How And Where To Advertise Your Handmade Items!

I know this post is a bit long, but it has a ton of great resources! I urge you to read thru it when you have some time. I know you'll find some helpfull information here. :)


There are many ways that you can get word out about your product. I'm going to assume that you have at least a website as your home base. If not, you should get a web page up and running. It doesn't have to be a shop or merchant account, but at the very least something that people can go to online and look at your work and get your contact information from. Now that we have that covered, lets get into a few different ways that you can advertise your products or your shop. Remember to always leave your URL in the ad.


* Craigslist.org is a popular place for beginners to advertise. It's free and you can reach a large audience.
* USfreeads.com is another free site that you can list your products on. All you need to do is sign up and your set!
* Webclassifieds.us is another free site to list your products on. Again all you have to do is sign up!
* Some pay-per-click advertising companies are adwords and projectwonderful.com Just be sure you stay within your budget when choosing one of these options.
* Stumblehere.com is growing more and more popular and is a good option to get yourself noticed.
* Blogs: Blogs are becoming increasingly popular for small business to reach a target group. Button and banner type ads are most popular. When buying space on a blog consider the traffic the blog generates, page views, comments left, and the date of the last post made. This way you can tell if the blog is active or not. Most blogs have very competitive rates so look around!
* Blogs.... again! When you find blogs targeted to your audience look around and see if there is a "Feature" section. Most blogs love to have guest posts. If your not sure don't hesitate to contact the owner of the blog. When your write for a blog you not only get attention to your product and name, you also will get a link back at the end of the post that will send readers directly to your site or shop.
* Blogs one more time! Again to these targeted blogs...... Product reviews and give aways are great to get your name out there! You can host a give away on someones blog to reach their audience, but you will usually need to "donate" 2 sets of your product to them. One for the blogger to try and to review and one for the blogger to give away. This is fine with sample sets or inexpensive items, but I really do not recommend that you do this with some of your more expensive items! Even if you do not generate a lot of sales to start with from the campain, you have gotten your name out there and have gained some much needed exposure!


Now get on out there, open up some web pages, and get ADVERTISING!!!


*Don't forget your local newspaper as well!!!


Just some ending tips to think about with blogs: What are you selling? Who does it appeal to? Where can you find this targeted audience?
Ex. Selling hair bows?  You might want to target a mother/baby blog
Ex. Selling candles? You might want to target any blog that has a huge female audience (no offense guys! we know you love your candles to!)