Tag-Archive for » link building «

Feb
09
Free Patterns Gone Paid = Missed Opportunity
Posted by Michele on February 9, 2010

As I talked about in one of my first blog posts – Free Patterns Lead to Sales, it’s a fairly common practice for crafters to offer free patterns on their blogs and websites. Freebies can lead to a multitude of free links and advertising for your site. And it’s not a technique for garnering links and traffic that is solely utilized by crafters.

Where site owners are shooting themselves in the foot is when they remove a previously free article or pattern from their website and add it to their shop or store, make it part of a paid ebook or private area. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why someone would want to make money from their work. But, as those folks who have linked to that page realize that it no longer exists, you are going to lose all of those wonderful links to your site. more…

Category: Being Web Savvy, Selling Crafts on the Internet, Selling Tips, Website Promotion  Tags: , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment
Oct
12
Writing About Me Pages – Round II
Posted by Michele on October 12, 2009

Dear Blogger Without an Informative About Me Page,

You might have the greatest blog ever. Your posts might be witty, informative or otherwise link-worthy. You might have designed the bestest-ever tutorial to make something. People enjoy your blog and often return to read more. And yet, after all that effort, you failed to provide any information about who you are and make it easy for people to help promote your site.

who are youThink about someone blogging about cats. Are you more likely to trust information from someone who has three cats living with them or someone who is basing their comments on what other bloggers say about living with cats? Crafting is no different; particularly if you are selling what you make.

Most blogging software makes it really easy to create an About Me page. Yet, you either didn’t create an About Me page or you posted something meaningless.

May I offer a few suggestions to get you started…

While you do not have to say exactly how old you are, it would be nice to know if you are say under 30, a working mom or a much loved grandmother. Even having a vague idea of how old you are can help people get to know you and appreciate where you are coming from.

If you write a blog about sewing, while it is nice to know that you have a wonderful husband and the sex and number of children you have, prospective buyers of your items or people like me who want to exchange links would much rather see stuff about how long you have been sewing, what inspires you and perhaps from whom or how you learned to sew.

Large corporations create Press Kits so that when someone wishes to write a piece about their company they have some background information to draw from. While most bloggers will never need a full-blown press kit it would be nice if more of you thought more about promotion when it came to putting something on your About Me page.

Signed,

Michele

owner of

Crafty Tips Arts & Crafts Directory

Yes, today’s post is a bit of a rant. Drives me crazy when folks are so busy trying to avoid providing personal information that they fail to provide trade or professional info. It’s so much easier to add sites to Crafty Tips when the site owner has taken some time to provide some information about how they came to be making what they do.

Would you rather have a link with text that says,

Blog about knitting with both free patterns and patterns for sale.

or

This self-taught knitter has been creating custom knitwear for over 20 years. While she no longer makes sweaters for sale, she shares her knowledge and expertise on this informative blog about knitting techniques and provides a number of free patterns and patterns for purchase.

So, if you are blogging in cognito and particularly if you are trying to promote your online business, get serious information on your About Me page so other bloggers and people like me can help you!

To learn more about writing about me pages, please visit my earlier post which includes ideas and tips for what to include and what to leave out or you about me.

Category: Being Web Savvy, Internet Marketing, Selling Crafts on the Internet, Selling Tips, Website Promotion  Tags: , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment
Feb
07
How long do websites and directories last?
Posted by Michele on February 7, 2009

A recent complaint by someone on a directory forum got me to thinking, how long do websites typically last and are directories more likely than average websites to disappear quickly? What sort of ROI can someone expect from directory submissions over the long term? Is it really 0% as one forum member reported?

Website Life Spans

Unfortunately, the only statistical information I could find about the life span of websites was from way back in 1998. The average lifespan for a website at that time was only 44 to 75 days. The article was unclear as to whether this related to uptime or popularity.

The article did clearly state that 44% of websites disappeared from the web within one year. It would seem likely that in 2009 that number is significantly higher.

My Directory Life Span Experiment

I wanted to know how many directories that I submitted to over a year ago still exist and still list my sites?

more…

Category: Being Web Savvy, Internet Marketing, SEO, Website Promotion  Tags: , , , ,  2 Comments
Jun
29
Free Artist Profiles
Posted by Michele on June 29, 2008

I was looking at someone’s blog today and noticed a conversation on how to advertise a crafting business on the cheap. One of the things mentioned was to ask bloggers if they would be willing to interview artists or review their sites.

I’ve toyed with the idea to review each of the sites submitted and accepted to Crafty Tips Arts & Crafts Directory but my concern was trying to be fair and impartial. I mean, let’s face it not all sites are created equal. Some directory sites have started adding blog entries for sites being submitted but it would seem that could become a real black hole of time and frustration.

In the past, I’ve offered free profiles on several forums. I did ask for a link to this site or one of my other craft-related sites and was disappointed when only two artists took me up on that offer. My thought was that since my blog is not on the fast lane that it was simply a matter of not being popular enough to attract interested folks. The blog I was reading happened to have a comment from one of the editor’s in the jewelry section of a very popular crafting site. She too lamented that she could not find folks who wanted to participate and receive free reviews and profile pieces.

So, rather than try another round in the forums, I thought I would make the offer again here on the site where the profile would reside. Do take heed, that this is free advertising for your business and I take that very seriously. Your site or shop must offer something of value for sale or offer information and project tutorials that would be of interest to crafters.

Participants might also receive a bit of free business consulting advice along the way and when combined with a bit of free advertising both will hopefully bring a some new visitors/customers to your site.

Just let me know if you are interested. The profiles/reviews are free.

Category: Being Web Savvy, Internet Marketing  Tags: , , , , ,  Leave a Comment
Feb
21
Free Advertising for Crafters
Posted by Michele on February 21, 2008

I’ve talked before about a variety of ways to get free advertising and backlinks. If you are a repeat visitor to this blog, you probably already know about Crafty Tips, my arts and crafts directory.

But, did you know that there’s a special category to showcase other websites that offer free or paid advertising to crafters? A recent submission reminded me that perhaps, as the last category on the main menu, many folks may not see this section. Other Advertising Options for Crafters is a place where websites that offer free and paid advertising can list their websites. Crafty Tips visitors should be sure to check out the sites listed there as they are all designed to help promote your website or online shop just like Crafty Tips does.

Additionally, I’m building something of an article directory/tutorial website called The Crafty Tipster were crafters and artisans are invited to share project ideas and patterns. All articles include an author’s box with full attribution.

Category: Internet Marketing, Selling Crafts on the Internet  Tags: , , , , ,  2 Comments
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