I have been very busy the last few weeks updating my various websites and monitoring my sales. Thankfully this is a slow time of the year.
I redesigned my website to give it a softer look and learned more about meta tags and what they do. I spent most of the weekend writing down my ideas and then rewriting until I had concise sentences and phrases to convey what my website was all about.
Even if you use a craft mall like one of those I mentioned in my last post you need to be concerned about your writing. It will pay off if you take the time to think about your business and what you are offering. I have found some excellent sites that have helped a lot.
If you are just starting out and posting your product to one of the craft malls mentioned earlier take a look at what others have said about themselves, then, thinking about what you read, sit down and write. I often write whatever I feel and then edit. Use a format and style that appeals to you and select a length that suits you. Even if there is somewhere on the site where you list your policies, emphasize them if they are a good selling point.
A final word. When I go into any on-line store, from my little site on iCraft to a big box store, I hate to see typos. To me it is unprofessional, so spell check and proof read. Either write in Word first then copy paste or vice versa. Your second proof read should be someone else. If you have someone who will give you feedback, ask for their input. Listen to their suggestions, and incorporate what makes sense to you.
Having said that, I wrote and posted this on my Blackberry. I hope the spell check works. You can bet I will be checking it on my computer later.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Selling your Crafts on the Internet
I have been on vacation this week so I have spent a lot of time posting my merchandise for sale on the web. I have a number of places that I like to post things to but have only had moderate success.
1. Kijiji: Free and local but you can pay extra for different features. I did pay extra a couple of times of list my website but I only got one visitor who took one look at my home page and left.
2. iCraft - a Canadian craft mall. You can set up your own store, have your own web address, track your site on Google Analytics, and post up to 5 things for free. You can also have your own blog, post and read on a message board, join the Sellers' Bookcamp (I learned a lot here), and they have great tutorials. The store is easy to set up and takes work to be successful. Your products are featured on the home page of the site when you post them and stay for a while. It helps drive traffic to your store. You can set up your own shipping terms as well as what currency you wish to sell in.
http://icraft.ca
3. GLC Mall - Another Canadian craft mall. I am new to this one and I am not so sure about it. I think there are some bugs in the programming but since I have only been there a few times I am not sure. Like iCraft, you get your own web address for your store. The store is fairly easy to set up. You can post 12 things for free. The only problem I see is that products and crafters are listed alphabetically, regardless of how often they post. I could see not wanting to have a business name that ends with "Z". As a buyer I wouldn't want to wade through more than 3 or 4 pages of crafters or merchandise before I left.
http://www.glcmall/store/
4. Etsy/Ebay - I have been into these but they take a commission on sales. I didn't find anywhere on Etsy where you could sell in anything other than USD. There are enough free craft malls that you can post to when you are starting out. I was thinking that once I started selling on a regular basis I would take the plunge and post here as well. I haven't researched these sites as much as the others as I can't afford to pay to post yet.
http://www.etsy.com
If you are thinking about selling on-line, these sites are a good way to start. There is so much to learn about selling on the web - from photography and managing photographs to bounce rate, that having a store already set up helps. You just need to fill in the blanks and post your pictures, you then have time to learn the rest.
1. Kijiji: Free and local but you can pay extra for different features. I did pay extra a couple of times of list my website but I only got one visitor who took one look at my home page and left.
2. iCraft - a Canadian craft mall. You can set up your own store, have your own web address, track your site on Google Analytics, and post up to 5 things for free. You can also have your own blog, post and read on a message board, join the Sellers' Bookcamp (I learned a lot here), and they have great tutorials. The store is easy to set up and takes work to be successful. Your products are featured on the home page of the site when you post them and stay for a while. It helps drive traffic to your store. You can set up your own shipping terms as well as what currency you wish to sell in.
http://icraft.ca
3. GLC Mall - Another Canadian craft mall. I am new to this one and I am not so sure about it. I think there are some bugs in the programming but since I have only been there a few times I am not sure. Like iCraft, you get your own web address for your store. The store is fairly easy to set up. You can post 12 things for free. The only problem I see is that products and crafters are listed alphabetically, regardless of how often they post. I could see not wanting to have a business name that ends with "Z". As a buyer I wouldn't want to wade through more than 3 or 4 pages of crafters or merchandise before I left.
http://www.glcmall/store/
4. Etsy/Ebay - I have been into these but they take a commission on sales. I didn't find anywhere on Etsy where you could sell in anything other than USD. There are enough free craft malls that you can post to when you are starting out. I was thinking that once I started selling on a regular basis I would take the plunge and post here as well. I haven't researched these sites as much as the others as I can't afford to pay to post yet.
http://www.etsy.com
If you are thinking about selling on-line, these sites are a good way to start. There is so much to learn about selling on the web - from photography and managing photographs to bounce rate, that having a store already set up helps. You just need to fill in the blanks and post your pictures, you then have time to learn the rest.
I have included the links for these site. Take a browse through them and let me know what you think. If you know of any others, please let me know.
One of the benefits of these sites is an already established web presence. Shoppers are easily directed to these sites from various sources so people can easily find you and your products.
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