Copy Right: All pictures and designs are the rights of individual shops. ETT has received permission to use their photos and information for our blogs. Permission must be obtained from the individual shops in order to use their items. Written portion of the blog must be received by the writer of ETT blog.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Shop Talk Friday: Marketing with Purple Lemon Designs

Guest Blogger: Kelly Rinehart of PurpleLemonDesigns.etsy.com

blog

In the last "Etsy Journey" post on my personal blog, I touched on the social media aspect of marketing my Etsy shop. Today, I am going to touch on other ways I market my shop.

Business Cards

I actually have two business cards that I had printed. One is a part of my packaging that also doubles as a business card. The good thing about this one is that it has a bounce back coupon on it. I also have a standard business card that is just a biz card with my info on it. I actually carry both in my purse. When I get a great dental cleaning or I get a great cashier when I go to the store, I say thanks and hand them the business card with a coupon on it. I give them a quick spiel about what I sell and then I am on my way. Does it work? Who knows…it certainly can’t hurt. Other things I use my business cards for are shop mail outs, (I will talk more about that in a minute), I put them up on bulletin boards, and I sometimes even leave them on the table when I go to dinner.

bizcards

I also give my regular business cards to EVERYONE I talk to about my business. If you meet people and make that personal connection, they are much more likely to purchase from you. They feel like they are buying from someone they know and can trust. This leads me into my next segment, Talkin’ It Up.

Talkin’ It Up

Some of you are really lucky and talking to people is easy for you. But there are others of you out there saying to yourself, "I am soooo shy! I can’t talk to people about my business! That just isn’t my thing!"

Well, sister (or brother), you have got to get over that. I did. I am the world’s biggest introvert. I am much more comfortable in front of my computer, but I know I can’t sell things to my computer (trust me I have tried – he is just not that into rubber stamps). I have forced myself to talk to people. Let me let you in on a little secret, it is not as hard as you think. It also gets easier the more you do it. People really don’t bite (as much as I thought that they might.)

A little tip when starting up a conversation with someone you don’t know: people love to talk about themselves. Start a conversation with them asking what they do, where they grew up, about their kids, or anything else that relates to them. Make sure that you listen and genuinely care about what they are saying – don’t just wait until they stop talking to run through what you do. Ask questions about what they are saying. Then, once you have gotten a good conversation going with them, I bet that they will ask about you and what you do. Then, don’t dominate the conversation, but quickly tell them about your business using a great elevator speech.

I could go through the ins and outs of developing an elevator speech, but it is much better said by Barbara Lopez for the Design*Sponge biz ladies series. This is an excellent post about developing a speech for those conversations when you get asked, "So what do you do?" You can read the full article here.

My Packaging

I take full advantage of my packaging to advertise my shop to my customers. Your best customers are going to be return customers, so you MUST market to then when they are a captive audience - like when they are opening their purchase from you and they are all giddy from excitement!

Once again, I am going to state this is how I market my shop; I am not an expert; this is what works for me. That being said, I will tell you about my Etsy packaging. This seems to be a very taboo subject around Etsy, but I'm not shy and secretive with my packaging. I use my business stamps to their full advantage:

bizstamp

bizstampty

Remember that dual business card I referred to above? Here it is in action:

packaging

I also include a handwritten note on customized stationery for my business.

thankyoustationery

Then I put all those elements together and voila! - a beautiful Purple Lemon-rific package for a customer to open and enjoy. Hopefully, it will be memorable for them so when they need another stamp or some stationery they will come back to visit.

Hope you enjoyed a little more info about how I market my shop!

Kelly Rinehart
PurpleLemonDesigns.etsy.com

7 comments:

VenetiaJewelry said...

business stamps is a great idea i like that!

Dee said...

Thanks for sharing, your packaging is wonderful. Being new to Etsy, I'm like a sponge, taking in all the great information I can get to become a better seller online. Thanks again for sharing how you successfully run your business!

Unknown said...

Love your work and the attention you put to every little details. Thank you very much for sharing:)

Patricia
www.verredesign.etsy.com
www.verredesign.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Oh what great ideas!
I LOVE the business stamps to add just that little extra special touch to what I am already doing!
REALLY Great ideas!!!
Thanks for sharing!!!
:D
~Mikiye

www.mikiye.etsy.com
www.mikiyecreations.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Just visited your shop...FABULOUS!
~You have me brainstorming on what design I want to have made into a stamp and order from you!
;P

~Mikiye

www.mikiye.etsy.com
www.mikiyecreations.blogspot.com

lilgreenshop said...

Excellent idea's! Would never have thought of stationary and a stamp. Yet I am sure they all help in getting your name/brand out there. Thanks for sharing these idea's with us.

Now off to read up on how to create an elevator speech.

SweetwaterGifts said...

Your packaging is gorgeous - thanks for sharing.

Blog Archive