How to Start a Blog for Your Etsy Business

How to Start a Blog for Your Etsy Business

Since I started blogging in 2008 I can’t even count the number of questions I’ve gotten about starting a blog. Whether you have an Etsy business or want to grow a DIY blog…this is for you.

EverythingEtsy.com has an average of a million pageviews a month and hundreds of thousands of followers through social media and email subscribers.  It has been a wild ride into the unknown online world, for sure.  I’d like to save you some time and trouble by sharing my blogging experience.

You might already know that the whole reason I started blogging was to promote my Etsy shop.  It was a way to get my felt hair clips out there to a few more people and make more sales.  Well, it worked.  It worked so well that I couldn’t keep up with making THAT many hair clips and my blog.  Eventually, I found that blogging is my dream job and handmade goodness is my passion…they’re a great combination!

**Special for the month – Email me at Kim@everythingetsy.com if you are thinking about starting a blog or an email marketing list.  I will send you some great information and answer your questions.  This only applies to newbies. 🙂  I remember what it was like to try and promote my first Etsy shop…lol!  I’m here to help! **Limited Time Special

Blogging is the perfect way to get your creative products in front of new potential customers all over the world…24 hours a day!  Oh, and it’s the cheapest way if you do it right.  I’m all about marketing on a shoestring budget!

I had zero experience with blogs when I started…I didn’t even read any of them! {shhh…don’t tell anyone that!}

From the very beginning my husband, Tim, handled all of the techy stuff for me.  As soon as I mentioned a blog would help me promote my Etsy business he started researching the best way to start a blog, and I’m thrilled that he got it set up right from that very first day.  Many mistakes are easily made in the start-up process, and I’m writing this to help you avoid them.

Starting a blog was our first small step into the world of blogging that ultimately changed our lives forever!

Now we have multiple blogs and have grown it into a large online media business.  Blogging has become my full-time job, and sharing how to use blogging to promote yourself is one of my favorite subjects.  It doesn’t matter if you are promoting a service, a new book, a handmade product or a local business…blogs are the best way to share with the world.

There’s nothing like seeing someone learn how to share their handmade creations through blogging, and watching their business grow because of it!  It can change lives with extra income, help a student pay for college, help a mom work from home, or in my case, help me save up some Christmas money.  It can grow from a little extra money to paying for rent, or a new car.  Serious money can be made through blogging and sharing your goods and services online.  But, you have to take the first step and promote yourself through your own blog.

Click here to get the free download and more right now – Marketing Bliss for Etsy Sellers!  You’ll also join our Business Bliss Society…woot!  High fives and hugs to you!

Obviously, I could go on and on about the exciting world of blogging for makers, but let me go ahead and share some of the basics to getting started.  It’s actually not as hard as you might think.

Why Etsy Sellers Should Have Their Own Website

Having your own website is one of the most rewarding and fun parts of building an online business. It provides you with so many opportunities. For example:

• A chance to create an individual space that is all you!
• A chance to share your story in depth
• A chance to tell more about your products and why you love them
• A place to refer everyone to, without seeming like you’re trying to sell to them
• A chance to learn something new and create a whole new set of skills
• A place online that you control completely
• An opportunity for future growth and expansion
• A more professional image
• Improved name and brand recognition

The list of reasons you’ll love having your own website could really continue for hundreds of items.  The more you grow a blog, the more your opportunities grow!

The real question is “Why wouldn’t you have your own website?”

Read more right here…Why Etsy Sellers Should Have Their Own Website. 

What Should You Blog About?

Blog about your passion!  After all, it’s not easy to write about something your not passionate about for years!

Since you are most likely looking to share a handmade product you’ll want to make sure your blogging subjects blend well with your products.  After all, you are looking for new customers.  Attract them by writing about what your customers would be interested in reading.

Take a moment and picture your ideal client.  How old are they?  What do they buy at the store?  What do they read?  What kind of magazines would they like?  What are their hobbies?

Do they look like you?  Most of the time you’ll find that they don’t look too much different than you!  They might vary slightly, but they have the some of the same interests.  Write about something they would want to read…easy peasy.

You get the idea, I’m sure.  Just keep this in mind when you are deciding categories for your blog.

Having at least five categories to work with will keep you from sharing your products so much that people feel like you are just trying to sell them something.  It will turn them away…fast!

You’ll want to share your products with great photos.  Post a peek behind the scenes showing your creative process.  Share in-progress photos of upcoming collections {People love this!}, share a glimpse into your life so they can get to know you or share a sale…but, don’t over share!

When you are sharing helpful content on a regular basis you will gain readers that will connect with you.  They will be the ones that comment and share your blog posts through social media.  They will help you, so be helpful to them.  This is how viral content starts…one share!

Self-Hosting & WordPress

We believe that one of the first keys to success online is becoming an active blogger on your own self-hosted blog.We use WordPress for this site and for a number of other sites we operate every day.

If you’re going to have a blog, you want it to be a self-hosted WordPress blog. Self-hosted because you’re building a long-term asset that you’re going to want total ownership of and control over in the future. WordPress because it’s the best, the most versatile, has the most resources available, and because the core software is free.

You can usually install WordPress very easily through the company that hosts your website.

There are some sites that offer free blogs {Blogger, WordPress.com and many more}, but you don’t own that spot.  So, you can build and build only to have them decide to charge you later or even shut down.  You will want to start off with your own WordPress site right from the start.  Trust me.

It’s All in a Name

Once you can picture what your blog is all about it will be easier to come up with the perfect name.  There are many ways to go about this, but you do want to try follow a few guidelines.

A Good Name

• Should be easy to remember – something catchy
• Is Short – try and avoid very long names more than 2 or 3 words
• Is easy to spell – watt moore kin I saie?
• Communicates a message – who you are, what you do, your style.
• Can be trademarked

Read this post with tips for choosing a name for your blog.

Now you can start trying different names in a blog name search to find one that’s available. Be sure to include the extension in your search such as .com, .net,  .co, etc.

Once you’ve found an available domain name you love it’s time to lock that puppy down! The best place to register your domain name is in the same account where you have your blog hosted. Hosting sounds complicated, but it’s really not at all. It’s easy and I’ve listed a couple of the most user-friendly non-techy options out there. Just pick one and go!

I suggest using these companies for hosting…

• Bluehost.com
• HostGator

UPDATE NOVEMBER 2017 – We have stopped suggesting Hostgator. We still have our very first hosting account with Bluehost which we’ve had since 2009 and based on our experience and the feedback from readers, we really feel like Bluehost is the best place to start.

We have hosting accounts with both of them but now have a dedicated server since we have grown to have a large amount of traffic.  These companies have been around for years and offer some excellent specials for new blogs.

Set Up WordPress

Now that you have your name I’m sure your excited to get started.  Lucky for you, it’s not only easy… but we also have some simple free tutorial videos for you to follow.

You are one step close to typing up your first blog post!

Choose a Theme

A theme makes your blog pretty and easy to use in minutes!

One of the great things about WordPress is the availability of thousands of custom themes. Themes are what make your WordPress blog look and work exactly how it does. The way pages are arranged, the backgrounds and colors, and unique features such as social media integration are all often packaged with WordPress themes.

An experienced coder/designer can take just about any theme do just about anything they want with it. But none of them do! Why would they put the time and effort into transforming WordPress into something amazing when StudioPress has already done the work for them with the Genesis Theme and the vast collection of Child Themes?

You can use the free theme that comes with WordPress, but I highly suggest making life easier with a pretty theme right from the start.

I’ll save you lots of time and trouble by sending you right to the best spot…StudioPress.  Designers share themes here in every style you can imagine.  There’s something for everyone and it’s super reasonable. {Many are available from $59-$99}

You can always google how to change something and finds tons of helpful information.  So, don’t worry if you didn’t go to school for this!

Once you purchase a theme from StudioPress you’ll get access to tons of easy to follow tutorials, guides, and a great community with helpful forums and more. Tim learned all of the basics of WordPress from theme forums like this.

Time to Write a Post

Writing a post in WordPress is simple. You can even post from your phone when you’re on the go. Simply log-in to your WordPress dashboard with your username and password (which you got when you installed WordPress) Once you’re logged in, you have two options:

1. You can use the “New” link in the top “admin bar” which is always visible to you (only to you) when you’re logged-in. Select “new”, then “post”
2. You can go to your WordPress dashboard and select “Posts” and “Add New” from the left side menu.

Either way takes you to the same place, the post editing screen, which is pretty much just like a normal word processor type interface.

A lot of bloggers like to use a separate software to write in. I write my posts in Live Writer but Tim says I’m doing things the hard way.  It’s just what I’m comfortable with since I’ve done it this way for years.  Live Writer makes it possible for me to write a post when I’m not online.  Then when I’m done I can move it to my blog the next time I have access to the internet.

Blog Images are Important!

Blogs need images for logos, posts, sidebars and so much more.  You will find that blog images can make or break a post when it’s shared through social media.  Think about the kind of photos that get your attention on Facebook, or the images that make you click on Pinterest.  Spend a little extra time on your blog images…they are important!

If you need a logo to use in your header image you can check Etsy for a ton of pre-made logos, or have someone design it.  Create your own in a program like Canva, PicMonkey or Adobe Illustrator.

I use Canva and Adobe Illustrator to make great blog graphics with the post titles. These are pretty quick to make and I would consider them to be a huge part of your post.  You want people to notice it on social media!  You can also use Canva to create quote images to share…they are always a hit.

If you are not good with photos or need a particular image to go with a post you can use stock photos.

They are not as expensive as they used to be and I find the selection at Adobe Stock is very helpful when I need a pretty image right away.

Photography – don’t get me started!

I started off blogging with dark, blurry photos!  When I look back at old posts it seriously makes me wonder how I made a success out of blogging!

I’ve been working to improve my skills over the years, and can now say my photos have been included in magazines like Mollie Makes {a favorite of mine} and tons of other blogs.  I’ve attended the I Heart Faces Photography Conference, and I love the blog for helpful photo tips and tutorials.  I’m always looking to improve my photography skills!

This is the equipment I use now…

• Panasonic Lumix Camera (love)
• Panasonic 25mm Prime Lens (love, love, love)
• My zoom lens (going to Alaska next week to try it! yay!)
• A good tripod

You don’t need any of these to start a blog, but you will find that your phone camera can only do so much!  I love my camera like I can’t explain, and I would find it hard to blog without it now. {spoken like a true blogger…ha!}

Sharing Your Products On Your Blog

One of the greatest advantages of having your own self-hosted WordPress site is flexibility and freedom. You can share whatever you want on your own website! Have some downloads you want to offer? No problem. Want to install a PayPal Donate button for your favorite charity? Feel free! It’s your place.

We’re working on a detailed list of the ways you can expand that new blog to include your own shopping cart, e-courses, community features such as forums and discussion boards, and so much more.

But just to get your creative ideas flowing, Tim made this little video that shows you how to get your Etsy shop items displayed on your blog. The whole thing only takes four minutes and that’s with him talking your ear off! Enter your email in the video box below to watch it… the email is so we can contact you when the more detailed “ways to expand your blog” content is ready!

Have you downloaded your free Marketing Bliss Blueprint for Etsy Sellers yet??  Oh my gosh…stop and do that right now.  Click here!  It’s free!

Set up Your Social Media

Get an account with these sites to get started…

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest

There are so many more, but these are the best social media sites to set up first.  They can easily be connected to your new blog.  If you get the same name on each one it will be easier to share on business cards and your blog.  You can find me at @EverythingEtsy everywhere!

Take a deep breath and know that you can’t build a blog all at once. You’ll need to take small steps everyday.

{Download this free printable}

A blog is always changing, and will never be completely finished.  Your readers won’t know , so don’t stress over it.

A couple tips on social media…

Social media can take up too much time if you let it!  Learning to schedule out your social media posts can make life so much better.  I could write a whole post on why I use each one of these, but you can check them out for yourself.

Tailwind – This is such a helpful scheduling tool for me, and I use it daily!  I can easily share a new post across all my social media channels or schedule posts out for the next week.  Visually, Tailwind is the best.  There’s so much to it that I don’t use, so go on over and read more about all the features. {Right now get a $15 coupon here.}

Hootsuite – I have used this for years to help me keep up with social media over more than one blog all at once.  I mainly use it for Twitter {I like the way it shows the feeds}, but sometimes I post to Facebook using Hootsuite.  You can schedule posts easily and I like the app.  They have different plans, but I pay about $5 a month. {I recently stopped using Hootsuite all together due to them raising my monthly rate without my knowledge and just taking it out of my Paypal account.  Let’s just say I wasn’t happy…lol}

If you are brand new to blogging you don’t need to start with these services.  I don’t want to overwhelm you!  Just try one out once you get the hang of blogging.  After all, you need content to share first.

A little more advanced…

Looking to set up your email marketing right from the start?  It’s never too soon to start gathering readers for your email newsletter.  When you have a product to sell these can be super helpful!!!

MailChimp – I use this on a regular basis, and I love it!  It’s free until you go over 2,000 subscribers.  You can pay a small monthly fee for automatic email services.  These are great if you want someone to receive a series of emails or get one as soon as they sign up.  I find it so easy to use!

Wondering how you make money from blogging besides selling products?  We’ll share more on that later, but this is a great place to start…

Adsense – Set up Google ads to begin showing display ads on your blog.  You can add them just about anywhere from the sidebar to the bottom of the page.  You’ll make a small amount, but every penny counts! (and once your blog grows, that “small amount” can become enough to really make a difference)

Amazon – Sign up for display ads, or link directly to products to get a percentage.  Keep adding Amazon links to your posts and you’ll start to see it really add up over time.  It takes a few extra minutes to add links in a post, but it’s the way to go!

A few extra resources that make blogging life easier!

Google Analytics – It’s a great way to know where your blog visitors come are from and lots more!

You’ll need a shipping resource for all those sales you’ll make…use Stamps.com. Read more about shipping right here.

Disclosure: After using these services ourselves and finding them valuable and worth recommending, we signed-up for the respective affiliate programs for these vendors, so we get a commission if you purchase through our links. Which is yet ANOTHER way to make great money blogging! It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but helps us keep the bills paid and the kids fed!

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Read more in our Etsy Business section and follow us on social media…Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram.

So, now that you’ve set up your brand new blog I’d love to see it!  Share a link in the comments!

Thank you very much for being a part of our blogging adventure!

– Kim & Tim