Resources for Etsy Teams

Etsy Team Guide: Ten Minute Marketing for Teams Members

We've decided that the best way to help Teams Market themselves and the Handmade Movement this holiday season is to break it down into small assignments that everyone can do every day, no matter how little time you have. As you all know by now, the Buy Handmade Pledge (www.buyhandmade.org) is a tremendous promotional opportunity for your team, and here is a daily list of things you can do to fully use it to your advantage. So, we present your mission: Ten Minute Marketing. For a handy printable version of this page, click on this PDF link.

Week Eight: December 24- 30

Enjoy this last week of the year!
Take several minutes each day to think about where you'd like your shop and your Etsy Team to be at this time last year. What worked about your holiday strategy for this year? What could be improved? What events, contests or networking ideas did you have that you didn't get to implement this year? Begin to think of things that you'd like to accomplish with your team in the next year, and start to plan a rough calendar of deadlines for the things you think would be most important for the next year.
Thanks for all the hard work Etsy Teams have done this year to help Etsy grow as a website and a community! We look forward to lots of great things to come in the new year!

Week Seven: December 17- 21

Monday, December 17 Did you see this awesome article in the New York Times on Etsy? Forward it by clicking "email this article" to a friend or coworker who might be interested in learning more about the handmade movement. Encourage people you know who haven't done so already to commit to a handmade lifestyle and sign the pledge at http://www.buyhandmade.org - it's about choosing handmade when you can and learning why handmade is so important: during the holiday season and throughout the rest of the year.

Tuesday, December 18 Encourage last minute shoppers you know to check out Etsy and ask their favorite sellers about Priority and Express mail options. Do you offer these shipping options in your Etsy shop? Check out this article in the Storque on shipping upgrades.

Wednesday, December 19 Attention last minute shopper: Shop local! If you buy local now, your gifts can still arrive on time. Whether you're part of a global team or a location based team, you can still encourage neighbors and family to make their end-of-the-holiday-season purchases on Etsy by encouraging them to search for items based on location.

Thursday, December 20 Make your own wrapping paper! Use your creative juices and wrap all those handmade gifts with lots of love and handmade amazingness. Hand stamp your packages, use recycled paper and decorations and make the wrapping as unique, special, environmentally friendly and handmade as the goodness that's inside. Post your beautiful packages to Flickr and include them in Etsy Love Flickr groups.

Friday, December 21 Use your Team account to choose more favorites from each member's shop and refresh your Team's Etsy mini. Or, if your team doesn't have an Etsy mini yet, using your favorites go ahead and make one by marking your fellow team members' items as favorites to post on your blog, facebook or myspace page.

Week Six: December 10 - 14

Monday, December 10 - Post a link to some great Etsy videos on your blog - you can find them all on
YouTube by searching for Etsy. If you don't have a blog, email a link to a video to a friend who might enjoy it.

Tuesday, December 11 - Find two more people who blog their handmade life to swap blog links with.

Wednesday, December 12 - Make an Etsy mini full of last-minute gift ideas for people. Send out an email with a link to your blog entry with your Etsy Mini in it and links to Etsy Gift
Guides, to anyone you know who is still struggling with what to buy people.

Thursday, December 13 - Write another blog entry about the Pledge - favorite quotes, interesting stories you have read in the Storque about creative ways people have been promoting the Pledge, the best thing you've found as a gift so far this season, etc.

Friday, December 14 - Buy handprinted New Year cards on Etsy so they will arrive in time for you to mail them to friends by December 28th. Include a little thought about how you're excited about practicing your handmade lifestyle in the new year.

Week Five: December 3 - 7

Monday, December 3 Email a Storque article or video to some non-Etsy friends. Link to the stories
from your blog as well. Choose articles that you think will be truly interesting to the particular people you email them to.

Tuesday, December 4 Blog entry again about Buy Handmade, Etsy and Your team. Find a new angle
today: talk about another Team member whose art/craft you admire, reflect on your relationship to the handmade vs. the mass produced, talk about something interesting you found on Etsy recently, a quote you love from the Buy Handmade site...the possibilities are infinite.

Wednesday, December 5 Pick a date for a gift wrapping party to hold at your house or a local gallery or boutique, send out an evite or email invitation (at the party, encourage people to sign the pledge, and talk about Etsy and your Team).

Thursday, December 6 Show off some Etsy finds on Flickr.

Friday, December 7 Find two more people to swap blog links with.

Week Four: November 26 - 30

(Don't have a personal Blog? Read "Why blogs are important and how to become a blogger" and spend your daily 10 minutes this week building your blog and making it shine).

Monday, November 26 "Cyber Monday" - the biggest online shopping day of the year! In addition to your team event for the day, send an email to everyone you are close enough to to email (without being thought of as a spammer), and tell them why they should buy handmade today instead of buying from giant, faceless sites. Include links to your Team's Etsy Minis (via your team's favorites), to Etsy, and to the Handmade Pledge. Include some thoughts on why buying handmade means something to you.

Tuesday, November 27 In your team Flickr group or blog, have everyone post a picture of their favorite Etsy purchase. You have just created another promotional tool for your team to send to people!

Wednesday, November 28 Team blog day: Have everyone on your team blog about the Handmade Pledge today, and mention your Team blog/shop/website in the post. Not have a Team blog? Get one started! Having multiple contributors to a Team blog makes it interesting and easy to keep up to date.

Thursday, November 29 Find someone new to swap blog links with today. Send a Myspace bulletin or Facebook wall note.

Friday, November 30 Team love day! Blog about another Etsy Team that interests you today. Contact members of that team, and encourage them to tell their team members to blog about your team.

Week Three: November 19 - 23

Monday, November 19 Take ten minutes to think of and list all the places within a 10-minute walk, drive, or bike ride from your home or work place that have bulletin boards and places for
flyers and postcards. Locally owned businesses, like coffee shops and boutiques or galleries are particularly good, as are community centers and libraries with public announcement boards. Think about your daily schedule and pick 3 or 4 days in the next couple of weeks when you will use your ten-minute marketing time to go to one of those places and leave promo materials for your Etsy shop, BuyHandmade.org, and/or Etsy Team.

Tuesday, November 20 Pack up your Team's promos, Buy Handmade stuff and Etsy promos and bring them to a place or two on the list you made yesterday and distribute! Here's a Guide to Making the Most of Promotional Items. And support your local coffee house by getting yourself a nice cup of tea while you are at it!

Wednesday, November 21 Do it again! Take your Team's promos, BuyHandmade.org promos and your Etsy promos to a place on the list you made on Friday, and distribute. Don't forget to check our Guide on how to Effectively Make the Most of Promos before you head out!

Thursday, November 22 Happy Thanksgiving! Put a Buy Handmade sticker on your bike or car (do it before you do any holiday travelling!), a Buy Handmade sign in your front window or on your dog, a Buy Handmade button on your bag or backpack. Next time someone notices any of your promos, hand them your business card, a little Etsy or Etsy Team promo if they are open to it, and tell them to pass it on. You can use some of the Resources available here and here to make your signs or stickers yourself if you didn't receive any from your Etsy Team Leader. (Just kidding about putting a sign on your dog, by the way - be nice to your pets!)

Friday, November 23 Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day

Do you have an interesting piece of clothing or jewelry you bought on Etsy?
Wear it out and about today, and tell people where you got it. If you don't wear anything you bought on Etsy, spend your ten minutes finding and purchasing something unique to wear, and purchase it!

Week Two: November 12 - 16

Monday, November 12 Make sure your email signatures on your email accounts, your blogging signatures and signatures on online Forums all include links to your Etsy Team's blog or web site, your own Etsy shop, and to www.buyhandmade.org.

Tuesday, November 13 Make a team Etsy Mini (or an Etsy Mini from items in your shop, if you're not a member of an Etsy Team). The easiest way to make an Etsy Mini for your team is to heart (select as a favorite) several items from people's shops in your favorites and make your Etsy Mini from your favorites. Include it on your personal blog or web site and your Team blog/Web site. OR... If you don't have a blog or website to post the Etsy Mini on, simply email items from Etsy to three different friends - be personal with your emails, and be sure to choose items your friends will be interested in.

Wednesday, November 14 Email friends, family or coworkers who are holiday gift shopping and mention your Etsy Mini as a useful gift guide. Send them a link to your Team's blog (or whatever site you put the Etsy Mini on). OR... if you didn't make an Etsy Mini yesterday, simply email two friends or family members an article from the Storque that they might find interesting.

Thursday, November 15 Print a fewof the postcards available on the Resources page and mail them to a couple friends and family members, or put them in your office's break room. If you're feeling ambitious, add the shop addresses of your Team member's shops along with your own to the back of the cards.

Friday, November 16 Today is "Tell someone in the real world about Etsy" day! We all interact with so many people every day - strike up a conversation with your coffee barista, gas station attendant, hair dresser, fellow elevator rider, librarian or taxi driver about why handmade is important and how easy it is to buy handmade on Etsy. Give them your Etsy business card or one of the postcards you printed yesterday so they remember how to find things online. Have fun with this one! Remember to be friendly, not pushy.

Week One: November 5 - 9

Monday, November 5: Everyone on your team signs the Buy Handmade pledge at www.buyhandmade.org.
You can each use your remaining minutes to email as many people as you can, asking them to do the same. Tell them why from your own personal commitment and perspective on creating and buying handmade. (Supporting the pledge helps drive more traffic to Etsy via www.buyhandmade.org - good for Etsy and good for you!)

Tuesday, November 6: At www.buyhandmade.org, click the "download a badge" button at the bottom of
the right-hand column, and copy the code for a Buy Handmade badge. Add the badge to your team blog and/or web site, and then each team member can add it to your personal and business blogs and web sites.

Wednesday, November 7: Go to http://team.etsy.com/BH-avatartemplates.html and grab an avatar by right clicking and saving the image (on a Mac, ctrl+click). It has a Handmade Pledge logo on it, and one has room for you to add your team name in Photoshop or another imaging program. Make a new avatar promoting your team and Buy Handmade to be uploaded on Friday, after you have prepared your shop for it (tomorrow's Ten Minute Marketing tip).

Thursday, November 8: Update your shop announcement and banner. Add the Buy Handmade badge to your banner (need help?). In your shop announcement, explain why you support the Handmade Pledge. If you like, you can offer some kind of a discount to customers who say that they have signed the pledge. Make sure that your Team blog or web page is listed in your shop announcement - people will be coming to your shop after being curious about all these avatars with your team name on them! You can also include information on the Handmade Pledge in the note to buyer on the transaction email - since they just purchased a handmade product, maybe they'll be interested in showing they care enough to buy handmade.

Friday, November 9: Team avatar day! Each team member: Upload your new avatar (3 minutes), and
spend 7 minutes posting to the Etsy forums with your new avatar on display! Keep your Etsy Team/Buy handmade avatar up for at least 72 hours before reverting to your regular shop avatar - this will mean your avatar is visible on weekend as well as on Monday, so people who check Etsy on weekends as well as weekdays will get a chance to see it. Post in the forums whenever you get a chance on Team avatar day. If you'd like to go the extra mile, change your default photo or avatar on other social networking sites, like Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, Craftster, etc, for extra visibility.