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Were you hoping you could list your products on Etsy and then magically make tons of money? While I’m not saying that can’t happen, it’s more of an exception than the rule.
If you want to sell on Etsy, you need to have a promotion strategy. You won’t sell anything if people aren’t visiting your shop and looking at your products.
Now, I know what you’re thinking…
You don’t have extra money to advertise your Etsy shop.
I want you to know there are plenty of ways to promote your products beyond ads and social media without spending any money.
Yes, paying for ads is one of the quickest and most effective ways to get more traffic to your Etsy shop, and you should have a social media presence, but several websites also let you promote your Etsy shop for FREE!
Product Directories and Galleries
First, try to get your Etsy shop listed in as many craft directories as possible. There are hundreds of them, depending on what you are selling. Most of them are free to join.
Directory submissions don’t typically bring you a lot of direct traffic, but they can help with your search engine optimization (SEO), especially if you have a website set up for your craft business. When you list your products or business in a directory, it creates a backlink which helps search engines rank you higher.
Another benefit to craft directories is you could be invited to participate in craft fairs or provide a booth at major events in your area. Venues go to directories to find businesses to fill their booths.
Here are some websites where you can add your shop/products to directories and galleries:
- craftjuice
- The Craft Booth
- craftgawker
- Craftori
- Best of Handmade
- Craft Gate
Blog Interviews and Features
After you’ve listed your products and business in as many directories and galleries as you can find, try to get your business featured on major websites. This is a great way to get a surge of traffic to your Etsy shop.
To get your Etsy shop featured, you typically need to submit photos of your products and answer some questions or write a bio. It’s a little work, but the benefits are worth the time, especially if you can find websites that get a ton of traffic.
Here are some websites where you can get your shop/products featured:
Guest Posts and Tutorials
Another great way to get traffic and links back to your Etsy shop is to create tutorials or articles and submit them to websites in your niche. Not all websites accept guest posts, but many do.
Guest posting is time consuming, but it is free and can get you tons of traffic. However, I suggest you wait to start your guest blogging strategy until you have a website for your craft business in addition to your Etsy shop. If people like what they see from your guest post, they might visit your about page and find your Etsy shop.
You might not be willing to give away all your secrets, but creating tutorials is one of the easiest ways to create guest posts. Sure, people might be looking to make what you make themselves, but they are not your real customers anyway. Plus, sometimes people will see how much work it is to create your products and just buy the premade item from you directly.
Here are some websites that accept guest posts tutorials about crafts and handmade items:
- CraftStylish
- Handmadeolgy
- Craftster
- Totally Tutorials
- The ArtFire Blog
- DIY Danielle
- Craftbits.com
- CraftGossip
- Dave’s DIY Tips
- DIY Idea Center
- REMODELaholic
- Instructables
- Fave Crafts
- Fun Family Crafts
Eventually, you’ll want to spend money on ads, sponsored posts, and other promotions to get more traffic to your Etsy shop. I cover these strategies in my post, How to Get More Customers to Your Shop. You can build buzz around your business and products if you’re willing to put in some effort.
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Hi there! I just wanted to suggest one more place to promote your Etsy shop: tinyworkshops.com
It features interviews with creatives about their work and workspaces, with links back to their Etsy shop, website, social media, etc. It’s a great way to expose your shop to more people and legitimize your handmade products in the eyes of buyers.
https://etsy.me/3crgywj
💥YOU ARE FOREVER LOVED 💥
Once you have a business account go into your Pinterest settings and click Claim in the dropdown. Here you will see Etsy under Claim other accounts.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SpacesAndLines?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
Personalized Rainbow Letter Crayons: https://www.etsy.com/shop/XtinesRainbowCrayons?ref=profile_header