If you’ve been paying close attention you may have noticed a few small changes to the blog. They’re pretty minor, but will hopefully make things a little easier to find/share.

First you’ll see a list of links at the bottom of every post for sharing around the web. Right now I’ve got it set up for email, twitter, Facebook, smub, digg, del.icio.us, reddit, stumbleupon, myspace, google, RSS, and printing (handy for those craft show checklists). That’s a pretty big laundry list, but if your favorite social network isn’t listed just tell us in the comments and I’ll add it.

Next up is the new category list on the right hand side. This should make it easier to follow some of our regular features such as Craft Show Horror Stories and DIY Displays.

It’s also come to my attention that our RSS feed wasn’t actually linked anywhere on the site, making it rather useless. You can now grab our RSS feed from the top-right of any blog post and add it to your favorite RSS/blog reader.

Lastly, if there are any site features or blog topics you’re dying for let me know. Particularly site improvements. I know there are lots of places it could use sprucing up, but I’m just a one person team these days so it’s sometimes hard to tell what needs doing. If there’s something you want to see on indiecraftshows.com let me know.

We’ve just launched some new features that should make Indie Craft Shows even more useful! Starting today you can now “bookmark” events. Look for the little bookmark star on the right hand of any event page.

You can see a list of all the events you’ve marked over on the My Events page. And if the event has an application deadline coming up we’ll show that too.

If you use a calendar application such as Google Calendar, Outlook, or iCal you can export your Indie Craft Shows Calendar and have them sync automatically! Just click the “export to…” link on the My Events page. Once they’re synced up any events you bookmark here will pop up in your calendar. Both event dates and application deadlines will appear in the calendar.

Lastly if you’ve marked an event you’ll get an email reminder right before the application deadline – so you don’t miss it. These email reminders are totally optional. If you’d rather not get them (say, if you’re not a vendor) just go to your profile settings and uncheck the application notification box.

There’s some other cool stuff in the works – including widgets for your blog telling people which shows you’ll be at – so stay tuned. And if you’re participating in a show that isn’t in our directory let the organizer know about us so they can post it here!

Our good friend and guest blogger Sara from Girls Can Tell has started offering small business consultation services! Sara built Girls Can Tell from the ground up, and her business is booming. Aside from being an experienced business owner she also built the teams program over at Etsy, pretty much from scratch! So if you’re looking for some help with marketing or building your business either online or off, Sara can help you.

Read more about her awesome new services over on the Girls Can Tell blog!

It’s been a busy week, and we snuck in a few site updates.
You can now add a flyer to your event listings, either a .gif or .jpg format, which people can download use on their websites, etc. Flyers should be at least 150 pixels wide. We’re working on adding support for .doc and .pdf files.
To add a flyer to an event you’ve already published, go to my events and click edit next to the event name. Scroll down the event form and choose a file to upload. Click save and you’re done.

You can also specify whether your show is juried or not and provide a deadline / link to an application. Many people already provide this in the event description, but now it will be easier to find.
There are also new flags for outdoor shows and fundraiser/benefit shows. These options will be added to advanced search early next week.

PS, did you know you can search by location? Just enter any address, city, state, or even country, and you’ll find any events within 50 miles.

Lastly, we’re looking for articles on show organization to post in our blog. If you’re a veteran of running craft shows, or even a first timer, email blog@indiecraftshows.com if you’d like to write an article about what you’ve learned.

Notice something different? We’ve updated our look and added some exciting new features to indiecraftshows.com!

We’ve been working hard to bring you new tools, here are some of the highlights:

Better international support. We want people across the globe to be able to use the site, which is why we now have enhanced international support. You can now specify your country in your profile and events, and searching works across state and country lines! So if you search for shows near Toronta, Canada, you’ll get back events in Buffalo too.

Edit your events. Misspell the URL for your event? Date change? No problem. You can now edit your events by clicking the “My Events” link at the top of the page when you log in.

Search for past events. The advanced search page now includes a checkbox to search for past events, perfect for when you want to leave a review on an event you attended.

RSS feed for new shows. You can plug our rss feed into your favorite RSS reader and hear about new events right as they’re added to the site.

Follow us on Twitter
Are you an avid Twitter user? Indie Craft Shows now has a twitter account you can follow for information about site updates, blog posts, new shows, and more. Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/indiecraftshows

Get on  our blog
If you’ve got some craft-show news you’d like us to blog about, or an article you’d like to write, let us know! We’re happy to post tips, tricks, calls for vendors, anything related shopping or selling at craft shows. Just send an email to blog@indiecraftshows.com

There’s more coming, so stay tuned!