My condensed notes version of Artfire's 45 Day Guide to Success will wrap up today. It is a 45 day guide to selling, filled with good advice and ways to improve your selling. This is third part of the summary, you may not want to read the entire guide but this way you can pick out the important information.

Click here for weeks 1&2 and weeks 3&4

Week 5 Time to Review:

By now you have been selling for a month and it's time to get some feedback and review what you have been doing so far. Now is the time to go to the forum for feedback about your shop. You have a number of items, policies in place and you will know which way to go with the advice you receive. While you are at it, review your shop policies as well. By now, you may have a better idea of how you want to handle things, so reflect this in your policies.

Try making a list blog most. Actually these are the easiest posts to make and also the mostly popular.  Everyone loves a list- it can be anything 5 Reasons You Love Your Craft, 10 Best Places to Read a Book, 6 Good Reasons to Nap. It can be how-tos, controversy. Check out this post for some good ideas (translation underneath).

While we're talking about your blog, this might be a good time to run a small giveaway. Typically you usually require people to comment on your blog or promote your giveaway some how to get more buzz. One trick is to get the word out- submitting it to a blog like ByHandmadeGiveways helps.

 Also check out media sites this week like Flickr, Youtube and Photobucket.

Week 6 Keep it Going

You are getting good at this so now it's time to reach out further. Order business cards to hand out in person or add to items when they are purchased. Also try submitting your work to some craft blogs to be featured. There are also always bloggers in the forums looking for people to feature.

Find some niche forums related to your craft- try to narrow it down if possible. Keep up your web presence, these online communities are real communities, be an active member in these communities to make contacts, friends and enjoy it. 

Try making a pop-culture inspired item, something that already has fans and make something that is inspired by that to hopefully get them interested. This isn't selling out but you reaching out to a market that is already there.

Week 7 Pulling it Together

Just about done with this guide but by now I'm sure you realize that the work doesn't end at the of week 7. Actually week 7 is  a short week. Buy some online advertising, Project Wonderful , artfire ads, google adwords are all possibilities. This is optional but some well places ads can make a big difference. I'd suggest test different sites, ads , wording. Project Wonderful can be great in that often you can get free or very inexpensive ads, you pay per the day, so you know the costs.

Last day now, be sure your shop has diverse pricing, especially if you specialize in higher end items.

Actually it is never the last day but this is where the guide ends. By now you will have gained enough knowledge to at least know what you don't know. That way you can know where you need to expand. Selling is not easy  but this guide gets you on a good path.

Artfire 45 Day Guide to Success - Weeks 3 and 4

Yesterday I started reviewing Artfire's 45 Day guide to Success week by week.
 Click here for weeks 1 & 2 if you want to go over it
Even still there is a lot to take in. Today I will go over Weeks 3 and 4.
Each week has a at least one day just for your craft- like a day of rest and includes a to-do list for each day.

Week 3 -Tools for Selling:

In week 3 you are introduced to promo tools, like using Rapid Cart- a widget that displays your items and allows people to buy off-site as well as the Artfire Kiosk for Facebook. This is like having a store set up on Facebook as well and you can place it on your business page and your profile. The link to the Kiosk guide is there, among several others. 

This week you should also be reviewing your SEO, learning more, and even testing it to which description gets better views. All pro sellers have a gallery available to list older work or sold items, this week you should list older work or sold pieces(even off Artfire) in your gallery. 

Lastly, start getting to know the staff, if you have been in the forums you probably have already gotten know a few, especially Tony, Sara posts in the Help Guides and Caleb does SEO Support. There are also weekly podcast by Tony and John (founders of Artfire) and the Artfire blog  always has new material.

Rounding off the week, is to get involved in a guild and/or becoming an Artfire maven. This week includes a lot- SEO, promo/selling tools and getting to know the team.

Week 4 Review Your Shop

By week four, you should be getting very comfortable with Artfire. You should be keeping up with the forums and the community.The forums are a great tool for finding out about new tools and new promotions. 

A big part of this week is to start doing some market research about what you sell. Check out other Artfire or other handmade stores to see what others are selling. One way to get feedback is ask in the forums what others think of your items and would they buy them. Even check non-handmade stores. Use this info see what sells and what you might want to add to your store or ideas about pricing.

Assuming by now you have have over 60 items, this is a good week for a sale or coupon promo- not slashing prices but a little something. Be sure to add promo labels to get buyer's attention.This week check if your items are indexed on Google(not just Google base).

Also try making a how-to blog post. It's not a hard sell but it lets people see your blog and you can show your knowledge about your craft. Be sure to Tweet it and post it on Facebook after and anywhere else you can think of. 

This rounds out weeks 3 and 4. By now you should have a full shop and gaining some knowledge about selling. Don't worry though, no one knows it all, by keeping up with the forums, you can learn from other's too.

Click here for weeks 1 & 2
Click here for weeks 5-7

Artfire 45 Day Guide to Success - Weeks 1 and 2

Artfire introduced its 45 Day Guide to Success in the beginning of July. It literally is a day by day guide for setting up your shop and the steps to truly get you on your way to success. Just by its title, it lets a new seller know a successful shop is not going to happen in a week or even 2. Success is never guarenteed but this guide can get you started. Links to guides and tips further information is given in the guide

It's a bit of a read, 45 days broken up day by day takes some time to go through. Reading it does need to be taken in small bites. It is broken down by to make reading a little easier. I'm just going to go over the key points week by week and not every day. I like that 1 or 2 "Work days" are built in each week,these are days devoted just to your craft and not working on Artfire. 

Week 1-Getting Set Up:

 This week is all about getting registering and getting set up. By the end of day 1, you should have all of your information in, set up paypal and try listing your first time. The links to all basic guides for SEO, photography and selling tips are given. Since many of the guides have been expanded on and updated in the Artfire Help Guides forums, these links get you to the most up to date information.

Getting your studio set up means getting a banner and selecting a color theme as well. If you want to make your own banner, Sara has a guide for making a banner. You can also buy one from one of the sellers on Artfire.

One feature I wasn't aware of, live and learn, is a test store, just to practice making a sale, so you know the process in case you personally hadn't purchased from Artfire, so you can know the customer's side of the transaction.

By the end of the week, your store should be set up, with a full page of items and then you should introduce yourself to the Artfire community in the forums and make about 5 posts that first day. A daily checklist is introduced on the last day with a to-do list for each day.

Week 2 -Getting  A Web Presence

This week really focuses on using social media to reach and touch the rest of the world. You have to let the rest of the world know you're out there.

The first is setting up a blog, it's suggested even if you use an outside blog that you still add to your Artfire blog as well, even if it's a tidbit here and there. You'll probably get more non-Artfire exposure with an off-site blog. 

If you haven't already, get set up on Facebook and Twitter. Set up a business page on Facebook as well as your profile. You'll also want to set up your media hub on Artfire so people can find those sites.

This week, you will also start setting up categories for your studio, since according to the to-do list, you should be adding 10-15 items this week. Add a work day and that will bring you to the end of week 2.

 I'll be honest, I never could come close to listing this many items in a week, the ultimate goal is to get to at least 100 items in these 45 days. Yes it's ambitious but without goals, you would get nowhere. Click here for week 3 and 4  and weeks 5-7