Stealth Promoting

Promote! Promote! Promote!

These seem to be the buzz word of every seller, everywhere. We all want to get the word out we have something to sell and say look at us. You can promote yourself without paying a dime or spamming your friends.

Often we think of free promoting in terms of posting links to items to Twitter or Facebook or any other of the many social networking sites. But really do your followers really want a constant stream of links. You need to be more subtle.

Stealth promoting is promoting your item without being obvious about it. Make it about solving others problems, not pushing your goods. Web pages also gain weight in searches when more sites link back to them (namely your store)

 1. Google Images: A picture says a 1000 words, you  have have at least a few really good pictures. I've noticed I am getting more and more views coming from Google Images. Artfire labels the photos with your item title so that needs to be descriptive. If your pictures are good people will want to take a look.  Ok this one isn't too stealthy but is a different approach to search engines.

2. Forums get involved with some forums or sites where you target audience will be. Even starting with a forum devoted to your craft, can get you started if you aren't sure where else to start. You can show off your work to other crafters and learn from them. Whenever you post a picture, include a link back to that item in your store so people can find it.



3. Forums part 2 : This is when you go to sites where you items are in demand. If you sell wedding goods, stalking some of the many wedding panning sites. There are sites devoted to almost any interest. If there is a place to include your site, do so. Follow the forums, if someone is wondering where to find what you sell, let them know where they can find it (your store) it can help if you just say, I saw that here and don't mention it's your store.

4. Pinterest: Pinterest.com is a different kind of social network. Basically you can pin or bookmark a picture from anywhere on the web to save it to your collection, called boards. These can get seen and shared by followers. The links back to the original site are preserved so if someone likes your item enough, they can find your shop. Again pics are key. Posting different items as well as your own will peak interest and you can also gauge interest by how many likes or repins you get.


5. Blogging: This one always seems to come up. Have a focus to your blog and update it regularly. Link back to your shop as often as possible, Again if you show an item, include a direct link to it, You need to mix it up and keep it from just being a gallery of what you just made. Give people a reason to read. Add news, tutorials, different styles within your specialty.

6. Other links: There are lots of sites to contribute your items, craft ones like CraftGawker , and thousands of others, you need to figure what works for you.

I hear groans - this is a lot of work. Yes it takes time. Time to build up links over time, time to research what people are looking for. So why bother? Bother because it builds links, adds weight and instead of dragging people into your shop, they will look for you.

 In my own experience, two links have gotten me more links than I ever would have imaged. One was a link on a small specialized forum for board gamers. I posted a link to some board game pieces I make and two years later I still get incoming views from it. Then was a link on Oddee. They make lists of really odd stuff, stuff why would I add a link there? One day they had a post about unusual cake toppers, my wrestler ones fit right in. Big audience and click still come.

 It's not easy, you need a product that people want, good pictures and a little ingenuity and time to really make a difference. But you know, this doesn't have to be all or nothing. Do the ones you like, make twitter and facebook meaningful, not spammy. Any little bit helps

SEO-Using Titles

JKA Designs

SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimization which basically just means in English how to use search engines the best way you can. That means knowing how how search engines work and using that to the best advantage. 



No matter what updates come along, some of the basics don't. You want to get found and search engines will use titles and descriptions when it comes to selling. Search engines can't see pictures. So it comes down to what you say about an item.


The title is the first thing a search engine looks at. You want a title that includes words people are going to use when searching for you item. People includes those who don't know about your craft or how it is made.

This pendant by JKADesigns on Artfire is really stunning. I notice the blue and amber stripes and an iridescent quality about it. I am more interested in how a pendant looks more than anything else. Although when I saw the title "Fused Glass Dichroic Pendant", I realized I may never have found this pendant. 

A title needs to give as much information as you can in 70 characters and part of the trick is picking words that buyers would find important. As crafters we can get too involved in our craft. Fused glass dichroic may not mean much or anything outside your specialty. My biggest faux was to assume Polymer Clay was a major keyword for my items. For a few items, this is true but for most, it doesn't even get used. It just doesn't cross people's minds. I might use it at the end after a comma or just include it tn the first sentence of my description.

Another big one is "handmade". Except in cases where it defines a product -like handmade soap- it usually doesn't add value to tem in search. Very often it can come down to trial and error. Your description should do this as well but it starts with your title. If you are unsure, show your item to someone else and listen to how they describe it and what they mention. Do a test by changing the title for a month or so to see if views improve.

SEO is all about getting found. To do this you need find out what buyers are searching for - beyond what the item is, are they searching colors, style, shape, material. Sometimes material counts-  gemstones are a material that can make a difference, as can wool vs, acrylic yarn. As seller you need to figure what the buyer finds important, not what you find important.

Selling Online by Jim Juris

Selling Online

By Jim Juris

There are many ways to sell online. There is no one particular way that is perfect for Artisans when it comes to selling handmade products online. Some people like to sell from websites and some use venues such as Artfire and Etsy to sell their handmade, vintage and supplies online.

The drawback that many sellers face when they try to sell online on their own website is that most artisans don't know HTML or have any desire to learn HTML. Also when you create your own website to sell from you will have to set up a shopping cart. This is not an easy task. There are lots of shopping carts out there and some are better than others. Paying someone to create a website for you can be very expensive. Finding a good web page designer to work with at price that you can affort is time consuming.

Because of the above drawbacks Etsy and Artfire where created. Personally I prefer Artfire over Etsy, but not everyone will agree with me.

There are many advantages to selling on Artfire over Etsy. Artfire Pro sellers pay a monthly Pro seller membership fee, which is currently US $11.95 per month. That allows you to sell an unlimited number of products in your Artfire studio. If you have five pairs of fresh water pearl earrings that you are selling on Artfire you do not pay extra to list more than one.

Unlike Etsy, Artfire does not have a final value fee. In addition to the US $0.20 product listing fee, you are charged a 3.5% final value fee by Etsy when your product sells. Etsy charges their sellers a listing fee, which at the time of this writing is US $0.20 per product listing. That fee allows the seller to sell that one product for a low cost but it is only for a four month period. Every four months you have to pay an additonal US $0.20 to continue to sell that product on Etsy. You must pay US $0.20 to Etsy for every product that you list for sale on Etsy.

Unlike Etsy, Artfire does not allow renewing except when your product sells. Many sellers on Etsy have to renew several times per day, every day, at US $0.20 each time they renew in order for their products not to be burried in the Etsy internal search results.

Both Artfire and Etsy allow sellers to accept PayPal. The transaction fee that PayPal charges the seller is an additional expense regardless of the selling venue. Artfire allows their sellers choices for accepting payments. Artfire sellers can accept checks and money orders, PayPal, Amazon Payments, and if they pay a seperate yearly fee directly to ProPay they can also accept payments through ProPay.

The only payment option that Etsy sellers have to offer their buyers is PayPal. Some people don't like PayPal. Artfire has terrific seller tools. The seller tools are unmatched by any other online selling venue. One of the best reasons to sell on Artfire is the terrific customer service that is provided by the Artfire staff. Their customer service is far superior to the customer service on Etsy.

Another advantage to selling on Artfire over Etsy is the potential buyers coming to your Artfire studio do not have to be a member of Artfire or log in before being able to purchase products from Artfire sellers. You must join Etsy and log in before you can make any purchases on Etsy.

Artfire provides all of their sellers with very helpful guides that show Artfire sellers how to perform various tasks as a seller when setting up their Artfire studio. I highly recommend that all Artfire sellers take the time to read the success guides because selling on Artfire is very different than selling on Etsy. Mastering search engine optimization (SEO) is very important in order to sell successfully on Artfire.

Artfire sellers receives about 85% of their traffic and sales directly from the search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo. Most of the traffic and sales on Etsy are internal sales rather than from the search engines.

Those are some of the advantages and disadvantages of selling online on your own website and on venues such as Artfire and Etsy. I am the author of three ebooks. One of my ebooks is titled SEO for Artfire Artisans. My three ebooks are available in my JimJuris Artfire studio.

Guest blogger,Jim Juris, is well known seller on Artfire.  Jim has been selling online since 2002.  He has used his knowledge to teach Artfire sellers better ways to sell online.

SEO Tips 2 - Keywords and How to Use Them

I have been going over some SEO basics. It's a term that gets thrown around a lot but all it really means is using search engines the best way you can. There are quite a few terms that get thrown around, one really important one is Keywords. This should really be the first in this series because keywords are what SEO is all based on. It should be easy easy to define -these are the words that are key/important to your description. One of the easiest ways to understand them is to think about when you search for something. You probably type in 2 to 4 words of what you are looking for. If you are looking for something, say a pair of boots, you know if you type in boots, the search is overwhelming, so you'll narrow, maybe women's brown leather boots . This is still pretty broad, you'll get lots of results but now you have some important details. So how does this apply to your items? I need to fix some of my titles, let's try one of them. 

This is titled Polymer Clay Christmas Pixie Figurine Sculpture. 
It doesn't seem to get many views and has been listed in my store for nearly two years. When I listed this, I was making a lot of pixies, which later I realized is really spelled pixy but I like pixie - I guess this is my first mistake. Polymer clay seems important to me, I use it and I figured others care too.

Now I need to take a second look. When you look at this how would you describe? What are the main words you think of? Now that I look at it, I'm thinking Baby Santa Christmas Decoration.I need to add more but this is a start - I can use miniature, polymer clay, red and more to expand.

Two things you need to remember are keywords need to define your product and they also need to something people will search for. Use those keywords at the beginning of your title and through out the description but do not forget to add other descriptors for when people have more specific searches. Search engines can only find what you added.

SEO Tips- Location Location Location

Google rolled out Panda and a lot of the rules for SEO , which just means optimizing your chances to be found in a search engine. Google mainly was trying to remove sites that are content scrappers, you know those pages that are just full of links and not much new.

Unfortunately since it is a computer making decisions, it swiped sites and listing that didn't quite the bill. The whole goal of Panda was to look for content, useful and meaningful content.


Some of the rules have changed and some sellers felt it worse than others. Supply sellers can be the most vulnerable. Listings can be short and often very similar. 

For all the changes, something have stayed the same, although maybe with a twist. I'll go through some idea the next few week but

Location counts. When you are doing a listing remember the upper left hand corner. The further up on the page it is, the greater weight Google give the information. You want your keyword as high up and to the left as possible. One new twist is in the title. Usually we were told to make the title flow but now you want the keywords as far to the left as possible.

For example, a typical title of mine was "Handmade Polymer Clay Flying Green Dragon Necklace" . Green Dragon are the keywords in this title and until recently it worked ok. I read up a bit and tried using location by putting the keywords - by this I mean the words a customer mostly like will use to search for.
Trying  "Green Dragon Necklace made of Polymer Clay"  seemed to work best for views. It might not need the made of but I am one of the grammar police and can't help it. 

You want those keywords up front and at the top.  Google give the information weights the information higher on the page, headline/titles then goes down. Repeat the title, slightly reworded in the first sentence. In those first few sentences, get the main facts in, then the add the details, uses, inspiration,etc.

Personal secret: I test my titles and descriptions by using search on Artfire. It may not be perfect but it reflects changes quicker (sometimes within a half hour or less) and it doesn't use my history to influence search. 

Location Counts but Keywords are King. We'll talk about them next,

Getting Personal with Online Selling

Shopping is really a personal experience.  In the real world, shopping often means looking at several  items, touching them, picking them up for a better view, sniffing , seeing how it looks on you. You're trying to get an idea of how it will work for you.  We're seeing if we want the item our own.

So how do you bring this very personal experience of shopping online as an artisan? You want to give your future buyers a chance to do the same thing- make your item theirs. No matter what you are selling, the shopper needs to get a good look at it. Who will buy something they can't see? Take pictures from every angle, maybe on that gives an idea of the size. They can't pick it up so you need to show do for them. Show the details but also include at least on shot that shows the entire item. Give the shopper a way to imagine this item in her space.

The description is your next step. Some basic ideas to remember

• Describe the item using objective words. Just saying an item is great doesn't mean much from the seller. It is beautiful, the seller will see it in the pictures. 
• Be clear and get to the point
• List the materials use
• If the materials you use add extra value, list them
• Tell them why a material adds value - ex. using gemstones, let them know why gemstones make a difference- color, sheen. Often people don't really know
•  Include the measurements. Use English and metric measurements.
•  Give you shopper reason to buy quality, uses, sheer beauty, why do they need this product.
• Answer questions quickly then try to add that question to the description if you realize you forgot something.
• Avoid
• Making the description too long. You'll loose the customer's attention.
• Go through your life story or values in each listing. Keep that in your bio.
• Offer too many choices or offer choices that are not clear.Don't confuse the customer.
• Making it making it hard for a customer to buy something

This all comes down to making the online experience as real as possible. Try to cover as many senses as possible. They can only see it, you need to describe the rest- the smell, the feel, textures. Bring it all home to the customer.

Get Your Store Found

Remember the quote from Field of Dreams- If you built it, they will come. Well it worked with Kevin Costner- he built the field and all the famous players of long gone came to play. We want to believe the same thing will happen when we open our store. We put all this work into making our goods, why wouldn't everyone just want them.

The biggest hurdle any online seller has to deal with is - buyers can't come if they don't know about you. Yes Kevin's players came but then they were dead and I don't think a lot is going on in the afterlife. Your customers are alive and busy and the internet is crowded. Somehow you have to shine. You want people to find your shop but actually you need to find the customer and pull them in.

There are plenty of free ways to stand out, most take some effort. Blogs, fan pages, twitter, the forums, message boards, and anything else worthwhile take some time.These are all social forums, to be social you need to interact- not just spout off that you just listed this item. Use the Artfire forums and other forums to reach out to people and make contacts.

I have to give a big Kudos to PromoPixie , she started selling ad spots in brochures to be handed out in person and is also selling the brochures. What a great idea- she has really branched out. The spots in the brochures sold faster than the wind and quite a few people have bought them to hand out at craftshows and what have you. They are available in small bundles, unlike the large minimums you often are required to buy. The kudos is for coming up with a new idea and then going out and pushing it. Would anyone have bought these unless Promo talked it up in the forums. She's doing sales on both sides and making a name for herself.

Outside forums help too. I got my son to post on game sites that he already belonged to about my gaming pieces. I got quite a bit a buzz from that. It helped he was established on that site and people trusted him. But that's what social media is about. Interacting, making connection, the same idea as real life. If a sales person says, ours is the best ice cream sold anywhere, you take it with a grain of salt. But if your friend says, you have to try out this ice cream, it is to die for- you'll probably at least consider it, maybe buy it.

We're back where we started, if you want to get people to recommend your items they first have to find them. Talk them up, blog - talk about what you make, techniques, what your plans are, not just what you listed. Engage your readers so they keep reading. Do the same on your Fanpage.

It's all about letting people know you are there. Tweet, post in the forums, blog, reach people in person- if you sell jewelry, market it by wearing it, anything to get people to see what you make.
Remember they can't come if they don't know you're there.