byhand.me

Byhand.me is a great online community that is specifically designed for artisans selling handmade goods online. It has grown very quickly and is a great place to meet fellow artisans and for artisans to showcase their work and the work of their peers. 

One of my favorite features available on Byhand is the spotlights. Each week for this blog I use this great feature to showcase handmade goods in a certain theme. This week my showcase highlighted cute spring animals. The great thing about these spotlights is that other Byhand members are able to view them as well as share them on Twitter and on their blogs. Byhand allows you to post a code to display your spotlight in numerous ways on your blogs so you can share showcases with the world. It's a great way to share your goods and those you love! 

Another great feature is the member blogs. You can share blog posts with friends as well as share them on the front page of the website. All the stories you see on the Byhand front page are provided by members! This allows you go skip one of the hardest parts of blogging - getting traffic! Byhand does all the work for you and all you have to do is share your great blog entries. Member blogs are customizable just like blogs here on blogger and wordpress. You can customize the sidebar of your blog such as I did to share items from your shop. There are a lot of other options available to you, too. 

And finally, Byhand allows you to consolidate all your stores, social networks, and more into one page! Byhand member's profiles are customizable to showcase member's bios, shops, RSS feeds (for Etsy, Artfire, or your blog), flickr accounts, twitter, spotlights, blog entries, and so much more. Customizing your member's page is easy and fun! And you can visit other member's pages and form new friendships. And we all know how important networking is in this time & age. You can see my profile on Byhand here. I've only just begun to customize the look of my page. All the options you are given really allow you to make the page your own and use it to your fullest. 

Overall, Byhand.me is a great community for all handmade artisans. Check it out today! And be sure to add me as one of your friends.