Wanted - Etsy shop promos

It's that time of the year again, when I find I am almost out of the little promo packs I send to my customers with their order. I am looking for items up to the size of a standard business card, such as:

• Coupons
• Buttons and badges
• Magnets
• Charms
  
• Stickers
• Moo cards

Here are come samples of promos and promo packs from the past.

If you want to send me your promos, please leave a comment or email me at and I will send you my shipping address (in Israel).

Moo and sighs

This has been such a bad day for me.. The last couple of weeks have been so-so with a hint of bad, but today simply did it for me. I am tired, sad, angry and tired. My eyes burn and the only thing keeping me away from my bed, even though it's not even 10pm yet, is my wet hair.

I did get some wonderful packages in the mail today, which I will tell you about when I am more energetic. In the meanwhile, I wanted to show off my new Moo business cards, which I got for free using an Etsy gift code (the only down side on this deal is getting a Moo ad on the front of the card, which really isn't that terrible at all). They turned out so wonderful, I had to flaunt them a bit.

I usually go for the recycled matte business cards, but this time, since I used several images of my jewelry on white background, I decided to go with glossy-silky finish. I think that was a wise description. As you may know, I use these cards as a thank you note card for my Etsy customers, so most of the back is left blank for a personal note. My absolute favorite image is that of Pinky and Barbie enjoying a quiet evening togeather.

And speaking of evening and quiet, I will go to bed now in hope of waking up feeling much better. I owe you guys an update on Tzipi's adventures in New Zealand, I have not forgotten that!

So many promos, so little time

Once I got home from work and grocery shopping, I started the evening with arranging my new promo packs.

I received some beautiful magnets from Karen and amazing mini art prints from Jenny. This, along with leftover promos from Shay, discount coupons I got from Katie, my new Moo cards and stickers and some more leftover promos turned into a lovely new batch of promo packs for my customers.

I can always use more promos, so if you want to send me some, please let me know! My customers love getting these little gift packs, and it is a great way to promote and get exposed to new potential customers, especially if we share a similar target audience.

A very exciting day

Today, as the title suggests, was a very exciting day!

It started with this article, featuring four Israeli Etsians on one of the biggest financial magazines in Israel with my big picture spread all over the title. I had a nice big part of the article, telling about my creations, Tzipi the World Traveling Flutterbutt, my Etsy tutorials in Hebrew, and my role as Etsy Israel Team leader.

לכתבה באתר כלכליסט, לחצו כאן

I also got a phone call asking me to appear on the morning show today. Luckily, that didn't turn out so I was able to be interviewed by one of Israel's prominent journalists on his daily radio show instead (you can listen to it here). I was interviewed by phone at work, while the entire office stood listening to the online broadcast and cheering behind my door.

 להאזנה לראיון אצל גבי גזית לחצו על האיור

And then I got a phone call from the producer of another tv morning show, hosted by my favorite Israeli media person (אברי גלעד) asking me to appear on one of the show next week.

So tell me, is that an exciting day or what?

Wanted - Promos

As some of you know, I send a little promo pack to each of my customers. These packs are quite popular and make a nice surprise for the customers. It also presents fellow Etsians with a nice opportunity to get their shops introduced to a new audience.

This is that time of the year (post holidays glee) when I find myself almost out of promo packs. So I am looking for items up to the size of a standard business card, such as:

• Coupons
• Buttons and badges
• Magnets
• Charms
  
• Stickers
• Moo cards

These are a few of the items I had in this round, it was a wonderful pack!

If you want to send me your promos, please leave a comment or email me at and I will send you my shipping address (in Israel).

My Hanukkah article is on The Storque!

I wrote an article about the holiday for Etsy's official blog, The Storque. I think it turned out quite lovely, and features some wonderful artists from the Etsy Israel Team (not to be confused with the ISART team).

Happy Hanukkah everybody!

Black Friday Weekend Sale - 20% off on my entire shop

Everything on Raisinlike.etsy.com is 20% off (or more)!!

Sophia and Lailah the angels

♥ All prices already revised (the original price is listed in the item description)
♥ Sale ends on Monday the 30th
♥ Last international shipping date for Christmas Eve is Sunday 6.12.09
♥ Want your purchase gift wrapped free of charge? Let me know

I have

♥ Christmas and Hanukkah gifts (including stocking stuffers)
♥ Greeting cards and stationery
♥ Puppet mobiles, puppets and art dolls
♥ Headbands and jewelry
♥ Etsy Sales Fairies
♥ מדריכים בעברית לפתיחת וניהול חנות באטסי

Sarah the hand puppet is on sale too

Looking for promotional items

It's time to get my promo packs in order in time for the upcoming holidays. I send a promo pack with each of my orders, and am almost out of my current batch. This is a nice chance to get your shop introduced to a new audience.

If you have promotional items you would like to send me, please email me at and I will send you my shipping address (in Israel).

I am looking for items up to the size of a standard business card, such as:

• Coupons
• Buttons and badges
• Magnets
• Charms
  
• Stickers
• Moo cards

Festive promo packs from last year

New ad on Craftcult and marketing stuff

I just added this ad on Craftfult (if you don't know their Etsy Heartomatic, get acquainted with it now). What do you think? Would you click it?

I am experimenting in niche oriented promotion, although I am not sure doing it this late and this tired is such a bright idea.. Who do you think my target crowd, or niche is? Please don't say kids, I don't create for kids. Apart for that - I am open to anything: nurses, teens, salty cheese, software engineers, anything.

I am also looking for blogs to be featured in, so if you have any suggestions - do share.

An Etsy guide in the works and a special offer

I have been spending the past few days working on my new Hebrew Etsy How To (which is yet to be named). I planned it to be a guide to everything non technical on Etsy which will be about 4 pages long, and 5$ worth, but it has grown to be a 16 pages long (and it's not over yet) and much more worth. Oh well - If they want it, and they want it digested for them and translated into Hebrew, let them eat cake! I mean let them pay.

Once it is ready, I will translate it to English too, which should be interesting to see, since there are plenty of "my 5 cents on Etsy" out there. In fact, I bought one from puppet goddess Stacey Rebbecca a while back, and it is quite a challenge to write all new stuff, without repeating anything she already says. Though I have to say, her guide is so funny it made me laugh out loud,and is packed with good advice. So buy hers, and then buy mine so you can compare the two!

Anyway, May has been as bad for sales as a month can be. Today is the last day of it, so I am kicking it goodbye with a nice special offer - Spend over 20$ in my shop today (May 31st) and get an XL promo pack packed with goodies such as my miniature cake earrings, buttons, discount coupon for my shop, a pretty handmade (by me) envelope, magnets, a Moo discount code (for first timers) , and more!

All these goodies coming your way!

And speaking of Moo, I promised an update on the problem I mentioned here. Well, as I expected, they gave me a free reprint of my order - All's well that ends well.

New promos are in (and out)

Yesterday I got my new two (for the price of 1.5) Moo minicards. Unfortunately, almost 30 of one pack are unusable due to bad cropping, and the colors on all cards are rather off. I wrote an email to Moo customer service, and I am sure they will reprint the first pack for me, they have excellent customer service usually.

Anyway, there are enough good ones to prepare promo packs, which I did this evening. I prepared a few dozens of my free-shipping coupons and prepared a few packs of 20 of each minicard (one for my ribbon shop and one for my puppets & crafts shop) and 20 coupons. I am going to ship them to a few Etsians who help me spread the word about my shops.

The pencil post-it's are from this amazing shop in case you were wondering.

I will get these out and about ASAP and will continue performing my sales boost for summer plan, which I wrote about here. I will update you regarding the Moo problem later on, as I know more.

Thou giveth and thou taketh

Yesterday my friend and I headed to the Tel-Aviv fabric district (נחלת בנימין). She was looking for fabric to make a summer bag (she already bought decorated bamboo handles online) and I was hunting for ribbon to make Flutterbutts.

The car park was packed, so I had to park my car on the top of the 8th floor. We were annoyed at first, but then we caught a glimpse of the view. It's a good thing my cell phone exploded, cause my new cell camera turned out to be excellent.

A view of the sea


The fabric district and pedestrian mall

So, we headed down and as soon as we left the parking lot, we stumbled upon an amazing ribbon shop. Honestly, I know why I need this type of ribbon, but what do others do with it, not to mention the longer more exquisite type? I have no idea, but I tell you - If I could marry a shop, that would be it.

Next, we went looking for fabric (and some food at the nearby market). My friend finally found two fabrics she loved - one Chinese dragon on red, and another more abstract pattern on something I would call ashy-lavender-rose-kinda-thing color.

Nice selection, we didn't buy here though

At some point I realized we are stepping on silver sequin, the cracks on the road were simply filled with it

The streets of Tel-Aviv are paved with silver

Finally, we returned home tired but very pleased. My pleasing, though, was short lived since these last few days have been very bad for me. Problems are pouring like rain, and I am stressed out of my mind. So much so, that I found myself reorganizing my ribbon collection which was in terrible shape (for my personal use, the shop ribbons are perfectly organized elsewhere). I wanted to display it in plain sight for a while now, to inspire me and make my creation process more orderly. I had just the perfect solution - since my friend sent me a wonderful wall mounted organizer from Portugal months ago. Problem is, I had no wall to hang it on, till I realized I can fold one of the culomns and stick it to my studio door with tacks.

And so, I turned into one of my most hated cliches - the woman who cleans when she's panicked. But it does make sense organizing things when you fell you have no control over things. Here is a little haven of control right at the tip of my fingers. After several hours of that, I was tired enough to go to bed and fall asleep instantly.

That, by the way, is the first Flutterbutt I ever made

Finally, this morning I sent the prize to Jen, my blog giveaway winner. Oddly enough, I also won a blog giveaway, and received this wonderful collection of stationary from Karen at Purple cat's corner. Hopefully, this is just the first of good things coming my way (and headed from me to the world).
Karen also sent me lovely magnets for my promo packs, which reminds me - If you have promotional items you want to send me to ship to my customers, please contact me. Anything up to the size of a standard business card will be welcome.

New promo packs

I just finished making the first batch of my new promo packs.

I send these promo packs, filled with goodies by me and other online sellers I love, to my customers along with their purchase (unless if their order fits in an envelope). I had called out for promo items a little while back, and got all sorts of lovely freebies that I hope will help the sellers find new markets and increase sales. I also send my promos out for other sellers to ship to their customers. I tend to do that with sellers who have a wide customer base that is similar to mine.

I am still waiting for a few more items to be shipped to me, but in the meanwhile - this is what I have in the first batch.

The packs are wrapped in little cello bags, decorated with my greeting illustrated greetings stickers and may (each one is different) include:

• Stickers, business cards for my Etsy and ArtFire shops, and 5$ off coupons for my Etsy shop.
• Beautiful fabric brooches by Heather from Me Plus Molly.
• Lovely little handmade thank you cards by Amy from Articulations.
• Gorgeous business cards, magnets, and cell phone charms by Shay Aaron.
• Promotional buttons I bought here.
• Business cards, Moo cards, and coupons from many other sellers that were left over from previous promo packs.
  

I know my customers love getting these goody packs. Unfortunately I have no statistics on if these actually turn into future sales. I hope they, at the very least, bring these shops to the attention of people who otherwise would not have heard of them.

So at the very least they bring joy and at the most - bring profit. You cannot go wrong with that now, can you?

Call for promotional items

I send out a little free promo pack with every order from my Etsy shop. On special occasions I send XL promo packs too.

I want to get my holiday season promo packs ready ahead of time, so I started collecting items.

This year they will be postcard size. What I am looking for is more than the usual business card

► It must be light (not to burden my shipping fees)
► Up to the size of a standard postcard (preferably smaller) and flay
► Ideas - Coupons, charms, greeting cards, pin-back buttons, magnets, stickers, etc.

I also have coupons I would like to add to your promo packs.

If you are interested in participating, please contact me for shipping details!

August Sampler is on sale!

The August 2008 Sampler pack is now selling on the Home of the Sampler and it includes 25 of my mini bear bookmarks!

I am very excited, and hope this works well for promotion. The last few weeks have been very disappointing sales wise, and I want to get plenty of sales out of this one.