I have some really great tips for all you Etsy sellers that will hugely improve your popularity and profit on Etsy. And I know that it's a lot, but they will definitely improve your success in a short amount of time.
Tell your friends and family about your new business. It can be nerve-wracking to do this because you might feel like you don't have a product that is worthy of being admired. Or you're probably just really nervous of people who you know seeing your work and then judging you for it. So then you don't tell anybody and then when you do tell them they might end up being really supportive and actually buying jewelry. Therefore it obviously makes sense that you would tell them what's going on. My point is just to not be ashamed to tell people who you love or care about what you are doing.
Post as many things as possible. The products you thought would be popular might not be and then you might have something that you made on a whim that ends up being really popular. Most people open an Etsy craft store because they have a particular vision of a product line that they want to sell. And it is truly important not to deviate too much from that but it's also important to see what's working and to just run with that. It may be different from what you originally intended but if it's a product that you feel comfortable standing by and if it's selling well and people really like it then you should probably switch gears. Now you may or may not want to do this and truthfully, it can be a tough call. Just make sure that you are providing what people want.
Once you can show up in someone’s search, you still have a huge obstacle. At least 20 other products showed up too. So, your goal is to look hands down the best. You have to know your market. Know your audience and look the best to them. You cannot sell if you don’t know about photography. It’s the way you tell your customers your products are better. Your products, at the quickest flash to the eye, have to cause the seller to stop.
Once you can show up in someone’s search, you still have a huge obstacle. At least 20 other products showed up too. So, your goal is to look hands down the best. You have to know your market. Know your audience and look the best to them. You cannot sell if you don’t know about photography. It’s the way you tell your customers your products are better. Your products, at the quickest flash to the eye, have to cause the seller to stop.
Once you go through all that and you figure out what works, you'll definitely want to try to focus on those things more than other items that you're selling. And this point ties into the last one in a way. But you know once you find that product that sells really well make sure that you make more of it. For instance, if you make five necklaces and sell all of them immediately, then you should probably make some more. Even though it can be frustrating making a lot of one product, the money earned is what will enable you to keep moving forward.
The worst thing you can do as a seller is to have a poor product description or, worse, no description at all. Be sure to be descriptive, and incorporate as many keywords as you can to help boost your shop’s SEO ranking on Google search. Additionally, you should include any relevant information that will eliminate guesswork from a potential customer, and will also eliminate the added step of an interested shopper having to message you to ask you for more information about a product, then possibly lose interest and move on. Include any product measurements, product condition, color description, age, and the different uses of the item. Try to envision what someone might ask about the item, and provide answers to those questions within your description.
The worst thing you can do as a seller is to have a poor product description or, worse, no description at all. Be sure to be descriptive, and incorporate as many keywords as you can to help boost your shop’s SEO ranking on Google search. Additionally, you should include any relevant information that will eliminate guesswork from a potential customer, and will also eliminate the added step of an interested shopper having to message you to ask you for more information about a product, then possibly lose interest and move on. Include any product measurements, product condition, color description, age, and the different uses of the item. Try to envision what someone might ask about the item, and provide answers to those questions within your description.
Plan ahead for holidays. Think about it as being in retail. When you go into a store and Halloween isn't even over yet, they're already advertising for Christmas. I know a lot of people can get really frustrated with that, but if you think about it, there's some sense to it. If you don't post a Christmas item until December 15th then there's not enough time for people to find it, finally decide to buy it, and then wait a week for it to come in the mail. A reasonable time to start selling seasonal items is three months ahead of time. So if Christmas is in December, then you really do want to have your holiday stuff posted in October or maybe even earlier. Just make sure that you have those things up and ready as early as possible. Now you may also have a day job in addition to selling stuff on Etsy. That can get tough, staying on top of your personal life and working to plan three months in advance. Let alone an Etsy shop that's just a hobby. But the thing is, if you want it to be anything more than a hobby, then you have to start thinking that way. You goal should be that you're always one step ahead of yourself on everything.
Most importantly, give yourself a time slot, at the least three days that you have that you can go to the post office. It's really hard to mail stuff out on when you work all the time because the post office has pretty limited hours. That screws yourself because you have to upgrade the shipping more than you normally do and then just lose all the money that you made on selling the item. People buy stuff because they need it and they want it, and I'm sure that they don't want to wait a month to get it. It's a really easy thing that you can make sure to put in your schedule that literally takes twenty minutes.
In review: share everything with your friends and family, create as many listings as possible because you don't know what people might actually like. Once you figure those things out and find the things that work and really like focus on them, plan ahead for seasons and holidays by at least 3 months. Also make sure that you plan post office trips, you could probably do two days a week at a minimum. I'm also really interested to know if anyone who sells on Etsy has any tips from their personal experience. Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment