Handmade Spark - SimplyKaties - Handmade jewelry and Hand crafted wire jewelry
Through one of my fellow LinkedIn Hand Crafted group members Sisters Jewelry Designs blog I found this affordable marketing service offered to Etsy sellers. I had heard about Handmade Spark before but was at a point where I felt I could not afford to spend a ton of money on marketing my Simply Katie's hand crafted jewelry designs. Yea I know you gotta spend money to make money and Simply Katie's is a true testament to that. Simply Katie's sales are only as good as my "invested" efforts of marketing my handmade jewelry. It's time to change my thoughts on how I market my hand crafted jewelry, it's time to invest in and budget for better marketing so that I can redirect more time to the creative side of Simply Katie's and well to my surprise having to spending a ton of money was a HUGE misconception on my part. Handmade Spark which is managed by Blank Slate, Inc is very affordable and for the low cost of only $6.00 a month I believe the benefits are many.
First of all as I noted earlier Handmade Spark is a marketing service for Etsy pros but that's just the tip of the benefit iceberg so to speak. For the low monthly fee I get my own Etsy linked mini-site with product pages and listings in the Handmade Spark directory in up to 3 categories of my choosing (there are many great categories to choose from). And best of all Simply Katie's product pages on this Etsy linked mini-site are search engine optimized so the more interesting, attention grabbing and engaging my product description is written (keywords and phrases are important) the more visitors I will get which also means more potential paying customers. Simply Katie's mini-site has a sidebar where my customers can connect with me on facebook, Twitter, Blogger, even my SK Wire Jewelry website, oh and social share buttons are included (thank goodness, no more fumbling trying to figure out how or where to add the button codes) and I can track my mini-site with Google Analytics too.
I signed up and man it was so easy and only took a few minutes to set up, I didn't need a "How To... book for Dummies" to do it. Now Simply Katie's has a nice professional looking store front complete with a customizable bio to inform visitors about me and my hand crafted jewelry with product photos that link straight to Simply Katie's shop on Etsy. My mini-site even has my recent blog posts and tweets, everything is all in one place how cool is that! I can even let everyone know I do custom orders as well now that a plus.
I'm learning something new with every step I take in my efforts to improve and grow Simply Katie's and SK Wire Jewelry and I'm enjoying the journey. Growing a business for me is 100% a practical experience learning process and the mistakes I've made along the way were the result of impulse, improper information and mis-guided thoughts no doubt. And I'm not saying that Handmade Spark is the answer to all my previously unprofitable marketing efforts but it is one small step in the right direction. Being a sole proprietor and running my own business is a challenge at its best, a 24/7/365 fully vested career not just a j.o.b. It's definitely an investment in myself, a daily test of my talent and expertise, my business vision and knowledge, my personal strength, determination and confidence to say the least. But the most important and determining factor of sustainability for Simply Katie's and SK Wire Jewelry is the 'nose to the grindstone' investment of personal effort I'm willing to put toward the growth and profitability of my talent.
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