1. What you are selling
I
know for a fact, that trying to sell something just because you enjoy
making it is not always the answer to your money problems. As a matter
of fact, it can be a real drain on your bank account. I have had this
happen before, and it was disheartening.
Thankfully,
I did not let that stop me from trying again. It took some time and
extra effort on my part to figure things out, but since then I have
enjoyed hearing that Cha-Ching on a regular basis.
Being
passionate about your product is only one part of the equation. The
real key to success is by being able to solve a problem. Can you explain
what problem your product solves?
How to solve a problem
In
order to solve your customer's problem, you first have to understand
who your customer is! Take the time to think about who you are trying to
help? What is their problem? How can you solve it? Can they afford it?
If not, can you lower your price? And then ask yourself why they should
buy your product over your competitors.
This
is called customer profiling. You can give your ideal client a name,
age, geographic location, and even a picture if you want, so you can
really know them.
If
your product cannot solve your idea customers problem, or maybe your
ideal customer may love your product, but they cannot afford it, you may
have to take a step back and figure out if you should do some product
research to find a better product to sell, or if you can get your costs
down, so your customer can purchase your product.
This
is step one. If you are not solving some sort of problem, then you do
not have a business. Likely, you will be able to figure out the problem,
just make sure your ideal customer can afford it.
Once
you have done this, you can move forward with setting up your store to
help your customer find you, and hopefully convince them that you indeed
do have the solution to their problem.
2. Your shop profile
When
you walk into a physical store, most of the time there are a few key
things that make them recognizable to being that specific store.
Usually, there are a few things that are memorable.
First,
the sign, which is made up of a logo. Your shop should have that too.
Despite being a creative person, you are still a business, or aka a
brand. You need a marker that makes your brand unique. This doesn’t have
to be complicated, and you can find premade logos on Etsy, or you can
hire a designer to make one for you.
Shop banner
Just
like your logo, a banner across the top of your shop can help your
store stand out. You can use this to highlight your products, or just to
reinforce your brand.
About section
Etsy
provides many places for you to allow your customer to get to know you
and your product. I have seen so many profiles that all of this is
blank. Your about section and your announcement section are both great
places to highlight your unique product and how it can help solve your
target customer’s problem.
Shop policies
More
so now than ever, it is so important to fill out your shop policies. Do
you accept returns? How about allowing cancelations after a product has
been ordered? Do you have a specific amount of time you need to get an
order made and shipped out?
If
you do not have these policies stated, you are in for a real headache
when someone orders a custom piece of art and then decides once you ship
it out that they don’t want it anymore. If you do not have these
policies filled out and the customer opens a case against you with Etsy,
you are going to end up eating the costs.
It
is important to protect you, and Etsy has been known to shove shops
without their policies filled out to the back of the searches. Given how
many sellers are on this platform, this could be preventing you from
even being seen.
3. Your photos
Not
to be rude, but I have seen some pretty nasty photos for product
listings. Dirt, dog hair, clutter, etc., cannot be in your product
photo. For most people this is obvious, but look at your images and make
sure there is nothing like that that accidentally made it into your
image.
That is only the beginning.
If you are not sure how to take a good product photo, please take the time to do some research on youtube. There are so many resources to help you take photos. You do not need an expensive camera, especially if you have an up-to-date cell phone.
If
you are really wanting to make money, you have to realize that your
customer cannot hold your product unless they buy it. If it is blurry,
busy, dark, or dirty, it is not going to catch their eye in the search —
at least not in a good way — and that alone can keep someone from even
clicking on your listing, even if you do manage to show up in a search.
It
doesn’t have to be perfect, but remember, your competitors are working
really hard to stand out, and even if your product is way better, your
photos are all your customer has to go by, so make sure they can tell
how awesome your product is.
That being said, please consider using at least two photos, but don’t be afraid to take all ten that Etsy allows.
Videos
Something
a bit newer that Etsy has added is allowing video of your product. This
is the closest to real-time that someone can see your product. It
brings it to life and really lets people see your work.
Do not skip this step!
It takes 5–15 seconds to record a quick video. Stand back and then move closer and show the details.
But make sure just like your photos, that your videos are bright, clean, and clear.
4. Your product descriptions
Another
issue I see on Etsy is people doing one of two things with their
descriptions. They either leave them blank, or they fill them out like a
robot. This is a chance to talk directly to your customer. Write in the
first person, say hello, thank them for looking at your stuff, and
explain to them what you have to offer.
It
is very important to be clear on your descriptions of what they are
getting. Don’t leave them guessing, because they may jump right over to
your competitor's listing that is crystal clear — which Etsy has been
posting competitors listings at the bottom of the page lately!
5. Your tags
Last,
but most importantly, is your tags. When you are listing your product,
towards the bottom of the page there are lots of options to fill in
things like tags, materials, holidays, etc., don’t skip any of this.
These are all used to help you rank in searches. It is called Search Engine Optimization
(SEO). If you skip filling out your tags or do not put any real effort
into it, you could be hurting your chances of making any money or even
being found.
Those
tags and other descriptions are what your ideal customer might be
putting into the search bar to look for your product. If your tags are
not specific to your product, you might end up in a vague search with
over 300,000,000 listings. The people who are looking for your exact
product might never find you at all.
You
want to be as specific as possible. If you are selling a gold women’s
watch, tag your listing with “gold women’s watch” but add more detail;
is it metal? Plastic? For a young lady? Is it fancy? Could it be for a
bridesmaid gift? These are not tag words that I suggest using per se,
but think about what your customer may be specifically looking for.
This
is not an exact tutorial-type article, but there are some websites that
can help you with finding the perfect tag words for your listing. A few
of them are Marmalead.com, Alura.com, and Erank.com.
Each one of these is a specific tool to help you with your keywords,
but also once you get the hang of using them, they can help you find
what kinds of products in your niche are selling, which can also help
boost your income.
Again,
you can find lots of tutorials on youtube and around the web. I suggest
watching videos on how to use those three websites to help you up your
SEO game.
It can really make a difference in your visibility and have a better chance to turn into sales.
Final thoughts
Selling
on Etsy can be hard, but not because it is saturated. It is because
starting a business is hard. There are so many moving parts.
This
list is not where it ends being an Etsy seller, there are other things
to keep in mind, like building your brand by sharing your listings on
social media, and learning how to use paid ads, and starting an email
list. But if you don’t start with the five things I have shared with you
first, then you are going to be swimming upstream no matter how many
posts you make for Instagram or Facebook.
Remember,
if Etsy gives a spot to fill something out, or to upload an image, do
it, and do it to the best of your abilities. These things are what pull
your ideal customer in, build trust, and then hopefully when they buy,
you can turn them into loyal, long-term customers!
LawrenceC
