Forum Promotion! How does it help you.

[Chainmaille By MBOI]

So how does forum promotion help you. Well in short it gets people to see your stuff and hopefully go to your shop.
So how do you do it?
There are multiple ways to promote the forum, which in turn promotes handmade, which in turn promotes your stuff.
The reason I'm posting this is I'm getting tired of promoting by myself. Now don't get mad!
I want to take a minute to thank all the people that have put the badge on your blogs. I have google alerts set up on my computer and I know when someone puts the badge up, I typically follow their blog and comment on their posts to show a little support for their participation in the forum.

Also I've noticed a lot of people using twitter, I try to re-tweet their posts in an effort to support what their doing to help them self and the forum.

So don't think I'm complaining, It's just that this movement to support handmade is taking a lot of work on my part and with now 390 members and only a couple of dozen people helping promote, I'm getting tired.

So what can you do?

First of all grab a badge! And stick it on your blog or website.
Second, when you open up any thread there is a white box on the upper right hand side that says bookmark. Click it. Go ahead don't be scared. There are over 50 different sites that you can use to promote your post or a post of another member that you like.

I use twitter, plurk, reddit, stumbleupon to name a few.
I have many others also like blogs, squiddo, hubpages, and what have you.

The point I'm trying to make is if everyone tweets, or stumbles, or something everyday it will get more people looking at your stuff than you can count.

Last month alone we got 163,535 hits, this month we are already up to 67,036 hits. (To see the stats click on more stats on the bottom left of the forums' main page) That's a lot more than any of my blogs or websites get and I assume it's more than you guys get. So what it means is people are seeing your stuff. We've had several members speaking of  their stats going up on their Etsy shops so I know it works.

I also know that it could be much better. So I'm asking for the members to get involved with a little daily promotion to help build membership and to help build visitors.

If everyone does their part it will help all of us. We are really trying to provide a free service to the handmade community and I think it's working, I just know I'm getting tired.

So join in and help promote.

Thanks so much for your participation.

Andrew

[handcrafts]

So how does forum promotion help you. Well in short it gets people to see your stuff and hopefully go to your shop.
So how do you do it?
There are multiple ways to promote the forum, which in turn promotes handmade, which in turn promotes your stuff.
The reason I'm posting this is I'm getting tired of promoting by myself. Now don't get mad!
I want to take a minute to thank all the people that have put the badge on your blogs. I have google alerts set up on my computer and I know when someone puts the badge up, I typically follow their blog and comment on their posts to show a little support for their participation in the forum.

Also I've noticed a lot of people using twitter, I try to re-tweet their posts in an effort to support what their doing to help them self and the forum.

So don't think I'm complaining, It's just that this movement to support handmade is taking a lot of work on my part and with now 390 members and only a couple of dozen people helping promote, I'm getting tired.

So what can you do?

First of all grab a badge! And stick it on your blog or website.
Second, when you open up any thread there is a white box on the upper right hand side that says bookmark. Click it. Go ahead don't be scared. There are over 50 different sites that you can use to promote your post or a post of another member that you like.

I use twitter, plurk, reddit, stumbleupon to name a few.
I have many others also like blogs, squiddo, hubpages, and what have you.

The point I'm trying to make is if everyone tweets, or stumbles, or something everyday it will get more people looking at your stuff than you can count.

Last month alone we got 163,535 hits, this month we are already up to 67,036 hits. (To see the stats click on more stats on the bottom left of the forums' main page) That's a lot more than any of my blogs or websites get and I assume it's more than you guys get. So what it means is people are seeing your stuff. We've had several members speaking of  their stats going up on their Etsy shops so I know it works.

I also know that it could be much better. So I'm asking for the members to get involved with a little daily promotion to help build membership and to help build visitors.

If everyone does their part it will help all of us. We are really trying to provide a free service to the handmade community and I think it's working, I just know I'm getting tired.

So join in and help promote.

Thanks so much for your participation.

Andrew

i bookmarked you on a couple of sites now how do i bookmark myself?

[MakinTheBestOfIt]

One thing that Andrew didn't mention...we will be taking a few family trips as well as Cub Scout camps this summer and internet will be spotty at best at in a few of these places.  I don't want to see our stats/view drop and by building a following and promotion it will carry through the times when Andrew isn't around as much.

[Twas Brillig]

I'm sort of a newbie to this whole online promotion thing...learning the ropes, so to speak! But, I'm a firm believer in word of mouth advertising as well as in banding together as a group in order to help each other succeed! (work together, succeed together)  I'm definitely willing to help and have already tweeted a few threads and pages from this forum. I plan on continuing to do so, probably daily! I also have a blog that I would be willing to use to feature the Handmade Forum and its artisan members. Perhaps interview-style blog posts? Write ups? Suggestions are welcome!! 

Like I said, I'm fairly new to this but willing to learn!

-Nancy

http://in-uffish-thought.blogspot.com
http://brillig.shophandmade.com
http://whiffling-through-the-tulgey-wood.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/twas_brillig
http://fbook.me/nancyrawlinson

[tollykit]

I'm also relatively new to this online promoting idea but I am willing to help in anyway I can.  Just let me know what I can do.

[pamstudio]

Good morning Andrew~
  I'm new to the forum and believe it or not new to the computer. I'm much more at home in my shop creating than doing this. However, I would love to help promote and could not find our team on Etsy. What am I doing wrong??? I've got an etsy site that's getting like NO hits....so whatever I can do I'm more than willing. Just give me a little guidance. Thanks. Pam

[MakinTheBestOfIt]

I'm so excited to see people that want to help the handmade movement...that is really the purpose of this forum.  Mr. MBOI (Andrew) and I have been walking street fairs and such encouraging those that are handmade to check out the forum as well as offering support when you see them up against the mass produced in the next booth.

Now, to help...If you have a web site or blog, you can grab the forum badge code off the right hand sidebar and display it proudly.  Also, we have a blog that always needs articles.  You can check it out here http://handmadeartistsforum.com/ .  If you blog and would like to feature a member or write about handmade and invite others to check us out, we would all be grateful.  You  can also Twitter and Stumbleupon any thread that you see.  Basically anything to get the word out!  This type of promotion not only boosts handmade in general, but gives you and your work more exposure.

If you are interested in letting us help you, check out this thread http://handmadeartistsforum.com/forum/index.php/topic,202.0.html .  The 125 ads you see on the right sidebar are our way of promoting the forum members for free.  Submit an ad and we will enter you into the rotation giving you some free advertising space.  These ads are also shown on the blog...more free space for you!

I am a firm believer that word of mouth works.  I've gotten many orders on my own site that start out as "I was talking to my friend and you did her toasting glasses and would like you to do mine." 

Andrew and I are excited to see so many people being creative, asking questions and showing off their talents!  We have tried to raise our boys to appreciate and doing for themselves and seeing the beauty in artisan work.  We don't want to live in a mass produced world where art is looked down upon in any way so thanks for the encouragement and the willingness to help us promote the forum and you!

[5oclockcrows]

I'm pretty new to internet promotion too, but I've been working on my blog and getting my shops stocked and running. I'd love to help- I put a badge on the blog, and I'll start doing some bookmarking and RTing.

Thanks for everything you guys are doing- this is great!

[GravelRdJewelry]

Hi,
I don't have a blog but I do tweet a lot and will be more than happy to start including tweets for HAF. Do we have a hashtag for twitter so that it's easier to find our tweets? If so I'd like to use it...just let me know. I also have a Facebook page and can post about AHF there too, although I'm not on there nearly as much as on Twitter. Glad to help...
~Bonnie : )

[mookiejones]

i'm in. i love this site. will tweet and do what i can. sadly i don't have a blog. not yet. and am new to this online promo thing.

[MakinTheBestOfIt]

Tweeting is huge!  A few have gotten sales from tweets and retweets (saying that out loud makes me giggle for some reason).  Every little bit from every member will add up to a lot of promotion.

[Jeanne]

I know that I don't sell or Twitter, but will make blog posts promoting the group.  I added a post today and if you think of something else I can do, please let me know or if I could have added something else to this post to help.

http://gammiebrat.blogspot.com/

Jeanne

[lisianblue]

Jeanne you're awesome!

Andrew and Kimberly You two are super awesome!  - you two put so much into this - I keep trying to remember to tweet things from the forum - I have so many irons in the fire, I have a hard time keeping up with them all - but will try harder to remember to tweet more! 
Now if I could just get the badge to work on ArtFire!! 

[memoriesinmosaics]

I have a blog and put the badge on it. I will also feature artist from here if anyone wants. I also have a "favorites" I post on my blog and will do one with just HAF members. Anything I can do let me know. I am still trying to figure everything out on this site.
Christine

[lisianblue]

And I know at least one person who got a sale as a result of being seen in the forum - no it wasn't me - I was the buyer! 

Andrew and Kimberly - you two do a lot and it is so appreciated!  you may not want to post it here - but let me know what dates you will be gone - and I will try to tweet as much as possible - I really think that supporting each other helps us all out in the long run, and besides it's just more fun to find even more cool creations that people do!  And there is such a wonderfully supportive and fun atmosphere here - I often find myself looking at the clock and going OMG - I've been here for hours!  Guess i should make it time out at an hour instead of a day!    lolo easier to just stay logged in!