Blogs have become a very important resource for the crafting business.
It can also be a way to get started in the craft business on a shoe string.
Probably the most popular blog host is blogger.com It is free to use so you can set one up as a way to sell your handmade crafts.
The first thing you will need is a paypal account. It doesn't cost anything to join but you will pay selling fees when you sell a product.
You can make product buttons in paypal to add to the products for sale on your blog that will take your customer right to paypal to pay for their purchase. These can be added to your post or to your side bar depending on how you set your blog up to sell on.
If you have an etsy shop there are widgets you can add to your blog that will show your entire product line enabling you to make sales from etsy right from your blog. http://www.craftcult.com/shop_widget.php?userid
Having a selling blog is the same as any other worthy endeavor, promotion is the key ingredient to success.
It is not enough to add new products to your blog. That would be very boring to your readers. Blog about crafting, things that interest you, or a little about your life.
Free tutorials and free giveaways are a couple of worthwhile ways of generating traffic to your blog.
Other free ways to promote your blog is to post about your blog on twitter or facebook.
It is important to add fresh relevant content to your blog on a regular basis in order to be included in the search engine rankings.
Here are some examples of selling blogs.
Straight selling blog:
http://rustythimblesalesblog.blogspot.com/
Selling Blog/Sewing/Personal blog:
http://flossieteacakes.blogspot.com/
http://rabbithollowprims.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label how to get started selling online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to get started selling online. Show all posts
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Selling Online --- Part Two
Today we're featuring part 2 of our Selling Online series and we're going to talk about selling on ArtFire.com
ArtFire.com is the home of many handmade sellers from around the globe. Sellers can sell handmade, vintage items or supplies. It's fairly simple to set up a studio and start selling on ArtFire. They have two options. Their Basic Account and a Pro or verified seller accounts.
A basic account is FREE! Yes, FREE!! You can list an unlimited amount of items. A Pro account is $15.95 per month but has a lot more features than the Basic account. You can compare the two accounts here.
Unlike etsy, there is no individual listing fee for each item. If you are a pro seller, you simply pay a monthly fee of $15.95/month or if you are a basic seller, you pay NOTHING. Now, keep in mind, you will need a PayPal account and they charge a fee for every transaction. You also have the option of using Google Checkout and Amazon for collecting payments on ArtFire.com
ArtFire.com has quite a few help guides for any question you may have about selling and setting up your shop. You can find them here.
The forums on ArtFire are a great place to find answers and most members are happy and eager to help answer your questions.
The key to successful selling online with any venue is promotion. Once you set up your shop, be sure to promote it. You can find many places online to promote your shop for nearly no cost and some that are paid. We will cover promoting your shop in another post in this series.
Thanks for joining us!
Deena Davis
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Selling Online --- Part One
Today we are starting a series of posts on places to sell online.
We had quite a few people answer our survey stating they did not sell online but would like to so maybe we will be able to help them get started.
I am starting with what I feel is one of the best places to sell online at a reasonable cost. http://www.etsy.com
What is Etsy? Etsy is a marketplace started in 2005 to give handcrafters a place to make a living selling their handmades and to connect the makers with the buyers.
Etsy sellers number in the hundreds of thousands today and the buyers and sellers come from more than 150 countries.
What can you sell on Etsy? Pretty much anything that is handmade by you, crafting supplies, and vintage items that are 20 years old or older.
It is free to open your shop on Etsy but you will pay a 20 cent listing fee for each item you list. Your item lists for four months.
When you sell your listing you will pay a transaction fee to etsy that is 3.5% of the selling price of your item.
You will receive a bill each month on the 1st for your previous month's activity.
The first thing you will need to do is register on Etsy. This entitles you to be a buyer.
https://www.etsy.com/register.php
Choose your name carefully because you won't be able to change it.
Once you are registered, you will then have to upgrade your account to seller. You will find that option when you login to your account.
The majority of buyers pay with Paypal so if you don't already have an account with them, you need to think about getting one. http://www.paypal.com You can accept money orders or checks but it is a slow way to do business and most buyers prefer paypal.
Click here for the help guide to setting up your shop.
http://help.etsy.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/246/
Once you have your shop setup you will want to start listing your items. You will need a good description, good pictures (you are allowed 5 of them), price for the item, shipping cost and decide what countries you will ship to, and tags.
Tags help people find items they are searching for. Learn all about how to use tags here. http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/seller-how-to-tag-o-rama-with-descriptive-keywords-5474/
So you have your shop all set up and your products listed so now what? A lot of people think they are done and get upset when the sales don't start rolling in. lol Unfortunately, that doesn't often happen. It is like anything else in life, you reap what you put into it.
Here are some ways to promote your shop:
Start a blog to:
Keep customers updated on new listings.
Share your skills by doing tutorials.
Have a giveaway of one of your handmade items.
Add one of the gadgets that is a portable version of your shop. Customers can shop right from your blog. http://www.craftcult.com/shop_widget.php
Go to the community forum on Etsy and post about your new listings.
Add your banner to relevant topsites. They are free.
Look for low cost advertising on busy sites if you have advertising money.
Join an Etsy Team. There is nothing like being able to chat with other like-minded sellers. And it is a great way to learn from ones that have been on Etsy for a long time. http://team.etsy.com/teams.html
Here is a free pdf download, Secrets of Savvy Etsy Sellers, that I just came across on the internet. You can download it here:
http://onthedotcreations.typepad.com/onthedotcreations/secrets-of-savvy-etsy-sellers.html
And lastly, there is a lot of help from Etsy here.
http://help.etsy.com/app/home
Next week we will be talking about another marketplace, Artfire.
Thanks for visiting today.
Bette
www.byyourhands.com
We had quite a few people answer our survey stating they did not sell online but would like to so maybe we will be able to help them get started.
I am starting with what I feel is one of the best places to sell online at a reasonable cost. http://www.etsy.com
What is Etsy? Etsy is a marketplace started in 2005 to give handcrafters a place to make a living selling their handmades and to connect the makers with the buyers.
Etsy sellers number in the hundreds of thousands today and the buyers and sellers come from more than 150 countries.
What can you sell on Etsy? Pretty much anything that is handmade by you, crafting supplies, and vintage items that are 20 years old or older.
It is free to open your shop on Etsy but you will pay a 20 cent listing fee for each item you list. Your item lists for four months.
When you sell your listing you will pay a transaction fee to etsy that is 3.5% of the selling price of your item.
You will receive a bill each month on the 1st for your previous month's activity.
The first thing you will need to do is register on Etsy. This entitles you to be a buyer.
https://www.etsy.com/register.php
Choose your name carefully because you won't be able to change it.
Once you are registered, you will then have to upgrade your account to seller. You will find that option when you login to your account.
The majority of buyers pay with Paypal so if you don't already have an account with them, you need to think about getting one. http://www.paypal.com You can accept money orders or checks but it is a slow way to do business and most buyers prefer paypal.
Click here for the help guide to setting up your shop.
http://help.etsy.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/246/
Once you have your shop setup you will want to start listing your items. You will need a good description, good pictures (you are allowed 5 of them), price for the item, shipping cost and decide what countries you will ship to, and tags.
Tags help people find items they are searching for. Learn all about how to use tags here. http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/seller-how-to-tag-o-rama-with-descriptive-keywords-5474/
So you have your shop all set up and your products listed so now what? A lot of people think they are done and get upset when the sales don't start rolling in. lol Unfortunately, that doesn't often happen. It is like anything else in life, you reap what you put into it.
Here are some ways to promote your shop:
Start a blog to:
Keep customers updated on new listings.
Share your skills by doing tutorials.
Have a giveaway of one of your handmade items.
Add one of the gadgets that is a portable version of your shop. Customers can shop right from your blog. http://www.craftcult.com/shop_widget.php
Go to the community forum on Etsy and post about your new listings.
Add your banner to relevant topsites. They are free.
Look for low cost advertising on busy sites if you have advertising money.
Join an Etsy Team. There is nothing like being able to chat with other like-minded sellers. And it is a great way to learn from ones that have been on Etsy for a long time. http://team.etsy.com/teams.html
Here is a free pdf download, Secrets of Savvy Etsy Sellers, that I just came across on the internet. You can download it here:
http://onthedotcreations.typepad.com/onthedotcreations/secrets-of-savvy-etsy-sellers.html
And lastly, there is a lot of help from Etsy here.
http://help.etsy.com/app/home
Next week we will be talking about another marketplace, Artfire.
Thanks for visiting today.
Bette
www.byyourhands.com
Would you like to sponsor a giveaway? Do you have a special skill you would like to share with our readers? Would you like to share a trash to treasure makover?
Are you interested in promoting your store or blog at a very reasonable cost? If so, just email us.
We would be happy to send you the details. byyourhandsblog@gmail.com
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