15 Minute Craft Website Tips  

Christmas is just around the corner. My local Michaels as already started putting out Halloween stuff, so the Christmas stuff is not to far behind. I’m going to tell you how to get a head start on prepping your website for a great holiday season.

1. Plan Now
   • A great holiday promotion is planned months and months in advance. Just like the stores at the mall, online stores also experience a holiday rush that usually strikes between December 5th through 15th.
   • If you sell your work online and want to take advantage of this rush, you need to have everything in place long before December 5th.
   • There are some components like advertising that needs to be booked in advance
2. Start Early...End Late
   • You’ll need to appeal to both the early-birds and the last minute procrastinators.
   • Do some pre-holiday marketing or promotions...say starting in October so you can catch those early birds.
   • Keep up the promotion until at least January 1st so you can catch the procrastinators that order just before and after the holidays and those ultra-organized people shopping for next year.
3. Create some holiday specials
   • “Early Bird” or “End of Year” specials
   • A free gift with purchase
   • Free shipping with purchase
   • Discounts or free item with multiple or high ticket purchases (remember that people like to buy one gift for their friend and two for themselves)
   • Offer rush shipping
   • Free gift wrapping with purchase
   • Sponsor a holiday giveaway or contest
   • Sponsor a holiday charity drive
   • Donate a portion of holiday sales to charity
   • Sell a special edition line available only during the holidays
   • Co-sponsor a giveaway or contest with another artist
4. Get the word out
   • Send postcards to your snail list.
   • Post about your promotion on your blog.
   • Advertise on indie or craft related websites and blogs. Rare Bird Finds (http://www.rarebirdfinds.typepad.com) and Modish (http://modish.typepad.com) are two popular ones
   • Place banners on your website
   • Announce to your email list. If you don’t have one, start building one now. I’ve just finished a six-part series on how to build an email mailing list on newsletter at the Crafted Web. You can check it out at http://www.craftedweb.com/signup.html
   • Promote relentlessly, don’t stop with just one message...start in late September or early October and don’t stop until Jan 1st
5. Dress up your website
   • Add holiday graphics or you can overhaul your entire site
   • Get ideas on Design Meltdown (http://www.designmeltdown.com/chapters/Holiday/)
   • Don’t forget to make your newsletters and email correspondence more festive
6. Stock up on supplies
   • Get plenty of shipping boxes, packing material, tape, and shipping labels now
   • Buy plenty of gift boxes and gift wrap
   • Set up an online account at FedEx, USPS, or UPS so you can print shipping labels online
   • See if your postman will pick up packages from your home or studio (check your local zoning laws first!)
   • Stock up on materials and supplies. If you have make extra inventory, you don’t want to have to wait to have more supplies shipped to you.
7. Take it all down
   • Write the end date of your promotion into your plan and follow it. There’s nothing sadder than seeing a site all dressed up for Christmas in mid-July.

On the next show... I will be What THE most important thing that your website must do...and guess what? It’s NOT to sell. Want to know what it is? Then come join me here next time for more 15 Minute Craft Website Tips.