Create a batch of crochet shamrocks this St. Patrick’s Day!  This simple shamrock crochet pattern will have you decorating your whole house and sharing a little luck with your friends and family.  Just follow the pattern or watch the video tutorial and you’ll have a pretty bowl of shamrocks  in no time flat!

Click here for the Crochet Shamrock Pattern & Video Tutorial!

Once you start it’s hard to stop making them!

You can make this in minutes…

Crochet Shamrock Banner

Just string them together to create a sweet little holiday banner that you can hang anywhere.  What a fun little project!!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

~Kim

Are you looking for beautiful St. Patrick’s Day coloring pages that you can print out and use right now?  Well, these will make your day!

Visit my blog, Everything Etsy, to see the whole collection of free printables that are perfect for adults and children.  They’re super easy to download and print!  Just add crayons, markers or colored pencils for a bit of coloring relaxation that’s perfect for this fun holiday.

What do you use to color?  Pencils, crayons or markers?  

I’m partial to markers because I love colors that really pop.  But, they can be a pain when they start to dry out.

If you love, love, love coloring page printables you will want to check out the printables section right here.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!

~Kim

Do you constantly try to find keywords that work for your business?  Trying to figure out which social media sites bring you the most traffic?  Looking for the best spot online to focus your time and energy?

Well, today we’re going to talk about how to get your business featured by blogs.  It’s a great way to get new people to your products! There are many reasons why this shouldn’t be overlooked in your marketing plan.

Follow these tips and you’ll find it gets easier and easier to have your business featured on top blogs!

Why Would You Want to Have Your Business Featured on Blogs?

Trust me, it’s awesome.  Well, let me tell you a bit more…

• One mention on a popular blog can get you tons of sales!
• Links into your shop or {blog} from high ranking blogs can help grow your SEO power, juice, rank…you get the idea.  It’s a good thing.
• The more links the better!!  {I can’t stress this enough!}
• You reach new people…HELLO, that’s what you need!
• You are building your brand recognition with each mention or featured post.
• You are being endorsed by that blogger to their audience.  If their favorite blogger loves you, your golden!
• Traffic is worth money!  Usually your return for working with a blogger is a big benefit to you…cost per click could be super low.

How Do I Know Which Blogs are best?

• You want to reach your target audience.  If you’re on Etsy you most likely will be contacted by some bloggers asking to feature your items.  You don’t want to work with every blogger that contacts you.  Your target customer is usually just like you!  Make sure you think their blog is awesome!
• You’ll want to know that the blog has traffic.  Ask the blogger or check out the blog ranking at Alexa.com.  This won’t tell you everything you need to know, but you will know right away if it’s a blog with 200 people visiting a month or 200,000!
• The best way of knowing a blog’s reach is to check out their social media sites…all of them.  When a blogger writes a post they share it multiple times across all their social media accounts.  This can be huge!
• Make a list of 10 bloggers that have content that attracts the kind of people you want to reach.  This will take lots of research, but it will pay off.
• Check the ads in the sidebars to see what type of businesses promote themselves through advertising on the blog.  Are they the same type of business?  Are they handmade businesses?  Do you think their target customer is like yours?  It’s a good thing if they are!
• Read the content…yes, I know it takes time.  This will give you a feel for the blog and blog readers.

How Do I  Reach Out to Bloggers?

• Find their contact info on the blog.  Sometimes there are contact forms, but email them if you can find their information.  Make sure you find their first name to use in the email.
• Never send a form letter to all the bloggers you’re trying to reach. It needs to be personalized or it will just blend with all the other emails they get looking for promotion.
• Make sure you have read the blog some and know a bit about their regular content.  This will also keep you from sending an email to a blogger that would never promote your item because it doesn’t go with their content.
• Make your email short and to the point.  Be sure to mention that you’ve read the blog and maybe refer to a post that you liked.  Two to three paragraphs will be all you need.  Longer emails will only get scanned if the blogger is busy.
• Add a beautiful large photo or two so they easily know about your products and style.  Great photos are a must!  Bloggers will need images to feature you, and if you have bad lighting you will not be featured no matter how great your products are.  This also saves time for them by showing them what you sell without them having to click through to your website or shop.
• Tell them what you are offering.  Don’t make them try and guess what you actually want.  If you want to do a giveaway because you think their audience would love your products…tell them.  If you want to promote a special item or sale…mention it now.
• This one might make some of you roll your eyes, but it’s a big deal.  Offer to send them a sample to review.  Yes, it will cost you money.  If you are going to be getting lots of exposure for your shop you will need to respect the blogger’s time and not ask them to do it for nothing.  If this is something you will never do you might notice other shops getting lots of reviews and features while yours doesn’t…that’s the truth of it.
• Some blogs charge to be featured along with a sample of your products.  Don’t be offended by this if they respond with information on what it will cost.  Companies pay quite a bit to featured on blogs and most bloggers give a reduced price to handmade and small businesses right from the start.  It’s just like a magazine, but online.  So, you wouldn’t expect free advertising in a magazine at your request, would you?  You’ll need to decide whether the cost and value line up.  Do they have the perfect audience?  Will they take some photos of your products that you can use later? {most bloggers are great photographers}  Whatever you do, just don’t be offended.  Bloggers have to eat and this is their job.

Working with bloggers is not an exact science and you can’t think it’s a fail if you don’t have massive sales the very day you are featured.  Your feature stays on that blog forever!  Search engines will always know where to find it.  It’s not like a newspaper that gets thrown away…it lasts.  You can get sales months and years later from one link!  Pretty cool, right?!

So, hopefully this gives you an honest look into how to get your shop featured on blogs and why you should count it into your marketing plan.  Yes, it could just happen because they found your shop and love it.  But, you’ll be able to grow your brand faster by reaching more people through more blogs.

I’d love to hear what has worked for you! Please share your experiences with blog features so everyone can learn from it! 

~Kim

Looking for a little inspiration?  Print this out!

Ever feel like you have more things on your schedule than you can possibly do?  I sooooo understand!  I tend to create projects for myself that require a bit {ha} more time than I planned.  I designed this printable to remind me that each small step towards my goals is progress on the way to my goal.  This is going right in front of me on my desk…lol!

Whether you are building a business, building a blog or raising children {maybe all three}…this is for you.  We all need a little reminder that nothing great is built in a day!  A successful business starts with the first idea or product.  A blog starts with one post.  There’s always something that didn’t get done or needs to be done right away.

Small steps everyday.  It will get done and you will succeed.

You just have to take one step at a time and know that you are building.  Building is good.  You will look back and be thankful for each step you took along the way…they will add up to wild success!

Download you free printable {8.5 x 11″} right here…Small Steps Everyday Printable

What are you taking small steps each day to achieve?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

~Kim

Set Up a Custom Planner for Your Creative Business

I’m such a fan of planners, but I can’t say I’ve ever found one {out of tons} that I can use without customizing it somehow.  I don’t know if it’s my creative brain issues or a lack of discipline.  Whatever it is, I’m learning to work with it!

I thought I’d share some of my favorite free planner printables and other DIY ideas that are sure to spice up your customized planner.  You don’t have to conform to boring white pages and one color pen.  Make it all pink or add a million stickers.

This is you planner, so make it work for you!

If you haven’t already picked out a planner you’ll want to check out this post…How to Choose a Planner.

There are photos and examples to help you get started with the basic set-up.  Once you pick the planner it will be easier to know what kind of stickers or tabs will work.

Whenever I switch planners I start with collecting beautiful paper and stickers to use for my divider pages.  Use a basic page from the planner to create a template.  Once I’ve ended up with a nice color theme that suits my mood I create all the dividers at once.

Then I like to laminate the pages so they’re extra durable.  Trim along the edge {but not too close} and punch holes for your planner.

Now the planner is starting to look more inspiring!  Am I the only one that needs pretty planner motivation to stay organized?

You can created your own tabs by cutting out an image from your paper and laminating it.  Just punch the holes so it peeks out the top of you planner a bit.

Washi tape is one of the easiest ways to add a little something to your planner pages.  Keep a little of your favorite washi with you all the time by wrapping it around an old gift card.  Then you can have it stashed right there in one of the pockets.

I use washi tape every single day!

Add some of these DIY Planner Paper Clips and you’re all set!  Having colorful little ribbons and things sticking out of the top of your planner isn’t for everyone.  I tend to go over the top a bit with it, but it’s fun.

Are you one of my Etsy friends?  These free printable Etsy Planner Stickers will help you organize your business in a colorful way.  I designed them with you in mind, and I’ll hope you’ll print some out and try them this month.

You will find something just right for you in this list of 16 Free Planner Printables! Just print them out and start organizing with a little style. 

I printed them out on this Avery Sticker Paper {Amazon Link}.  It’s thick and I use it for so many different stickers for my planner.

Want to more about how I organize my Filofax planner?  This post will tell you about my sticky note system!  It was written awhile back but I still love so much about it.  I still use the same system with the sticky notes, so I guess that stuck…ha!

I’m hoping you’ll find a little inspiration here to help you customize your planner to perfection!  It’s all about your colors and style.

Do you have a favorite planner?  I’d love to hear how you customize yours!

~Kim

P.S.  Need more creative inspiration?  Check out my Tutorials Gallery on Everything Etsy!

Are you interested in learning more about essential oils? They really are amazing!

I’ve been selling essential oils for a couple years now and have used them for over 5 years…so, please email me any questions you might have! I’d love to help you out!{ Kim@EverythingEtsy.com}  You can read more information here or click here to join right now.

Let’s talk about how you can use Instagram to boost your small business!  It’s not as hard as you might think, and using Instagram is like getting free advertising!

A picture is worth a thousands words, right?  But, what if a picture could be worth a thousand dollars???  That works for me!  It’s not crazy at all to think that you can share an awesome photo on Instagram and have it go viral.  It happens all the time…every single day!  That’s part of the magic of social media.  I’ve actually had it happen myself, and I can’t even explain the thrill of watching the sales come in that holiday season!

Selling online takes more than just having a great product.  You have to get out there and get your products noticed.  It can make a world of difference in your success, and Instagram can help make it happen!

1O Tips for Success on Instagram

These tips and ideas will help you whether you’re new to social media or a seasoned social guru!  So, even if you haven’t started you Instagram account yet…this is for you!  Whenever my social media growth starts to stall I go back to these basic social media tips and put them into practice to kick things up a notch.  They work.

• Consistent style will attract the right customers to your shop.  You don’t have to do the exact same colors or styles with every single post, but keep it in mind as an overall theme to your Instagram feed.  If someone is deciding to follow you they are likely to scroll through your Instagram feed {your photos}.  You’ll want it to be consistent.  So, don’t post all food photos if you’re trying to sell crochet hats!  You might sell one, but you won’t be building up followers that love crochet and can’t get enough of it in their Instagram feeds.  Look for a few examples of businesses that do this well and learn from what they do.
• Hashtag every post!  When you add a post to Instagram immediately think what hashtags will work best to bring new people your way.  If I add a photo of pottery I’m making it might look something like this…#pottery #Etsy #shopEtsy #shop #handmade #clay #shophandmade #gifts.  You get the idea, right?  I try not to go super crazy and add 20, but I do want to reach new people.  I usually add less than 10 hashtags.  Many people search Instagram by hashtag {myself included} and you can find so many new followers this way!
• Map It.  Are you at a craft fair or farmer’s market while sharing your Instagram photo?  Share your location.  This way people can see your post when they are viewing posts of that location.  Imagine someone at the same craft fair noticing your awesome products and looking for you to purchase them.  It could happen, for sure!  It’s a tiny extra step that could pay off.  You can add a specific location from your Instagram profile.
• Tag Someone!  When you tag someone it will show up in their Photos of You section as part of their profile.  So, if you purchase something awesome from a small business and take a photo of it, you’ll want to tag them!  It’s a great way to make new friends!  Social media friends can really help you out by sharing your posts on Instagram or other social media channels.
• Profile Style – Make sure your profile clearly tells about your business and you.  If you don’t mention your business at all they won’t know right away that you’re sharing something they can purchase.  They might just think you are taking a photo of one of your favorite things.  It’s best to send everyone back to a blog or shop with your profile link.  I highly suggest having a blog for a million different reasons. You can read more about Starting a Blog for Your Business right here.  So, make sure your profile helps you out by sending them to a great spot that really represents you and your beautiful small business.
• Connect it.  When you post a photo on Instagram you have the option of connecting that photo to Facebook or Twitter and having it post there at the same time.  Do it.  It’s a great way to let people on other social channels know that you have an active Instagram account that they need to go over to and follow!  Everyone doesn’t see every single post, so go ahead and do this each time you post to Instagram to help grow your followers.
• Make Friends!  Make friends by being a friend. Easy, right?  Social media follows many of the same rules that you learned as a child…be nice, share and be there to help.  So, if you know someone is trying to share a special giveaway of one of their Etsy products…share it and help them spread the word.  Comment on posts that you like with more than “awesome” or “love it” on a regular basis.  Thoughtful comments are appreciated by everyone!  Show interest in their work and they’ll be your social media friends forever!
• Be There.  You have to be present to grow your Instagram followers.  Posting every week won’t really help at all.  So, you’ll need to make an effort to grow your followers and post at least once a day.  If you can post a few times a day that’s even better.  You can post in-progress photos of a project, a sneak peek at a new product, a glimpse of your creative space or what you’re doing that day.  Staying active is an excellent way to grow your followers…try it for a few weeks and you’ll see!  It may seem a bit hard at first, but it gets easier.
• Follow Like-minded People and Businesses.  Fill up your Instagram feed with companies that compliment your products or people with similar interests.  They are most likely a great sample of your customers.  It also makes it easier for you to interact with them by commenting.  You’ll find some great followers this way…and hopefully a few customers along the way. {Tip – Do you know a business that has the perfect customers for what you’re selling?  Go to their Instagram account and follow their followers!  Many will take a look at your Instagram feel and follow you back!}
• Giveaways and Contests – You can do a special giveaway or contest at anytime!  What a great way to find new followers.  Many people make it a requirement that they tag a friend and follow them to be entered…that works!  You can also have a contest for your customers that share the best photo of your products.  Fun stuff!

Bracelets by Sweet Auburn Studio

There’s so much more that I could say about using Instagram, and I’m sure you will find just the right mix of posts to grow your followers.  Be you and share.  You can’t go wrong!

If you put in the work and focus your efforts you will be thrilled with the outcome.  Social media is an amazing blessing for any online business. Where else can you advertise your work without spending a dime?  Time to get out there and get discovered!

~Kim

Is starting a blog still on your list of things to do this year?  You can find all the resources you’ll ever need to get started in an afternoon right here.

Whether you need a blog to share your handmade business or you are interested in sharing essential oil information…you can cross it off you list today!

Check out my post on Everything Etsy sharing all the resources we’ve used to set up all of our blogs.

How to Start a Blog will show you just how easy it really can be!

~Kim

What do you think about homemade ice cream?

My family can’t get enough, so I make it a million different ways.  Lately, I’ve been on a fruit lovin’ kick with the summer goodness of peaches, blueberries and strawberries.

I thought I share a few photos of my latest batch!

YUM!

I have a few ice cream recipes for you that will be posted very soon!

I just couldn’t help but share a peek now.

Do you have a favorite summer fruit?  I’d love to hear what you like to make.

~Kim

Are you a Planner Girl?

Over the last few years I have really become very attached to my planners.  I work on the computer for hours everyday, but there’s just something relaxing about writing things down, decorating a bit with colorful things and checking things off.

I love it!  What about you?  Do you keep a planner?

Maybe this will inspire you to start if you don’t.

I’ve actually acquired quite the collection…Filofax and Color Crush Webster’s Pages planners mostly.

This one is my all-time favorite!

Check out my post on how to choose a planner that works for you on EverythingEtsy.com! You’ll find information on all different styles and where to buy them. 

Happy Planning!

~Kim

What is Bible Journaling?

Have you ever highlighted or written a few notes in your Bible?  I’ve always been one to highlight and underline Scriptures that I found inspiring and didn’t want to forget.  This is along the same lines, but it’s a bit more on the creative side.  It’s kind of like an art journal, a Bible study journal, painting, stamping and scrapbooking all rolled into one amazing Bible!

Everyone will make their Journaling Bible to match their own style.  Just add whatever makes you feel comfortable and more in touch with the Scripture written inside.  There are wide side margins made just for this reason.

   Express yourself and create something beautiful!

There’s no right or wrong.  If you can draw, go for it.  I actually can’t draw, but I use lots of stamps and stickers to express myself.

Washi tape is one of my favorite things to add a splash of color or hold a little tag on a page.  So, pretty tape is a must.

Here’s another look at a page in my Bible.  I really don’t start off with a design in mind.  Sometime I write the verse on the side and other times I make notes.  I usually highlight the verse with a yellow pencil to help it stand out.  I don’t like to cover up any words, so I try to keep my colors light and to the side.

I use watercolors, colored pencils, stamps, stencils and so much more.

I’ll be sharing more about my process soon, and I’ll also have a guide to Bible journaling available to download right here.  Subscribe to my blog in the side bar so you don’t miss it!

Have you tried Bible journaling?

~Kim

PS – I’ve had lots of questions about the Bible I bought for this purpose. Here it is on Amazon. It’s a simple black cover which makes it much more affordable, and I made a beautiful fabric cover.