In last week's post Blogging for Growth, I addressed some strategies I used recently to redesign my blog. Thank you for your comments and feedback!
Today, I want to share with you a "secret" strategy I use to create content while increasing traffic to my blog: Treasuries!!!
Many of my followers are owners of shops on Etsy, so you are aware of the benefits treasuries bring to your products. These pretty collections position our products in eye catching displays which increase our visibility throughout Etsyland. They act like shop displays bricks and mortars use to catch our attention. Additionally, these collections have a way of showcasing our products to those who might not otherwise find us in the vast virtual marketplace. And if we're super lucky, the Etsy gods will choose a gorgeous treasury featuring one of our products to showcase on the front page for an hour. Treasuries....we love them - don't we?
Here's a favorite of mine from the past week:
Alas, creating treasuries is just not my thing. I know I should do more, as just curating a treasury brings visibility to one's store. But I just don't have the knack let alone the desire to create them. But I can promote them to others. So I comment and tweet about my gratitude.
Then it clicked.
Since I'm fairly adept at promoting...and I needed more content for my blog....why not add a day focused on treasuries? I could give these fantastic creations additional life in the virtual world while continuing to promote them.
I receive questions from time to time on how to make this happen. So, here you go:
- Choose the most gorgeous treasuries to feature your products.
- Use a tool such as Craftcult or Treasury HTML Code Generator.
- Take a deep breath and create your blog (or at least the treasury portion) in html. (Trust me, you'll be ok at this.)
- Publish your blog.
And here's the most important step
- Promote the blog to others included in the treasury!
For every treasury you add to your post, you can draw 16 other people to see your wonderful creation! Be careful when you convo everyone that you don't use language to "sell" them on your blog. My convos basically say, "Our products were recently featured in this beautiful treasury, which I've included in today's blog. I hope this brings additional visibility to your shop!"
Word of caution - for this week's Treasury Sunday I used the widget from Craftcult. I find it to be a touch more user friendly than the code generator. However, I noticed in the email post I received on my blog (do you do this? If not, you should!), that the treasuries were not included in the email. The only graphic to come through was my "Advertising Opportunities Available". Glad that message got through, but not at the expense of being the only one. So in the future, I'll be using the code generator.
I've found that by including posts with treasuries, traffic to my blog has increased, followers to my shop have increased, I'm included in more treasuries than before, and I've even received some sales from grateful shop owners! Give it a try and let me know how using treasuries works for you!
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