Etsy beginners

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone! My name is Paula and I am new to Etsy. I sew items (right now mostly stuff for children) and have been trying to market my products on Etsy. I have been on for several months and have yet to sell an item. I have also not had many views of my products. I was hoping that by joining a team, I would be able to gain some insight on how to expand my Etsy shop. This is a "last effort" for me before I close my shop. If you have any ideas or suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated. Happy sewing:)

[RepurposeCouture]

Hi Paula! I think the best suggestion I have would be to add more items...many more items. I love your banner. Your tooth fairy pillows are adorable. But you really need to add more items.
Don't give up, don't give up, don't give up.....( I think Winston Churchill said something similar) :o)

[Former_Member]

Good morning Maria!! Thank you so much for your reponse. I had more items listed but I wasn't familiar with the process of paying for your listed items and they dropped off. I also got a little discouraged. I do plan on getting them posted again along with a couple of other items i have made. I am hoping that belonging to a team will also give me some ideas and I think reading about the success other people have had will be encouraging. Thanks again!!

[Former_Member]

I agree with Maria. Add as many items to your store as you possibly can. I've got about 30 items in my store now and that still doesn't seem like enough.

I'm pretty new to Etsy myself and I've only had 3 sales since I've opened shop in July. Some days it's tough to hang in there and it is discouraging to have days and weeks pass with no sales. Hang in there and don't give up! Maybe, with a little luck, we can both have a good holiday season. : )

You might another look at your tags and the titles for your listings. If you get stuck, search for items similar to yours and see what other people are doing. Look at their tags, look at their titles. Maybe that will help.

Good luck!!

[Former_Member]

Hello Paula, Try to add more items to your shop. At least one full page, that should help. Your scarves are very nice and the cold months of Winter are near for many of us. The scarfs should sell soon. Best of luck to you !

[Former_Member]

Good morning Jeana!! I want to thank you for your response, for looking at my store and for your suggestions. I am currently working on adding more items. I sometimes have a hard time trying to figure out what kind of items to concentrate on. It does get a little discouraging but I am going to keep trying.
Good luck with your store and I hope you have a good holiday season!!!

[Former_Member]

Good morning Doris!! Thank you for looking at my store, for your response, and for your suggestions. I am working on adding more items which do include a couple of more scarfs. Maybe they will sell with the winter months coming on!! Thanks again and good luck to you with your store!!

[Former_Member]

Paula-
You are welcome.
I have trouble trying to figure that out too. I'm trying to cast a wide net here at first to see what sells then I can make adjustments in the future.
I decided to use the philosophy of one of my favorite shops...sell what you love. We'll see if it works. : )
Good luck and thank you!!

[thatssewholly]

When I decided to get serious about my Etsy shop I made a facebook page and started inviting my friends and family to like my page. I try to post something every day, but not too much each day because people get tired of seeing it all. :o)

I also started a pinterest for my shop and started posting everything I added to my shop on there and on my personal pinterest boards.

Both of these things really helped increase my sales.

[Former_Member]

I have posted stuff on FB as well, and my views really increased. I haven't done it in a while because I haven't added a lot of new stuff (other projects have kept me super busy!) I would like to add a Pinterest page eventually because I think that will help also. I am interested in knowing more information about starting a Pinterest page. Thank you so much for the ideas!! Best wishes for a GREAT holiday season!!!

[Former_Member]

I have a pinterest page that I barely pay attention to, and it still brings in traffic. IT's worth the time. I use mine as I would a personal account, except I have a section for stuff that I made. It's much better to not treat it as a purely business tool in my opinion because you will get more followers. Then, when you pin something of yours people will be more likely to take it as a less spammy type thing. Check out other big pinners and businesses and see what they are doing. They never just pin their own products.
Another thing about facebook is that if you are using your personal account you may be reaching a lot of your friends, who may not be your target market. Friends might just want to see what you are doing and give you a pat on your back vs. being an actual customer. I count friends and family views as "throw away views". In the case of Facebook, deifinitely go with a business page!

[Former_Member]

Just scrolling through my teams this morning and I happened upon this conversation which really interested me. Especially the last comment about friends and family being "throw away views". I agree, unless they share your post with their friends and family which doesn't happen.

I sell children's clothing and have had sales but not as much as I had hoped.

So my question is, even with a business page, how do you get more "customer views" on a Facebook Page.

When I first started my FB business page, I put a call out on some of my teams on Etsy and got some Likes but I felt that most of them were also "throw away views/likes" as they were really not my target audience, just people trying to help out another Etsian.

[KeepsakesStudio]

Join one or two more teams that are very active....(suggestion...This team and EPSTeam).....tag your items with their tag (sewing and selling and epsteam). This really helps people trying to make treasuries that include your team. Nothing more frustrating than knowing there is an item you want to include in a treasury that SOMEONE on your team MUST have, but it does not come up on a search! And don't forget to also tag the color of your item...not only it's "real" color, but it's "fantasy color", i.e. brown AND coffee! I am constantly surprised at the power of Treasuries, so don't neglect this opportunity.

And don't give up! This is the busiest time of year for everyone...through January...if you work it, you will get sales. I tell people, things have to marinate on etsy. Have faith in your product....love your cowls....and faith in yourself! We are all cheering you on!

[Former_Member]

To get more targeted traffic to facebook you need to link all your accounts together. LIke your pinterest, twitter, relative sites you participate in etc... Let them know you have a facebook. When you make a sale include a business card or two with your fb page listed on it. The more you are on social media, the better. Don't "live" on etsy. You can only relist so much without driving up your prices. There is only so much you can do to promote yourself within Etsy. There is a whole world out there not on Etsy, and if you can find your target customers, you have it made.
I do SO little advertising here within Etsy. I let Etsy take care of advertising within Etsy. If you get listed in a treasury, share it on your blog, your twitter etc. All I'm saying is don't focus solely on Etsy. Get out there.

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone! These conversations are so helpful and informative. I have also already thought about some of the things being said. I haven't sold anything yet but it seems like a lot of sales on Etsy would come from other people who are also selling their items because they are looking on Etsy promoting their items. This is good, but I agree that you also need to have other outlets to promote your product. Promoting to family and friends is also good but can only last so long and unless they promote to other family and friends you hit a dead end. Adrienne - you have offered a lot of good ideas for promoting that I want to check into along with increasing my inventory - thank you so much. I also appreciate all the other ideas and support given. What a GREAT team!! Good luck to all of you during the Holiday Season!!!!!