Etsy Success: Crafty Blogging

Hoping to spread the word about your indie business by jumping into the blogosphere? Join us at Etsy's offices for an engaging discussion on the benefits of craft blogging: attracting readers (and keeping them), the importance of creative content and the divine art of self-promotion.

Unable to attend the live event?  We'll be broadcasting the panel live in Etsy's online workshops, the Virtual Labs. You do not need an Eventbrite ticket to attend online, just a free Etsy account to log in. 

The evening will be moderated by Danielle Maveal, Etsy's Seller Education Coordinator.  Send questions, topics, ideas, and recipes for delicious baked goods her way via Twitter: @daniellexo. 

Our amazing guest speakers will be: 

Tonya Staab is a mother to twin toddlers and a teenager.  She was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia and moved to California in 2003, when she married into the military.  She freelances in various creative fields and relies on her previous experience in marketing, promotions and merchandising in the magazine industry, as well as the creative genes she was born with (thanks to an artist grandmother, wood-carving father, and her mother who taught her to knit and cross-stitch when she was in elementary school) to run a blog where she shares craft tutorials and party planning tips, and encourages parents to get their kids into the kitchen and explore the world around them.  Mud puddles and glitter don’t scare her.

Amy Schroeder founded Venus Zine and venuszine.com in her Michigan State University dorm room at age 19. After about a decade of growing the publication from a cut-and-paste fanzine into an internationally circulated magazine with a starting budget of zero, she sold the company to a new publisher and moved to New York. By day, she now works for Girl Scouts of the USA and, by night, is in the midst of starting the DIY Business Association–DIY-style, of course.

Rachel Johnson is the creator and owner of the art and craft community website, Swap-bot.com. Swap-bot is a web tool used to coordinate group art, craft, and pen pal swaps. It is also a social network with over 30,000 members where you can share, create, chat, and have fun with other artists, crafters, writers, and makers from all over the world. Rachel has also been consistently updating her personal blog, RLJart.com, for over six years and she is a senior reporter for CraftCritique.com. 

Lish Dorset is one of the founding members of Handmade Detroit and the Detroit Urban Craft Fair. She first started her crafting career in the fifth grade with the launch of her troll doll clothing line; she’s been crafting and helping others craft ever since. Lish’s fascination with vintage textiles lead to her own kitchen towels and home knick-knacks she sells at local craft fairs. A self-proclaimed craft nerd, Lish loves the Internet(s) more than she should, but not as much as she loves Carol Duvall and Martha Stewart. 

Bethany Nixon is the owner of RewareVintage.com, based out of her home in Metro Detroit. She works full time selling both vintage clothing and her own line of upcycled crafts. As a proud member of Handmade Detroit (the organizers of the Detroit Urban Craft Fair), and also as the organizer of the Baar Bazaar, Bethany is inspired to help in the creation, networking, and promotion of the Detroit craft community. She blogs both at rewarevintage.com/blog  and you can follow her on Twitter @bethanylouise.

Crissy Herron is the founder of Indie Biz Chicks. She is the self-described "World's Best Aunt," is awesome in the kitchen, and is a proud resident of The Mitten State. (That's Michigan, by the way.) And, oh yeah, she used to live in Alaska. (She likes the cold.) Read her biz advice at IndieBizChicks.com or send her a tweet @indiebizchicks.

Alison Feldmann is a writer and editor for Etsy's Blog. She couldn’t live without industrial decay, taxidermy, succulents (even if they wither under her care) and the joy of the vintage hunt. By day she blogs about the wonders of makers and collectors for Etsy's Blog. By night she takes to her personal blog, TeenAngster, to obsess about all things curious, obsolete and outré. Find her on Etsy and Twitter as @TeenAngster.

About Etsy

Etsy is a rapidly growing community and company; each month nearly 250,000 new members join, 2 million new items are listed, and approximately $22 million of goods sell.