Advice on my store!

[Former_Member]

So this seemed a fairly appropriate place to post this. I'm looking for advice on my store. We've been open for a little over a week, and we've sold one item. I know folks say it takes a while to build up a following here on Etsy, and it can take a few months for a sale. I'd still like some advice on how to help this thing take off. So throwing it out there, looking for any sort of constructive criticism I can get!

[Former_Member]

Hi Nathan,
I really like the idea behind your shop, and if I had a dog I would certainly be tempted to buy treats there!
I think it might help to make the flavors more clear in the listings-buyers do a lot of "scanning" through shops/items, and if they usually buy chicken flavored treats at the store, they might look through your shop trying to find that item (I figure you have the dog treats at the front of the title to help with search, but it could be helpful to maybe add the flavor onto the picture? Like have the treats and then maybe a little text that says "Bacon Flavored!" or something). Also if you have an opportunity to market to dog owners in real life (ie at the dog park, striking up a conversation about the treats you're giving your dog) that could help to build a loyal customer base/help you with the "word of mouth" marketing.
Best of luck! (:

[HighCalPens]

I agree with Laila, word of mouth marketing is the best way to build a loyal customer base. I sell my pens at work more than anyplace else, but I tell my customers that they can also find my pens in my Etsy shop if they can't connect with me at work. It also allows them to buy pens for co-workers without anyone else "spilling the beans!

I also hand out business cards with my Etsy shop address on it.

[Former_Member]

Interesting. I never thought of adding the treat flavor onto the picture itself. I might have to see if I can make that work somehow.

As far as real world marketing, we actually do sell treats at dog agility trials (we're going to one tomorrow morning....EARLY tomorrow morning...ugh). We didn't pass out business cards at our last one, but I'm in the process of printing some for this one.