Offering advice, if you want it :)

[#1]

Hey there newbies!

I am not a veteran to etsy, I opened shop in Jan '11. So far I have made 26 sales, offers for wholesaling, have repeat customers, and was asked to sell in a boutique. Don't get me wrong I am not bragging, but so far I am having a good experience with etsy. I would like to share some tips I have learned along the way.
1. Have an eyecatching banner and avatar that reflects your business
2. User name and business should be the same, it will be easier for people to find you
3. Use expressive descriptions when describing your items, be fancy use a thesaurus if you have to, a boring description does no justice to your item.
4. Don't be overly detailed in your description, a buyer doesn't care what the process is of making your piece, they will fall asleep reading descriptions like that and run away from your shop!!
5. Use natural light when taking pics, a flash distorts the color and cheapens your product. Invest in Photoshop if you have an etsy shop, it will be the best $100 you'll spend!!
6. TAGS!!! Always Always Always , I repeat ALWAYS use all your tags!!!!!!! You are losing customers when you don't use them all, they are a roadmap for people to find you. You don't need to be overly descript with these, but think about different ways to say the same thing, for example, I use rosette a lot instead of flower, people search a lot for rosette headbands, use colors like blue and pink, not cobalt and strawberry, when was the last lime you looked for a cobalt purse?
7. Prices, don't sell yourself short, but don't overcharge, most people are savvy shoppers and know when they are being overcharged, prices too low say, my items are cheap and and I don't spend that much time on them, at least that is how I see it.
8. Don't put outlandish shipping charges on your products
9. Write about yourself in the profile section, it's how people get to know the person behind the shop
10. Most important provide the best customer service you can, convo someone who buys from you and tell them thank you, write a personal note on their invoice, it's shows people you care about them as a customer.

Sorry I was blunt and didn't sugar coat it, but I hope it helps you in the future

[Former_Member]

OK, I will probably have to talk with my husband, He's pretty strict with the budget, but I usually get my way :) I want to paint my living room a light tiffany blue with brown accents, it would look really lovely, ah heck, set me up a custom listing, I can't resist :)I really want that, Let me know when the listing is up, I'm kinda busy now, but I can convo more this afternoon about what I'm looking for :) Thanks so much :)

[Former_Member]

great tips. Thank You for taking the time to help.

[Former_Member]

Hi you shop is very nice would you please take a look and mine and let me know what you think. TLCCards.etsy.com I would appreciate any suggestions. I just opened in January also and have had 2 sales. Thank Tracey

[Former_Member]

Honestly I love trying to help everyone! I really do, and I wish I had the time to stop by and offer advise on your shops, but I really don't. I apologize for that, there are many wonderful experts out there who will critique for a small fee. I offered this advise as a beginner's guide, search the internet for etsy success tips, there is ton's of info, where do you think I get my tips from? :) I have done my homework way way before starting a shop, more people should do that instead of diving in.

[Former_Member]

LilyBean Congrats to you. I still don't have 26 sales and been here since Aug. Now honestly I really only started pushing myself the first of the year. I had no idea it was going to be so involved all this blogging, twittering, chatting, treasuries and learning so much it is almost to over whelming. I know I need better pictures more some than others. I have a problem that I just love to make everything I have many things in the works now that aren't even listed yet and if you look at my shop you see I have a love of animals too. That's where I came up with the name that of course now I am unsure of. But you can't change it now. I was thinking about just moving the home part to a new shop I don't know. If you have time take a peak and I'd love your advise.

[Former_Member]

Hi TLCCards, Your shop is really nice. I love your cards! Very creative.
I would suggest to get more natural light in your photos and try to play a bit more with focus. Some of them look a little blurry.
Also, the banner looks a bit crowded, perhaps to simplify it would give the clients a sense of what your shop is like.

Good luck!

[Former_Member]

202, I really like your shop. I love your banner and how it goes PERFECTLY with what you are selling. That is next on my list, figure out how to make a banner!

Are you in Ankeny, IA btw? I'm in Cedar Rapids.

[Former_Member]

TLC, I took a look at your shop as well. I think your products look great. They look like high quality.

I agree with InkPrint though that your banner could use some work. Look who is talking I know! :) But I recognize that mine needs work too! I think a different font would be nice for your main name and then I would simplify your specifics. Maybe "specializing in handmade paper goods" or something like that. The background of your banner is pretty but a bit blurry and seems like the photo is stretched funny.

So, I think your products are great but when you have time I would try to work on a banner. I know there are people out there that can help you make one if you feel you need the help. I have looked into and I think I just searched for "shop banner" under hand made and found a bunch of etsians who assist with that. Just a thought!

Maggy

[Former_Member]

Greymaggy,
Just curious, do have a fb page for your business? I like to feature artists a couple of times a week, especially Iowans and Minnesotians. You have great advice and great pieces, I can't wait to see more! Here is a link to my page if you are ever interested in visiting http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Lily-Bean-Bowtique/121189894572300

Angela

[Former_Member]

Greymaggy - Yes, I am in Ankeny! Its amazing to me how many crafty people there are in Iowa. I've been on here for a month and met dozens of Iowa sellers.

Have you found other sellers in Cedarfalls?

[Former_Member]

202, did you see we were featured in the same treasury today? It was the painting that your custom making for me! How crazy is that ?!

[Former_Member]

Sweet :) I didn't even notice til you pointed it out!

[Mouflon]

Thank you, lots to think about, and yes please I would really like some advice about my shop if anybody out there has the time, mouflon

[Former_Member]

Mouflon, I really love your pieces! They are so natural and lovely. My suggestion would be trying more natural light, did you have lighting on when you took the pictures, there's seems to be a yellowish hue coming from somewhere. Since your pieces are so natural, maybe use more nature for displaying purposes, I would really like to see a pic of someone wearing one of your pieces. Also, be sure your photos are facing the right direction, some pieces are turned too much at an angle a bit (something I have done too and need to change)Also jewelry is spelled different than I'm used to seeing it. I honestly find your pieces inspiring! I think you could do really well on etsy, it may just take some "tweaking" of your shop. Pictures are the major selling point that grab people's attention

[Former_Member]

Wow, I didn't know about puzzle being associated with autism. I sure will use this hint, it is wonderful! And thanks for the advice about my pictures, I will do something about this. It is very kind of you to help everyone!!!

[Former_Member]

On the subject of helping...I came across this when making my banner....lot's of templates and they are all free! I just used Picnik to add my text.
http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=66246ab9150923017d08faca0db2d309&t=102417&page=3

[Former_Member]

If anyone would like to critique my shop, they are welcome to do so. There are things I need to do to improve too.

[Former_Member]

This is very helpful. I'm impressed with your sales also. I will definitely take all this into consideration. Thanks

[Former_Member]

Good Advice. I think I am on target. I opened my shop in Novemeber but haven't really concentrated on it until this month and I'm amazed at how much progress I have already made in this short of time. I can't wait for my first sale..:-)

[Former_Member]

Thank you LilyBean and all of you for contributing this. It is really helpful. I for one have been here as a buyer first, then added my own shop out of a whim really, not thinking too hard about anything. And the results have been what you´d expect -not too fabulous ;-)

Another thing that is hard, is to think of all the words meaning "flower", "scarf" or whatever, on account of not being a native English speaker. I suppose you can find a thesaurus in the net somewhere :) Thanks for the word "rosette", by the way, I think just adding it brought more traffic in my store already.

Now my remaining problem seems to be, that the store name, banner and avatar match ok but the things inside the store don´t match store name, avatar and banner. Shoot... ;-D ...and you can´t change the store name. Will probably have to open another store or change the stuff in the store. That´s what you get for not thinking, right? LOL

[Former_Member]

And BellaMaries custom order totes are just adorable!!!

[Mouflon]

Lilybean thank you so much for taking the time to look at my shop. And yes I am having great difficuties with lighting, In Ireland at the moment the quality of natural light is not good often enough, I have just bought some powerful day light bulbs to try out with a light box. If it works I will post the details as I'm sure that I am not the only one with this problem!

[Mouflon]

Lilybean...I ran out of space! I will look at angles etc, at least I feel now I am on the right track, lots to do and think about, Any suggestions from anyone about getting pieces into the square format or doesn't it matter if you chop them off?

[Former_Member]

Hi there Mouflon :) I understand what you´re going through in terms of winter lighting conditions- I´m in Finland ... :) I was just exparimentig a bit with my Mac´s Preview program which has very rudimental tools for adjusting images and I think there´s a lot you can do with a bit of image adjusting. If you don´t use a Mac you can use programs like Paintshop Pro (free) or web-based software like SumoPaint for example or you can of course buy Photoshop or some lighter version of Photoshop.

Now I can´t seem to put pictures in this thread but I can convo you with the adjusted version of your original picture :)

[Former_Member]

Rubyred, love your store, pics, and banner! Try tags like ecclectic, (check spelling on that one ;)) unique, wool, felted, if you have anything for kids, use children, girl, woman. Always use at least one tag to describe your style, I try to add vintage, shabby chic, couture, at least one time in my tags