Getting Social

Nowadays you hear people everywhere talk about "getting social". Most people have Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter accounts. Many people have blogs. Some pages are for fun or information or simply as a means of keeping up to date with what's going on all around us. All of these accounts are ways you can leverage your interactions with others to promote the sale of your product.

As one of the first steps to getting social, I spent the better part of today setting up both Facebook and Pinterest pages for Petunia Magpie. There's only one board on Pinterest and just three entries on the Facebook page. But it's a start. That gave me the ability to add back-links in the Etsy store.

WHAT?? More tasks to do? Yes. Just do one thing at a time and you'll get there. That's the most important task at this point in the game. Beginnings are hard. There's so much work to do on the back-end that all tasks can seem overwhelming. Just keep doing a little at a time and before you know it you'll have pages and pages of content to help sell your items.

Which brings me to another task: joining an Etsy Team. There are many reasons Etsy works so well. Low prices, ease of use and like minded vendors who work together to reach a common goal: SALES! In Etsy-speak part of this is joining one or more Teams.

How do you choose the right team for you? The best way is common interest and/or location. You can search for a team by clicking the Community link (top left of the Etsy page) and typing in a key word. Today I typed in Pennsylvania because that is where I live. Thirty-one teams matched that key word.

In selecting which team(s) to join, I look at total members and view some of the discussion threads and marketing. It's important that more than a few people are active in the team. That means many people post things like "new listings for fill in month" and "team treasuries" not just one or two people. While you're looking at the numbers, check the individual shops. Do their items look like something you would purchase? Do they have a good record of sales (this is shown underneath the shop information on the left navigation pane of every shop)? Does the team have current posts? What are its requirements and do you meet those requirements? Be honest - the team Captains really do review your shop.

Once you are accepted into a team you will need to put the "team tag" on your listings. This is so other members can locate your products quickly when they create their treasuries.

Treasuries are simply groups of sixteen items with a common attribute. Team members use them to promote each other's items. It is a great way to increase the visibility of your shop. Here is an example of a treasury notification sent to a vendor letting them know that one of their items has been added to a treasury (I highlighted it in color to make it stand out.)

 **********************************************************************************

You have been treasured! I have listed one of your items in a treasury. Please comment, click and share with others! Also, you can mark this treasury as a favorite so that your circle can see your item in this treasury and increase traffic for possible sales.

Come "like" our page on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/PetuniaMagpie

Our etsy treasuries are pinned on Pinterest at: http://pinterest.com/petuniamagpie/etsy-treasuries/

Tweeted at my Twitter account: twitter.com/whatever your tweeter ID might be (mine isn't set up yet.)https://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzE2ODgzMXwyNzI0NTg5OTky/a-butterfly-fluttered-by

Listing: www.etsy.com/listing/whatever#it is.

***********************************************************************************

So imagine that you email this message to sixteen people about sixteen different items. At the very least, this is sixteen different people who will become aware of your shop. If each of those people "share" the link to your treasury on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and whatever teams they belong to - that equals a LOT of free marketing. Not exactly free though. It's going to take you time to do create the treasury listing. But it can pay you back tenfold. My first Etsy sale (another shop several years ago) came from a treasury listing link. Many times you'll get reciprocal links. I'm telling ya - it can snowball. My old programming instructor would call it a "good permutation".

That's all the news that's fit to print today folks. Here is a link to one of the items I included in a treasury for Petunia Magpie. This shop is a good example of creative product content. You can feel her creative passion. Enjoy!