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Written by Pagan Arts Initiative
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Monday, 06 November 2006 |
Welcome to the first of a series of bulletins related to the growth and development of the Pagan Arts Marketplace.
First, let me promise you that these bulletins will not be released every single week, ongoing (though there may be close to four this month, because we're busily getting things started right now.
Next, I want to crow about the fact that the Marketplace is a whole week old, already!! We have 18 registered users and three auctions up, already! This may not seem like much to you, but I consider it to be a very good start.
My personal goal is to double these numbers by November 14. I'm taking several steps to make this happen:
- I've donated a small amount of my own money to buy some advertising with Google. We'll see if that works for us. If it does then -- after the beta period is done on May 1 -- part of everyone's membership fees will be devoted to paying for these ads on an ongoing basis.
- I've signed us up with Top 100 ART Sites Banner Exchange. This is a source of free advertising for the Marketplace, in return for allowing other arts-related ads to appear on our site. In future weeks I plan to research other banner exchange programs, in order to diversify our exposure,
- I've ordered postcards to send out to DVPN's mailing list advertising the free auction period.
Of course, this is just a start. In the upcoming weeks I'll be looking for as many ways to responsibly promote the Marketplace as possible, short of outright spam. (I do plan to send more posts to area Pagan and Arts lists, but fairness dictates I limit these posts to no more than one per month.)
Now, as PAI members, you can contribute to this effort, too. Great ways to start this include:
- Telling your friends. The more people we can get active in the Marketplace community, the faster the site will grow.
- Posting auctions. An auction site with three auctions isn't going to impress anybody. If we fill it with interesting content, however, it will become a valued destination. Filling the site with content is as much a goal of the beta period as finding and killing software bugs is. Since auctions here are free, you have nothing to lose!
- Promoting your auctions. Since the Marketplace is not yet a valued destination, people aren't likely to accidentally find your auctions. You need to tell existing customers that you are now running auctions at our site. If you post links to your active auctions on your personal site or in your blog, you'll be more likely to make a sale -- and will also help the Marketplace grow!
Anyway, that's the entire bulletin for now! Future issues will have a little more content. Right now, it's exciting that things are getting started so well.
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