Finding my target audience

My first Twitter giveaway wasn't as successful as I'd hoped; in fact, it really wasn't successful at all in the way I wanted it to be. I did learn one lesson: despite having a good number of Twitter followers, I realized that my followers aren't my target audience. They're mostly other Etsy shop owners looking to also promote their shops. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing everybody's work and I have had some purchases result from Twitter, but the majority of my followers aren't looking to buy my items. This now poses the question: how do I find my target audience and where are these people?

I did some thinking and came up with some ideas, but I can't help feeling that there's this market of buyers out there that I haven't found that's waiting for me to find them. Maybe there's a site called EtsyBuyers.Com (I should check! Ok, I checked and it's not a site). I know that some of my products are marketed towards moms, some towards brides-to-be, but the traditional sites I know of for those populations strictly prohibit the promoting of your Etsy shop. Seriously, it mentioned Etsy by name in the site rules. So much for those ideas.

Buyers, buyers, where are you.....I will keep looking and seek you out!

Twitter Giveaway!

Its time for my first giveaway, and its only for Twitter followers! To enter, you must be a follower and RT my giveaway Tweet (www.twitter.com/pinkycrafts). On top of that, every purchase made in my shop gets you an extra entry (mention your Twitter ID at checkout). The winner will receive a set of my popular Inspired by Spring Gift Tags (like the one pictured on the wine bottle below). The contest ends Monday, April 26 at 7:00pm PST!

My First Treasury!

I created my first treasury today, called "Vacation Time!". Its a tribute to summer vacations, and contains summer-inspired items. I don't know that we'll be taking a vacation this year, as we've been on a "vacation" of sorts all year. I love how it turned out, and I was lucky that I got to feature some of my favorite sellers, as they had summer items. Click on the image to view the treasury at Etsy.

Go On Girl - Get Out There!

Working from home, I really enjoy that I don't have to leave the house every single day. Some people might find this strange, but there's something so freeing about waking up and staying in your PJs all day, without having to put makeup on or do your hair. I don't do this everyday, but I do enjoy that I can do it some days.

Today was not one of those days; I was on a mission. I wanted to see if I could find the second book in the "86 Bloomberg Place" series at a local used bookstore, I wanted to see what deals I could score with my 20% off Total Purchase coupon at Michaels, and I wanted to take my first stab at promoting my business off-line. I struck out at the bookstore, which was a bummer. Michaels was also somewhat of a bummer. Nothing was already on sale, making 20% off Total Purchase coupon pretty useless. I did find some new die cuts templates on clearance (not elligible for the coupon) so all was not lost, but my outing was pretty disapointing.

Then the husband and I decided to stop by Jamba Juice, where I noticed a community bulletin board. They had a couple ads for local plays and businesses - I could totally post a business card there! A little disclaimer told me I needed management approval to post anything, so I mustered up my courage and asked to speak to the manager. He came out, I explained who I was and what I sold, and he gave me permission to leave a business card on the board! I was psyched, my first off-line advertising venue. I intend to carry my cards with me now at all times, just waiting to come across another wonderful bulletin board like the one at Jamba Juice.

Re-Shoot Number 1,000,000!

I love these gift tags. They're inspired by the fun spring colors in Oregon this time of year. I especially love this photo :) I've shot the set of gift tags this is advertised in about a million times, but today, I was finally satisfied. My favorite use for my gift tags (other than the traditional stick-on-a-gift-box approach) is to write the "to/from" and then tie one on a bottle of wine. I've given that combo as a thank-you or hostess gift in the past, and the recipient is always very pleased! I usually get more compliments from the tag than the fact that I just gave them free wine!

Here I am...my new Etsy shop!

I always said I wouldn't start blogging again, but here I am! I guess I just can't stay away :)

PinkyCrafts on Etsy (http://www.pinkycrafts.etsy.com/) has been live for nearly a month. Its been a huge learning experience for me. Its a good thing that I'm unemployed (or is it..hmm...) because it's nearly been a full-time job for me. Between making new products, photographing and re-photographing my items, and promoting the heck out of them - whew! I will say that it has been fun! I didn't have huge expectations for this shop, I just wanted to finally do something I loved and try to make a little spending cash out of it. I reason with myself that I can spend so much time doing this right now so that when I'm fully employed again, I won't have to spend my life doing it since I will have done such a good job getting it started.

The sales fairy hasn't visiting me often this month, but at least she has visited, and that's something to be thankful for. All in all, I'm really glad that the products I make, the products that I've already been making and gifting for years, can bring joy to somebody else. I love it!