Reflect on 2012 to Create an Awesome 2013!

[#1]

Happy New Year!

Before 2013 picks up speed, take a moment to reflect on this past year in your shop. What triumphs and challenges did you face? Using the tips in the following post, take stock of where you struggled and succeeded. Arm yourself with the lessons you learned as you begin what could be your best year yet!

Check out the article: http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2013/reflect-on-2012-t/

And share the lessons you’ve learned here.

Cheers!

Audrey

[Former_Member]

Reading through everyone's posts has reminded me of all the things I've learnt since opening my shop in May!

In 2013 I'll be focusing on increasing the range of items I sell at different price points, and putting time into facebook.

After watching one of the Etsy success 'how to price your work' videos last year I've been thinking a lot about this, particularly the inherent niceness value of something handmade, and have recently increased my prices a little bit. I plan to keep increasing them a little bit over the year, as my skill level has definitely improved in 6 months.

I've also simplified my packaging to reduce the cost, so I have more profit.

Have a fantastic year everyone

[TwistedDesigns]

I learned a lot about how to run a business in 2012 even though i ha e been in business 5 years. It's more than a hobby now. I learned a LOT about SEO and improved my products a lot.

In 2013, I want to expand my product lines. I also want to improve my social media. I have a FB page, but I need to learn to use it to my benefit.

[Former_Member]

Laura, were would I find the video "how to price your work"?

[MademoiselleDorota]

Thank you so much for that thread!
I learned a lot last year!Hopefully 2013 will be even more amazing!

[Former_Member]

I start late last year and I'm still learning so much ;-D Thanks for this!!

[Former_Member]

Ann, there are some great videos here: http://www.etsy.com/community/online-labs

I was really inspired by "The Art of Pricing for Profit"... I can't figure out how to link to that particular video, but if you go to the link above and then click on the "Etsy Success" section under the player, and then scroll back a few times, you should find it!

Thanks everyone for posting your tips and ideas! I'm just getting started so right now my goal is to add a few more items to stock my shop. :)

[Former_Member]

After close to two years on Etsy I've learned that Etsy isn't for me. I've had a few sales but it's not sufficient to justify the time spent uploading the photos and information and fulfilling the orders. I've posted my uploads on my Facebook page, featured the link to my Etsy site on the right-hand side of my three blogs, no results. As a fine-art photographer my sales potential is better on my personal website and on Fine Art America, both of which also do fulfillment and which allow the photographer to preset all prices instead of having to set each one individually. I don't plan to renew my listings when they expire and will just gradually disappear from Etsy.

[BelleByJessi]

I learned that I was NOT prepared for Christmas sales! It was excellent to have so many more sales than I expected, but I'll certainly devote a little time every month this year to preparing and stocking better for Christmas.

[Former_Member]

This has been my first year selling online. When I opened shop in Feb, I had no idea how much work it would be or how rewarding the simple tasks could be (update your titles and tags and suddenly the item no one noticed gets tons of views and sells that same day!).

Photography has been my biggest challenge. Jewelry isn't the easiest thing to photograph, especially when your style is as eclectic and busy as mine. :) I'm still tweaking and learning, but I'm leaps and bounds ahead of where I was when I started!

I think my greatest triumph was when I started to sell internationally. For the past 6 years, the Merry Maenad has been strictly about local sales. So going from having customers down the road from me to having customers on the other side of the planet - without losing the local clientele - is amazing!

For 2013, I want to continue improving my Etsy shop now that I have more confidence. Do more online promoting (something I've been horrifically negligent about), create more of course, and hopefully even expand my line to include more costuming elements.

[Former_Member]

I have come a long way since I started here in 08. I only had about 15 listings, and my pictures weren't that great. I am happy to say that although I am not a power seller (hopefully one day), I am happy with the following I have on Etsy. I was able to use social media to get my in a variety of print and tv, and it is starting to pay off.

For 2013 I plan on branching out to my own site, in a few shops, and to vend. outside of my area more.

[mossycreekstudio]

As a jewelry designer in a highly competitive and saturated market, my product goals will be to always be ahead of the game, I want to always be the TRENDSETTER, never ever a follower.

I have had a successful first year, but in 2013 I must bring my prices up, and allow sales to slow down if needed.

I have not yet broken even, and need to focus on ways to cut expenses. Renews are must, but are also very costly.

I am a CPA and track all of my expenses and sales in Excel so I have an accurate view at all times of where I am at.

I also plan to stick to a MONTHLY BUDGET for supply purchases.

And finally, photos photos photos.

Lots of luck everyone! Each and everday I am grateful and inspired to be a part of this most awesome Etsy community!

Amy

[Former_Member]

Great info!

Marking the old fashioned way!

[Former_Member]

2012 was my first real year of selling and promoting my shop so I've learned quite a bit!
- Photos are very important and modeling the items yourself or at least showing what they look like on goes a long way.
- Tags and SEO can really make your shop found, I often get people who searched on Google and other sites
- The number of items you have also makes a huge difference, it wasn't until I hit about 50 items that I started to see the traffic in my shop go up. The more items the more opportunities to be seen.
- I've also found that showing items in different colors also helps, I had a pair of fingerless gloves in my shop for months go unsold then a relative asked for them in a different color. I took a picture and posted it separately and have sold about 5 pairs. People don't think of asking for different colors or sizes all of the time but when it's in front of them they'll buy it.

I feel like there's more but that's all that I have for right now. After reading other peoples comments I'm going to try and add the backlinks, that sounds like a great idea!

[angelinabella]

I have been selling on etsy since november of 2011. My shop has mainly vintage and antique items in it. it appears just by eye-balling my stats that my best times for selling have been spring and fall. I have good communication with my customers, good photos, and am getting the hang of shipping . However, i get lost when i read posts about how to use the stats, and i know that if i understood them better i would be able to use them to my advantage. Every a.m. i check into my shop stats for the day/days before, and look at the stats for my individual items. But how to read and then use the stats beyond that is a mystery to me. btw, have never been good with statistics of any kind.

[Former_Member]

This was my fifth holiday season on Etsy, and although sales were great, my growth stalled out and sales were equal to the year before. What I learned in 2012 was to be FLEXIBLE! What worked in previous years, doesn't necessarily work for the next year. The buying public is trend-oriented and always looking for the next "new" thing so it's important to keep things fresh. I also had to re-think marketing strategies as the popularity of blogs has dimmed in favor of new fads like Pinterest, and as the dynamics of Facebook pages have changed and become more challenging. Here's to a FLEXIBLE 2013!

[Former_Member]

2012 was the year I established my Etsy shop. It's only been up a few months and I'm learning so much and enjoying the journey. This article was great. The exercise really got me thinking. The comments here sparked new ideas, too. Thank you, everyone. This newbie is very appreciative. I'm looking forward to a fun, creative and successful 2013 and wish you all the same.

[noavider]

I would add to all the great thing were told here-

1. Free syling advice, I help my clients to choose and match one of my shswls to their dresses, I also advice about matching shoes and other accessories ( i link to other shops i like or just advice for color or style). They are so happy that they come back and recommand friends. I have so many coming-back costumers!

2. About photos- twice a year I pay for professional photographer, model, make-up and hair designer and make the best photos. Those photos make all shop look great and gives the 'spirit' of the shop. off course I use items I can duplicate a lot. Other items I want to sell (but without spending ton of money) I model myself.

I hope 2013 will be even better!!! good luck everybody

[aubabi78]

Hi Etsy Family!
I love all the input everyone has. If I could add anything it would be:
1. Make sure you have tracking on EVERY item.
2. Buy in bulk and when it's on sale for your supplies
3. Don't wait too long to reply to your customers
4. Don't spend time worrying about what the competition is doing. This is just a time suck.
5. Take time for yourself. Make sure you are not spending every waking moment worrying about your shop or it will not be fun anymore
6. Keep track of why you are doing this in the first place
7. Keep track of everything you spend...this will help during tax time.
Like a lot of other smart shop owners have said, celebrate the small wins. 1st sell 1st time sold outside of the US 1st time you get to 100 views on an item. These are all super great wins!! Celebrate that you are doing what you are doing!
Good luck and God bless you all in 2013 :)!!

[Former_Member]

I learned it's ok, and much more manageable, to delegate tasks. My business doesn't have to be a "One Man Band!" And if I'm going to continue to process this volume of orders, it simply can't be. Welcome 2013. Love Etsy.

[MerlinMN]

Gotta figure out better guesses on shipping! Charge more for items, especially handmade (NO ONE knows how much time was spent creating each item, nor do they really apprieciate it).
Need to work on SEO and haven't gotten much usable info on this site regarding it (Hey, the labs that said they were going to explain it were pretty lame, guys!). Tags need work, for sure.
Biggest problem (almost)? Having a full time, on-call job that actually pays the bills (my handmade stuff won't) that prevents me from doing as much with my shop as I know I need to. I don't even think about twitter or FB; just NO time.
Really biggest problem? Not having cooperation at home. My time with Etsy makes them jealous. And they do not want to be included - they won't help with shipping, so I have to race home after work to get packages in the mail.
The one 'good thing' about the full time job - I often get to work at really slow sites and can work on my projects between customers (just don't tell the bosses!). But there are no computers (often no electricity), so I can't work on the storefront.
2013? I have to hope for better, and more steady sales.

[HerbgirlAndVintage]

Rather than list a lot of items at one time , list one item a day. Buyers will find you via searching for newly listed items and will find your shop that way. This has been key for me.

[Former_Member]

While ETSY is wonderful, it is not quite enough to cover my share of the family budget, so I do keep a day job.
In 2012 I started working more, so I had to streamline my online work. I have two ETSY shops, a website and two blogs, one for my family, and one for antique finds.

I had also been selling on Ebay and a local crafter site. After some considerations, and taking into account the high fees from the two other platforms, I decided to only sell on ETSY for right now. This removed stress of having to add new items in three different places, and having to keep everything sorted and organised in regard to having three different shops online.

When I added all the extra items to my ETSY shop I got a surge in hearts and sales... thus prooving that listings is what really brings in the views.

I keep a good record of my expenses and income so that I have better view of my actual profit.

My goal is to make 2013 the best year so far.

[Former_Member]

What a great article! I love getting emails from Etsy that nudge me to sit down and really take a hard look at my shop.

My shop is not quite a year old, and in the past year I have learned a lot!

Some things I've learned this year with my Etsy experience include:
- Photos are very important, as they are the face of your shop
- Teams are great resources for guidance, ideas, opinions
- How to be more patient
- How to put my time to good use
- The importance of a good customer experience
- How to promote and stay active in avenues outside of just Etsy (FB, Twitter, Pinterest, my website blog, etc... don't limit yourself!)
- Don't be afraid to stop using avenues that aren't bring your business any activity. Pay attention to your target market, and find places to connect with them (whether in real life, or online). If you're talking to a bunch of people about your vision who aren't listening, you are wasting your time, and time is valuable!
- Always leave feedback! Years ago I was a seller of vintage finds on a different site, and I have always been a big believer in leaving feedback (both as a seller and a buyer). This allows people to gain confidence in a person's products and service.

Things that I plan to do this upcoming year:
- Stay ahead of holidays & seasons; list items ahead of time so that people can find what they are looking for!
- Brand your business universally across all outlets so that your online presence can be solid (I'm working on this, because I feel like mine needs to be made a bit tighter)
- Plan ahead with supplies: running low on shipping supplies? fabric? thread? Catnip? Order supplies well in advance so that you never run out when you need them.
- Continue to practice patience
- Continue to always leave feedback for all of my transactions (as a buyer and seller)
- Create unique, fun, durable, and awesome products that I am proud of
- Take time OFF to re-set. *Don't be afraid to do this!*

Looking forward to the year ahead =^-^=

[FeinJewelryArts]

Is there a post or forum where I can learn how to include backlinks on my pages?

[Former_Member]

Anna, Thanks for the link. I appreciate it. Everyone here has such good advice and Ideas, you guys are the best!