How To Make a Visual Marketing Plan For Your Etsy Shop And Have Fun Doing It

Posted by Brenda Salzano on 6/10/10   |   Categorized as Etsy Tips,For Sellers

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I needed help with my Internet marketing plan.  I read and studied about how to market myself on the internet, but it was still confusing to my little dyslectic mind. So, I came up with my own visual aid which I am sharing with you here because I am sure it can help you too. The plan was easy to make and doing it like this made it fun too.
Visual marketing
Etsy.com: In the center I drew my main marketing goal.  Of course, my main goal is the same one that many of you have: to drive traffic to my Etsy Store. Then, just like spokes on a wheel, I drew the sites that I have set up to drive traffic to my Etsy store around the perimeter. Let me list some of these for you and explain why I choose these sites:

Brendasalzano.com: This is my web site.  My son told me I needed a site as a “headquarters” to bring together all my other sites.  I think he was getting tired of seeing my emails with this long list of sites under my signature every day and I figured he may not be the only one. So I purchased the domain name brendasalzano.com and set the site up thru Yahoo Small Business. Yahoo Small Business hosting costs $35 dollars every 6 months. I understand that there are other choices (see below!), but this was and an easy way to get started.  It is my contact site and the main page has links to every site I am on. NOTE: this site shows arrows going out to all the other sites.  Some show a pointer back to it also.  A good link is to eventually have pointers on both ends of each line, showing that I link to and from each site.

Cafe Press: Cafe press is a site where you can upload your own photo’s and the company puts them on all kinds of products.  Clothing, cups, dog shirts, computer pads, etc. If Cafe Press sells something with your content on it, they send you a commission. I have set up my marketing plan so that Cafe Press links to my Etsy store, but my Etsy store does not link to Cafe Press. I’m happy to make commissions from Cafe Press but my main goal is to encourage people to buy from me at Etsy.
Visual marketing
JAVA the MUTT a design by Tirzah Bauer My daughter

Image Kind: Image Kind is a marketplace that is run by Cafe Press.  Whereas Cafe Press sells products, Image Kind sells framed artwork. They do all the work, and you get a percentage of each sale.  As you’ve probably guessed, I have set up a link from my Image Kind site to my Etsy store, but not from my Etsy store to Image Kind.  It does link to brendasalzano.com though, and back.  I hope you see what I am doing on my visual marketing plan now?

Salzono’s Creative Art Blog and Adapting Today: I have two blogs.  A blog about Handmade Fashion and New Artists, and a blog about saving money in today’s up and down economy.  These two blogs have become great places for me to express myself and are places where customers can get to know me. I have gotten a lot out of writing them!  As you look over my marketing plan, you will see a lot of arrows to and from these blogs.

Facebook: Facebook has two types of pages you can make good use of, your regular Facebook page and the Facebook Fan Page. In my diagram I put these as one. When you go to Facebook page there is a link that connects right to my Facebook Fan Page.  Having a Fan Page enables you to separate your personal content from your business content. Again, notice my arrows from Facebook to other sites, especially to Etsy.






Visual marketing






Twitter: So far not anyone else on my Etsy Street Team are as “into” tweets, as I am.  It does not fit every lifestyle or person.  I love it.  Go to Tiwtter, say your peace, and leave.  Some who like to have a two way conversation are not that pleased with it.  I do occasionally strike up a small conversation, but it is normally one or two posts at most.  I read the news, make some comments of things of interest, and am off.  I do this a couple times a day.  The main link here is to my Etsy store.  You get only one, unless you put a back ground on your profile page with other links.  I like just the one link.  Otherwise links to other sites are updated when I comment on things.  I use twitter to tell everyone when a new blog post is up or Squidoo post, or a new listing is up over on Etsy.  Twitter has led me to have some regular customers!  I just hit 1,000 plus followers this year!

Flickr: Flickr is a great place to keep your favorite photos.  Soon, I needed to upgrade!  The basic account is free.  But I found I wanted more categories, and the ability to put all the photos I wanted up.  I was able to get a photo on a major publication when Portland’s tourist agency saw a photo of mine they wanted to use.  No payment, but I received my name and link on every brochure published in 2008!  The key to networking here is to join lots of “groups”.  I have about 20 groups that I can upload a photo of what is new for me, and this gets more traffic to my Flickr profile which in turn leads to my link to Etsy or my domain site.  Interlinking arrows!


Squidoo: Squidoo is a great site for writing articles.  They call them “lenses” at Squidoo.  Every “lens” is a article about anything you want.  It can be a how to do something, or just a interesting story.  You are able to put up photos, and links.  Then,  by linking from Amazon books, you can receive small percentage of income from any sales.  If you wrote about homesteading in Alaska, then you link to Amazon books about that subject.  I did.  I made $5.00 in February from sale of those books on Amazon.  You can see my arrows from and too Squidoo.  Linking each article I have made, back to Etsy.


To see my old marketing plan and updated article of how far I have come visit http://www.squidoo.com/Working-at-Home-11


I will not go into all the area’s on my marketing plan but just wanted you to see how much this mapping could help you keep on track and keep learning.  I see how I need to link back on some of my destinations, and keep networking.


What’s my payoff been for all this effort?  I am up 400% in traffic to my Etsy store from 2 yrs ago!  I am not up to where I need to be in  sales yet, but I know I will be! We can always keep learning and growing.  We never know it all, or have no room for improving.  And, networking with others, and other sites, is the key to a quality growth as long as we keep honesty, hard work, quality and kindness to others at the top of our lists.


If you have any questions about my map and doing one for yourself, please email me!  I would love to help you if I can.

  • pepe Newton

    great post Brenda. A lot of creative people are visual thinkers so putting it in perspective really helps!

  • http://www.jessicatorresphotography.com Jessica

    I love this visualization! It really makes things clear.

    Another networking technique that you didn’t touch on in a lot of detail is commenting on others’ work. Putting your own work out there is obviously necessary, but then commenting on others’ blog posts, pictures, etc. helps keep the two-way traffic going as well.

    Great article, thanks for sharing your success!

  • http://artistbrendasalzano.blogspot.com/ brenda

    Jessica,
    You are absolutely right! Commenting on other blogs, and other posts is a great way to interconnect. I read recently that this is a good SEO action as well as the most obvious and that is getting to know more people. Encouraging them and asking questions etc.

    Thank you for your comments!

  • http://shopnestinteriors.com Lisa LeBlanc

    Love it! I need to do this for my life! Great comments too :)

  • http://www.treasurebarnblog.blogdspot.com Patti Koosed

    You are awesome and what a wonderful explanation of how you do it!
    I love your photography and Tirzah’s drawing and the birdies.

    Geeze I forgot all about Cafe Press. I am going there now.

    Great article Brenda !!!

    Congratulations on a job well done :)

  • margaret

    I love this article and defintely want to read it again. The part about the domain name and Cafe Press were particularly interesting to me. Thank you very much for the wonderful ideas!

  • http://samsstuff-samsstuff.blogspot.com Shelley

    Great advice! Many of us are more visually oriented & it’s hard to picture how something works, through text alone (my brain pretty much shuts off when I see a bunch of numbers or even just words, for tech type stuff). I’m particularly interested in the Cafe Press & Squidoo things. I need to go check them out. Thanks for posting this

  • http://www.birdfromawire.blogspot.com jen

    You really made sense of something I’ve struggled to understand. Thanks!

  • http://amymaydesign.etsy.com amanda

    Fantastic article and a great idea:)
    I love how colorful your chart is!

  • http://dolcedreams.etsy.com Nathalie

    Great info! I am a much more visual person, and this really makes sense to me…thanks for taking the time and sharing!
    Best,
    Nathalie

  • http://www.allybu.com Ally

    Thanks so much for sharing all this great advice Brenda. You have inspired me to get cracking on marketing again as the “slower” season approaches!

  • http://sstargell.etsy.com Steph Stargell

    Thanks so much for this visual marketing plan. While most of us market in some way every day, it is great to see the correlations btween each venue.

  • http://www.DeborahJulian.etsy.com Deborah Julian

    Thanks so much for sharing this information. Much appreciated!

  • http://www.KathyCrabbe.com Kathy Crabbe

    Great article – lots of great tips! I had a hard time understanding Squidoo at first, but I’ll check out your link!

    Sparkly Blessings! Kathy C.
    http://www.SoulReader.net

  • http://www.zenhenscoop.com ZenHen

    thank you for sharing ~ I, too, am a visual person ~ this diagram was very helpful ~ saw you in the etsy forums, btw…
    kind regards,
    marina
    http://www.zenhen.etsy.com

  • http://artrageousclay.etsy.com Regina Boger

    That is a great way to see your web presence. I am going to do this and see what it looks like for my shops.

    Thanks,
    Regina
    artrageousclay.etsy.com

  • http://www.zendotstudio.blogspot.com Zendotstudio

    What a great clear and logical plan you have created. And I am impressed by all the work it has taken you to set this in place. Now the rest of us have somewhere to start. Thanks, Brenda.

  • http://artistbrendasalzano.blogspot.com/ brenda

    really appreciate your comments! together we can learn this and be a success!

  • http://www.19moons.etsy.com Niffer

    This is very encouraging and puts perspective in a neat package, thanks for sharing! I have a website with my business name that points to Etsy shop but have been unsure about how else to use it. Now I have some more ideas & just need to get a blog going.

  • http://www.doublebrush.etsy.com Double Brush

    Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge. Twitter still seems very intimidating to me. My next goal is to join facebook so more people can see the kind of unique candles I make.

  • http://www.etsy.com/shop/brendaabdullah Brenda Abdullah

    Excellent information. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences an insights. I’ve been needing this type of explanation for a long time. Thanks for your generosity.

  • http://cocosjewelry.etsy.com Coco

    Thank you Brenda! I’m still trying to muddle through all the social media marketing buzz out there. Your article helped a lot.

    Coco

  • http://www.etsy.com/shop/emilyorpin Emily Orpin

    Great content Brenda! So many leads for me to follow up on…

  • http://Rokstudy.com Rokstudy

    Hi Brenda,

    Thank you so much for the visual on how all of the social media groups may fit together. I need to explore CafePress and Squidoo.

  • http://www.sugarskull7.com Kim Jones

    This is great!! Excellent way to break down and simplify the information for people like me who are always overwhelmed by this aspect of growing a business!! Thank you. :)
    ~Kim

  • http://www.pinkyhasabrain.com Pink

    What a great visual. Thanks for sharing this.

  • http://AudreyGardenLady.etsy.com Audrey

    Brenda,
    Wonderful article. I love the visual map. I am also one of those that needs visual aids to keep it all straight. Thanks for sharing!

  • http://www.mypricelesscreations.com Doris price

    Hi Brenda,
    Thanks so much for this article and such a great chart! I'm trying different things also to get my Etsy shop out there. Promoting Handmade Spark to all I know that do Handcrafts and sell.
    You mentioned separating Personal page and Fan page can you explain that by sending an email to me I know its alot to ask but i originally Thought! I set it as my business but somehow its confusing and doesnt look like most I have seen on FB or I could check back here if others want to know too!
    Thanks for your labors for all,Doris
    http://www.mypricelesscreations.com (this goes to my Etsy shop)

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/myoriginalsin myoriginalsin

    You have some great ideas in this post. Thank you for the tips and inspiration. I have a one year goal to work from home for one day a week. Your article has given me some hope :)

  • http://www.handmadespark.com/blog/small-business-success-reading-list-packaging-marketing-titles-and-pricing/ Small Business Success Reading List – Packaging, Marketing, Titles, And Pricing | Handmade Spark

    [...] How To Make a Visual Marketing Plan For Your Etsy Shop And Have Fun Doing It [...]

  • Char

    This is my 1st Handmade Spark email & I must say, it's really got my creative juices running. Starting with your article. Wonderful!

    Here's an idea for anyone who can't come up with ideas for marketing on their own. What's the problem? You're too close to your own work. So you find these little gems & don't know how to apply them to your own stuff. FIND SOMEONE ELSE WHO CAN. Team up with another artist in a different field. Both of you review an article like this fantastic one, and then apply it to each other's work.

    I could elaborate–but maybe Handmade Spark would be interested in more??? I would gladly submit.

  • http://www.brendasalzano.com brenda salzano

    Thanks Doris, I sent you a email!! Sorry to not see your question till today! ;-)

  • http://www.brendasalzano.com brenda salzano

    Thank you everyone for your comments! If you have any in depth questions I would be glad to answer them! Just email me!

  • http://www.handmadespark.com/blog/writers-spark-interview-with-brenda-salzano/ Writers Spark: Interview with Brenda Salzano | Handmade Spark

    [...] can have a look at my article ‘How To Make A Visual Marketing Plan For Your Etsy Shop‘ which shows you my hand drawn circle of networking goals.  I think everyone could and [...]

  • Lauren_lev

    Great, Great, Great article. I’ve been coming up with a similar plan for another site my husband and I are supposed to be working on to build our brand. The visual map is definitely helpful. I don’t have an Etsy shop yet, but can’t wait to get started and will be experimenting, learning and growing a network before I do. I’m so excited!

  • http://www.tragaperras.co.uk/ Tragaperras

    Very informative post. I added this blog to my bookmarks. It must be my lucky day today as I have found many amazing blogs like this one and Como jugar a las maquinas tragaperras. Keep up posting!

  • Sueboka

    Thank you for that down to basic’s easy to understand quick class on marketing!

  • http://www.absolutelysmall.com/blog/2010/12/28/3-steps-to-prepare-your-etsy-shop-for-2011/ 3 Steps to Prepare Your Etsy Shop for 2011 | Absolutely Small

    [...] 2. Clean house. Take a good, hard look at your Etsy shop. Are there some items there that could use a new photo? Can you improve your titles and/or tags? How’s the grammar and spelling in those listings? Take some time to spruce things up. For those of us with eleventy billion listings, this can be really overwhelming. Try setting a timer for one hour increments. Really focus on the work at hand during that time. You might just be surprised how much you can get done in a focused burst of energy. Or, try the Craftopolis Edit Express to edit multiple listings at once. 3. Make a marketing plan. Now that your shop is polished and gorgeous, how are you going to attract people to it? Setting a written plan ahead of time can really streamline your work day. It can also help you stay on track, and waste less time with social networking. Here’s a really cool article on Handmade Spark about how to visually plan out your marketing. [...]

  • http://twitter.com/WiseStamp WiseStamp Email Apps

    Hi Brenda,
    Loved your post.
    Would like to recommend adding one more thing to your marketing plan….Your emails!
    Yes you can now promote your Etsy via your email signature for free! Check our this Etsy Email App - http://bit.ly/qLGuB7
    Would love to hear your feedback
    Cheers :)
    Josh @WiseStamp

  • Sharonkatherine

    Loved this. Just getting started and this helps so much

  • Forgetmenotkeepsake

    I also have a website and it is http://www.forgetmenotkeepsake.com and what I did is just forward it to my etsy shop.  Instead of http://www.etsy.com/shop/forgetmenotkeepsake which seems like a lot to put on a business card all people have to do is remember the shorter version.  Have other people done this?

  • Kerri

    I have heard that creating links to your shop can increase your position in the search engine results so that is what I have been trying to do for http://www.etsy.com/shop/forgetmenotkeepsake but I have not tried some of the sites you discussed in your article yet.  In Etsy there is a report that shows how many referrals come from different sources.  I wonder if one of the sites you discussed is more effective at generating more visits to your site than the others?

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