It's been a busy week for me. There's been a lot of talk about social media (again) in my mentoring group and I've been revisiting it as a traffic strategy and a relationship building strategy. I'll talk about this more in this issue. I'm getting ahead of myself - sorry!
WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE
1. Handmade Results Weekly Lessons News : We're Shut Down, Reopening Soon
2. The Results Report Updated - New Download Available
3. Why Bother With Twitter and Facebook: What I'm Doing and Why
4. Update on the 30 Minute a Day Web Shop Promo Guide Coming Soon
5. HRW Member News -- Look for Your Lessons in the Sidebar
6. How to Write Great Jewelry Description - Top Ten Tips
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1. Handmade Results Weekly Lessons News : We're Shut Down, Reopening Soon
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First up I wanted to let you know that I've shut down Handmade Results Weekly to new subscribers for the moment while I sort some details and catch my breath.
I'll be reopening briefly to new subscribers in June, so watch for that.
I got a cool video made to introduce the course to newcomers. I don't know if this "movie trailer" style will do anything for me but it's fun.
Get on the notification list that comes up after the video if you want to know when we reopen.
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2. The Results Report Updated - New Download Available
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I updated the Results Report pretty extensively so you should download it and read it again. I't smore clear and to the point now, and also has some new information about what you should and should not be doing to market your business. You can now download it directly from your member's page.
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3. Why Bother With Twitter and Facebook: What I'm Doing and Why
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Social Media : What's It Good for Anyway?
If you've been dabbling in Twitter and Facebook, and been trying to figure out how best to use them, and for what, this article is for you.
Twitter and Facebook are still really "young" as marketing strategies and media go, so everyone is still somewhat in the experimental stage. I'm definitely no expert, but I try to keep up with information from some of the best, most knowledgeable (and ethical!) marketers out there and I also watch what they do in their own businesses.
Historically (if you can call it that) I've tried Facebook, hated it, got lots of friends I didn't know, then found it unusable. I dumped all my "friends" that I didn't know personally and socially, and kept Twitter as my update media.
I found people were following me just to get me to follow back, and I kept getting spam tweets when I did, so I delegated it to just giving automated updates on my website with the occasional personal tweet here and there, and left it at that.
I've been revisiting Facebook and Twitter this week. It's been on my to do list for awhile.
Here's the inside scoop on what I'm doing (in my slow and sporadic way) to get back into social media in a smart way.
One person I follow closely is Lynn Terry (ClickNewz.com) and I've been in a mentoring group she heads for awhile. I've been chatting with her about how best to proceed with Twitter and Facebook to NOT spend all my time there but still be where my market is.
Her suggestion was to build Fan pages for Handmade Results and How-to-Make-Jewelry.com, have a twitter stream for each website and then one for me personally.
I've already built the twitter accounts and started working on a Facebook fan page for Handmade Results.
Now why am I doing this? You may be thinking, "But you contradict yourself!" aren't you putting down social media as a time waster in your Results Report?!?.
I am putting it down as a sales builder. People don't look for places to shop on twitter. They don't look to shop on Facebook either. You need a strong foundation - a strong website to begin with before you go off and try to build relationships via social media.
I still think sales aren't coming from twitter and facebook. I've been asking around and keeping my ears open to what other marketers and social media experts are saying, and they for the most part agree.
I'm not hearing that jewelry sellers get sales from Facebook. As a matter of fact I'm hearing the opposite.
I'm hearing that advertising on Facebook is iffy and may get you some traffic at first, but few sales, and that on Facebook people get used to your ad quickly and you'll see clickthrough fall really quickly.
So once again, why am I bothering?
Well it's all about goals, isn't it? Now that I have Handmade Results more or less sorted, I want to start networking and getting feedback about improving and also start getting on the radar of certain key people in the market so I can partner with them down the road.
Here's What Social Media like Facebook and Twitter are Good For:
*Communication
*Discussion
*Relationship Building
*Getting access to influential people in your industry
*Networking
*Building strategic partnership
*Chatting with your market in a casual way
Those are the things that social media is great for.
If you'd like you can follow Handmade Results on Twitter to get updates when I post new articles or have Handmade Results related announcements, and you can "like" me on Facebook on our new Facebook page.
While we're on the subject, what the heck should I put on the Handmade Results Facebook page? Share your thoughts - I'd love to hear them. Really - I really am in unfamiliar territory here.
Be sure to add your Facebook page and twitter URL's so I can follow you and "like" you too.
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4. Update on the 30 Minute a Day Web Shop Promo Guide - Coming Soon
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I know, I know... Time is shorter and shorter than ever and so is money right? If you recall, I said you'll soon see some shorter, affordable Jewelry Marketing reports, courses and guides for you if you are short on time and short on cash, but really do want some step by step information to help you in your business.
The first is a short, to the point, 5 lesson course on PROMOTION. The biggest question I'm getting is how to promote yourself on the internet and drive traffic to your online shop, blog, or website. I thought I'd have it up for you more quickly than this, but I still have to set up an order page. Watch for that soon.
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5. HRW Member News -- Look for Your Lessons in the Sidebar
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If you're logged in, you can now find your training modules/lessons in the sidebar of Handmade Results as well as on your Member's page. Be sure to check for new lessons!
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6. Newest Jewelry Business Articles:
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I recently posted three new but related articles:
*How to Get Better Jewelry Business Sales Numbers - Step by Step
Here's how you improve your business. Get traffic, get them to look at your product, figure out your conversion rate, then improve your product description using these tips, then check your conversion rate a month after you made the changes. Did your sales go up or down? Take the best of the two versions and do it again. Get more detail in this article.
*Sales Conversions - This is a fundamental must read.
You need a baseline to see where you're at before you can improve. Leanr how to calculate this most important number and start tracking your results.
*How to Write Jewelry Description - 10 Tips
Some juicy tips for writing your product pages. How well are you doing? I bet you can do better. Then, use the testing article (above) to check if you ARE doing better.
That's all for this week.
Warmly,
Christine Gierer
HandmadeResults.com
P.S. If you like this newsletter, be sure to forward to your friends.
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