Exposure

Exposure

This word gets thrown around a lot. Exposure. When I used to dabble in acting, I would often run across listings that promised exposure rather than pay. To whom? I'm not sure. Now, on Etsy, I hear that word quite a bit. Exposure. Mainly when someone says that word, it has to do with the front page.

I love being on the front page of Etsy. It's cool to see something you made pop up on the home page of the site. That being said, it's a really short thrill. Once the front page comes down, the exposure screeches to a grinding halt and you're left feeling empty and alone. Okay. I'm being a drama queen.

I have been asking myself how I can get regular exposure whether I am on the front page or not. In other words, how can I market myself and bring traffic to my website?

I do some things that a lot of people might not be willing to do. For one, I use LinkReferral to bring traffic to my blog. Yes, you have to click on 30 websites and do the reviews and it takes a little bit of time. But I have regular traffic to my blog and I can gauge how interesting the content is better than not having any traffic at all. I have also found some really cool sites (and some truly horrible ones.) Yes, I get some bogus reviews that make absolutely no sense. Every once in a while some one will review my site and give me the suggestion that I need to hear. That is a great thing!

I have also started using paid advertising. I know, I know. No one has the money for that and they don't want to advertise if they don't know it is going to work. I get that. I also get that quite a few of the most successful artists I have seen have pay for advertising. Businesses have advertising budgets, whether they be small or large.

Here are some options that I have been experimenting with.

www.StumbleUpon.com
www.ProjectWonderful.com

With both of these sites you can set a spending limit. A lot of sellers use $1 a day budget to renew items on Etsy. I have decided to use that $1 a day to advertise my blog and my Etsy shop.

Since I started doing this, the traffic to my blog has increased and I have gained followers and feed subscribers. So I know it is working. I am not looking for extreme growth but I do want to let it build.

Solutions

One thing I have learned about business is that you have to seek out problems and then give people the solutions to them. Sometimes, you will give a solution for a problem that no one knew they had.

Other times it will be glaring them in the face. And if you are looking for something to glare at you, I would suggest the ideas forum on Etsy. Why? Because there is no possible way that Etsy can address every single suggestion that shows up on that board.

There are always discussions about who gets to be on the front page and which categories are "exposed" the most. I have seen a few people really take the bull by the horns and create websites and blog features to get some exposure to artists. There are several people doing this, actually.

Some good ones:
www.ByHand.me
www.designstyleguide.net
www.timothyadamdesigns.blogspot.com

There is no possible way for every single seller on Etsy to reach the front page. The numbers are too big. Why not seek exposure elsewhere?

Another example...someone created a site where you can check to see if you are featured in an Etsy treasury. Now, if we are really being honest, we can admit that it is not that hard to check for the gold stars from time to time. However, it is nice to type in your shop name and have someone else check the gold stars for you. I am guessing whoever started this site probably read the forums a little bit. Maybe not. The good news is that they can sell advertising, bring in revenue to their business and provide a service to use at the same time.

www.craftopolis.com

I'll be letting you know how everything works out for me. If anyone has ideas, feel free to leave a comment below!

Take Care!
:::Liz:::

www.LizardoArt.Etsy.com