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Sunday, April 29, 2012
Vintage Book Photo Album: D.I.Y


I love vintage and this lovely Vintage Photo Album D.I.Y by Carly Kmyta is fantastic. Made with a few inexpensive items ( old book, scrapbooking photo corners and a sheet of alphabet stickers), this is a great "recycle" project and easy to make.


For the full tutorial go to Carly Kmyta
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Sunday, April 22, 2012
Snapshot: Three Nails Photography

If you have never heard or seen Three Nails Photography , you are definately missing out. Based out of Shreveport, Louisiana, this self taught photographer has modern "vintage" style that we all know I happen to love. The light and composition choices are fantastic and not to mention the website is lovely. Take a gander.....

I love this "Rainbow" wedding, all its missing is the Rainbow Cake ! Though I do wish the bride had chosen less "frumpy" designs for the bridesmaids .......


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Sunday, April 15, 2012
Whoring Your Business Out: 39 Sites To Advertise Your Products

Though by no means am I an expert in marketing , but since I started my business I am constantly looking for new ways to advertise or some might say "whore out " my business . Advertising is really "Trial and Error" and some of these methods work better than others. It is really up to you to decide what works best for your company, budget and structure...but of course that is the great thing about advertising, if something doesn't work, then you can easily change it.


The following are a list of ways and places to promote your business...
  1. Flikr: Online Photo Sharing Website ( great to store photos for your own website & share)


  2. Indie Public: Independent Art & Design community that is a place to share your items as well as speak with other artist in your field or elsewhere. You can sign up with your Google account and it includes options to "customize" your page.


  3. Kaboodle: is a social shopping community where people discover, recommend and share products. You can create groups and share your products or others and hit a wide audience.


  4. Craigslist: is not just for perverts and theives, it is actually a good place to advertise your products and for free under "services". You do not have to meet anyone, just direct them to your website or email.


  5. Postaroo: is an online classifed ad community similar to Craigslist . Though currently it is "invite only" if you add your email to the list they will update you when it will be open.


  6. Stumbleupon: is site that members (free to join) can recommend or "Stumble Upon" web pages that interest them. You can then discover and review/rate web pages, photos, and videos,"like or dislike" pages so that they can tailor what they find for you.


  7. Bust.com: is an online as well as paper magazine that celebrates handmade. They sponser there own "Craftaculars" which are craft shows around the U.S and London but they also are a good place to advertise. Just be prepared to pay a little extra for it.


  8. Craft Juice: is basically a social networking site for all things handmade. You can submit any item that you would like and the item goes out to a community of 5, 000+ . The way that you become "popular" and seen by more people thru votes. The more the community votes for your item, the more its seen......it is essentially a giant popularity contest.


  9. Craft Stylish: is an online (free member only) community where you can create a public profile of your work, promote your blog, tutorials or share photos of your work.


  10. Crafty Tips: is similar to Craft Stylish where a person can share thier work or crafting tips/tricks with other members.


  11. Designs to Love: is similar to Kaboodle, where members (free to sign up) can share with others products that they love.


  12. Try Handmade: is great handmade blog that sellers can submit pics to the gallery and if picked a possible write up will ensue. Also great resource to chat and discover other artist.


  13. Cool Mom Picks: is a blog that is geared towards products for mothers and kids. There is a section to submit your picks for review as well.


  14. Craft Gawker: is a photo gallery that allows you to visually search and discover handmade arts and crafts to inspire your own projects. They publish photography submitted by craft bloggers from around the world and the editors review submissions daily and choose the highest quality, coolest images to showcase. Though you can submit any handmade item (within the rules) they do have other sites such as Food Gawker, Wedding Gawker and Dwelling Gawker that are obviously catagory specific. I have personally recieved alot of traffic from the site and any one can submit to them, even your customers.


  15. Etsy Lush: is a picture based advertising site similar to Craft Gawker , that only accepts handmade submits from Etsy stores. Any Etsy seller of handmade goods can submit an item ( url) and upon approval it will be placed on the site with the link to the product. There are a list of Do's and Don'ts , so make sure to read the FAQ's thoroughly. Also you are only allowed to submit 1 picture within a 24 hour period and if you "abuse" that rule you could be blocked from the site.


  16. Pintrest: is a website that you can essentially make online "pin" boards in a similar fashion like Etsy Treasuries from anything/picture found on the web. In addition , you can browse other "Pin" boards that other people have made so that you can discover new things. Because it encompasses the whole web, you can make a "pin board" about anything, but the most popular are pin boards about weddings, home decor and food.


  17. Squidoo: is basically webpages or "lens" about what ever you would like to say/promote similar to a Facebook Page. You can find a variety of "lens" about things such as cooking and technology to shopping and how-to's. The best thing is that you can create as many "len's" as you would like. You can also make money from the site when someone clicks on your page ad. This is a great site if you have a variety of interest that may not specifically pertain to your company, but you can link your products to.


  18. 100 Craft Links: is exactly as it sounds, a site where you can list your shop with a "text" link.


  19. tumblr.com : Join and add items from your shop. People can follow you and you can follow them. Also can act as an inexpensive web page


  20. Wanelo: Social store similar to Kaboodle, where users post, collect and organize products and follow people and stores they like. You can sign in with an existing facebook account or via email.


  21. We Heart It: is similar to Pintrest , where users share images and products from the web.


  22. Artchain.com : A free directory that list your shop. Just add your shope where it says "Submit Artist Listing"


  23. Thefind.com : is a site similar to Kaboodle, where a user can find and recommend sites to other users. You can sign in with your existing Facebook or email, just go to the bottom where it says "submit a site" and put your shop or website in.


  24. Ravelry : is a community based site specifically for crocheters,knitters or anything that has to do with fibers and yarn.


  25. things people make: Is a sight to upload and promote your products as well as tutorials or blog. You can sign in using Facebook.


  26. My handmade Registry: Allows you to list items from your shop


  27. Craftcult: Though this is know to be have tools for Etsy users, they do have advertising options that can bring traffic


  28. Indiepublic: Is a community based site where you can create your own page with your products, share ideas and etc


  29. Pearl Trees : is similiar to We heart It or Pintrest , where you can collect ,organize and share interesting things on the web.


  30. Wist: is similiar to We heart It or Pintrest , where you can collect ,organize and share interesting things on the web as well as make a slideshow for your blog )


  31. Snipi: is also similiar to the above, but you can also share video as well, so if you have a video tutorial, it is easy to add.


  32. Crafters Buzz: will only link to your shop, but can advertise single items


  33. Unanimouscraft: is a directory for crafter to submit links to shop


  34. Etsy Shops Directory: Is a site specifically for Etsy Shop Owners that are allowed to add your shop to their directory.


  35. Etsy Love: Is similiar to Indipublic where users can set up a page for their Etsy Shop.


  36. Bloglovin': Is a central site for those of you who have a blog as a promotional tool. Just add it to Bloglovin' to get followers

  37. Indie Quarter: A site similar to Craft Gawker where you can submit your site to be featured.
  38. Indie Spotting: submit a find to get featured or you can just advertise with them.
  39. This Next: is similar to Kaboodle where users can recommend products.
Don't forget to check out our other post " Social Media For Your Business:Whoring Out Your Facebook and Twitter"
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Sunday, April 8, 2012
JAM LABELIZER: JAM LABEL GENERATOR

This Jam Labelizer from Andy Biggs is a great label generator that allows you to choose a design, pick colors, and type your own words. You can then download a high-resolution file for printing or there are two designs that allow you to upload your own photo, whether it is a customized design or a picture of yourself. Of course you dont have to just use these for jam, these are also great for as other food labels, presents, bookplates and more.

Please note that some of the designs are for premium members for a minimal fee of $5 ( for web hosting , design and etc) or you can just stick with the great free ones.
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