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| The Sweet Spot In Marketing |
Unique ideas and creativity in marketing is the sweet spot in selling. When many sellers joined Etsy, Ebay, Amazon and other high-traffic venues, they never learned how to market. The marketing was done for them, traffic was heavy and sales were good.
Nowadays, it's more difficult than ever to get a significant piece of the creative sales pie. Even becoming successful at Etsy today, the old quick-sales stomping ground, is a huge challenge. For a decade or more now, shifting of manufacturing jobs, poor economy and COVID woes have led many to start selling their handmade products and creative services. The influx of overseas sellers offering cheap products has virtually decimated the market for handmades sellers and independent designers.
All of the easy ways for crafters, artists and designers to make money online have largely dried up. Except for a few unique start-ups, the only Etsy sellers who are in the black are those who started with the launch of the selling site and grew their enterprise through it. They are successful today because they got a foot in early on, which was around 2007 for most of them.
Today, the savvy creative is committed and diligent in seeking new places, methods and niches to which to market. I'm not sure how useful services like Google Adwords, Facebook Ads and Pinterest Ads are anymore. I know they can be expensive for the average creative person as you increasingly funnel in money to obtain elusive results. If we can create, we can create our own targeted marketing processes, not with the primary goal to increase sales but to get our products in front of those who would most benefit. It's all about the customers needs and wants.
One way to more effectively invest our advertising dollars is through blog banner advertising. Many bloggers sell banner ad space in the sidebars of their blogs. If we buy banner ad space at blogs that compliment our products, we will place our work, almost exclusively, in front of our target markets. In this way, we can also zero in on niche markets where the competition for our product and service type is not nearly as steep.
In addition to choosing appropriate blogs, it's important to design an attention-getting, yet tasteful banner.
- You can design them yourself
- Barter with a friend or associate skilled at graphic design
- Pay for a banner to be designed at graphics venues like:
- Fiverr, where most gigs start at $5
- People Per Hour, where client deposits are locked in
- Freelancer, which has an effective time-tracking process
- Truelancer, where you can post a project and be matched with freelancers from which to choose
- Allow the blog owner to design your banner if the service is offered.
Fiverr is the most economical design source. It was launched as a $5 per gig site and has since opened up to all price points. I have sold writing and naming services there and am planning to buy illustration services. I have not used the others sites. Always read the guidelines, policies and procedures on these sites before buying work.
Your banners need not be elaborate or complicated. They should be easy to spot and easy to read with a minimum words. Ask the blog owner if there are any specifics that you need to adhere to in your design.
What I like about this type of advertising is the variety of banner sizes and prices that are usually offered and the variety of time frames for the banner to be displayed. Try out several blogs to find the ones through which you get the most response, even if it's just nibbles. Build on those nibbles and turn them into sales and returning purchases! Don't forget to develop some unique products and services, the first part of the equation.
