"I was not only honored to interview Patricia from Evil Needles, but it was a bit of a dream come true to chat with such a celebrity! I’ve been a fan of Patricia’s work for a long time now and the creations that I’ve bought from her are the crowning jewels of my wardrobe! Her work is always in high demand and completely original. Patricia took some the time away from her sewing machine to share some of her marketing strategies with us.

What online marketing strategies are you currently using?

My online marketing strategies are always changing. What’s useful today will virtually drop out of style tomorrow so I’m always jumping around. Right now my listings on etsyare serving as my biggest advertising outlet. Since I’ve been posting on etsy more heavily I’ve picked up quite a few boutiques as clients. This is sort of an indirect advertising campaign in that, of course, my main objective is to gain sales, however, one of the benefits of keeping a full etsy shop is that people find out about you.

In addition to etsy I also try to post a lot on Twitter. By “a lot” I mean two or three times a day, not 50 posts with nothing to say. This has been helpful because many casual browsers have found me through tertiary interests. For instance, I organized a photo shoot in front of Jack Kerouac’s house and did a Twitter post about it. Within a few hours I picked up a couple of followers on Twitter who are Kerouac fans. This post wasn’t a direct advertisement, but it got some new peoples’ attention who now know the name Evilneedles, and that, in essence, is what advertising is all about.

Before Twitter I relied heavily on Myspace bulletins. I’m still using these, but with less success. Myspace seems to be on the way out. We’ll have to see what happens.

My blog, Evilneedles.blogspot.com seems to be working a little. I always start these random blog projects, but they quickly fade away because I’m so busy. I’ve been forcing myself to post on this one and have gotten a few hits, but with all the crazy stuff online it’s really hard to hold peoples’ interest with posts about sewing." ........

**Keep reading this interview at Handmade News in the Marketing Department where it was first published.