im new and in need of some help!

[Former_Member]

Hi im Danae and before we get started I want to make it very clear that im not trying to self promote just really could use some pointers. Ive had my shop for around a month and haven't sold anything yet. I know its not an issue with my product cause i do get commision work around tucson but want to expand (hence etsy account). I have looked at other sites and forums and have made quite a few changes in order to try to get more business. a few things i've done

added more items to shop
updated banner
went through seo updated tags and tittle for more hits
did the sectioning of items

I am going to add more pics of items as was discussed in one of your forums
(have my own camera now)
but wondering if there is anything else i could do. Are my prices too high? did i do the shipping wrong? anything would help for feedback. im not sure since its mine and thats why i think its fine, im getting traffic but no sales. If you can look and let me know i would appreciate it again not trying to promote just don't know were to go from here to be more successful.

[Former_Member]

I would not suggest doing the multi-photo pictures as your first photo on items. Some people do it but usually it's best just to have one clear but still visually interesting shot of your item as the first photo. It needs to show what the product is but still be eye catching and for small items really good macro (close up) photos seem to do that best. After you post a listing wait a few hours and then search some of your target key terms and find your listing. See what it looks like with the similar listing. Is it eye catching? Also, for seo I suggest searching for your target key terms and finding a similar product that had a high search result and see what terms they use. Some will be relevant to you and maybe some wont. Taking the Kodama tree spirit bracelet as an example: "green" is probably not a good search term for you (I have similar items and rarely do I get hits on color terms), You don't need to specify "bracelet" as a search term because it is already added when you specify Etsy's category as Jewelry > Bracelet and I've found that plurals also don't matter for searches (there are 508,961 results for both "tree" and "trees"), don't repeat terms if you have "tree spirit" you don't also need "tree". Think of high value terms. If you were looking for something like this what might you search? "studio ghibli", "anime", "nature", "fantasy" all come to mind. Then look at what search terms people are finding your stuff using in the analytics section. If they never hit on a term get rid of it and use something better. I started out with a high aptitude for SEO but I'm still working at it all the time. Your prices are NOT too high. You need to be more patient, one month is not that long to go without a sale when you are starting out (I still often go a month without a sale). Do social media. Find a site that works well for your style of posting and target audience and focus on promoting via that site (I'm on Tumblr, Pinterest, and Deviantart but found that Tumblr works best for me though I'm also considering going to instagram). What will help you MOST right now is putting up more product. I've made the most sales when I have at least one full page of listings on my home page. I would suggest more then that honestly but once I get to that point I start having trouble keeping enough listed to keep up with demand.

[Former_Member]

I'm quite impressed with your sculpting skills. Keep up the good work!
Michaela has given you a lot of good advice, and I agree with it.

I think your prices are good, and I'm glad to see you are offering international shipping. The best thing you can do is keep adding items, and learning more about your search words. People have to FIND you to buy from you.

It was a few months before I had my first sale, and I still go through quiet times. Do not be discouraged if you have to wait a while - keep creating!

[Former_Member]

thank you michaela for taking the time to help me out. A lot of what you said makes sense and excited to put into practice! I agree that i need to look into high valued terms and take some single shots close up of my work. before it wasnt possible but now that i have a canon i should be able to take a good pic from different angles. I have started social media of facebook,tumblr,pinterest,and twitter which was a step out of my comfort zone but needed none the less. I will be putting up more soon but hard with getting done since i have orders to do here and a limited time to being able to do it(only when son is in special education about 3hrs a day 4 days a week). Not worried about long turn since after summer will have 7hr days.I know that a month isn't enough time to starting a business i guess i want that validation that this is something that i can do to help bring income in as well as that my work has worth. as silly as that sound. again thank you i will be going over everything you said and try to make the necessary changes and wait since patience is a virtue in this field lol =)

[Former_Member]

thank you kit for taking the time to look and reply to my post it means a lot. Im glad you find the sculpting skills pleasing because as im sure you know everytime you make something its a learning experience and you always feel you can do better =) Im definitely going to dive into those search words more closely to get better views as michaela suggested. Thanks again for your time and kind words

[Former_Member]

This thread made an interesting read. Great suggestions!

Dance, you're tapping into jewelry category which is the biggest category of Etsy sales but you also have a lot of competition. Etsy Empire by Eric Michael has more on categories if I remember right. I also found "How I Made my first thousand on Etsy" to be a great resource. Do you find inspiration from trends?

Based on this article (link below) I'm thinking of adding a wall decor item. Already had a product in the works for that but this kind of article helps me focus. https://blog.etsy.com/en/2015/the-hottest-home-trends-of-2015/

Search shops you like and steal their ideas. :) E.g. I got a great idea for photos from all those adorable needle felt artists. They sometimes take product photos with a pet that inspired the sculpture. I don't have pets. I have birds. So I put out bird seed (close to where the feeder usually is) and the product. Got great shots of a chickadee looking at the chickadee earrings. Turned out to be a fun memory and hopefully boosted the uniqueness of my product photography. It helps brand my shop. So steal, plunder and pillage but don't violate copywriters or copy cat. Einstein says, "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." 😀

Keep your unique style in the process and have fun! All the best. Your shop has cute items. Tell me when you get your first sale so we can virtual high five.

[Former_Member]

thanks guys for your help i made my first sale following your suggestions!