Etsy

Tabitha and I are doing our group project on Etsy.  It is an e-commerce site.  There are lots of these sites, some good and some not-so-good.  There are also companies who will set up a site for you; one such company is Vandelay Website Design.  Not only can Vandelay create an e-commerce site for your small business, it creates websites for non profit organizations; it creates blogs; and it will allow you to consult on virtually any project that you have for promoting yourself or your business on the Internet.

Etsy was established in 2005 with the mission  "to help people make a living making things, and reconnect makers with buyers."  It has expanded to use in 150 countries, and is quite easy to use.  First you register.  Then you can navigate the entire website.  You can buy or sell.  The important thing about selling is that you can't run a duplicate site.  In other words, you can sell a craft that relates to a book you've written, but if the book is available on another site, you can't sell it on Etsy.  You can, however, link to the site that sells your book.  There are instructions and rules that explain all of this and more.

Another nice feature about Etsy is the ability to cross promote your product through Facebook.   Anyway, more on all of this tomorrow in class.