Science of Etsy Part 2

Recently I have been corresponding with a fellow etsy shop owner who has passed her first 20th purchase point in her new shop. I was thoroughly excited and proud of her as all sales should be a great and positive experience. We've been exchanging notes on our experiences with etsy and I thought I would share with the internet world some of the helpful hints that I gave her. Please feel free to read through them and take from it what can help you or comment with any questions, curiosities, or comments you have. (Also please feel free to email me at aimeedmorales@gmail.com if you'd rather leave your comments or inquiries in a more private setting).

The following is a quick email I left to my friend in hopes to give her some helpful etsy hints:

Hey (name omitted)!  A following is something I am trying to key in on with my reestablishment back to etsy. But this is a challenge for me. With my two year break so much has changed that it is like starting over anew when it comes to learning how to build a name and customer base. There is so much I could say but I think it boils down to a few key points (hopefully this will help)

1) I've learned that you get out of etsy what you put in. If you want a full time income the first couple years you have to give full time effort and hours. It sucks but for the first couple years with etsy I was pedal to the metal. I listed a lot of vintage items and I was always on the look out for more items. I was really all about it and when I finally started getting return customers and a heavy steady stream of views and purchases I was burnt out and I lost all appreciation. That is why I put the shop on vacation for almost two years. 

But that was my biggest mistake.....which leads me to my next pointer....

2) no matter what, customers relate and respond well to consistency. If you list one item per week keep doing it. Give the customers something to look forward to and keep them coming back for more. I would just recommend pacing yourself and listing things consistently but at a rate where you know you won't get burned out after a month or two. (I'm still working on this. My goal was at least listing one thing every Sunday and I've missed 3 sunday's because of holidays and just pure exhaustion. I feel missing a couple here and there is okay but I need to work on being consistent.)

3) The Etsy Conversations podcast was a huge eye opener. It keyed in on focusing on your tags, titles, and photo's. If you are able to listen to it it'll give you a great appreciation for the words you use, how you organize your listings, who your audience is, how you brand yourself, and the all around presentation of your shop and listings. I promise....it's a long podcast but I plan to relisten to it. I actually took notes. And I've been experimenting with my listings to see if I can up my visits. 

4) Photos, I feel are 90% of your success in sales. And that's a whole nother topic I could go off of and that I'm still trying to perfect. Lately I notice myself going through the generic Etsy mail that all etsy users get. I look at the images that the really really successful etsy shops provide and I try to dissect what makes them so appealing to my eye. Whether its color, simplicity, the emotion I get out of them.....whatever it is I write down what draws me to it and I try to find ways to implement that element into my photos. So much more to write about photos......

however I must wrap up this short response to you. Please remember I do not consider myself a success as I'm trying get back in the swing of things and acquire back a solid foundation of customer. Hopefully soon I can write out another email with the many more facets (like photo importance) I'd hoped to touch on today.........

 And so ends my email.......

Etsy is such a fine tuned machine that hopefully soon I will master but for now I'm patiently trying to perfect and work on. All good things take time right? In the mean time I'm going to add a photo or two of the most recent postings I've added to my shop! Happy Shopping and Happy Etsying!

HERE is a link to my Little Miss Sunshine 1950s 1960s Crop top 

And HERE is a link for the adorable and elegant 1950's Dress & Over Jacket set shown below