The Halo Effect is Moving!

 

Warmly,

Danielle

Happy Small Business Saturday!

Head on over to ConstantlyAlice and check out a list of some really wonderful small businesses.  And remember to shop small this holiday season!

Warmly,
Danielle

Fa-la-la-la Festive!: Update Your Etsy Shop for the Holiday Season!

Warmly,

Danielle

Have you joined Etsy’s Holiday Boot Camp yet?

We are fast approaching the busiest time of year for Etsy sales! Last year, my shop made 68% of it’s sales between the months of October and December (!!), so it goes without saying that if you haven’t already begun to get your small business into tip top shape for the holidays, now is the time!

The best place to begin is on Etsy itself. Follow this link and sign up for holiday boot camp. You’ll get bi-weekly emails telling you how to prepare for the busy season.

Some other things to note that have helped me immensely (some of which you will find on etsy’s blog, and some which are all my own trial and error.)

• To avoid confusion, make sure your shop policies and shipping terms are current and as clear as possible.  Consider if you will plan to add any special rush shipping policies for the holiday and make sure to promote them in your listings.
• Wouldn’t you love to order an item and receive it already wrapped up beautifully?  So would your customers!  Consider special packaging for the holiday season (this is also a great opportunity to spread the word about your business!  Add a logo sticker to your box, or tuck a business card inside.  That way you introduce your shop to whomever receives your item as a gift.)
• Consider participating in either Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving in the US, 11/29), Small Business Saturday (11/30) or Cyber Monday (12/2).  These are HUGE shopping days and a great time to offer a discount or deal.
• Now is the time to consider listing holiday themed items if they are appropriate for your shop.  Also, consider what items in your shop would make a great gift and explain why in your listing!  Use tags like “gifts under $20”, “stocking stuffer”, “gifts for him” to help narrow down the search for your shoppers.
• Update your shop banner with something festive.  Maybe just add snowflakes, holly berries or a little red bow to your current banner using Picmonkey.
• Use your social media accounts to get festive!  Blog about your shop items and who they would make a great gift for.  Share your favorite seasonal songs on facebook or twitter, or share a favorite holiday recipe!
• Consider a collaborative.  I belong to a group of wonderful Etsy shop owners on facebook.  They are a font of useful information and they are great partners for holiday promotions!

As always, please feel free to email me with any of your questions or if you’d like a review of your shop for suggestions!

Warmly,

Danielle

Printable Halloween Invitation Now Available!

 

Find Halloween invitations now at The Halo Effect!

Top 10 Books for Etsy Entrepreneurs

I am always looking for new and better information on how to grow my Etsy business. I’ve read every book on this list and can highly recommend each one as an excellent resource.

• Etsy-preneurship: Everything You Need to Know to Turn Your Handmade Hobby into a Thriving Business by Jason Malinak
• How to Make Money Using Etsy: A Guide to the Online Marketplace for Crafts and Handmade Products by Timothy Adam
• Grow Your Handmade Business: How to Envision, Develop and Sustain a Successful Creative Business by Kari Chapin
• The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally and Online by Kari Chapin
• How to Sell Your Crafts Online: A Step-by-Step Guide to Successful Sales on Etsy and Beyond by Derrick Sutton
• The Right Brain Business Plan: A Creative, Visual Map for Success by Jennifer Lee, Kate Prentiss and Chris Guillebeau
• The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau
• Handmade to Sell: Hello Craft’s Guide to Owning, Running and Growing Your Crafty Biz by Kelly Rand, Christine Ernest, Sara Dick and Kimberly Dorn
• Craft, Inc: The Ultimate Guide to Turning Your Creative Hobby into a Successful Business by Meg Mateo Ilasco
• Creative, Inc: The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Business by Joy Deangdeelert Cho and Meg Mateo Ilasco

I’d love to hear some of your favorites!  Feel free to add to the list in the comments below.

Warmly,

Danielle

Photo Composition 101 for your Etsy shop

Check out this month’s edition of Whimsy for a great article on photo composition for your product photography by AngsanaSeeds Photography.

Just follow this link!

Warmly,
Danielle

Paying for Facebook Ads is a Waste of Your Money

Are you throwing your marketing budget out the window?

Small businesses typically have small marketing budgets. You want to get the most bang for your buck..facebook ads are NOT the way to go.

How do I know? I learned the hard way.

When facebook started hiding business pages from feeds and insisting that people pay for views and likes, I was disgruntled (as I’m sure many of you were.) I had taken the time to build up my following and now they wouldn’t be able to see what I had to share unless I paid for it?

Fine.

I started small. I ran an ad for ConstantlyAlice a few days for $20. I got TONS of likes. Unfortunately, those likes were useless. There was a lot of suspicious activity surrounding them..they all came in at one time, they had strange profile pages with impersonal photos and no page interaction from the page owners. I started to suspect they were dummy pages and didn’t renew my ad campaign after it was done.

Then, I started The Halo Effect and Connie and Allie. I figured to get my facebook pages off the ground, I would run another ad for “likes”. I ran the ads simultaneously, and guess what I discovered? Even though the two pages have different target markets (Connie and Allie is for girls clothing and accessories and The Halo Effect is marketing and graphic design) the same people were liking both pages..at the same time. Additionally, I started receiving spam emails on both pages about going to another website to receive “40-60 quality likes”. That was the nail in the coffin for me.

The bottom line is, there is no value in a number of likes on a page if those people are not going to engage with you. You want followers and customers who are there because they are interested in what you have to share.

Don’t get me wrong. Social media is a great free marketing tool. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ are all excellent ways of engaging with your customers and helping to get your message out.

But you need to build your following with people who care about you and your business, who will share your posts and interact with you. You want customers who support you and your message.

So how do you do that?

You produce quality content..and you do it consistently over and over. You offer value to your customers, not only with an excellent product, but with information, engagement and great customer service. You let your friends know you’re in business (this is where the “share a page” button comes in far more useful on facebook than paying for an ad.)

Talk to your customers. Find out what they want. Run a poll and ask them what you can provide for them. Track your sales and see what is your most successful item, then build a better version.

Your followers might build up a little slower, but they will be genuine and you’ll both benefit from it.

Warmly,
Danielle

PS. If you’re a small business looking for good quality, inexpensive marketing, you can contact me about advertising in the next edition of “Whimsy” magazine here.

Welcome to The Halo Effect Blog!

Want a free assessment of your Etsy shop? Read on!

The Halo Effect is my Etsy shop (one of several actually) born out of love for the new graphic design skills I learned while developing my small business.

ConstantlyAlice Thank you cards, designed by The Halo Effect

To begin at the beginning, a few years ago, I started ConstantlyAlice, an etsy shop for “one of a kind people” that sells unique vintage and handcrafted items to people who don’t want to buy the mass market, homogenized items found in big box stores.

I learned a lot from that shop. I went from (pretty lame) photography to signature pictures that really identify my brand. I started a blog where I shared DIY, vintage inspiration, and a love of whimsy and quirk. After a while, I decided to try my hand at building a website where I could focus my blog and shop in one place. I chose WordPress as my platform, hosted it through Godaddy and proceeded to teach myself basic html to customize my site. After lots of trial and error, I got the site to look the way I wanted it..then I decided to launch The Halo Effect, a second Etsy store where I could sell paper goods, art and graphic design services created with what I’d learned. More recently, I branched out ConstantlyAlice to include Connie & Allie, retro inspired clothing, accessories and gifts for girls.

I decided to add this blog to my growing business “empire” because I want to help other etsy sellers and small business owners by sharing what I’ve learned. Most of the tools I used to market and build my businesses are free, web based services that are readily available to anyone with access to the internet. This blog will offer small business tutorials, logo and web design help and marketing tools to develop their own skills.

So lets get started! To begin with, if you own an etsy shop and would like me to give you a free assessment, go ahead and leave a link to your shop in the comments below. I will review your shop and message you on facebook with some suggestions on how to improve your shop with a few simple tips.

I look forward to learning more about you and why you love to sell on easy!

Warmly,
Danielle