You can sign up for Twitter and tweet about it (send a text message up to 140 characters in length, can include links) and let people who like the type of things you create know when you have new items up for sale.
Set your profile status on facebook to your store.
Advertise your store link in your signature for your emails and thus all your message posts to groups. (*General rule to keep your email signature to a maximum of three (3) lines of text). *Please note that when your posting anything to message groups and forums that everyone may have their own rules about advertising certain types of links from within your signature. Example: XYZ Clay Group on yahoo has an Official/ Dedicated supplier (one willing to give a discount off products to all members of that group in exchange for the privilege of having the groups membership base as their possible customer base) and thus you can not have links in your signature to a site or stores that may sell products of the same type as the official supplier.
Put the link to your store online in anything you mail, or post, make some business cards and be sure to put the link on them in a font that can be easily viewed. On business cards you do not need to have the http:// part of the website address printed, just the www. DebsStore.com should work great. You can get 200 FREE business cards through Vista Print for like $1.99 and the price of shipping or something, its like cheep and they are nice cards. I have heard of other services you can get cards from online and you may find some less that are even better. I know the free ones with Vista have their logo on the very bottom of the back with their info/link. A very small price to pay for FREE cards for just the cost of shipping, but your image speaks of who you are. Your an artist and you don't use cheap materials and supplies in your art, perhaps you don't want to send a message that your cheap on your cards. Many people will not realize this or even care, but there may be few in your own mind then you may not wish to go this route. I have heard different opinions about this.
Depending on what you sell you can create specials and advertise them where those types of products would be of interest and need.
If you sell supplies you might wish to create a class where you can in turn sell the supplies needed to complete the class.
Make up starter kits of clay and tools, and maybe include a little tutorial or 2 in free with purchase, etc..
There is always a way to make your product/sale/service/idea more desirable to others.
Think of contests to win things from you that you sell that can get others to help you advertise.
Submit your site to the search engines. Most are free and there are free services out there where you can submit your site to many of them with just a few clicks of the mouse and your keyboard. *TIP* You may wish to use a separate free email account like yahoo, hotmail, or gmail so that you can register with the search engines using the email you don;t mind getting allot of email to because all those search engines will reply, as well this email account now may be used for other purposes, after all you just registered your website with many of them for free, there has to be a catch somewhere, of course they may send you notices when its time to renew your free listing etc..
Tell your friends and family.
If you have a restaurant, store or someone you know that wouldn't mind allowing you to put up a flyer or a business card stand (can make a neat one in clay) and leave it with them. You could have friends put their names on the back of the cards so that if someone buys something from you they can get 10% commission or 10% off anything you sell, etc... give them an incentive and you never know what you can get others to allow you do.
Craig's List and other Free to post online community classifieds. Post your link to your site and what your advertising in your message, choose the category that's appropriate and hope for the traffic to start flowing in or if you leave a number your phones are beginning to ring.
I hope these tips help you on your journey to new store ownership no matter what it is your selling Deb. I hope this can help anyone trying to open up a business of their own and market their items/products, services or whatever you wish to deal in. All basically the same principles. Advertise!!! You will get it all back at the end of the year when its time to answer to Uncle Sam.
Cre8ively Yours
Andrea "Cre8"
