Share the Love... It's my turn!

As you may know, we do a fun blog shout out called Share the Love at On Fire for Handmade! Each week a member is showcased and we all post their information! This week was Mommy Tyme and Anne from OFH created this fantastic collage of my products! Isnt this fun? If you would like to join I have posted the link information for On Fire For Handmade! Anne Rocks!

This weeks Featured Artisan is Valerie of Mommy Tyme. Valerie has a wonderful collection of handmade creations! From Bath and Body, Scarves and Jewelry, Mommy Tyme has something for everyone!
You can find Mommy Tyme @:

Shop URL
http://www.MommyTyme.etsy.com
2nd Shop URL
http://fuzzb.com/MommyTyme
3rd Shop URL
http://mommytyme.shophandmade.com/
Website URL
http://www.mommytyme.org
Blog URL
http://mishapsofmommy.blogspot.com



To join On Fire for Handmade:


Visit On Fire for Handmade

New! New! New!

Ok, well I have a few different things I want to talk about this week...


First:  If you have not entered the Facebook Fan Page Challenge, there is a very short time left!  It is so easy, and it only benefits you... Just go to the fan page, become a fan!  Then in the share box, add your photo and shop URL!  If you want to add details about your entry, go right ahead... The fan page is for everyone to share and add their items to!  It is open for crafters, artists, handmade of all mediums!  Your hands had to help create the end result is the only catch!  I would love to see you there!

Mommy Tyme Bath and Unique Gifts on Facebook

Second, Squidoo... What is Squidoo you ask?  Wow!  I found this a year back, but never messed with it!  However, I really see the potential now!  It is a fantastic tool to use for all your shops, URL's, blogs, etc!  It is a seperate web location where you can add all of your many venues and it will refer your readers!  See the idea?  You can publish parts of your blog, post your shop, post your items, etc.... Similar to a Ning but without all the groups (but there are lens organizations you can join!)  I am not sure which came first, the Squid or the Ning... but they are both fantastic means by which to promote and share your craft with others.  Squidoo is more individualized, but it really has the forethought to expand and open opportunities for you!  Your etsy can feed directly to your squidoo, your blog feed can be added, you can even add the Squid this to your toolbar and as you float around on the web finding great spots, you can click the tab and share with your readers!  So, if you do not have a squidoo- I suggest you get one!  Then add the URL here!  I will add it to my link list and tweet it for you!  Get you some readers!  We will talk more about all the cool things you can do there in the upcoming weeks (I am still learning!)

Ok, so when you are ready to  sign up for Squidoo (and it is totally free!) go here: 
http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/referral/MommyTyme

Then comment with your link so I can get busy!


Next... Some people had commented a while back when I first threw out the idea of the Mini Market here on the blog... Ok, the idea is simply that you can put your etsy, winkelf, or artfire mini here on my blog!  I will keep it up for about a month, and do a feature on you to share all the fantastic items in your shop!  That is all there is to it!  Is it free?  Well, heck yes!  It is all about helping one another out!  I would hope that in return, you could post the link to the blog on your blog, site, etc to help promote me!  That is it!  You do have to send me your code to you mini, though. 

Features.... Oh, I think they are a fantastic idea!  I love to pursue the handmade!  Most of you know I believe strongly in supporting the arts and helping one another!  So, my pursuit series has been lacking some the past few weeks... I am ready to get busy!  Coming this weekend is a fantastic artisan!  I cant give it away, but hope you stay tuned and come back to check her out!  If you would like me to pursue your shop or URL, just comment and leave me the info!  I will let you know when you are about to be posted!

Finally... I wanted to share a few new items I have been working on.. Open for ideas for improvement, what you think, comments...

I have been working on a new jewelry line I call Junk to jewels!  Here is one of the new pieces for this collection- it is a 37" black thread lariat with beads, and rings.  One of the rings is actually a stitch marker (You know how you only need one, but you have to buy a pack of 6?)  the silver ring is the end off of a piece of chain that I used for something else, and the beads are stragglers...

So....

I have this one for sale at my Etsy http://www.MommyTyme.etsy.com

Oh... I almost forgot!  dont forget to check out the latest Share the Love!  It is Tuesday, so I have a new Artist to expose!

Squidoo.... Have you tried it!

 Have you Tried Squidoo?


Want a fun and easy way to promote yourself?  How about your blog- you can actually add a feed to your lens!  Or your Etsy mini?  Sell on ebay?  You can pull your items from ebay and promote them here, too!  There are so many things you can do with squidoo!  If you don't have one, get one!  They are totally free.  Plus, you can actually earn money simply by allowing Amazon and other top name vendors to advertise on your lens!  It is really easy to set one up.  Use it to sell, promote, talk about your hot new items.

 Sign up here!  Piece of cake, I promise!
http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/referral/MommyTyme

Once you have signed up, come back here, comment and leave your new lens URL!  I will promote, lens roll, twitter, etc! Your new Squidoo Lens!  Lets all help each other!  It is a great source for getting your name and shop out there!  Really!

For the next few posts I am going to talk about the tools Squidoo offers and the best way to utilize them.  I am in the learning process, too!  So, lets work together!

So Remember, leave your Squidoo Lens URL here so we can all find it!  Readers... Take a minute and visit the Lens posted!  Comment, comment, comment! 

I look forward to checking out everyones!  Oh, here is mine:

http://www.squidoo.com/MommyTyme

Buy & Sell Handmade Crafts, Jewelry, Quilts, Soaps & Greeting Cards, Custom Homemade Products Online - Made It Myself

Buy & Sell Handmade Crafts, Jewelry, Quilts, Soaps & Greeting Cards, Custom Homemade Products Online - Made It Myself

Made it Myself is one of those great venues where you can sell your handmade items, yet, somehow I missed the boat on this one! I am kicking myself now. Initially, I had posted 5-6 items on there, and then just sat back. Other than joining the Made it Myself on Ning site, I did little to no marketing for this venue. Ugh! Now, I checked it out today just to see if there had been changes, improvements, etc. AND WOW! There really has! Here are just a few of the benefits I see of MIM-
1. Its free! Really free.
2. You can list unlimited items
3. there is a huge image of your banner at your individualized URL,
4. you can add the badge that links directly to YOUR shop, not the marketplace in general
5.  Recently listed items are posted on the FRONT page- so you can stay up there until the amount of new items listed by others  pushes you off - but, depending upon your listing time, this could be a few days and so you are getting FRONT page exposure for free!
6.  For a super low fee of .49 you can have your item listed on the front page for the duration of your listing - that seems like a fair investment if you consider Etsy charges 7.00 for their Showcase!
7.  Now here is something truly unique- you can set your listing as Negotiable, and buyers can make offers, you can wheel and deal, make trades, etc.  And all of this is tracked, goes through your payment service, so there is a record of your agreement.  You can even issue a coupon.  How is that for customer relations?
8.  You can "link" with Made it Myself by adding their banner to your blog, site, etc.  and in return they will post a small banner of yours.  Now this appears to be a first come first serve, and it is not a neverending time frame that your banner is posted.  I assume that you are posted for a short duration (week- month) which has its benefits.  The reason this is a positive is because when a shopper checks out the link page, they are not overwhelmed with thousands of banners.  Instead there are about 12, so that is appealing and functional for a shopper.  When you are lost in a crowd of 100, what are the real chances someone is going to pick you link?
9.  finally, the community and forums is great!  These are not pages and pages of entries that you muddle through like on some of the bigger marketplaces- You can go to the forum that posts the topic you need (sales, marketing, glitches, etc) and see your post immediately.  Because it is not thousands of entries, others respond back really quick.  I found the forum and community page the easiest to use of any of the marketplaces thus far!

So, I am jumping on ship, and getting my Made it Myself Store up and running!  Thats another thing, your URL is easy to remember- for example-
http://www.madeitmyself.com/user/mommytyme.aspx




One drawback that I was concerned about is traffic?  How much is there?  But, as with any site, blog, etc.  YOU have to promote it.  You cant just sit back and hope people find you.  One tip I will share is, whenever tagging an item- always add the NAME of your shop as a tag, this will move you up in the ranks.  Second, post your MIM shop link everywhere so that linkbacks raise your rank (for example, when commenting on a blog, instead of using your google name or yahoo name, do the open ID choice / or other choice and sign in with your shop name and URL)  this offers tons of linkbacks.  In fact, you should comment on blogs  often to increase the linkbacks.  Oh, one more tip- if you have shops on variety of marketplaces like Etsy, winkelf, Artfire, etc  GIVE  THEM ALL THE SAME NAME-this increases you ranks, too!

So, how many of  your readers sell on MIM?  What do you think?   Any more tips on driving traffic to your MIM shop?

Share The Love...

As part of our ongoing effort to Pursue the Handmade, I have just signed up to be a part of this fantastic new marketing idea- Share the Love- through On Fire for Handmade! This wonderful project features an artisan each week, and in a joint effort, all members of Share the Love will take some time to explore and discuss this Creative Genius's fantastic works! How brilliant is this? I am so excited about this new venture! So, stay tuned...each week not only will we review the artisans in the ongoing exploration of handmade that I find on the web- but we will also have an extra post with our Share the Love Artisan, too! Isn't this great?


Visit On Fire for Handmade


Remember, if you have a shop, or just love to create, and would like to share your passion with us... Just comment with a contact, URL, email, etc! and I will get back to you ASAP!

If you would like to share a pattern, How To, etc. please let me know! I am anxiously trying to find some additions to a new series that will start in mid January called "I could do that..."! So, stay tuned for that, also!

Gearing up for our Reviews next month... Check out some new Mommy tyme items...

Well, I have had some responses to shops and owners who have invited me to visit their shop and talk about what they have going on for our series the Pursuit of the Perfect Handmade Holiday!  I am really excited about this, and I hope you are too!  I would love it if we had enough shop owners interested that we could feature a different store everyday!  so, if you know a shop owner, artisan, crafter, etc.  Tell them to come on over and list their URL in the comments!

In the meantime, I wanted to share some of the items I have in my shop right now!  I just listed some new necklaces (that took me quite a long time to finally get the hang of the technique- I won't tell you how many spindles of wire I went through or how many bandaids I had on my fingers by the time I finally got the technique!) But, I am pretty excited about some of the new items.  Hats and these necklaces are both a new project I have been working on for a while...

Enjoy!  As always, you can find most of these items at my shops:
http://www.MommyTyme.etsy.com
http://www.MommyTyme.winkelf.com
http://www.mommytyme.org/testimonials.html
http://fuzzb.com/MommyTyme


Find more photos like this on Artisans/Jewelry Designers Ltd.