Marketing Your Small Business - 1

I took a short hiatus from my small jewelry business the past month, to give myself time to evaluate if what I have been doing has been effective or not.  Many times we get so caught up in the frantic drive to have our business be successful that we forget why we started the business in the first place.  Sometimes it is necessary to step back and take a hard look at what we are spending our time on and whether or not that is really what we want to be doing.

If I evaluate what it takes to be successful in marketing my business I quickly see that it is really easy to be drawn up by the opportunities that the  internet offers for getting exposure and drawing views.  With twitter, facebook, blogging, seo optimization, etc. it is easy to get so busy keeping up with them all, finding the newest and best sites to join, posting in forums etc. to spend hours each day that we tell ourselves are "productive".  It gets daunting trying to figure out which ones really are! It seems like there is a huge community of internet sellers - targeting other internet sellers as their customers - because who else is at all these places?  I plan to do a series on this blog about marketing opportunities and would love to have your input as to what you think your best venues have been.  Which ways are you finding bring about the best results for your business?

Get a Free SoopSee Account - Great for Etsy Shops!

Occasionally I come across something that will help Etsy, Artfire, 1000 Markets, etc. sellers to broaden their exposure or help them boost traffic to their shops.  We all know that both blogging and twitter accounts help us to get exposure for our online shops, but now there is something new!  I recently signed up for a SoopSee account - it is free (they do have a premium account as well) and basically turns your Etsy shop into a complete website!

Check out my SoopSee pages at: Divine3Designs , notice the orange bar across the top.  This site lets me add all the things that Etsy doesn't!  I can import my twitter and blog accounts and actually have links to those pages on the front page as well.
It is like having your Etsy shop converted into a complete website.  You can add the things that Etsy currently has no provision for.  Suggestion- sign up- you have nothing to lose.  Sign up soon so you can reserve your shop name- before someone else gets it!

The site is currently in Beta- that means you can expect more functionality and features soon! So check out SoopSee soon!

Giveaways Galore!

Yes, it is exciting!  Just in time to help with the Christmas or holiday shopping or to simply give yourself a reward for all your hard work - I'm doing a great promotion to help publicize my blog.  I'll be giving away a $25.00 gift certificate that you can use in my Etsy shop .

You can use it to buy anything you want and I will deduct the $25.00 from your PayPal invoice. (sorry this cert. can't be used to deduct the shipping - I only charge what the post office charges me).  You will have a 1 in 100 chance of winning because as soon as I reach 100 followers- one of them will be drawn! I will contact the winner and post the name here as well!

And, I couldn't call this "giveaways galore"- if I didn't have more giveaways to lead you to.  Several other Etsy shops are doing similar promotions- make sure you go to their links published below and check out how to qualify for their offers!  Thanks to all the Etsy shops who so kindly made them available!

More links will be here soon!

Midnight Creations
Friends and Family - 1.
      Friends and Family -  2
Designs by Vanessa (1)
      Designs by Vanessa (2)
Pottery 123
Annas Trunk
Shiny Adornments 
Cappy Sue Vintage
Steam Punk Rings
Designer Favors 
Listed 9/21/09 :
Etrelles
The Vintage Chain
Love Charles
Burning Moon Products
Old Bag Vintage
Awesome Artists Giveaway
Added 9/23/09
Blue Hour Design
Hap Tree

Some of these end Sept 30th- so hurry over there and follow their blogs while you are at it- I spied some good stuff!

Keep  following and reading this blog for many more exciting deals coming up before the holidays!