New Valentines Card!

Well I have been massively neglecting this blog as of late so I need to show it some love.
What better way than by telling you about my new Coggingtons Valentines Day card, "Clanking in Sync" - which I think would not be too amiss on an Anniversary either.

Available here! - £2.65 + p&p

(Use voucher code CRIPESBLOG for a 1% discount on all purchases until Valentines Day.

Inside it reads "Like perfectly paired cogs".

It's been a year since I produced my first greetings card - my first Coggingtons Valentines card so I'm very excited to bring you my newest one!

Please note that this item is a printed card design incorporating my original hand-drawn digital artwork, and original photographs I've taken, manipulated together.

If you want me to handwrite a message inside the card and post it directly to the recipient, write this in the notes when you checkout.

Dimensions: 105mm x 148mm (4.13" x 5.82")

The card is a thick 350gsm, FSC credited paper stock. With a light satin coating on the outside, the inside is left uncoated, making it easier for you to write your own message. Each card is individually scored, ensuring a clean fold.

Each card comes with a thick, crisp white envelope with a bright splash of pink hidden inside!

Check out my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/curtisallenillustrator

And my Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/capndred

Etsy

It's harder work than I realised running an Etsy shop, and I only have 6 items in mine at the moment: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CapnDred .
At the moment, it's only Coggingtons stuff, but more is planned.

Things like SEO can be befuddling - knowing just how to write tags in a way to minimize redundancy but maximise exposure. Then the various ways of trying to get the shop noticed such as plugging it on Facebook (but without becoming an insufferable bore).
Then there's trying to figure out how Twitter works to plug it there, and the same with Instagram and Tumblr which I only really use because I wanted a good picture sharing social media site to plug my cards on.
Pinterest, which I had been using for myself now feels like there might be a way to use it creatively to sell some cards but I'm darned if I know what way that is!

There's Etsy's own forums, which can be fun and have a wealth of information on them. Simply being active there gets me some notice and is useful for getting views and some favourites, but doesn't seem to be translating into sales yet.

Then there's good old word of mouth, and now I'm selling at craft fairs too! So I need to get some more business cards printed up, that actually include my Etsy shop address.

Then I need to optimise my shop itself, making sure my banner and logos are good, making sure my prices are right, making sure my shop's policies are fair and legal, making sure my descriptions are accurate, yet enticing, and yet optimised for SEO, making sure my photos are attractive both as standalones, and displayed together on my page, or taken out of context and displayed in an Etsy treasury or frontpage.

This is not to mention the actual process of creating new items.

All of this is perpetual. It is never finished, because it is never right. Stats pages tell me what's being looked at and by how many people and how they found my shop or products and there is always something to tweak for my old products, and then more monitoring as I give figurative birth to a new product and try to mould it's development in the market. There is always something more that can be done and attending to it is addictive. I often find myself up late at night tweaking.

I've learnt masses about marketing and promotion for a small business and I find the actual learning and processes fun, but I need to make sure I don't disappear down the rabbit hole completely.