Selling Your Crafts - Get Some Link Love!

By Bob Beacham

If you're serious about selling your crafts on the internet you probably have to go into areas that you're maybe not to familiar with just yet. Things with unfathomable three letter acronyms like SEO. Well let's de-mistify (and simplify) SEO right now!

SEO just stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is a flashy way of saying something quite obvious - that you want your blog or website to be as attractive to the search engines as possible. Makes sense, yes? The more attractive your craft blog, the more people visit. More people is inevitably more potential customers. Now you can advertise to get them, of course, but that costs money. If we can get a bit of SEO in there, that's free.

Unless I miss my guess, when you're building your craft business your budget is probably pretty tight. Free sounds really good!

One SEO area is what we call "link love" and it will definitely help your blog or website popularity. Stands to reason that will will help selling your crafts.

Link love is not to be confused with having a links page where you put all your favorite craft blogs and websites, because frankly that's a bit of a waste of time. You see when Google looks at your blog it wants to see who is pointing at you, not who you are pointing at. If sites it considers important, or relevant, are pointing at you, it considers you more important. It puts you higher up the rankings.

Getting that link love working for you perhaps requires a more professional attitude than before. Those links going out are a waste of space... mostly.

If someone gets in touch with you and wants a link, it's pointless just putting that link up. What you want is a "reciprocal" link - them linking back to you. That way you both benefit and it costs you nothing. Of course if your craft is knitting and they're a firm of architects it's all pointless anyway - relevant links is key. What's the point of an architect linking to you? None.

Of course you can reverse this process and politely ask other sites to exchange links. You can also post comments on other people's craft blogs - which usually gives you the opportunity to add you web address. Don't abuse this or people will just delete your posts but it's that magic word "relevant" again. make a relevant, interesting or informative comment and you have another link back. What's more, people will see your comment and follow that link so you get real eyes on your site as well as the search engines!

I'll look into more free SEO tactics in my next article. Individually they may not make a massive difference overnight but they're easy, fast to do and the cumulative effect will have a huge effect on the business of selling your crafts.

Link love is just one of many free ways to improve your craft sales. There's more invaluable information at Selling Your Crafts where you can also pick up your free copy of the highly acclaimed fact file "Craft Success Online".

How to Sell Your Crochet Or Knit Items - Hot Weather Favorites

By Evelyn Mayfield

Selling your hand knit or crochet items online means facing a lot of stiff competition. One way to stay ahead is to take advantage of the seasons. Here are three tips on what to sell during the hot weather, an easy way to check your competition, and how to create attention-getting item titles.

In the hot weather, three hand knit or crochet items stand out as in-demand: coasters, beverages cozies or sweaters, and decorated flip flops.

Check the Competition

A great site for researching current offers is Etsy, an online handmade crafter's mall. Do a search. Be specific. Try "crochet coasters" or "knit cozies" or "decorated flip flops." You can see prices as well as descriptions which help you to choose the right designs for your own offers.

Coasters

Coasters are always needed in hot weather. Glasses, cans and bottles of water sweat, indoors as well as outdoors. When you make these, be sure to use cotton thread or cotton worsted. The cotton absorbs the moisture longer and better than acrylic yarns do. Try to find a way to make your items different, a way to make them stand out by way of color, size, or design.

Beverage Cozies

These are known by many names: glass (or can or bottle) cozies, sweaters, or sleeves. They are knitted or crocheted "cups" that allow you to slip a can or bottle or glass into them, containing the moisture and keeping the beverage cooler longer. They are great for both indoors and outdoors. Be sure to check the competition and try to find an angle no one else is using. This can be color, style, or size. Like the coasters, these should be cotton thread or cotton worsted to better absorb the moisture

Decorated Flip Flops

Bare feet beg for cute, funky, or pretty decorated flip flops. A quick check of the Etsy site will show you the many ways this is done. Some are small add-on's attached at the toe strap. Others are decorated all along the top thongs. As in coasters and cozies, find a niche, something that nobody else is doing, either in color or style.

Item Titles Attract and Sell

Don't just list your items as Crochet Coasters. Look at the color or design. Try "Coasters - Lemon Delight." For Decorated Flip Flops, try something like "Flip Flops - Sweet Pink Feet."

Finally, remember that the seasons help you sell your hand knit or crochet items. Work with the long, hot summer and be pleasantly surprised.

See an example of how I made beverage cozies a little different by adding popcorn stitches at the top so hands won't slide up the can or glass, and "packaged" a set as a "family assortment," in my shop http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26538361

Evelyn Mayfield ha been writing and editing for over 30 years, and crocheting all her life. She spends her time writing, crafting, and blogging. She is the author of the paperback, The Busy Person's Prayer Book, and sells her handcrafts on Etsy. Etsy Crafts -- http://www.evelynmayfield.etsy.com

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For more information on Selling Crafts, see www.myguidetocrafts.com.

If you enjoy BirdHouse Decor, see www.kamsgifts.com.