3. It wasn’t always smooth sailing...
● 123 sales in the first year
● What I did wrong in the beginning:
○ not enough items listed
○ poor photography
○ lack of advertising
● At the end of the first year, I decided to start
over with a new shop
4. My Photography: A work in progress
November 2009
January 2010
May 2010
5. Getting Started!
● Do your homework!
○ Browse the Etsy category you’ll be in
○ Find a role model
● Develop your Product
○ Compare your product to others on Etsy
○ Notice trends, and incorporate them into your shop
○ Find your niche
6. Photography: Your Success Depends on
it!
● Photos are the first, if not only thing that can get your
customers’ attention
● Invest in a good camera (or borrow one!)
● Pay a professional
○ good option for items you can remake
7. These are both photos of the same dress,
from the same listing.
9. How to Outsmart the Auto-Crop:
Try to make your photo close to a perfect square, with
a little extra room around the focal point
So the crop doesn’t cut into your item!
10. Making your photos stand out
By using photo editing programs such as Paint or Photoshop/Gimp.
Crop your photos into shapes
Put 2 photos side by side by using
simple cropping/ cut & paste.
(best for plain background shots)
13. Macro for Item Close-ups
● Item is in focus,
background is blurry
● Even if the item is large,
still include a close up
shot
● Use “Manual” setting
● Hint: use a tripod and
the timer feature to
minimize shake! (10
seconds)
14. Always try to enhance your photos.
First sales (2008)
Recent Sales (2014)
17. Ideas for smaller item backgrounds:
A piece of white oaktag paper
(glossy side) propped up on a table
against a wall creates a mini white
backdrop
18.
19. Ideas for smaller item backgrounds:
Paper/book- great for
macro photos
Rock/Stone
Wood
20. Item Description Tips:
● Tell how your product is made with detail
○ Buyers like to hear about the process
○ Differentiates your product from others
● Break writing up into separate lines, not a whole
paragraph
21. Item Description Tips:
● Be sure to include good measurements
○ in inches/feet etc.
○ add a size reference photo to your listing
22. Item Description Tips:
● Include a link in the item description...
○ back to your shop homepage
○ to a category in your shop
○ to a similar item from your shop in a different size/color
● Links were meant to be clicked!
23. Item Description Tips:
● Note how you ship your orders
○
○
○
○
In a gift bag/box (include a photo in the listing!)
What kind of mail service (USPS Priority etc)
How quickly you can ship (the quicker the better)
Offer a free gift with purchase
● Buyer incentives can often close the sale!
25. Item description tip:
● Copy and paste recurring info section into each
listing to save time during the listing process!
○ edit info where necessary
26. The “Copy” Feature for Listings
● Copying your listings makes creating new
listings easier
● Make sure to edit thoroughly and make any
necessary changes
27. Tagging your items: more important than
you think!
● What to tag:
○ basic description of what your product is
○ colors!
○ themes it may fit- feel free to get creative
○ mood words to describe the item
○ season it fits with
○ holiday it may fit with
● Why to focus on good tagging:
○ treasury features
○ so customers can find your items when they search
29. Use Etsy Shop Stats
● You’ll need a google analytics account to get your Shop Stats
○ Here’s how to set it up: https://www.etsy.com/help/article/230
30. Etsy Shop Stats: Keywords
Find out what words people are searching for when they find your items
Focus on producing more items/variations that match your top keywords and promote them.
31. Use the Keyword Shop Stats:
● Take out an Etsy Search Word ads:
32. Etsy Search Ads
● This article explains them: https://www.etsy.
com/help/article/1036
● Etsy makes this process very easy
○ They will provide you with the keywords you should use
based on your listings
● Search ads are a good thing to test out
○ pick your budget, try it for a week, and keep it going if
the results are worth it to you!
36. Tips for getting into treasuries:
●
●
●
●
Good photography
Variety of colorful item photos in your shop
Effective item tagging
Relisting items that fit in with trending treasury
topics (and are tagged with the right buzzwords!)
37. Tips for getting into treasuries:
● Sign up for the Etsy Success newsletter
○ Your account->Settings->Emails
● Etsy will give you the trending tags for treasury features, as well as other
success tactics!
38. Starting Strong:
“You can’t sell an item you never posted.”
“If you list it [well], they will buy.”
● If you are selling handmade, a varied inventory
is important.
● If you are selling vintage, having a large
inventory is KEY.
39. List New Items Often
● Creating new listings forces you to evolve your
craft
● The more items you have available to shoppers,
the more likely they’ll find something they want
to buy
42. Handmade shops:
● Start off with a very varied inventory
○ having different products available can help you find
your niche
● Once you find something that sells, run with it!
○ develop more variations of your best seller
○ sales will follow
43. My Niche on Etsy
981/1088
orders
contained a
tree of life
necklace
My first tree necklace sale:
October 7th 2010
One of my current tree
necklaces.
What if I never realized the tree necklaces had selling potential?
45. Pricing Strategies
● For new shops, it’s best to start off with very
competitive pricing to drive sales up.
○ Once established, you can incrementally raise your prices
○ Prices of sold items are not shown
● If possible, offer inexpensive products
○ Some customers may love your shop, but are on a very
limited budget
○ Get that impulse buy!
○ Make a variation of your best-selling products in a lower
46. It’s good to have a wide range of prices:
● Knowing who you’re selling to can help you come up with the
correct prices for optimal sales:
Music Festival-attending girls who want to be
fairies...
Brides who are spending thousands of dollars
on a wedding- what’s another $180?
47. When starting a new shop...
● Do all of your behind the scenes work BEFORE opening your
shop
○ product development
○ photo taking/editing
○ description writing
○ shop policy writing
○ shop banner design
● That way, when you open, you’re more likely to start making
sales sooner, instead of wasting your grand opening time
developing your shop’s appearance
48. Relisting: Etsy’s moneymaker and yours too...
● There are 15,692,075 items currently for sale on Etsy
● The second you list an item, it goes to the top of the list
○ Recently listed items
○ Category section
○ Keyword search
● As soon as someone else lists an item after yours, it gets
bumped down on the list
49. Relisting: Etsy’s moneymaker and yours too...
● Don’t expect to post an item, and for someone to
see it a few days later
○ You’ll have to relist!
50. Relisting: Etsy’s moneymaker and yours too...
● Relisting an item will keep your shop visible to
shoppers browsing on Etsy
51. Tips for Successful Relisting:
● Develop a relisting budget!
○ knowing what you feel comfortable spending per month,
you can figure out how many relistings per day
■
$25 per month/$0.20 per relisting=125 relistings/28 days=4.46
relistings per day
● What to relist:
○ The item(s) that gets the most attention
■ clicks, favorites, treasuries, sales
● spend your $0.20 wisely...
52. Tips for Successful Relisting
● I personally like to spread my relistings out
throughout the day
● When to relist:
○ During the American workday
■ (The morning here is late-night in Australia)
■ People browse Etsy at the office
○ Evenings
53. Tips for Successful Relisting:
● Experiment with relisting:
○ Every type of item has a different audience
○ Different audiences shop at different times
● Scrutinize your results to find out what works
○ Try relisting various items at different times
■ Check how many clicks/favorites each gets
■ Edit your relisting schedule to reflect the results
54. Etsy on Sale App
●
●
●
●
Easiest shop management tool!
Automatic Relisting
Holds storewide sales
Set it and forget it!
59. Etsy on Sale App: Holding Sales
This is what your photos will look like during your sale:
You can add a sale prefix to the title of your
items, so when people are browsing Etsy,
“sale” is the first thing they see in your title.
60. If relisting doesn’t work for you:
Your photos might need enhancement
● You haven’t found your niche
● People aren’t searching for items like yours
○ Keep developing new products until one sticks!
● People aren’t browsing your section often
○ try putting your item in a different section category!
● The wedding market is HUGE on Etsy
○ Tailor some of your items to fit into this category
61. Sites other than Etsy to increase traffic:
● Facebook- start a business page/use fb ads
○ https://www.facebook.com/business/overview
● Pinterest
● Wanelo
● Stumbleupon
● Start a Blog on Blogspot/Tumblr/Wordpress
● Twitter
● Youtube: make a how-to video
● Instagram
62. Don’t be afraid to change...
● It’s perfectly fine, and often a good idea, to
completely change your product offerings.
● Go where the money is.
○ it’s very difficult to make obscure, niche products a
cash cow
○ find genres that are trendy and fit with your skill set,
or adapt your current products to fit in with trends
63. Elephantine: Changing Directions
● www.elephantine.etsy.com
● 8,845 sales
● “I’ve been using Etsy since 2007. I first joined to buy
gifts and craft supplies, and then I started selling felt
toys and greeting cards. I only sold enough of them to
call it a hobby, and I wasn’t that enthusiastic about it. So
I took a break, gave it some space, then re-opened my
shop with a different look and a brand new collection:
light, everyday jewelry.”
65. Taking your Etsy business to the next
level:
● Sell in person at markets and street fairs:
○ Asbury Fresh is a great place to sell on Sunday afternoons in
the summer
■ AsburyFresh.com
○ Street Fairs
■ Streetfairs.org
○ Local events in your town
■ google craft shows/street fairs- there are countless options
66. Craft Shows/Street Fairs: tips
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Make sure to apply in advance! Events can fill up with vendors
quickly.
Many applications require a tax ID number/ photos of your
work/display
Get a Square or credit card reader
Be sure to have business cards (not only at events but always in your
wallet!)
Invest in an EZ-up tent
Create a beautiful display- the more professional it looks, the more
sales you’ll get! (pinterest/google for ideas)
Get a banner printed with your logo!
67. Selling to Retail Stores:
● Choose your target store type
○ Similar style products
○ Browse the store to see if they carry any handmade
items (boutiques usually do!)
● Give a sample of your most popular product and a
lookbook with photos and pricing, leave a business card
68. Selling to Retail Stores: Pricing
● Wholesale pricing: normally 40%-50% off regular retail price
○ Increase your prices to allow for profits even with
wholesale
● Offer consignment for first-time carriers
○ Risk-free for boutiques, a foot in the door for you!
69. Developing your Business Plan
● Set goals
○ Hours budgeted per week
○ How many items will you have for sale?
○ Sales goals
