Just wondering

Just wondering in what direction I should take my shop. I'm a little bummed about not having a sale in about a week or so. I am really thinking hard about all the things I need to do to get myself more exposure. I think one of my problems is that my shop isn't as full as it could be. I have to concentrate on creating more than obsessing over when I'm gonna get a sale or whatnot.

At any rate, stocking a full regimen of products has become a priority at this point. Someone said it in an Etsy forum, and it made sense. I wouldn't necessarily want to do a whole lot of shopping in a store that had half empty shelves.

Still trying to figure out this online business and the best way to conduct it. Pleased to be doing it though nonetheless. I figure as long as I offer a great product, and keep pluggin away at it, it'll work out like I hope it will.

Paid Advertising

You know, paid advertising is the way to go if I really want to get my name out there for my store. Even though both yahoo and google have a pay per click program that is very reasonable, I still can't really afford it. Okay, if I spend the lowest possible amount, that is $1 a day for 30 days to equal $30 a month which ain't bad. However, the lowest amount I could pay per click is .10 which is also reasonable, but I wonder how affective? I mean what happens to my spot when my money is spent for the day? I suppose it's just taken down for the day. I would ideally like to spend $5-10 a day but that goes anywhere from $150-300 a month which I just don't have. So I guess I'm stuck with a the lowest amount. I don't really feel that the free advertising I do is really getting me the customer views I would like. I could go to crafter sites, but that would be spinning my wheels with people who are already familiar with the type of products I offer, if they aren't producing their own.

So how do I break the cycle? How do I really take my advertising to the next level? I know the answer lies in paid advertising like other companies do and it works. Millions of people shop online, and how nice would it be for my etsy shop to show up at the top of a search for soaps and other b and b products? To connect with potential customers who are already searching to buy what I have is always the smartest thing to do as a business. Any successful business adverts to it's market and goes where it's best prospects for customers are.

I may have to get some fund-raisers going. I can bake a mean cookie so that might have to be my ticket. My small shop pays enough for itself to replenish supplies and packaging, but not much after that. It can't yet pay for its own advertising. How many times did I use that word in this article? LOL.

I have always heard of the old adage location, location, location but never thought about how critical that is in the virtual world as well as the real world. My location on the web is key to my success or failure. Etsy is a great place to start, and I love the community there, but I need outside traffic to come to my shop. Search engine is the most used tool on the web for buyers and people shopping for specific things. I just have to get on them and make myself known.