Quick Tip #23 - Survey Your Customers

I came across this fantastic article on setting up post purchase customer surveys with paypal. I just set one up for my account and it was extremely easy. Also while your setting up the survey consider customizing the payment page with your logo or adding some of the other available options.

Weekly Inspiration

Set of 2 One-of-a-kind Oriental Flair Handmade Buttons..., originally uploaded by Arzu Musa.

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Weekly Inspiration

Midnight 2 - Lapquilt, originally uploaded by PioneerValleyGirl.

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Using Video to Promote your Business

I've briefly touched on this subject before when talking about making video slideshows but I want to talk about another avenue to using video to promote your products: How To Videos. This is a brief overview not an in depth tutorial, I'm still learning the process of shooting these types of video myself.

Many people enjoy seeing how handmade products are created and this is a great way to get your name out there. A good video tutorial will get picked up by blogs and shared, if you remember to include a link to your shop in the video description this can lead to traffic and name recognition.

So what type of tutorials should you make? Well I wouldn't suggest showing step by step how you create your most popular product, that would invite copycats to steal your design. Instead I think you should either create a brand new project that you don't intend to sell or do what I've done in my tutorials and teach a useful technique. I've made videos on created a silicone press mold for polymer clay and on using Ice Resin in a necklace to seal objects underneath.

What do you need to get started? The basics are a digital video camera that can shoot high quality video with a microphone, a tripod to hold the camera while you shoot, and a well lit space to shoot in. The good news is if you already have a good quality digital still camera it probably has a video shooting function that will be sufficient for the job, if not a small digital video camera like the Flip Mino HD will run you around $150. After you shoot your video you can upload it as is or use a very basic video editor like Windows Live Movie Maker or iMovie to add titles, credits, or combine multiple video clips together.

After you've created and uploaded your video to a site like YouTube you need to get the word out about it. Embed the video in your own blog, create a Squidoo lens with even more info, post it to Facebook or Twitter, or submit it to crafting blogs that share tutorials.

Weekly Inspiration

May 8, 2010: Handmade Festival London Ontario, originally uploaded by She's Batty.

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Weekly Inspiration

Golden Pine and White Eyeglass Chain, originally uploaded by Gilliauna.

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Link Roundup

It's been a while since I've done one of these.

 Etsy has released the new beta version of Treasury East which lets you make unlimited treasuries that don't expire.
Craftopolis has made some very cool changes to the site. Including optional integration with google analytics.
Here's an article on how to make your product names Google friendly.
If you want something to listen to while you work I suggest the following craft related podcasts that I like: CraftyPod, Craftcast, Craft Sanity, and Hello Craft (there are many more great podcasts about craft and art topics including specific categories like knitting, most of them can be found on iTunes).

I just received a copy of Handmade Marketplace from Amazon. I'll have a review probably next week.

Weekly Inspiration

workspace, originally uploaded by Donauluft.

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Tax Humor

I just sent out my taxes today and I know many people are still scrambling to get them done before the deadline tomorrow so here's a little laugh for you. This was from the New York Times Op-Art section.

Weekly Inspiration

chicken front, originally uploaded by sewinmachine.

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