Business Bits - Marketing

Topic: Marketing (well, pre-marketing actually)

Marketing on the mind. Seems like lots of Etsy shops anguish over it. Or at least give it a lot of thought. I know I do.

When something, like marketing, seems so vast & unfamiliar & daunting as marketing I like to take a step back & examine what the heck all the fuss is about. So decided to look up the definition of marketing & break it down a little bit. I know we all like quick fixes & hear the comments, "will Twitter work for me?" "maybe I should just get on Facebook. Maybe that will help." Image Credit: Zuppa Artista

Definition: (according to the American Marketing Association) Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

What really jumped out to me here is that marketing is a process. It's communication. To hear experts speak of it, it's a whole story.

A story in that it's an entire feeling/image/idea/truth. Think of shops or business you love. I bet they have a clear story.

Advertising (buying ads, promoting on twitter/facebook, purchasing flyers) are only a part of marketing.

I remember back in 2008, my shop had been up for a few months. It had a bunch of items listed- not really cohesive. Not really true to my own style. Just made a bunch of stuff. My photos were terrible. My announcement & profile were stiff & boring. And then...I bought an ad for $30. Thinking that would help. Of course it didn't. Even if that ad had garnered thousands of hits, did I really want to advertise my shop at that point?

No! What I needed in my first step of marketing was to figure out my story: my style, my photographs/image, my purpose, my ideas.

what is your story?

looking for more business related posts? My list of "business bits" has a whole slew of articles!