My Online Business Journey

       I have been reading lot of articles lately about promoting your online business and, based on my own personal experience, it is one of the hardest things I've ever done! For years I either sold my artisan jewelry via consignment or wholesale orders to shops with the occasional craft fair or home party thrown in. I decided to join Etsy back in 2008 on the recommendation of a friend and really had no idea how to go about things. All the helpful tips about SEO and social networking provided for people new to the online scene from sites such as Handmadeology and Unanimous Craft were either hard to track down or non-existent. And if you didn't know about those things in the first place how would you know to look for information on them? I remember taking not-so-good photos of my work (I still cringe when I look back at those photos and to think - some lovely people bought those items!), bought a  few showcase spots a few months after opening up shop, added an item here and there and that was it! I didn't even really know about relisting! Even though the competition for jewelry vendors was much less then than it is now, needless to say I didn't get many views or sales.
       After working for 2 years on my shop photos ( I will post another article about that journey!), trying to join all the pertinent social sites - ie. Facebook, Twitter, my blog here, Flickr, etc. , joining the Jewelry on Etsy Team and especially my treasury teams - I noticed a huge increase in views and sales from when I first started  - still not as much as I would like based on those "quit your day job" articles, but definitely enough to supplement my wholesale income. Currently I am still struggling to have my shop be seen but when I get comments from my customers, Etsy visitors and shop owners that they really like my items and/or photos, it makes all the hard work worthwhile! I would love for you to visit my shop and give me any feedback you may have! Here it is - Fuchsia Bloom Studio.