Top Ten Tips + Yours = Success!

[CactusCurio]

Hey Team!

We just posted "Top Ten Tips for Starting an Etsy Business" over in the Seller Handbook (http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2013/top-10-tips-for-starting-an-etsy-business), and would love to know your thoughts/suggestions/questions!

As it stands, here are the top tips we've gathered:

1. Be Patient
2. Create High Quality Photography
3. Price It Right
4. Provide Excellent Customer Service
5. Organize Your Finances
6. Think Like a Customer
7. Join a Team
8. Do Your Research.
9. Network and Promote Yourself
10. Take Advantage of Etsy's Free Resources

Have you been able to implement any of these strategies into your business operations? What's your top tip? What's working/what's less-working?

You can head over to the post to share suggestions, or stick around here and be a part of the discussion with your fellow Etsy Success Team members!

Looking forward to hearing your input!

Katy

[Former_Member]

I think you forgot the most important tip: provide a high quality product. Then continue to augment that level of quality as you go. This is true whether you make your own products, provide supplies, or find vintage goodies. :)

ETA: I have found all 10 tips on that list to be absolutely vital in helping my shop grow

[heartsabustin]

All of those are fabulous, but when I really saw things start to take off in this shop was when I really started focusing on #2 - quality photography is the first step to getting customers into your shop.

The next thing? Description, description, description - it doesn't have to be "War and Peace", but it does have to contain all the information your buyer needs. They can't smell it, pick it up, try it on or touch it. Use your words, as I'm fond of telling my kids.

And if you're putting measurements in (you ARE putting measurements in, right?) DO NOT use coins to show scale. An American quarter means nothing to your Russian or French customer. Put ALL measurements in Imperial and metric. A dressmakers' tape will have both of those, sometimes on the same side of the tape.

[greengrass2]

It's a great list, and all those things have been helpful in making my shop a small success. My mantra to myself is "get serious about your shop, and it will get serious back!!"

[WintergreenDesign]

I agree with Raven... a high quality product (is #1) added with your own unique flair and great pictures and backed up with great customer service : )

[AttentionGetting]

Market & promote at least an hour a day.

[ionesAttic]

I believe that #4 Great Customer Service is positioned accordingly.
In a sea of similar vintage items, some pictured and described to greater detail, excellent customer service is the key to seal the deal!

[sammysgrammy]

I copied the seller handbook link to share on my team. We have so many newbies all the time. This is a document that needs to be bookmarked.

I totally agree with the two who posted ahead of me. (a high quality product and the best pictures you can make - and if you still can't get a clear, light, defined pic up - get a photographer.

I think people stumble over #6 and give romantic, theatrical names to their shops, in their descriptions - thinking they'll attract - but no customer is going to enter a search term that is "out there" and does not refer to the item at all.

And #9 as well. Many newbies, unfortunately, are not cyber savvy, and have no idea how to promote their shops. This would be a good subject for an etsy lab.

[WatchMeWorld]

I think #6, think like a customer is really important. It helps with being found in search, making and living with policies that will make a customer feel comfortable, and keeping the lines of communication open. I feel like a subpoint to that tip would be Listen To Your Customers. Some of the most popular and best selling items I have in my shop are the result of a customer asking me to do a custom piece for them. I have found if someone has to ask me to special make something, there are usually other people out there looking for that item too and just not finding it. That has been a huge help in growing my business.

[Former_Member]

Photos Photos Photos!

They are your FIRST impression to a buyer.
Make them look their best.

I changed my photos recently and saw TONS of response.
It makes each day exciting and pushes me to work even harder!


(also, SEO - if you cant be found - it cant be bought)

[LaAntiguaTextiles]

The number one "Be patient" is a good tip. All of them are, including the ones given by other sellers before me, but patience is vital. Keep at it, do not despair.
Photos are critical, too, and it is something I work constantly, learning from others and studying my own camera and options.
What to say about SEO, that is something to be always looking at, I am investing a lot of time and effort on that one.

[CactusCurio]

These are some great tips! It's awesome to hear how proactive you all are as sellers, it's half the battle to keep revising a listing once it's posted, but so vital!

@Rita, I would love to hear more of what you'd want to see if that sort of online lab? Search Ads, social media platforms? What's worked best for you?

"Many newbies, unfortunately, are not cyber savvy, and have no idea how to promote their shops. This would be a good subject for an etsy lab."

[2ndChanceFabrics]

It is a learning process and I have used all of these tips and I just picked up a few more great tips! I find the Seller Handbook and team discussions to be very helpful. The information you need can be found easily and is an important time saver for me.

[Former_Member]

What Jennifer said: Listen To Your Customers. Some of the most popular and best selling items I have in my shop are the result of a customer asking me to do a custom piece for them. I have found if someone has to ask me to special make something, there are usually other people out there looking for that item too and just not finding it. That has been a huge help in growing my business.

There is so much duplication on Etsy, yet there are items NOT easily found, and if you have customers asking for something, it means there's an opportunity. For example I love making kids clothes, an area "almost" as over-saturated as jewelry. Okay maybe worse. Yet people ask for matching big/little kid, matching doll-and-me, plus sizes....I'd be crazy not to listen to that!

[Former_Member]

Understanding and implementing SEO is very important. Once I changed even 1/3 of my listings to have better descriptive titles and matching keyword-phrased tags instead of single keyword tags I saw a huge increase in views and sales.

Great photos are important, and deserves a lot of time to learn how to do it.

Patience is a virtue on Etsy :)

And customer service is key! Repete customers are so nice to have.

[AnnaSiivonen]

I've looked at etsy like a learning experience from the start, in finding my style, finding what sells and how to present them so they sell better, how to be more efficient so I can make more items. Looking at it like this helped me stay motivated when there were no sales and hardy any views. fokusing on improving is much more gratifying than fokusing on sales, you can succeed in improving your shop in tiny steps every day, but if you count your success on etsy in sales most etsy sellers will fail for months selling very few items in the beginning, and it is much harder to paddle through if you feel like a failure. I reached 800 sales yesterday, but I'm still learning and working on improving my shop, and I think it is fun.

[studiodct]

Another addition is simply the number of items for 'most' of us. Some can sell lots with only a few, but in general, you need more than one page of items to show up in searches, to have more for the customer to choose from, and be seen. Great list, op!

[Former_Member]

I would like to add the 11th tip: love, love , love what you do. If you put a passion into your work, I am sure that this will bring more success. But be passioned also when describing your item, when taking photos, when communicating with customers and so on. When someone truly loves what he/she does, than this also reflects also in his/her visual image of his/her etsy shop. Well, that is my opinion.

[MelsCreativeWishes]

Geat tips! Good photography and accurate and concise descriptions are so important. including measurements, colour etc in the description is so important.
One of the things that increased sales for me was great titles and tags and reading up on relevancy and seos and then changing and tweaking my listings accordingly.
Offering really good quality and well made items is also a must and listeningbto customers and making changes where necessary.

[CactusCurio]

"I have found if someone has to ask me to special make something, there are usually other people out there looking for that item too and just not finding it. That has been a huge help in growing my business."

@Janet, that is so dead on! It's awesome, and so crucial, to have the ability to adapt and meet those customer's needs!

@Anna Siivonen, Congrats! How are you celebrating?!

[Former_Member]

I think that this is an excellent list! As a new Etsy shop owner I really value all of these tips and have and will continue to implement them in my Etsy routine!

Thanks for the great tips!

[WilliamsGiftshop]

I think these are the most important factors for becoming a successful seller of handmade products on Etsy:
- Design and make unique items, that are both pretty and functional and that people want to own.
- Present them in the best possible way. Stunning pictures, accurate descriptions.
- Price your products well, for financial success.
- Make perfect use of keywords (in your tags, titles, descriptions, etc.), so people will find your items.
- Find your target market and promote directly to them.
- Promote, promote and then promote some more.
- Have excellent customer service, so buyers return to your shop and spread word of mouth.
- Love what you are doing. That is the only route to success.
- Don't ever think you are done. Running a successful shop (and designing and creating your own products) is an ongoing process and involves renewing, adaptation, and passion.

[diarysketches]

I've implemented all. And the greatest help of all where fellow etsians in teams that are so AWESOME!! and give of their time to help others out
Thank you so much!!!

[Former_Member]

All really good tips! Understanding SEO (and what that actually means) is also very important! I was on Etsy for 9 months before I really began to understand how to title and tag my items. I'm still working on it, but I've improved, and so have the number of sales! Also, #2 is crucial as well! Once I changed my tags and titles and began trying to improve my photography, I found that my views and sales began to increase. And patience is always a good thing to have, no matter what you do.

[CatherineMarissa]

Be open to change and evolution.

I think planning is definitely important, but it's also important to evaluate what is working in your plan and what is not. Sometimes, success requires that your shop grows and changes...maybe even becoming something completely different!