How to Promote Your Handmade Jewelry on Etsy

If you've listed your handmade jewelry on Etsy with the hopes of making some extra money, but have found that your items don't sell, chances are you're not promoting your shop properly. Getting sales and promoting your work isn't as difficult as it seems. It simply takes time and a bit of patience. But how can you make money on Etsy if you have to spend all your time on promotion?

It's not as hard as you may think. Here are a number of time efficient ways to promote your jewelry on Etsy and earn more sales from your Etsy shop.

1. Make YouTube videos for your Etsy jewelry

How many times have you searched for something on YouTube and found yourself drawn in by other videos that you didn't expect to find? Making videos that highlight your jewelry takes advantage of this. Not only that, but you can also show your potential Etsy customers your jewelry in "real time". Use your videos to demonstrate how they will look on your potential customer and how durable they are. Youtube offers a free venue to promote your jewelry in an effective way that traditional advertising cannot.

2. Send your jewelry to The Sampler

The Sampler is a promotional effort to help Etsy sellers promote their handmade goods while providing Etsy addicts with a taste of new and unique items that they might overlook through general Etsy searches. By providing The Sampler with a number of your items or samples to send out to their customers, you get your jewelry noticed, provide already Etsy-savvy customers with a taste of your items and easily promote your Etsy shop.

3. Blog giveaways

Everyone loves a good contest and what better way to showcase your Etsy jewelry than by sending an item from your shop to shopping, jewelry or Etsy-centric blogs for one of their giveaways. You provide the blog with a giveaway item and they do the promotion for your item by listing your item in their giveaway copy, linking to your Etsy shop on their blog and promoting the contest within blog contest communities. This is a fantastic way to jump-start your jewelry sales on Etsy without paying for a bit of advertising.

4. Use Squidoo and Hubpages to showcase your items

Squidoo and Hubpages, when done right, can attract a good amount of search traffic. Highlight your Etsy jewelry by developing a lens, heavy with images, on how to accessorize an outfit for a corporate picnic on Squidoo. Perhaps you can give a short demonstration on Hubpages on how to attach a jump ring, complete with pictures of your jewelry. Just make sure that a link to your Etsy shop features prominently on each page.

5. Partner with a charity

Consider it karma. Consider it marketing savvy. Whatever you choose to consider it, partnering with a charity will get your Etsy shop's name out there and do a little good in the process. It's one of the oldest marketing tricks in the book for a good reason: it works. Choose a charity which you feel truly coincides with your shop's ideals, as well as your own.

6. Wear your jewelry when you go out (and keep business cards handy)

If you're selling jewelry, then you absolutely must wear your wares when you venture out from your craft table into the real world. People notice unique accessories. How many times have you had a complete stranger compliment your handbag, necklace or shoes? The next time you make your way out, wear your jewelry so it's ready to work for you. When someone compliments your jewelry, tell them it's an original and hand them a business card. It's a time tested way to promote handmade jewelry. Just make sure your Etsy's shop URL is included on the card.

7. Give jewelry to friends and family

Marketing your jewelry to your friends, family and acquaintances may seem like small potatoes, but your friends and family can sometimes be your greatest marketing assets. Gifting an item to a friend or family member will serve as a walking billboard for your Etsy shop. It doesn't hurt to provide those friends and family members with an arsenal of business cards as well.

Marketing your Etsy jewelry doesn't have to be difficult. In fact, once you get the hang of it, you'll find that you can easily fit your marketing efforts into your everyday shop maintenance. Soon, you'll be attracting more customers to your Etsy shop and making more sales.