Devoted to online marketing, viral marketing, and web marketing

The Etsy marketplace, a web business created to cater to the always popular, unique, handmade items made by artisans of diverse interests around the world, has built itself into a solid online company.

At this time, the company moves about $12 million in goods a year, which brings in a little over $1 million in net profits for the year. The Website has 300,000 registered members with around 50,000 sellers. It was started up two years ago by Rob Kalin and a couple of friends.

Kalin says concerning the purpose of the company, "The big goal is to enable people around the world to make a living making things." Personally, I like that goal. Offering market solutions to financial challenges is the best way to help people in the world.

The motto of the business, as the site says, is "your place to buy and sell all things handmade." That is also a wise way of communicating the purpose of the company. It's simple and easy to understand. There's nothing that can be confusing about what the company does.

As far as the business model goes, it's relatively simple. The company collects a 20 cent fee for each listing and a 3.5 percent commission for each item sold. Another nice feature is a showcase where Etsy sells slots for items companies want to feature for $7 a day.

For the artisans selling their wares on the site, Kalin sets up virtual meetings where they can give their input and air their concerns. He is also slow to make sweeping changes to the site, as he wants to retain the folksy atmosphere.

Still, there are constant improvements being made, like being able to purchase through multiple sellers with one transaction, and foreign-language support and currency conversion being worked on to introduce sometime in 2008.

Another smart move that I like is the company also runs workshops for local artisans and is looking to offer support services and small loans to help people get their businesses going. I like the the small loan aspect especially, as the blog network I belong to supports Unitus, which provides microloans to people around the world.

The company has a solid future as Kalin has a a board that is filled with Internet veterans that understand the overall market. People such as Albert Wenger, the former president of del.icio.us and Caterina Fake, who helped found Flickr.

The story of Etsy is a good one to look to on how to tackle a niche market and build a vibrant, engaged community around it