Help!

[Former_Member]

I've been on Etsy since May and have yet to make my first sale. My goal is to make this shop a supplemental income.

The last week or so, I've been tweaking my page and listings but could really use some advice on how to drive traffic and make that first sale.

[Former_Member]

hi cassandra!
here´s what i would do:
1) your shop does not have a banner. it´s like something was missing and it was the very first thing i noticed when looking at it. if you don´t want to create one yourself or don´t have the time you can also buy one on etsy. there are enough sellers for that. i bought mine too
2) the line under your shop name is not filled out. use this line to state what you are selling (short simple phrases). this is one of the ways a search engine can find you.
3) create categories for all of your items. i saw that you have 20 items but only 11 are in categories.
4) list more items. the more you have the easier you can be found.
5) take care of your photos. a lot of items are cropped off on the thumbnail photo. to me this always looks like someone just uploaded a pic and then didn´t care about it anymore. some of them are not also not focused. go over your photos and try to improve them.
5) work on your titles. they are a little short. type what you are selling in the etsy search bar and look what comes up and how it is called and then try something similar for your items
6) write longer descriptions. yours are super short. you don´t even give any sizes.
7) use all the tags you have and don´t go for one word tags. use multiword tags like "beaded keychain" instead of "beaded" and "keychain". again look what others do and learn from them.
hope i could help a little
barbara

[WebAndRock]

I took a quick look; some of your photos are out of focus/dark/have flash glare. I am no photography expert, but learned a ton from googling "jewelry photography cheap camera" , or something similar. I also notice there is not much info in some descriptions, like what it is made of, how it is made, how big it is, etc. Hope that is helpful.

ETA - slow typer, above poster said it better than I.

[Former_Member]

Hi Cassandra, my first reaction to your shop is that your photos are cut off. For example, your cross necklaces...the cross doesn't show up in the shop photo at all. Etsy photos need to be as close to square as possible.

Second: your descriptions are too brief....doesn't tell me enough to make me want to buy...pretend you were selling at a craft fair...what would you tell the customer in a conversation about your work?

Third: not enough items. Yes, there are some shops that sell a single item and do very well, but it has to be something completely unique....unfortunately jewelry is the most saturated market on Etsy, so it's extremely difficult to stand out, and a shop with less than 100 items will have a lot of trouble (unless you do a lot of outside marketing and promoting)

Four: you are not using all five pictures.....and you are not using all 13 tag words.

I would spend some time looking at other shops to see what is selling and how the items are presented.....

[Former_Member]

Keep on making and listing items, once you sell once it will be like a statef

[PrairiePrimitives]

The titles need to be better. For example "Blue Flower, Alligator Clip" ... what is this? Bobby pins? Why don't you have that word (or something similar) in the title? How big are these flowers and/or how long is the alligator clip? Since shoppers can't touch your items or talk to you in person, you should provide all the information they might need to make a buying decision.

Did you know that your steering wheel cover says it's shipped from Afghanistan? But you're claiming to live in Texas ...

Here's a blog post I wrote several years ago; perhaps it will be useful to you ... or someone else! http://prairieprimitivesfolkart.blogspot.com/2011/02/8-quick-improvements-for-your-etsy-shop.html ... it started as 8 items, but has grown to 11 items.

[Former_Member]

In addition to the above advice it seems to me that you need to spend some time getting noticed through circles, favorites - maybe create a treasury? I've read different thoughts on how much these things do/don't help, but it definitely creates visibility and activity at your shop!

[CedarwoodCreations]

Awesome advice. I continually change/alter things. Keep reading in forums & teams. So much good advice is exchanged.

[Former_Member]

Tana... Thank you for pointing out the error. Updating from the mobile app created a few mistakes and I hadn't realized I had overlooked that one.
I appreciate all the input and am putting some work in as I have time to make the necessary improvements.

[StuckOnSilver]

Hi, Cassandra--I have begun putting a coin in a photo for perspective, along with written dimensions in the description. I also have begun taking a photo of the jewelry in the box they'll be sent in. Good luck!!

[WintergreenDesign]

Hi Cassandra... I didn't read everyone else's comments so please forgive me if some of the things mentioned are...

Remember the first 3 words of each title are the most important so make sure whatever it is that you are selling are in those first three words ("keychain, Earrings, etc).

Expand on your descriptions... tell people everything that they can't see with their eyes by looking at the picture... demensions, length, material.

Take flattering pictures of your product... white backgrounds tend to work well with jewelry as do models. Take pictures at different angles, make sure they are bright and clear.

Get a Banner for your shop to make it look more professional... there are many people on Etsy that can do this for you and there are even a few websites that are free as well.

Offer international shipping or least ship outside the USA (Canada, Australia and the UK are all easy safe choices)... more people will see your shop if you ship outside your country.

Good luck.