IndieSmiles – Advertise Your Indie Shop

Looking for a new avenue for advertising your handmade items?  Sue, from IndieSmiles, told HandmadeMarketing.org about how this website could be of benefit to handmade sellers.

“IndieSmiles is a coupon portal for Indie shops,” Sue said.  “Don’t just share your sale in the forums, receive widespread exposure for only $4.00 we will list your sale in our Smile Directory. You will receive graphics to advertise your sale in your shop as well as your blog/website!  Other forms of advertising are also provided, just in case you choose not to run a sale promotion. Remember the most important aspect of owning an Etsy shop or other Indie shops is getting your name out there to get your shop noticed!”

Sue said the website was established in the fall of 2008 with a main goal in mind.  “My partner El and I were very successful running a Coupon Program for the EFA (Etsy for Animals) team and realized that all Etsy shops (and other Indie sites) could benefit from the advantages of an advertising/coupon portal,” Sue said.

IndieSmiles promotes “Tweetips” prominently on the site, and our HandmadeMarketing.org team wondered what this feature could do to step up handmade marketing efforts.  “Tweetips is an article about how Indie shops can benefit from using Twitter and also great tools to help improve their Twitter experience,” Sue told us.  “We try to post Tweetips on a monthly basis. My favorite is a recent Tweetip, known as “Page Tweet”, this great tool will allow you to post any website on Twitter (or any other site where you would like to “show off your work or blog”) and then add an extra URL or message on top of that site page. This gives you “twice the punch” of one URL!”

Why should a handmade seller join IndieSmiles?  “We’ve had great feedback from our sellers.  Some have had sales that are contributed to the posting in the “Smiles Coupon Directory” others have seen increased views,” Sue said.  “I think that the sellers have joined because they like the look of IndieSmiles and they appreciate the low cost and the chance to promote their Etsy (or other shop)! Most of our advertisers have seen us on Twitter, Facebook and other social venues and are aware of the time and energy that is spent promoting and advertising Indiesmiles.  They also know about our coupon directory!”

IndieSmiles says they aim to make advertising simple for handmade shop owners.  “Most recently we’ve added simplicity to our ordering process, now sellers can sign-on for any of our advertising spots automatically using our website. We want to make things as simple as possible for our advertisers. They will receive a lot of “bang for their buck” at $4.00 a listing!”

Best of all, HandmadeMarketing.org likes that IndieSmiles isn’t limited to Etsy.com sellers.  “We’ve had activity from both Etsy sellers and Artfire sellers as well as stand alone websites. We encourage Indie sellers to join us from all venues!” Sue said.

With many promotion sites on the Internet for handmade sellers, HandmadeMarketing.org wondered what makes IndieSmiles stand out.  “We are light, happy, and we want our advertisers to succeed,” Sue said.  “Both El and I are sellers in both Etsy and Artfire and we know the challenges that face artisans who want to promote their business. Most Sellers do not want to part with $65.00 or more to advertise their shop. We offer all types of price ranges that are geared to the budget of an Indie shop because we realize that our clients work hard to produce a profit on their sales.”

Do you think IndieSmiles would be a good way to advertise your handmade items?  Why or why not?  What other avenues of advertising do you use to get your shop’s name out there?

Share your ideas with HandmadeMarketing.org!  Tell us your ideas for how to advertise indie shops online.  If our editors include your information in an article, we’ll link back to your handmade shop!