Tuesday Tip: Blog Your Etsy

In the interest of adding some regularity, I've decided to make my Tips for Etsians into Tuesday Tips...in other words, I'll be posting a tip (almost) every Tuesday. So you can plan on them! Also, if there's a topic you'd like me to address, please leave a comment and I'll get right on it. ☺

A lot of etsians want to utilize blogging as a way to promote their shops, but once they start the blog, they're not sure what to do next!

The Storque recently posted an article called "Etsy's Guide to Blogging." Whether you have a family-centered blog with occasional etsy mentions, or you have a shop-oriented blog (or both) this article has some great tips for things to make your blog interesting and how to use it for effective promotion of your shop. It's full of suggestions and ideas from a variety of etsians.

Here are a few specific tips:

• Keep your design simple, functional, and user-friendly (that has been my main goal with the setup of this blog--how am I doing?!) Remember that fancy widgets or a complex layout may take a long time to load for viewers with slower connection speeds, and if they can't load your page, they're not likely to visit again!
  
• Post regularly--consider having regular series' such as my "Tuesday Tips" or Stormy Designs' "Friday's Featured Crafter."
  
• Join the EtsyBloggers Team--they do a lot of cross-promoting and blog carnivals, as well as things like featuring each member's etsy mini on the team blog on the member's birthday.
• Post about other Etsians and their shops--it keeps your blog more diverse and interesting, and the good karma comes around!
• Link to other Etsian's blogs.
• Blog about what inspires you, your creative process, or do a little 'get to know me' from time to time.
  
• Be interactive--post polls or ask questions.
  
• Use a lot of photos.
• Make sure to have your etsy mini posted on your blog!
• Visit other blogs and leave comments--genuine comments. Most people will come back and visit you when you do. ☺