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As often as I complain about the Etsy Forums, there are many great tips from sellers who are successfully building their Etsy business. If you go through the Business section, you will notice threads with hundreds to thousands of replies from other sellers who have seen someone's helpful set of tips and bumped it up for others to enjoy.
I've rounded up my favorite ten tips from Etsy sellers to share here with you and of course, added my 2 cents for fun. Enjoy!
1. Customer Service Tip from The Silver Diva
Have wonderful customer service. Answer all convos QUICKLY. Be near your computer. If you want to take this seriously as a business, then you need to work at it like a business. If people don't hear back from you in a day, they are going to probably move on. This is especially true on ebay. I tend to think etsy buyers are a tad nicer. Be patient and tolerant. No question is a stupid question. Listen to the questions as well. If you're getting the same questions over and over, it's a good idea to go back and look at your descriptions and see if you can just answer them in your descriptions. Then you'll get less of those questions. Have a liberal return policy. Buyers love to know they can return an item if they don't like it. In 7 or 8 years of selling online and thousands of items (my ebay feedback score is over 1100 at this point and I would say about 1/8 of the people even leave feedback), I have had about 2 things returned that people wanted their money back. It's worth it for your sales to offer a full refund INCLUDING S&H.
Original Thread: I've had 744 sales since Oct and made THOUSANDS! See how I did it!
My 2 Cents: Many Etsy sellers treat their shop as a 'for fun' or hobby site than an actual business. Regardless of if you've had one sale or one thousand sales, remember that your Etsy shop is in fact a business, and you need to act that way with every facet of your operations. People do indeed expect to hear back from you within a few hours or else you chance losing the sale.
2. SEO Tip from Vintage Scraps
That short sentence you get to place under your shop title is pretty important, as it turns out. I searched Google for the most used search words to create mine, and now my items are often found on the first pages of Google, and Google Shopping. Who knew?
Original Thread: Tweaks that Tripled My Sales
My 2 Cents: One of my first tips with the Handmade ACTION newsletter was encouraging sellers to change the shop title (which you can do in the "your etsy" section of your account) because it has a huge impact on the Google SEO situation. Finding the right keywords (that aren't too saturated but not too under searched) is key, this post from Meylah will help.
3. Ready Made Tip from Mountain Man Creations
You have to have the inventory to cover demand. It doesn't do you any good if you have to make every thing before you ship it out people will go elsewhere. Unfortunately we live in an "I want it now" age.
Original Thread: So You Want to be an Etsy Success Story
My 2 Cents: When I first started out, I had 20-30 ready made pieces of jewelry before I even opened shop. As time went on and I got busy with promoting, order fulfilling and custom orders, many of my work became made to order and it posed a huge problem because it felt overwhelming at times to not only ensure I could make the work quickly, but that I had all the right materials to make the item. If your items are ready to go, you'll be less frazzled and close a 'on the fence' sale quicker.
4. Listing Tip from Rare Daisy Jewelry
List as many items as you possibly can. Some of the most successful shops have hundreds (and some nearly thousands) of listings. I know it takes time, and I know it's hard work, but LISTING IS THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN! Some people like to think that they can make it big without lots of listings, but those are usually the people with 4 items for sale and 3 items sold... they are living in denial. You truly must list things. People cannot magically purchase things laying around your house... They need photos and prices.
Original Thread: 600 Sales and What I have Learned
My 2 Cents: While relisting can get expensive if you go crazy, it IS important to relist as often as you can afford to gain more exposure. I count my daily sales on relisting and there were times when I would hit relist and within five minutes, the item had sold. Etsy does have plans to improve the search engine but until then, the most recently listed item is the default search.
5. Mailing List Tip from Analiese
Start a newsletter – I have done this for several months – and I guarantee that it has generated sales. There are several websites that allow you to create and send a newsletter for free – Bravenet is one of them. I use one that has a very low fee called MyNewsletterbuilder. You will of course have to get a mailing list started –I do this on my other website since Etsy does not have that capability. I actually went through my e-mail address book and added friends and family – on top of those on my other website – I have over 60 recipients.
Original Thread: Tips for New Sellers
My 2 Cents: Having an email or mailing list is the most powerful thing you can do for your business. I remember reading somewhere that Dennis Anderson gets a lot of business from his subscribers and I myself have a great list that provides me with income on a regular basis. Something very important to note and the only thing I disagree with here, DO NOT add anyone who doesn't opt-in. Besides the anti-spam laws, people get annoyed when they are added to your mailing list without permission, even if you know they like your work. Simply ask or put a subscription box on your blog or website to gain new names to your list.
6. Blog Tip from Cozy Little Cave
FOCUS your blog. We're all told to post with a variety, but I've found the blogs with the strongest personality are in some way focuses on a topic or theme. My blog tends to be a home design & lifestyle blog (with some personal & etsy thrown in). Keeping your posts focused in some way creates a steady stream of information readers can better follow. If your posts are all over the place, chances are your readers will be too!
Original Thread: How to Make Your Blog STAND OUT
My 2 Cents: Many agree that choosing a consistent set of complimentary topics is the best way to retain a quality audience of followers. It would be good to make sure the focus of your blog complements your product so the audience reading would be interested in purchasing your products as well.
7. Photo Tip from Jenny's Treasures For U via Shelley Paulson's blog
Accept critique, but don’t apply it blindly. Just because someone said it does not make it so. Critiques are opinions, nothing more. Consider the advice, consider the perspective of the advice giver, consider your style and what you want to convey in your work. Implement only what makes sense to implement. That doesn’t not make you ungrateful, it makes you independent.
Original Thread: Photography Advice that's also Great for Business
My 2 Cents: I think the majority of Etsy sellers need photo help and while the forums is a great place to get critiques, what Shelley says is so important. Take the advice for what it's worth and apply what you think would help but make sure your personality and brand shines through, it's all you have in this business.
8. Niche Tip from HautTotes
Though the desire to have “something for everyone” in your shop may be strong, the truth is that while niche marketing may in fact decrease your pool of potential customers, if done well it can INCREASE your sales! The key is to find (if you are a supply seller) or create a product that your accessible customers want but is unavailable or under-available from other shops.
Original Thread: You Can't Be Everything to Everyone... Niche Marketing
My 2 Cents: I could talk about niche selling all day long. It doesn't matter what business you're in, how you set yourself apart makes all the difference for your future. The two ways to do this are a) work toward making your product different from the competition and b) deeply define your target audience.
9. Advertising Tip from Eyeful
Be in it for the long haul. Buy the advertising that you can afford to do for 3 months or more. If you can only afford an ad on a particular site or blog for a week, look for another place to advertise. Work to make your name & product familiar to people; they need to see your ad over & over. When people are familiar with your name & product, they will think of you when they are ready to buy.
Original Thread: 100 Sales or More: Share Your Tips Here
My 2 Cents: Advertising was something I never took much interest in as an Etsy seller but as a blogger and someone who advertises my products and website, I do see the major difference between a weekly ad and a longer term engagement. Regardless, experts and sellers alike do agree that having your ad up longer allows regular readers to get use to seeing your ad and eventually choosing to click and possibly buy.
10. Promotion Tip from Daniellexo
Get seen off Etsy. The more content you create to float out there in the world wide web the more people are going to bump into you. If the content is interesting (or funny, smart, weird) people will want to know more about you and will find your Etsy shop in the process. Best part? Creating this content is free! What do I mean by content? Anything from a tweet to a Flickr account to just commenting on blogs you love. Just make sure it's not spammy. Nothing will get ignored faster!
Original Thread: Some Alternatives to Renewing
My 2 Cents: I've outlined many ways and places to promote off Etsy. The people who are out there busting their butt to get their Etsy shop promoted and items submitted are the ones who have more sales, better networking relationships and a better future with their business.
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What do you think?
What Etsy tip has helped you the most with your business?
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1
definitely making sure that i promote myself - both on etsy and off - has been the most useful. you just can't be putting your stuff out there and then not talk it up! i also think that when you love what you do, it shows in your work - so enjoying your craft and being proud of your work is so important! people can SEE it!
great photos and descriptions are also vital - since you are selling online, it is important that people can SEE exactly what you are offering. and giving great customer service speaks volumes!
oh my, that's a bunch of tips, not just one. sorry!
xoxox
Posted Jul 29, 2010 3:00:37 AM by: muffin top designs