This is the question that I get asked probably the most by my followers as they watch the numbers on the side grow each day. I wish I could tell you that it magically grows overnight like the bean that Jack ‘foolishly’ traded his mother’s cow for, but that’s far from the truth.
Just like with your Etsy shop (or any site online), if you build it, they will not come on their own. You have to start to lead them.
But who do you lead?
Well, that is certainly the root of the question, and possibly the problem if your sales have been a bit low. If you just stand on your rooftop and shout about your business, your neighbors might be interested but the school bus driver will probably ignore you completely since he doesn’t care about knit doilies. What you need to do is focus on your target market. And yes, I know you’ve heard it a million times, but this really IS the most important part of your marketing plan. If you don’t know who your target market is, you’re going to waste time and money trying to appeal to everyone.
So how do you figure out your target market?
I sat down last week to figure this one out. I pulled up my Facebook fan page stats, reviewed my Etsy buyers, and analyzed my work. What I came with was this:
My target market is females, age 25-45, middle-class, educated. English teachers, book reviewers, and fantasy and fairy tale lovers are their jobs/interests.
She might like my work.
Or him.
And certainly she will.
Now that I know who my target market is, I can find their blogs and lead them to mine. Google is great for this because it has the option to search blogs (under the More tab on the main search screen). For me, I type in fairy tales, English teacher, fantasy, fantasy book reviews. I scan through their blogs and find some that I really enjoy. Then I’ll leave a meaningful comment and perhaps give a little blurb about what I do if it relates to the post.
If you’re like me, you return comments when people comment on your blogs. And this seems to be proper blog etiquette the world over. So, once I leave a comment on their blog, I may notice the next day that I have a new follower, fan, or (hopefully) buyer.
The other day, for example, I stumbled upon the blog (http://intothehermitage.blogspot.com/) of an amazing fairy tale illustrator who actually lives in a rolling caravan. She prefers the gypsy life and lives for her art.
If you’d like to know a little bit more about searching for blogs on Google, you NEED to start following this woman’s blog (http://onthedotcreations.typepad.com/fine_tooth_comb/). She helps Etsy artists out by putting their listings on her sites and giving them new ideas for tags. (I have the honor of being scheduled for May 20th for her tag help. Yay!).
Also, Bess from English Muffin (http://englishmuffinblog.blogspot.com/) has a fantastic series Small Business, Small Steps. This is an invaluable series for a small business owner. Bess is also making the leap right now to becoming a full-time artist.
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