This morning I woke to the most wonderful news!  One skein of my handspun yarn had been featured in an Etsy Treasury by ChirpandBloom.  For those of you who run your own small businesses, give this a think from the Marketing and PR perspective.   

Etsy Treasury: May the Road Rise to Meet You


First of all, what a fantastic way for the treasury creator to invoke that feeling of community than to engage and show off the wonderful things that others are creating.  Secondly, an excellent opportunity to make new connections that might bring new business to your store.  See, ChirpandBloomhas her own store which has adorable items for children and adults who “don’t want to grow up.” By connecting with me, she might also end up connecting with a mama who knits, but doesn’t sew and wants cute things for her daughter.  Think of this action of creating a treasury as you would leaving a  comment on someone’s blog, except it’s a deeper way of connecting.  The neat part about what she did is that it inspired me to a) tell all my friends, b) post it on my blog (and write about her without her prompting!) c) post it on my facebook page.  Goodness perpetuates goodness. Why not go bring more into the world yourself? 

Fiber festivals and market places are *the* best places to find your favorite online and indie retailers.  At the same time that Madrona is happening in Tacoma, WA, down in Santa Clara, CA Stitches West is going on.  This morning I got a marketing email from Jennifer Hansen of Stitch Diva.  What a creative and dedicated business woman she is!  Well, she too understands the power of knowing her target market and using key pieces of technology and social media to reach that market.  In her email was a link to a video she shot at Stitches recently.  I just LOVE this interview and how cute the woman is talking about this blanket buster. 

So, my artist and entrepreneurial spirited friends, observe how Jennifer has used email, video, and in-person engagement of her customer to

• Appreciate the testimonial 1 customer has given
  
• By videoing this woman with her permission, she’s basically saying, “Gee thanks you’re so cool and what you said about my product is so amazing that I want to share it with others.”  Take note of how she giggles with joy that this customer finds working with her product a spiritual like experience.  Feeling & expressing that emotion will come across to your viewers if you are genuine.
  
• Show other possible customers what Stitches West is like (if only just a peep)
  
• Explain why the viewer  or reader of her emails might be interested(without shoving it down people’s throats)
  
• Shows people that she enjoys her own product and the results it brings to others.
  

Now, I ask you, “How can you use this to better reach your target market?”  It’s worth a good Winnie the Pooh think!