Post your questions for the experts!

[#1]

Hi everyone!

We are going to host some Online Labs for the holidays, and we'd love to get your questions! The guests will be:

Top sellers: PalomasNest and BlackbirdTees. Ask them anything about selling during the holidays (or more generally, successful selling).
http://www.etsy.com/shop/palomasnest
http://www.etsy.com/shop/blackbirdtees

AND

Emily Bidwell, who is an Etsy merchandiser - she curates emails and on-site merchandised areas. Ask her about popular items during the holidays and her tips for getting your items featured!

You can see the schedule of the upcoming Labs here:

http://www.etsy.com/community/online-labs

Thanks in advance, everyone!

[Former_Member]

Top Sellers: How do you recommend those who sell digital items to go about promoting their shops? Do specific types of promotions work better for certain kinds of shops?

Thank you for your time!

[TheresaHingJewellery]

I would also love to have a critique of my shop. I get lots of 'likes' but too few sales.
Here's hoping...

Theresa

[Former_Member]

Would love to get advice about that do I have too big variety and should I make different shops:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Lumm?ref=si_shop

I love different handwork and wouldn´t like to do just jewellery or scarves and thought that having them together gives bigger variety to buyer, but maybe it´s still confusing...

[Former_Member]

Would love a critic of my shop,
I have had more sucess this year than last (as I was new to etsy) but I am still a long way off where I need to be!!
As I sell mostly for weddings I would like to know if I should be prepared not to have many sales until after Christmas or do brides still buy at this time of year?
Would love to know how to be featured in the Weddings Catergories as I see shops featured there several times but never me?

[Former_Member]

Sorry forgot to ask if there is any specific help for UK Sellers as I think the market here is slightly different, would be great to hear some sucess stories from them and how they became top sellers in the UK.

[UrbanJule]

I would like a shop critique, please, especially of SEO. Everyone else has asked the questions I would ask. However, I don't get how one RSVPs for the lab. Can anyone tell me please?

[UrbanJule]

Never mind. I didn't "page down" far enough. Thanks.

[Former_Member]

how you make each customer feel special in this busy time?
what is the "best sellers" in this time?
what small etsy shops can do to get noticed in this holiday time? what is the best strategy? what is "must do" things for small busines in holidays?


i'm also interested in a possible critique.

[Former_Member]

ALSO
how in the world do I make my shop banner? ugh, it seems Im the only one who has just a lame picture and not words... :(

[Former_Member]

Top Sellers: What kind of advertising did you use to make your shops so popular?
Emily: What are the most popular items during holiday?

Thanks!

[DropTheWeasel]

Hi there!

Firstly can I ask how do I change looks into sales? (you probably get asked that all the time!)

Second, when I create a treasury can all the shop in it automatically see it or do I need to contact them all to say so?

and lastly, I would love to have a shop critique please. I would like to know if I'm going in the right direction with my little shop.

Thank you all x

[Former_Member]

Hi, I would like to know on average how many items do you have in your shop and how often do you add new items?

I would also love a shop critique, someone to be really honest about areas I need to improve.

Thanks a lot! x

[Former_Member]

Do people send press releases to Etsy? Where can we find lists of magazine PR contacts? Thanks!

[ThirdTimeLuckyDesign]

How do you encourage people to view your shop and what can you do to encourage sales? I have been on Etsy since May & while I am getting some views, I haven't had any sales or custom orders yet! x

[BostonPaperCompany]

Top Sellers:

How do you handle the high volume your shops receive and still produce a high quality handmade product (vs. a mass-produced product)?

Do you still personally handle all aspects of your business or do you have people who work for you? If the latter, how did you train and learn to trust others with executing your designs?

Also, how long did it take you to perfect the photography on your sites? This has been one of my biggest personal challenges and a huge time sink away from crafting and promoting - and after many hours of working on it, I am still dissatisfied with my shop photos.

[Former_Member]

hi ; i cant seem to get this ,my sales have been 1 or 2 of 20 listings, i sold on ebay for a few years ,but those people are petty and dont want to pay when they win, im not seeing my itsy shop bringing in customers whats wrong ,somebody look at my shop and tell mewhy??? thanks ,marvin

[Former_Member]

How do u make yourself stand out from a crowd that are doing the same sort of craft?

[cullmanlaurasart]

As a fine artist, I am still trying to figure out how to best use Etsy. I have a local reputation and am starting to get enough positive feedback from Etsy customers so that strangers are buying from me. Do you have advice specifically for artists about selling on Etsy?

[Former_Member]

Top sellers:
What actions did you take to build your market share? Specifically, what did you try that was effective, and what was not effective for you?

Did you make any changes to your product line in response to market feedback?

[LouiseMead]

I've spent some time pondering how I might be able to produce some holiday-related items. The problem is, people generally want a custom-painting to last beyond one season. I've added gift vouchers as an option to my shop but I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas as to how one might make art more appealing to holiday-specific buyers?

[Former_Member]

What is the most efficient way to get found?

[Former_Member]

I want to use Etsy's Android ap to manage my Etsy shop. I took my pictures with my phone and unless I upload directly to Etsy from my phone, the pictures come out too small and cannot be zoomed. The problem is when entering new items, I am asked to provide a "postage template" and cannot continue unless I provide one. I don't know how or where to design one, or where to find one. I can't list my new items until I know this. Can you PLEASE help me?

[Former_Member]

I am wondering about three things I can do a few times a week to really boost sales on my etsy page. Thanks

[TINYSMILESHANDKNITS]

Hi, I am new to Etsy, I would love to have more views to my shop, do you have any surgestions on how I can achieve this, How do I optimise Etsy search listings. I would love to be successful in my shop. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

[BlumersEmbroidery]

I have questions regarding tag words and searches (I'm new to Etsy!). Are my tag words for the item the only words that are used for the searches? Do the words in your title help in the search? I see some very descriptive and long titles, so wonder if these words are helping guide to that item in a search.