Pay it Forward and Giveaways, Do they Help Etsy Sales in Your Shop?

Do I have to sneeze on you to get you to do a Pay it Forward, this 1938 Valentines Card by Paper Picker.

1) PIF - (Pay it Forward) / Clearance Sale

A "Pay it Forward" is when you list an item for an unbelievably low price.  I've seen them listed anywhere from .20 to $5.00, but the lower the better.   Tag and title the item with pif, and pay it forward tags.   I recently did this with some items that I've had forever, things I've reduced and relisted so many times they were going to Goodwill.

Consider it a clerance sale, there's over 2600 "PIF" items on Etsy at any given time! I sold a small wood box, some old letterpress and have a brooch currently listed waiting for it's buyer. The PIF's,drove a lot of shop views and got me one customer who ordered some wood print blocks.

Some PIF's sell pretty fast, but others are still waiting to be had.  In the listing I explain that this is a pay it forward, and that they in turn should do something nice for someone else today.  Nothing like spreading kindness and a good deal at the same time. If anything, people will be drawn to your shop and maybe give you a few hearts.  They may even favorite you and check back sooner.

Once upon a blue moon you should have a giveaway...speaking of blue moons gorgeous Ensemble by GreenBeadz Designs

Hold A Giveaway!

Giveaways can be posted on various sites and can drive exposure to your  shop and your blog. Many giveaways ask you to read a particular blog post and "comment on it" and by doing so you have driven traffic to your blog and made people aware of your merchandise and your Etsy shop!  Case in point, feature 5 vintage items and ask sellers to pick their favorite. One lucky winner wins the item.

Winners and Losers, with Giveaways everyone's a winner. Angel Bag by RoyalRedneck!

Giveaways can be done at:

• Funky Finds  (FREE) I'm having one on here--but not actually "giving it away" until May. Nice thing is they list my shop up until the giveaway,then will write a blurb about it, so nothing like free exposure! They select a winner, and will contact me.  What's not to like?

• EtsyGiveaways (FREE) This place has so many giveaways it will make your head spin.  They also have a high page rank and people read this thing.  It's a great way to do a giveaway and most I've seen have about 40 to 60 average entries PER contest or more, meaning that's about 50 more people to your blog post and aware of your shop! *Focus on handmade but I've seen just about everything on here.

• EverythingEtsy ($$$) Everything Etsy has a huge following, and is a well read online publication opens up giveaway slots, and usually asks for a fee plus two samples.If you were donating a glove mold send them two. One will be reviewed in a nice blog post highlighting your shop for more exposure, and they will send out the second item direct to the winner. Last giveaway I saw cost $50, but this covered the write up, contest, and them mailing your item.  So, essentially you are paying for a giveaway but in turn gaining a lot of shop views and exposure. This may be better in the long run than taking out a button ad.  Contact them for more information and current pricing, and Kim is super cool to work with.

Relax and let your giveaway take it's course...and enjoy breakfast in bed with this upcycled cork tray by Lolailo.

Try it and let me know how your PIF or giveaway works! I hope if anything it will drive exposure, page views and new "hearts" to your shop!



Originally written for the Vesties by yours truly. See full post with more ideas here.
Read the other Marketing 101 posts I've done for their blog HERE.

Do You Picnik ? Easy Way to Fix Photos and Promote Your Etsy Shop on Your Website or Blog

Camera and photo from VintageSpark on Etsy.

 Many of us look at some of the photos that make it to the front page on Etsy and are in awe. Etsy's Storque blog is full of good articles on  fixing your photos in your shop.  I hate to break this to you, but most of these people just like you or I and did not take photography lessons. They have however found a way to "bond with their camera" and  found their "MACRO" zoom button.  They usually use neutral or white backgrounds, and sometimes stage props in, but more often than not use natural lighting.

Gorgeous picture, feels like you can reach out and touch it , how about giving me some lessons? Item and photo by AnBlathPaipeir

I'll be the first to admit, most of my photos SUCK.  My husband thought it time for me to upgrade from one of those "point and click" Kodak with "three functions", so when he got me one of those fancy Ashton Kutcher jobs I wasn't sure whether to thank him or cry. (Soon it was the latter).  I was and am still clueless.   I have read and reread the manual 100 times and honestly can't process it. (If it's not just point, click, zoom, I'm no good.)  So if you are thinking your photos aren't good enough, put yourself in my shoes. Imagine having crappy photos but owning a super duper camera, that's pretty bad.  I don't own those expensive software programs like Photo-shop.  Then someone told me they were using Picnik for years. I played around.  You can join the service for a small fee, but I made all the below using Picnik's FREE services.

THE MISSION:  Make a banner link for someone to add to my blog. 

BEFORE:

I had to use a photo from Modern Plastics shop.

AFTER:  I used free Picnik services to brighten it, saturate it, add text and a "museum style frame".  Now it works as the perfect "photo link" to her site. 

 

THE MISSION:  Have some fun with this picture by Ohzie, and zoom in closer to the hat.

BEFORE:

I had to use a photo from Ohzie shop.

AFTER:  I zoomed in and made it into a playful polaroid, that she could use in any Etsy listing, blog post or on any website. I thought it important to put the recycle symbol on it as her products are recycled. Perhaps seeing her name over and over will drive customers to her shop.

THE MISSION:  Spice up my glove mold photo.

BEFORE:

My photo is just blah....lacks luster and bad exposure.

AFTER: Perhaps good for something around Halloween?  Brighter and fun! I added a frame with picnic and some "free stamps" which you can move around and turn...it would have been okay just making it brighter.

THE MISSION:  Make this picture of DoLoBo Jewelry stand out for a small mention in an upcoming blog post.

The original is okay for Etsy, but we needed to add some spunk and make it artsy.

Spunky for a sidebar on his blog!  I used a saturation and grainy look on Picnik.

MISSION:  Make a collage, if you  have too many photo angles and can't fit them all into Etsy, use a collage for one of your pictures.

Here's a mini collage with only two photos!

 Photo collages are available in any size. I sharpened the dress to show more floral design, and added the writing, as you can tell I really like that font.  Photos by TexasVintageThings.  

Or you can just make basic collages if you have too many photos for Etsy. This one I made from  Modern Plastics.

I truly believe photos sell your product. All of the above are just tools to help you spice yours up a bit.  There are so many items on Etsy now, it's not hard to find a few of the same.  I would rather pay more for an item that looks prettier or better than less for an item that I can't see detail in or is grainy. So, why not have a Picnik date ?