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Moxie Tonic - Bold Remedies for Email Marketing

Seven Ways to Get Creative With Your Marketing

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You’re creative, but is your marketing? Are you just doing what you see others do or are you infusing your message with a flair of its own — one that fits you, your style and your product?

Reaching outside the proverbial box is a great way to connect on a deeper level with your fans. It will draw the people who really get your products.

Take a look at your Facebook posts, your emails, your blog posts. Are they dry? Where could you spice it up and add some life and some of you? Because after all, that’s why people buy from crafters and artisans – they want a piece of you. Here are seven ways you can give it to them.

1. Product Listings

Yes, describe, but also inspire the sale with your enthusiasm for your product. My sister-in-law briefly opened a shop selling fabric-covered earrings. She listed a gingham pair that she described as a picnic for your ears. Probably my all-time favorite listing.

2. Twitter

Are you an auto-tweeting machine, or do you let your hair down a bit? Don’t be one of those listing-only Twitters. If you are going to be on Twitter, be sure to hop on there and link to others and share more of you than your shop.

3. Facebook

Most people are pretty good about being themselves on Facebook. Once you have your first 25 likes don’t delay in getting your own URL. It makes it so much easier for linking because it is simply www.facebook.com/your-user-name. Here’s a tutorial on how to do it.

4. Pinterest

I’m so in love with Pinterest. I’ve never been able to keep track of all the cute ideas I see on blogs and Pinterest is the answer! There’s not a lot of marketing pics to pin out there (thank goodness!) so anyone who follows me is going to see more of my personality and style than my marketing credentials.

5. Your Shop Banner

I saw the best, most effective shop banner the other day from featured seller Rich Neeley Designs. It’s simple, it’s effective and invites you to take action. You better bet that Moxie Tonic’s shop banner is going to take on some of those qualities…email me if you want one for yourself.

6. Communications with Customers

Do you go into auto-pilot when answering emails and convos? Yes, you’ve answered the same question 32 times that week, but it’s the first time your customer or prospect is getting the answer. Whenever a seller gives me a personal response, with a thank you for my interest in their product, it immediately warms me to them and makes me more willing to open my pocketbook too.

7. A Little Note

Speaking of thanks – do you include a little thank you or a hand-signed note with your shipped products? It’s such an simple touch, but again, it’s those little things that help people feel like they are buying from a person instead of a big business.

 

 

Filed Under: Blogging, Etsy, Marketing Plan, Uncategorized

The Secret to Becoming a Craft Fair Diva

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CraftShow

Craft fairs are perfect for so many things! If you are an online seller adding holiday craft fairs to your business plan can

  • Build a local clientele
  • Develop loyal relationships with customers
  • Show you how people react to your merchandise
  • Help you get a sense of what sells and what doesn’t
  • Move a lot of product in a short amount of time

But…

If you’ve ever tried selling at a craft fair, you know there’s always that possibility that you’ll sit there all day long and never even make  your booth fee.

I’ve had booths where I’ve sold tons. I’ve had booths where I’ve sat there all day. I’ve also worked closely with craft-show promoters and organizers and seen what goes into making a truly great show.

Having seen both sides of the coin, here’s what I think:

Half of your success depends on you and your product.
The other half depends on you picking the right show for your product.

Making Yourself Into Top Seller Material.

Unless you sell food (soup mixes and veggie dips) you’ll never be the top seller at a show. Those vendors do big, big business since their product has universal appeal. But these few easy (and one not so easy) steps will go a long way to boosting your sales.

Have an amazing display:

Just like you slave over your product photos on Etsy, you should put extra care and attention into your booth display.

  • Skirt your table to the floor (it looks pretty and it’s functional since it covers up your boxes of extra product)
  • Fill in empty spaces with seasonal decor (but don’t get so carried away that it distracts from what you are selling)
  • Bring in extra light, lots and lots of light! (strands of Christmas lights are perfect for illuminating dark corners)
  • Create a variety of levels to display your merchandise with shelving or boxes draped with tablecloths

Wrapped up pretty:

Attractive packaging goes along way to attract the sale. Little touches like cellophane bags and professionally printed labels are indications that you sell a quality item, made with care and attention to the smallest detail.

Dress to impress:

Avoid the desperate salesman look. No one likes to buy from someone with even a hint of desperation. It’s way more fun to buy from someone who looks successful. There’s something reassuring about it. So dress up – even if the show is in a VFW hall that hasn’t been updated since the Great Depression – and look like you could be selling at Tiffany & Co.

Picking the Right Show for You

Not every show – even really big, highly attended shows – are right for you and your product. You will greatly increase your chances of doing well if you hunt down shows that attract the right clientele.

Assuming you make hand-crafted items and don’t resell anything, these are some things to look for in a show:

  • A jury process
  • An absence of resellers and direct marketers
  • Longevity
  • Strong advertising presence
  • Recommendations from other crafters

Shows that jury their vendors and adhere to a strict policy of hand-crafted items only are the best shows for you. They have built their reputation on being curators of excellent merchandise and have a loyal following among buyers willing to pay for quality workmanship.

If they’ve been around a while (I like to see 10 years or more), if you’ve seen their advertising around town (on street corners, in the newspaper, etc.) and they come recommended by other crafters, chances are this is a solid show.

Ultimately, paying a booth fee and potentially a commission is a gamble – a bigger gamble than listing online. But if you do your research, you’ll reduce your risk and increase your opportunities for selling lots and lots of your stock.

Your challenge this year as you shop at craft fairs is to scout out which shows meet the criteria. Find out who organizes and promotes the show and be ready to contact them after the New Year. Some of the best shows fill their shows in the springtime. Happy craft-fair hunting!

 

Filed Under: Creative Process, Etsy, Marketing Plan, Uncategorized

Tutorial: How to Add A Linky Button & Box to Your Sidebar

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This is another post for my fabulous Etsy shop customers who are dying to know how to add their linky button and make it connect to their site. It’s a lot like adding social media buttons, you just need a few basic pieces of code.

Step 1 – Get what you need

There are two basic parts to any code that hot links an image to a web page:

  1. Your image
  2. The URL for the page you want to direct people to when they click on it.

Start by visiting the page you are linking to and grab the URL from the browser bar. This could be your Etsy shop, your blog home page, a specific post on your blog, your Facebook page, etc.

For this example I’m using my Etsy shop.

I also need to tell the browser where to find the image for my button. Where you host the image will depend on your blog platform.

WordPress

  1. In the Dashboard go to “Media”  and “Add New”
  2. Choose “Select Files” and highlight the file name of your button.
  3. Once it uploads, copy the “File URL” onto your clipboard and “Save All Changes”

Blogger

Blogger is a HUGE pain in the rear because it doesn’t self-host the images. That means you have to use a photo sharing site like PhotoBucket, Picasa or Flickr. Each one of them has a different process for uploading and finding the link. I think the easiest to use is PhotoBucket – so if you’re not wedded to a site yet – open a PhotoBucket account.

Once you upload your image to the photo sharing site, you need to find the “File URL.” This is in different places on every single site. A lot of times you’ll have an option to “Share” your photo – the file URL is often found there (like in this example from PhotoBucket).

Even though I can’t tell you where exactly to find your image URL, there is a fail safe way to know if you’ve got the right one:

  1. Once you have the URL, open a new tab or window in your browser.
  2. Paste the image URL into the browser bar and hit “Enter”
  3. If you have the right URL, your image will appear in the top-left corner of the window.

Step 2 – Build Your Code

Now that you have the Page URL and the Image URL – you are ready to build your HTML code. It’s the same for WordPress and Blogger and any website in the world.

Get to where you want to have your button appear – if on a sidebar you’ll want to edit a Gadget or Widget – you also need to be in HTML mode.

Now all you need to do is cut and paste this code below:

<a href=”YourWebPageURL“><img src=”YourFileURL”></a>

After “href” – paste the URL you are linking to in between the quotation marks. Make sure you leave the quotation marks there – they are part of the code. Do the same for your image after “src”.

It will look something like this:

<a href=”http://www.etsy.com/shop/moxietonic?ref=si_shop“><img src=”http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x347/moxietonic1/MoxieTonic_ADButton.jpg“></a>

When displayed it will look like this:

Step 3 – Adding a Linky Box

Now that you know what pieces of information you need to customize the link and the image, you can cut and paste this code, which will make the linky box appear underneath your button. Just substitute out the fillers for the Link and File URLs and you ‘ll be set.

<center><a href="YourPageURL" target="_blank" title="Click to link to ENTER YOUR PAGE TITLE HERE"><img border="0" src="ImageURL" alt="Title of your Image" /></a></center>

<center><p><textarea rows=”4″ cols=”20″ name=”Button code-source” readonly=”readonly”><center><a href=”YourPageURL/” target=”_blank” title=”Click to link to YOUR PAGE TITLE HERE“><img border=”0″ src=”YourImageURL” alt=”Your IMAGE title” /></a></center></textarea></p></center>

My code would look like this:

<center><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/moxietonic?ref=si_shop" target="_blank" title="Click to link to Moxie Tonic on Etsy"><img border="0" src="http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x347/moxietonic1/MoxieTonic_ADButton.jpg" alt="Moxie Tonic Button" /></a></center>

<center><p><textarea rows=”4″ cols=”20″ name=”Button code-source” readonly=”readonly”><center><a href=”http://www.etsy.com/shop/moxietonic?ref=si_shop/” target=”_blank” title=”Click to link to Moxie Tonic’s Etsy Shop“><img border=”0″ src=”http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x347/moxietonic1/MoxieTonic_ADButton.jpg” alt=”Moxie Tonic Button” /></a></center></textarea></p></center>

And it’s going to render like this:

Moxie Tonic Button

 

Trouble Shooting

The image won’t display

The number one cause of this problem is failure to get the right URL for the image. Test your URL in a blank window – if it doesn’t pull up your image, you’ve found your issue.

Go back to your photo sharing site and look at your sharing options. Make sure you are only sharing your image, not the album. If you cannot find a URL for your image, try right clicking on the image and choosing “copy link location”. You may not have that exact option (it depends on your operating system), but you’ll have something close.

The link doesn’t work

This happens most often on Blogger. For whatever reason, Blogger will add extra symbols to your URL that break the link. Go into your Gadget and “View” the HTML code. If you see a bunch of numbers and percent signs after your URL – delete the entire url and cut and paste it again. The clean-looking URLs – like http://facebook.com/moxietonic – is what you want to strive for.

This same thing can happen to the Image URL – so be on the lookout.

If these two suggestions don’t solve the issue, send me an email with your code and I’ll take a look at it.

 

Filed Under: Dose of Code, Tutorial, Uncategorized

Halloween Printable – Free and Shareable!

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Are you a last minute crafter? A brightest-fire burning kind of a planner?

I totally am. So while most crafty sites have been sharing Halloween goodies for a month now – I’m just finally getting around to it.

Today I want to take a break from the marketing and promoting and instead I want to have some fun!

So I made these printables that I’m going to use for the murder mystery dinner I’m hosting tonight and the cupcakes I plan to make with my monkeys this weekend.

Candy Nugget Labels

Ok – I have to admit on this one I’m going to tear my hair out. I’ve been trying forever to make sure this printable will print right on any format. This is my first time doing a free printable and obviously there is a little secret that I don’t know about.

Halloween Free Printable

Free Halloween Printable for Candy Wrappers

But when they do work – they are very, very cool!

So here’s the pdf: HalloweenLabels_MoxieTonic

And here’s a Word doc: HalloweenLabels_MoxieTonic

All you need is Avery Labels 48860 (1″ by 2 5/8″) and a bag of Hershey’s Nuggets.

Halloween Cupcake Toppers

Halloween Cupcake Toppers

I can, however 100% guarantee that these will print perfectly. Yippee! The circles are sized for a 1 1/4 inch circle punch (there’s a tiny bit of bleed so you don’t get any white edges) .

I used Stampin’ Up’s scallop punch for the backing, but any punch 1 1/2 or bigger will work.

Download it Now: HalloweenToppers_MoxieTonic

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

P.S. If you are dying to be serious today, you can catch my post on Finding Keywords for Etsy Relevancy Search over at the funnest little party site – CatchMyParty.com.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Etsy Shop with Moxie: FlyTrap – Making Smart People Laugh

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Sometimes (against my better judgment) I spend a lot of time in the Etsy forums. I like to look around and see if anyone has questions I can help with, because, hey! I really like helping people. Plus after a day of breaking up fights and kissing boo-boos, I like feeling smart.

One of my favorite people to stalk is NeatThings. When I first read her thread on pricing I was blown out of the water. It was articulate and right on the money. Then I learned that she and I share a passion for the same amazing state and it’s unbeatable summer weather.

I knew right then and there I had to have her on the blog.

Her name is Jen and she runs a shop with the best tag line ever – “We make smart people laugh.” I admit to having had many a good chuckle while browsing in her shop. I guess that points back to my previous statement.

But enough about me. Gag! Let’s move on to the very awesome interview with Jen.

Tell a little about your shop and what you do.

Based in Denver, Colorado, USA,I run a small press greeting card, stationery, and paper goods company. We combine beautiful design with edgy copy to create the kind of products that make smart people laugh.  As for me, I mostly annoy or amuse people, depending on their disposition, and look for ways to turn my ideas into marketable goods.

What have been your most successful marketing efforts to get the word out about your shop?

I don’t market much.  The loudest part of me hates traditional marketing tactics. But we do have a Facebook page we update sporadically and a Twitter accountthat just pulls info from Facebook.  My best efforts involve really understanding my market and being where they are.

You’re pretty savvy about marketing and business and Internet stuff – do you have a background in that?

Are you kidding?  I’m a moron in those things!  But I do have a BA in marketing, half of an MBA, and nearly 20 years in marketing, advertising, design, writing, branding, customer service, employee communications, web development, and account management.  This does not make me savvy.  This means I’m able to write and speak just well enough to make people think I know what I’m talking about.

What do you like about the Etsy forums, how are they helpful?

I think the forums offer countless viewpoints, ingenious ideas, and support for anyone struggling to get their business up and running. The structure of the forums is a problem, though.  It’s very difficult to browse or search for information.  They’re also a great way to get people talking about you all over the Internet, if you’re annoying enough.

What advise would you give a new Etsy shop owner?

  1.  Make something magnificently unique (or market/position it magnificently uniquely).  Not “beaded jewelry” but “beaded jewelry that uses farm animals and muted colors for the sophisticated kid in you”.
  2. Understand your target markets.  And make them narrow.  Think, “Women between 25 and 35 who prefer Indians over Harleys, wear hats, watch ‘Modern Family’, and make over $75k annually. And, women between 40 and 55 who are educated, have self-sufficient children (no babies), wear hats, watch ‘Modern Family’, and enjoy reading and travel.” Not, “Women between 25 and 55.”
  3. Figure out where these people hang out.  And be right there with them.  Be what they’re looking for in your segment.

What advise would you give someone ready to take their shop to the next level?

  1.  Stay off the forums.  If you want to take your shop to the next level, you’ll need to start thinking bigger than Etsy.  And most people on the Etsy forums focus on Etsy.  So, make use of them however you need to, but don’t get lost in chatting or spouting opinions.  Nobody cares what you think anyhow.  If you’re going to hang around anyhow, do it with cognizance.
  2. Learn.  About SEO (and whether or not it can work for you – because it’s not always important).  About PR.  About marketing. About innovation.  About technology.  About your art or craft.  Focus on learning and applying that knowledge.
  3. Invent.  Constantly.
  4. Focus on what you do well.  Outsource what you don’t do well or hate.

And if there is any other wisdom you want to impart – go for it!

  1. Buy low, sell high.
  2.  ”Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.” (Michael Pollan)
  3.  Travel outside your home country at every opportunity. Being insular constrains your world view.

 

Filed Under: Etsy, Etsy Shops with Moxie, Marketing Plan, Uncategorized

Are You Weird Enough To Make it on Etsy?

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Art Dolls by LoopyBoopy on Etsy

Art Dolls by LoopyBoopy on Etsy

There is a really cool thing happening right now in the global market. The Internet, social media and the rise of permission marketing are at the eye of a perfect storm. Teeny, tiny businesses are rolling their message out to an audience that just 15 years ago could only be reached with a seven figure marketing budget.

These businesses are rising up and triumphantly meeting previously unserved needs of very niche markets. It is awesome. But it doesn’t come without cost.

Death of the Masses

Once upon a time there was this thing called the mass market. Everyone wore the same type of clothes, listened to the same music and watch the same TV shows. It was a one-size-fits-all world – and if mainstream offerings didn’t fit your style – well that was too darn bad.

But slowly the market-dominating powerhouses have given way to niche markets.

  • The three big TV networks are now diluted by cable television. Interruption marketing (aka annoying commercials) are easily by-passed with a DVR or a mute button.
  • Newspapers lost their grip when bloggers out-scooped them and advertisers found cheaper ways to broadcast their message online.
  • Authors can sidestep rejection by big publishing houses and sell their books directly on Amazon.
  • Artisans and crafters who could never get their unique items picked up by a buyer for a retail chain can sell their creations directly to the public.

The rise of the individual

I’d say I’m nostalgic for the days when everyone watched the same shows and talked about it the next day – but that would be a lie. I wasn’t allowed to watch much TV as a child so I always felt left out. I complained bitterly to my mother from elementary school until I graduated and left for college.

I impose similar viewing restrictions on my kids (yes, I am my mother!) but I don’t worry about them feeling left out – there is so much variety in what their friends watch – they wouldn’t be able to keep up anyway.

And that’s the really cool thing.  It’s so much easier to be your own kind of you because everyone else is so diversified. No one has to settle for close enough – because they know that something tailored to their exact taste is out there waiting for them to find it.

The Etsy advantage

As an Esty seller, you are in the perfect position to feed this hungry beast. People come to Etsy because they want something unique. Are you capitalizing on the niche?

Because Etsy is a growing marketplace, if you are one of a hundred shops offering the exact same product, you’ll get lost in the crowd. But what if you offer something just a little bit different? Will you turn off some customers? Yeah, probably.

But don’t freak out! It’s actually okay if you do. The more niche you go, the fewer options people have. The fewer options out there means you can

  • Cut yourself a bigger piece of the market pie.
  • Build greater brand loyalty.
  • Enjoy low competition while making lots more money.

In the end ask yourself – do you want .001% of a million dollar market or 10% of a 100K market? (In case you don’t want to do the math – the answer is a bigger share of the smaller market! You’ll make an extra $9,000.)

The last question

Well, it’s actually the first question in this post. Are you weird? Are you just a bit wacky, different, unique? What sets you apart from other shops?

If the answer is nothing…what are you going to do about it?

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Get More Results: The Secret to Etsy’s Relevancy Search

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Relevancy. In certain places this has become a very dirty word. With good reason, I might add. If you built your Etsy business on the listing and renewing model, the switch to a relevancy search has knocked the life right out of your business.

I don’t care who you are – a big shop, small shop, part-timer or the kind of shop owner that elicits jealously when mentioning monthly revenue and page views – it super stinks to have to revamp your modus operandi.

Robots v. People

The cool thing about the Etsy’s new relevancy search is that it’s beatable. Relevancy relies on a search engine algorithm and Etsy has told sellers what the robots look for when searching and cataloging listings. It’s like taking a math test where the teacher writes all the equations you need to solve the problems on the blackboard.

The key to unlocking relevancy is in the listing title and the tags. Titles with the search phrase at the front of the sentence are given the highest relevancy rank. Anything later in the title gets a lower rank. Tags are also important, although their order doesn’t matter.

Over the past two weeks I’ve researched all the information Etsy published about relevancy search results and brushed up on my SEO ninja skills.

I married the two into a 5-step plan, that after trying it in my shop for over a week, I’m landing on page one (often in the first or second row) of every keyword I want to rank for.

Etsy Relevancy Search Results

I want your shop to have the same results. Here’s how.

Step 1 – Determine your strongest keywords

Google AdWords’ Keyword Tool is a free resource that helps you figure out what people type into search engines when they are searching for the items you sell. Type in a phrase that you think describes one of your items and take a look at additional terms that Google comes up with. The results will show you how many searches per month are made for that key phrase – pick the most relevant terms with the highest search volume.

Another option is your Etsy Stats page. At the bottom of the page is a list of search terms people have used to find (and click) on items in your shop. Take those top 2-3 phrases and make those the focus for the next step.

Step 2 – Edit a listing

Take your keyword phrases and make them the first words in your product title. For example – I want to rank for the phrases blog button, blog design and blog buttons.

Google AdWords told me that “blog button” is the most highly searched phrase, so I’m going to give it top priority and put it at the front of the title.

Step 3 – Flesh out your title

By putting your top phrase at the front of your listing, you’ve satisfied the demands of the search engine. I find it helpful to place a colon (those two dots that are the eyes of a smiley face) after the keyword phrase. There’s nothing magical about the colon, it just helps me break from the key phrase and move on to the descriptions. You could just as easily use a dash, or leave punctuation out of the picture. It’s personal preference.

Dedicate the rest of your title to adding descriptive words – colors, materials, etc. You can also add secondary keyword phrases.

Going back to my listing example I throw in the other two key phrases and tell the buyer what they will get with their purchase.

Blog Buttons: Match Your Blog Design with 10 Social Media Buttons.

Step 4 – Edit your description

Using the same keyword phrases from your title, put it one or two times in the first paragraph of your description. Write the rest of the post how you would normally describe it to a potential buyer. This step doesn’t help for Etsy relevancy, but does help you rank on Google – and heck – who wouldn’t love to hit page 1 of a Google search??!!

Step 5 – Edit your tags

Make sure you repeat your exact key phrases in your tags. Don’t split up the words in individual tags. If you are trying to rank for “goat milk soap” then make that the whole phrase your tag. It’s hard to tell by looking at the page source how exactly tags fit into relevancy, but from what I read from Etsy Admin, keyword phrases in tags that match the titles boost relevancy.

That’s it! Easy-peasy (just a little time consuming).

Do this for each listing in your shop, coming up with unique key phrases for each of your unique products. To test it, type your key phrase into the search bar. I have had changes show up immediately, I’ve also had changes take a few days to take effect – just be patient with it and play with a variety of keywords.

Filed Under: Etsy, Marketing Plan, Uncategorized

8 Must-Have Elements of an Amazing Email Newsletter

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Permission Reminder

A permission reminder is one sentence telling the reader how they ended up receiving your newsletter in the first place. It’s one of those required CAN-Spam things. Even if you aren’t in the United States, if you market to people in the States, you have to remind them how they came to find you in their inbox.

One subject

People don’t read anymore. The skim. And they don’t have much time to do that. Keep your content short and sweet. Stick to one main idea. It helps your reader and it helps you actually get your newsletter out.

One call to action

It’s so tempting to hit all your offerings in one email. But since people are just skimming it gets confusing and waters down your message. Take one subject and lead your reader to one action you want them to take – link to one item in your shop, link back to a blog post you want them to read, send them to your Facebook page, get them to forward your message to a friend – but just one at a time. Not only does this help your reader – it gives you something to write about next week.

Your logo

I was really impressed when my two year old started identifying stores and restaurants as we drove by. I thought he was so smart. Then I read a book about how kids memorize logos of big chains and become attached to the images. I still think my son is smart, but I also am awed by the power of proper branding. Brand your emails to look like your shop and your blog and start building brand identification and ultimately brand loyalty.

Your name

People like to do business and communicate with people. That’s why your From Name should be your name, not your business name. You should also sign your emails with your name and use your name for contact information. The more personable, the better.

Reminder where to find you

If you are on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter…any social media sharing site – remind people how to find you. Every single connection you can make is just one more touchpoint that increases your sphere of influence.

Unsubscribe option

I’m not a huge fan of sticking this in the top of your email (some Email Service providers default to this) because it gets picked up by some preview panes. That’s pretty stinky marketing to tell people that they can unsubscribe before they even open it. But, it’s also pretty stinky not to have one.

Don’t be afraid of unsubscribes – welcome them. They will usually be less than 1 percent. I’ll admit that it is hard not to take it personally the first few times it happens.  But then you come to realize that it’s alright because that means your list is becoming more honed to you and your message and only your true audience is sticking around.

A physical address

This kind of freaks people out. My husband wigged out the first time he saw our home address on my email newsletter. But again, it’s a CAN-Spam thing. You have to include a business address on all your mass emails. For most of us blogging, Etsy folk, that’s the house. But a P.O. Box works to, if you want to spring for one.

Do you get the Moxie Tonic Email Newsletter? It goes out once a week and is full of marketing and business inspiration. Plus, you can check out if I practice what I preach. The sign-up form is at the top of the right-hand sidebar.

Filed Under: Email Structure, Mail Chimp, Subject Line, Uncategorized, Why Email?

Six Quick Things You Can Do To Make Your Blog Spiffy

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Photo Credit: BoomChick - Click the Pic and Visit Her on Etsy

If you have an Etsy shop, you probably have a blog. How’s it looking right now? Spic and span? Or is a little housekeeping in order? Here are six quick things you can do to instantly improve the look and feel of your blog.

#1 – 14 is the new 12

No, not dress sizes, sorry. Font size. More and more people are reading blogs on smaller and smaller devices. Boosting your font size up a couple of points will also boost your readability.

#2 – Go mobile

Speaking of small devices – adding a mobile theme to your blog is really easy. Your blog will automatically detect if someone is using their phone to view your blog and switch to a mobile friendly layout.

For WordPress I recommend the WPTouch plugin (it’s what I use). On Blogger, go to your dashboard and select the “email & mobile” tab. Then click “Yes, show mobile template.”

#3 – Spring clean your sidebar

Ads, badges, blog bling – it all has its place, but if it’s flashing and moving and spilling down your sidebar it’s distracting your readers from your main goals. Time to declutter!

Prioritize your sidebar and keep only the things that make you money or increase your readership and social proof. Highest priority should go to your email newsletter form, social media buttons, sites you’ve been featured on. Don’t forget to link to your Etsy shop.

Other people’s blog badges don’t make the grade in my book. But if you want to be a nice, other-people-promoting blogger – dedicate a whole page to blog badges and link to it in your sidebar or top navigation bar.

#4 -Don’t harsh the bloggy buzz.

In the blog world, there’s nothing worse than reading an awesome post and having to go through the bloggy version of airport security before leaving a comment.  Gag! CAPTCHA and other spam catchers that make the reader do the work – these are total comment killers.

Spam comments are equally annoying for the blog owner, so the Askimet plugin for WordPress is totally worth the 5 bucks a month. Blogger has an automatic spam filtering system where they send suspicious comments to the spam box and your readers won’t see them. Google rolled this out last year, pretty much making CAPTCHA unnecessary.

#5 Get in the left lane

I don’t know how the center-justify craze got started, but I am on a one-woman mission to end it once and for all! For the love of Pete, please left-justify your blog post content. I know that centering everything is super fun and cutesy, but it is sooooooo much harder to read.

Because I didn’t want this point to just be a peevish rant, I asked my optometrist (ok, so he’s also my husband) why reading centered text is so hard. Here’s his professional take:

Centered text only works well for listed items, where they eye isn’t doing any back and forth motion. When you are reading sentences and paragraphs, your eye wants to go back to the same place on the page each time it starts a new line. Since centered text starts in different places the reader ends up losing their place and getting frustrated.

#6 Try some fun web fonts

Have you discovered Google Webfonts? It’s super easy in Blogger – they’re right there in the design tool. You can also download them and use them in Word or Photoshop.

WordPress is a bit trickier…but if you are dying to know how to install them, let me know and I’ll make a post. I use them for my headings and subheadings and I used them for a blog overhaul I did for Constant Chatter.

 

Filed Under: Blogging, Etsy, Social Media, Uncategorized, What Not to Do

How I Got My First 100 Etsy Sales

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I’m going to pull back the curtain and talk candidly about getting to my first 100 Etsy sales.

I opened MoxieTonic – Customized Web Buttons on May 24th.  As I’ve been typing this post, my 100th (and 101st) sale came through. (Yippie!) It took just over three months to reach the century mark in very crowded marketplace.

I grossed $366 – not tons, but then again, my flagship product was only $1. I sold to 89 customers, some of whom follow this blog and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my openness is helpful and educational instead of totally turning you off.

I also succeeded in my second goal – offer a 10 cent wing night. I connected with Etsy shop owners who want to grow their business beyond a hobby income. Many of you signed up for my free e-course after viewing the tutorials for adding buttons to your site.

An unexpected, but wonderful, byproduct of those connections is a growth in my client base for my email marketing services. So if I really added up my earnings from these three months, it really is [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized
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