Monday, February 21, 2011

Improving Sales on Etsy...Beyond the Basics


I bumped into a thread on the Etsy Forum that really resonated with where I am with marketing right now. It was written by the owner of AcuteDesigns, which sell handmade jewelry.

It took me a year to reach 100 sales.

Since that first 100 sales, I have achieved another 100 in just three months.

This is what I did differently:

1. More items in my shop - I made a goal to have at least 100 items at all times. Once I did this, the sales started to come in quicker. The more items you have in your shop - the more likely you are to be found. Having a good amount of variety and various price points helps too.

2. Advertised - I have done this in the past but this time around I invested a bit more money and found a blog that didn't cater to handmade. In the past would advertise on blogs that other handmade artists would visit. I saw traffic from these sites, but very few sales.

This time I decided to advertise on various fashion blogs. People visiting these blogs are looking for fashion advice and inspiration. If you advertise on a high traffic blog, expect to pay for it but also expect a bigger return on investment.

3. Joined twitter and networked - Twitter has opened up so many new blogs and artists. I tweet about my work and network with those that I follow. I have gained a lot of traffic via Twitter - it is easy and fun.

So in summary, I found that the more items in your shop at the different price points, the more sales.  Definitely pay for advertising on a complementary blog, I have had success with EtsyStalker http://etsystalker.com/. They go beyond the button ad and have a scrolling ad that leads to a shadowbox which leads to your store. I like the format.  I'm new on Twitter. Will be posting a separate twitter section soon.

11 comments:

www.bohemiablog.com said...

Thanks for these wonderful tips! I'll definitely work on reaching 100 items!

barnfly said...

sending ♥'s and a big Thank~you for all your wonderful advice!

Unknown said...

Great tips.
Its great to hear the results seen from the `magic 100'. I`ve been slowly working up to putting 100 items in my shop but wondering if its really worth it.
Thanks

obabydotcom said...

Thank you for posting your tips. That does help.
It's taken me nearly three years to reach 100 sales! I must be doing something wrong. It just takes a lot of hard work and persistence. Thank you.

ElizabethMD Jewelry said...

Thank you for the wonderful tips and advice! Much appreciated.

HeritageKnitting said...

Thank you so much for posting these tips! I make hand knitted goods and I am trying to get to my first 100 sales. :) I thought I was doing great with 2 pages of items but I'm going to strive for the 100-item strategy. Personally I get overwhelmed when sellers have 18+ pages of items so I'll have to find a balance.

Thanks again, I'll be following your blog.

For your info: I found you via this discussion: http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/6820630/page/5/ Thanks for posting!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your success!

I have over 100 items in my main shop, but I DEFINITELY need to get working on boosting the amount of items in my other shops, for sure! lol

Belizean Beauty - Lady Dylana said...

very valuable information. Thanks for sharing.

O'Baby Fashions said...

Great Blog Post! I will have to try all your suggestions. At the time I Twitter, and Facebook frequently a lot of shoppers just not enough buyers! More Merchandise I know is the secret thanks again for the great post!

Kaye said...

Great list of tips. Thank you for sharing with us!

Bijal said...

Thats an awesome tip. I didnt realize that quantity and price range matters. I'm definitely going to try 'em. Hope this will help!
I also think people who visit facebook or twitter are not necessary there to shop and their visits doesnt turn into sales either.