Stores

Etsy: Two Ways to Earn More Self-Employed Income from Your Craft Business

While Etsy is a fantastic and well-respected place to do business, many crafters and artists also sell their work offline and through other online marketplaces in an effort to earn more self-employed income.
I've noticed two growing trends within the handmade community for those looking to build up 'side income,' so I thought I'd outline a [...]

Posted by: Justine Smith, April 6, 2010

The Revitalization of Retailtainment

I’m not much of a girlie-girl, but when I find myself at the mall, I can never resist the lure of Sephora: rows and rows of tester tubes of foundations, blushes, eyeliners and lipsticks all surrounded by ample supplies of brushes, cotton rounds, cotton swabs and makeup remover. Everything is right out there to be [...]

Posted by: Linda Sanchez, April 5, 2010

Comments: 1

Is Your Business Growing Too Quickly?

We all want our businesses to thrive and grow, but is it possible to grow too fast? Are you losing customers because you can’t stay on top of your growth? Businesses that grow too quickly run the risk of creating day-to-day challenges that can't be met by staff's current experience and capacity. [...]

Posted by: Linda Sanchez, April 2, 2010

Comments: 2

Ask Justine: Can You Tweet Too Much?

Every week, I'll answer burning questions from Etsy sellers! To submit your question, head over here and ask away.
Sharon D. from Metal Rocks asks:
Can one Tweet too much?  How much is too much?
This is a tough question with thousands of differing opinions on the matter. You can definitely tweet too much and here's why:
The Selfish [...]

Posted by: Justine Smith, April 1, 2010

Comments: 13

The N.O.T.S. of Twitter

When I first started using Twitter last year to promote my line of jewelry, I did it all wrong.

I never read my home feed to see what others were saying.
If I got a reply on one of my tweets from another user, I didn't respond back.
I didn't educate myself to understand why I'd want to [...]

Posted by: Justine Smith, March 31, 2010

Comments: 4

Etsy: Cashing In On Mother’s Day

With Mother's Day just over a month away, it's important to start preparing your Etsy shop and marketing efforts toward the holiday.
According to Marketing Charts an estimated 14.1 billion dollars was spent during Mother's Day in 2008. While those numbers may be a smidgen lower with the current economic situation,  there are still many ways [...]

Posted by: Justine Smith, March 29, 2010

Comments: 1

Ebay: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I had another “oh no” eBay moment this morning while trying to create a listing. You know, when all is going well and you are suddenly hit with some new hoop to jump through or some new eBay rule you might be violating. And just when I had been starting to feel fully recovered from [...]

Posted by: Linda Sanchez, March 4, 2010

Comments: 0

To the Holidays – And Beyond!

Here in Northern Massachusetts, we just had our first snow storm of the season. We only got three or four inches and it was late in coming this year, but I found myself unprepared nonetheless. When I finally found my snow boots and trudged out to my car and opened the trunk, I was shocked [...]

Posted by: Linda Sanchez, December 15, 2009

Comments: 0

Using Twitter to Find and Retain New Business

An innovative and simple online application called Twitter has grown so quickly that most of us have heard of it but few have any grasp of what it does. Simply, Twitter is a cross between online chat, instant messaging, and newsletters, allowing people and businesses to make brief announcements from the inane to the [...]

Posted by: Paul O'Brien, May 1, 2009