Happy Thursday!

Yesterday I said that I would briefly lay out the things that I've found helpful with regards to Etsy promoting and marketing. And well, since I'm not one to break a promise, I'll do that.

First of all, let me preface this (again) that I am an MBA student whose studying Marketing. I really have a passion for good marketing. I don't know why, but it's like a puzzle to me, and I love to solve it and see results. So... enough of that. On to the nitty gritty.

1.) Twitter - I really cannot say enough about this as a promotion tool. According to Google Analytics (which I highly recommend everyone getting, by the way. Simple, easy to use, just do it.) 50% of my total page views come from Twitter click throughs. Besides that, Twitter takes up about NO time, and even the busiest person can find a few spare minutes to post. The trick is to start conversations. If someone else posts, saying something back really helps with rapport. I mean, wouldn't YOU love it if someone commented on your stuff? Do unto others and all that. I gave Twitter a 9/10. Losing points because the site is very slow and frustrating at times. But when it works it is just awesome.

2.) Facebook - I could go without Facebook personally, and I have not heard such rave reviews about it at all. Don't get me wrong, as a social networking tool, it's phenomenal and the creators of the site should be praised eternally. But for promoting a business it's not so hot. I made a business site on there and it never came up in ANY search result. And further to that, the site editing capabilities were vastly sub-par. I gave it a 3/10. So little exposure, I might as well just post on my own wall. (Which I again, I do recommend. Not too often though lest you frustrate your real life friends.)

3.)Etsy forums - Not terrible. I do get quit a bit of lookers if I post on the forums. Trouble with those is that they're SO incredibly fast paced it's difficult to get a word in edge-wise. I love forums, don't misunderstand me. Some might say I'm obsessive about them. But being in the Etsy forums seems like standing in an over crowded room with everyone yelling at the top of their lungs. I get the same amount of exposure with Twitter. And the Etsy forums are 10 times the work. 5/10. It is convenient after all if someone has the time to sit there.

4.) Blogs - Not really for use as a marketing tool itself, but its part of the overall marketing "package" I guess you'd say. I think they're critical as a side piece, but if you really don't have time, they're not entirely essential. If your a painter and you want to share your inspirations or backstories, people probably won't want to read the full story in the description. But maybe someone would be curious, so you throw a link to your blog in the description. Also, it kind of rounds out the experience. Gives you more of an overall internet presence. 7/10.

5.) Etsy Teams - I'm fairly new to a few teams: Cleveland HandMade and the Eclectic Artisans Team, but my experience so far has been enormously positive. It seems like an awesome way to not only provide another avenue for promotion, but also as a way to make a few friends along the way. If anything, it will give you exposure, and that's never a bad thing. Also, many teams create Treasuries of ONLY team members. This is an excellent way to get into one of those treasuries and possibly (if your lucky) onto the front page. 10/10.

6.) Creating a Treasury - The Treasuries seem to generate tons of view if you title it properly to something that is eye cathing, interesting and unique. I'm not sure how many views this gives the creator of the treasury, but it shows that you're willing to help out other Estians which also is very important. The hard thing for me personally, is that I simply don't have time to sit there and wait for the count to go below 333 so that I get a chance to make one. 7/10.

7.) Third Party Blogs - Occasionally people will post in the Etsy forums advertising an offering to list you in their blog. As I said before, this is more exposure, and this is never a bad thing. It's truly effortless on your part, after you make them an Etsy Mini, your work is basically done. The down side is that you'd have to sit on the forums and wait for someone to post. Which, as I said previously, this can be a little obnoxious. 8/10.

All right I'm done for now. Dinner time for me!