Freelance writer and artist Steff lives in New Zealand with her husband. She has held various jobs over the years including an archaeologist, a museum curator, a novelist, and a roadie for a heavy metal band. Currently, she transcribes braille and produce large print and electronic books and resources.  She also sells her original artwork and Etsy writing packages at her shop on Etsy.com.In 2009, Steff created a blog and has been learning how to balance a blog and other areas of her life ever since.

“I created the Steff Metal blog in 2009 for several reasons,” Steff writes on her blog.  “Mostly, I wanted a blog to ramble on about metal, books, music, fashion and life. I also wanted a place to live-blog some of my epic metal journey (a three month jaunt around Europe and the Middle East with my husband and two friends) so my friends at home in NZ could swoon in jealousy.”

“Although blogging is an awesome hobby and a great way to promote your handmade business, it’s not something you want to spend every day worrying about and preparing for,” Steff told HandmadeMarketing.org.  “You need to spend time with your family, hang out with your friends, design and create you wares, go on adventures, eat delicious food, see concerts and watch movies.”

Steff shared seven ways she keeps her personal and business blogs – and her clients’ blogs – organized and easy to manage:

1. Utilize RSS Readers.  Steff suggests using Google Reader, or any other RSS reader, to stay on top of your favorite blogs.  Learn more about Google Reader in this HandmadeMarketing.org article “What is Google Reader?“
   “I check it once a day and that’s it – no typing in URLs or flipping through your bookmarks wondering if such-and-such has updated today,” Steff explained.  “Google Reader can also be a useful way of collecting links for roundup posts. I “star” items my readers might be interested in. Once a week, I compile a list of interesting links. I do this every week on my Steff Metal blog – it’s called the Linking Horn. I would say using Google Reader saves me around an hour each day. Yes, I’m serious. One. Hour. Every. Day.”
2. Organize Your Bookmarks Into Folders. Steff suggests creating folders in your browser’s “bookmarks” to save time. 
   “I created a folder for each of my blogs, one for submission guidelines for writing markets, one for “real life” (with my bank website, etc.) and one for misc,” she tells HandmadeMarketing.org.  “Whenever I bookmark a website, I add it to the appropriate folder. This really saves time searching through long bookmark lists.”
3. Use a Physical Filing System. “My husband brought me a multi-colored drawer unit for my office, and I designate one tray for every blog,” Steff said.  “In this tray, I keep all my printouts of bank statements for my taxes, notebooks about the blog, scribbled ideas, pictures for scanning, etc.“
4. Develop a Posting Schedule. “If you don’t discipline your posting, you give yourself permission to post willy-nilly, and you get behind so easily. If you’re constantly starting blog posts with “I know I haven’t posted in ages, but …”, you will know what I mean,” she said.  “If you set yourself a schedule, you’re less likely to fall into the ‘oh, I’ll post something later” trap. You must post something, even if you don’t feel you have anything to write about.” 
   For her Steff Metal blog, she posts an average of five to six days per week.  Her posting schedule is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and sometimes Sunday.
   “Monday is Linking Horn day, Tuesday and Wednesday are in-depth articles and Thursday is Up the Irons, a book review, or a guest post, Friday and Sunday are for quick, fun posts like Cthulhu’s Closet (my daily outfit posts) and Metal Mixtape,” Steff explains.  “Having this structure really forces me to write regularly. By spacing the quicker posts at the beginning and end of the week, I have breathing room to write the in-depth articles at a slower pace, which makes for better articles.”
5. Schedule Posts Ahead of Time. “On both my blogs,” Steff tells us, “I try to stay ahead of myself by writing several posts at once and scheduling them, or at least saving them as drafts and reserving them for days I haven’t anything to post. Having posts in reserve allows me to take a break if I’m feeling worn out. I can go on holiday for a week without worrying about the blog. It also gives me a buffer zone if something goes wrong.”
6. Start an “Epic Post List”. Steff suggests keeping a journal to jot down blog post ideas as they come. 
   “My journal follows me everywhere and I’m constantly writing down post ideas – just a title or sentence describing a possible post topic,” she says.  “On days my creativity lapses, I use ideas from your list to fill in your scheduled posts.”
7. Give Yourself a Blogging Timeframe. Many bloggers will admit that blogging and thinking about blogging consumes much of their time.
   “Sometimes too much time,” Steff says.  “You’ll sit at the computer for three or four hours, tinkering with this and that, finishing tasks, creating work for yourself.  How much of that time is actually spent on growing your blog and business? I tell you – not all of it. Probably not even half of it. Focus your time. You should be spending one hour blogging and three hours with your family, not the other way around.”
   Steff suggests setting a time limit and sticking to it.  “30 minutes or 1 hour only, per day. Set a timer. See how much you get done,” Steff said.  “You’ll quickly find the less important activities – checking your Analytics every ten minutes, tinkering with your template and swapping around your widgets – fall by the wayside and you use your time more productively.”

For Steff’s valuable tips on how to write everything from Etsy item descriptions to creating a brochure or leaflet, visit Steff Metal on Etsy.com.  You can also follow Steff on Twitter @steffmetal.

To hear other tips for how to manage your time while selling handmade online, read time-management tips from handmade seller Amy Vander Vorste in her article “Too Much to Take In – Eating a Marketing Elephant“.  Another resource is “Time – Keep Up Etsy While Keeping Your Life” on HandmadeMarketing.org.

Publish your tips and tricks on HandmadeMarketing.org!  Tell us what you have found helps you keep up on your blog.  Do you use a tool online like Google Reader to stay current on your favorite websites and blogs? How do you keep an active blog while still maintaining other areas of your life?

Our team publishes ideas from handmade sellers, artisans, and crafters.  Be sure to include links to your social media sites or handmade shop site in your article.  Sellers receive free press for lending their knowledge, and both new and experienced sellers alike get new ideas.  Share with HandmadeMarketing.org.

Hilary, a handmade seller online at Etsy.com, recently shared a list of her favorite blogs and her thoughts on the use blog rolls.  She is a blogger who shares tips and trick to help handmade sellers sell more online on her site Haptree and Me, as well as on Craft Blog UK.  In this article, Hilary explains how bloggers can get creative with blog rolls.

If you have never heard of a blogroll, the idea is very simple and easy to add to your blog.  Basically, a blog roll is a list of links to blogs that you as a blogger like.  Most of the time, you can see a blogger’s blog roll on the sidebar of the blog.

One way to get creative with blog rolls is to create several blog rolls for different topics.  “There are no limits to the number of times you can use the blog roll gadget,” Hilary writes in her Craft Blog UK article. “You could have a separate blog roll for different areas of your interest, for example one with just cupcake blogs or parental advice blogs.”

Another example of this would be if a blogger who writes about crafting could divide his or her blogroll up into categories.  Maybe this crafter would opt to link to other blogs he or she writes, other blogs about crafting and other blogs about completely unrelated topics.

Another idea is to feed sites other than blogs into your blog roll.  “A blog roll is a list of web feeds (RSS, Atom etc),” Hilary explains.  “The gadget on Blogger is called a ‘Blog List’, but it can be used for any website feed and as such you can create fabulous Flickr updates from all the groups you belong to.”

Pictured here is a screen shot from Hilary’s personal blog where she uses these ideas to create a useful gadget.

“I think this gadget works really nicely,” she writes.  “I’ve chosen just 3 of the social networks I am active in to display on mine but there is no limit to how many you could have. Some applications have better feeds than others in terms of what gets displayed but it is worth experimenting as some providers already have superior gadgets available which may suit you better.”

Hilary lists ideas for feeds that work with a blog roll:

• “Flickr, Picassa, photobucket all have RSS feeds,” she says.  “Display the most recent image from your own sets or photo stream or a groups pool.  Label it with ‘Brand New” or “My Latest Make”.  Let it be a feature that people enjoy, and can quickly link them to your groups or to your other photos.”
• Hilary suggests feeding from your Facebook or MySpace pages.  These feeds could come from groups, pages, or personal pages.  “They all have feeds,” she writes.
• Look to Nings and forums.  “I’m a member of UK Handmade, British Mummy bloggers etc.,” Hilary says.  “All of these sites contain various feeds with all of your social networking activity.”

Keep in mind that a blogroll can be set up based on each blogger’s personal preferences, and it can be updated at any time.  Blogrolls can be more than just a fun way to organize your favorite blogs.  Blogrolls turn out to be great traffic driving tools. Each time your blog is listed in a user’s blogroll comes the possibility readers of the blog will click on your link and stop by your blog. In essence, you can think of blogrolls as publicity and exposure!

How do you make your blog custom for your craft?  Do you have any tips and tricks for Blogger users?  Any ideas to add to Hilary’s thoughts about using blog rolls in a creative way?

Share your ideas with HandmadeMarketing.org!  If we publish your tips, we’ll be sure to include a link to your handmade craft shop and blog as a thank you.  Submit your article here.

Hilary, a handmade seller online at Etsy.com, recently shared a list of her favorite blogs with HandmadeMarketing.org.  Hilary is also a blogger dedicated to helping handmade sellers sell more online on her site Haptree and Me, as well as on Craft Blog UK.  In this article, Hilary explains blog rolls and why they are a must for blogs.

What is a blog roll?

“The blog list or blog roll is a very straightforward little gadget that can add lots of interest to your blog,” Hilary writes in her Craft Blog UK article.  “It uses an RSS feed and automatically updates when the blogs you have included have new posts added.”

However, Hilary explains that there is a lot more to this basic gadget than most bloggers think.

“People often read craft blogs because they enjoy finding out a little bit more about the artist behind the craft and they also want to feel part of a craft community,” she writes. “Sharing not just your own thoughts and experiences but a those of a list of bloggers that you love to read is a great way of letting people know a bit more about you and your interests in a creative and interactive way.”

Hilary suggests bloggers think of their blog roll in the same way as the books they display in their home.

“Be selective,” she says.  “You wouldn’t want the phone directory to take pride of place on your book shelf, but the copy of Black Beauty you have had 30 years and read 6 times might even get it’s own shelf!”

According to Hilary, a blogger’s blog roll does not need to be every blog you are following.  Instead, she suggests bloggers think of it is as a tribute to those you love to read best and that reflect your own peronality and taste.  In essence, your blog roll should reflect who you are.

Additional traffic is another reason to incorporate a blog roll into your blog.

Hilary explains not every blogger will look up their followers blogs, especially if they have a large number of readers.  She suggests each time you add someone to your sidebar blogroll, you may want to let that blogger know.

“Why not leave them a comment and let them know,” she writes.  “They are very likely to say, ‘wow thank you’ and become a blog follower.  They may even let their own network of friends and followers know about your blog. You already know you have the same interests, so these sort of connections can really help to build your network and encourage traffic.”

If you would like to set up your own blog roll on your craft blog, be sure to read Hilary’s article “Blog Rolls – Step by Step” for a blog roll tutorial.

Interested in learning how to get creative with your existing blog roll?  Hilary explains how a blog roll can be used for sites other than blogs in another HandmadeMarketing.org article “Web Feeds – Use Blog Rolls for Other Websites”.

What do you think of blog rolls?  Do you incorporate a blog roll in your craft blog?  What other blogging tips do you have for other bloggers?

Share your ideas with HandmadeMarketing.org!  If we publish your tips, we’ll be sure to include a link to your handmade craft shop and blog as a thank you.  Submit your article here.

Hilary, a handmade seller online at Etsy.com, shared a list of her favorite blogs and why incorporating a blog roll may be a good idea for your blog.  Hilary is a blogger dedicated to helping handmade sellers sell more online on her site Haptree and Me, as well as on Craft Blog UK.

In this article, Hilary shows us how to create a blog roll – step by step!

“There are a few options to choose from, but in essence this is a very straightforward gadget,” Hilary writes on Craft Blog UK.  Below are the step Hilary lays out for bloggers:

1. In your Blogger dashboard click “Layout”.
2. Choose the location of your blog roll.  Then, click “add gadget” for that area.
3. Choose the widget titled: Blog List “Show off what you read with a blogroll of your favorite blogs.” You can find this widget on the first page of gadgets called “Basics.”
4. Now, customize your blog roll.  You can customize the following items:
   Title. Hilary says many people have something along the lines of “Great Online Reading” or “Recommended Reading”.  She suggests titling your blog roll something a little more inventive than the default “My Blog List”.
   Sort. “Unless you have a very long list of blogs that benefit from sorting alphabetically because you are using them as a directory,” she writes, “I would always advise choosing most recent.”
   Show. “You have the choice of showing all of the blogs you have listed, 5, 10 or 25,” Hilary writes.  “It will show the most recently updated.”
   Icon. Hilary says that she would usually un-check this option.  Typically, it just shows a blogger ‘b’ or other blog platform icon.  “Not very interesting unless you are following other feeds when it is more relevant,” she writes.
   Title. This shows the title of the most recent post.
   Snippet. This shows a little text from the first lines of the blog post.
   Thumbnail. This shows an image if available – it’s always the first image used in the post.
   Date of Last Update.  “This tells you how many hours or days ago it was posted,” Hilary says.
5. Now, click on “Add a Blog to you List”.  From here, add by URL by simply copying and pasting a url or web address (e.g. Hilary’s blog: http://haptreeandme.blogspot.com).  You can also paste the address of a feed, (such as http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/groups_pool.gne?id=1313315@N20&lang=en-us&format=rss_200).  After entering the URL, click “Add”.
6. Update “Blogs I’m Following”, which is a list of all of the blogs you are following.  “You can then check a box against each to choose whether or not to have it on your list,” Hilary explains.
7. Import from Google Reader.  “As above you can edit which blogs appear via check boxes if you use Google Reader,” Hilary says. “This is also good for having a blog list of ‘feeds’ you are already following and is quicker than copying and pasting. Also you can manage groups of feeds into files in google reader and then easily select an entire file.”
8. Now click “Save” and drag to the desired location within your dashboard. “The choices you make above should be guided by the space you have and also how many blogs/feeds you intend to have showing,” she writes.

Thank you for the tutorial Hilary!

Be sure to read another article on HandmadeMarketing.org by Hilary called “Web Feeds – Use Blog Rolls for Other Websites”.

Our HandmadeMarketing.org team recently read some great blogging tips from Hilary, a handmade seller online at Etsy.com.  Hilary is also a blogger dedicated to helping handmade sellers sell more online on her site Haptree and Me, as well as on Craft Blog UK.

“When you start blogging the most important and worrying thing is the content,” Hilary writes in her intro for her Blogging Tips and Tutorials section on Craft Blog UK. “It can be a bit scary and make you feel a little vulnerable to be ‘out there’ but after a few posts you’re raring to go, can’t stop typing and you need a few tips and tricks to really make your blog stand out from the crowd.”

Hilary suggests checking out other amazing blogs to get ideas for how to make yours stand out.  Many of these blogs post ideas for how to run your business, while helping you polish your blogging skills.

“Some bloggers have the most amazingly helpful tips and tricks to help your business, your blog and your promotional activities online be really successful,” she explains. “Some are associated with great websites like UK Handmade or Etsy.  Others come from everyday bloggers who just want to share their great tips occasionally.”

Browse Hilary’s top blog picks here!  One of our team’s favorites is Artists in Business, which is aimed at all self employed artists and artisans.

Do you have a favorite blog?  What do you think makes a blog unique?  Do you have any blogging tips of your own?

Tell us your thoughts about blogging!  If you are looking for press for your blog or handmade shop, submit an article about selling handmade online to HandmadeMarketing.org.

Michele Gallagher, the Etsy seller behind the shop craftychick101 recently shared her tips for getting your handmade shop noticed online.

Michele has another tip for crafters – look to blogs for press!

“My Twitter following has helped me get a lot of advertising on blogs relevant to my Etsy shop,” she told HandmadeMarketing.org.  “By contacting blog owners and asking them to feature my shop/items on their blog in exchange for some tweets with their blog link, I have been able to get myself featured in several great blogs and have made some great connections for the future with these people.”

Nervous to contact bloggers?  Don’t be!

“The blog owners are happy with the results as well as their views/blog followers often sky rocket after I tweet their link a few times,” Michele says. “These are only a few examples of how to stay visible. I wish making quality, unique products was enough, but since it’s not, you might as well have fun with it!”

Check out the HandmadeMarketing.org “Blogging” section to learn more about how blogging can help you sell more handmade online.

Have you been featured on a blog?  What was the result?  Do you know of great blogs that handmade sellers should check out?

Do you have a blog?  Need some advice from a pro?

We recently looked to Laura Bray, marketing guru for artists and crafters, for blogging tips and tricks.  Laura shared some excellent blogging advice with the HandmadeMarketing.org team!

“Whether you blog for fun or use it as a marketing tool, you want to see visitors and comments,” Laura writes in her website article “Three Techniques That Will Change the Way You Blog.”

Laura outlines three techniques every handmade seller who blogs can implement that will help you get bring more visitors.

“When you link to another blog or website, be sure to type out the name of the blog,” Laura explains.  “I’ve heard that search engines like to see blogs with links that do this. And you want search engines to like you, right?“

Laura tells bloggers to consider utilizing “anchor text” to help SEO efforts.  “Anchor Text” is the visible hyperlinked text on a web page.

As an example, Laura writes in her blog:

Don’t do this: “I just saw an awesome tutorial on this blog today.”

Do this: “I just saw an awesome tutorial at www.katydiddys.blogspot.com today.”

Even better, think about what users are searching for online.  It would help Laura’s blog for a blogger to call her blog the greatest marketing blog in the world because if a user were to type “the greatest marketing blog in the world” into a search engine, Laura’s blog would have a chance of being a search result!

You can learn more about anchor text on HandmadeMarketing.org by reading Anchor Text – Optimize Links to Your Site and Tara Gentile’s tips in her HiP Blogging Challenge.

Second, Laura suggests that bloggers create a system for getting the word out about their blog.  “Do it every time you blog,” Laura says.  “Whenever I blog, I immediately put up a static link to my blog on Twitter and Facebook. Then I upload at least one of the photos from the entry to my Flickr Photostream.”

Too much for busy handmade sellers?  Laura has a great tips for keeping it simple.  “I keep a little checklist of these tasks to make sure I follow through each time. There are tons of blogs out there and just waiting for people to find yours isn’t going to work,” she writes.  “Find places where your target audience hangs out and make sure you let them know each time you blog.”

Finally, Laura suggests bloggers always let other artists, crafters and companies know when they are mentioned in a blog entry.

“It might take a bit of investigating, but it’s worth it. Wouldn’t you want to know if you someone out there was singing your praises? I’ve had quite a few fantastic opportunities come up from doing this one step,” she tells bloggers.

To learn more about Laura and pick up more marketing tips, visit her blog.

Do you have suggestions for fellow bloggers?  How do you utilize anchor text?  How do you increase visitors and comments to your blog?

Tell HandmadeMarketing.org what works for you!  Comment on this article, or tell us more detail about why blogging helps your handmade business.  If we publish your ideas, we’ll link to your website, blog or shop as the source of the information!

If you are wondering how a blog can help increase your handmade sales, you aren’t alone.  Our HandmadeMarketing.org team often hears seller chatter about the purpose of blogs, how they impact sales, and how much time a seller should spend on a blog.

To help solve the blog debate, our team looked to HandmadeMarketing.org readers and the Etsy.com forums for insight.

Why start a blog in the first place?  Our team read one Etsy seller’s thoughts in the Etsy.com forums and thought this seller’s insight was helpful:

“I use it for myself, to help organize my thoughts, and also to reach out to more people. I think it’s a great way to promote my Etsy shop (that’s the main reason I have it) and it helps me see feedback about items or ideas,” the Etsy seller writes.

The seller explains that a handmade seller’s blog can be used for more than just promotion.  “Besides just promoting though, I think it’s also just a lot of fun and I like connecting with other people on Etsy,” the seller wrote.

“I’m really glad I started a blog,” the seller continued.  “I started with only a few followers. It’s been a little over a year and I have about 80 because people gradually kept following. I got followers by posting in promotion threads every time I update my blog. I follow other blogs I find interesting because I think they’re inspiring to read and I like learning about other people’s crafts (or how they run their Etsy shop).”  You can read more from this Etsy seller on the seller’s blog.

Some handmade sellers may question if a blog is right for them.  Cindy Lietz, the writer behind the well-known blog Beads and Beading, shares her advice for handmade sellers who are torn on the idea.

“Having a blog is right for all online sellers,” she tells the HandmadeMarketing.org team.  “It allows your customers to get to know you as a person. People buy from people, not from websites.”

Although some sellers fear being “taken over” by their blogs, Cindy has a suggestion for making the most of your time spent blogging.

“Figure out a publishing schedule that works for you and stick to it,” she says.  “Whether it’s once a week, three times a week, or daily… commit and follow through. Focus on adding valuable, original content to the web… not regurgitated, rehashed information. There’s already too much of that floating around.”

We often heard sellers mention that blogging has helped increase their exposure, and even help them find their target market.  Even Etsy sellers new to blogging agree it’s a great way to increase sales and exposure.  In the same Etsy.com forum thread, this Etsy seller tells others why she likes blogging:

“I just started my blog a bit over two weeks ago and am having so much fun with it,” the seller explains.  “I have met a ton of really cool people and have gotten more exposure of my work. I use my blog mostly to talk about reading, vintage treasure hunting and whatever else of importance (or interest) is going on in my life. I’ve found that lot of people like to read it and that makes me happy.”  This seller can be found on Blogspot.

Some handmade sellers keep both a personal and shop-focused blog.  One Etsy seller mentions the difference between her personal blog and her shop blog.

“The things I write in my personal journal is not public information,” the seller explains in the Etsy.com forum thread.  “Some of my entries contain very sensitive subjects or goofy things like my dog playing with a ball. It’s not the type of thing people outside my circle would find interesting.“

On the other hand, the seller explains that her Etsy store’s blog contains photos of what the seller is currently working on, the latest fashion trends, and homemade patterns and tutorials.

The HandmadeMarketing.org team even found an Etsy seller who doesn’t blog in the first person.

“My blog is not my blog,” the seller explains in the Etsy.com forums.  “It’s actually the blog of 6 cartoon cows. They have an Island, they have a couple of boats – they have adventures. 6 blogs a week and a new picture with each blog. They (with my help) have been doing this for two and a half years.  It’s funny!“  This unique spin on blogging can be found on Blogspot.

Time and time again, our HandmadeMarketing.org team found that sellers like to blog as a form of release.  Blogging is a great way to relieve stress.

“I started my blog as a way to find myself and as a release,” one seller wrote in the forum thread. “I have found that I really enjoy blogging, though I haven’t done much of it lately. I pretty much write about every day experiences or things that strike me as interesting. Several people that I follow do the same and many also use it as a promotional tool and that’s fine cause I end up peeking into Etsy shops that I generally wouldn’t seek out.”

You can read how this seller utilized a blog to promote Etsy by checking out her blog.

Interested in learning more about starting your own blog or improving the blog you already write?  Have a look at these HandmadeMarketing.org aimed for craft bloggers:

Blog Categories – Organize Your Blog

Blog Challenge – Learn Blogging Techniques

Etsy Team Blogs – Make Blogs Work For Your Team

Do you blog?  How has it helped with your business?  Do you focus your blog on your handmade craft, or simply keep a personal blog?

Share why blogging works (or doesn’t work) for you!  Submit your thoughts to the HandmadeMarketing.org under our “Join” tab.  If our editors like your ideas, we’ll publish you in a future site article – and link to your shop, blog, or website as the source of the great information!

The Etsy seller behind Etsy’s Haptree shop and informative blog recently shared her ideas about handmade craft sellers starting blogs for their marketing efforts online.

“If you have just opened your first online shop then you’ve probably already heard that you need a blog… Why?” writes Hilary in her “Why Do I Need a Blog To Sell Craft?” article.

“When you go into a real shop you are surrounded by real sights and aromas, you can touch and feel,” the Etsy seller writes.  If you are an online handmade seller, Hilary said she would definitely recommend a blog, as it helps connect you to your handmade product.  “For the handmade market, this is key,” she said.

She paints several scenes for the readers to help illustrate why a blog can help market your Etsy, ArtFire, 1000 Markets, or other online handmade shop.

“After a sunny walk along the river you may stop for a latte and a slice of the most delicious home-made cake in an arty coffee shop , you’re feeling bright and cultural as you walk through the city, breathing in the sights, receptive to new ideas and happy to take a few random detours as you wonder along – and then you spy an intriguing little shop full of original and unique pieces and you just have to have that bracelet, it is your birthday next week,” she writes.

“Or maybe you’ve had a morning on the veg plot breaking your back pulling carrots, rewarded by a hearty lunch at the local pub and a quick nose around the village fete. You see the most adorable stall run by one of the mums on the PTA, so you buy a cute little pencil case which has a bead kit inside, a perfect gift for Jemima’s first day of school next term,” she continues.

Hilary explains that these scenarios lead us to see that the blog sets the scene.  “It not only helps people to get a feeling of who you are and why they may want to browse around.  But, it can be a way of putting people in the mood to buy as they sit at their dining table lap top trying to ignore the screams of children arguing over the T.V. remote. And of course your scene need not be pretentious or poncy,” she writes.

“In a real shop or at a craft fair, you have an instant impression of the ethos and kudos of the seller,” Hilary writes in her blog post.  “Fairly quickly you know if you’re likely to be getting your wallet out or stopping to browse – and even if you don’t buy today you’ll be sure to tell your friends about your find or come back when you need a gift.”

However, Hilary mentions in the blog that this doesn’t mean handmade sellers should aim to be something they are not.  In the same way, sellers don’t have to have claim to have an amazingly unique life on their blog.

“Just talk about what interests or pleases you. Be careful not to put people off,” she writes.  “For example, if I’m buying knitted baby blankets, I don’t want to hear about the 5 dogs that keep you company while you knit in bed.”

When writing a blog, Hilary has recommendations for those selling handmade.  “Don’t just have a tirade of I listed this and this and this, because it’s so boring even if your product is not,” she suggested.  “I would advise that someone considering writing a blog does a bit of research, read blogs (on any topic) and critique them, pencil and paper in hand.  Imagine you are the Simon Cowell of Blog Factor!  You’ll soon come up with your own list of blogging do’s and don’ts, which will really help you be selective about your own posts.”

“I started my blog before I listed my first handmade item on Etsy at the end of April 2009.  My first sale on Etsy was definitely down to my blog,” she told HandmadeMarketing.org.

“The buyer wrote “Thanks so much!! I love your blog.” We had a few emails back and forth before the sale where I posted her the link to my blog, which wasn’t on my Etsy profile at that early stage,” Hilary continued.  “I remember feeling really elated and chuffed that I had gone to the effort of writing a great blog that day, as it seemed to really swing the sale.  I’m sure that a blog personalizes a fairly faceless online shop, a lot of my other sales have mentioned my blog too.”

Hilary uses Blogger as her blog’s platform.  “I get an address like this http://www.haptreeandme.blogspot.com.  At first, I was gutted that “Haptree” was taken, but now I love my blog name as it’s used for more than just my Etsy shops and advertising.  It’s a little bit of me too,” she wrote.

The seller writes that she hope her view offers a different perspective to the purely advertising and marketing blog setup.

“Hit, hit, hit articles that are around,” she tells us.  “However, that stuff is really important too because you need traffic. Try not get disheartened if you think no one is reading your posts.  Those posts will be there for all your future readers and followers to browse through when you’re rich and famous!” she writes.

Hilary started selling handmade on Etsy.com in May of 2009.  “I really wanted somewhere I could sell a few of my handmade items in a hassle-free way,” she told HandmadeMarketing.org.

“It’s difficult to find time to make things, let alone try and book stalls and attend shows (if I had the confidence or enough stock to do that!), so I thought Etsy seemed like a great solution,” she said. “I first saw the site a few years ago and it’s such a great website visually.  My favorite part is putting the new listings on full screen and just watching them pop up, it’s like being in front of a live portal to all the worlds crafters, you can just imagine their happy faces staring into their laptops!”

Hilary also recently began selling on ArtFire and she currently only has two listings so far.  “I haven’t properly investigated ArtFire, but it does seem really easy to list things and the searches seem much better organized somehow,” Hilary tells us.

“I’ve been tweeting @artfirejohn and he’s already got back to me – looks like Etsy is in for some serious competition to me,” Hilary said.  “It’s free to list and no fees if you have the basic shop, which helps.  However, it does mean my shop doesn’t look as pretty as on Etsy.  I wasn’t too keen on the way the ArtFire forums are laid out either, but that’s probably just a case of getting used to it.”  You can follow Hilary on Twitter http://twitter.com/haptree.

Hilary’s blog readers have responded with excitement to her post about why blogging helps sell handmade.  One reader commented, “I hadn’t really thought of it like that, setting the scene/atmosphere/personality that you would get in a physical environment. I have been trying to put a bit of me in to my posts, but I will try harder now. Thank you for this insight.”

Interested in Hilary’s work?  Her handmade items can be found at Folksy, Etsy, and ArtFire!

What do you think of Hilary’s view on blogs?  Do you have a blog that you use to market your handmade items?  What would you tell a new seller wondering if creating a blog is worth their time?

Share your ideas with HandmadeMarketing.org!  Comment on this post, or tell us more details by writing your sales, marketing, and social media ideas on our form found under the “Join” tab.  If we publish your tips, we’ll link to your shop, website, or blog!

HandmadeMarketing.org reader Ana Herda recently told us why she loves to sell handmade.  “I sell on Etsy because I love the community and because I buy on Etsy, constantly! The best part about the site is the sheer ease of use,” Ana said.

When looking for ways to stand out in the mass of blogs, handmade sellers have a unique opportunity to utilize video to walk potential buyers though their craft process.  Ana recently incorporated video to showcase her shop, Etsy’s LolaBags, on her own blog.

“I wanted to show my creative process and bring people into it,” Ana told HandmadeMarketing.org.  “I think if people see an item actually being made the handmade aspect really kicks in.”

“This was the first time I every filmed myself making anything. I wanted to go for the sped-up look, like time-lapse. The hardest part was setting up the camera so I could capture all the processes,” she explained.  “Normally, I spread out over my table but for this I had to keep it confined to a small area to capture everything. I really enjoyed putting it together and finding the right music. I plan to do more.”

When our HandmadeMarketing.org team asked Ana how she thinks the video will help drive traffic to her Etsy shop, she explained it simply.

“I think of it as a little commercial. It brings attention to the labor that goes into a piece and all the activity involved in getting it out to someone. When people see it hopefully they’ll think it’s cute and want to check out what else I make,” Ana explained.

Ana thinks over-doing promotion is a  challenge for handmade sellers attracting online buyers.  “I think it’s a fine line between being in someone’s face about your shop and being tasteful about how you get your name out there,” she said. “In one shot you have to communicate what you make and who you are.“

Utilizing video on her blog sn’t the only Ana does to connect to buyers.  “I send out a monthly newsletter, I twitter and I also link my shop and my blog. Every Friday on my blog I feature an Etsy artist and the hope is that while I’m bringing the spotlight to someone else it will also bring awareness to my shop,” she told HandmadeMarketing.org.