Patients is not my strong point

[Former_Member]

Just wondering how long it took for peoples shops to take off. I opened my shop in October and am off to a slow start, all the feedback i get is positive, and people say they love my shop and be patient and the sales will come but the only sales i get are referred from elsewhere, i.e friends of friends. I think my tags are good but i may be missing something?

Am i just impatient, or am i missing something big!

Any insights will be greatly appreciated.
Mel

[Former_Member]

You are doing pretty well for someone who just opened in October!

None of us "like" waiting for sales but it does take time to build your shop and a lot of hard work. It takes time to really figure everything out. Definitely read anything about Etsy/small businesses that you can get your hands on.

Maybe you could help me/the buyer understand what a prop headband is?

[Former_Member]

Sadly I can't offer you any advice as I'm in the same boat - new shop only a few sales and I'm working on my shop every single day. So I too am very interested to know if there is some big thing that's missing.

Mind you, I have also heard from other sellers that things are a bit slow at the moment, maybe that's it?

Best of luck, your shop looks great and I hope you get the sales you are after really soon!

[diarysketches]

you made 24 sales since october! many shops would be asking YOU for advice :) good luck! you're doing great!!

[Former_Member]

Again, can't offer you any advice as ive only been open less than a month and only have 2 sales under my belt, but wishing you all the luck in the world!

[Secinski]

Well, you are expressing my concerns too. More than 3 months, everyday work on titles and tags and I’m invisible! What I’m doing wrong, I keep asking myself… I add my new listings at team threads and hope that someone will notice me and include my items in treasures, but still so little views. How many views per day is average for a new shop. I rarely get more than 30. Is it normal after 3-4 months?

[elainesgems]

Kristina, have you thought about making bags with shoulder straps? Some bags have both handles and a shoulder strap so you have a choice to use it either way.

[Secinski]

Elaine, Thank you for stooping at my shop and for your thoughtful advice. My bags, except 1 are shoulder bags. The handles are long enough to wear them as a shoulder bags, as this is the way I myself prefer wearing a bag.

[Former_Member]

You are doing really well concidering you have only been open since October! Well done on your sales to date!

[Former_Member]

Melanie - I think you are doing great too - I've been open about 6 weeks and 13 sales, but quite a few of those were from taking part in BNS / BNRs, so I had to buy something too! ( but I'm happy to do that to support other sellers, and get my sales numbers up at the same time)
I have not being listing new items for a few days until today and noticed my views had gone down - so trying to list new items very regularly seems to help.

Kristina, your bags are beautiful - especially love this one and have pinned to my Etsy Finds Pinterest board.
www.etsy.com/listing/122288486/linen-canvas-bag-canvas-leather-tote?

I get quite a few views from Twitter and Pinterest - do you use those?

[BlueGrizzlePapers]

Hi, I'm like you! Pacient is not my strong point. Only 6 sales. It's fustrating!!
All the feedback I get is positive, and people say they love my shop and be patient and the sales will come, but I can't be pacient!

I think you have a wonderful shop!

[Secinski]

Gillian, Thank you so much for encouraging me. No, I don't use Pintest and Twitter. Does it help for encreasing sales?

[Former_Member]

Melanie, lovely shop! However.... there are 163,000 "flower headbands" on Etsy today, so it's difficult to get found, especially when many shops have been around for several years and built up a customer following. There's sure to be less competition if you are hoping to sell locally, however if you want to sell to the U.S. market(only because it is so large) my suggestion is to create something unique...maybe matching girl-and-doll headbands? Mommy-and-me? (Also definitely put "wedding" and "flower girl" in your tags.)

I say this because the market I had planned to sell in (childrens-wear) is also over-saturated, so I've had to branch out...in my case to plus sizes, sleepwear, and doll clothes. It's so much easier if you are in a less crowded area.

[Former_Member]

Your shop is great and your sales are amazing for the market you're in! Like people above me said, it's quite a big market that you are in so visibility is important.

I find that by really connecting with my customers can increase sales. For example, I do competitions on Facebook and Twitter for a giveaway. Maybe you could contact some Youtube fashion gurus to do a review on your item?

Perhaps you could send them an item of yours as a gift in return for a review, and increase your traffic that way.

I post a lot on my Twitter and Facebook about what I'm up to with the business; so for example if I've ordered some new fabrics, I'll take a picture and say "Gorgeous new fabrics have arrived!" It gets people interested and shows them that you're a human being behind the computer screen! :)

Maybe you could also offer a discount for people who like your Facebook page, or repin your item on pinterest etc. Create a coupon code that gets sent to everybody who shares one of your facebook pictures within a certian time frame.

I realise that by creating discounts and doing giveaways you're reducing your profits, but whenever you're starting out it's quite hard to be profitable all the time. Set a budget for promotion; promo is key!

Hope this helps you and gives you some ideas to increase your visibility! I will Tweet about your shop :)

[AnitaSperoDesign]

I advertise and network about 2 to 4 hours a day...all together.
If you are advertising as much as possible..don't worry about it. The computer is the new "word of mouth". It just takes time.
Just keep on posting, writing good content and networking.

My mentor use to say (he has passed)
Business is 50% product and 50% advertising...

[Former_Member]

Kristina - I can't say whether I've actually had a sale from someone coming to my shop from Twitter or Pinterest, but they have certainly been a good source of views, which I hope will lead to sales. Also Facebook, of course, and the one I forgot to mention before, which I get even more views from than Twitter, is rebelmouse - definitely recommended.

[Former_Member]

Erm, 24 sales since October-darling you are doing GREAT!! I opened mine in late October and I have had 2......

I get quite a few views from my blog nowadays, have you got a blog?

Well done on your success so far!! I should be asking you for advice! :P x

[Former_Member]

I think your doing great! 24 sales in just a few months? That's really good! One thing people need to remember when opening a shop in Etsy, is that your not going to have big booming sales right off the bat. Many new businesses (online or not) don't see a profit for the first year (sometimes it takes longer), they consider it a good year if they just break even. Just keep plugging away.

[Former_Member]

Thanks everyone! You have been great! Jannet brilliant idea on the dolly and me headbands!!!! Any suggestion for tags? I have tried the promo codes etc, last week I offered free shipping plus a chance to win the entire order for free and still no bites. I an doing my first market next month so hoping to build a local following. Thanks again everyone you really boosted my confidence xxxx