Comments on: Craft Venture: holiday marketing on the web

By: For_ex_stra_tegy

For_ex_stra_tegy — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:21:37 +0000

I am definitely bookmarking this page and sharing it with my friends.

By: paper n stitch – Craft Venture: decking your halls - A daily dose of handmade, design, and style inspiration

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:02:15 +0000

[...] I’m Brenda, owner of Phydeaux Designs on Etsy and 1000 Markets. Last week, we talked about advertising online for the holidays, part of our series on the holiday season. This week, we are talking about decking the halls [...]

By: Brenda

Brenda — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:31:06 +0000

Hi Anna! I’m so glad to hear that this was helpful for you! So many of us are working on shoestring budgets. I love Brittni’s tip to look for inexpensive advertising options – great way to break in, while not breaking the bank! Brenda

By: Anna

Anna — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:52:53 +0000

Thank you Brenda for the great marketing tips and to everyone else for the little extra information. This is my first holiday season and I’m trying to make the most out of a small budget. This article and the others you’ve written were the most helpful so far!!

~Anna

By: Brenda

Brenda — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:48:33 +0000

Thank you everyone, for the great tips and feedback! Natalie, I also know many folks who really dislike animated ads of any type – I really like your advice about muted colors and blending transitions! Thanks, Tara, for invaluable holiday ad placement advice! And Brittni’s tips about breaking into web advertising is also invaluable – thank you!

By: brandeye

brandeye — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:02:14 +0000

thanks for the tips. i need to start thinking about an ad budget!

By: papernstitch

papernstitch — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:36:17 +0000

Thank you Tara. You bring up a great point about advertising. The advertiser doesn’t have to be selling the exact same things that are featured on a person’s blog, its the style that’s most important. Great tip Tara.
-Brittni

By: Tara

Tara — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:56:32 +0000

great advice, Brenda! I think I’ll link to this article on all of my advertising pages!!

targeting is definitely key. But I also think that buying advertising at a site that might not normally feature your work but whose audience would appreciate your product is also a good idea. For instance, SG doesn’t feature children’s items but a well placed ad for really hip children’s products might really stand out. Especially during gift giving season!

Thanks again!

By: papernstitch

papernstitch — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:04:59 +0000

Great advice Natalie.

By: Natalie Jost | Olive Manna

Natalie Jost | Olive Manna — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:05 +0000

Wow, such great information, particularly about targeting blogs to match your audience. The only thing I would add is coming from a web designer’s perspective… PLEASE be sparing with animated/rotating/moving GIF images.

If you do use them, make sure they’re not overwhelming to the reader–use muted and similar colors, and allow plenty of time between transitions for the reader to catch your ad and see what’s there.

It’s also helpful to use a blending transition if you can rather than a blinking one. Too much movement in the sidebar can make many people turn away not only from your ad but from the blog who’s hosting you!

Love the “May Your Season be Merry” cards too, great find!