Introductions

Hi Everyone!

I am really excited to get to know you all and share marketing tips with you. Over the weekend, I'd like us all to introduce ourselves, and I'll take a minute to cover a few administrative tidbits.

In the comments section below, please introduce yourself as if you were a target market. (You can leave out income for security reasons). I've written my introduction as an example:

The New Frugals - Between the ages of 25 - 35, the New Frugals grew up in an age of overindulgence and prosperity. They believed they could have it all if only they worked hard enough, signed up for enough credit cards, and networked with the right people. Both men and women, they started careers in large metropolitian areas like New York, Chicago, and L.A. They primarily worked for Fortune 500 corporations or large-scale financial institutions; now, they are shifting to new outlets like non-profit, teaching, and nursing. While these careers are more rewarding, they pay substainially less than their former budgets. As a result, the New Fruguals are more conscious of sales, coupons, and bargin shopping.

On Monday, we will continue our discussion of reaching your target market. This excericse will help you in understanding how to think about approaching a consumer - because ultimately, the easiest consumer to understand is yourself!

Administrative Odds & Ends

I will post blogs Monday - Friday, and take Saturdays and Sundays off to re-charge. Since everyone knows different things about marketing/advertising, I will start with the basics and move up. Have patience if it is too basic - eventually we will move on to more in-depth things.

From my posting on the forum in Etsy, I've had a great response to the number of shop owners interested in critiques. My original thought was to do one shop critique per week. As I look through the responses, I may integrate particular shops into a blog as I talk about a topic. I would also like to set up a few tools for you to run your own self-critiques. With that being said, I've elected to have Thursdays be the shop critique days. No particular reason, other than Thursdays tend to be normal days - they aren't like Mondays when everything bad happens! I will be in touch with you as your shop is featured.

On Tuesday, I will start what I like to call "Trending Tuesdays." This is really where I get to have my fun as an advertiser! The large advertising agencies are always looking for trends - who is buying what, why they are buying it, and what people are talking about. I've seen some of these trends influence Etsy, and some that do not. We'll talk about what makes a trend and what makes some trends stick.

The other thing to note is the list of Children's Books to the left. This is just my interest and connects back to my book nook pillows for kids (currently in my workshop waiting to be sewn!)

And, as always, please feel free to feed the fish at the bottom of the page. Just click your mouse on the blank spot and see what happens. :D

See you Monday for "Media Monday: How to reach your target market through advertising"