How would you like to receive a 10% discount at all Jo-Ann Stores? As part of our Common Good Partnership with Jo-Ann Stores, every member of ArtFire is eligible for the Jo-Ann VIP Card for 10% all purchases made at Jo-Ann Stores nationwide and online. The card is designed for those who sell their finished art goods, and as a seller on ArtFire you can generate the credentials you need to get your Jo-Ann VIP card. Read more about this update here.
The Certified Handmade Widget
Are you a certified handmade artisan on ArtFire? Now you can show off your certification with a new widget! This widget showcases your handmade status while linking to your studio. Some of the widget designs even include your most recently listed item. Unfortunately these widgets don’t work well on ArtFire studios, but they are perfect for off-site blogs and websites! Get the details on this new widget here. Remember if you’re not yet a certified handmade artisan, you wouldn’t be able to view these widgets. Learn how to apply here.
Submit Your Application for the Certified Handmade Artifact
To better recognize our handmade and fine art Pro members on ArtFire, we’ve opened the submission process for the Certified Handmade Artifact. This artifact will help our certified handmade and fine art members stand out, as well as let shoppers know that these individuals are dedicated to the handmade process. In the future, we may work to build in similar artifacts for our design, supply, vintage, and media sellers.
Artisans who qualify for this artifact will receive both a small version of the artifact in the Awarded Artifacts box on their studio and a larger, more visible and clickable artifact right underneath the artifact box. More information on the artifact along with a list of requirements and information on applying can be found here.
The Twelve Days of Christmas in July on ArtFire
Our artisan-organized Christmas in July Sale has been going on all week on the site. Members can take part by tagging their items for the Christmas in July Trend page, tweeting secret santa messages, and taking part in our contests for Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs, for a chance to win an up to $100 shopping spree. Remember, these sales end July 25th, so be sure to hurry to join in the fun!
The artisan-organized Christmas in July Sale on ArtFire is scheduled to take place from July 12th until July 25th on the site. All members are welcome to participate in this sale, but participation is completely voluntary. Members who do take part don’t necessarily need to have Christmas-themed items, but they do need to be offering some kind of promotional offer (free shipping, on sale, etc). Members can tag projects with “TDOCIJ” for Twelve Days of Christmas in July to be included in the Christmas in July Trend Page on ArtFire. Read the rules for participating here. ArtFire has also put together a collection of promotional badges members can use on their blogs, websites, and even on their studios to help promote the sale. We’ll also be featuring Christmas in July items the week of July 14th in our Collection of the Week email.
ArtFire is also offering three contests to help promote the sale. Remember that these contests haven’t yet started, so stay tuned for specific dates and time lines to enter.
The Christmas in July Contest on Twitter – Look for our special message about the Christmas in July sale from our @ArtFire Twitter account during the sale and retweet it for your chance to enter to win one of four $25 shopping sprees for the Christmas in July Trend Page!
The Christmas in July Contest on Facebook – Be sure to Facebook “like” our Christmas in July Trend page and you could be randomly selected to win a $50 shopping spree for the Christmas in July Trend Page!
The Christmas in July Contest for Blogs - Create a blog post off-site featuring products from the Christmas in July Trend Page and you could be randomly selected to win a $100 shopping spree for the Christmas in July Trend Page!
Again, these contests are not currently going on, this is just the general outline of the contests we’ll be running. Be sure to check back in the Staff Announcements section of the Chatterbox Forums for complete contest details, which will be posted later this week.
Partnership with the CHA | New Image Uploader | Listing in Multiple Quantities | May Day with Google
Set up Your Google Base Feed with Just a Click
We’ve added a new button in your MyArtFire control panel: the GBase feed creation button. If your feed is set to “no” just select the “yes” button and hit “save” to turn on your Google Base feed! Remember, this feed is only for Google Shopping, and will not affect normal Google search. Check out the forum announcement for full details.
Have a Handmade Weekend with Us
Join together with the ArtFire community the weekend of June 18th -20th and celebrate a Handmade Weekend! Participate in the Handmade Weekend by creating a handmade gift for someone special, a homemade meal for your family, or just supporting handmade on ArtFire! However you celebrate, share your stories and photos on the event wall, and invite your friends and family to participate too!
ArtFire Featured on Discovering Startups and Mashable
This week has been a busy one for ArtFire in the press! A review of ArtFire was posted on Discovering Startups, a blog that features new tech companies. If our review gets enough votes, we could win the Best of Discovering Startups award for June, so be sure to check out the article and vote!
Mashable.com, the social media news blog, also included a review of ArtFire in their 10 Great Websites to Buy Handmade article. Be sure to give it a read if you haven’t already!
Checkout by Amazon Integration
Our development team is currently building in Checkout by Amazon to the site, allowing seller to offer PayPhrase and 1-Click Checkout for shoppers. This gives Amazon shoppers the convenience of being able to buy from ArtFire sellers with just a click or a phrase. We’re still working on this feature, but we’ll keep you posted on updates!
Time is Running out to Distribute your Promo Invites
All unused Friends and Family Promo Invites will be expiring June 1st, meaning you only have until next week to share them! If you have been Pro since May 15th, you have 5 Promo Invites you can give out new members looking to upgrade or sign up as Pro. Using these invites, you can help your friends and family sign up at the $12 monthly rate rather than the current $15.95 monthly rate. This rate will never increases long as the Pro account isn’t downgraded (members who downgrade and then decide to upgrade again will have to pay a new membership rate). If you know someone who has been on the fence about upgrading or signing up, be sure to give them one of your invite links! New members looking for invite links can also try asking Pro members in this thread.
Earlier this month we installed a Facebook “Like” button on the ArtFire front page, allowing users to “Like” ArtFire from their Facebook accounts without ever leaving the site or having to navigate to Facebook. Since then, we have continued our adoption of the Facebook “Like” button by placing it on every studio and item on ArtFire. So long as you are logged into Facebook, you can like any studio or item on ArtFire and let your Facebook friends know about it.
Every time you click the “Like button it has the potential to be seen by your friends and family in your Facebook updates. Because the average user on Facebook has between 150-200 friends, if just 5 people click the “Like” button on your items that could be seen by over 1000 people. So give it a try and be sure to encourage others to “Like” your products and studio!
