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Day 11 Assignment, Bootcamp #4 - List your Promo Activities

iCraft Admin


Administrator
Posts: 1693


« on: October 08, 2012, 03:14:35 am »

Since it's a Thanksgiving in Canada today, I'll give you a very easy Assignment today.  Wink
Just list what you've been doing so far to promote your iCraft store.
Here are some questions to help you with this Assignment:

  • Do you Blog? Mention your Blog link here.
  • Which social media sites do you use? Please mention specifically Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google +
  • Are you a member of any crafter groups or forums on other sites? Please list them here.
  • How often do you blog, twit or do other online promotional activities?
  • Can you or have you done videos before?
  • Have you done link building before?
  • Do you promote offline?
  • List any other promotional activities you've done in the past.
  • Which promo activities do you enjoy the most?
  • Which promo activities do you find to be the most effective?
Jewelry by Kat


Posts: 182


« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2012, 04:56:21 am »

I do not blog-do not know how.  I do use facebook and twitter but they are not effective.  I do not belong to groups or forums.  I use my twitter weekly.  I have not done videos. I have not done link building. I have sent many postcards to businesses and friens.  My car has a sign on it.  I do craft fairs and home jewelry parties. I enjoy the craft fairs and home jewelry party.  So far nothing is super effective.
    I am still fine tuning my keywords, lightening photos and wording descriptions and doing craft fairs..................Kat
Silver Workshop


Posts: 51


« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2012, 08:14:32 am »

I have a blog on my website, I use it to post new products with a new techniques - then put the post on my home page too - , not very often: http://www.silverworkshop.ca/category/blog
I have a facebook business page but I feel like every time I log in they've changed the site and I don't know how it works again.
I have a twitter account, I tweet new listings, sometimes interesting products but I rarely log in, I find i'm too busy
I've done a giveaway through someone's blog before
Haven't done videos, don't have resources to
Haven't done link building
I don't promote offline, I'm waiting to get my business cards/ postcards redone. I want a new professional logo, maybe with just my name.
I've done a few craft shows in the past, years ago, and am planning on starting that again next summer, I'm working on new items for that now. I'm thinking this might be a good outlet for me.

I haven't found anything really effective. I think my sales are from people just randomly finding my things online.

Overall, I don't spend a lot of time networking online because I find it sucks up so much time, I'd rather use the little free time I have to make new pieces. I used to do web development and am just happy not being online very much anymore, which I know will work against me but make me more productive in the jewellery studio:). I used to have a facebook personal page but I closed it, it wasn't my thing.  I'd probably be more interested in something with just visual images like pinterest but I looked at it and didn't really know where to start, or maybe google + but again, I haven't really looked into it much.
Red Rock Designs


Posts: 173


« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2012, 11:25:40 am »

I have a blog on Tumblr - http://redrockdesigns.tumblr.com - I post daily, most of the time it's photos of my jewelry with a link of my iCraft page.  I've managed to enter a page called SHOP which leads to my iCraft shop page, and a page called MEDIA, which leads to my iCraft blog article.  I've also entered a Facebook Like button and Twitter Follow Me button onto the blog.  I have 3 followers.

I have a Facebook jewelry page, with links to iCraft, blog and Twitter.  I feel the same as Silver Workshop, they update Facebook so often I have no idea how to get around.  The Facebook posts are usually blog updates and new photos I've added. I have about 9 followers.

I have a Twitter account linked to iCraft, so my new jewelry posts are sent to Twitter. @redrockdsgns  I have about 15 followers.
I've tried to promote that followers (of facebook, blog & twitter) get a discount on purchases, but I got a very small response.  

No videos done...I have very minimal knowledge about link buidling other than what's done above.

Offline promotion is really word of mouth. I have business cards I send with every purchase and sometimes just leave in odd places.  I'm doing a craft show in Nov and another smaller show in Dec...these will be my 1st public shows.

I am apart of M.A.I.L (Maille Artisans International League) an online forun, but I haven't really logged in a lot.  

I haven't really found the above effective, I'm not very knowledgeable about marketing and promotions and what I've learned has been since I started selling jewelry.  I too find it time consuming to pretty much be the 1 person show of making the jewelry, photographing it, marketing, blogging, selling and promoting.  I would like to sell my jewelry exclusively online since I work full time and this is the best option for me, so I was hoping that doing a couple of craft shows for a couple of years, would get enough traffic to my shop for that to happen.

Oh, I've added one more thing : I was throwing around the idea of having postcards made with photos of my jewelry on it to give to a couple of my friends who are event /  wedding planners or dropping them off at banquet halls....for brides mostly looking for custom orders.  Not sure if this will be worth the cost & time of delivering for the bridal market.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2012, 11:39:04 am by Red Rock Designs »
Fairy Cardmaker


Posts: 1115


« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2012, 12:21:58 pm »

Do you Blog? Mention your Blog link here.
Yes, I blog on Blogger and I paid 10 cheap bucks to get it as a .com without the blogspot.
http://www.fairycardmaker.com/

I aim for an average of 1 post per week.  I don't blog weekly religiously.  Some weeks there's none and other weeks there's two or three.  I'm happy if i have 52 or more posts by the end of the year.

I have the widgets on my blog for Etsy and iCraft plus a "SHOP NOW" page which links to Etsy and iCraft.

Which social media sites do you use? Please mention specifically Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google +
Blogger.
My target market is not the hyper-connected Facebookers and Twitterers who are more likely to send E-cards (and interactive ones at that) than traditional cards.

I have a Google + page but I never log in to it because I can't get it to work.  Somehow, it's linked to my real name and when I tried to add or invite people from iCraft it said I have to be invited first or something.  I don't get it.

Are you a member of any crafter groups or forums on other sites? Please list them here.
I am a member of two forums: Two Peas in a Bucket (largely a scrapbooking forum) and Splitcoast Stampers (a stamping and cardmaking forum).  I check and post a couple times a week.  These are my peers, not my target market.

Can you or have you done videos before?
Yes.  I have a channel on Vimeo.  I made a video to enter a crafting contest.  I also made a video of a mini album I donated to charity which will be going up in an online auction October 26th!
Here is my Vimeo Channel:
http://vimeo.com/user10010154/videos

Not updated for 4 months!  Embarrassed  I have another prototype mini album video in the works.  It's filmed, but not edited.

I use the same digital camera that I take my product photo's with to film my videos.  I watched the tutorial on Vimeo on how to edit with Windows Live Movie Maker.  Movie Maker is free to download and my Vimeo channel is free, although there are paid options.  I have not learned how to set the starting thumbnail picture.  It seems to randomly pick some point in the video as the thumbnail.  I learned about Vimeo from a paper-crafting blog I follow.

Have you done link building before?
I'm not sure what that means.  I wrote a guest post on another blog once about Etsy shops and that gets me referrals to my Etsy shop.  Is that what you mean?

Do you promote offline?
Yes.  I teach cardmaking (and sometimes other paper crafting) workshops to a fixed set of family, friends and coworkers.  I donate half the workshop fee to the dog charity I support, so they are fundraisers.  I get *some* word of mouth out of it.  My mother-in-law was talking to all the nurses about it during her chemo treatments.  She made some cards to give them at the end and said she learned it from me.

I teach in my home to people I know only because of the insurance issue.  I like doing the workshops but they are a lot of prep work.  I considered asking to teach a class at the local scrapbook store, but they require X number of classes committment.  They do not offer single guest teaching spots.

List any other promotional activities you've done in the past.
I have an account on Project Wonderful.  I try to find other handmade blogs to advertise on.  I have started to use a particular product as my advertising shot and then the link is to that section of my shops (specifically birthday or babies or wedding, for example instead of generically to my shopfront).  I do not bid more than $0.03 per day so I get low traffic blogs, but it brings in a FEW views cheaply.  I have not been managing it very often though because I am too busy.  (I have a full-time professional career and I am straddling two departments right now, so it's 100%+ until I can transition my work in one department to a new manager - that hasn't been hired yet.)

I belong to the Kards for Kids smiley team.  It's the closest thing to a design team that I can do.  Again, I do not have the time committment required for design teams on creative challenge blogs or papercraft manufacturer blogs.  Kards for Kids makes cards for the children at Toronto's Sick Kids Hospital.  Deliveries are made each quarter of the year.  So, my cards get in to the hands of families and hopefully bring smiles.  I donate up to 5 cards per quarter because they have to be specifically made (due to the restrictions on embellishment).  Other team members produce 30+ cards per quarter.  I don't know how they do it.

Being on this team and participating in blog cardmaking challenges a) allows me to link my blog to other blogs and b) inspires me to make something new for the shops.  When my challenge entry is something I am listing in the shop, I make sure that the image I put on my blog links to the shop's listing.

I consider charity donations as a form of advertising.  The key is finding a charity that shares your target market.  I'm not sure I have done that well, but I at least have a feel good feeling about promoting myself by helping someone else at the same time.

I am afraid of doing a craft show.  I have NEVER seen a card table do well at one.  Even at the BIG One of a Kind show in Toronto.  The card booths are empty of shoppers at every show I've gone to and it takes A LOT of single cards to make a booth fee back.  Of course, I have bought some things from them because I appreciate the work that goes in to them.

I have no idea how to source out wholesale or consignment.  I would prefer wholesale over consignment.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2012, 12:30:26 pm by Fairy Cardmaker »
Red Rock Designs


Posts: 173


« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2012, 01:34:44 pm »

Oh yes, I also donate a couple of pieces to my old employer's online auction every year for Women in Insurance Cancer Crusade...business cards included.
JaJeJems


Posts: 174


« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2012, 06:00:33 pm »


Do you blog?
I set up a blog in January when I joined iCraft and have blogged about 5 times since then, just updates on new pieces, contests etc.  It isn't something that  comes naturally to me and not part of my regular routine.  I don't have any followers to date. Blog link: jajejems.blogspot.ca

Social media
I have a JaJeJems page attached to my personal Facebook page and both my daughter and I post pictures of jewellery there, usually as an after thought when I am posting on icraft. I have put links to my icraft store there and to craft shows that we are attending .  We also post pictures on Facebook when we are doing shows inviting local friends to come and visit us. We do get a positive response from our friends and have had some inquiries about our icraft store.  Have had 2 sales from someone seeing jewellery on Facebook so I can see that ther is some potential there.

I have a twitter account where updates go from icraft automatically but I do not tweet myself and I think I only have 3 followers.  I do have the address on my business card.  Once again tweeting is not part of my daily routine and I don't t really even think about doing it.

I have a LinkedIn account and put pictures of jewellery and announcements of upcoming events. I used to get updates regularly from LinkedIn but that  seems to have stopped lately.  I have about 4 people that I am linked with.

I have a signature on all of my emails advertising my online store.

Crafter groups online
I belong to a Contemporary Jewellery Makers Group through LinkedIn  and posted a few events, pictures and links to icraft.  Once again there seemed to be a flurry of updates when I first joined but not much lately.  I have not had any feedback really from this group.
I subscribe to Rena Klingenberg Newsletter and have taking part in some online contests that she has.  I have had some positive feedback from peers through this contact.  I have also gotten a lot of good ideas from other subscribers.

Videos and link building
I have not done either

Promoting offline
Generally through word of mouth.  I placed some of my jewellery in a friends store (framing,art and gifts) and got  some positive feedback but no sales.  Through her store I also took part in a Ladies night where,once again, I  got positive feedback but no sales.

I have done a few craft shows with my daughter and had good response to our jewellery, moderate sales.  We are planning to do two more shows in Moncton in November.

I wear my own creations always and carry business cards with me to hand out when someone likes a piece.  Tis actually happens quite a bit. I have given a lot of pieces as gifts, again positive feedback and some sales generated that way.

Promos that I enjoy the most
I like craft shows but I am a poor salesperson. Fortunately my daughter has retail experience and is better at selling than I so we manage.  There is definitely an advantage to people being able to touch and try on the pieces and I think some people are more apt to purchase a piece on impulse at a show than online.

I really enjoy writing descriptions and posting pictures for the store on icraft but I am not as comfortable with other online activities.  I find it difficult to get my head around tweeting and blogging. Facebooking is also a bit of a struggle and as several people have commented they keep changing things!  I also find these activities time consuming and I would prefer to spend the time making beads and jewellery!  Maybe if I was more comfortable with the process I would do better! I guess that's why I am taking part in bootcamp, isn't it?
Delightful Suds


Posts: 84


« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2012, 07:04:06 pm »

I've blogged once, would like to do more, but I never know what to blog about.

I'm on Facebook (although I hate Facebook  Roll Eyes), I am on Twitter, which is linked to iCraft and Twitter is linked to Facebook. So everything I do on iCraft automatically goes to both FB and Twitter. I try to twit about 3 times a week. I have 47 followers on Twitter and 326 likes on FB. I sometimes go on Pinterest and Google + and some other ones that I can't remember names of anymore because there are so many! It's kind of getting hard to keep track of these and I forget where I'm signed up sometimes because my motto is "try everything if it's free". I'm on LinkedIn as well, but don't believe that does anything for me.

I sometimes post free ads on places such as kijiji, craigslist or other similar sites (again, if it's free, why not?).

I've never done videos, and really don't intend to (not my thing). I'm not sure what link building is.

I do promore offline. I hand out my business cards wherever possible. I attend a monthly "networking luncheon" in my area for women in business to just network, display my products and swap business cards. I also started to rented a table there, and made a small profit my first time (anything counts).

I give soap baskets as gifts to friends and family. They also help me promote by word of mouth as they all love my soaps  Wink. I once told my realtor about my soaps and he ended up ordering a bunch of 2-packs as giveaways for his clients!

I once talked to my neighbour and she offered to hand out some of my business cards with samples to some people she knows. My mom is an insurance broker and she does the same thing for me. My grandmother participates in church activities and also sells my soap for me there! I've got the whole family involved haha  Grin. Even my mother-in-law wants to give small soap packages with my card as gifts to her colleagues at the hospital where she works.

I have a few craft shows coming up, with my first one on Oct. 27th in Mississauga. I plan on doing a lot of those as I've heard many times those are very good for soaps.

And last but not least, I bought an ad in the "Amazing Canadian Fashion" magazine which comes out in about a month, and really hoping for some outcome from that one  Tongue
iCraft Admin


Administrator
Posts: 1693


« Reply #8 on: October 09, 2012, 03:43:19 am »

Thank you everyone for providing very detailed report on your promotional activities!  Grin
 It will help me to create more tailored assignments for the next 2 weeks.
Jewelry by Kat


Posts: 182


« Reply #9 on: October 09, 2012, 04:18:55 am »

Admin,

      I know that you are not to promote your products in a blog,  but I am creating an Alzheimers greeting card that can not be bought in stores.  Can I tell how I was inspired to create it?.........................Kat
iCraft Admin


Administrator
Posts: 1693


« Reply #10 on: October 09, 2012, 05:06:57 am »

Hi Kat,

No, we are not against product promos in your blog posts. However, it has to be a "soft" sell. Your blog post has to read like a blog post, so it has to have a good story, and then you can add some product shots to illustrate something in the story.

Please read our "Blogging Guidelines". This is actually something I'll be talking about tomorrow, so you are a bit ahead of the game.  Cheesy
Jewelry by Kat


Posts: 182


« Reply #11 on: October 09, 2012, 06:21:37 am »

Admin,
               My blog is set up...........Kat
iCraft Admin


Administrator
Posts: 1693


« Reply #12 on: October 09, 2012, 06:32:31 am »

OK, perfect!  Grin
If you email us your photo, we'll try to fit it into the dimensions of the blog avatar. It's cut of right now.
Jewelry by Kat


Posts: 182


« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2012, 06:43:37 am »

I sent the banner by mistake...but then sent the photo.  Been up since 1 am, blurry eyed................Kat
iCraft Admin


Administrator
Posts: 1693


« Reply #14 on: October 09, 2012, 06:47:47 pm »

Hi Kat,
We've updated both for you - the banner and the avatar to match the colors. Let me know if you like this. https://icraftgifts.com/jewelry-by-kat/blog/
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