List of sites I have used or use now to promote

[cvgplus]

For AM:
1. Twitter-very rarely do this. (some say it is effective but don't see good results when I've done it)
2. MySpace-have store link on my home page but don't do much with it since at AM. Seem to get the spammers/friend requests there all the time. Thinking Facebook will be more effective.
3. Squidoo-I do this regularly/spend an hour or so a week on Squidoo. RECOMMEND
4. Explorz- I have my AM store listed there with RSS feed showing products/good to check every few weeks to update your inventory since I believe they only do it one time. Easiest way to redo your products with current feed is edit your feed and delete it and the items. Then reput in your AM rss feed. RECOMMEND
5. Surfing sites: I personally feel that they are not the best tool but I use sometimes and can be very time consuming. example reallysmartdeals and surf4bargains. With these sites you can only use banner and text ads if you use Atomic Mall. Won't accept AM product pages or your home page cause say are framebreakers. So very limited use at these sites.
6. Will start a facebook page in the future for my AM store and atomic mall related but haven't done yet
7. Anyplace you can just put a link with your storefront or submit a RSS feed and is a one time thing is good thing to do. Found out the hard way: if you do this keep track in a folder, etc where you signed up and log in info in case you ever close a store, go to another site, etc so that you can go back in and delete stuff. I didn't do this before and spent hours trying to erase tracks of where I used to sell at and everything I signed up for to promote it. I finally gave up because after awhile Google will bury them back a few pages cause its old info and not been updated. Probably left out 1-2 places. I am curious about how Facebook is for those who use it to promote.

Used before but don't use much or just didn't really like/think were that effective and/or understood: kaboodle, stumbleupon, used to oodle at another site but here AM is sent to Oodle so not needed. Done the groups things but lose track of what's going on and primarily sellers there like me so don't do groups anymore. Used to use CL but with the flagging etc not worth the time for me, I do like CL for buying games in lots locally to resell online or buying/selling other bulky stuff you can't really do online. Sure I'm leaving off several.

Anyone else have some ones not listed that they find are highly effective. What may be effective for me may not be for you and vice versus. I used to promote several hours a week elsewhere but here only about 1-2 hours a week is enough.

Howard (classicvideogamesplus)

[cgc]

I find my Facebook page to be the worst for traffic.

[cvgplus]

CGC- How does Myspace work for you and Twitter? Or I should also ask what are the best ones that you personally have seen results from. P.S. Following you on twitter and thanks for the tweet and sent a tweet out for you as well.

[cgc]

Facebook - I dont promote except on my landing page. I dont accept friend requests from strangers on there. Just family and close friends. I've had a page on there for over a year and finally got friends to join in the last month. Anyone from here requests I will add you.

MySpace - Have about 300+ friends on there. Accept all who request. Never get much for clickthroughs on there. Had about 2000 profile views in the last 2 years that I've been on there. So that's doing really bad. Again I only promote on my landing page.

Twitter - My best so far. Because I follow most everyone who follows me (bots, spam, porn excluded) I've got almost 5000 followers now. Because anyone could be a card collector I do focus on quantity of followers. Most of my listings I feed into Twitter get between 4 to 10 clicks per listing. That's including the feed I've got going for the New items for Everyone across Atomic Mall as well. I feel Twitter results will be different for different businesses. Businesses where you have as big of a focus group for clientel may not do as good.

Just took a look at the stats for the tweets I sent out for your store, Howard, and those tweets got 12 clicks on the link already.

Looking back at the stats for the other stores I tweeted as well:

Wild Rags got 11 clicks
Boutique of Baby Treasures got 18 clicks
Berning's Bargains got 7 clicks
JenniferLynn's Finds got 12 clicks
Backboard Jersey's got 13 clicks
Earring Addicts got 9 clicks

Because I use www.bit.ly URL shortener I can keep track of all the click-throughs.

Oh and remember anything you post on Twitter gets picked up and shown on Google within 4 minutes of posting.

Thanks for following me on Twitter.

[cvgplus]

Cool. I will focus more on Twitter since I haven't really given it a fair shake. Probably not working well for me since I am only following and being followed by less than 50 people combined. Will have to work on that. I don't use it much but I think getting into the hundreds of followers and following will produce results. I put the twitter link in my signature and will be tweeting more.

[kittens]

ThisNext.com is a free comparison shopping site, you can link to your storefront and post pictures and descriptions of your items.

[tam2win1]

I actually promote everywhere that I can find out about. I may not keep highly active everywhere, but I get my business names out there just in case...

Twitter - I have found that the more I "Tweet" my items, the more followers I get. So start tweeting your listings. Go into your listing in your store and click the Tweet Me button.

Facebook - although mine is mostly just family, friends, and other online businesses, I still promote my items on there. I figure a person is a person and a sale is a sale even when a friend or family member may be the customer. I also used to make picture albums of items in a category of my store.. I should try doing that again since people like to look at pictures.

MySpace - I honestly have neglected this site. My page is up and advertising my stores, I also post some items on this site now and then like I do on FB and Twit, but not as much.

ReallySmartDeals - I advertise my other online store on RSD and use the banners for my AM stores.

Personal Email Signature - I customize my email siggy every month to reflect the sales going on at my AM stores. This REALLY helps! I have had several people contact me through my other online store and when they see my reply with the AM Sale info... they end up buying the item at my AM store instead. This siggy gets sent out with EVERY email I send out so it covers alot.

LinkReferal - I don't do this as often as I should either, but I do try to do the 30 views/5 ratings at least once a month to keep things fresh.

Squidoo - I have started doing a lens for each of my categories and have thought of many other lenses that I can do about my items, but again... I run out of time to do it all. I also get the Lens of The Day posts through my email each day and I try to post comments on each one to get my name out there and get people to possibly check out my own lenses.

Here are some non-online things that I do...

(I have an advantage since my hubby also sells online and I package all his orders for him during the week.)

Stickers on the packages - every package that is sent out of my house gets stickers on the outside that advertise my stores. One sticker each for Bernings Bargains and Rubber Ducky Deals. These are made by me on my computer and are only the size of an address label. I make them colorful with a short catchy phrase to grab attention. I will post stickers on all sides of the box and make sure that the taped seals have those stickers as well so that my name is in their face when they open the box.

Inside flyers - every package that is sent out of my house also gets a flyer that I print from my computer. I make new ones each month and run several copies to get me through the month. These flyers highlight items that may be on sale or may fit the current holiday season (ex: Easter). These are also colorful and eye catching with pictures, sale information and my store urls. I fold these so the printing is in their face when they see it in the box.

Business cards - every package also gets 1-2 business cards stuck in the flyer (mentioned above). My business card has my store urls and my phone number. I know that people cringe at giving out their phone number to strangers. However, I cannot tell you how many times (its been many) that I have helped a customer through a telephone call. Some customers are not comfortable with using computers to buy things, but they may still want to do business with me (or you). Also... if you give each customer your phone number in print, they feel more confident about doing business with you again in the future.

~~~

Again.. I post my urls EVERYWHERE that I can and I make sure that my current sales are packaged in a way that will make my customers want to return to my online stores to shop again.

One thing I don't do is dwell on times when I don't get sales. I have WAY too many things to do to be sitting around and worrying about it. I have also found though that when I list items, I get more views and more sales. I think it has something to do with keeping your site fresh with new items streaming through Google & elsewhere. So even if you don't have hundreds of items to list. Try listing one or two new things each week. That will help to keep things fresh. If you don't have new inventory, take a couple of old listings, remove them, change them up with different words, titles, or a new picture and list them again to freshen them and your store.

Sorry this is long, but I hope I helped someone with this post.

[countrystore]

I mostly use Twitter. I use Facebook, but have just started using it for friends and family. I plan on expanding soon and putting up pics of my items. I also got a free car magnet from Vista print and have it on the side of my car.

I put mailing stickers on all packages and letters (even bills) that are mailed out.
I've just started with AM so I'm working a little harder each day on submitting and advertising.
I submit my url at least once a day to Google.
I've used referral link for other sites, but I have found that most surfers are looking for more traffic for their sites and just hit on yours for a couple of minutes, not really looking around.

Thanks all for all the great advertising ideas I can use all the help I can get