Etsy for Everyone

Obsessing about the stats

My Google Analytics stats since starting on Etsy make for funny reading. :)

5 things you need to know about having a domain

This is actually a blog post from 2007, but I figured it was worth an update, since I know many of you are using your Etsy address for your business cards. But - there are many advantages to having your own domain.

1) Leaving your options open
First of all, do not put all your eggs in one basket. What happens if Etsy does something to really p. you off tomorrow, and you close your store? Then you have a whole set of cards that you can just throw away.

Instead, you can buy a domain and either put up a simple site with your Etsy Mini, or just forward the domain to Etsy.

2) Protecting your business name
Ideally, you have a business name where the .com domain is not yet taken. Imagine having a successful Etsy store, and then finding someone else using that name on their own website, possibly taking away business from your shop. They will be found on Google along with your store - you can prevent that by registering a domain.

3) Professional appearance
It just looks much more professional to have www.myshop.com on your business cards instead of www.myshop.etsy.com. And it's easier to remember, too!

4) Choosing a domain
Personally, I would not settle for a .net or .org domain if your .com domain is already taken. Each domain ending communicates a certain image. .org is meant for (non-profit) organizations, .info for info sites, and .net is only second-best.

For anyone outside of the States, I would suggest registering a .com domain along with the address in your country's domain ending. That is one weakness of my current set-up – my business name I only have as .de, which is okay since I do lots of local business; I do also own a different brand name on .com, though, so those two names will eventually be interlaced.

5) Thinking of alternative URLs
So what do you do if your domain is already gone? Go to NameBoy and let them come up with combinations - for example adding "design" or something similar to your business name.

When registering a domain, you don't necessarily need hosting - you can find more info on websites and providers here.

Etsy tools I cannot live without

I have a whole bunch of bookmarks that I use daily when running my shop. Thought I'd share them with you. :)

Craftcult
This is where I keep an eye on my shop and item hearts. Sudden unexpected rise? Then check their featured section, maybe you've been on the frontpage? P.S. It's also handy to sometimes check out the competition, who made it to FP, etc.

Craftopolis
Don't use it as much as I used to, but still very handy for a quick treasury overview - if you have it connected to Google Analytics.

Google Analytics
While I still find it a shame that the stats aren't real-time, they are helpful. I try and get the numbers into my own Excel sheet once a month, to track what worked and what didn't. If you haven't set up GA yet, Etsy has some great resources.

Statcounter
I use Statcounter for my website/ blog. A tad easier to handle than GA, instantaneous updates and lesser choices - I like it. And I stop by there once a day to see if everything looks okay with my website and blog visits.

Project Wonderful
I am over there regularly, as I usually have some ads running and want to switch them around.

Twitter
I love the instantaneous nature of Twitter, Short, concise messages and lots of laughter. Still expanding the people I follow, and the connections you make appeal to me. Hardly ever post actual listings, but do update on my blog posts.

Facebook
I am on FB a lot for private matters, and also try to update the page as much as possible without seeming spammy. Of the two, I prefer Twitter. Want to learn how to pimp your FB page, the way I did? Click here.

Cosaverde
I occasionally check on views and possibly update my Cosaverde page, a market place/ portfolio for "green" products.

Trunkt
I should check way more often on my Trunkt, a wholesale website, but my linesheet isn't done yet, and I am still not comfortable with their new business plan. Need to schedule that in!

Google Reader
My daily blog reading is often done in Google reader. Unless I forgot to add the blog and then get confused. :)

Etsy Hacks
At all times, I have my Etsy hacks set up. It a separate piece of software for Firefox, that makes so many things on Etsy easier by placing additional links etc. Couldn't live without the hacks "copy listing", "bulk image uploader", and "quote post".

I probably forgot stuff - what are your must-have tools or sites when running an Etsy store? Let me know in the comments!

Pimp your Facebook

Falls Ihr den Artikel auf Deutsch haben möchtet, bitte Bescheid sagen! Dann mache ich mich die Tage da noch dran. :)

Assuming that many of you already have a Facebook fan page for your business, I thought it was time to show you how to pimp that page - standing out from the crowd has never been easier!

I am assuming you have some knowledge of handling a graphics program. Check out my Facebook page to see what I did.

Basically, it is an image with a so-called image map, where different links are placed on areas of the image. It sounds more difficult than it is, though. :) The image may look a tad lost on the wide Facebook layout, but FB will soon (August 23rd) limit the width of these pages to 520px, so that is the widest your image can be.

Make your image

Use whatever graphics program you like. I usually work with Fireworks, a free alternative is GIMP. I would probably try and base your image on your banner or website. The image should be max 520px wide. Decide which areas you want to link to from that one image, and incorporate that.

In my case, I link to separate pages on my blog for the Disclaimer and About Me, to the My Etsy tab here on Etsy, to my Etsy, my blog, and my Twitter. So, it really works like a website on Facebook!

Trick for getting the typeface nice and crisp, although it is an image - write the text in Word, take a screenshot and paste that text into your image.

Add the image maps

To easily add which area of the image has which link, without an HTML editor, use Image-Maps. The site is awesome. Click on "browse" to select your background image from your computer, then click "Start mapping your image", the continue to next step.

Click on "Rectangle" on the right side. A rectangle pops up in the upper left corner; click and drag in the middle of that rectangle to move it the part of the image where you want start adding links.

 

Don't forget to click Save after you have adjusted the rectangle size, and added the link and possibly Alt text (the text that appears when you hover above a link.)

Continue doing that for the rest of your image. Once you are done, click "Get your code". Choose CSS Code from the tabs on top, then copy the whole code and paste it into Wordpad or Notepad - easier to adjust.

Upload image

The image needs to be uploaded somewhere, for example to your website hosting or Photobucket. You need to get the address of the image, so you can use that when adjusting the image map code.

Change code

In the code that you just pasted to Notepad, find the part at the beginning that says (for example) background:url(http://www.image-maps.com/uploaded_files/8201007151122591_fbcontent.jpg); - Take your own web address to your image and replace the bold part with that web address. 

For every link, there is one part of the code that says {background:black; border:1px dashed white; etc - unless you want a dashed line to appear for every rectangle box, change the border to 0px for each over the links.

Install Static FBML

FMBL stands for Facebook Mark-up Language, and basically works like HTML. They have an app that allows you to design a Facebook page with web coding. Go to Static FBML on Facebook and click "Add to my page" on the right side underneath the logo; if you have more than one page, you will need to choose which page to add FBML to.

Edit FBML

Go to your fanpage. Click on "Edit Page" on the left side, underneath your profile picture. Click on "Edit" for the Static FBML application.

The Box Title will be the title displayed on the tab. Copy the changed code from your Notepad and paste it in the large field. Save.

Frontpage

You now should have a tab with your new, good looking page - now all we have to do is make sure that people accessing your page see this pretty baby first.

Go to "Edit Page" again, then click "edit" for the Wall Settings. Select your new page from the dropdown menu... and you are done!

Free Etsy banners

Many, many Etsy sellers have difficulty when creating their own banner, which is why many sellers offer professional banner design. But - I do realize that this might not be worth it if you are just starting out.

The easiest way to make a banner is probably with Powerpoint, since almost everyone has that software. Scarlettcat has posted a great tutorial on the forums.

I've taken the liberty of coming up with some easy designs, incorporated them in Powerpoint and added them to my website. More can be found here. Only rule: Do not use these for banners that you sell, but only for your own shop.

You will find the designs below (all with prepared text fields); this is how you can use them.

1) Right-click in the one you like and select "Save target as..."
2) Save the Powerpoint file to your computer
3) Open with Powerpoint - add your company name & change the font
4) If you want to add a product, go to Insert-> Picture from file
5) When adding a picture, be sure to choose a design that allows for that
6) When you are done, go to "Save as...", then select GIF from the dropdown menu
7) Go to Your Etsy, Shop Appearance, and upload the new banner from your computer

 

Not really back, but....

My main blog is 11m2.de now, and I have changed the layout here to make it match.

Etsy for Everyone will remain an archive of useful stuff... and yes, I might sometimes still write more useful stuff. Maybe. :)

Okay, I am currently preparing some more banners. Yes. And some useful stuff about stuff that has changed since I was gone. And... okay, I will post. Sometimes. Not daily, though!

So do yourself a favor and subscribe, and then be a darling and subscribe to my regular blog 11m2.de as well... otherwise you'll be missing half the fun!