Wow I have had a busy couple of weeks, months really! I’ve been taking serious steps to improve the back end of my jewelry business so that the front end a.k.a. my Etsy shop attracts the kind of traffic that I want to attract, potentially increases sales and benefits my business growth in the long run. In order to achieve this and increase my online presence and visibility, not knowing the first thing about building a website aside from my Facebook fan page; https://www.facebook.com/skwirejewelry I took an e-course that gave me the tools I needed to accomplish my goal. I decided to take the plunge, gave myself a product relevant domain name, purchased a web host package from hostgator.com and launched my new wordpress.org website properly named www.skwirejewelry.com where I can showcase my designs and write about the efforts behind the strides I’m making towards achieving my design business goals.
The e-course was actually a free five day marketing challenge offered through Wordpress that I found to be very user friendly and easy to follow taking me step by step through the process of building and designing my website, how to improve my SEO to get noticed and increase traffic to gain sales. I learned a lot about how to catch the consumer’s attention through Sheila Stiles and Gary Brelsford instructors at Rasmussen College but I required more guidance on e-marketing my products since I am a home based business also selling through an online marketplace. I’ve also gotten great tips from the Etsy blogs that I subscribe to and others that I read frequently. But I am an admitted procrastinator and have just recently within the last two years started seriously thinking about and looking at my jewelry making as a business and not just a hobby. One hundred percent of my sales since 2005 have been through bootstrapping efforts which you can read more about in my Beginnings post on my website but last year I also put my jewelry on consignment at the Blue Sky Boutique which sits on Corey Avenue on beautiful St. Pete Beach.
As a business owner I am constantly looking to improve my brand and searching for a better way to present my product that will attractively and effectively convey the benefits of my products to my audience. I believe that the best way to gain this knowledge is to ask for your feedback. So I want you to take a few moments to view my website; http://skwirejewelry.com and my Etsy shop; http://www.etsy.com/shop/simplykaties and give me your feedback. Help me help you, let me know how I can improve my sites to make your shopping and reading experiences more enjoyable. I’ve included a contact form at www.skwirejewelry.com/contact for you to send me a message. And likewise when you visit Simply Katie’s on www.etsy.com you can use the “contact” link located on my profile as well as in my shop listings. When you to visit and “Like” my fan page at https://www.facebook.com/skwirejewelry and message me I’ll send you coupon code to use on your next jewelry purchase at Simply Katie’s on Etsy.
I’m excited and looking forward to hearing from you as big changes begin to happen and shape Simply Katie’s into you favorite place to go for handmade wire jewelry!
