Monday, 8 June 2015

book review ~ Online Marketing for your Craft Business by Hilary Pullen....

One of my 2015 goals is to grow my business online and to help me do this I have read Hilary Pullen's Online Marketing for Your Craft Business.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1446304892/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1446304892&linkCode=as2&tag=fizzijaynemak-21&linkId=SZ44RZLPN4HDC46J
I made lots of notes and used my new owl sticky notes, they look so cute!

As the front cover describes, Hilary's book tells you "How to get your handmade products discovered, shared and sold on the internet" and I think it does a good job of that.  The book delves into each key area and social media platform, including:
Hilary explains how to get the best out of each platform and gets you started if you haven't got a profile.

I was thankful for a chapter explaining Google Analytics and how to use the reports.  I set up Google Analytics as soon as I set up my Folksy shop and started selling.  Having previously worked in retail I was used to analysing stats but I haven't really got the best out of Google yet and it proves that I need to make time for analysing metrics such as unique vs returning visitors, page views and bounce rate to be able to know what is working and what I need to focus my time on. 

There is a LOT to think about and I'm wondering where I will find the time to do everything and do it well, in a lot of companies there is a team of people whose job is social marketing! Hilary does acknowledge that it looks like a lot of work but by being realistic with your time and planning in advance can mean you make the most of social marketing and in turn grow your business online.

I already have a plan for this blog with my ideas and when I'd like to post them but I don't have a social media plan.  I tend to post as I go which is still important but there are bound to be posts I can plan and schedule so I don't spend lots of 15 minute (or longer) periods during a week.  This book is helping me put my plan together.

This is a fizzi~jayne recommended read if you want to grow your blog/business online and want to get the most out of your social media posts.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

fizzi~jayne x

Please note: the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links
If you happen to click on an affiliate link and purchase something, I may make a small commission (pennies!) on that purchase which goes towards my work on this blog.

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14 comments:

  1. Icy Sedgwick11 June 2015 at 12:30

    Sounds like I need to check that out!

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    1. Fiona (fizzi~jayne)11 June 2015 at 19:23

      Definitely and I'd love to know what you think about it once you've read it :-)

      Delete
  2. Katherine Hajer15 June 2015 at 15:27

    My public library has copies! I placed a hold. Thanks for mentioning!

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    1. Fiona (fizzi~jayne)15 June 2015 at 18:59

      Yay! I hope you enjoy it. I'd love to know what you think of this book once you've read it.

      Delete
  3. Hilary20 November 2015 at 13:49

    Thanks so much for this lovely review :)

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  4. Hilary20 November 2015 at 13:50

    Thanks so much for this lovely review :)

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    1. Fiona (fizzi~jayne)24 November 2015 at 18:55

      It's my pleasure, I found your book really useful and I still refer to it. Thank you for popping by my blog and leaving a comment :-)

      Delete
  5. Deandre13 January 2016 at 06:41

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Deandre13 January 2016 at 06:42

    This is exactly what young entrepreneurs need to read today! The World Wide Web is the most promising and emerging market in our society. Consequently, the success of a business is strictly related to effective and winning marketing strategies.

    Furthermore, this book underlines the importance of various social media platforms such as Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook in promoting your own business.

    Deandre @ Go Local Marketing

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    1. Fiona (fizzi~jayne)14 January 2016 at 17:47

      Thanks Deandre, I completely agree with your comments. The World Wide Web has opened up so many opportunities for start ups and growing businesses. I know I wouldn't have mine without it. The trick is to stand out from the crowd which is where this book can really help :-)

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  7. Regina Morales30 January 2016 at 09:13

    Without wanting to take anything away from artistic people, I think that understanding the intricacies of social media for the less technical and more creative amongst us (myself included) can be difficult, so I welcome Hilary Pullen's new book. Hopefully I will learn enough to make the job of promoting my business online a little easier in the near future.

    Regina Morales @ Sonic Response

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    1. Fiona (fizzi~jayne)3 February 2016 at 22:07

      I do hope you find the book as useful as I did. Good luck with promoting your business :-)

      Delete
  8. Donnie Peters1 February 2016 at 00:47

    Pinterest is the best way to get new traffic, at least in my wife’s experience. Things can go viral much easier there than any of the other social media sites. Also, it’s less of a time sink when compared to Facebook or Twitter, and converts clicks to sales at a much higher rate – at least according to the analytics reports!

    Donnie Peters @ WThree

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    1. Fiona (fizzi~jayne)3 February 2016 at 22:11

      Pinterest has been good to me too but different platforms work well for different businesses. Whatever works for you, there is no point putting in lots of work into something if there are better returns somewhere else :-)

      Delete

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