Holiday Boot Camp Week One: Set a Goal

[Former_Member]

Hi team,

As part of our first week of Holiday Boot Camp, we're excited to chat about goal setting. How are your goals coming along? We encourage you to share and discuss your goals here.

Also be sure to attend our Online Workshop “Set Goals and Streamline for Holiday Success” this Friday, October 11. Etsy Seller Jenny N Design will talk about setting goals, standards and workflow processes. Register here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/8536321367

Not signed up for Boot Camp yet? Sign up here: https://www.etsy.com/emails/seminars

Looking forward to hearing about your goals!
Shannon

[rusticcraftdesign]

My current goal is to set up a nice lightbox and lighting setup inside so I don't have to wait for the morning light to take pictures of all the items I created in the evening =)

[GreenBeltFarm]

My goal is to master good titles and tags for my shop listings

.....always appreciate good advice :)

[ThePaperShoppeCA]

Sam - We have similar goals! My goal is to take new photographs and more of them for my listings.

[Former_Member]

I have a good lightbox and a few great programs for my pictures.
My goal is to create. I have not been able to sit down and just "play" with my beads and create in a few weeks, because I have been working on my pictures. So that would be my goal.

[LovesYouCrafts]

Oh wow, it's that time of year already! I'm going to sign up officially next so that's goal one. But as far as what I want to get out of this holiday season, I would like to sell as much of my holiday cards as possible so I can focus on my custom event stationery. This means updating my old listings to my new format and posting the rest of my stock. I also have at least one craft fair that should help me reach this goal, and I need to get myself prepped and ready for that as well!

[Former_Member]

My goal is to list more items! I have a big backlog of designs that I just haven't gotten around to listing yet. I agonize over the titles and descriptions a bit too much, I think - it's the technical writer in me. ;)

Last weekend I sat down and made a schedule - my goal is to list 20 new pieces by the end of October (more than doubling my listings) so they're available for holiday shoppers. This is my first holiday season on Etsy, so I'm excited to see how it goes!

[Former_Member]

Our goal is to get some sales and list new items.

[Former_Member]

This is my sixth holiday season on Etsy.

My shop is stocked so my main goal is to increase my marketing efforts to reach my target customers and to continue to work on retaking some of my photos.

I managed to complete my Etsy holiday shopping during the Christmas in July sales and most of the packages have already arrived.

[Former_Member]

My goal is to make enough money this holiday season to just pay my bills. In order to meet that goal, I'm working hard on making new items & putting them in the shop, taking better pictures, and taking classes to better my sales skills!

[Former_Member]

This is my first holiday season on Etsy as well. I also have a huge craft show I'm prepping for that's just becore Thanksgiving, so I have a lot going on. My goal is just to end the year in the black. I've been working really hard on inventory, tags, and photos, and even thpugh they're not perfect, I think they're as good as they're going to be for this year. So my main goal is to sell enough to end the year with a financial gain! There's a number I'd lime to hit, but to be honest, I'll be thrilled if I even make $10 for the year !

[Former_Member]

My goal is to retake some of my photos with better backgrounds and lighting, and get up to around 70 listings.

This will be my second holiday season on Etsy, so I will also be stocking up on different colored wool, as many of my sales last year were custom orders. The customer usually wanted a color that I had run out of, requiring me to order it for them and lengthening the order process. I'm hoping that I can learn from my experiences last season and do even better this year!

[AVAArtsSupplies]

Our goal is get back up 700 items. Also, to expand our external marketing by making an easy to follow marketing guide- i.e. Monday- Tumblr, Tuesday- Facebook....

[Former_Member]

I'm ready to have my first Etsy season. I have been painting Santa and other Christmas figurines. Holiday yarn colors are on the shelf and I'm ready to see a profit. I am going to concentrate on some of my higher ticket items and downplay socks. People love socks, but sporadically. Ready for profit, paint on hand and wallet open.

[Former_Member]

My goal is to take photos that have interest, not just scan my artwork for prints and cards- Show the listing in use, in situ. My second goal is to participate in team threads and discussions more regularly- they are a recharge and it's great to be able to answer somebody else because you know, you've been there.

[Former_Member]

My goal for this holiday is improve my sales.

I am going to promote all over my community, take better pictures and improve my descriptions, titles, and tags.

[KisforCalligraphy]

- Between July 15th and now, I have 81 had orders.

- Between July 15th and now, I have had 1 person sign up for my newsletter.

I am not even sure how we can have a discussion about our goals for the holidays without addressing the fact that Etsy has still not implemented an easy 'yes or no' option for our customers to subscribe to our newsletters.

HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GROW OUR SUBSCRIBER LIST?
Seriously, Etsy if you really want to make more money how about doing something about this!!!!!!!!!!???????????? I am willing to bet that the amount of money that we can make for you in transaction fees from the sales we will make from sending our newsletters to our Etsy customers will double the amount of money you are making from resellers' listing fees.

WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SO AFRAID OF?

a simple yes or no check box. that is it.
we can take it from there. we can do the rest.
you do not need to do anything else. we can manually add the customers who want to be added to our mailing list.


YES or NO

[AvonnieStudio]

This will be my first holiday season and I am really exciting about it. I have just graduated with a bachelor degree this summer and am very thankful to have supportive parents to let me start my own business instead of forcing me to get a job. My goal for this holiday is to successfully re-brand my shop and also be able to support myself financially! I really enjoyed the Etsy workshop by the way!

[CedarwoodCreations]

My goal is to have 200 items in my shop by Nov. 15th. I'm very excited because last year I did well during the holiday season. Since then I've been doing better and better every day. I have high hopes for selling a lot this holiday season!
Good luck to you all.

[MorgaineLeFay]

My goal is to get organized for the holiday season: making sure I have all the yarn and shipping supplies needed to get me through the season. Oh and to add gift wrap options!

[Former_Member]

Take pics of some items I haven't listed yet. Create a couple ideas I have in my head. Stay positive!

[Former_Member]

We are working on establishing a brand, listing more items and do heavier marketing. Also planning to retake product pictures to add a holiday flair to them. Lots to do!

[JewelMeShop]

My goal is to reach 105 items and get better photos for having a more professional shop. I also want to double my views for Nov-Dec

[Former_Member]

My goal, as simple as it may sound, is: To set up a shop that I'm proud of so I can get over the *fear* of just doing it!

I've been mulling this over and talking myself out of it for almost four years now and I need to just jump in!

[Former_Member]

My goal for the Holidays is to take better pictures and be more candid about myself. Also, I want to get those sales started.