What I learned in year 1 that I wish I knew earlier...

[DareToDreamPrints]

In the last few weeks I've been reflecting on my year and wanted to publicise the biggest lessons I learned - what I achieved, what I was happy with, and things I was so happy with. Why? Well I guess it's a combination of wanting to exorcise some demons, the sense of pride I have and the hope I might help a few people out who share the same worries I had.

But first, a little background. I started my store a little over a year ago. It all came from a seed of an idea I had on a very wet and glum October day (one where I was probably wearing tracksuit pants). Fast forward to today and I'm on over 350 sales and am in a position where I can really see the handwork paying off. I have no doubts there will be more successful shops than mine out there and that I have plenty more things to improve upon but, especially given how busy the festive season was, its clear my prints have appeal.

So to the lessons...

1) All the feels
One of the greatest changes I made was taking my item descriptions from the head to the heart. People want to buy based on the feelings a product will give them not the facts about it. Sure, keep using superlative adjectives to describe your items (eg. "stunning") but by adding an emotional connection, something the buyer will feel, I noticed an uplift in sales.

2) The price is right
Oh pricing, how much you caused me so much debate and anguish! I must have spent months thinking and tinkering with pricing - going higher, going lower, adjusting the prices by a cent/penny etc etc. It took me until Christmas to realise that I've probably got it right based on the sales I was getting. So really my advice here would be find a successful Etsy shop doing something similar to what you're doing and you consider your "shop peer" (by this I mean operating at the level of quality and professionalism you with to be at) and look at their prices. I don't recommend straight cloning of their prices but, for me, it gave me something to work with knowing similar items sell at these prices.

3) Tag your brains out
Now every 'tips' article always mentions tags so I won't attempt to rewrite Shakespeare but one thing I did notice that no other article mentioned is that sub-categories contribute to your tags. You get 13 standard tags but by adding a category and sub-category you get 15. A sub-category isn't a mandatory field and you may not feel there is something that truly fits - however my tip here would be to use the most appropriate one. It has no negative impact but it adds another opportunity for you to be found.

4) Fiverr for your troubles
I used a couple gigs on Fiverr to help my store and I couldn't rate them highly enough. The two gigs I used were based on Etsy Descriptions and Etsy Titles. Did the revolutionise my store? No, in-fact one of the sellers the got in touch to ask "you're good already what do you really need me for?" but the value they gave was two-fold. Firstly, they gave me some new ideas keywords and some extra emphasis on my descriptions - as I say not a huge change, but a definite improvement. The second benefit wasn't tangible but their feedback helped give me the confidence and reassurance in what I was doing and *tick* thats one less thing I need to worry about. I'm still tinkering with them here and there but no longer wake up in the middle of the night pondering what more I could do.

5) Patience is the greatest virtue
This is the biggest lesson I learned and one I still need to keep reminding myself of: Gains are made over the course of months or longer, not a day and through gradual chipping away. By realising this (mostly at least) and by planning for progress over the course of (at minimum) a month, I took out the stress of trying to work at breakneck speed and then expecting equally swift results.

6) Grind all night
This could really be a 5b rather than a 6 but in the same way I must be patient I must also keep working to grind away and improve things. Having settled on pricing, descriptions and layout of my shop I still keep putting in the hours - typically every day - to keep the progress up. This really means working on new designs, keep providing great customer service, and keeping up with promo (eg. Pinterest). Like a clock tick away little by little - it's when you look back will you then see how much has passed (improved).

7) Love thy Customer
It should go without saying (though i'm still shocked to see that isn't always the case) that your customers are invaluable and should be treated as such. I'm not saying you should completely bend over backwards for them but a little empathy and consideration goes a long way. No business is immune to mistakes/problems but you can define yourself by the way you handle them. I had my share of issues but decided very early on to do our best to fix issues even at cost. Again, I don't mean you should be bending over backwards (don't entertain the unreasonable) but our shop guarantees your order will always arrive and will take the financial hit to cover reprint costs if necessary. It's entirely at your discretion if you choose to offer this but for me, it's that difference that lifts us above the competition and can take customers from upset to happy.

And that is it from me; the key lessons I learned from my first year in business. If you've read this far I commend you and I truly hope you've found it useful. I would love to hear any comments you have and perhaps any tips of your own.

Best of luck...

Jonathan
Dare to Dream Prints

[DianeDCrochet]

Thank you for writing this. It gives us newbies things we can work on and something we may not have thought about.

Good luck in your second year.

[DareToDreamPrints]

Thanks Diane - that's really kind of you to say and hope it helps, even if just in some small way.

Likewise good luck with your shop - I'm sure the sales will come flooding in!

[WayvDesigns]

Spot on Jonathan! Also a great for some of us who have been around and need a refresher.

I agree with writing descriptions that speak emotionally - but I have to watch myself that it doesn't turn into a novel!

Most important thing I've learned being both a buyer and a seller:

Product Photography!
I think we all know it's important & we hear certainly it all the time, but it just doesn't seem to sink in right away. My primary shop suffered badly for the first year and a half until I buckled down and invested in good equipment and focused learning.

I feel like my style and techniques are always evolving but I have definitely come a long way from where I started. When I look back at my old pictures I cringe and think "It's a wonder I sold anything at all!"



Titles, Descriptions, and Keyword are for SEO.

Pictures are for the People!

[BuzzBearStudio]

Thanks for the advice! and congrats on having a great 1st year!
I checked out your store. It is amazing. and some of the less than five star review cracked me up, one three star review reads "The seller was very prompt and helpful about fixing my shipping address. If there are any questions or concerns regarding quality or satisfaction, the seller is quick to fix those as well." why oh why!
It reminds me that my only less than five star review reads "Looks great! Exactly what I hoped. Shipped quicker than expected!" I found it amusing.

anyway, may I ask if you have any advice on scaling up? Are you reaching your full capacity?

[Former_Member]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

[SarahEGillis]

This is great, thanks for sharing!

[DareToDreamPrints]

Thank you to you all for your kind words - wasn't expecting people to actually respond to my post!

Kitti - You're absolutely right about photography. I tinkered a lot until I got it right (or least to a point I was happy with it) and think great photos give your store a professional look. I also found doing some basic colour/level enhancements via photoshop (other photo editing tools are available) it really game a vivid photo.

Buzz Bear - I had a similar less than five star review to yours, I think I would actually have preferred some critique! I always get upset with myself if I get less than five stars but I'm not perfect and just try to learn and improve my practices from the experience.

In terms of scaling up, once I was satisfied with my photography/descriptions etc, I just kept creating and listing items. The more items the better it seems in my case. Of course that model works for me as I print to order but it seemed doubling led to a greater than double effect on views/sales. The only time capacity became an issue was Christmas time but that was more a case of it taking me by surprise and by me being a bit unprepared - i'll be sure to be on the ball come next period :)

My next project in terms of scaling up is to master the dark art of Pinterest to drive traffic...

[CaliforniaCrownJewel]

Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for taking the time out to write and share your great article of encouragement.
I am curious what you mean by "adding an emotional connection, something the buyer will feel, I noticed an uplift in sales". Would love to see an example of this idea.
I'm celebrating my 1 year Etsy anniversary today in fact. The one thing I learned - from purchasing thru other Etsy shops - is that packaging is really, really important. I made several purchases from a shop that packaged their items so well that I hated to open them. No kidding. It really made me realize that putting a little bit of time, love, and ribbon on each and every item, adding a little piece of double sided tape to one of my business cards to attach to the item, and including a hand written thank you note could make my items pop. And I started getting more reviews from doing that too.
Wishing you another prosperous year!
<3 Jewel

[TrendBolt]

Thanks a lot of sharing.

Pricing and patience tips I find rather useful right now.

I guess many of us make the mistake of measuring the efforts/result ratio instead of actual time.

Your words cheer me up, thank you again.

[DareToDreamPrints]

Hi Jewel/Sofia - thank you for posting a response; I really appreciate you taking the time to read my post and truly hope it helps.

Jewel, in terms of emotional connection I think it's really about the description outlining what emotion and feelings your item will give the buyer. Another tip I read was explicit use of "you" or "your" in item descriptions - from a psychological view point it is intended to help the buyer feel you're talking direct to them.

An example from one of my listings:
"Featuring a truly uplifting quote, proudly display this beautiful print and you will be inspired to greatness each and every day."

The use of "uplifting", "proudly" and "inspired to greatness" are intending to convey how the buyer will feel and hopefully create a closer connection to the item.

Excellent advice about the packaging also, thank you for including. I must really look into this - It sounds like it really makes your item something special to receive.

Thanks again, and I wish you all the best - you both have lovely stores.

[BlueJayBay]

Thanks for sharing your insights, Jonathan. I have been taking notes and hope to make some improvements based on the advice here.

[Craftegui]

Thank you for sharing such valuable info! Today it's the second time I read about fiverr and no idea what is it!

[DareToDreamPrints]

Thank you Emily/Paty, I hope it is of some benefit.

Paty - Fiverr is a marketplace where people offer things they will do for $5. There are some talented people on there offering everything from logo design to admin tasks to language translation. Definitely worth a look.

[Former_Member]

Hi Jonathan, really enjoyed reading your post, it's always good to hear from someone who has put in the work and seen results, I'm currently trying to take my shop from a minor hobby to something more, I'll be taking your advice!

[DareToDreamPrints]

Thanks Miss Scarlett - Your shop is adorable so good luck with it all!

[WindFallFinds]

Good stuff Jonathan, I've been on Etsy for only 3 months and I have had the pricing dilemma, one of the things I also realized is that it's a lot of work(even though it's work I like distracting me from school :)) and it's easy to get discouraged, here is where patience comes into account I guess...

[Former_Member]

Thanks Jonathan! How have I had a shop for 4 years without knowing about the subcategory thing?! I'm going to have to check that out! :)

[DareToDreamPrints]

Thanks Windfallfinds and Annie - great stores so good luck!

[Former_Member]

Your advice on descriptions is something that really impacted me. I've been struggling with that aspect of my store and this is great inspiration to try something new! Thank you for all of this awesome information. LOVE your shop btw (: Hope you have a successful year

xoxo Natalie from Eight To Six

[Former_Member]

Thank you for sharing your lessons to help the rest of us learn.