1 – Get a Twitter account for your store, and tweet all new listings – plus other related snippets etc. Or just make the odd joke or ‘interesting link’ tweet now and then too – to keep your follows interested. Follow lots of people, and people will often follow you back. Follow people in fields related to your store products for the most targeted results.

2 – Set up a Facebook fan page for your business. Add a bit of info and ask some of your friends if they will ‘like’ it to start you off. Make sure you link it to your Etsy shop. Post when you make a new listing (Etsy prompts you so this is easy to remember). You can post coupon codes and offers on your Facebook now and then too.

3 – Get some free/cheap business cards from moo.com or similar. Carry some with you everywhere, you never know when you might want to tell someone about your shop.

4 – Tell your friends and family what you are doing! A little bit of word of mouth can do wonders. They may be happy to have a few business cards to give to their friends too. Friends and family may also be happy to ‘like’ or ‘follow’ you on Twitter and Facebook, remember that with social networking it is not so much who YOU know, as who your friends know that really counts.

5 – Would your local newspaper or radio station be interested in what you do? They are often looking for stories with a strong local interest and something like ‘From Checkout Girl to International Artist’ or ‘Rescued Junk Makes Local Man A Star’ are very popular.

6 – Start a blog. There are lots of things you can write about to do with your niche. How about:

  • Funny things that have happened to you
  • The ups and downs of a crafter’s life
  • Hints and tips on using your products
  • How you came to do the craft you do
  • Sharing news and gossip
  • Reviews of other products related to what you do

7 – Sign up to Stumbleupon. You need to ‘stumble’ plenty of other pages as well as your own though. The ‘Stumble’ button is pretty addictive, I have found loads of really fun pages, so well worth installing 🙂 Like fellow Etsians and hope that some Like you!

8 – Join Squidoo and make a lens for your shop. You can create a fun little showcase for your products – make sure you have clear links to the shop. You may be able to make additional lenses for aspects of your shop. For example a jewelry maker could do one about celebrities’ tastes in jewelry, or antique pieces. A pet accessory maker could make a lens or two on their favourite animals with hints and tips on pet care etc. It’s a lot of fun as well as great potential source of traffic.

9 – Join forums related to your niche, and become a useful member. Do not continually push your products, that is a fast way to get thrown out. This is a somewhat longer-term way. Ideally, if you are a friendly and helpful member of the community, people will come to respect you and consider you an expert in your niche. That is what will eventually get you more traffic and sales.

10 – Post photos of finished pieces (and in progress shots if you like) on a Flickr account. As well as yet another chance to show-case your creations, you can also work on building up your reputation and brand.

These are all free and will only cost you time and effort. I hope that one or two are of use to you 🙂

10 free ways to promote your Etsy store

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