Holiday Boot Camp Week One: Set a Goal

[#1]

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

[Former_Member]

Hi Aixa,
I saw your post at Etsy success team and wanted to respond.

First, cute shop and items!
Second, you're in a sort of flooded category, so I'd be sure your titles, tags and photos are as good as possible.
Fav lots of items and shops, to get some traffic back to your own shop.
Learn to make treasuries- again, it gets traffic coming back to your shop.

Third, you need more items. I think Google search is like 100 minimum to get you noticed.
I know it's a big number, but just start!
Maybe add custom listings? Different colors of the same items? It will help get your item count up there...

This will be my second Christmas here on etsy, and now I have two shops. It is always a challenge, but keep up listing and tweaking!
good luck,
Laurie

[Former_Member]

To Christina, who makes the aprons:
Hi Christina!

So, your aprons are cute, but you don't have a lot. You were worried that you're not showing up in search. Part of it is probably your number of items. So add more items.

The other is you need to use your title and tags to get people to you.
People will not put "womens" as the primary thing to search for.
It's more like:
"Apron Full Handmade red black" and those also in tags. you've only used 5 tags in the red skulls apron.

Also, because you only carry the "teams" aprons, you are also limiting your potential buyer.
I personally like aprons, but I am not a sports fan, so I would never find you. Be sure you are using the team names, the colors, etc.

Can you consider making other styles of aprons, not sports themed?
Aprons, in general is a pretty competitive category at present- you need to do things to set you apart from other shops and get found.

Do some treasuries to get some exposure back to your shop.
Maybe join a treasury making team?

I am heading into my second holiday season on etsy, and now have two shops. I sell vintage, but hand solder necklaces, make cards, etc., and have learned alot in 1-1/2 years here on etsy.

I hope this is helpful to you!
Laurie

[Former_Member]

MDPOTTERY:
Cute shop, very nice items, and good photos.

All your ideas are good, but the first of having more listing is the MOST important!
If people don't have items to choose from, then all your gift wrapping and banner ideas are sort of pointless....

Not wanting to sound harsh, but that is what it's about. You need items that are ready to ship, and more choices.

I see you are a member of a local team. Do you participate in those team threads? Is there treasury making going on among your teammates?
The best thing I've done for my shop in the last few months is join a team that actively makes treasuries amongst our teammates. It has gotten my vies and sales up...
Happy sales to all !

[Former_Member]

My goal is to start some samplers throughout this week and get listed

[Former_Member]

I have a few goals:
These two are more long-term:
~Organize my workspace to make it more functional (it's a small section in one room, so I need to be creative)
~Have one full page of items for each shop section (except custom orders)
Holiday goals:
~Increase sales from last year
~Add a clothing line to my shop with at least 10 items
~Retake and edit photos so that my shop has a more cohesive look

[CLhandmadeCreations]

I'm a new Canadian shop and this will be my first holiday season on Etsy. I only have 16 items in my shop so my main goal is to increase my listings as much as possible. I might be adding some knitted items in addition to more jewelry.
I hear shopping really kicks in starting November. I feel challenged as a Canadian when it comes to providing competitive shipping especially to destinations outside Canada.
Also, I am considering DC.
I've spent quite abit of time lately getting myself out there in the Etsy community which is great but now need to spend more time adding more items into my shop to prepare for holiday shoppers.

[Former_Member]

My big goal is to hit 100 items, maybe even 125 or 150.
I'm thinking about DC... still haven't decided if the exchange fees etc are going to be worth it for me. I guess I could turn it on and leave it on until January to see how it does :)

[Former_Member]

I'm not having too big goals; add more items and hope to get some sales.

[Former_Member]

My goal is to make a 2014 calendar, add new listings weekly and get more sales.

[somethingbleue]

My goal is different than most: I need to organize my inventory better. I have lots of smalls, different sized items, breakables, etc. all stored differently. Sometimes when an order comes in, it takes some time to find the item and that is time wasted. I want to create some sort of numbering system to put my hands on any item in my shop almost instantly!

[rhodyart]

My goal is to improve my listings. And to get new listings in the shop, but improving the listings is my main goal.

I'm part of an FB group devoted year round to HBC type stuff and support, and it's great

[NakedRatDestash]

my goal is to keep at least 100 items in my shop at all times. so far been failing!

[Former_Member]

This is my first bootcamp and enjoying it so far. My goal is to:

'Increase my shop inventory and promote effectively on social media to increase choice, reach and hopefully sales'.

I would love to make enough money in December to pay my household bills!

[CurlicueCreations]

I'm getting close to finishing my first deadline project, then number two, and then on to new listings in my shop! Those are my goals for now.

[Former_Member]

My goal is to sell as many items currently in my shop to make room for new listings in January which means being more active in marketing on Facebook and having a presence on Pinterest.

[Former_Member]

My primary goal is to get more items stocked. I want to get 50 items in my shop by November 15th.

Secondly, I am going to buy a professional camera, learn to use it and update all my photos. This has been the primary thing people touched on when I asked for feedback. It seems like my photos (mainly the ones against the white background) are never bright enough but it seems like since I've edited and brightened them, I've had no improvement. I'm hoping once I get my Christmas tree out this year, having photos of ornaments on the tree will help.

Third, I am going to create a marketing plan.

I also need to figure out my target market. I always thought I would gear towards established ladies who either a) had jobs and were not yet moms, so not kid-related worries or b) had kids that are grown. Not sure how to sell to these ladies tho.

[Former_Member]

I also need to create an item I can sell year round. I thought about a drape for a wine bottle, which can be used to decorate a bottle that is being given as a gift, etc. but I'm not sure how that will be received.

[RaisedBridges]

My goal is to increase my sales. I would like to double my monthly sales by November 15th. I would like to redo many of my photos and gear them towards the holiday season. And to increase my marketing via social media.

[Former_Member]

My Goals are to triple 2012 sales by the end of the holiday season. I plan to do this by creating and listing the majority of my seasonal and gift items by the end of October then concentrate on marketing and designing and making 2014 products so i will need to have most items ready to ship in order to do this and beat the last mailing dates for international parcels

[MoabBagCompany]

I finally sat down and wrote out some goals just now. I have a number in mind for how much I am going to make in November and December and several goals that will help me get there. They include introducing at least 5 new, larger bags by Nov 15th in higher price ranges, improve photos (esp those in which a model is needed), increase traffic through social media & being featured in blogs, and beef up my inventory (aka making tons of wallets!). Also I'm going to really look into my stats more deeply and check out some similar & more successful shops, with a mind to improving my keywords.

Best of luck to everyone on achieving their goals!!

[Former_Member]

Just got my second Holiday boot camp e-mail! Super excited! My next small, achievable, short term goal is to create my first treasury!!! xx

[SnarkFactory]

My goal is to figure out ways to shave time off of the menial tasks of running a shop, such as packaging and organizing, so I can focus more on creating. I have plans for Christmas ornaments and necklaces that match existing earring designs but I'm having a hard time finding time to design and execute them.

Also, I'm interested in increasing my income while decreasing the amount of time/work it requires. Haha not sure if that's possible, but "dream big!" right?

I'm worried about Christmas and being "caught with my pants down" so I'm stocking up on supplies. At first, I bought reasonable amounts of supplies, BUT since I don't know what to expect I've now decided to buy massive amounts of supplies. 1,000 bubble mailers here I come!

[Former_Member]

My goal is to list two items each day, to have a photo shoot once a month, promote my site at least once a day, and figure out different ways to promote my shop to make it successful.

[MonstersLairBoutique]

My goal this year, is to make sure that I have enough packing materials, full stock in each shop section, and making a nice amount of sales. I do not expect many sales, I get traffic and favs, just not enough sales.

[KalonaCreativity]

My biggest goal is finding my target market... I create lots of different things which cover different markets, so narrowing down is proving a problem..
Then there's new pics, tags, descriptions and titles, of course... oh and did I mention gearing up for crimbo?
You did say one goal, didn't you? Ho hum.. ;)