Tips for Getting Traffic to Your Etsy Site

Many, many times I've heard the question "How do I get people to come to my Etsy website?". Well, I decided to put together a list of some ideas.

1) Spend some time in the forums but NOT just promoting. Answer questions. Ask questions. make friends. Most promotions go ignored but helping others gives you a good name.

2) Comment in the Storque and in treasuries. And by comment I mean relevant comments. No spamming!

3) Join a team. There's a whole list of teams on Etsy. Find one that you think would be a good fit for you and email the leader asking to join. (I'll do another post later on the benefits of teams)

4) Add a link to your website as your email signature.

5) Start a blog. Talk about your new products, current sales, post some tutorials, etc.

6) Wear/carry your product everywhere you go. I can't wear my soap but I do carry my Soap-To-Go and Lip Balm in my purse at all times!

7) Carry business cards and tell people about your site! Place some business cards on public bulletin boards.

8) Try sending samples to some sampler boxes. These are a great way to get your products in the hands of customers. Try to find a sampler that has the same target market as you to make the most of it.

Good luck!

New Year, Newly Organized Workroom

In order to be more efficient this year, I decided to clean out my entire workroom. I went through EVERYTHING. That included opening ALL boxes, getting rid of what I don't need anymore, and organizing what I still use.

Here are a few pics of how nice it looks now:

Now I'd better get to work making some soap. See how empty those shelves are? Eek!

Black Friday - Cyber Monday Sale!

Get ready to stock up on your holiday gifts! Angie's Suds 'N Such is having a Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale!

Sneak Peek at one of the deals:
My 8 bar listing will have FREE worldwide shipping!

Be sure to check out my whole shop for great deals that weekend!

Shows, New Products, and the Cherry Blossom Festival

It's show season! The last one I did went fairly well and I'm hoping the rest do the same. If you're in the area I'd love for you to stop by and say 'hi' at one of my shows! Here are the locations of my next 2:

November 14 - Centreville United Methodist Church - 6400 Old Centreville Rd, Centreville, VA

December 12 - Gar-Field High School - 14000 Smoketown Rd, Woodbridge, VA

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New Products!

I've been busy here in my 'lab' experimenting with new recipes. My two newest products will be lip balms and lotion sticks! I'll be listing them in my shop sometime this week.

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Cherry Blossom Festival

So, what's given me the push to create those new products? The Cherry Blossom Festival committee! I submitted a cherry blossom soap for consideration for their online boutique and they loved it! BUT...they wanted more items to make it a gift set. I'll be including a few more items other than the lip balm and lotion sticks as soon as the recipes are perfected. I have to send the set in for a final consideration and as long as they like it all, I'm in!

Parents Magazine!

Some of you know, some of you don't, that Parents magazine recently did an article on bartering and interviewed me! Well, here it is! They featured it in the October 2009 issue. Page 99 to be exact:)

Making Room for New Soaps!

New seasons are coming which means new soap scents! Not only do I have new scents coming but I have new packaging! Before I can list these new soaps I need to get rid of the old ones! Help me out! I've reduced all my cold process soaps by 30% to help make room for the new ones. All prices have already been marked down. Please take some time to stop by my Etsy shop and check it out!

Mini Soap-on-a-Rope Tutorial

Today I'm going to show you how to make your own mini Soap-on-a-Rope! Yay!

Here's what you need:

Approximately 4 ounces of melt and pour soap base
Mini bath puff (I got mine from Parasox on etsy)
Fragrance oil (I used Cherry Blossom from Sahara's Supplies)
Blueberry seeds for exfoliation (also from Sahara)
Bath bomb mold (from...you guessed it!...Sahara)
A spoon for mixing
Knife for cutting
Measuring glass to melt your soap in

Have all your supplies? Okay, let's get started!

First you need to cut up your soap base and measure out 2 ounces. Melt it in the microwave (about 20 seconds should do the trick), add about 1/4 tsp fragrance oil, a bit of blueberry seeds, and mix it all together.

Now, set your mini puff in one half of the bath bomb mold. I recommend greasing the mold a bit so your soap doesn't stick.

Carefully pour your soap mixture into the mold. You'll need to pull the puff away from the sides a bit to get it in there. Pour slowly so the puff has time to absorb some of the soap. Now, go grab a cup of coffee and wait for this to dry.

Is it dry? Alright, next step!

Measure out another 2 ounces of your soap base. Melt it and add your fragrance and blueberry seeds like last time. Pour it into the other half of your mold. (Don't forget to grease it!)

Unmold the dry soap that you made earlier. I tried doing this with the first half still in the mold but the mold won't close completely and you'll have a little gap between the two halves.

Very carefully and very slowly set it into the melted soap, puff side down. You'll want to put something under it to catch the soap that runs out over the side. Trust me, now matter how slow you go it's going to happen.

We're done! Well, almost. Go grab a book or watch tv for about 3o minutes and then come back and unmold your creation!

Congrats! You just made a mini soap-on-a-rope!

P.S. I don't recommend making your soap outside like I did. I only did this for the purpose of taking pictures in the natural lighting.

New Product and Weekend Deals!

It's that time again! Time for Weekend Deals!


This weekend I'm offering Buy One Get One Half Off on everything in my shop!


Not only am I having a sale but I have a new product. Suds 'N Such now makes shower gel! I currently have 3 scents listed (peppermint, orange, and green apple) but more will be coming soon. I'm also taking custom orders for scents that I don't have listed yet so if you don't see your favorite scent, feel free to ask!

Make Your Samples Work for You!

After a few years of sending and receiving samples I thought I’d share a few tips that I’ve come up with. Please remember, these are tips for *samples*. Samples and promos are not the same thing. Samples are a smaller version of something that you sell in your shop. Not a pen or button with your name on it. Promos are nice but not always memorable.

First of all, make sure your sample is an accurate representation of your work because that’s what potential customers will see it as. Don’t send seconds/mistakes! You want the customer to *want* your item. Your samples should be as good as the full sized item.

Send samples that the customer can *use*. If you are a soapmaker, send soap. Jewelry makers, how about a small pair of earrings? If the potential customer can use the item, they are more likely to fall in love with it and purchase more later.

Here are a few questions that the potential customer will want to know about your product sample:

1) What is it?
A customer can’t buy it if they don’t know what it is. Not only that, but a lot of my soap looks like food. I don’t want anyone to eat it! Soap and tarts smell and look alike. If a customer doesn’t know what it is, they won’t use it.

2) What’s in it?
This is especially important for bakers and bath & body makers. Please list all your ingredients in case anyone has allergies.

3) What do I do with it?
If it’s not obvious, please give details on how to use your sample.

4) How can I buy more?
Don’t forget to include your business card or website info! If the customer can’t find you, they can’t buy anything from you!

Now who do you give these samples to?

Try to focus on your target market. When you ship out an order include a sample of something else that you think that customer will like. Submit to sampler boxes that focus on your target market. Keep a few with you so when you strike up a conversation with someone about your business you can hand them a sample to remember you by. Hand them out to friends and family. Even if it’s not something they’ll use, there’s a good chance they’ll still support your business by promoting it to others.

I hope these tips help someone. If you have any tips of your own, feel free to post them here!

And the Winner is...

I just put all the names in a bucket and let my daughter pick out the winner. The name she picked is...
CarolSue! Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway!