group to be part of the Coupon Directory, I offered the listings out for free!

VISIT THE SHOPS!
Presently we have approx 80 shops in the directory and it’s growing daily. Shoppers will be able to peruse all of the handmade and vintage shops and find their holiday shopping, at a bargain, all in one convenient directory!

WHEN???
The sale will run from Nov 27th (Black Friday) through Nov 30th (Cyber Monday) and the deals are tremendous. With so many shops participating it should be able to cover most of your shopping list, if not all!

CARTOON CONTEST!
Soon we will be announcing an exciting cartoon contest that will be open to both buyers and sellers of the extravaganza. So stop back and be sure to join in the fun of the contest. The winner will receive handmade items from some of the participating shops whom are donating these items out of the kindness of their hearts! I can’t wait to tell you about them all. If you want to be notified of the contest, please email me (provided below) and I’ll make sure you get all the details!

LET’s SHOP!!
In the meantime, take a look at the lovely items from shops that gave a kick-start to the Coupon Directory in regards to this fun sale! Be sure to visit these shops as well as the many shops that are listed in the directory, we hope to see you all there!

HOW TO GET LISTED FOR FREE!
HOW TO CONTACT SUE!
GET NOTIFIED ABOUT THE CONTEST!
Should you want to know more about listing your Etsy Black Firday sale for FREE in the Coupon directory, if you would like to hear about upcoming events via email, would like to help out with the contest or just have questions please feel free to email me at:
indiesmiles@gmail.com.

Hope you enjoy perusing the shops and also shopping the fantastic deals as much as I do!

by LindaGJ
Contributing Columnist

Don’t you just love what people can do when they Team up! In our busy society collaboration is the name of the game! Etsy Team members have done some exciting things and a very artsy team, Magical Holiday Artists has given us a taste of Halloween and what we call the Primitive Frights…..enjoy the show!

Images courtesy of all the artists, please visit their individual shops:

1st slide:
(shops are listed in order that pics are presented)

http://Momandmevintagewares.etsy.com

http://magickmermaid.etsy.com

http://pattee.etsy.com

http://sunbyrum.etsy.com

http://rabbithollowprims.etsy.com

http://thegourdqueen.blogspot.com

2nd slide:

http://theprimitivelady.com

http://pearlavenuestudios.etsy.com

http://raggedyrhondas.com

http://soniarodriguezdesign.etsy.com

http://artbyme.etsy.com

http://cottagegarden.etsy.com

3rd slide:
http://cheriesartsncrafts.etsy.com

http://shesbattydesigns.artfire.com

http://www.fantasywhispers.com

I hope you enjoyed your stay. Please return & visit us again for more fabulous artwork and articles that will leave you entertained, with eye candy, knowledge, and many more surprises! Indiesmiles is one of the best places to advertise, so please use this site to take advantage of their wonderful options!

Sharethis article on Facebook!

Wow! Thanks to El’s hardwork you can now easily sign-up for our advertising programs right here on Indiesmiles! So whether you would like to be listed in our Coupon Program (now only $4.00), or our Showboat Feature (only $20.00) you can click on Advertising and choose the program that fits your needs!

Our next coupon program is “Spring for a Deal” and begins April 16th, so don’t miss out. Get the word out to shoppers about YOUR sale…yes,  choose your own sale program.  All for ONLY $4.0o!!! Receive the users guide with free graphics to advertise your sale in your shop, blog, etc. ! All Indie shops are invited. Where else can you get this type of exposure for such a low cost!

Join the SMILE program NOW!

Promotion boxes are meant to promote individual sellers but there are three types of promotion box programs. In both types of promotion boxes, participants desiring to promote their store sends samples, coupons, and business cards to the coordinator who has been designated for the task. I find that business cards alone are a waste of time and money – after all, people want to see what you provide and unless you sell artwork that is displayed on your business card, business cards do not do it.

In the first type of promotion box is what I call a promo swap. Here, the participants receive a package of samples from other participants and cross-promote each other. So for example, twenty participants send in 40 samples. The coordinator sorts the samples such that she creates 20 boxes filled with two samples from each participant. This will mean that each box will have 40 samples. The coordinator then sends each box to one participant. Once the participants receive the promotion box, they can hand out the samples, business cards, and coupons to their friends, family, and customers.

There are several groups who coordinate promo swaps. For example, if you have a store on Etsy, several Etsy teams have such a promo swap program. I have participated in the California Crafters Club of Etsy (CCCOE)’s promo swap which is directed by Yolanda. If you have a store on Artfire, wunderkrafts is trying to coordinate a promo swap with fellow artfire members here.

In the second type of promotion box or sample box, the coordinator sells the promotion box at a very reasonable price to customers that desire to sample products. In this type of promotion box, the participants must only send in samples since customers would not want to purchase business cards or flyers. This type of promotion box requires the coordinator to promote the sales of the promotion box. Often, the coordinator does not charge the participant since they make money by selling the box. You kind find these type of sample box at places like The Little Black Box and The Spotted Box.

In the third type of promotion box, the coordinator sets up a contest or give-a-way and the lucky winner receives your sample products! Or, the coordinator just gives the item away! This is great because the winner appreciates free stuff, will try out your product, and may just visit your store! Riskybeads seems to be hosting a monthly contest and is soliciting stores for items to be included in the give-a-way. SalvageNation is collecting items for her February 14 swag bag handout.

Give it a try!

Indiesmiles donates ad space valued to $25.00 to help Carole’s cause. Carole is related to Sue’s (interactive marketing consultant for Indiesmiles) cousin by marriage. This is no cure for her liver cancer except a transplant. Please join us and take part in this contest!

Contest details and pics of all the awesome items you can win!!!

$1.00 will get you a entry ticket! Every little bit helps!!

This Gift *Basket filled with Handmade (and vintage) goodies is to Benefit Carole Stites-Luka who is in desperate need of a Liver Transplant.

ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER!!!!!
OPEN TO THE RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES!!!
Some of the items are pictured here, there are many more, so please see Carole’s blog for more details and view all the items you can win!

See all the awesome items that you can win, by checking out Carole’s blog! A Paper craft kit subscription for one full year, valued at $150.00 plus two gift certificates valued at $20.00 each and many…items donated by various artisans. PLUS, free advertising space from Indiesmiles. Valued at up to $25.00 (for your shop or blog!)


Liver4carole

Read more on Carole’s story:
Carole’s Story

ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER GETS ALL!