Have you touched a nerve?

[Former_Member]

Have you touched a nerve? Meaning, have you found the right avenues outside of Etsy and then all of a sudden your sales have taken off?

I'm trying to find such a nerve. Sales have been coming in and so far, my customers are happy and have even purchased from me again. For that, I say "Thank you!" :)

Now, I'm focusing on promoting outside of Etsy. I'd like to hear from people who found a way to make their sales take off and how they did it. Ads? Blogs?

I'd love to hear success stories! Care to share?

[Former_Member]

I used flickr for a while in the first few years of promoting. With my ecovintagevegan shop, I got a nice hit from Country Living Magazine and then subsequent Nov/Dec 2009 Christmas Flip-book cover with my handmade gift boxes.

This shop was steady for a while but now with some of the changes i seem to be lingering.

Hoping that the holidays will help us all pick up much needed hits, views and purchases.

I now use pinterest, twitter and several etsy teams.
I let my fb go. Just didn't need to connect with "friends" any more.

Good Luck with all your outside marketing.
Mickey

[Former_Member]

Go offline. I mean, don't just find ways to advertise your shop offline, but find other places to sell your items. Etsy is nice, but there's a HUGE segment of the population who have never and WILL never shop on-line.

I find that when I can show people my work in person, or in a store, I get 300% more sales than I ever do here. I've only ever had about 60 Etsy sales, but I've done so very much more than that selling to friends, family and in stores/craft fairs.

I think it just has to do with the attitude of shoppers, especially since the economy is bad. People want to make absolutely sure it's something they want or need before they enter their credit card info, or PayPal address. In a store, it's so much easier to see something, think, "Oh I love this, I have to have it!" and walk out with the item. Impulse buys, or just touching fabric or seeing a texture that catches your eye. Product photography rarely does that.

Craft fairs, artisan's festivals, local boutiques and stores, consignment shops, bookstores, you name it. Look locally and you may find you sell more in person than you ever did on Etsy.

[Former_Member]

I take my projects with me everywhere and get lots of orders that way. I tried puting them in a store but it wasn't a good fit. I hope to find another someday.

[ThePartyDeeva]

I have business cards and flyers at the following places where my target audience might be found:

Nail salon
Hair salon
Gym

I also have contacts with the local banquet halls and have samples available for them to show potential brides/clients. Basically they are selling for me and I give them a % of the sale.

[ChellasCollection]

Holiday craft shows really make up huge sales for me. The sales at shows won't show up in ETSY stats of course. I often get many orders following shows. I do these Nov. and Dec. and then in Feb. and March, I do "Women's Expo"s. One can not survive on ETSY alone. Good luck. Julie

[Former_Member]

I'm interested in this, too. I've moved to a new area that I think might have a pretty good audience for my items. I don't think I'm going to get involved in fairs until next year, but I'm interested in retail. My question, is how on earth can it be profitable with the 40%-50% commission pulled from retail venues?

[Former_Member]

Blogs have really helped me a lot. Sometimes I'll get more sales in one day from a popular blogger featuring my jewelry than i get in a whole month. And, best of all, it's basically free advertising, except the cost of the item I give them to review!

[Former_Member]

Jasmine, any advice on how to get featured in blogs?

[Former_Member]

It's great to read about the different ways people promote their products outside of Etsy. I have already signed up for Flickr and posted some photos.

If anyone has any other ideas that have worked, I'd love to hear it! And I'm sure others would too! :)

[TheFaithfulNest]

I agree with Maggie, many people just don't like to shop online these days. I have actually had more success going into local stores and sharing that I sell things online. I showed them pictures, and then they expressed interest in purchasing some for their own sales. You will have to take a price cut, so they can sell it at a reasonable price and make themselves some profit, but you are not paying etsy and paypal fees or shipping fees, so it works itself out. Try boutiques and smaller stores that have the owner working right in the shop itself!
Good luck!