ByHand – Handmade Marketing Site
ByHand – Market Your Shop Outside Etsy
When Rebecca Dillon from ByHand.me told HandmadeMarketing.org about this new website, we were excited to share this information with our readers. Never heard of the site? Check it out here.
Below is our interview with Rebecca:
What is ByHand.me?
“Handmade items, handmade artisans, handmade code, handmade friendships,” Rebecca says. “This is the revolution of the handmade playground. It starts with a simple guy, Adam, also known on etsy as infivision. He decided he wanted a better social community to promote handmade. While ning offers this to some extent, he felt it was too generic and has a poor user interface. In a quest for something better he developed ByHand.me. Designed and created in under a week and for under $100, ByHand serves as a free social network for those who make handmade and those who buy handmade. “
What does the site offer?
“Here’s a run down of what you can expect from the site,” said Rebecca. “Artisan Directory, Spotlights, Forums, Member Blogs, Social Networking, Chat, Private Messaging, RSS Feeds, Window Shopping and more!“
Why should those who sell handmade join the site?
“ByHand.me is a great new place to promote your products and discuss everything related to handmade regardless of venue,” explains Rebecca.
How does promotion on the site work?
“All of our features are free except for the Project Wonderful (PW) ads,” Rebecca says. ” You can list your handmade Etsy shop in our Artisan Directory. You can include links to your Etsy shop and social sites you’re a part of. Sellers can also create a Spotlight with your Etsy Products. We have a unique Spotlight feature that lets you add your handmade items to Spotlights. Create a Spotlight then copy a code in a variety of sizes to add your Etsy products to your blog or social site. You can also create Spotlights with your favorite Etsy items from other sellers. Another way to promote is to go “Window Shopping”! Window shopping allows you to browse through random products in random Spotlights. If you’ve created a Spotlight with your items, they’ll show up in Window Shopping on ByHand and other sites and blogs across the web that utilized this feature.“
“Etsy.com sellers can also join a “Clubhouse.” We have a variety of clubhouses you can join based on your art. Show off your items,” continues Rebecca. “Don’t see a clubhouse related to what you make? Create your own clubhouse! Participate in ByHand’s forums. ByHand lets you post buyer requests for items or post new products or sales that you’d like to show off from your Etsy shop! Sellers can also advertise through our Project Wonderful ads. Place an ad for your Etsy shop on ByHand through Project Wonderful. All funds from PW ads go back to promoting ByHand. We don’t put a penny in our pockets! All of the time spent programming and promoting is donated time too! Haven’t started a blog yet? ByHand also gives you a free blog. Choose to have your blog posts posted to the front page – or not. One of our members is using her blog on ByHand today to host a contest for a free print! Apply to be the “Featured Artisan” or send in an interview! You’ll find information on applying in ByHand’s “Links and Opportunities” forum.“
A big thank you to Rebecca Dillon for taking time to tell us about the site!
Has anyone used this site to market their handmade store? What do you think of the website? Do you have any other web resources for marketing handmade items to potential buyers?
We would love to hear feedback regarding ByHand.me! Comment to this post or submit your thoughts on ByHand.me to HandmadeMarketing.org. If our editors think your comments will help the community, we will feature you in a future article.
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4 Responses to “ByHand – Handmade Marketing Site”
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ByHand.me is like a “breath of fresh air” in the Etsy Community and handmade community at large. I use By Hand.me to market my Etsy and ArtFire shops. I am seeing an incremental building of traffic, per Google Analytics and predict that it will continue to grow.
The tools that Rebecca mentioned available to a seller to promote can’t be beat. ByHand.me has provided many sales and promoting venue for sellers, i.e. Artisan Directory, Spotlight, Window Shopping, etc. I’ve utilized the Artisan Directory, Spotlight, Clubhouse features and post regularly to the forum.
This website is easy to navigate and considering it was done in under a week and for less than $100 it is phenomenal. In my opinion, it is the social networking place to be if you are a buyer or seller of handmade. I
Kudos to ByHand.me!
One of the very best features of the site is that your spotlights and community blog entries are auto-posted to twitter. And as NPR puts it ‘Twitter is the new Facebook’. (Or something like that.)
*stands aside to avoid trampling from crowd*
Another particularly good aspect, at least for me, is using the site for game spotlights. I have always made clever visual Etsy treasuries in the vein of ‘Name that Tune’ or ‘Which Doesn’t Belong?’. Viewers who correctly guess the answer recieve a gift certificate or freebie (with small purchase) from my shop.
Now instead of snagging a treasury once a month, I can make a game once a day!
ByHand.me is a great directory for anyone who is involved in creating handmade goods…or for shoppers and retailers who want to find artisians and artists who make handmade.
BH is connected to all the major selling sites…and the feature I really like is being able to spotlight your items and (if you are on Artfire) being able to use their fast cart feature.
It would be nice if Etsy offered something like that too.
So much of this site is evolving and changing, it’s hard to keep up with all the great things they offer!
Since it’s free, people would be really silly not to become members and take advantage of their amazing connectability.
I am seeking an avenue to advertise my product. I would like to begin selling locally, ( the item I make too expensive to ship currently, and I would like to build a reputation, make myself known in my own metro area, and go from there.