Assignment 5, Bootcamp #5 - The Popularity Factor

[iCraft Admin]

As you all know by now, Links = Votes online. Those "votes" help Google to determine which pages should be displayed higher in their replacement results pages. You also know now that trying to get those backlinks from site owners is not an easy job. And with the current changes in Google's algorithms some say is not a sustainable long-term strategy. So what else can you do to influence Google? Become Popular!  

Imagine if instead of you trying to get backlinks from other bloggers and various site owners, they'd come to you? They'd share links to your pages on their social media sites, write reviews about you and seek your comments etc? This sounds like an impossible task, but that's what many industry experts are saying right now is the right way to do SEO.

Instead of seeking links - produce great content that others would get excited about enough to want to tell others (their friends and followers), become an expert on a topic, so others would quote you each time they think of "Beaded Jewelry" or "Card-making for kids" (as an example) ... or write killer blog posts that many people would feel compelled to comment on etc.

There was a great article a couple of weeks ago that summed it up pretty nicely - The Popularity Factor in Today’s SEO.

So here is your task for this week:

• Read the article mentioned above and do some rereplacement on the "Popularity" topic. Please share good articles you find with others.
• Revisit some of the sites that you found and liked before, but thought they were out of your league, and pay attention this time to what makes them great. What did you like about them when you visited them first? What are you liking about them now? Do they still look informative, engaging, inviting? Did you notice them because you kept seeing references to those sites in your Facebook or Twitter stream? Do they offer a lot of free resources on their sites and through exclusive offers on Facebook? Do they seem to be generous with their time by giving in-depth answers to people's questions and by offering very detailed tips and advise? How do they promote themselves? Not sure? Ask them through comments etc. Whatever that is, write it down and let us know at the end of the week what your findings are.
• While you are doing all this examination of popular sites, start thinking about your own online properties - your store, your blog and your social media accounts. What are those "popular" people doing that you are not doing? Write down any ideas that pop into your head and let us know at the end of the week what you were thinking. We'll review and discuss all of them together.
• Keep working on those backlinks.... until you are popular that is.  

[Jewelry by Kat]

This will be hard for this shy wall flower but I will work hard on what comes natural to others.  I am not talkative...look at my description
The article is written well and made me laugh while learning

[Jewelry by Kat]

Here is an easy article on how to have a popular site

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Website-Popular

[Jewelry by Kat]

  I have LOTS of views to my store and website but no one is buying!!!  Does popular help you sell?   Even my giveaway have tons of views but not many taking part.

[iCraft Admin]

That's a complicated question, Kat!
Yes, popularity helps you to get traffic and views. It probably helps you to sell as well, as people trust you more when more people talk about your products and if they've found you by following one of those product reviews or tweets.
It's possible you are attracting a wrong crowd, so you need to figure out your target audience. Who buys from you online and offline? Are those the same type of people? Ask your customers what they liked about your items and stress those points in your product descriptions. That's just a quick answer to a complicated question. 
Maybe other jewelry designers could provide some insight as well?

[JaJeJems]

I think that what Admin is saying is good.  I read an article a couple of weeks ago where the writer said that when he asked one of his clients, a jewellery designer, who her target market was she didn't know and I realized that I didn't either.  I like making jewellery and I want to sell it but I never really thought who I was making it for, just anyone who wanted to buy it I guess.  Now I realize that you can't just market it to everyone and I am trying to figure out how to narrow it down.  I read another article on how to sell your sea glass online and one thing it said was that you have to think about what kind of people like sea glass jewellery and what other interests the people who like sea glass might have e.g. Canoeing, nature activities, beach combing, travelling etc.   Anyway just a couple of thoughts, not sure if that helps. 

[iCraft Admin]

That's a great point jajejems! Think if other interests that your target audience is interested in and try to offer value added tips and resources through your blog or join the same groups and forums that your customers are join etc. Basically, hang out with the same crowd

[Red Rock Designs]

I agree with JaJeJems as well.  When I started I was selling beaded, stitched and chainmaille jewelry because I wanted to cater to everybody.  That didn't work and once I focused on just chainmaille I began seeing more views and more sales (outside of iCraft).  I'm still learning who my target audience is, but now I don't feel so scattered-brain about my product line.

I do also have the same problem as Kat, my giveaways don't get any participants.

[iCraft Admin]

Yes, trying to cater to everyone doesn't work, even for large corporations. As they say, it's better to be a big fish in a small pond, than a small fish in a big pond. So find your niche audience, connect and engage with them to better understand them, especially what motivates them to buy your kind of products. Nothing beats old-fashioned one-to-one conversation. That's how you can gather some intel on your target audience.

Another option is to run a few tests using PPC (pay-per-click) ads. Here is one article I read recently that discussed using niche advertising as a testing tool to find out more about your ideal visitor - The 5 Minute Guide To Cheap Startup Advertising. I am sure there are more good ones, if you replacement for PPC on Google. Since this is not a free option, I suggest you do some reading before you set up any ads, not to waste your money.

[iCraft Admin]

So how's everyone doing with this week's assignment? I was hoping for a lot more questions. 

[Jewelry by Kat]

Everyone is busy getting popular

[iCraft Admin]

Ha ha... I like that answer, Kat! 

[JaJeJems]

Wish that was true Kat!  I am feeling less popular by the minute!  I do have question about WordAds from Google. I got $100 free when I set up my  website but I was afraid to enquire any further in case I got sucked in to spending a lot of money on advertising.  Has anyone had any experience with WordAds or with Facebook ads?  I would rather not get into paying for ads at this stage!

I have been reading a book that I downloaded for free about getting better at Facebook in 10 days.  I also connected with Brick marketing on LinkedIn and they have some good articles.  I started a discussion on LinkedIn looking for other  lampworkers and have had a lot of response from that.  I had a comment on my product review!

[JaJeJems]

Here is the info about marketing on Facebook http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/53/How_to_Master_Facebook_Marketing_in_10_days-01.pdf

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Jajejems,

Thanks for sharing the link! As I said, I wouldn't just jump into advertising, without learning how to do it effectively. It's easy to blow off a lot of money without much return.  However, done correctly, PPC campaigns can be very effective. Sounds like a good topic for next Bootcamp.

[Jewelry by Kat]

Just had an awesome review done from canada
http://www.withourbest.com/style-fashion-beauty/jewelry-by-kat-has-incredible-prices-mothersdaygifts/
she even says what a great website icraftgifts is.  she really wows the store and me  I have had an increase in facebook likes
now SHE is popular!

[iCraft Admin]

Wow, that's a very nice review, Kat!  and the links look good too. Amazing job! Looks like this lady is a more experienced blogger. Congrats! So happy for you. 

[JaJeJems]

Congratulations Kat.  A great review for sure.

[Jewelry by Kat]

JaJeJems,  Good article on facebook

[iCraft Admin]

Any more success stories? How is everyone doing this week?

[Jewelry by Kat]

Because of these 2 reviews , one last week and one this week, I have had over 782 page views on my store-huge for me.  I have had 12 likes on facebook this week.  I found a very popular reviewer!  My giveaway is doing better.  I have been sharing my giveaway page on google,facebook,twitter and rebelmouse.

[iCraft Admin]

Those are impressive stats, Kat! And all the work you are doing promoting your store and your giveaways is amazing. Keep up the good work! 

Just a reminder for everyone that all these different promotional activities that we are trying every week, as part of the Bootcamp, are meant to be done on regular bases. I know it takes a lot of time and not an easy thing to do, but do you feel that it gets easier with time? Do you feel more comfortable approaching and connecting with people online?

[Jewelry by Kat]

I feel good and find that I am doing this everyday. The results are encouraging and exciting.  I have made many improvements on my website and am blogging weekly and am getting comments too.  I am meeting lots of new people.  I even changed my krafty cat store to The Earring Express - trying something new, a result of new encouraging feedback from another site.
           We need to make links to our store page so we will be more popular so google will find us faster, one of the top ones

[JaJeJems]

Well I haven't had the same success as Kat has but I am certainly getting connected with more people.  I am also getting better at blogging - I am aiming for twice a week but am succeeding in once a week and have seen an increase in views to my website because of that. Not getting a lot of comments on my blog.  I am getting a lot more requests for connections and friends from Facebook, LinkedIn and other places.  I am finding that I am much more "engaged" with the people that I am connected to but there are still lots of people who don't respond to my questions.  Yes, I am getting a bit more popular, I think!

This week I have done a lot of reading about the social networks and how to make them work better for me so I am slowly working in that direction.
Now I just have to implement some of these things!

I got one comment from a review I did last week for a handmade site.

Not stellar but plugging away.  I am still not convinced that this can all be done in 30 minutes a day  and I am not sure who told me that!  It seems to be consuming my entire life but I keep reminding myself that years ago when I owned a store I was working 12 hour days, 7 days a week at one point!

[Fairy Cardmaker]

I'm not getting the time off work I was hoping for this May.  I can only steal a day here and there.

I find these activities work only when done consistently.  I have hit the glass ceiling.  I don't have time to do it all.  I haven't even created anything new in a while.  What good is promoting if I cannot make anything to promote?

The sites I like are popular because:
1) They have new content nigh religiously on a set schedule, which keeps me coming back.
2) They offer free tips, advice, or lessons.
3) They are graphically pretty (well branded visually).
4) They feature a video from time to time which I find brings another level of engagement.

Most of them are also on trend, which is not particularly important to me, but I'm sure it plays a big part what draws the masses.  I don't plan to ever be a trend bandwagon-er in my shop though.

[Fairy Cardmaker]

P.S. I once downloaded a spreadsheet (in PDF) that someone offered about defining your target market.  It has a bunch of categories down the side and you add the description of your "ideal buyer".  If anyone wants it, send me an email through the shop.  (I have never used it myself.  Never made the time.)

[JaJeJems]

By the way, planning to make my report for the week tomorrow since I just realized that it is only Sat and I still have some time to shape up!

I also had a thought about your question regarding linking to your store.  If I remember correctly in the last bootcamp we got our store page fully optimized but we did not necessarily fully optimize all of our products. S,would that be why we would want our links going there?  Oh now I am asking a question not answering one!

[Jewelry by Kat]

Here it is in a nutshell.  I might repeat myself.  But I had a good week working on being popular.  What I liked about others' websites and blogs is they are connected to many , did challenges, wrote well detailed interesting blogs often.  
      I had a wonderful review by someone VERY popular because with her review and last weeks review, I had 795 store views in 10 days, awesome for me.  I had 12 likes on facebook.
      I learned that to get popular be in alot of quality places, blogs, groups and reviews.  
      I have a giveaway on my website and I have been posting the giveaway page on google, twitter and rebelmouse and have LOTS of traffic nd only 13 signed up so far, seems low for all the traffic I am getting.
     This getting popular is long, hard continueous work!!

[Red Rock Designs]

Ok, so now that the book-learnin' is out of the way (darn you day job!), I see that I have a bit of catching up to do!

Regarding blogging, I have posted more blogs that I use to when I first started, but it's been hard trying to come up with new topics. Some days I post a photo with a small caption, other days I share a link to an interesting article.  I'll have to do some product reviews myself to get a product review in turn.

Kat, love the review from Canada.  And I like your Earrings Express idea....for customers looking for something specific.   

[JaJeJems]

Well here are my final thoughts for the week.  From what I have read and observed over the past few weeks being popular has less to do with constantly promoting yourself and more to do with being active in all kinds of discussions and activities.  I have been watching a lampworker on Facebook who has hundreds of fans and I noticed that she was posting often but very infrequently about her own beads.  She always seems to be busy supporting a cause or doing a giveaway or having a contest, sometimes involving her beads but not always.  She always seems to be interacting with people and promoting other people.  Somehow you need to move on from just your own circle of friends  who like you just to be nice and supportive.  I think that building up a fan base like that takes a lot of persistence!

I agree with Kat that is is a continuous process and you need to be there regularly, answer comments in a timely fashion and constantly be seeking out contacts, friends or connections.

When I checked into LinkedIn today I was surprised to see that I was the top influencer in the glass group I belong to so that made me feel a bit more popular! That was because I asked if there were any lampworkers in the group and got quite a response.  Finding discussion topics though is about as challenging as finding blogging topics  but the discussion groups do generate a lot of connections.

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Fairy Cardmaker,
A couple comments on your post:

I find these activities work only when done consistently  I have hit the glass ceiling.  I don't have time to do it all.  I haven't even created anything new in a while.  What good is promoting if I cannot make anything to promote? 

I'd say they work best, if done consistently. However, because you are accumulating links over time, even if not consistently, you will start seeing the results. Maybe not as fast, as you'd like, but still all the promotional work you do counts, so don't stop completely. Take a break, if you are too busy at work etc., but when you are browsing the web or visit sites in your spare time, just keep in mind all the things we discussed in this Bootcamp. So if you see an interesting website etc, just write down that site's URL in your spreadsheet for future review, and then get back to that list when you have more time. Or quickly comment on someone's post, if it relates to your niche, so others would notice you. That doesn't take much time and you can do it when you are visiting those sites anyway.

Most of them are also on trend, which is not particularly important to me, but I'm sure it plays a big part what draws the masses.  I don't plan to ever be a trend bandwagon-er in my shop though.

Yes, trendy topics draw some traffic. Not sure store is the right place for that though, but what about your blog? Could you see yourself being a "trend bandwagon-er" there some day? 

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Red Rock Designs,
I have a few comments/suggestions on blogging:

Regarding blogging, I have posted more blogs that I use to when I first started, but it's been hard trying to come up with new topics. Some days I post a photo with a small caption, other days I share a link to an interesting article.

I wouldn't use blog necessarily for sharing one off links and photos. Pinterest and Flickr are probably better for that... or maybe even Instagram, if you are on your mobile a lot. And if you just want to share a link, Twitter is ideal for that. You should diversify your promotional activities, so using several social media networks for different types of updates is a good strategy to keep your readers engaged.

If you are not sure what to blog about some days - visit other blogs for inspiration, try to connect and have a conversation with other crafters, when you visit craft events or, especially, when you participate in one. Hearing what's important to others can give you some ideas for your next post... or you can do a quick Google Keyword Rereplacement for topics that you find interesting, and see what people are replacementing for exactly, and if any of those keywords are on the rise (Google Trends provides that data). Hope this helps!

[iCraft Admin]

Great report JaJeJems and congrats on being top influencer! 

Yes, it can be a lot of work posting new content and answering questions in support of your fan base, but I think the key is to find a topic that you yourself is passionate about. Otherwise, you won't be able to sustain the same level of engagement that your followers are used to. That lady in your example is probably very passionate about the causes that she supports and she probably also loves participating in contests and giveaways, even if they are not hers. That's probably why she is so active on Facebook - that doesn't feel like work to her!

I am happy to see that you observe and learn from others. So I'd say find a place, where you are the most comfortable and the topics that you are most passionate about. There are many social media networks, groups, forums, blogs and topics to choose from. And then try to be consistent with your updates and engaging with your fan base on regular bases.

[iCraft Admin]

FYI, I am not going to post new assignment next week. I want to give some of you a chance to digest what we've learned so far and to catch up with the assignments. I need some break too, so this is good for me as well. 

Please keep working on trying to land more product reviews, commenting on blogs etc, work on your popularity  and keep asking questions. We are not stopping completely, we are just taking a short break next week. 

I will post a new assignment again on Monday, May 13th.

[Red Rock Designs]

Well so far I've asked for 2 reviews.  One from another vendor that makes jewelry and one from a group called Oakville Moms which a friend suggested.  I'm waiting on responses from both...I think that maybe Oakville Moms will require payment for a review, so that will be a no-go, but it doesn't say on their site...so I'll wait and see.

You may have covered this already, but if we're approaching other vendors who make the same product as we do, aren't we direct competitors?  How likely will they want to review a product that they can make?   

The jewelry vendor I contacted for a review incorporates satin & ribbon in her jewelry...its very different from what I make.  But I'm a bit hesitant about approaching other chainmaille vendors, who can make the same product as I do. 

[iCraft Admin]

When it comes to direct competition, they might not be as open to an idea of a review, but they are the ideal people to approach. They could simply mention your store in one if the articles along with other jewelry designers and that would be enough. So it doesn't have to be a whole article about you. And you could mention them on your Twitter and Facebook in return. Just talk to them and see what they'd be willing to do.