Pinterest and TumblR Strategies for Promotion

To successfully use Pinterest and TumblR to promote your own work and that of our team, you must first attract a following. That following is most effective when it consists of as many non- Etsy shops as possible, since just trading pins with those who already know your work is useless. Yes, you can fill your team promo points by opening a Pinterest or TumblR account and filling your quota of team submissions, but it won’t help your teammates, and most importantly, it won’t help you!

To be effective, create boards and posts with unusual and narrowly focused content, especially when you are beginning. Plan to spend hours the first week finding great content that fits your own chosen themes.

On my Tumbleblog, I gained a following early on  by posting unusual content. Over time I added some of my own and that of our team. Although I don’t add team submissions every day, when I do, they are seen by people who aren’t already familiar with your work, and that’s the goal!

I am just getting a handle on Pinterest but find it highly promising. I am getting more views from there than TumblR now. If you see my boards on Pinterest, you will find team work, and my own, scattered throughout. One kiss of death is to have a pinboard named “AGTeam” or “Etsy”, as people will unfollow just that board. It is better to place your promotions strategically throughout your other boards, and surround them with powerful, moving, engaging imagery.

Since Pinterest gets more views for our shops, I am now using TumblR to find great content for my pin boards, and pinning team work among that. This became clear when my own bird plates were chosen on TumblR as a featured tag for #crafts, and were endlessly reblogged. The traffic to my Etsy shop was minimal. The same plates on Pinterest, were only repinned a handful of times, but are generating up to 10 views in my Etsy shop/ week.

I’d love to hear your Pinterest and TumblR experiences!

by Lee Wolfe/ OneClayBead

you are invited to submit to tumblr

We have a tumblr page and are inviting you to submit your favorite items from our team members shops.  Share with us what you have purchased!  We'd love to see those earrings on you, that shawl around your neck, those pieces of art hanging on your wall.  We'd love to hear what you love, covet or plan to get as a gift for that special someone.  You can also find many of our members own tumblr blogs listed at the bottom of our tumblr page.  It's a great way to find out a little bit more about what we like on an individual level.  Once you get the hang of tumblr you will love it!  Admittedly if you have not used tumblr before it can be a little confusing, below are some instructions that explain how you can submit to our tumblr blog.  Once you finish the submission process it stays invisible until a moderator has checked and approved it.  Please follow our guidelines and only submit items from our Artisans Gallery Members.  Etsy shops that are not part of our team will not be posted and likewise, bad links or no links means we will not be able to post your submission.  (If you have purchased something and do not want to link to the 'sold' page just link to their shop and upload your own photo.)  We will do our best to post everyone's submissions and we thank you for sharing your favorites!

1) click 'SUBMISSION' on the top of our tumblr page and the box above will pop up.  Click the little 'tree' square and you will see 'insert/edit image' box pop up.  Open another window if you are getting the image from an online shop and find the item that you want to submit.  (if you are uploading your own image you need to click the arrow next to the submission box and choose 'submit photo' and basically follow the same procedure as this).  Do not get the url (link in the address bar) from the shop listing, instead, click the photo so it opens up in a new page and is the only thing on that page.  Copy the address link and paste it in the box. You do not need to worry about 'alignment' but you do need to resize the image.  We prefer 400 x 400.  In some cases the photos are longer or wider than a normal 'square' and will look distorted.  You will notice some images will already show they are 1200 x 800 or whatever....you could set the image size for 500 x 400 and see if it looks normal; if it is stretched and strange looking click the photo and then re-click the hyperlink symbol and readjust the image size.
Click 'insert'.

Next you want to then link the photo BACK to the shop listing (remember you have only linked the photo to the enlarged photo so it needs to get re-linked to the actual shop listing).  If you prefer to link to the shop listing via text you can skip this step and when people click the photo they just see the image by itself.

If you DO want to link the image to the actual shop listing click the image, (see image below) click the 'link button' and then add the address to the shop listing.  Then click 'target' and choose 'open in new window'.  Click insert and you are done with that.

You still with me?  I know it seems complicated...believe me if you are submitting to your own tumblr blog it is easier and you get more familiar with how to do it so this wont seem so daunting.

Okay, next step is writing some text.  Click outside (to the right) of the photo and you will see the blinking cursor.  I like to hit the enter/return key and have my cursor under the photo before I start adding text.

We ask that everyone who submits to our blog, be it team members or customers, please write something about the item you are submitting.  (we also prefer just one image per submission and no treasuries please).  Do you own this?  Did you just receive it in the mail? Are you going to buy this for someone?  Does the piece inspire you and you just want to write about how much you love it?  

If you did not link the photo to the shop listing, (and even if you did link the photo), now is the time to mention the name of the piece and link it to the shop and/or actual item. (photo above) Highlight the text and click the hyperlink button and insert the shop URL.  For team members we ask that you end the post with this:

'posted by ______________ via artisansgalleryteam'  You do not need to hyperlink to your name but if you want to please do.  Link to your tumblr blog or your etsy shop only.  Customers don't be shy, leave your first name or an initial and feel free to link to your shop, blog or website.  

The last step is optional as the moderators can add more in depth tags.  If you see tags that apply to the item check them.  Check the submission agreement box and you are done!  We check in throughout the day and post all submissions as long as they follow our guidelines.

* some of you may be confused as to why you wouldn't choose 'submit a photo'.  unless I am clueless (and I am happy to hear a better way!!!) when I try that it only offers to add a photo from your own computer via 'browse'.  If I go down into the text box and add a photo the photo shows up but I get an error.  That is why I choose to do it this way.  This is NOT how you need to do it when you have your own tumblr blog. It is easier as the options are different and more up to you.

We look forward to hearing from you and getting a peek at what you love!

We have a Tumblr Page!

If you haven't noticed, we have a tumblr page!  Our chicklet is on the top sidebar.  We invite you to visit and  upload your favorites from our team members shops.  Have you recently purchased something from one of our members?  Do you have a favorite, something you covet and have to share with the world?  What do you love and why?  Visit our page and hit 'submit' to share with us what you love, feel free to post your name/link to your shop/blog or website.  We'd love to hear from you!