Using Facebook and Twitter

Sometimes I really feel like I'm a fool. I don't know much about computers, the internet, or social media. A short few years ago I would have said "Huh?". It's been a slow process to beat some things into my thick head, but I think I'm slowly learning the importance of a few things that I need to be doing to get sales on the internet. I like to talk, boy do I like to talk, but writing it down is something entirely different. Selling in person at vendor shows is a completely different game than selling on the web. I have to take better care in writing my descriptions. Learn to choose better keywords to get better SEO results. Take better pictures. Uuugghh!! The old saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" has a whole new meaning, now that I'm an old dog.
Oh well, enough complaining. It's time to get to work on new promotion techniques that include Facebook and Twitter in a higher capacity. It's time to get noticed on the www.

Promoting yourself can be real hard, but it has been fun learning. Everyday my Twitter following grows and we get more visitors to our ETSY shop. Promoting yourself seems like bragging in a way. You tell people what you have and tell them why they should buy from you instead of someone else. This isn't any secret. Big businesses have been doing this kind of advertising for years. We know it works so where's the problem. Money for a big add campaign! So I will keep posting and keep telling about our products the way I have been. Not because I'm too cheap to pay for advertising, I couldn't afford it even if I wanted to. It may take me some time to build up sales, but I'm having a good time learning and I'm meeting some great people along the way. Welcome to the 21st century Jay. The internet market is my oyster, I have to learn to open it.

Getting Ready

This week-end we are going back to the Marketplace at the Blue Lagoon in Sylvan Beach. So far, it has been pretty good and shows promise of getting better. This is the first year that the owners have tried this. Blue Lagoon is a miniature golf site and we set up on the lawn. Sylvan Beach is a small resort village on the east end of Oneida lake. There is a new crowd of vacationers, boaters, and tourists every week-end so it is different every week-end. The owners are hoping for more vendors when school is out and more people are available. So far , so good. The owners are happy, the vendors are happy, and most important, the customers and general public are happy. Ok, it's time to finish a few projects and start to load the truck. The weather is supposed to be good this week-end so people will be out and about. So we're off on another handmade adventure!

Things Change

Someone once said that the only thing that remains the same is change. When I move the cobwebs and stir up the dust in my mind I am reminded that change is constant. Each day is similar but different. We are not the same as we were yesterday. We're the same person in some ways but we are changed by life. Being a person who makes something to sell, these small daily changes provide us with the opportunity to be creative. Our creativity then becomes a force of change, and the ball of change rolls on. Not every person will like my work, some will find it just awful. But for those who do, I will try to keep up with the pace of change.

What is TODAY ?

A very small and simple question, the answer isn't small or simple. Someone once said ,"Today is yesterday's tomorrow." Someone else said,"What we are today is the sum total of our yesterday's." The mistakes we make are learning experiences that aid in making us who we are today. Almost everyone has said, " If I could only go back and change something." If we did go back , it would change everything from that point on, even us , to the extent that we would not be the same either. Sometimes I'm not content with myself but I know me. If my life had been different, maybe I wouldn't be any better off. I'd just be different.

Moving On

Today I'm going to try to remain positive. This could be quite a challenge since I am one of the world's great pessimists. I am always seeing the cup half empty, never half full.
So with that said, I will get back to work and I will try to keep not only my eyes open,but also my mind.

Still Learning

I haven't been feeling well lately, so I haven't kept up with my work like I should. I haven't been listing new items in our Etsy shop. I haven't been promoting like I should. I haven't been here to my blog. What I have been doing is slacking off and making excuses to myself. So now it's time to get off my lazy butt and get back to work.
In my quest to learn how to market online, I think I'm learning. Although I have to admit that it is a slow process and more complicated than I thought. There is alot of good advice to be obtained by reading what other people post. The things that work ,those that don't, and will it work for me. The thing I find the most amazing though is how much information is readily available. Just click and read. It can't get much easier than that.

Rules To Sell By

Everyday I try to learn something new about how to sell successfully online. During this learning process I have found certain things that I can group together. This grouping allows me to get a better idea of how to go about using information that I have gathered. The groups are real simple : WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, HOW, and WHO. The hard part is knowing what goes where, why it goes there, and when to put it there. I feel like I should have Bud Abbott and Lou Costello here to help with this.

WHAT is the easy one to answer, What do I have to offer? Handmade homedecor items made of wood. Easy answer!

WHEN is my product available? Another easy answer, 24/7 online at my website. The website is OldTimeCountryCrafts.etsy.com. That also answers the WHERE question. Now is when it starts getting tougher.

WHY should people buy from me? Can't they get the same thing some place else? What can I offer that no one else offers? This must be what politicians go through during a campaign. Yes, I make a damn good product, I have a good selection, and I can build it specifically for you to fit your color and size needs.

HOW may well be the hardest to work on. HOW DO PEOPLE FIND MY PRODUCT ? Simple right, it's online. Then the reallity appears, there's millions of things online!! How are they going to find me? After hours of looking and reading posts from other people I have to wonder, am I learning how to sell online or am I just killing time and having a little fun? Promoting on a limited budget is a real challenge but I'm going to keep trying. I will post on social networks and any other place I can find that will let me post for free. I'm starting a mailing list also. Learning KEYWORDS was not as easy as I thought but it does real well.

WHO is the question I like best. And just like Abbott and Costello, WHO's ON FIRST? WHO is on first because WHO needs my product!!!!!!! WHO is the consumer!!!!!!! WHO is YOU!!!

Not just another Monday

Another week-end is gone and now begins another work week. Hmmm, I just remembered, I worked all week-end so where is the begining and the end of work? Just one more perk for being self-employed I guess. I'm not complaining, this is what I choose to do and I do love doing this. I always thought that a 40 hour week meant that you only worked part time, so the hours I devote to making and selling my products doesn't bother me. If you truly like what you do I don't think that you are bothered by time invested.
So I guess I was right. It's not just another Monday.

Marketing Online

I'm a complete novice at online marketing but I need to keep a record of my "progress", or at least I hope I'm making progress. It's a different and difficult world online (as if my life offline was easy). As of today, this is what I learned about selling my handmade goods online.

(1) I didn't do any research into how to successfully sell online, list and sell right? What a fool. It would be nice if it worked but much to my dismay, it doesn't.

(2) How to get customers to my site? $64 question and my answer may not be worth 2 cents. Do I use free ads or do I pay and where in the heck do I do this?

(3) At first I wondered, what the heck is social networking and how the heck is this going to help me sell my woodcraft? To repeat myself from earlier, what a fool.

(4) So now that I know a little about social networking, and a little how to promote my woodcraft, what's next? Keep learning you FOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok. So I guess what I've learned most about so far is myself. Since I hate to call myself a fool, I had better get back to work and learn how to do a better job of online marketing.

You know you want to look ......So................LOOK

I know, everybody wants you to look at their products, everybody has a deal "To Good To Pass Up". Believe me, I've heard them all just like you have. So , I'm not going to make you any promises, I'm not going to tell you that you have to buy from me. All I'm going to say is that I would like you to check out our store and see if you like our products or not. We make everything we sell and we sell everything we make. We also welcome custom orders. So stop by, look around, and tell us what you think.

Etsy Buy Handmade OldTimeCountryCrafts

What works best?

When it comes to promotion, what works best? Do we keep posting on social networks, or do we pay for advertising, or do we use both? The world is our marketplace, how do we promote our product to the consumer who wants and needs it? I know I'm completely baffled by all of it. Doing craft shows was easy, you go,set up, sell, pack up and go home. That was not complicated at all. The internet is something completely different and I'm not sure I'll ever get the hang of it. Generating hits and getting sales may be out of my league. This competing with the"big guys" is far tougher than I thought it would be, learn as you go may be to slow.

Week-end Craftshow

Getting ready for what I hope is a good show this week-end, but don't we always hope it's going to be a good show? I mean really, would we go through all the work that's required to do a show if we already knew that we had no chance at any sales? We all love what we do but I'm sure most of us like to sell it almost as much as we like to make it. People love to shop, but the real challenge is to get them to buy from you, not someone else. Your presentation and your product don't stand a chance if the show isn't promoted well and attendance is poor. So many things to consider. Oh well , in reality it comes down to us promoting ourselves. Craft shows are good exposure for us. We will give out business cards and get e-mail addresses for future contacts and hopefully make some sales. I know that I will see some old friends this week-end and I will meet some new ones, so it will be a good time.

Promotion

It's not taking the time to promote, it's making the time to promote. You can make a great product but if shoppers don't know it's there, how are you going to make a sale? Making product and promotion have to work together to get the sales . I'm trying this idea of making time for promotion. I have my products up for sale so now I need to concentrate on getting people to know what I have and where it is . So as much as I like working with wood, I'm leaving my saw alone and I'm going to be hard at work on promotion.