Am I unrealistic about sales?

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone. I opened my shop on November 28th. So far I have had 6 sales, I am in 90 circles, 35 likes on face book (far to low to me). 2 feed back as a owner 5 as a buyer, views can range anywhere from 9 to 35 per day. Ive made two treasures.

I do not feel as if I am doing enough. I read everything I can and try new and different ideas. I spend money on advertising through face book and etsy. Money is flying out way faster than I am making it.

Does everyone pay for advertising? if so what do you use? I have also paid a web person to have my store listed on all the popular web engines ans so forth.

Now I realize that establishing takes time, but I want to know if I am being unrealistic here. I am open to all ideas! thank you all for your time. Cyn

[RobertaValle]

Jewelry...

satured market here on Etsy >.<
I am not spending money on advertising, I just use free advertising, but we are both new shops, almost nobody became a huge seller after a few months!
Somebody has to wait a whole year to have their first sale...
Be patient, if you put a lot of work, you will see the results, not tomorrow, maybe by one year, but you will see them :)

Nice shop, by the way!

Roberta xXx

[Former_Member]

thank you Roberta, I appreciate your comment :)
Cyn

[DeerGirlDesigns]

You will get more sales. I have been selling for six months and the majority of my sales came in the last three. I had no idea what the hell I was doing until about three months ago and still have a lot to learn. Also, don't count on etsy as your only source. I get more business from local clients and shows. But keep your head up and live in the miracle land! (meaning- believe!) good things are coming your way! :)

[AnneLondezGlass]

Hello Cyn,
It does take some time and a lot of work to get regular sells. I don't pay for advertising but I spend a lot of time networking online, posting things onto various blogs and websites. And I noticed that the days I do less, I get less views. Keep going and read everyhing around here, lots of important tips and info.

[Former_Member]

Cyn,

I just started a few months ago and have had one sale. I realize I probably haven't had time to put in making more products and keeping up to date with everything as I've had school and a full time job, but I agree with Anne that putting more time into treasuries, teams, etc, helps get my views up a little bit more than usual. I was on vacation and didn't touch Etsy for a week and had zero views, unsurprisingly. Anyway, best of luck, and I keep your head up. Things will turn around. : )

[Former_Member]

No you aren't being unrealistic but I would strongly suggest that you cut down on the paid advertizing.

Rather, reach out to your target market and get your sales that way.

I don't spend any money at all on advertizing and I have a $5 budget each month for renewing for items that aren't about to expire (those get renewed automatically) but I do the majority of my marketing outside of Etsy, directly to my target market.

I try to list at least 4 or 5 new items each day if at all possible as well.

You may want to read the 'critique your own shop' post from the EtsyMentors team as it has some very good advice as well.
etsymentors.blogspot.com/p/critique-your-own-shop.html

All you need is a little patience!

[Former_Member]

Here are just a few suggestions. For an example, look at this one listing:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/89339876/two-amazing-vintage-rhinestone-necklaces

SEO, SEO, SEO. The first 3 words in your title are what search engines look at. Who is going to type in "two amazing vintage" as a search? Work on your titles...some seem fine, but quite a few need work.

Use all of your tags. On the one shown above, you haven't used nearly all of them. Tags are important. If you can't think of any, go to other shops selling comparable items and see what they've used. Also, do random searches on Etsy...as you type in searches, Etsy will automatically try to fill in common search phrases for you. Make note of those and use them.

As someone already said, jewelry is extremely saturated on Etsy. You have to really stand out to get noticed...and getting found in searches is the first way to draw people into your shop.

I know there are plenty of places on Etsy that will give you good pointers. Join the team SassyCritiques and ask for a review of your shop.

Good luck! You have some very nice things...here's hoping you get lots and lots of sales!

[MythOfTheWild]

Personally I NEVER look at FB ads, and Etsy's ads are inefficient from what I've heard. You might be better off going to blogs and websites and buying a month's advertisement in their sidebar, or requesting reviews or sponsoring giveaways.
Also, 6 sales from the end of November is really very good! You've not been selling for long so you can't expect sales to just materialise. Off-site advertisement is SO important.

You might also want to set up an advertising budget so you don't spend more than you can afford.
Are you a good blogger? If you are, you could always request to be a guest poster somewhere, that can always help, as long as you don't mention your shop yourself, you might want the blog host to do that for you, or it might make you seem too desperate.

Personally, I don't pay for advertising. I have a blog with my mini Etsy on the sidebar. I try to post interesting content - craft tutorials, interviews, features etc - to draw people in, and it's been working. I have a twitter and a FB and what I've learnt from these is that it's important to be yourself, not just a shop owner. Once people see who you are and get to know you it can generate more sales. I made some purchases from people on Etsy almost purely because I like them as people, and because now I can see the real value in their work because of it.

Also post interesting links for other people to retweet or share. Things you're interested in. I make jewellery, but I am a huge animal lover, I also love stationary and science, so I share links relevant to those interests as well. It does help.

Also do take into account what Marcia has said. She has some very good and important points that everyone can learn from regardless of number of sales.

But, the bottom line is that it seems as though you're doing quite well. So, to answer your origianl question, I would say yes, you're being a little bit unrealistic. Don't expect the world. I'm jealous of you as it is, I've never made more than about 2 or 3 sales in a single month. So don't put yourself down. It makes the rest of us feel bad! :P


...sorry for the wall of text. It's becoming a bit of a habit for me now ^^'

[Former_Member]

I know you asked about advertising, and I totally ignored that. Kim has great suggestions, as does everyone else. I tried paying for a bit of advertising, and got zero results from it, so I don't do anything right now.

But before you pay for advertising, I think it's very important that you do all you can to bring people into your shop without paying...and that's why I brought up the search engine optimization.

I spent most of my spare time the first few months reading up on how to get your shop found, and believe me, I'm NOT trying to say I've got it all figured out...I don't by a long shot. But I've had almost 400 sales since July, and get on average 150-200 views a day, of which about 10-20 are from Google or Bing. So something is working.

Good luck!

[Former_Member]

I agree with Marci,

my top priority is SEO. I am constantly checking and reevaluating my tags,
check and modify all my descriptions so that my keywords are integrated.
I get a few google,bing and wanelo views a day and have sold some items because of that. This week has been slow but it has been picking up slightly
yesterday and today.
I do pay for search ads but that is about it. I make sure I only use the words that get me views and target to the search ad to specific items.
But as Marci said, I am a true believer in SEO optimization and it has shown.
I have consistent views, not consistent sales but that may come, wether I am active in teams or not.
Good luck!
I only have a few more sales but I am happy as a clam about them!

[KriyaDesign]

Hi Cyn, great store you have here.

Majority ( I would say 90%) of my sales happen in Sept. 2011 and onward. Opened the store in March. So it was like 6 months of studying, tweaking, revamping, creating and whatever in between. Just 2 days ago and will continue today to weekends, I went through each listings again to get everything relevant. I have 6 pages total. Since I am bringing in another 100 or so new items, need to get everything in top shape.

They are saying here, you've got to be found in order to make sales. So titles, descriptions and tags have to be right on the money... I meant SEO ( I am still not sure what that stands for :-), pardon my technology inept). So study that and then tweak. I honestly don't know for certainty how to correctly title and tag. But I keep on tweaking and making notes when things seem to be working.

By nature, I am a bargain hunter. I don't spend money when I don't need too. So no paid advertising for now. Your mind will expand far and wide if you keep asking yourself how to get more customers without spending a dime. I am not saying Etsy is free, but its quite so if you compare to our daily expenses. Maybe when I find the right paid advertising, I will jump on it with... relish.

All the very best!!

[Former_Member]

SEO= search engine optimization ;-)

[KriyaDesign]

clearessential thank you thank you :-) my friend

[FaithBeads]

I would work on your photos, too. You should always use natural light. Never a flash.

[Former_Member]

I have to say that I am feeling confused and lost at the number of views, the fluctuation in views, and the strange way things have progressed since opening. I wanted to have a variety of the items which I have made for years. As the months have progressed it is obvious that the things my viewers want to see is the costuming and period attire (and a little of the children's wear)

I have done free advertising, and a little of inexpensive paid advertising. I have spent a lot of time on teams, and ended up being named a leader of one. Which has presented new opportunities. Etsy Success has provided me with some basic starting points and hold to their "this method works" line across the board. I think that due to the way my shop is slowing specializing I will have to follow a slightly different path.

Sometimes the best way to shape your company is trial and error. I have finally been able (through my other teams) been able to start making contacts that will really help me get specialized.

I hope that ends up being the formula that works. Hang in there and start to really pay attention to your stats and where the clicks come from.

[Former_Member]

wow.. thank you everyone for all your answers and the extra wonderful advise. I will go back on each Item and fix the SEO. I do see what you are saying. Oops! I didnt do that correctly, and I so thank you for showing that to me. About natural light. Here at winter, I have tried to only use natural light. but the photos are so dark you cant see anything. I am not using a flash though, but I am using lights. once sprint hits much more light is available for me to go out side and take pictures.

Thank you also for the nice comments too. I truly apprectiate them. I am a disabled person, this is my "job" now. I guess with having too much time on my hands I have been unrealistic with what I so want to make a sucess.

Again thank you all so much!
Cyn

[JeannieGrayKnits]

You've already gotten great advice, but I wanted to add in that personally, I think 6 sales in the first couple of months is excellent!

[jencurtisdesignshop]

This is all great advice, I've made some notes too!! After almost 2 years on Etsy, I'm still learning and tweaking my tags and titles and pictures constantly...still lots to learn!

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone. I just wanted to let you all know that I have been working on my SEO since very early this morning. I am still not done yet, (wow a lot of items!) to fix.

Then a few minutes ago, one of the pieces I fixed the SEO on early this morning was sold! woohoo~ thank you thank you. So anyone else who needs to fix their SEO and hasn't yet. Here is the reason why you should :)
Cyn

[StarJewels]

Congrats on the sale. As others have mentioned, SEO is very important. I am also new, open a little over 2 months and I have 10 sales with no paid advertising in a saturated category. Two of those were trades, but I'm still pretty happy with what I've managed so far, as those sales weren't from friends and family I was just running through etsy, but sales due entirely to my shop. Not a exactly a prfit center for me at this time but I'm building a business here and I know success doesn't happen overnight. There are a ton of ways to promote your shop for free but they all take time. I would look at more of the free ways to promote. Do a search on promotion in this forum and you should find lots of sites and advice.

[Former_Member]

Ditto, ditto, ditto...you are doing great compared to some. Just like any business brick and motar or online storefront, you have to spend money to make money.

They have all given you lots of suggestions and good ones at that. Hard work always pay off. So dont be discouraged and keep plugging away. You'll get to where you want to be before you know it.

And read all the community tips here. I got a good one a couple of days ago for a free ad. Put some items on Craigs list and place a like on the bottom to bring them to your shop here. It is good for free.

Good Luck!

[Former_Member]

I have joined in November too...2 sales... So thanku this has been a great post with lots of info! I don't think 6 sales is bad at all many gave less for longer

[EmarcidOrchid]

I think you have been doing wonderful.

[Former_Member]

thank you all for the great words of hope and encouragement. It really helped a lot. now i am more positive than ever, and happy to help others too.

Cyn