If you are going to sell products on the web you inevitably find that you can have the greatest website, blog, or products but unless you can drive traffic to your site, your products can remain an undiscovered treasure. I recommend a three prong approach. The first thing every business needs is a place for potential customers to view and/or purchase your products. If you sell you jewelry, for instance, at craft fairs or other venues, a web presence will make you look more professional and provide a way for people to shop your product from anywhere in the world. You can use a great site builder like Web Store Now to easily create an affordable and professional full e-commerce site yourself or have it built for you for a small investment.

The second thing that I would recommend is to create a blog. A blog is a great way to promote your site, increase traffic to your site, and catalog useful information pertaining to your products. Your blog should be business oriented and interesting, but not be about the recent tricks you just taught your dog. If you want a personal blog, create a different blog and use it for that purpose.
I recommend a site called Blogger Buster for some great tips and templates to create a fabulous looking blog.
The third suggestion is to start a store on a site like Etsy. It is free except your listing/selling fees, which are very low. Many people just have an Etsy site but doing that does limit the customers that you will have. A customer must be a member of Etsy to purchase and typically must use PayPal. Having both Etsy and a website allows you more flexibility. Your website can be very customized and have any information that you wish, whereas Etsy only allows a short profile and intro. Your website also allows you to have a domain name like www.mystore.com and email accounts (yourname@mystore.com) that are specific to your site. Having all three of these resources provides a well rounded way to drive traffic to your site and different mediums to get out the word about how great your products are and why your customer can't live without them. Best of luck with your business!!

I've always wanted to try etching. I love the look and was excited to find a tutorial written by Etsy seller Copperheart. She describes in detail the etching process with great pictures and descriptions.


In Copperheart's words: "The basic principle of etching any metal is to apply a substance to the surface of the metal which will resist the bite of the etching solution. This substance is called resist. Once the resist is applied, all you have to do is submerge the piece in the etching solution and wait for it to etch."

I can't wait to give it a try. Check out this great tutorial at the Copperheart Blog.

If you are ready for a fresh and fun new header then you definitely need to check out Pixel Cafe- a great one stop shopping place for custom headers. If you are not sure what a "header" is then you can doubly benefit from having one professionally created. A header is the graphic that tops your web page, blog, Etsy shop, etc... and is key to grabbing the potential shopper or readers attention and keeping them on your site.
Pixel Cafe offers a large selection of custom graphics for your header, avatar, etc.. The great thing about this shop is that Pixel Cafe will incorporate your business name and theme providing you with a unique and custom look.

In her profile the owner of Pixel Cafe describes her shop and design style. She says, "I am a full time graphic designer and design everything from avatars to web design and just about everything in between. My tastes are a little bit more modern/contemporary. I love vintage and retro styles."
That definitely sounds right up my ally. I love the fun, whimsical, floral, and vintage style of Pixel Cafe. Visit Pixel Cafe at: http://www.pixelcafe.etsy.com

So you're ready to put your business on the internet, to take advantage of the money-making potential it offers. You may have used other builders, software, paid your next door neighbors kid to build you a website, or even tried learning how to program yourself.

In less than five minutes you can have a website for your business or personal site live on the internet.

Many people just like you have used WebStoreNow to build professional websites, complete with web pages, photo albums, email, links and more without ever having built a website before. I'm a jewelry designer (my husband is a software engineer) and wanted to create a site that would make it easy for fellow art and craft business people to have the benefits of a website without the hassle and need to be a web designer.You can check it out for a ten day free trial at : http://www.webstorenow.com

How would you like to see your jewelry in a glossy coffee table book? I came across this great opportunity for promoting your business on Etsy thanks to TimothyAdamDesigns. He has created the "Handbook to Handmade"- a monthly volume of 35 artists and their shops...this book makes a great promotional tool to promote your shop or website.

I came across this great tutorial from Etsy seller, Nicole Isaacs. She is really funny and offers a great ring tutorial for the beginning silversmith. Her profile shows her sense of humor when she describes her site, in her own words as "documenting my real-life attempt at starting my own jewelry business. Metalworking and online sales, etsy business vs own website. And some bunnies thrown in."

Ring Tutorial: