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It’s been a while since SilkFair first came online and the main seller and buyer features have been constantly updated with new, exciting functions that improve the user’s experience related to online marketplaces and online stores.
On May 12th we launched the Chatroom option (accessible for all logged in users under the Community tab), and we want to thank everybody that helped us in testing it, especially Shannon who has shown that videocams work, too. Similar to the MySpace chatrooms, the system allows you to create your own rooms and negotiate with customers for example. Friendly and pleasant, the chatrooms are free to use and don’t log any messages or conversations. More information about this feature can be read [url=http://www.silkfair.com/forum/thread/313]here[/url].
A couple of days before, we released the Mini Store Widgets that allow store promotion anywhere you want online. The cool thing is that you don’t have to do anything else but grab the code and the widget plays all the products in your store. And if you want to have control (maybe you just want to send people to your store without showing them your 100 different products), then grab one of the ready-made [url=http://www.silkfair.com/download/badges]Badges[/url] especially designed to complete the advertising features.
After a couple more weeks, we heard you’d like to have a personal place (thank you RocknWow for the idea) where sellers could speak about tips, suggestions, techniques etc. And that was the birth of the Secured Seller-Only Forums. To smooth things up for you, and avoid dealing with passwords/codes etc, our techies found a way to make the system know and allow the sellers in without any further actions from their part. User-friendly from head to toe!
When we got our first seller that had over 18,000 products to list (from [url=http://thesteamshoppe.silkfair.com/]TheSteamShoppe[/url]), it was clear that we had to work on a Bulk load/ bulk image upload facility in order to enhance the SilkFair service for sellers with a lot of products, too. Obviously, the above option is now up and running. To learn more about it, just go read [url=http://www.silkfair.com/forum/thread/19]this[/url].
But let’s go on. [url=http://www.silkfair.com/forum/thread/326]The New Text Search Interface[/url], [url=http://www.silkfair.com/forum/thread/346]Duplicate a Listing[/url] or [url=http://www.silkfair.com/forum/thread/442]Store Category Tree[/url] were one after another released for freely use. Every time you asked for something or we felt we could offer you an upgrade, we brainstormed with the programmers and found a way to create user friendly, usable improvements that turn online buying and selling into a fun and easy daily practice.
And let’s stop here for the moments with a preview for what’s next: The 100% Customizable Store. The name may give you a hint of what we’ve been up to, but for the time being, we keep this secret, as we’re still working on the bug-free version, but soon we’re going cut it loose.
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Image source: [url=http://yanadesigns.silkfair.com/]Yana Designs[/url]
A lucky number of talented people have native skills for taking impressive pictures. This article and tutorial is not for them. But it's for everybody else who feels their camera hasn't caught the perfect light and/or color every time they took a picture meant to sustain the description of an item in their online store.
The products used to create the color enhancement tutorial are randomly taken from two Silkfair stores. The archive is for you to download and keep on your computer for further use.
If you're looking for any other tutorials, drop a line in the comments section and let us know about it. Remember we're the online e-commerce solution that makes buying and selling fun and easy , therefore we're open to other suggestions and ways to improve your marketplace experience.
A comment today may get you a tutorial tomorrow.
Download the tutorial [url=http://guilty-pleasures.org/images/Silkfair/tutorial.zip]here[/url]. The link will open you a window from where you can save the archived files.
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How many of you haven’t heard „Oh, my God! That’s so cute. You should sell it!” when other people (friends, family or just simple acquaintances) have seen your crafts? And you took their advice, worked your butt off to create original pieces, went to craft fairs, set up online shops and ....the results were not as you expected them. Time passed and sales seem not to reflect your devotion and heart put in every little piece of work. Naturally, you start questioning yourself what you’re doing wrong?, what we’re doing wrong?, where is everybody screwing up?
The thing is that no one is doing anything wrong, but you must take advantage of the traffic and potential customers that visit your shops everyday. We’re bringing them here, you must make them stay, buy and return or at least speak about what they bought from you. That is advertising, that turns your shop into a viral.
Now let’s get over all the specific marketing terminology and get to clean tips and suggestions on a budget, suggestions you can choose to stick to and improve your online stores.
Basically, it’s all down to DETAILS.
1. List new items. Often. Let’s suppose you finished 3 new items, nobody asks you to list them immediately. Today, tomorrow, in a week, listings are free and are meant to give you time to showcase each object. Show everybody that each item is important (so each needs some time to be in the flashlight before another one takes its place)
2. Develop the niche you’re good at and showcase your shop accordingly. If you try your hand in different crafts and areas, it may be better to have a new shop for each interest, rather than mixing paper crafts, with jewelry and vintage items with prints. Mixing different things only gives a feeling of discomfort and suggests you don’t really know what you’re selling; you may send wrong signals. If you’re not sure on your items, why should I buy them?
3. Be active in the forums, use the free blog as a way to advertise your items (I know several of you are already doing this, but this article is meant to tip suggestions to each seller in SilkFair). Posting raises the number of people that see your name, thus the number of people visiting your store. Keep in mind that other SF sellers are also potential customers.
4. Market you store! (Yes, we’re always going to emphasize the marketing thing, this is the way all businesses in the world develop). You know you should be doing this - but are you?
a). Join forums and put your SilkFair store URL/ widget in your signature, if the forum rules allow it.
b). Find people to link to your SilkFair store, and do the same for them in return. Advertise in free bulletin boards. List your stores in specific directories:
http://www.myspace.com/
http://www.cracker.com.au
http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl
http://froogle.google.com/
http://www.search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx
http://www.dmoz.org/add.html
http://www.arts-crafts.com/market/
http://www.ecom.yahoo.com/dir/submit/intro/
http://www.made-in-new-york.com/
http://seocompany.ca/directory/free-web-directories.html
http://www.blogger.com/start
http://www.freecraftfair.com/link_exchange.html
http://www.freecraftfair.com/categories.html
http://www.bust.com/girlweb/index.html
http://www.clipfire.com/
c). Put your SILKFAIR URL in your e-mail signature
d). Join communities and stick to other sellers in SF. Create groups, network, share skills, and promote your products and shops all together. Start groups based on shared location, craft interests, similar business medium or any other thing you may have in mind.
http://www.stumbleupon.com
http://groups.xanga.com
http://www.stylehive.com
http://www.kaboodle.com
http://www.thisnext.com
And a couple for moms:
http://babble.com/
http://www.momblognetwork.com/
e). Do business card exchange with other sellers. You can use Vistaprint.com – (they have a free business card feature) and give them away like crazy. Send samples or cards to people attending craft fairs in other cities. Send your items to the Sampler (homeofthesampler.com) for gaining more exposure both online and to subscribers.
f). Use the video feature, people! The future of all business is in the interactive media. We’re offering you showcase with videos, why don’t you take advantage of that? Create short advertising videos for your items or your whole shop. You have tons of imagination to create beautiful, unique things; you must be able to create videos, too. Upload them on YouTube (if really creative) or just showcase them in SF (I know I’d like to see the backstage of your business, we all appreciate hard work so why not share a little piece of the process)
Not everything is going to work, but keep mark of what it does and stick to that!
5. Be accurate and objective when pricing your items. Calculate the costs based on your work, time spent and market relevancy. Try to have a couple of “less than 10$” items in your store, as statistics say that people are more likely to buy cheaper things.
P.S. Stay tune for the photo tutorial to come.
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Live simply.
In kindergarten your idea of a good friend was the person who let you have the red crayon when all that was left was the ugly black one.
In primary school your idea of a good friend was the person who went to the bathroom with you; held your hand as you walked through the scary halls; helped you stand up to the class bully; shared their lunch with you when you forgot yours on the bus; saved a seat on the back of the bus for you; knew who you had a crush on and never understood why.
In secondary school your idea of a good friend was the person who let you copy their social studies homework; went to that "cool" party with you so you wouldn't wind up being the only freshie there; did not let you lunch alone.
Love generously.
In pre-university your idea of a good friend was the person who gave you rides in their new car; convinced your parents that you shouldn't be grounded; consoled you when you broke up with Nick or Susan; found you a date to the prom or went to the prom with you (both without dates); helped you pick a university and assured you that you would get into that university; helped you deal with your parents who were having a hard time letting you go. On the threshold of adulthood your idea of a good friend was the person who was there when you just couldn't deal with your parents; assured you that now that you and Nick or you and Susan were back together, you could make it through anything; just silently hugged you as you looked through blurry eyes at 18 years of memories; and reassured you that you would make it in university as well as you had these past 18 years; and most importantly sent you off to university knowing you were loved.
Care deeply.
Now, your idea of a good friend is still the person who gives you the better of the two choices, hold your hand when you're scared, helps you fight off those who try to take advantage of you, thinks of you at times when you are not there, reminds you of what you have forgotten, helps you put the past behind you but understands when you need to hold on to it a little longer, stays with you so that you have confidence, goes out of their way to make time for you, helps you clear up your mistakes, helps you deal with pressure from others, smiles for you when they are sad, helps you become a better person, and most importantly loves you!
Speak kindly.
Thank you for being a friend. No matter where we go or who we become, never forget who helped us get there. There's never a wrong time to pick up a phone or send a message telling your friends how much you miss them or how much you love them.
This is something I found online. Unfortunately I didn't find the author, so if you by any chance know him/her, drop a line, in order to add credits.
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Meet [url=http://shannonsaylor.silkfair.com/]Shannon Saylor[/url], the straightforward, crafty person that seems to always have an ace upon her sleeves.: "if you don't find it here, I've probably got a way to get it. "
What do you create/sell?
I sell pearls, handcrafted jewelry and vintage jewelry, material, glass and pottery, plates (collectible), knitted items
When and why did you decide to start your business?
I started last year w/ etsy and ebay around August. I have had 36 sales thus far and just started into the pearl business.
I started mainly into it because I bought from several girls the handcrafted jewelry, and I got to looking at them. The more I looked at them, the more I thought that I could do that. It just became me.The same with knitting and being a supplier.
What are your future plans?
I have to plan for tough times. I am not one to say no, but I plan for the worst so that there are no surprises. I would love to be a major supplier, and jewelry maker, but I'm also a realist. I know that there aren't as many buyers as there were when I first got into the business.
3 words for anybody new in this business
courage, patience, ambition
What keeps you motivated?
if you knew me, you would say it's my coffee... LOL!! But actually, it's my internal drive for success that prevents me from failing. I refuse the word no, and keep trucking at what I'm doing. I am savvy online, spend it as my day job at home. I bead at night when watching television, or knit. I'm always asking my husbands opinion and have a few friends online that I go to when need a woman's opinion.
Inspiration is not sold at the market. Who is your muse and where do you find it?
When it comes to beads, they tell me what they want to be and how to design them when I sit at them. When it comes to knitting, i decide what goes best with what color that I want to create. Oh yes, I crochet too.
How do you promote your business?
I promote on my blogs on myspace and blogger, and I promote on facebook as well. I promote on ning, and indiepublic, and twitter. I also promote w/ my e-mails, word of mouth, chat, messages, wearing my items, business cards, flyers, and soon to be (hopefully) newspaper article.
Are you content with your business?
For it to be 8 months old, I would have to say yes. I am quite pleased. I didn't get much of sales for the first two months. But I'm now selling weekly. I sent out 8 orders just last week.
Who are some of your favorite indie designers/artists?
NyBlaque, Jennifer Desjardins, Blossoming Tree Bodycare, and RockNWow
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Updated on: Feb 28, 2008
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