Advertising: Utilizing a Sites Direct Traffic

Several times a month I will receive an email from another artist wondering how I became successful on etsy or other venues in which I sell my jewelry. I am a huge advocate in a unique authentic product, well taken photographs combined with effective item tagging and branding. Yet what good is any of that if no one ever sees your product? To that I simply say: ADVERTISE.

Owning a small business often means a small budget for advertising so it is even more

important to make those dollars count. When I first started selling my jewelry online I read so many articles about advertising and almost all of them pushed for outside or off-site advertisements. Suggestions like wear your URL or brand on your T-shirt, drive around with your web address attached to the hood of your car, and of course, the infamous, hand out more business cards. Seriously? Is that what will seriously bring in more traffic? It did not take long before I could answer my own question.

I have experimented with all different types of advertising; some of them were free and others were rather expensive. I have purchased advertisement spots in magazines, on blogs, handed out business cards, gone to shows, twittered. . . and the list goes on and on. But, nothing has been more effective than utilizing a sites direct traffic. Let's face it, even if you walked around with your website tattooed to your forehead no one is going to remember that web address or take the effort to look it up once they get home.

After months of researching different advertising venues I realized my money is best spent attracting the traffic that is already on that particular site. Duh. It was not rocket surgery, as my husband would say, it was just common sense. So that was where I put my advertising dollars. For example, on etsy, I posted. It costs 20 cents a listing to post and I posted several times an hour during prime hours or when I received a lot of views on an item. I also took advantage of the showcases they had on site. I used the same techniques for other marketplaces I was using as well and it has been very successful all around.

Though driving around with your URL plastered to

the front of your car or purchasing expensive magazine ads seems like a good idea I urge you to consider luring in the traffic your venue has already advertised for you. They are there looking to buy. They have done the hard part for you--now make yourself visible!

If you have questions or have advertising tips that have been successful for you please do not hesitate to ask or share!

xoxo

Amy