How to share a blog page from StumbleUpon, to your Facebook fan page

It's actually quite simple to do!  In no time you should be able to do it!  By adding a Stumbled page to your Facebook fan page you connect your fan page to StumbleUpon which can only help bring in more page views!

Of course, you will need to have a StumbleUpon account first of all.

On your blog (or any blog that has the StumbleUpon widget installed), click on the StumbleUpon link (widget) on the page that you want to have added to your Facebook fan page.  If you do not have the widget installed on your blog, go to the "design" link on the top right side of your blogger page.  Once done, click on the "layout" link that you will find on the left side of the page.  From there you will have to look for the StumbleUpon widget.   If you type in StumbleUpon in the search section, you will be able to find the widget quickly.

Now you should have the page up on your screen that you want to Stumble,  and the StumbleUpon widget installed on your blog (if you are doing this on your own blog!).   Note: you can only do this on a blog that has the StumbleUpon widget installed.  Click on the StumbleUpon widget.  You should see the screen below.  On that screen, click on the "F" link under the word "share".

The next screen you will be taken to will be the one below.  Click on the "On your own timeline" choice from the drop down menu.  Once done click on the "On your page" link.  And you have now successfully added your Stumbled blog page to your Facebook fan page.

Below shows some of our stumbled blog pages posted to our Harrach Glass fan page.

How to set up an Etsy shop, Part 2

Shop Profile
Public Profile
Shop Settings
Shop Title
Info & Appearance
Banner and Avatar
Facebook, Twitter
Shop Announcement
Shop Policies
Change Shop Name
Shop Languages

Once you are registered as an Etsy user, you can begin to list, market, and sell your goods online!

You will want to write up a shop profile for your customers and all shop viewers.  It seems as though a lot of buyers like to know that they are purchasing their merchandise from someone with a profile.  It gives viewers the sense that you are really operating a legitimate shop.  It doesn't have to be especially long, but it should include information as to what you make and/or sell on Etsy.

To find the shop profile section; first sign on to your shop's page, then on the top right side of the page you will see a few links, next you will need to click on the link Your Account.  From there you will find, on the left side of your page the link Public Profile.  Once you click on the link you will be able to add your profile (in the "about section"), your profile picture (your shop's avatar), and other information.

Next you will want to go back to your shop's home page, and once again on the top right hand side of the page click on the link that says "Your Shop: *********".   Once you click on that link, look on the left hand side of your page and look for the section called Shop Settings.  Click on the link,  Info & Appearance.  In the section that says Shop Title, you will want to write a very short description of what you sell in your shop.  This little section is very important since it will show up in google search results!

You will see that on this page you will be able to add your shop's banner.  For those who don't know what a shop banner is...  click on the link to our Harrach Glass Etsy shop here and you will see our banner (as shown below) at the top of our page.

On the page How to set up an Etsy shop, Part I, we have included the size and other information showing how to create your own shop banner and avatar information.

You will also be able to link your Etsy shop to Facebook and Twitter on this same page.  This is an excellent way to get people to look at your shop, especially if you have a Facebook fan page.  We feel that having your shop linked to at least one of these social networks will bring in a lot more shop views thus, possibilities of more sales!

The shop announcement section is used to give your customers added information like sales and misc, yet important info.  This section will also show up in google search results.

On the top of the page you will see a tab link to Sections.  We use our shop sections feature to break down our shop into categories.  We sell jewelry, glass art, various supplies in our shop so we have created various sections to allow customers to find our merchandise easier.  We'll get more into sections later.

Next to Sections, you will find the link to Shop Policies.  It is advised to have a written payment policy and return policy.

The Change Shop Name allows you to change your shop's name although we advise our readers to stick to their original name due to name recognition.

Last there is the Shop Languages section which will allow your shop to be conducted in more than one language.  It is an excellent way for bi lingual shop owners to get a lot more shop exposure!

How to add your Facebook photos to Blogger, TypePad, and other webpages, in a widget link

Look to the far left of this article on my blog page and you will see what I'm talking about!  Click on it, just to see what I'm talking about,  and you will go to my Harrach Glass Facebook group page.

A long time ago I had added my Facebook group page, Harrach Glass,  to my blog,  but after a year or so,  I deleted it because the pictures were too big and distorted.  I had intended to reinstall that widget to my blog with smaller pictures.  Unfortunately when I went to put Facebook back on my blog,  I couldn't remember how or where I had originally found that widget and then I was up a creek without a paddle.  After looking all over, I finally found the widget on Facebook and I thought I'd share this info with my readers today.

The link for this feature on Facebook is Facebook Badges.  Once you click on the link you will see that there are a few different choices you can use.  I wanted to use the Photo Badge option so that when someone looks at my blog, they see my Harrach Glass page link to Facebook complete with some of my  most recent photos that I've posted.  If you decide to do the Photo Badge as well, you have the option as to putting it on Blogger, TypePad (which I'm not familiar with) or your own webpage.

I noticed that when I put my badge on my blog and tested it out, the link brought me to my personal Facebook page instead of my Harrach Glass page.  And for me, that was not what I wanted!!!  So, if that happens to you, once you have put it on your blog, follow these perhaps not so simple step by step directions and you should be able to fix the problem.

1. In Blogger's "new look" page view, shown above...  since that is what I've been using, click on the Layout section.  It's located on the left side of the page. 
2. Once again, on the left hand side of your blog's layout page view,  located somewhere under the title or header of your blog, you will now see a box that says HTML/JavaScript right under the light blue Add a Gadget box.  Basically, look for the blue Add a Gadget Box, and then look right under it.  To make sure it is the correct box, click on the HTML/JavaScript link to verify you have the correct box!  
3. Next, click on the "edit" link on that HTML/JavaScript box.
4. You should see, Facebook Badge START in the html box.
5. So to be able to make a badge you have to have a group page.  If you don't have one, you need to make one now.  If you have one, open a new window in your web browser and pull up your group page and copy the group page's address. 
6. Go back to the your blogger page and in that box we've been looking at, in the HTML text paragraph, highlight everything you see between the quotes, starting on the second line and perhaps includes the third line (depending on how long your link is).  Once highlighted, hold down the control key and V key on your computer's type pad.  This should replace the original link with the correct link to your Facebook group page.
7. Scroll farther down in the HTML code until you find title=    I replaced the name of my business with the name that showed up there.  Once done, that will be the title of your widget.  In my case, the title is my business name, but you can name it whatever you want to.  
8. Finally, click SAVE.  Then go back to your blog to proof read it to make sure your links are correct.  And you're done :-)  If all else fails and you can't get it to work, remove it :-)  Then you can start all over!

Advertising ideas

There are so many ways to advertise your business.  On the internet you can advertise through Twitter, Facebook, your own webpage, a blog, Myspace, Craigslist and a lot of other sites.  Link these internet sites together so that there are multiple ways to find you on the web.

You can make your own free QR (quick response) code which you can print out and place on your cars, in your store windows, on business cards, in advertising, even on kiosks (if you live in a city that has kiosks in public areas). These codes are just beginning to become popular in the USA but have been around and used for awhile in Japan and through-out the United Kingdom.  With your QR code you can write what ever you want to get your store noticed.  We included our blog, Facebook page, Etsy page etc. on our QR code below.  Keep in mind that only android and iPhones can read these codes.  We used http://www.qurify.com/en/ to make ours'.  To be able to read the code, download a free bar code scanner app for your phone.  Click on the bar code scanner app, hold your phone's camera towards the QR and your phone will be able to read it.

Newspaper advertisements are still viable forms of advertising.  These ads can get quite expense, depending on color or b & w, day of the week, and columns used.  Some newspapers offer sales on ads which can be excellent for anyone on a tight budget.  It is good to know the amount of readership for the paper you intend to advertise in.  Circulation numbers are very important to advertising.  Don't spend a lot of money on an add that won't be seen!  You will notice that once your store is up and running, you will probably get newspaper salesmen (along with other salesmen) stopping by your shop trying to get you to buy advertising.  Actually, sometimes you can get a good deal, for example; when a holiday is approaching, you can join in on a group ad that features many businesses in your own local area.  HINT: It is advised to put a highly visible "no soliciting" sign visible on the door of your store.  

Magazine and other periodical advertisements can work well for certain businesses, too.  A stained glass store (or other like businesses) ad could fit quite well in a local magazine where real estate and/or local artists are featured.  You will find smaller magazines that feature your city, or a nearby tourist destination work quite well.  

Last, but not least, don't forget to get your business in the yellow pages!  

You must advertise your store to get it noticed and getting new customers in the door.  With the internet you can advertise for free!

Feature Your Artsy Blog on our Blog

So I was sitting here at the computer this morning thinking about what we wanted to post about today.  And suddenly I thought, hey, why don't we give other bloggers a chance to be featured on our blog!  So that's what we are going to do!  Any interested bloggers can either send us an email at HarrachGlass@gmail.com or post a comment below with their blog address.  We'll check out your blog, and if it's good and artsy,  we'll post it to our blog, it's as simple as that.

We are looking for blogs that are about art, Etsy sellers, basically any internet artist.  We are also interested in sharing blogs about internet tools and tricks for twitter, Facebook and webpage development since we all need some help sometimes when it comes to HTML tags etc.  And, any art glass supply distributors, retailers, or manufacturers are always more than welcome!

Advertise your business on Twitter

Artists and anyone else for that matter, it is important for us to get our name and work noticed by as many people as possible.  Ok, that isn't being narcissistic, it is being smart.  The more our art work is seen the more possibilities that our work will get sold.  That is when Twitter comes into this picture.  It is by far one of the best ways to get your name out there in the online and offline art world.  It is free, what more can you ask for!

When you are new to Twitter, there are a few important questions you need to ask yourself when setting up your account.  Mainly, what are you going to write about?  And do you want to use your name, business name or some other name.  It really doesn't matter what name you use, although it does need to represent you in a good light.  In our case, we went with our business name, Harrach Glass.  And we decided to write about our favorite and most knowledgeable subject, glass art.  It really doesn't matter what you tweet about as long as it is interesting and people read your tweets and perhaps follow you because of them.  If you tweet links to pictures, you will be sure to get a lot of looks.  We have discovered that a lot of our followers like to look at our art glass pics we post on our flickr page, which we have also linked to Twitter.

Next we filled out our profile, something that is extremely difficult since you only have limited space on Twitter (we like to change our's occasionally).  We have read that a lot of people on Twitter don't like to follow someone who doesn't have a profile.  Unfortunately, we don't know if that is true.  And one of the most important parts for us is that we linked Twitter to our blog in the section where we can add a link.  You will find that setting when you click on your settings page, top right on your Twitter page, its a drop down menu,  and then by clicking the settings tab.  Once there, the profile tab will be on the top of the page.  Linking another online page is very important since you really can't write much when on Twitter.  We like linking our Twitter account to our blog since with our blog we can link other of our internet web pages conveniently in one spot.

In conclusion, Twitter advertising is a good thing!  Start out slowly and do the basics to begin with.  Come up with a great name, and profile for your account.  Link your Twitter to some other internet site that you have, even Facebook will do.  Don't worry about getting a lot of followers to begin with.  Start out with a good plan, like what you want to tweet about and what market you intend to reach.  Fill in a profile, add an avatar and background if you want to start with one, and you are ready to advertise on the biggest billboard in the world!