Sellers Assisting Sellers

Polish your Photos Series: Quick Tips to Make them Shine

2011-09-27T08:15:00.009-05:00

Hi, I am Becka (beckarahn) and I have been an Etsy seller since 2005. I am a fiber artist and technology geek. Through the years a lot has changed at Etsy, but having great photos of your work has always been the most important thing for a successful shop. The goal of this series is to show you some common photo problems and give you ideas of how to fix those flaws in just a few steps.

Quick Tip #3: Tiny Retouching
Here's another photo scenario that happens to me once in a while. I set everything up, I took a whole bunch of great shots, the light was good and what's that? There's dust and fuzz in my photo. How did I not see that?

Sure, it's not the end of the world, but it does make your photos look less than fabulous and it might turn off a potential buyer. It is pretty easy to remove a few tiny blemishes without having to re-shoot your photo. This tip should work for tiny problems like dust, stray threads, a wrinkle or flaw in your background.

In Photoshop, the tool you are looking for this time is called the "spot healing brush". It looks like a bandaid in the tool palette.

Your cursor will change to a tool that looks like an open circle. You can adjust the size of that "brush" with some options that will pop up at the top of the screen. Here's how mine is set (click the image to see it larger.)

Place the circle cursor over your dust spot and click. It will briefly darken that area and then it should make the dust spot disappear. You can also "paint" with the spot healing brush if you have something larger than a tiny spot (like a dog hair) by clicking and dragging it. Here's "before":

Here's the "after". Be sure to save this new corrected photo.
This tool is going to work best for tiny corrections. Remember, you don't want to spend 30 minutes working on your photo in Photoshop when it could be quicker to just shoot another photo.

(*The screen shots for this tutorial are from a Mac using Photoshop CS3. Other versions of Photoshop will have the same tool, but the menus might look slightly different.)

What if you don’t have Photoshop? Once again, look for a tool using your favorite software that is called "Spot Remover" or "Retouch" or "Blemish Fix". Here's what it looks like using Picnik:

Titles & Tags & Relevancy, Oh My!

2011-09-03T13:44:00.000-05:00

In my last article I talked about Etsy's new default Relevancy search and how it effects your shop, and specifically your titles. This follow up post is to clarify a few things and talk about Etsy's policy change on Tagging (since there still seems to be a lot of confusion on the subject).

To recap: Etsy changed it default search to "relevancy". The important points are that now titles carry more weight in searches than tags, and the beginning of the titles carry more weight in searches. So, your titles need to be accurate descriptive words, but the most important words (that tell us what your item is) need to be at the beginning of the title (first 2 to 3 words).

Etsy also now gives more weight in searches for exact 2 and 3 word combos - so using 2 and 3 word key word combos in your titles to describe your items are really critical to stand out in relevancy searches. But equally critical to relevancy is also using those same 2 and 3 word keywords combos in tags.

But that presented a problem, otherwise known as: Etsy's tag "stuffing" rule. If you've been around Etsy for any length of time you know it's not OK to tag "stuff". That's using multiple unrelated words like "beach ocean turquoise" in a single tag. Tags were supposed to be a single word, except for specific 2 word phrases like "sterling silver".

After some thought, Etsy decided to alter it's tagging policies to now allow for "relevant 2 or 3 word phrases" in tags because it is necessary for better relevancy. This now allows you to use the same 2 or 3 word keyword combos that you've used in your titles, also in your tags. You can read more about Etsy's policy change here: http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/policy-update-labeling-items/

You still have to be careful that you are not tag "stuffing". It is still not OK to use "beach ocean turquoise" or "red blue green" as a tag, however you can use some 2 and 3 word phrases that would have previously not been acceptable under the old rules. Just be sure that your 2 or 3 word phrase makes sense in relation to the item you are tagging, and that it is actually a phrase (not unrelated words).

As an example, if you are selling a painting of an sunset on the ocean, and you have the words "Ocean Sunset" in the title, you can also have the words "Ocean Sunset" as a single tag in your tags. Previously "Ocean Sunset" would have not been allowed in a single tag.

Hopefully that helps to clarify some of the new changes, and you'll all be titling and tagging your way to the top of the relevancy searches.

Sandie Russo
Sellers Assisting Sellers Team, Captain

Polish your Photos Series: Quick Tips to Make them Shine

2011-08-26T09:41:00.015-05:00

Quick Tip #2: White not Grey
I like to photograph my art against a white background. Sometimes when I don’t have enough light, that background turns out looking grey instead of a nice bright white, and leaves everything looking a little depressing.

The solution for this photo problem is very similar to how we corrected the “golden glow” in the last tutorial.

This time, open your image in Photoshop*, go to the “Image” menu, then choose “Adjustments”, then “Levels”. The “Levels” tool works great with photos that are under or over exposed. This sample photo (above) is under exposed and that is why those whites don’t look white.

Find the eyedropper that looks like it is full of white paint. Click on an area in your image that is supposed to be white. Try a couple of different areas on your photo to get the effect you like.

Be sure to save this new corrected photo.

This tip also works with photos that have black that doesn’t look black. This embroidery image below is over exposed so the background looks grey and not black. This time choose the Levels tool and pick the eyedropper that looks like it is full of black paint, then click an area of the photo that is supposed to be black.

(*The screen shots for this tutorial are from a Mac using Photoshop CS5. Other versions of Photoshop will have the same tool, but the menus might look slightly different.)

What if you don’t have Photoshop? Try looking for a “Brightness” or “Exposure” setting in your favorite photo software (ie Picnik, iPhoto, Picasa, Lightroom). That tool should have a similar effect.

Polish your Photos Series: Quick Tips to Make them Shine

2011-08-09T17:41:00.007-05:00

My favorite way to fix this “golden glow” is to use the Curves tool in Photoshop*. First, open your photo file and then go to the “Image” menu, then choose “Adjustments”, then “Curves”.

A dialog window will pop up. Look for the eyedropper icon that looks like it is full of white paint. (There will be a black and a grey one too.) Your cursor will change to an eyedropper.

Go over to your image and click in any white area of the background. By clicking, you are telling Photoshop: “This spot I just clicked is supposed to be pure white. Please readjust everything else in this image so that spot looks white.”

Try clicking a couple of different spots in your image until you get just the right adjustment. Now the white background looks white and the color of the pendant really pops. Once you are happy with your new image, then click “OK”, save your image and you are ready to post it in your shop.

(*The screen shots for this tutorial are from a Mac using Photoshop CS5. Other versions of Photoshop will have the same tool, but the menus might look slightly different.)

What if you don’t have Photoshop? Try looking for a “White Balance”, “Neutral Picker” or “Temperature” setting or an eyedropper icon in your favorite photo software (ie Picnik, iPhoto, Picasa, Lightroom). That tool should have a similar effect.

Stay tuned for more "Polish your Photos" tips to come.

Etsy's New Focus on Relevancy and How it Effects Your Shop

2011-08-03T20:29:00.001-05:00

Hopefully you've already seen the info on changes Etsy rolled out last week, which will soon make "relevancy" the default search. However, if you haven't I'll give you the "411" and help you determine what you can do to make those changes work to your benefit in Etsy searches.

When searching on Etsy you have options to the narrow the searches. We are focusing on "relevancy" for this article, as it appears that more people are searching via relevancy - and soon it will be the default search.

❀ Item titles are now given more weight. Tags are important but your item title is even more critical. As titles are the most direct way for sellers to explain what they have, Etsy has given them more weight in Etsy searches. This means that it is critical that you have complete, accurate and descriptive titles for all the items you list. (Remember do not use the "name" you have given your art as a title, but describe what it is.)

GOOD title "Original Painting, Acrylic Seascape, Southern California Pacific Ocean Cliffs, Blue Green Turquoise, 11 x 17"
Not so good title: "The Calm Before The Storm, Seascape 11 x 17"

❀ Words that appear at the beginning of your title are given more weight. So, you will want to put the defining word/s of your item (sign, photo, bracelet, art print, oil painting, earrings, baby hat, coffee table, etc.) in the first 2-3 words. You will see better results if you put the most important characteristics of your item at the beginning of your title.

GOOD title: "Pearl Earrings, Sterling Silver Amethyst Beads, Extra Long Dangles, French Hooks"
Not so good title: "Elegant, Dressy, Fancy Handmade, Evening Style Pearl and Amethyst Earrings"

❀ Exact word pairs are now given more weight. If your search includes 2 or more words, Etsy will prioritize the search results that have those exact 2 words next to each other. For example, if I search for “California Seascape”, items that contain “California Seascape” (exactly) in the titles or tags will appear higher than ”Seascape Photo of a California Beach".

❀ Recency will also factor into searches sorted by relevancy. When a broad search (like “photo print”) returns a huge number of results, Etsy gives some priority to the most recently listed items in that search.
Before the Holidays take over our thoughts and shops, now is a great time to revamp your titles and make sure you use accurate descriptive words, putting the emphasis on the beginning of the title. If you do this - and someone is searching for items like what you make - you are more likely to show prominently in searches on Etsy.

Recent Etsy Blog Article on the Relevancy Search.
Etsy forum post from Frank/Etsy: Relevancy Update

Have a great week, everyone!

Captain, Sellers Assisting Sellers Etsy Team

Big News - Team Changes!

2011-06-23T10:35:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

I have some big new changes to announce.

Steph (PandaCub), who has been leading SAS since Anna (TheHouseofMouse) has stepped down as Captain, is in need of stepping down from the Captain's duties as well. She will be staying on as a leader in the SAS Team Forum on Etsy, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her all she has done for the team (and helping me with the transition)!

I have been Captain of the SASsy Critique Forum since Anna left, and enjoyed it tremendously! So much so, that when Steph was looking for someone to take over for her, that I was happy to step up and take the job as Captain of the entire SAS Team (including the Critique Forum). I look forward to assisting you all in your efforts to assist the sellers of the Etsy community.

If you have any ideas how we as a team and individuals can better serve the sellers of Etsy, please drop me a note, or post a thread in the SAS Team Mentors Forum. The easiest ways to reach me is by sending a message via either of my Etsy shops, KnitzyBlonde or ZaftigDelights, or you can email me at zaftig2k at yahoo dot com.

I would love to see a resurgence of the team blog. It is such a valuable resource. Prior to this post, no one had posted since April. I know that many of you have blogs and post regularly so anything that you have posted to your blogs that our readers would benefit from would be great to share here as well. I'd also love any of you that enjoy writing to please send me your ideas for blog features. They don't have to be long or involved. Sometimes short and sweet is better! But it would be great to hear from more of you. I'd love stories about how you may have helped a seller with some specific ideas that can also help others. If we publish you on the blog you always get a reference link to your Etsy shop as well, so it is a win/win!

I could also use more regular Mentors helping with critiques and questions in the SASsy Critique Forum. I only have a handful of regular Mentors that help with critiques right now, and it would be nice to lighten their load a bit. Our Critique Forum is becoming a very busy place as we have received a lot of recognition lately (see next paragraph). If you could do one critique a day, or several a week, we would be thrilled to have you join us! Let me know if you are interested.

Just yesterday there was a feature on me and our team on Handmade Spark! I hope you'll stop by and check it out.

I look forward to getting to know you all better!

SAS Captain

Mini Critique: Sections that Sell

2011-04-02T07:49:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! Meagan here. I have an important announcement for you all. First off, I hope you all are doing well, & learning a lot from these mini critiques. I have really enjoyed doing them. Now, just for the record, today will be the last mini critique I'll be posting on a regular basis. Yep it's true! We've covered a lot of the basics on shop set up & I think we're at a good stopping point. Sooo, if you have a question about something. You can always convo me on Etsy @Baby Swank & I'll be glad to direct you to some great info & give you my advice or you can email me at meagan {at} meaganvisser {dot} com too.

So, onto today's critique...Sections that Sell.

As some of you may know, I have a blog series running on my blog right now called ReVAMPing Your Etsy Shop - 2011 & it's a lot like these mini critiques. It's a ton of shop how-to & advice from several different Etsy sellers.

Now this weeks blog post was on Shop Sections, Rearranging Your Shop, & Featured Listings & it was written by the lovely Kimberly of Cinnamon Spice on Etsy. So I'm going to let you in on a bit of her advice today...{that is if you haven't already read it on my blog ;P}. So the following is the excerpt from this weeks post - all about different ways to use your sections. Then following that I'm gonna show you 3 shops that I think are using their sections well! So here we go...

From ReVAMPing Your Etsy Shop - 2011 Blog Series via MeaganVisser.com

Let’s face it, we’ve all been to the “discount” brick and mortar stores that are a jumbled mess, and while sometimes I do enjoy unearthing that incredible buy, I much rather prefer to shop in stores where merchandise is well organized. Your Etsy shop is no different. The key is finding which style works for you and your potential customers. The best part is you can experiment until you’re happy with the results!

Shop Sections

Use Shop Sections to categorize your items. Some effective styles are to:

Organize by Theme – For Cardmakers and shops that cater to party planning and decorating, a great way to organize your shop is by theme. Most of your shoppers will probably be looking to buy for a special occasion such as birthday, anniversary or holiday. Tailoring your sections according to theme, like inkylivie does should help guide them directly to what they need!

Organize by Size – Most shoppers really appreciate being able to hone in on the exact size they are looking for whether they are buying jewelry, apparel, handbags or shoes. Save your customers time by using the sections to group your items by clothing size or even small, medium and large works well or non-apparel items. Cite fuzz labels her hats by size for quick reference.

Organize by Type of Item – Paper crafters like myself can benefit from organizing their stores by type of item. When shoppers visit my store they can instantly see what type of paper crafts I specialize in, whether it’s an Altered Journal, my “Get Scrappy Kits”, a Greeting Card or a Mini-Scrapbook Album. This style also works for hair accessory makers and those with a variety of different items for sale. Lil’ Princess Bow and Mary had a Little Party have their shops wonderfully organized by type.

Organize by Price – Bath and body sellers, or other sellers that make use of gift baskets or groupings, can get a lot of mileage from using their shop sections to organize by basket and price.

Organize by Color- If you make similar items in several different colors, you may help your visitors narrow their search by grouping like colors together.

Now, have fun orgzanizing your Shop sections! Create and/or edit your sections in Your Etsy > Shop Settings > Info & Appearance (there is a tab for Sections).

Okay, now if you want the rest, you know where to go. Right here. So now I'm gonna show you 3 shops on Etsy that I think are following Kimberly's advice & using there sections well!

So as you can see Knarken sells jewelry & she's using her shop sections to direct customers to specific types of items.

Okay, in Dolly Rocker Candles you can see that products are listed by scent and type. Awesome!

And lastly, Miss Merryweather's Creations lists her very cute card by Theme.

Alright! Now go check your shop out, see if your sections are directing customers & making it easier on them to shop. If not, see if you can make them work using any of the above suggestions from Kimberly.

Once you're finished, leave your shop link in the comments below so we can check out your improvements!!

Meagan - Baby Swank & MeaganVisser.com

Don't forget to connect with me on Facebook & Twitter!

Mini Critique: Pricing your Products

2011-03-26T08:00:00.003-05:00

So this week, Kara of The Felted Posey has agreed to let me critique her shop. She had several things she had questions on so I just picked one I hadn't covered yet & went with it.

The Felted Posey on Etsy

So today, we'll be tackling Pricing!

Okay, this is going to be a quickie!

There's no need to take a look at The Felted Posey's shop prices or for me to critique them. This goes for any shop other than my own as well. Why? Because I have no clue about what goes in to making the products you offer in your shop. Only you do. That means that today's critique is going to be a self-critique for you to do on your own shop.

Now you need to be thinking about the following things when it comes to pricing your products.

Cost of Materials
Cost of Time/Labor
Associated Fees
Overhead Costs
Profit

Let's talk about each one separately.

Cost of Materials

This is the cost of everything you use to make your product. Everything. Thread, ink, glue, beads, tags, dye, paper, whatever it may be. You need to come up with a materials cost per item.

You need to come up with this cost based on what your materials would normally cost. Not their cost if you get them on sale, but what they would be normally. You may not always be able to get materials on sale & if you calculated your cost based on what you got them for on sale, you'll end up losing money. Make sense?

Cost of Time/Labor

Pretty self-explanatory. First off, how much do you want to make per hour? This should be based on the skill required to make the product. Second, how long does it take you to make this product? Now calculate your labor cost. Is it reasonable?

Keep in mind that your not going to be extreme here & decide you want to make $20 an hour, make a handmade, embellished thank you card, & charge $20 just for your time. No, you're not going to do that. Make it reasonable please!

Associated Fees

This includes your listing fees & the fee that Etsy gets from the sale. This should also include your PayPal fee if you're using PayPal.

Overhead Costs

Overhead is all the little things that you're supposed to keep up with for your business. That is if your running your business for profit. Overhead includes things like electricity, internet costs, wear & tear on equipment, rent, that sort of thing. Most of the time you can calculate a set amount into each product to cover this.

Profit

How much do you want to profit on your products? Don't be stingy. This isn't going directly into your pocket. You get paid from the Cost of Time/Labor, but the profit belongs to the business. It gets reinvested into more materials, better equipment, hired help, etc. That's the way it's supposed to work. Profit is usually a set amount or percentage of the total cost of the item. It doesn't change based on the product.

You calculate your materials cost, your time/labor cost, your fees, & your overhead then double it or triple it to get your final price. You profit per product is based on whether you doubled or tripled the cost or whether you increased it by a percentage...whatever you choose.

That final price is considered the retail value or retail price of the product. That's what you sell it for to individual people buying it directly from you. It is not the wholesale price. Wholesale prices are lower.

Here's an example:

You're making a crocheted skirt.

Materials: $4 {yarn, button}

Time: $10/hr. - 2 hrs = $20

Fees: 10% total price

Overhead: $2

Profit: 100% {doubling}

Materials + Time + Overhead = $26 x 2 {profit} = $52

$52 x 10% {fees} = $57.20

Retail price = $57.20

Okay, I hope this has helped you.

Have you been pricing your products correctly or not? Let me know what you've been missing below!

Hugs, Meagan

Wanna learn more about growing your creative business. Connect with me on my blog, Facebook, or Twitter!

Mini Critique: Top 2 Shop Announcement Must Haves - Autumn & Boo

2011-03-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

Pineapple (Welcome) Wall Stencil by Alison Huber Jewett on Etsy

Hey Team SASSY blog followers!

Today’s mini critique is for Autumn & Boo, an Etsy shop that provides unique, hand-painted wearable art, ornaments, & illustrations mainly for Autumn & Halloween, but also for other times of the year as well. I really like this shop. Their products look well made & original. Plus they’re oh so nice!

So, I will be critiquing Autumn & Boo’s shop announcement today because this is something we’ve not covered yet & it’s one of the first things customers see & read when they enter your shop.

Now to start off, I want to give you some things to keep in mind when it comes to shop announcements. If any of you follow my blog, then you’ve seen my blog series that’s going on right now called ReVAMPing Your Etsy Shop – 2011. This blog series is totally devoted to tackling each area of your shop & providing you with some great information to take with you so you can apply it. So below, I’m going to give you a crash course on what was covered in the post on shop announcements. If you want to learn more, then go check out the article on my blog!

There are 2 main purposes to your shop announcement.

1. SEO

2. Announcements

So let’s look into SEO first.

SEO or search engine optimization is how search engines rank your shop in search results among similar listings. Search engines take your shop announcement, analyze it, & rank it according to content & popularity among similar sites.

Did you hear me? I said they take all of your writing & use it to rank you. So if you only talk about an upcoming sale in your shop announcement then that’s not going to rank too well. It will probably end up way down the list near the bottom.

The reason is you’re not using consistent keywords that people use when they’re searching on search engines. You’re not talking enough about what you offer in your shop. People don’t normally search for “sale” & that’s it. They’d get a gazillion search results for the word “sale”. Most people use specific searches. Maybe something like “crocheted baby blanket sale” would be better. If you use that keyword phrase several times in your announcement, then at least you’d have more of a chance than with “sale” only.

Now you can go to any search engine, type in the name of your shop, & start looking for it in the results to see what it says. In fact, you should do that. Your listing will only show the first 140 or so characters. You’d better make them good & relevant because you’re trying to get people to click on your shop & come visit it. You want them to know what you offer, right? SEO is a real deal & if you want more views in your shop, it’s something you need to learn & pay attention to.

Next up is the announcement part.

Like I said earlier, the first 140 characters are used for SEO purposes, so fill that space up with keywords about what you offer in your shop.

The rest of the space is you’re to do what you wish with. You can talk about how you make what you make, you can talk about a current or upcoming sale, or you can direct readers to important parts of your shop like your policies or your profile. {Pssst…those links also help up your ranking on search engines too!} It’s totally up to you. As with any writing, you need to make it clear & easy to understand, format it so it’s easy to read & skim through, & check for spelling or grammatical errors. Remember to use your keywords consistently throughout your announcement so the search engines will rank you higher for those searches. SEO IS IMPORTANT!

Okay, enough with the info, let’s look at Autumn & Boo’s announcement & see what’s going on.

Here it is in the shop:

My first thought is that there aren’t enough specific keywords used throughout this entire announcement.

My second thought is that some of the information in this announcement should be somewhere else, not in the announcement. For example…the part about commissions & viewing more of her work should be in her profile bio. The payment part should be in her policies. The teams she’s apart of can be listed on her profile page if she chooses.

So, here’s an example of how I’d write this announcement if this super cute shop were mine.

Welcome to Autumn & Boo! Here you will find Autumn & Halloween inspired handmade jewelry such as cameos, broaches, pins, & pendants as well as Halloween ornaments & Halloween illustrations.

My handmade jewelry is hand-sculpted & hand-painted as are my Halloween ornaments. My Halloween illustrations are done by hand using archival quality ink, watercolor, & colored pencils.

Any item can be custom designed to fit your needs. See my Alchemy settings here. {link}

For more information about me & my shop, see my profile {link} & my shop policies {link}.

Thank you for stopping by!

This would be my main announcement that I’d use all the time. If I decided to have a shop sale, I’d add something about that into this. If I added a new section or some other holiday items I’d talk about that briefly as well, directing customers right to that section via a link.

Here it is in a Google search:

Actually, I couldn’t find her main shop in a Google search. I searched for “autumn and boo” which brought up her blog, but no etsy shop. Then I searched the way she writes her name in her shop, “autumnandboo” & I found it, but there wasn’t a main listing – only a profile listing, sold items listing, & policy listing.

So, it looks to me that some SEO work needs to be done, & she needs to separate the words in her shop name. I think this would seriously help because she has a unique name which is easy to remember & should rank well in searches.

Final Thoughts…

All in all, I’m loving this shop! It has great products & such potential. The target market is a small one, but if you know where they’re at, you can go get ‘em! I’d seriously work on that SEO so some of your work can be done by search engines, I’d keep listing new items, I’d branch out with more product lines & I’m market my tush off! Good luck Autumn & Boo!!

Meagan

Visit me at my Etsy shop: Baby Swank or at my blog: MeaganVisser.com

Mini Critique: Easy Tips for Writing Your Payment Policy

2011-03-12T07:32:00.001-06:00

Dollar Sign Necklace by Trophies on Etsy

Today’s critique is for Shades of Grey, & I’ll be focusing on her payment policy.

But before I begin her critique, as always, I want to give you some points to remember when it comes to writing your payment policies.

4 Things to Keep in Mind when Writing Your Payment Policy?

Your payment policy is where you’re going to let you customer know what forms of payment your accept. On Etsy you can choose to be paid by PayPal, personal check, & money order. You need to talk about each form of payment you accept individually. Be specific & let your customer know how each type of payment works. You never know if they’re a first time buyer. Don’t overlook the fact that they might not know anything about the checkout process. You can even include a link to this checkout how-to for customers. How to Shop on Etsy
Let the customer know when you expect payment. Give them a time frame & tell them if the payment needs to clear before you ship.
It’s also a good idea to include your policy on canceling transactions here. The seller has to be the one to cancel the transaction so you need to let customers know that if they want to cancel their order that they need to do it within a certain amount of time {if you wish} & they need to contact you so you can cancel it & refund their money. Etsy has now updated their policy on canceled transactions. If you have to cancel a transaction, Etsy will credit back the .20 listing fee & the 3.5% transaction fee to your bill.
Keep it simple. You want your customers to read your policies so they know what to expect & so they’ll feel comfortable purchasing from you. Don’t make your policies overly wordy. Check for spelling & grammatical errors. Use paragraphs, short sentences, & make sure your writing makes sense.

Now let’s take a look at each payment method below.

PayPal

PayPal is probably the easiest way for customers to pay you. PayPal is free & it’s easy to set up an account with them. They accept all major credit & debit card & you can pay from your checking account through PayPal. Customers do not have to have a PayPal account to use PayPal when purchasing from you. These are all things to include in your Payment Policy under “PayPal”.

For more help with using PayPal in your Etsy shop, check out the following link: PayPal Workshop

Personal Check

Choosing whether or not to accept customer checks is a personal decision. Some sellers do & others don’t. Like I said earlier, if you want to give your customer the option of paying with a check you can always use PayPal. They enter their checking account information into PayPal & PayPal gets you your money.

If you decide to take checks yourself, it’s a good idea to let the customer know up front that their purchase will not ship until their check clears. That keeps you from getting swindled incase their check bounces leaving you with no cash & no product, & it lets them know what to expect as far as timing goes.

Money Orders

It seems that accepting money orders can be as sticky of a situation as accepting checks. From what I’ve read on the topic, most Etsy sellers say to only accept certified USPS {post office} money orders because others could be scams. Again, if you choose to go this route, make sure you let your customer know that you will not ship their purchase until the money order clears. Don’t worry about offending them…they more than likely will understand your position.

Okay, so now onto the critique!

Alright, so here's Shades of Grey's Payment Policy.

Payment Policy - I accept PayPal payments. Please complete your payment within 24 hours of purchase. Production will not begin until payment is received.

So, IMO, this policy doesn't provide enough information.You can never assume a customer knows how things work or what they're supposed to do. It doesn't hurt to give details. If they know what you're talking about, they'll skim over that part.

Now, the form of payment is listed, but maybe telling your customer a bit more about PayPal, how it works, & what to expect would be nice.

I do like that you give a time frame on when you expect to receive payment by.

I'd include your cancellation policy, & provide a link to the How-to Shop on Etsy tutorial.

That's it! A simple, easy, quick fix that will give you a great payment policy that your customers will be clear on! Till next time...good luck!

Meagan Visser is a wife, mother, & creative entrepreneur. Her passion is her family & helping moms learn to build successful creative businesses without neglecting their families. You can connect with her on her website MeaganVisser.com, at her Etsy shop Baby Swank, or on Facebook & Twitter.

What Impression is Your Shop Leaving your Customers?

2011-03-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

I'm Impressed by Jake & Noel on Etsy

Today's mini critique is for SilverSmack, and she wants to know what the overall impression is of her shop.

So since this is a little different than a normal critique, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to show you a screenshot of SilverSmack's shop, give my two cents on the impression that her shop gives me, and then leave you with a check list to use on your own shop so you can see what kind of impression you're leaving for your customers.

Okay, so lets get going. Here's SilverSmack's shop.

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Here's what I see:

pics - sell silver jewelry that's hammered & worn {not polished}
prices - midrange & affordable
listings - You're a serious shop. You have a business. You're a professional not hobbiest. I can see this because you have a lot of listings, you list frequently, & you have regular sells.
sections - you offer a variety of jewelry

My thoughts on your shop:

title - it says "inspiration"...I'd change that to "jewelry" because when that shows up in a Google Search, people won't know what you make from the word inspiration
banner - you only have pics of your rings. Since you make other pieces of jewelry too, I'd add a pic of a necklace & earrings as well as a ring.
listing photos - look nice. Nice backgrounds & props...in some photos, the colors of the jewelry are competing with the color of your background {gray on gray or white on white}.
descriptions - great use of links. I did notice that in some you weren't providing a link to your policies even though you were directing customers to them.
SEO - looks like you've done well getting your shop optimized for SEO from the look of keywords used in your listing titles, descriptions, & shop announcement

My thoughts as a customer:

return/exchange policy - I was excited to see that you offered lifetime repair on your jewelry! That makes me very comfortable buying from you!
description links - like I said earlier...provide a link for me if you're directing me somewhere. Make it as easy as can be for me.
description questions - Why do I need to order my ring a half size bigger than I wear? What does "oxidized" mean? It would be a good idea to answer any & every question a buyer may have.
Profile bio or welcome - tell me about your crafting process. This helps me to value the product I may buy from you more. It also helps me to understand the price as well.

Overall impression:
Great shop! Nice products! I feel like I know exactly what I'm getting from you & what to expect. I know that if I have any trouble or change my mind that you will work with me to meet my needs. I also like the fact that I can get anything custom made from you!

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7 Ways to Leave a Good Impression with Your Shop

Graphics & Pictures - high resolution, not grainy, styled & branded well, professional looking
Copy - well written, no grammatical or spelling errors, provide all necessary info about product, answer any potential questions customer may have
Bio - tell about yourself & how you got started in your craft & your shop, provide links to important places in your shop & on the web.
Customer Service - appear friendly & easy going in your writing, tell how to contact you, let buyers know if you offer custom orders, make return/exchange policy clear
Policies - well written, provide all necessary information, be specific
Feedback - work to satisfy customers so you'll get great feedback. Good feedback makes customers feel comfortable buying from you
Pricing - offer a range of prices so there's something for everyone

What do you do in your shop to provide customers with a "good impression"?

Meagan @BabySwank & @MeaganVisser.com

2011-02-26T01:32:00.001-06:00

How to tell if your business is "branded".

Branding Irons by Monki Vintage on Etsy

Today's mini critique is for Flourish & Debonair. I just love that name! It's so...ritzy! Anyway, she'd like to know about the branding & cohesiveness of her shop.

Well, if you are serious about your business than it needs to be branded. If you want an in-depth look at branding, read the article Branding 101 that I wrote for Handmadeology. But, if you're looking for a quick way to learn how to brand your biz, then here are 5 things you need to do to create a brand for your business.

Come up with a mission statement. What is your business all about?
Describe your products. Key features & characteristics. What sets you apart from the competition?
Describe your target market. Who are your products for?
Evaluate your Business or Product Name. Does your name reflect your mission statement?
Come up with a tagline. Does it reinforce your mission statement?

As far as cohesiveness goes. If you've branded your business & it's reflected in every aspect of your shop...it will automatically bring cohesiveness.

Now let's check out Flourish & Debonair's shop & see what it looks like!

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What she's doin' right...

Let's start with the name...which again, I love! Flourish means showy, and Debonair means sophisticated. So, those are two HUGE keywords right there. Use them EVERYWHERE! They need to be in your marketing, in your descriptions, and mainly in the items you choose and make for your shop. Look at each individual item. Is it showy? Is it sophisticated? If not, get rid of it. It doesn't fit your brand.
Graphics - love, love, love your banner colors. The grey and yellow look great together. They reflect showy & sophisticated. & I love that you're using two fonts in your banner that reflect the meanings of the words.
Ideal - to me, your shops purpose or mission seems to be to provide style for men & women by using a mixture of vintage & modern clothing & accessories. This needs to be reflected in all your marketing. Even in your product descriptions. Tell a story through your descriptions. I love this one...http://www.etsy.com/listing/56953209/vintage-handbag-cream-faux-crocodile. The first paragraph is great. Try to do this with every listing. Keep that showy, sophisticated, vintage yet modern theme going strong.
I think your shop looks very cohesive. The jewelry works well with the vintage especially since you're using vintage materials to make the jewelry.

What I think could use some improvement...

Graphics - I'm a big fan of matching avatars & banners. If you have a logo made for your business, that's what people start to recognize your business as. Calvin Klein is recognized by "CK" not a picture of his jeans. I'd come up with an avatar that matches your banner. You could use the grey & yellow and put a F&D on it or something. Very nice! Remember to use this for the product tags & business cards too!
Links - One way to blend your jewelry into your vintage is to match some of the jewelry listings up to some clothing listings. Link them to each other in your descriptions. Say something like, these earrings would look great with this dress, or this tie coordinates with this jacket.

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Leave us a comment below & share the ways you've branded your business.

"Hope you enjoyed it!" - Meagan @BabySwank & @MeaganVisser.com

2011-02-19T11:14:00.002-06:00

How to Become "Customer Friendly"

Today's mini critique is for Designs By Swish & she'd like to know how to make her shop more "customer friendly".

So you've heard the term "User Friendly" & you know that means that something is easy & simple to use or to navigate through. This term usually refers to products & software, but today I'm going to share with you 4 ways to make your Etsy Shop "Customer Friendly".

They are:

Welcome Message - welcome customers & let them know what kind of products you offer
Sections - categorize your products to make them easier to find
Links - link to key pages in your shop {bio, policies, alchemy settings, etc.}
Bio - link to bestselling section, contact info, & shop policies

Not many people are going to take the time to search through your shop to find things. If they don't see what they're looking for in the first 30 seconds or your shop looks cluttered & difficult to search through, they'll move on to another shop. To learn more about these 4 areas in detail check out my latest post...Is Your Shop "Customer Friendly"?

Now let's check out Designs By Swish's shop & see how "customer friendly" it is!

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Here we see the above areas in Swish's shop.

Shop Announcement and Policy Welcome
Bio
Shop Sections

What she's doin' right...

Shop Announcement - keywords & Valentines day announcement
Bio - tells about herself & her passion
Sections - her products are categorized

What I think could use some improvement...

Shop Announcement - keywords are too broad. There's a lot of competition out there for "handmade jewelry", "necklaces", & "bracelets". Go over your shop's SEO. It's a good idea to do this periodically.
Policy Welcome - I'd tell more about the products you offer here. Is your jewelry for everyday wear, weddings, special occasions, or all of the above? How do you make it? I'd move your custom order bit to the "Additional Info" section & link to your alchemy settings so customers can see exactly how custom orders work in your shop. I'd move your packaging tidbit to the "Shipping" section.
Bio - I'd work on engaging readers with your bio. Check out these two articles... Provide links to your convo page or email address, your policy page, & your shops main page. It's also a good idea to link to your feedback here as well. For more about bios, check the last mini critique out: What Buyers Are Learning From Your Profile Page, and also this article on profile bios: ReVAMPing Your Etsy Shop - 2011: Profile Bios.

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Leave us a comment below & share the ways you've improved your shop to be more "customer friendly"!

"Hope you enjoyed it!" - Meagan @BabySwank & @MeaganVisser.com

What Buyers are Learning From Your Profile Page

2011-02-12T09:48:00.002-06:00

Today's mini critique is for Cedar Copse and we'll be focusing on her Profile Page.

Profile pages are one of the most important pages in your shop. I have Google Analytics set up for my shop and my profile is one of my most viewed pages. Here's a quick something to keep in mind when it comes to creating your shops profile.

People are interested in personality and relationships, yes even if they're only buying something from you. Check this out for example. Which draws you in more?

1) "Check out this beautiful crochet top I just purchased from Needle Love.

If I purchase a great product from someone that I'm excited about, I'm gonna tell my friends, family, and shop followers about it. I'll probably also favorite the item as well. Now if they're in the market for the same thing then they'll probably check it out, but if they aren't then more than likely they won't look at it.

2) "You've got to go check out Needle Love on Etsy. I just bought this gorgeous crochet top from her. She's amazing. She's an English teacher that provides free tutoring to low income teens, and she teaches them how to crochet as well. She has all kinds of crocheted clothing at great prices. Check her out! She has something for everyone!"

But what if I tell them about this amazing artist that made this item I just bought? What if I add a bit more about the artist's personality, other items in their shop, and how easy it was to work with them? You better believe that others will check out that shop.

Now let's check out Cedar Copse's profile page and see what she's got going on!

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Here we go...

What she's doin' right...

She's using her name...which makes her page more personal.
She's got her location set {see below}
Her favorites are public - again...personal. People like to know what you like & are into.
She has a small bio written about herself. {see below}

What I think could use some improvement...

Get specific about location. - It's a good idea to have your location set to city, state, country, providence, region, etc. Whatever applies to you!
Bio - this is where you tell people about you, your shop, & why you do what you do. Let's go into more detail below about bios!

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3 Things That Make a Great Bio?

YOU! Your personality, your experiences, your thoughts. When you shop in a store you meet people. You can see them. You learn a bit about them by the words they use, how they present themselves, their demeanor, their style, & so forth. This is your place to present yourself to your customers. They can't see you so you need to fill them in with your words. Close your eyes, picture your shop as if it were a real brick & mortar store. What does the inside look like? What does it feel like? Now write that. Don't forget to let customers know how they can get in touch with you. Link to your convo page, Facebook and Twitter profile, & your blog or website.
YOUR PRODUCTS! Tell customers a bit about what you make, how you got started, & where you get your inspiration. Include some awesome customer feedback or press links here.
YOUR POLICIES! Not every buyer goes to your policy page...especially not buyers who are browsing. If someone comes to your shop & they're serious about buying something, then they'll more than likely check out your policies. It's good to link to your policies in your profile page & in your descriptions. This makes it easy for potential customers to find them. You don't want them to have to search for anything! Make things convenient.

Want to learn more about questions to answer in your profile. Check out this article...

Tips & Tricks for Writing an Engaging Profile

Written by Meagan from http://meaganvisser.com

It Takes Teamwork

2011-02-11T00:12:00.000-06:00

As you all know, Sellers Assisting Sellers (Team SASsy) is a team of volunteer advisors dedicated to
helping Etsy sellers who are struggling or have questions. I have been a member for over a year now and know that the team works hard to help when it is needed.

I also belong to two other teams; Eastern Washington Etsy Street Team (EWAET) and the TAG Treasury Team, which was started by a group from the EWAET team specifically to do treasuries. Both teams are the friendliest and most supportive groups I have ever belonged to. They daily work to support and promote each other by using Etsy’s treasuries.

Each week, one shop from the EWAET team is chosen as the Featured Shop. The team members rally around that shop and create as many treasuries as possible for an entire week. The average number of treasuries created for each shop has been around 35. This project has proven to be a wonderful thing for several shops which came into the project with few or no sales and now have hundreds.

The EWAET team has done many experiments to find how to best use the treasury. Since Etsy does not publish rules for moving up in the treasury pages, it took quite a bit of detective work to find the best method for rising to the first page. They know that while getting on the Front Page is a real feather in your cap, but the exposure only lasts for a 30 minute period. It was determined that the best exposure comes from reaching the first page of the treasury where you may stay for 12 hours or more. Having many hours of being viewed results in a better chance of sales for each featured shop.

The experiments took place over many weeks and with many treasuries. What the group found was if the team all supported the treasuries, along with the featured sellers, they could affect the movement of the treasury. The first thing a curator does is inform all of the shops that have been featured, including a link to the treasury and a request that they visit, click and comment. Next, they send an email message to the team so other members can visit the treasury, click on favorite items and leave a comment. This will normally get the treasury within the first 10 pages. The curator monitors the treasury and if it does not continue to move up they let the team know so that those that are available can revisit the treasury a second time leaving another comment. Additional activities used to help are teaching all of the members how to make attractive treasuries, and encouraging those members who use social networking such as Twitter and Facebook to post the treasuries. One of the key elements to the success of the system is being a member of a group emailing system. The treasuries could never be as successful as they are without that. This concerted team effort has resulted in first sales for some shops. When one of my shops is featured my views go way up and generally there are sales to go with that. It sometimes seems like a lot of work but there is no denying that the efforts have given new life to some shops that were struggling, not to mention bringing new hope to some shop owners who thought they could never succeed in the Etsy marketplace.

Teamwork is the key ingredient. Truly caring about how the other shops are doing and supporting each other means we all win.

Article written by www.digitalexpressions.etsy.com

Team SASsy Mini-critique - Tagging

2011-02-05T02:32:00.001-06:00

Today we're starting a new series on the Team SASsy blog about mini critiques. These critiques will be on Etsy sellers who've volunteered to let me critique something specific in their shops and share it with all of you. My goal here is to focus on different topics and to provide information we can all learn from!

In this mini critique we're going to talk about tagging.

This is Paper Affection's shop which offers handmade origami jewelry and ornaments.

When looking through this shop, I decided that I'd look at the tags in the section with the most listings: Origami Ornaments.

Here are several tags this shop is using in the listings in this section:

holidays
christmas
ornament
decoration
origami
orange
paper
geometric
small
paperaffection
star
ball
handmade
metallic
upcycled
child safe

Here's what you've got going for you:

You're using all 14 tags in each listing - more ways to be found
You use descriptive tags such as specific colors, styles, size - people generally search for something specific

Here's what I suggest you improve on:

combine appropriate tags - For example: christmas ornament or paper decoration. This will free up an extra tag for you to use.
get rid of tags that people probably aren't searching for - Example: child safe
don't use your shop name in every listing - This is fine to do in some listings in case people what to find your shop, but you don't have to do it every time. Same goes with Etsy team names.
switch up your main category - For example, alternate use of paper goods and holidays.

Homework:

Open a Word document for each shop section. In this shops case it would be titled, Origami Ornaments.
Format your document to have 4-5 columns. Label each column with "style", "size", "texture", "motif and pattern", and "specific colors". {see picture below}
Now start going through your listings and fill in your document with appropriate tag words for the listings in that section. This way anytime you go to list a new item, you have a list of tags to refer to.

Also use the Tag Finder Tool at craftweasel.com.

And don't forget to become familiar with Etsy's articles on tagging!

Article written by

meaganvisser.com

A few little tricks to help you begin on Etsy like you’re not a beginner

2011-02-03T02:26:00.002-06:00

Photograph by DitsyBirdDraws

Article written by The Backyard Harmonica Teacher

First let me state I do not work for Etsy. Further, I don't have expertise in every area. My opinions are just my own. That said, I share a bond with anyone who dives into building an Etsy shop, ‘cuz I did the same thing. Emotionally, it’s not an easy thing to do, either—to put your work out there for the world to see and, hopefully, buy. But it is exciting so my hat’s off to you! Now, here are a few pointers I’ve picked up in my 18 months or so since starting on Etsy…

A word about starting…

Congratulations! You’ve opened your Etsy store, and you are now in retailing! That means it’s time to face this fact: In retail, the holiday season is the buying season. Personally, I sell about 80% of my items in the two months before Christmas. So you may well not see a lot of sales until next October if you don't do anything outside of Etsy. Fortunately, there are many things you can do, away from Etsy, to increase sales on Etsy...

“Yeses” will increase your Etsy sales year ‘round…

Are you doing any selling, locally, in markets? Do you have a brick-and-mortar store? Are you active in your town’s community affairs? (Do you belong to a church, or health club?) Do you do any "publicity" around your neighborhood, about your craft? Do you have business cards?

Being an active seller "on the ground" is one of the best ways to generate sales at your Etsy store throughout the year. This is certainly an area where I need to do more (and I've resolved to improve in this way myself this year!).

HOW TO LOOK AT BUYERS

Generally, I view shoppers as two kinds:

1) "hunter" types, who are looking for something specific, whether it's a color or material, or whatever.

2) "gatherer" types, who are just looking in a more relaxed way for something that will catch their eye ("browsers").

A word about words…

In a perfect world, you’d be able to know exactly which of the above two types of customers was reading your text at any particular time. (In a brick-and-mortar store, you’d just look into their eyes!) But, unfortunately, that’s just not the nature of an online business. So, the words you use in your shop and on listings need to walk a fine line to appeal to both kinds of shoppers.

Bio/profile words…

It’s OK at the beginning to have a short Bio and Profile. And I think you are wise to try to write short sentences that use simple words. This is especially true if you’re writing in a language that is not your native tongue. Keep your profile text short—at least, until you reveal to yourself what you would like to say about yourself. Then, in time, do try to fill in the details to give customers insight into what drives you to create your works and what makes them unique. And believe me, what you want to say will change over time, just as your concept of what your doing with your store will change.

Item-naming words…

Think in terms of what people will search for—not your clever name for the item (.e.g., “Dana’s delightful demitasse”). Be literal in naming things just what they are (“demitasse handmade”) and save the more clever “winks” and personal pet names of your piece for your item text (if even there).

On the other hand… There are exceptions to the above rule of thumb.

For example, if you’ve invented or patented something that has come to be recognized in the broader universe by your own unique name for it, go for it and use it in your item name. My FlashHarp® has been written about extensively on the Web so I feel I can safely use that name in my item titles now. (That wasn’t true at the beginning).

Listing text…

When writing listing text, it’s important to clearly state up front what exactly the buyer is getting when purchasing an item. If many of your items are similar in appearance, try to standardize your text so that the buyer can understand right away, in the first few lines, what the key differences are between one item and another. In general, I believe, the more "artful" the item, the more opportunity there is for inserting storytelling. For help unearthing the “story” latent in an item, read the two articles here: app.bronto.com/public/?q=preview_message&fn=Link&t=1&ssid=12675&id=l6vwzcj02c...

Whatever you do, don’t confuse “storytelling” with the length of your item text (a picture alone can tell a thousand words!) Certainly some “story” is necessary to appeal to both hunters and gatherers but too much " wordstory," in my opinion, gets in the way for "hunter" type shoppers. So try to strike a balance in item text.

Primary tags…

Try to use as many primary tags as you possibly can. Don’t just settle for one primary tag if you have 20 items. Try to have at least 6 or 7 primaries. To help you widen your primary tag range, go through all the Etsy Categories, which basically comprise the entire Etsy primary tag list. You want to have an eye peeled for other tags you can apply besides the one that is most obvious to you (perhaps “Geekery,” "Accessories" and "Art" also describe your item). Since you probably have more than one item in your store, the more tags you can fit to your products, the more that different categories of hunters and gathers will get the opportunity to see your products. (In other words, more audiences will see your items if you use more primary tags).

Words aside, here are two key things to get ready for—before you start selling...

1) PREPARE for the time when you do start selling...

Most important: Get ready now to start to determine the best time of day for selling your items. To do that, you need to get ready to track your sales both by time-of-day and by day-of-the-week. The way I do this is as follows (and it took me longer than I care to mention to figure this out):

Make a table with the 24 hours of the day running down the left side. Across the top list the 7 days of the week. When you make a sale, put the first letter of the primary tag for that item in the box that corresponds with both the time of the day and the day of the week, for that sale. Track this data on every sale! Over time, this table will complete itself and you will start to see a pattern for both best days and the best times for selling your products. This is hugely valuable insight you can apply when you renew your listings.

2) Get ready to renew your listings. (This is probably the most valuable marketing secret for new Etsy Sellers to know about.) When you renew a product’s listing (for $.20), it moves to the top of the category's search results on Etsy. I've read sellers say they spend from $1 to $3 a day on relisting items. Now, the amount you can afford to spend per month on relisting products is entirely up to you (5 relistings/day costs $1/day, or $30/mo). If you are not selling anywhere other than online on Etsy, you need to look at this “relisting cost” as your "Marketing budget.”

Make no mistake—marketing is necessary.

If you don't “market” your product, it’s buried within a couple hours of when you listed it and no one will know your it’s there except those folks who ♥’d it during that brief “just listed” period. (Go looking for a product right now on Etsy; the items nearest the top of the results represent both the best matches with your search term and the freshest listings.) In other words, the best way to “refresh” your listing on Etsy is to relist it.

USFUL APP: www.statsy.org/clockbot.php

You should know about this ClockBot "app." It lets you set up items in advance to be re-listed at any designated time. This is especially convenient after you have some stats on when people are most likely to buy from your store (I just told you how to do that in #1 above). ClockBot is easy to use. Just log on with your Etsy info.

Also think about improving the photography for your store masthead, avatar and items… There are many Web designers who offer the service of designing mastheads and avatars. I have not taken advantage of these types of services (perhaps to my detriment) because I have strong opinions about these for my shop.

When I'm taking my own photography of my items…

I try to take shots with natural light. Recently, I traded one of my products with a professional photographer for the item pics that are now visible at my store. You might wish to search for a professional photographer who’s willing to trade photography for your item(s). BTW, this recent post on the SASSy blog will help you build a "lightbox." etsymentors.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-use-light-box-and-photo-editing.html

Eight Online “Must Dos” once you’ve tackled the above…

8 Online Must-Dos

1) Twitter and 2) Facebook

If you aren’t already a Twitter and Facebook user, you need to register to use both of these (And don’t get upset just ‘cuz you need to learn a couple new passwords! Memorizing which password goes with which account keep the little grey cells from growing gray.) Just start. Over time you’ll begin to better understand the phenomena of social networking. Facebook and Twitter probably contribute 20% (or more) of the traffic that comes to my store (I know this ‘cuz of Must-Do #6 below). Once you have registered yourself on Facebook, you will also need to…

3) Register a "page" for your Etsy store on Facebook

This is like a "company" Facebook page. (Just go to your favorite search engine and enter, "how to create a Facebook page.")

On your Page, use your "Wall" as a place to tell the world about yourself and to post articles that you find interesting and worth sharing, relating to your craft. Your goal with your Page is to get people to "Like" it. To help you do that, send your friends and family the link to the Page and ask them to Like it. The Page, therefore, becomes a place where you build a database of good prospective customers.

With a database of Likers, you can begin to send update messages about goings-on in your store. (I'll be honest, I have not seen much effect from amassing this yet and that's because I haven't really offered many promotions yet. But I have big plans to. So I am building my Liker list for the day when I have meaningful product-promotion info to convey. Then I will update my fans with the valuable info regularly. (Don’t be a pest with your update capability just because you can! That’s a surefire way to lose Likers.) If you’re a Facebook or Twitte newbie, ask your family or friends who use these tools to help you learn and understand their usefulness and tactics.

4) Once you’ve created your store’s Facebook Page, get your Etsy store to show up there ( www.etsy.com/storque/seller-handbook/seller-how-to-plug-in-the-my-etsy-facebo... ). You’ll find you can apply your page settings to show people your "Wall" or your Etsy store as a tab on your Page. Personally, I believe it’s best to keep the default setting to show your Wall, otherwise, people may see you as a shameless promoter when they arrive at your Page and decide not to Like you. Use the Wall to inform your Likers about truly useful info and news; and, occasionally, do let them know that they can click the store tab right there on your Facebook Page.

5) Once you’ve created your Facebook Page, you will want to get it to connect to your Twitter account. I won’t go into the specifics here about how to do this, but it isn’t difficult. Just search online for, "How to make my Facebook page connect to Twitter" or something similar. Doing so will allow you to build a dual presence on Twitter and Facebook at the same time.

Google Tools to set up:

6) Web Analytics

This is Google’s Web-traffic, tracking tool. To activate it for your Etsy store, go to: Your Etsy> Shop Settings > Options > Web Analytics (Note, Etsy Web Analytics does not let you track actual conversions yet which is unfortunate, indeed!)

7) Base

This is Google’s product-indexing tool. To activate it for your Etsy store items, go to: Your Etsy> Syndication > Learn more. When you're ready, activate this. The step-by-step setup for activation is explained as you proceed. Use Google terms and questions to get more complete explanations for “Base” if you feel you need it).

8) Your Etsy Activity Feed

Here’s an important trick to do with this newly added Etsy tool: As a Seller, use it to follow your customers. That is, in Etsyspeak, “Add to Your Circle” all the people who buy from you. (Using the Activity Feed in this way lets you begin to understand firsthand the preferences of real, live customers! (Until you get customers, add any people who ♥/favorite your shop to your "Circle," instead).

DON'T EXPECT TO DO ALL OF THE ABOVE MUST-DOs IN 10 MINUTES! IT MIGHT TAKE SEVERAL MONTHS (or a year!). DON'T GET OVERWHELMED—BUT DO THEM ALL. I know if you are not a heavy Web user all this may seem overwhelming. But look at it this way: You’re already ahead of the game because you now know what your “Eight Must-Do’s” are. And knowing those is half the job. And a job half started is more than half done!

Follow the above tips and you’ll soon find that there are many more musts than I’ve listed here that you can do to build your business!

About the Author:

Jim McLean, aka, The Backyard Harmonica Teacher, is the inventor and “soul” seller of the patented FlashHarp harmonica USB flash drive available at the “BackyardBrand” Etsy store.

Revamping your Etsy shop - 2011. Part One

2011-02-01T01:18:00.000-06:00

So you want to make your Etsy shop AWESOME this year? Is it time to step it up a notch or two in some areas of your shop?

If you’re anything like me, I’m always looking for ways to improve my shop & get out there more. People are asking for shop advice all the time on the Etsy forums. Especially newbies, but it’s not just limited to them. Everyone’s shop could use a good going over, & what a better time to do it then at the beginning of the year when the holiday rush has passed. Start fresh, start clean. Revamp your shop & your business, & become more successful than last year!

Now don’t get me wrong. Anyone can start a shop on Etsy & get everything set up for selling. A premade banner, an avatar with your picture, a “Welcome to this shop!” announcement, & maybe some policies, but it takes some real work to make your shop stand out in the crowd. We all want successful shops.

What makes them successful? Sales? Well if that’s the case your shop has to be eye catching, your wording has to be easy to understand, & your policies clear & simple. If people aren’t attracted to your shop front, they probably aren't going to bother looking at what you’re trying to sell them.

The Storque blog is full of articles by Etsy administrators, shop owners & experts in certain areas of small business, but sometimes it can be overwhelming as a new Etsian to go find all the help you need for your shop. Where to even begin? Well, here, for one. This blog series is going to make your life & shop setup even easier!

So starting next week we’re gonna get going on our shops beginning with the most simple & easy to do things first. Each week a new topic will be added. Some will be by me, & many will be by guest bloggers, most of which have Etsy shops of their own. We will include topics on shop appearance, policies, pictures, pricing, SEO, marketing, social media, seasons & holidays, & much more. You definitely don’t want to miss out on THIS blog series!

Join me & 16 other small business owners as we embark on this journey to a better, more successful shop in 2011!

Article written by Meagan from Baby Swank

How to use a light box and photo editing software to make beautiful photographs

2011-01-01T06:18:00.000-06:00

Written by TheHouseofMouse

Great photos are one of the most important things to get right if you sell online. Your photographs are your virtual shop window: If they are not light, bright and eye-catching then often buyers will surf right past your store without even noticing your work. Really beautiful photographs will bring buyers through your virtual door and keep them there long enough to remember your creations.

These photography tips are designed to help you make your photographs looks bright, eye catching and professional and you don't need to have an expensive camera to do this!

This tutorial comes in two parts:

How to make a Light Box
How to edit your photos to make them pop

I use both processes for all of my photographs.

Part 1: How to make a Light Box
These tips are one way of taking great photos, but they are certainly not the only way. I hope that you will be able to use this tutorial as a starting point and gain the confidence to make photographs with your own style.

First select a box that is the right size for what you want to photograph. For small items like jewelery a box about 30cm wide or 1 foot is good, although if you want to photograph larger items you will need a larger box.

Cut out the top of the box and the front, leaving a bar across the top to help your box keep it's shape

Line your box with white paper, making a curve with paper in the back horizontal corner so that it won't show up in your background.

Make sure you put white paper on the sides too, this will help to bounce the light around even more and make your photographs really bright.

To avoid any lines in your photographs, use a large piece of paper for your backdrop, I love to have a white background so I am using a piece of A3 white card, but you can use any color you like. You can also use fabric if you prefer.

Stick or pin your background in place,
again making a curve in the horizontal corner.

Your light source should be 2 adjustable lamps with daylight light bulbs, 100watts will get a great result. Daylight light bulbs are best because the colors in your photographs will be more accurate than if you use a regular yellowish bulb. Daylight light bulbs look bluish when they are not on. You can get daylight light bulbs from any good electrical store, some art supply stores also stock them as painters prefer to use them too.

Arrange your lamps on either side of your light box, if the stands poke under your box -as they do in mine - then stand your box on some books to make it flat. Some people prefer to just use one lamp, but I find using 2 will eliminate all shadows and shows up the details on your work much better.

As you can see, when the bulbs are on the light bounces around in the box in all directions! Perfect for taking bright photographs

If you have a tripod for your camera then set it up in front of your light box, if you don't have a tripod then add one to your christmas list! For now you can stand your camera on something to balance it.

The reason for the tripod is that you don't want to be using the flash on your camera. If you turn off the flash on some cameras then any photographs taken with the camera in your hands will look shaky, the tripod will keep it stable and make your photos nice and clear.

Finally your light box is ready! Place your items in your light box, switch on your lamps, arrange your camera (remember to switch off your flash) and take some photographs!

Every camera is different, some of you may find that you are happy with the photos you get just from the light box. But if you are like me you will still want to make them brighter. Part 2 explains how to do this...

Part 2: How to edit your photos to make them pop
So you have your photos from your light box, but they are still a little dark and dreary. This tutorial will show you how to edit your photos to brighten them up and make them really pop!

To do this you will be using the "levels" tool that is found in almost every photo editing software. I will be using Photoshop for this tutorial. If you don't have any photo editing software then I recommend you try picnic which is a free and simple photo editing site (to get to the levels tool on picnic: upload a photo, then click "exposure" and then "advanced").

To open the levels tool in Photoshop, click the "layer" menu then "new adjustment layer" and select "levels", then click "ok" to open the tool.

The levels tool looks like a graph or histogram. By using the dropper feature and sliding the arrows around you can create different effects, including lightening up your photographs.

Use the dropper feature to select the lightest color in your photograph. (The dropper does not appear on the picnic website, but it will appear in Photoshop and a few other photo editing programs.)

The dropper is the 3 little icons in the bottom right corner of the levels too. You can use these to select the darkest, lightest and medium tones from your photograph. For my purposes I only want to use the lightest one (on the far right) but feel free to play around with them to see the affects you can get.

Select the white dropper and then click it on the lightest part of your photograph. You can keep choosing a new part until you are happy with the result. As you can see, I have selected the brightest area of my background. This will automatically readjust the photograph.

Next you can also use the arrows on the slider under your histogram to lighten or darken your photograph further. If you are using picnic then this will be your main way to lighten your photographs. Click the arrow in the middle of your histogram and slide it to the left and right to see the results

Slide it to the left to lighten your photograph

Or slide it to the right to make it darker

I just want to lighten my photograph slightly so that you can pick out the details in the Cellist Mouse's skirt. When you are happy with your adjustments click "ok"

If you are using Photoshop, you will need to "flatten" your image before you can save your document as a .jpg . To do this select the "layer" menu and click "flatten image" you are now free to save your file. Feel free to crop your image if you want to before you save.

Here is what my photograph looks like before and after using Photoshop to brighten it up...

Written by TheHouseofMouse

Twitter - The Power of Social Networking

2010-11-09T20:01:00.001-06:00

Written by crochetgal.etsy.com

Think of joining Twitter as going to a very large cocktail party by yourself. When you first walk into the room (ie join twitter) you don't know anyone at all. So you start 'following' and chatting with a few people. Slowly your network grows. You find others who share the same interests as you and chat some more. If people want to find out more about you they can take a look at your twitter profile and read your bio or click through on your web address.

Think of it this way when you include links to your shop.. if you walked into a room and people shouted at you from all sides 'by me' our 'check me out', what would you do?

My success with Twitter has been to consider it a very large chat room. Its all about making the contacts. Once the contacts have been made then people will buy!

If you are just starting out, the following definitions might be of some help:

tweet - the act of posting something on twitter. This is the single most important thing that will affect whether or not twitter is right for you

followers - are people who read your tweets

following - are the people whos tweets you read

@username - a message directed to a specific person that can be seen by everyone

DM - direct message - these are completely private

What do I tweet about?

As was mentioned earlier, think of twitter as a large cocktail party. If you are at a party and the person next to you continued to tell you over and over how and where to buy their products, would you hang around very long? No, I didn't think so. On the other hand, if the only thing they told you was that they got up and had bacon and eggs, then went for a walk you wouldn't hang around much either. The key to twitter is to post things that are interesting to you or that you feel might be interesting to others. Did someone tell you a great joke? Post it! Did you find something really cool on the internet? then post that link.

Conversely, if someone posts something that you found interesting, then tell them! Its all about making contact. You may even want to follow their tweets!

How do you find people to follow? One of the best methods I've found is to use the 'search' function on the right sidebar. Pick a topic you are interested in. If you see someone who sounds interesting, follow them! If someone makes you laugh, send them an @message!

One very useful twitter Resource I've found is Twitter 101 for business.

The power of twitter is there... just harness it to its full potential.

Crocheted Lace Butterfly Shawl, alpaca and silk by crochetgal

Written by crochetgal.etsy.com

Follow crochetgal on Twitter at http://twitter.com/crochetgal

Are you mentor material?

2010-11-08T22:04:00.000-06:00

Mrs Quill the English Teacher by TheHouseOfMouse

Are you an experienced etsy seller interested in helping new or struggling etsy members with their shops and questions?

Have you thought about joining the Sellers Assisting Sellers team?

We'd love to welcome some new mentors to the team to help with answering enquiries and running critique sessions. If you think you might be interested in joining, you can find out more information here: become a mentor.

You can also apply directly via our new team page here: TeamSASsy

Looking forward to seeing some fresh faces :)

Team SASsy Interview: Mango Tango Designs

2010-10-27T07:29:00.008-05:00

You've seen us in the Etsy forums, visited our Facebook page, maybe even asked us for advice. Or, perhaps you've joined the team yourself. But really, who ARE Team SASsy?

We decided to find out and asked team members to interview each other so that we could discover who really makes Team SASsy rock! Here's the first interview in the series - watch for more to come!

Team SASsy member, cindylouwho2, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, spent some time interviewing fellow team member Mango Tango Designs, from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA.

cindylouwho2's shop, Peacock Jewellery, was named for her love of peacock pearls, paua abalone shell and her peacock day gecko. The shop is filled with beautiful (and affordable!) jewellery made with natural materials such as gemstones, pearls and shells, as well as crystals and glass.

Abalone Shell and Pearl Cluster Earrings, Blue and Purple Paua Shell from Peacock Jewellery

Here's her interview with Mango Tango Designs:

How did you get started making jewellery?
A close friend suggested I register with her for a nearby jewelry class. The subject of that class was metal clay. I simply could not believe that a type of clay existed which, when fired, would become pure silver. To me, that was magical and completely addictive.

Did you always intend to run a jewellery business?
Not at all. I actually began handcrafting in 1990 in a completely different category – scale dollhouse miniatures. I sold my work online and at shows – just as I do jewelry now – for many years. Eventually the labor involved took its toll on me physically, and I switched because I found jewelry-making to be much less physically demanding. I believe my training in scale miniatures transitioned well to jewelry, as I was already so familiar with the necessity of precision and detail in my work.

We are often advised to have a niche or theme/unifying look for our shops. When I look through your beautiful listings I am struck by the repetition of the ocean theme, right down to the background colours. Was that your initial intent, & has it changed over time? What would you recommend others do to find a unifying theme or look?

My initial intent was certainly to have a unifying theme at least in the background of my photos if not in the work itself. At first I used slate and marble, but I found that too be too dark and gloomy. Once the theme of my work evolved into what it is now – which wasn’t an overnight process either; it took me a while to find my voice - finding a more suitable background was easier. I would definitely recommend that every seller find some way to make a cohesive statement in their Etsy shop – not only in their photos, which should be sharp and focused, but in their banners and avatars as well. Even when the merchandise is diverse, a common background that’s uncluttered and flatters the subject matter helps to sell the product.

You list several upcoming shows in your shop announcement – are they a big part of your business? Do you have recommendations for people who want to do art shows & festivals?

The bulk of my business actually comes from selling online and through a wonderful local gallery. Shows can be a hit or miss proposition. The juried shows which draw thousands are extremely expensive to do, and the unjuried shows may be less expensive but frequently draw smaller crowds and therefore fewer customers. I worked hard to jury into a local artisans’ guild that holds their own shows in order to guarantee myself booth space at a reasonable cost.

My advice to others is to be certain you have product that people want to buy. If you work in a competitive field such as jewelry, it can be very, very difficult to jury into some of the better shows. Be prepared to soldier on and keep pushing in the face of rejection and disappointment. Find a niche and fill it. Be unique.

Finish this sentence (but feel free to write more than a sentence!):
Before I started my Etsy shop, I wish I knew_______________
I wish I knew the formula for making high-quality, inexpensive product that would fly out of my shop! I see now that my style of jewelry is nearly impossible to craft less expensively, and so I accept that I will never be one of Etsy’s top sellers. And yet I’m pleased with the way my work has been embraced on Etsy and feel quite satisfied selling here. There’s a market for my work and I couldn’t be more pleased about that.

How did you get involved with Team SASsy? Has it been what you expected?
I love helping others. I also have a teaching background, and volunteering to assist others helps me to scratch that itch. Also I believe in karma. The good that I do for others will someday come back to me when I most need it. I derive tremendous satisfaction from a heartfelt ‘thank you’ from someone I have assisted on Etsy.

If you had the ability to start a completely different handmade business, what would you choose to do?
I guess I’d have to say there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing. Since I began handcrafting a totally different type of product, where I am now is precisely where I’d like to be.

And your final words of wisdom:
I think that what each of us gets out of Etsy depends entirely on what we put into it. Not everyone has the ability to create something that someone else wants to buy. If what you’re currently doing isn’t working, try something else. There’s always room for improvement. Do what you love and love what you do.

Thanks again to cindylouwho2 of Peacock Jewellery and Mango Tango Designs for this great interview!

Top Tips from Kreated by Karina

2010-10-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

Written by KreatedByKarina.etsy.com

I've recently celebrated 4 years on Etsy! To mark the day, I thought I'd share some of my best-kept secrets from running Soap That Makes Scents (well, ok, they are not really secrets but rather segments of advice I have given out in the forums or in convos as a member of the Sellers Assisting Sellers Team). An FAQ of sorts, and it's all here in one place for you--might be a long read but you can pick out the parts you find useful to reach your own level of success:

~ Promoting ~

Probably the most common question I get asked is "how do you promote?"

My best tip is to figure out your target audience and promote directly to them.

Promoting to a wide audience is fine, but in the end you'll save yourself a lot of time, money and energy focusing your advertising strategies on those people who are more likely to purchase your products.

Think about the ideal person who would shop in your store---how old are they? What sort of websites/blogs would they most likely visit? What kind of magazines do you think they likely to read? What areas of the city would they live in? You can expand to other brainstorming questions but those few should give you a good start in figuring out the type of people who frequent your shop (as well as the type of people you want to direct your items to).

Once you've figured out your target audience, you can then take out ads on those same blogs, websites, magazines etc. Or concentrate on doing craftshows geared towards that "type" of audience.

~ When Selling, Think Like A Buyer ~

For instance...when trying to figure out how to tag your items, think of how YOU search for items when shopping. Do you search by color, or by certain keywords you find yourself using over and over? If so, use them in your tags as well. A great way of figuring out how to describe/tag your item is to ask friends and family. Let them take a look at what your selling (or give them a sample!) and ask what single words they would use to describe it to others. Pick out the most relevant and common ones and use those as tags if they fit, or incorporate some of their suggestions into your item descriptions.

Also---think about what promotional tactics work on YOU. Do you sign up for lots of newsletters? Maybe it's time you offered one of your own to your customers. Do you find yourself throwing away business cards, but keeping magnets and always reminding yourself "to check out that store" everytime you see it on the fridge? Invest in getting some promotional magnets made to give out with your orders or to people you meet. Things like that.

~ Organization Is Important ~

When I started out, I had supplies laying around everywhere--and I mean *everywhere*. My husband used to joke that at times he felt as though he lived in a warehouse. I realized that I was wasting a lot of time by having to go to one place for a box/envelope, one place for a pen, one place for a business card and soap sample, one place to collect the invoice, etc. Now I have a room dedicated to packaging, shipping, wrapping and labelling--Everything is stored in clear plastic bins, and out of reach from tiny hands. Recently we moved the computer in there as well just to make things even more easier. Keeping everything in one place can streamline the process from the time you receive an order, to the time it's shipped out.

~ Going Full Time~

(I took this part below from part of my QYDJ Storque interview so it may seem repetitive if you've read it)

Another common question I get is about how I made the transition from part-time soapmaker to full-time soapmaker. The easy answer would be "I just took the leap, and everything worked out fabulous!!" The more realistic answer is that it was a lot of planning ahead of time, tight budgeting to make my business self-sustainable and turn a profit, plenty of sacrifice (time, energy, luxuries), a bit of luck, and old-fashioned hard work.

If you don't have a Business Plan drawn up, I seriously urge you to get one. You can find lots of information and templates (as well as full examples) at http://www.sba.gov/ It truly is my opinion that no business can succeed fulltime without one. My husband and I sat down and wrote ours several years ago. A business plan covers not only your company's mission and planning out your target audience, but also your fiscal projection for several years ahead, all costs associated with running it from the beginning (ie. licence cost, capital needed, utilities, supplies, advertising budget and a slew of other areas), HOW you plan on covering these costs, short and long-term goals, and will become your Business Manual of sorts. Plus, if you need to go to a bank for a loan to finance your business at any time, many will want to see your business plan (which should then also cover how you plan on paying your lender back).

As it stands now, Soap That Makes Scents pays for itself, with enough left over to pay our bills and rent, as well as groceries, etc. Etsy has been incredible in exposure and while they are the forefront and a large part of my business, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that craftshows, wholesale accounts, and private soap parties (and online soap parties!) make up a large portion of my income--although I wouldn't have gotten any of those accounts if it hadn't been for them finding me on Etsy.com

It's our goal for my husband to quit HIS day job in either 2011 or 2012 by the latest. He's already taken the first step by reducing his hours at work.

~Newsletters Really Do Help~

It was just after the holidays last year that I discovered the wonderful world of having a mailing list. I used to have a blog, but stopped posting in it 'cause it a) seemed too difficult to come up with something exciting to say each time, and b) started to get disheartening wondering if anyone was actually READING it. Starting a mailing list can be one of the best moves promotion-wise. People should hav eto opt-in to receive your email blasts and you know that it's going directly to people who are already interested in what you do and are most likely to shop in your store.

http://www.bravenet.com/ is a simple site for setting up a free mailing list (you can have up to 500 subscribers at no cost and send unlimited emails, plus receive statistics on who's actually read your newsletter). I keep my newsletters to once a month, and advertise my newsletter sign up at craftshows, in my auto-Message To Buyers, and in my shop announcement/profile. My shop views and sales have risen due to special offers given to readers-only.

~But What About Money??~

Budgeting is an important factor at any time in your business, but moreso in the begining stages. You should have a tight budget drawn up before considering quitting your dayjob as well as a sizeable nest-egg set aside to help you through any rocky starts or rough patches along the way. I didn't entertain the idea of quitting my day job to make soap all the time until my online part-time business was already sustaining itself and turning a good profit. A good experiment to see if you can survive on your craft alone, is to bank your paychecks for a period of one year and just live off of what you are making from your home-based business. This not only teaches you a valuable lesson in what are really the neccessities in your life, and where you can cut future costs but also gives you an accurate figure of how much money is coming into the household vs. how much is going out.

Even if you have no plans to take your business full-time you'll want to draw up a budget and stick to it as best as you can. A simple way to keep track of things is to keep organized receipts for everything month-to-month....your crafting supplies, the ink you had to buy for your printer to make your labels/promo materials, your packaging supplies, (even the tape you buy to secure your envelopes properly), anything and everything. Also keep track of your Etsy bills and any other online fees you pay month-to-month (project wonderful advertising, domain name hosting, etc.). This also makes tax-time so much easier, believe me.

~It's Ok To Keep Track Of The Competition~

Really---big companies keep ontop of each other all the time. It's ok to be aware of what your direct competition is doing and perhaps learn from them as well. I'm not saying be fanatical about it, or obsess over every little move they make, or try to copy everything they do thinking it will work for you (most of the time, it won't). What I'm getting at is being aware of who are the "big sellers" in your category and why you think people are drawn to their store. For example, If you notice one of your competitors is frequently on the Front Page or chosen for Treasuries...take a look at their photos, study the techniques they use...or the props chosen that may best show off their items, and get your inspiration for improving and tweaking your own shop photos from there. Take a look at their tags if they carry like items and see if you are missing any key ones (like color of the item, size). Read through the feedback left for them and see what stands out most to you in a buyers' own words: is fast shipping frequently mentioned as a high-point of the transaction? Is that something you can improve on for your own shop? What specifically gets mentioned time and time again? Do dozens of customers rave about how wonderful the communication was from the seller----and do you think that's something you can work on too? Feedback from customers is the #1 way of figuring out how to improve, and give a buyer what they want...you can learn from them whether they are your customers or your competitor's.

Well, that's about all there is for now--I know it's a long read, and by no means is my word the be-all or end-all of anything-...the opinions/outlooks above are based on my own adventures in EtsyLand, and overall business...best of luck with your own journey!

Karina

Written by KreatedByKarina.etsy.com
Find Karina on Facebook

Etsy Shop SEO Success in Six Simple Steps, Part 2

2010-07-10T20:34:00.006-05:00

continued from part 1

4. Optimize (SEO) Each Product Listing
The title of each product listing should contain at least one keyword phrase, such as, "Handmade Gemstone Necklace - (followed by more descriptive words). . . ".

Research the right keyword phrases for your product titles using Google's Free Keyword Research Tool, https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal, using the same techniques that you used to research the keywords for your shop title.

Here are a few sample product listings before and after SEO:

1.Note cards, Set of 2 - Red Vase with Flowers ---->
changed to ----> Watercolor Notecards – Floral - Red Vase with Flowers – 4 X 6, set of 2

2. Spring flowers in blue ---->
changed to ----> Watercolor Painting - Floral- Spring flowers in blue

3. Note cards, set of 2 - Fern Leaf in blue ---->
changed to ----> Watercolor Notecards – Floral - Fern Leaf in blue – 4 X 6, set of 2

4. ACEO - Red vase with asparagus fern ---->
changed to ---->ACEO Art Card - Red vase with asparagus fern
or changed to ---->ACEO Original Painting - Red vase with asparagus fern

Use the selected keyword phrase for each product listing at least once in the description of each listing.

Linking

5. Build Inbound Links
The last change you should make is to work on link popularity to move your shop up higher in the search results for your keywords. Search engines look at inbound links as "votes" for your Web site. Many high quality inbound links move a Web site up in the search engine rankings. The higher up your shop or web site appears in the rankings, the most visitors your shop will have and the more opportunities you have to make a sale.

Link to your main shop page and shop sections within each of your listings. You can see how this would look from this listing from my other shop on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=42286340. The text in this listing links back to the main shop page and other sections within my shop. You can also add links to your welcome text and your profile page and add links from the profile page and shop policy page to other pages within your shop.

Leave comments on the Etsy Storque articles and in the Etsy forums. Each comment you post is linked to your shop and that is also counted by the search engines.

Build inbound links outside of Etsy. This is a step in optimizing your shop that Etsy does not tell you about but which is critical to SEO.

If you have a blog, link to your shop from your blog as often as you can. Links like this help to move your shop up in the search engine rankings. It does take a few months of diligent link building work for the search engines to give you credit for all these links but so well worth the work. This is how to create a clickable link within the body of the blog text:

<a href="http://www.yourshopname.etsy.com" target="_blank">your primary or secondary or any other keyword phrase inserted here</a>

Replace the words above in bold with your shop name and the keywords for your shop. This is called a keyword text link and has more link value to your shop than a simple shop url link.

Check your link popularity in the Yahoo search engine every so often to get an idea of where your links are coming from and how they are building up. Do not check Google as Google only reports a small percentage of inbound links. Yahoo is the

In the Yahoo search bar, type in "http://yourshopname.etsy.com" (with quotes) and click on the Search button. You should see a page of information that looks like this:

You will see search results of all the places on the Web that link to your shop, including all the links within Etsy. Make note of the areas I highlighted in bright pink, such as the URL address in the search box and the total links reported on the left side.

Do Not: leave comments all over the blog world in hopes of building links to your shop. Most blogs have blocked the link value from being passed along the to link target. You can see blocked links clearly with the free Developers Tool Bar that can be installed on the Firefox browser. All blocked links show up as bright pink.

Do: build links from other blogs by sharing links with your friends. Exchange links this way only with trusted web sites and blogs.

6. Check the Search Engines Results Pages

Wait 2 - 7 days after making these changes before searching on Google or other search engine to see your shop come up in the search results for the keywords in your shop title and section names. Wait up to 2 weeks if you have a brand new shop on Etsy - give the search engines time to find your new shop. Search engines revisit web sites now and then to record new information. If there are a lot of competing web sites for these keywords, you might have to look through a few pages of search results to find your shop. Work on link building if you want your shop to move up in the search results to gain more views. Landing on the first page of search results for even a fairly popular search term is usually a huge boost in visitors and sales to your shop or any Web site.

You can read more about the two primary components of SEO, content and linking, on my blog here: http://seo-web-pro.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-we-do-what-we-do-in-seo.html.

Final Words
Search Engine Optimization is an ongoing process. Work hard at SEO and you will be rewarded with a large amount of Internet traffic visiting your Etsy shop - all free. Once you have reached where you would like your shop to be in the search results, continue working on link building. The competition on the top of the search results is always working to stay there and new Web sites are always working on getting to the top. You need to keep working to keep ahead of the competition.

Conduct new keyword research every few months to see how much your keywords are in use. Popular keyword phrases fall out of "style" and are replaced by new keyword phrases. Make changes to the keywords to your shop if you believe it is necessary. Keep working at SEO to be be found, be seen, and make more and more sales.

This guide ebook might contain terms you are not familiar with. I will be very happy to answer any questions or discuss anything that you need help with.

copyright@WingsDove Web Design Solutions. All rights reserved. The book is protected by intellectual copyright laws and may not be resold in it's entirety or in part or copied and sold as anyone else's' property.

Written by Mary
seowebdesign.etsy.com

Etsy Shop SEO Success in Six Simple Steps, Part 1

2010-07-06T19:40:00.024-05:00

The two main components of successful SEO for any Web site or blog are a). content and b) linking. This article covers both content and linking for the successful SEO of your Etsy shop.

Content

There are several places on each Web page that the search engines look to see what the Web page is about. The search engines gather this information, analyze it and then add it to their huge index of Web sites organized by what each Web page is about. Some of this information is in areas of the Web page that can only be seen by looking at the program code.

You can view the program code for each Web page by clicking on View in your Internet Browser and then clicking on Source. The program code for your main shop page and each shop section will look something like this (you might have to scroll from left to right to see all of this code that is on one line):

Locate the title tag, meta description tag and meta keywords tag in the code above and find the same code in the Shop View of your Etsy shop. Now you can see some of the most important text that the search engines look for when they look at your Etsy Shop. Note: They keyword tag is not usually used by any of the large search engines any more but Etsy does move some of your shop and listing information into the Keyword tag.

OPTIMIZE YOUR ETSY SHOP

1. Optimize (SE0) the Shop TItle

The first place that the search engines "read" on a Web page is the title tag. The title tag is the most important text to the search engines. This is where the search engine programs first look to find what each Web page on the Internet is about. Placing your best keywords into the shop title places these same keywords into the title tag - then your shop will come up on the search results whenever someone searches for whatever keywords you have placed into the title tag, such as, "handmade gemstone jewelry" or "original ACEO paintings" or "handmade baby clothes."

The main shop title for each Etsy shop is placed into the title tag by Etsy programs whenever the main shop page is viewed in Shop VIew. The section names you in your shop are moved into the title tag whenever each section is viewed in Shop View. Look for the title tag for your shop in the program code. It will look like this:

<title>SEO Web Design Custom Web Design SEO and SEM by SEOWebDesign</title>

As you can see, Etsy takes the shop title you create and adds it to the title tag of the main shop Web page, followed by your shop name and, if there is enough room, the words "on Etsy." I like to fill up my shop and section titles with as many appropriate keyword phrases as possible, confident that the search engines have other ways to figure out that the Web page is on Etsy.

Each shop title can be successfully optimized (SEO) for one primary keyword phrase and one or two secondary keyword phrases. You will see the reason for this on as you continue through this report.

The place to begin optimization of your title tag is with keyword research. I like to use Google's free Keyword Research Tool that you can find at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. Start by keying in the words you think describe what you are selling and Google will give you information about your keywords, such as the total searches in the most recent month for your keywords and also make other keyword recommendations.

Choosing keyword phrases from the keywords recommended by Google with the right number of recorded searches on the Internet is very important to getting found in the search engines. Your shop will get lost in the competing crowd of other web sites if you use a very popular keyword or phrase, such as "jewelry" or "handmade jewelry." On the other hand, your shop will not see an increase in Internet traffic if you use a keyword phrase with too few searches.

Choose the most appropriate keyword phrase for first placement in your title tag followed by one or two other appropriate keyword phrases. Add punctuation, such as commas if you like. The punctuation is only for human eyes - the search engines ignore punctuation but spaces are important. A few minutes after you make this change, the new shop title words will appear in the title tag of your shop when you are looking at the program code when you view your shop in Shop View.

Do not: break up the keywords phrases in the title tag into a string of words like this: "jewelry, gemstone, sterling silver, chainmaille, . . . . " The search engines will not read this as "gemstone jewelry, sterling silver jewelry, chainmaille jewelry."

Do: Use the complete keyword phrases as you find them in your Keyword Research. The way that you see the keyword phrases in your research is the same way that the search engines will look to find your shop.

2. Optimize (SEO) the Shop Welcome Text

This welcome text is the text that Etsy places into the description meta tag and is often what is seen on search results below the title tag. The description tag for your shop looks like this:

<meta name="description" content="Welcome to my shop, SEO (Search Engine Optimized) Web Design, your source for affordable custom Web designs created and developed by an experienced" >

This is what the search engines and Internet searchers see when they look at your shop in the search engines results pages.

On the search results for the example shop, the search results look like this:

The shop title (title tag) is seen on the first line of the search results, followed by the description tag on the next two lines, then followed by the URL of your shop. Think about what you would like the Internet users to see when they see your shop in the search results. Most likely they would first like to know if you have what they are looking for.

Your welcome text has to contain your keyword phrases to add any benefit for your search engine rankings. It's to your advantage in the search engines to use your keywords in the text and place the most important ones at the top of the text - the ones you would want someone to see on Google if they were searching for the products you are selling.

In this text include the primary and secondary keyword phrases for your shop as well as the keywords you select for the section names. Use these keywords in the first few sentences of your shop welcome text and use each keyword phrase at least once and more often if you can. Use your keywords several times if you have a large amount of text in the shop welcome text.

The search engines will decide what the web page is about by the information on the entire page. If you write more about your shipping policies than anything else, for example, then the search engines will give more weight to your shipping policies than to any other text on the page.

Try words like this, which include your primary shop keywords as well as your section name keywords, for the first few sentences of your shop text (replacing the bold words with your own keywords):

"In my your primary keyword phrase here shop, you will find a large selection of secondary keyword phrase #1, secondary keyword phrase #2 as well as section name and section name from my primary or secondary keyword phrase. I hope you enjoy my (fill in with several of your section names here). I add more primary keyword phrase items . . .. (etc)"

These first few sentences are a suggestion. You can use your own words – just make sure to include the selected keywords for your shop title and at least a few of your section names in this area of your shop text. The more text you use the and more often you use the keywords for your shop and section names, the better your shop will do in the search engine rankings. Use a large proportion of keywords relative to the amount of text on the page. There truly is no "ideal" percentage of keywords to all the text on the page.

The search engines index all of the text on each page of your shop but only display a small amount of the text on the search results.

3. Optimize (SEO) the Shop Section Names

The words you use to label your shop sections are added to the Keyword meta tag. More importantly, each section name is moved into the title tag of the web page for each section: The keyword tag for your shop looks something like this:

<meta name="keywords" content="custom etsy shop seo, custom web site seo, custom web design, web design templates, web success 101, custom slide shows, custom web templates" >

Research the right keyword phrases for your shop section names using Google's Free Keyword Research Tool, https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal, using the same techniques that you used to research the keywords for your shop title.

Using full keyword phrases, such as, "Handmade Necklaces ", “ACEO Paintings,” “Watercolor Notecards,” and “Vintage Women's Dresses ”, that are actually used in real searches in the search engines is beneficial to the SEO of your shop. Use all of the sections in your shop to get the most out of the section name keywords.

Do Not: use spaces between each letter of each word, such as, J E W E L R Y, for section names. This does not work for SEO - search engine will read each letter as a separate word.

Do: Using full keyword phrases, such as, Handmade Gemstone Jewelry, for section names.

To be continued . . . .

Written by Mary
seowebdesign.etsy.com

A little Secret about Promoting

2010-06-24T12:21:00.001-05:00

Photo: 3 Gorgeous Silver Keys by StarofSupplies

Yesterday I was talking to my sister about how to promote her Etsy Store. I had already given her a long list of ways to promote, including using facebook, twitter, blogging, giveaways and the Etsy forums (see the end of this post for useful links to these) which she is already doing.

My sister was asking if there was anything else she could do, and then it dawned on me that there was something else. Something that I had not ever really considered "promoting" as such, but it had definitely helped me become a relativity well known face on Etsy.

What is this secret you ask? Well, it is sharing tutorials and bits of advice... a just like I am doing right now. By giving back to the community you become better known and at the same time you are helping what I like to call your Etsy Karma. Giving your time to help others really is a reward in it's self, a little bonus is that you become known for being a helpful person, which can only help your brand.

"But what advice can I give?" You say to me "Everything has already been written! There are already loads of articles and blog posts about every aspect of Etsy and running a business"

Well yes, this is true! I am not certainly not the first to write articles on how to compile your Shop Policies, or how to make a light-box and edit your photos. But I did not copy these other authors (Plagiarism is a plague on the internet, please do not lower yourself to this level - people will be able to tell when the writing is not yours) I simply wrote from my own experience and understanding. I include things that I have discovered for myself, and share my knowledge in a way that I hope will help other sellers succeed on Etsy.

Still stuck? Here are a few ideas to get you going:
- Choose a topic you are interested in. Readers will be more interested in your subject if you are
- Share tutorials on how to make things, use lots of photographs.
- Is there something you know that could help other Etsy sellers? Perhaps you found a useful website to help you collect together data, did you discover a clever way to pack shipping boxes faster? Share with your fellow sellers and they will remember you.
- If tutorials and blog posts are not your thing, is there something else you could do for the community? (this is why making treasuries is such a beautiful idea, you are helping others and boosting your Etsy Karma)
- Has someone asked you for help with something recently, or expressed a frustration that they don't understand an aspect of Etsy properly? Did you know the answer? This is a great way to find ideas on what knowledge you have to share.
- Did you spend hours trying to figure something out when you first started on Etsy? Share what you know!
- DO NOT directly copy other people articles or use their photos. Doing this and getting caught (and you will get caught) will only serve to make your store very very unpopular! The Etsy community does not take kindly to this kind of behaviour.

So there it is, a little secret that could make a big difference to your store and help others at the same time.

~-~

Here are the other links I promised:
Get the Etsy Sales you want: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6356278
Pimp your shop: http://tinyurl.com/yghs9kh
Places to promote: http://tinyurl.com/crj8ya
Etsy forum threads on promotions:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6120752
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5797668
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5453881&page=2

Free Marketing course! This 5 day course is the BEST I have found yet:
Day 1: http://handmadeologyuniversity.com/members/?p=240
Day 2: http://handmadeologyuniversity.com/members/?p=31
Day 3: http://handmadeologyuniversity.com/members/?p=38
Day 4: http://handmadeologyuniversity.com/members/?p=43
Day 5: http://handmadeologyuniversity.com/members/?p=53

Written by Anna from The House of Mouse

Stop saying you don't have a live model...

2010-06-15T17:16:00.002-05:00

written by blythehopesvintage.etsy.com

You do. Yourself.

If you really want to show off your creations on a model, it may be time to put on your big girl panties and learn how to use the self timer on your camera.

Yeah yeah, I hear a cry of 'But I look terrible in pictures!'

Very likely you do - and that's because modeling is actually a skill, not a gift of genetics. Okay, it helps if you look like Kate Moss, but it isn't necessary in order to take a good shot of what you're selling. But I can assure you that even our dear Kate had to LEARN how to take a good picture. Just like how you learn to use your camera, you need to learn how to model.

They have classes at the big agencies for just this purpose. I used to teach one.

So here are some basic things you can master:

1) Nerves - nothing looks worse in a photo than nerves. One way I beat this is reminding myself that it's not about me, it's about the product. No one is coming into my shop to see how ugly/skinny/ridiculous I look, they're coming to see the clothes. Therefore I need to do my job to show off the clothes in the best way.

2) Angles - Y'know how we're always told never to shoot our product straight on and centre? Same with a person. Limbs bend in many different ways - use them.

3) Hands: One major thing that people have trouble with is their hands - usually the more you think about relaxing them the tenser they get, so try bending your middle fingers slightly - your hands will instantly relax and look natural.

4) Think about negative space - if your arms are straight down the sides of your body, you now look as wide as your body plus two arms. Do you want to look wider? Yeah, didn't think so. Aim to separate your arms from your body a little bit so your figure is visible. For example:

One arm is by my side, but held slightly away so there's space between my waist and my arm, the other is on my hip. Another point is not the break the 'line' of the outfit - always place your hand under the waist line slightly - not on it.

5) The most flattering pose is going to be one that makes your body look longer - there's a reason most models are very tall, clothes look better in photos on a long body type. However, if you're titch like me you can cheat. Check out my dear friend Alex in this picture:

See how her body makes an 'S' almost? I swear this looks good on everyone, the trick is to put all your weight on one foot and rest just the toes of the other on the floor, and move your shoulders off to the side without the weight.

6) Facial expression - forget the camera is there and think about something or someone nice - run a little day dream in your mind while the camera clicks. Looking off to one side is always gonna be more flattering than straight on:

7) Most importantly, learn to be self critical. That doesn't mean focusing on all the things you don't like about yourself - we all have issues with the way we look, but I promise no one is looking at your nose. Look at the picture as a whole, and decide if it's showing the PRODUCT to it's best advantage. Take lots of photos, you can always delete them.

written by blythehopesvintage.etsy.com

How To Install A Scrolling Shopping Cart Widget on Your Blog

2010-05-30T06:28:00.002-05:00

written by cricketscreations.etsy.com

There's a new widget for our blogs from http://cr8tivity.com/ that creates a scrolling "Buy" shopping cart direct to our Etsy shop (see the "3 Product" widget at upper right)! Here's a step by step instruction tutorial on how I placed this scrolling photo shopping cart on my blog, Crickets Creations Handknit Scarves:
I went to http://cr8tivity.com/

I typed in my etsy shop username into the white field and hit the "helpers" button

I clicked "Widgets" in black font at upper left of screen
I clicked "3 Product" to have 3 items shown at a time (choose how many products you would like to see displayed on your own blog)

I placed my cursor in the "Original Version" text field and hit Ctrl + A at the same time on my keyboard to highlight all of the text in that field.

Then I hit Ctrl + C at the same time to copy that text

Then I went to my blog and logged in (I use blogger/blogspot)

I clicked "Layout" and then clicked "Add a Gadget"

I clicked the "+" sign next to "HTML/JavaScript and a new field appeared

I placed my cursor in the Content field and hit Ctrl + V at the same time on my keyboard to paste in the coding I had copied from the Cr8tivity site.

I added a Title (Shop with Crickets) and clicked to "Save"

I THEN (very important, all your work will be lost without this last step!) clicked the orange "Save" button on the "Add and Arrange Page Elements" page

Then I clicked to "View Blog" to make sure I did it all correctly. :)
Lastly, a made a donation to Troy at http://cr8tivity.com/ as a thank you!

Hope this is helpful for your Etsy online shops and blogs,
Celeste (Crickets)

written by CricketsCreations

Sellers Assisting Sellers Team now on facebook!

2010-05-27T04:17:00.005-05:00

Custom Logo Cupcakes by shortbreadnyc

The Sellers Assisting Sellers Team is now on facebook! As well as linking to our new blog posts, we’ll also be sharing other useful business resources and announcing upcoming live critique sessions! You can find our facebook page here

Love Letter Necklace by SimonDesigns

Also, to make it easier to keep up with the articles published on this blog, you can now subscribe via email so that you don’t miss anything (in the box on the right panel). We’ll soon be interviewing some of The TeamSASsy mentors so that you can get to know the team and hear their best etsy tips.

If you’d like to join the team and become a mentor yourself, we’d love to have you! You can find information about how to join here

Le Gros Chat Noir Pendant by SuperVery

Posted by morphologica.etsy.com

Interview with a TeamSASsy Mentor: KreatedbyKarina

2010-04-23T00:20:00.006-05:00

Interview by morphologica.etsy.com, adapted from a post on
The Etsy Business Tips Blog

Karina of KreatedbyKarina is a seller of luscious bath and beauty products with over 1900 sales on etsy. She kindly agreed to do an interview to share her perspective on achieving success on and off etsy.

How did you get started making bath and beauty products and what did you do before you started selling on etsy?
During a trip to England I came across a local soap-making class and took it on a whim..I immediately fell in love. Short, but sweet. Before I found Etsy, I was living in Toronto, Canada where I'm originally from and started selling my own bath and body products on the side at craftshows while maintaining a fulltime job as a caterer. I discovered Etsy in 2006 after I'd moved to the US, set up shop and haven't looked back since.

Chocolate Espresso Shea Butter Vegan Soap

How much of your business is conducted through etsy?
Etsy is the only venue I can be found online. It's a large part of my business but much of my income is through craftshows (roughly I do about 2 shows a week during the busy season), wholesale accounts and private soap home shows. Last year I started doing Virtual Soap Shows held through my Etsy shop (it's like a soap party, but held online). What's wonderful is that Etsy has introduced us to doing wholesale as retailors contacted us through them.

Coconut Cream Shea Butter Vegan Soap

As someone who has been able to ‘quit your day job’, what is the main advice you would give to someone wishing to go full time with their business?
Develop a business plan. You can find free templates as well as a LOT of support through www.sba.gov . Your business plan will cover your ideals and goals for your business, budgeting, marketing plans, fiscal projections for several years ahead, start up costs, etc. After you've done this, if you're wondering if it's possible to survive on your craft income alone, a good idea is to bank your regular job paychecks for a period of one year, and live off of what you make with your sales. This will give you a good idea on how much money is coming into the household versus what's going out, and if you can still live within your means.

Handmade Soap of the Month Subscription

Do you have any tips for sellers wishing to pursue the wholesale angle?
You may want to tag your items with the word "wholesale"..as I've said before, all of my wholesale buyers discovered me through Etsy---so retailors ARE searching on the site. You can also approach wholesale buyers yourself, by determining which stores "fit" the type of items you offer and then calling ahead to set up an appointment with the store's merchandise buyer. Don't just walk in and expect them to drop everything to look at your stuff, no matter how cool and wonderful they are. They won't have the time, and you'll leave feeling frustrated that you never had their complete attention and excitement over your items. Making an appointment is beneficial to both of you. Also, before diving into wholesale, be certain that you can afford to. If you're buying your supplies at retail cost, there's no way you're going to be able to make any sort of profit after lowering your cost per item to entice wholesale buyers. Remember, they will traditionally expect about 40-50% off the final cost. Source out wholesale suppliers for your materials, and buy in bulk when you can to lower your own costs.

Candied Ginger and Orange Peel Body Souffle Whipped Soap

Can you share your top tips for online promotion and how much importance would you place on this aspect?
I don't do a lot of online promotion---and in fact I'd say that most of it can be a waste of time, resources and energy. While it's great to join networking groups and participate in several crafting forums, mostly it's made up of other sellers--some of whom are your direct competition. Instead, I focus on offline promotions---doing plenty of craftshows, handing out business cards, and participating in sampler distribution companies (where you send in 50-100+ samples of your work and they sell them to interested parties). These things work the best for me. I recently put up a fanpage www.facebook.com/SoapThatMakesScents and have gotten a lot of hits from that. Also, try to be featured in as many blogs or print magazines as you can---you can email the blog owner and ask them about their requirements for being featured.

Is there anything you would do differently with the benefit of hindsight?
I would have started a Newsletter much, much earlier than I did. I used to write in a blog, and it got frustrating because I never had any idea if people were even READING it...plus it can be time-consuming to have to write in it everyday to keep it looking fresh. A newsletter is better, in my opinion, because you're already sending it to people who have expressed an interest in what you do and want to learn more about you. A good place to set up a free Newsletter is www.Bravenet.com which allows you to maintain a list of 500 subscribers for free, and offers some statistics on who's opened and read your mailing updates.

Mocha Java Shea Butter Lip Balm

Can you tell us something surprising about the lady behind the soaps?
I love doing everything I can by hand. All of my invoices are hand-written instead of printed out, all of my product labels are printed at home, handcut and then either hand-stamped or hand-colored (you wouldn't believe how much money this saves in colored printer ink yearly!!)...is it a lot of work? Definately. Surprisingly, it's also therapeutic in a way...I prepare several hundred labels every few months so that they are done ahead of time and I think it adds to the aspect of my business being "handmade". It's not uncommon to see me sitting behind my booth at a show with my clipboard, coloring away inbetween customers! It's a good conversation-starter too. :)

Blogging Could Be More Effective Than You Thought - Google Analytics & Etsy Minis

2010-01-19T01:30:00.004-06:00

written by morphologica.etsy.com

Brain in a Jar by YourOrganGrinder

After noticing that views from my blog were lower than they should have been in my Google Analytics stats for my Etsy store, I began to do some investigating and realized that clicks on Etsy minis show up within Google Anayltics as visits from within Etsy, rather than visits from a blog or website.

This means that some of the traffic coming from your blog or website (when people click on your Etsy mini) won't be identified as having come from that traffic source (yourblog.blogspot.com), which may lead people to underestimate the effectiveness of blogging as a promotional tool.

I Love you Blogs & Tea Print by Jeniferramos

Fortunately it is possible to find out how many views have come through Etsy minis, and also whether people have clicked on the link in the mini that leads to your shop or a specific item.

Instructions for assessing visits via Etsy minis:

Step 1. Go to the dashboard in the left panel within Google Analytics. Click on 'Content'. Next, click on 'Top Content'.

Step 2. Go to the bottom of the page where you will find a search box with the option to 'Filter page containing:'.

Step 3. The code for traffic from etsy minis is 'em', so type 'ref=em' into the search box and click 'Go'. This will then show you the visits to your store that have come via etsy minis (and the item numbers if they clicked on a particular item in the mini).
Don't forget to show more rows of results if necessary (that option is also found on the bottom panel where the search box is located).

As well as etsy minis on your blog, some of these visits may have come from other people's minis if they have featured your item as a favorite, or from 'related items' in a Storque article, as the code is used for that as well (thank you to Ferrolux for providing that insight).

Thank you to http://bloghandmade.blogspot.com for the em coding. Other codes are also available from the code list on the bloghandmade blog.

Statistics Cufflinks by Bellamodaartist

written by morphologica.etsy.com

Making Prints for Sale on Etsy

2010-01-09T02:59:00.003-06:00

Written by beckykazana.etsy.com

To welcome the new year, I thought it might be fun to share some of the questions I receive as a member of Sellers Assisting Sellers. I'll include my answers and hope that all of you will share your advice and experiences as well. Whaddya say we start today?

Photographic print by Ninainvrom

Q)Do you have advice about making prints of my work? I am super confused about what type of paper, ink, printing method, printer, archival quality, etc I need to have for my prints. Can you offer some suggestions?

A) There are lots of ways to go about making prints of your work. I have invested in a very nice Epson printer and scanner so that I can print images and cards as needed. After my watercolors are complete, I scan them, color correct them in Photoshop and then format them to fit on an 8.5 x 11 piece of acid free 100 lb paper.

If you are just beginning, I would suggest having some prints made at your local print shop. They will be very knowledgeable about paper types and printing techniques and you can see the difference in quality and make the value judgment about what you want to offer on Etsy.

Frida print on polycanvas by AFancifulTwist

Another fun way to answer these questions is to go shopping! Poke around on Etsy and look carefully at the work of an artist you admire. Pay special attention to how they describe their prints. Look at artists that are selling lots and lots of prints- that's the goal after all! Also, look at sellers who are making the same kind of work as you are and how they are printing it.

Gocco printed greeting card from TwoGuitars

Try searching for key words that you use frequently in your own listings and see what other shops come up. If you like what they are doing, poke around their shop. In the right hand corner of their shop you can see how many sales they have. Read through their listings, see how they are describing things and what their store policies are. Strike up a conversation with them and ask if they have any suggestions or advice for newbies! The best thing about Etsy is the community. Check out the forums and the pounce tool for more fun ways to meet and learn from successful sellers.

Good Luck and Happy Etsying! Becky

Written by beckykazana.etsy.com

How to: Custom Orders

2010-01-03T10:10:00.001-06:00

Written by TheHouseofMouse

Image: Needle Felted Dog by KaysK9s

The world of custom orders is a tricky one for any Etsy seller, because we enter the minefield of creating something unique to a buyers design specifications. We hand over some or all of the creative control to our buyers, who are often unaware of the limitations of our craft and the time that their items take to create.

I know of many Etsy sellers that have fallen foul of custom order requests gone wrong: Where buyers expect way too much for no increase in price, or when communications have not made it clear exactly what they want before the seller starts work, causing sellers to redo items over and over wasting precious time. The steps below are designed to help you work out the kinks of your custom order process so both you and your buyer are clear on exactly what you expect from each other, hopefully meaning that you both come out happy with your transaction.

1. Talk to your buyer about what they want.
Colors, sizes, design features etc. Ask for images or links for reference if applicable and make sure you get as much information as possible. If your buyer asks for a quote at this point give them a ball park figure if you can, but be clear that until you have decided on ALL the details you can’t give them a specific price.

2. Be honest about what you can and cannot do.
Sometimes buyers assume your craft is capable of things that are just not possible! Be honest with your buyers about what you can and cannot do, it is much better for the both of you if your design specification is achievable right from the beginning. If your buyer sets a low budget, be clear with them about what you can accomplish for their price range.

3. Write up a clear design specification.
When you are sure you have all the information you need: Write up a clear design specification. It sounds so simple and yet it is very easy to get crossed wires even at this early stage, especially if you have had several convos already and important information has to be sifted out.

Write out all the details you have discussed and put it all in one place, give them a price based on this information. Ask your buyer to check it and if they make any changes make sure you adjust the price accordingly if you need to.

Include the shipping cost and the time it will take you to complete the order in your design specification as well. Overestimate the time it will take you by about 20%, this gives you some wiggle room should unforeseen things happen, and if you get it done before you said you would this will make your buyer even happier.

It is a good idea include small piece of text making it clear that changes to the design specification later will incur additional costs, if your buyer keeps changing their minds and costing you time then it is fair that it should cost them more money. Make sure they are aware of this when they are confirming their design specification.

4. Ask for payment before you start work.
You don’t have to ask for all the money before you start, but a partial payment of 50% is more than acceptable. Most professional businesses require 100% payment before they start on an order, and I see no reason why an Etsy seller should not ask for the same.

Some sellers prefer not to take this approach, and of course the decision is up to you. If the item you are making could be sold in your store as a non-custom item then you might choose to risk it and not ask for payment ahead of time, then should something happen you could place it in your store to resell later. However if you are making something that you could not resell, I would highly recommend that you ask your buyer to make some kind of financial commitment before you start work. This is a common policy for most professional businesses.

5. Set up a listing on Etsy so that your buyer can pay
Include the whole design specification (omitting any personal information that the buyer does not want to share). By doing this you receive payment as well as having a new transaction and feedback options.

6. Keep the lines of communication open as you work
When you wrote out the design specification you set a timetable for the work to be completed. If the work will take more than a week, make sure you keep your buyer up to date on how their item is coming along. If you are having difficulties you did not foresee (such as materials out of stock from your local craft store, or technical problems with some of the design specifications) make sure you keep your buyer informed. Buyers would much rather know about things like this ahead of time than be surprised with them later on. Managing their expectations in important for your customer service record. You don’t need to send a convo every day, but a quick update once a week will really help your buyer feel as if something is happening.

7. Send photos of the completed item to your buyer
Give them the opportunity to suggest any changes they would like you to make. If the changes they want are significantly different from your original design specifications and will cost you more time to do, then make them aware what extra cost they will need to pay to cover this.

If the buyer does request changes repeat step 7 until they are happy with their item.

8. Get the rest of your payment
If you took partial payment before you started work, ask for the rest of it now before you ship the item off.

9. You’re done!
Ship off their items promptly and make sure to let them know how long it should take to arrive.

It helps to write about your custom order policies in the Policies section of your Etsy Store, you can then direct your buyers to read this section as you start convoing about a possible order. Include information on possible costs, construction times, additional charges to changes in the design specifications, when payment is due etc. The more information you include the better your customer will know what to expect from you, and the more protected you are should something go wrong. For example if a buyer claims that they did not know changes that require more work on your part would cost them more money. If it is there in their policies, and you have been clear about it in convos they do not have a leg to stand on.

So many of us rely on custom orders for a large proportion of our income, and many new sellers on Etsy inadvertently allow buyers to walk all over them. Buyers that demand a great deal of work from a seller for a low budget often get a very good deal while the seller is left running in circles for a pitiful amount of money. Don’t allow your need for more sales cause you to undersell what you do.

Summary:

1. Talk to your buyer about what they want.
- Colors, sizes, design features etc.
- Collect together links, images and any other reference material.
- Give a ballpark figure on cost if requested

2. Be honest about what you can accomplish, especially if a low budget it set.

3. Write up a clear design specification and ask your buyer to check it.
Include:
– All the details you have discussed, colors, sizes, design features, links, images and reference material etc
- Total price for the work including the Shipping cost
- Time it will take you to complete the order
- Be clear that major changes to the design speciation will cost the buyer more money.

4. Ask for payment before you start work.
- Partial or full payment, however you decide to do this.

5. Create a special listing in your Etsy store so your buyer can pay. Include the whole design specification in the description. (Remember to protect your customers privacy, remove any personal information like names, addresses etc from the listing description)

6. Keep the lines of communication open.
- Keep your buyer up to date once a week on how things are progressing.
- Let them know if you are having any difficulties with their order, especially if this will affect the construction time.

7. Send photos of the completed item to your buyer.
- Ask for their opinion and any changes they might want.
- If they want changes that are significantly different to the design specification and will cost you more time then give them a quote for the additional work.
- repeat step 7 until your buyer is happy with their order.

8. If you took partial payment before you started work, ask for the rest of it now before you ship the item off.

9. You’re done! Ship off the item promptly.

Written by TheHouseofMouse

FREE: Tutorial - QuickBooks Simple Start Online - Make It Work for Your Etsy Shop

2009-10-27T09:01:00.001-05:00

Written by Holly from Accounting SPOT

I have posted time after time about my love for QuickBooks. I am now offering my Tutorial on how to make QuickBooks Simple Start Online (the free version) work for your Etsy shop, for you to download for FREE! See below for details, Enjoy! :)

{Download tutorial HERE. Sign up for QB Online HERE}

-Due to many pictures and links, the download takes a couple of minutes.

*Are you looking for a free accounting solution?

*Do you have a modest amount of transactions?

*Do you want to use a tried-and-true accounting program?

*Are you unsure of how to make the free QuickBooks® Simple Start Online work for your Etsy shop?

If you are answering YES to these questions, THIS is the solution for you!

Included:

Simple to read, step-by-step tutorial on how to make the free QuickBooks® Simple Start Online work for your Etsy shop (product created in excel).

Compatible:

QuickBooks® Simple Start Online (free from Intuit), click HERE to view.

Details:

The QuickBooks® Simple Start Online tutorial provides directions on how to make the program work best with your Etsy shop. Using the QuickBooks® Simple Start is an easy way to track sales and expenses. All your finance information is organized in one place, so you can easily stay on top of your business and be ready for tax time.

What isn't always easy, is knowing how to set it up and make it work for you.

This tutorial gives you easy to understand, step-by-step directions (with pictures!) from setting up your company to posting transactions to reconciling to reporting. Start-to-finish!

If you've found this tutorial helpful, I'd love to hear your comments! Also, if you have a business blog, feel free to post a link so your readers can enjoy this tutorial as well. Thanks!

Holly Neitzel

MBA, Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor

Accounting SPOT

P.S. (For the sake of full disclosure: I am a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor and Affiliate. I receive a small reimbursement if you sign up for QuickBooks® Simple Start Online using my link. This is not WHY I am offering this tutorial, but it is why I am able to offer it for free. Yay!)

What: What program should you use to track your bookkeeping?

2009-10-22T05:42:00.002-05:00

Written by Holly from Accounting SPOT

(oldcrowfarm.etsy.com)

There are many different levels and options to choose from. It comes down to both your business needs and how your brain processes information. In this post I will run through the general options, giving pros & cons of each.

(I would like to add another post at some point that reviews specific programs. If you have an accounting program you would like me to review, please post in the comments!). Hopefully this will provide you a good starting point for making the best choice for you and your business!

Please share in the comments what program you use for your accounting and what you like/dislike about it.

(WildWomanJewelry.etsy.com)

{Pen & Paper}
Options: General Ledger paper book, #2 Pencil (or a trusty ol' Bic if you prefer)
Price: Inexpensive
Pros: If you are not computer savvy, this might be up your alley. It is all right in front of you, straight forward. Many people just work better in this way.
Cons: You will need some accounting knowledge to get it set up properly. Also, maintaining can be pretty time consuming if you have to hand write everything. Making changes and adjustments can also me difficult as you have to erase, rewrite and hand adjust every entry effected.

{Spreadsheets}
Options: Excel, Open Office, Accounting SPOT: Free, Inexpensive
Price: Free - Inexpensive
Pros: Spreadsheets can be very automated and easy to use when set up properly. Entry and adjustments are quick and easy to do. Can be set up to your specific needs and very versatile.
Cons: You will need some accounting knowledge to get it set up properly if you are doing it from scratch. Can mess up the functionality of the formulas if you aren't familiar with excel.

{Free Software}
Options: QuickBooks Simple Start, Outright, MicroSoft Office, For Mac: TinyBooks
ATTN: Outright has an option to download PayPal transactions. It is a great option, HOWEVER it is not currently working correctly for the Income items. I have contacted them and they are working on a solution. So, do not yet use that function.
Price: Free
Pros: Well, Free is a pro! Automated accounting programs make the process so very easy. They are set up and ready to use. Just plug data and review reports!
Cons: There are some limits and boundries to what free software will do for you. Although for many small business owners, there is plenty of function to meet your needs. You will need to review on a program by program basis to determine if it fits your needs.
Other comments: QB Simple Start is the only one of these programs I can vouch for from actual use. I have reviewed the others, but not used them. Please use your own research and judgment before making your choice.

{Purchased Software}
Options: QuickBooks, PeachTree, MicroSoft Office
Price: $90+
Pros: Very automated. The versatility of accounting software is usually beyond the needs of many of us small business owners. But, that is a good thing, because more often than not the program can be set up to work for your business in just the way you need.
Cons: Can get pricey. Can be confusing to set up (see my Etsy shop for help on this).

So, there is an overview of options for how you can track your accounting. Please post any questions in the comments, I'll respond asap. In the next installment, I will try to give you some direction when it comes to the dreaded and oh-so-complicated, TAXES.

Why do you need to do your bookkeeping?

2009-10-21T03:33:00.002-05:00

Written by Holly from Accounting SPOT

{Intro: Welcome to the Accounting Simplified series for small business!}

Welcome! I am Holly, owner of Accounting SPOT. My focus is on helping small business owners get their accounting and bookkeeping organized and maintained. I am putting together this series to help simplify this task which many business owners tend to avoid.

Maintaining your books can be daunting and is often a procrastination point. It does NOT have to be this way! I am going to try to lay out the process as simply as possible, so as to help you WANT to do this fun (ok, so maybe I am the only one who considers bookkeeping FUN!) task.

(FreestyleGifts.etsy.com)

This series will cover:

Why: Why do you need to do your bookkeeping?
What: What program should you use to track your bookkeeping?
Taxes: What do you need to know about taxes (or where should you look)?
Profit Equation: How do you determine profit?
Income: How do you track income?
Expenses: How do you track expenses?
Left Overs: What else do you need to know?

My hope is that this series will alleviate some of the anxiety often associated with accounting/bookkeeping. I am a numbers girl, so writing is not necessarily my forte. I hope my thoughts come across clear and helpful!

If you have any thoughts, tips or questions, please post a comment to this post. I will include relevant info (with a link back to the commentator's shop) in the series finale 'Left Overs'.

NOTES:
{This series is directed at sole proprietor businesses who use the cash method of accounting.}
{Please be sure to contact your tax professional if you have any questions/concerns regarding taxes.}

{WHY: Why do you need to do your bookkeeping?}

Bookkeeping is such an important task for a business to maintain. To fully know and understand your income and expenses (and the difference between the two!), allows you as a business owner to make better business decisions. Plus, when maintained properly, tax time is a breeze because you already have the information in a usable format.

You know it is good practice to keep your bookkeeping updated. But do you know why you should be doing that? There are both internal and external reasons for doing so.

(uncorked.etsy.com)

Internal - When your accounting is up to date, you know your profit, you can view where your income is coming from and where you are spending your money. These are all things that help you make solid business decisions. Pricing, product changes, spending reviews are just a few of the decisions that updated financials can help with.

I want to really drive home the point the keeping your financial information accurate and up-to-date is first and foremost done for you as a business owner. Many owners do their bookkeeping 'for' the tax man. This is backwards. You do your bookkeeping for YOU and as a result, can easily share the required info with the tax man.
So, that brings me to:

External - Taxes and banking. Keeping proper bookkeeping records allows you to easily transfer your data to your tax forms. No need to sweat it during tax time, just plug in the info you already have or send your completed reports to your CPA.

Also, if you are ever in need of business financing, your bank will need financial reports. By keeping your bookkeeping up to date, these reports will be readily available.

I am sure there are many more reasons that I haven't touched on here. If you want to share the benefits you have encountered from properly maintained financial records, please post a comment to share!

We are just warming up, I promise the series gets more beefy as I get in to it :)
Stay tuned for a detailed review of small business accounting programs!

Promotions

2009-10-05T03:12:00.001-05:00

Written by KreatedbyKarina

There are tons of ways to promote..and even MORE threads on "the right way" and "the wrong way". While finding the most possible places to hawk your wares may seem like a brilliant idea, the results you get aren't always going to be the same as the person who swore up and down that it worked for them. Why? It depends on the type of budget you have, what kind of items you sell, and the audience seeing your promotion. My best tip is to figure out your target audience and promote directly to them.

Promoting to a wide audience is fine, but in the end you'll save yourself a lot of time, money and energy focusing your advertising strategies on those people who are more likely to purchase your products.

Think about the ideal person who would shop in your store---how old are they? What sort of websites/blogs would they most likely visit? What kind of magazines do you think they are more likely to read? What areas of the city would they live in? You can expand to other brainstorming questions but those few should give you a good start in figuring out the type of people who frequent your shop (as well as the type of people you want to direct your items to). Once you've figured out your target audience, you can then take out ads on those same blogs/websites/magazines etc.

Another tip I have is to stop thinking like a seller when listing items/promoting and start thinking like a buyer.

For instance...when trying to figure out how to tag your items, think of how YOU search for items when shopping. Do you search by color, or by certain keywords you find yourself using over and over? If so, use them in your tags as well. A great way of figuring out how to describe/tag your item is to ask friends and family. Let them take a look at what your selling (or give them a sample!) and ask what single words they would use to describe it to others. Pick out the most relevant and common ones and use those as tags if they fit, or incorporate some of their suggestions into your item descriptions.

Lastly, think about what sort of promotional tactics work on YOU. Do you sign up for lots of newsletters? Maybe it's time you offered one of your own to your customers. Do you find yourself throwing away business cards, but keeping magnets and always reminding yourself "to check out that store" everytime you see it on the fridge? Invest in getting some promotional magnets made to give out with your orders or to people you meet.

Promoting is the bread and butter to being successful in any business---putting your best foot foward is important, yes, walking in the right direction is too. Best of luck with your shops!

Facebook Share Button HTML

2009-10-03T03:34:00.002-05:00

Written by beckykazana

One of my favorite ways to network and market my shops, blog and website is Facebook. I personally find it really fun to see what other people in my life are up to and I like sharing what's going on in my world too.

However, nobody likes a Facebook friend who is endlessly marketing themselves- it gets tiresome quickly. So instead of constantly linking to my listings or blog posts, I share links that I think are interesting. Perhaps it's an amazing pair of Louboutins that I could never afford but am drooling over. Perhaps it's a cool Cole Porter number on You Tube. Or even an amazing DIY project from one of my favorite bloggers.

This way, I stay on people's radar, but it doesn't turn in to drudgery for me or them. You can't reach people if they are bored or aggravated and block you from their newsreel. And my contacts are more likely to peek on the occasion when I do share a new listing or blog post of my own.

My secret weapon is the share button I've added to my toolbar. This way I can link to Facebook from anywhere on the web. Whether I'm reading through my blogroll, shopping for curtains online, browsing Etsy or tracking down a recipe I can share it in a few seconds by just clicking in my toolbar and adding a little note to make it personal. Give it a try and be sure to check back and let me know how you like it! And add me as a friend while you're at it. I'd love to know what you're up to as well!

Search Engine Optimization for Dummies

2009-09-30T14:07:00.001-05:00

Written by Crochetgal

There have been many questions asked regarding Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is what has worked for me...
1) Use relevant words in your title. for example.. call a bracelet a bracelet. You may refer to it as 'a moment in time' but its a bracelet. I don't search for 'a moment in time'. Titles are searchable!
2) Use the first characters of your description to describe the item, using as many adjectives as you can. Keep the whimsy to later on. The first 140 - 180 characters of the description are the most important!
3) Use your tags effectively. Select tags for your items that describe the item.
4) Use titles on your shop sections that make sense for searching. If you have a section for purses, include the word purse in the section.
5) Make sure your shop title is relevant and relates to what you sell.
6) Use the first few sentences of your shop announcement to accurately describe what your shop is about. Those characters are searchable. So for example, 'welcome to my shop' really doesn't help your shop, but
"Crochetgal carries one of a kind crochet items, hand made soapdishes, and yarns at affordable prices" tells exactly what it is you do.
Thats about it in a nutshell!
For more information, check out Google's SEO Starter Guide
or TechCrafter's notes on SEO Optimization
Part 1: What is SEO?
Part 2: 10 things that will hurt your site
Part 3: Understanding Keywords

Flash Ad how to HTML

2009-09-24T02:49:00.000-05:00

Written by beckykazana

I've just learned how to make a quick, professional looking flash ad to run on Project Wonderful and I thought I'd show you how to do it too!

Before getting started, I cropped my photos to 125 pixels square using Flickr's editing program, Picnik, but of course, you could do it in Photoshop too. If you want to add text, do that ahead of time as well. Choose at least two photos you like, and then head to Picasion.

Simply upload the photos from your computer, or import them directly from Flickr. Choose the size of your photos and the speed at which they will scroll. Click "Create Animation" and wait while it creates your customized code. You can save it to your computer or copy and paste the HTML code as you desire. I like to have a copy on my computer for future reference.

Now head on over to Project Wonderful to create an ad and begin bidding. Yet another great way to meet other artists, bloggers and talented folks. If you're curious, here's my completed ad:

If you finish an ad, be sure to post your link in the comments. I'd love to see it!

A warning to Etsy Sellers

2009-09-16T03:55:00.001-05:00

Written by Anna from TheHouseofMouse

As users of the internet most of us are aware that we should protect our personal information as well as we can. But as there is a new scam happening with increasing instance on Etsy I thought that I should post a little reminder....

The scammer(s) on Etsy are convoing sellers to ask for personal information to apparently pay for items by cheque or bank transfer BEFORE they have actually bought anything from the store. They are asking for Name, Address, phone number, email address and bank details! My advice is to stick to PayPal as your preferred method of payment (which is relatively safe) and if you receive a convo like this then reassert your payment policies and forward the convo to abuse@etsy.com

You should never take part in business transactions you don't feel comfortable with, nor reveal private information to those you don't trust.

I guess because my husband is a computer security expert I am more aware of this stuff than most. For instance did you know that posting your full name, telephone numbers, email addresses, home address and birth date on your Facebook info page is a welcome invite to identity thieves! They will happily use them to create bank accounts and other fraudulent accounts like credit cards and phone bills in your name. Even worse you can hand over your bank details, social security numbers of drivers licence numbers to anyone who feels like going through your trash... Always shred any information like this before throwing it away. Identity theft is ugly when it happens, and as it is increasing all the time so does the chance that it will affect you.

Written by Anna from TheHouseofMouse

Etsy Rearrange Shop Feature

2009-09-14T01:17:00.002-05:00

Written by sandrassatchels

I am so excited about the new "Rearrange" feature. In the past, as you know, once an item is listed, it could not be moved -- It was almost like having a store window, that once you place something in the window, you could not change it to accommodate coordinating pieces as they would come into the store.

I have up to 20 different fabrics at any given time, and 7 to 10 items in each fabric. Before the "Rearrange" feature, my customer who wanted a "large double pocket" shoulder bag in the Obsidian fabric, would not see all the accessories in the same fabric on the same page. Especially since I keep adding new items. Now, I have been able to arrange all of my Obsidian in a grouping. This is like showing the fries with the burger. This will promote multiple item sales. Instead of just a handbag, the customer will decide on a coin purse to go inside etc.,

This announcement was emailed on September 3, 2008. Follow this link. This is the simplest update I've ever enjoyed.

Thank you Etsy.

My Photo Saga

2009-09-13T13:43:00.002-05:00

Written by beckykazana

You've heard it over and over again: One of the greatest challenges to selling products on the web is good photography. Despite a few college photography classes (we were probably the last in history to learn on regular SLRs!) I have struggled long and hard with getting good shots, particularly of my pipe cleaner gals. They are a quirky product and I knew that they needed the right kind of photos to showcase their particular little personalities, but I was continually frustrated. I wanted to share my saga with you, because I really do believe that I've finally had a breakthrough.

I'm going to skip my efforts with my pocket sized Cannon. It was a great little camera for travel, but I had no control of the zoom function and images of these small objects were often blurry or focused on the wrong parts.

The shot above was taken sometime in November with my new Nikon D40 . This is a complicated piece of equipment, but the image quality was noticeably better, even with the camera hand held on auto. Christmas is obviously a good time of year for ornaments like these and I wanted to set the mood properly, but a lot of the detail and color is lost.

A later effort where I tried to take advantage of the lovely diffused light that enters our apartment in the late afternoon. Though you can actually see the gal better this way, the details in the background are still distracting.

My next brainwave was an outdoor photo shoot with the incredible blooming rosemary bushes dotting our apartment complex serving as a backdrop. I thought it might give that garden fairy ambiance I was looking for. Instead, the direct light cast harsh shadows and gave an amateurish backyard feel that I hated.

I had tried using a light box with mixed success while we were in China. Eric helped me rig up a rickety approximation and we clamped the lights directly to the sides, which had the same effect as the outdoor lighting; garish shadows and washed out color.

This time he constructed me something really marvelous. He cut out panels in an ordinary cardboard box, hot glued white fabric to these windows to diffuse the light, bought some halogen work lights (oi! Do those suckers get hot!) and also invested in a tripod for my fancy new Nikkon. (Thanks for all that hard work Mister!)

These shots are an improvement, but I was still disappointed with the contrast and detail. I had to start playing with the settings and reading the darn manual- a recipe for a big headache, but also the key to success. It is important to me not to have to fiddle with photo-shopping my Etsy listing images- to do that with five images for every single listing at the volume I have in my inventory makes me absolutely cringe. I just can't do it. So I wanted to get good shots on the first try. My next thought was to switch to a colored backdrop, adjust the f-stop and exposure time.

After reading this post, I decided to take the plunge and bought a few sheets of colored Canson paper at vile Michael's, adjusted my light meter and went through lots of trial and error, but I think I've finally arrived at a winner here. There is no distracting background, good contrast without any fiddling around in Photoshop, bright vibrant color that sets the playful tone and looks great in thumbnails. I'm a very happy camper. I know I still have a lot to learn about my new camera and photographing for the internet, but the flush of success feels good after all this time!

Here are a few of the other new shots just for fun. It's made a great difference in the look and feel of my shop. Any suggestions out there from others doing product photography? I'm all ears!

You’ve Got Your First SALE! Now What?

2009-09-09T01:18:00.005-05:00

Written by Kim from UnemployedDesigner

I see a lot of elated new sellers come to the Etsy forums looking for the answer to this question right after they’ve gotten their first sale, and just as many who simply want to know what to do so they’re prepared ahead of time, so I thought I’d put my personal step-by-step process together here in hopes that it would help!

1) First and foremost, do the happy dance!

2) Make sure you’ve gotten paid. Go to your sold (orders) page and look at the status box in the right-hand column. If payment was made with PayPal, the received payment box will already be checked, but I still advise that you log into your PayPal account to verify that funds have been received (JUST in case there was a glitch!).

If sufficient time has passed and you don’t yet have Payment from PayPal, or if you accept other forms of payment, such as checks or money order, you will need to contact your buyer to arrange payment. But wait until you check on a couple of other things first…

3) Compare the mailing addresses on both Etsy and PayPal, if that’s how you accept Payment. If they match, great! If not, I suggest clarifying with the buyer which one is correct before sending. (Note: PayPal only offers seller protection if shipping to the address on record with PayPal, though you may elect to forfeit this coverage by shipping to the Etsy address.) But before you do that, check one more thing:

4) Check the message from the buyer section of your receipt page – there may be a request or other special information that you need to pay attention to in that section as well.

5) Now is when I contact my buyer to acknowledge the order and thank the customer.

If everything is all good with steps 2 through 4, I also let them know when I expect to ship their item and how to reach me if they have any questions in the meantime. (When I happen to be able to ship the same day or within 24 hours, I generally combine this “acknowledgment/thank you” and the “your order has shipped/tracking” info all together into one contact.)

If there were any issues (Not paid yet? Address discrepancy? Need clarification on that note to seller) I first address those issues and follow up with shipping info once settled.

6) Package your items. Include any thank you notes, business cards, coupons or other literature that might go with the order. I suggest also including an itemized packing slip. You can print these automatically via PayPal, and they can be set up with a personalized message to your buyers. It’s a nice opportunity to give the customer important information, such as how to reach you if they have a concern about their order, maybe reiterating your return policy, and just thanking them for their order again – look at the packing slips you get from big retailers for ideas of the type of information to include.

7) Optional happy dance.

8) Arrange shipping with delivery confirmation to protect yourself against claims of non-delivery, and insurance, if the cost of the item is higher than you’re willing to take a loss on in case the package is lost. If PayPal is used to print shipping labels, then delivery confirmation will be added automatically.

9) If you didn’t provide this information when you first acknowledged the order, follow up with the customer to confirm shipping and to provide carrier and tracking information, if available. If you’ve printed your shipping label via PayPal, then an email with the tracking information will automatically be sent to the buyer. There’s also a spot where you can personalize a message to the buyer in this email as well (I use it to – guess what? – thank the buyer for their order and let them know how to reach me. It’s repetitive, I know, but you never can tell which of these communications get read by the customer, or which they will have handy if they do decide to contact you).

11) Try to remember to go back to your sold items page and check off the “shipped” box in the right-hand column.

12) Do one last happy dance.

13) Try to calm down.

14) Okay, one more happy dance won’t hurt anybody.

Okay, did I leave anything out? Please feel free to comment below with any questions or additional advice for handling first time sales!

[About the Author: Kim from www.UnemployedDesigner.etsy.com is a mother and wife, freelance apparel designer, fashion illustrator and teacher living in NYC, and an avid crafter since childhood. She and her husband share, among other things, many years of retail experience between them, in addition to her extensive internet shopping habit.]

How to Make a Treasury and Save it for Later.

2009-06-27T23:39:00.007-05:00

There are two spots in Etsy where you can feature items you enjoy. The main treasury and treasury west. Space is limited and snagging a spot can sometimes be a race. To increase your chances on a Front Page selection it is best to plan ahead and start piecing together your selections now. A great way to do this is by using the Poster Sketch tool provided by Etsy. [Bookmark this link as it is hard to find] Below I will show you how to use this tool to organize your picks and copy them to a treasury when the time comes.

Go ahead and open your poster sketch in a new tab or window. This will make for easier transition back and forth from your search results. From the previous window, search for items that fit your theme or desired look for your treasury.

After you have chosen your item you will need to copy and paste the listing numbers into your poster sketch. Listing numbers are located in the listing URL and below the seller information along the lower right side of the listing. [Highlight the numbers, right click to copy]

Go back to the poster sketch (tab or window) and paste your numbers into the appropriate box. The first three listings in each row will be the featured items and the last will become your alternate. Now Click okay and your listing should appear.

Keep doing this until all spots have been filled. Etsy automatically saves your picks...however you can copy all the listing numbers from the bottom of the page and save them into a word document. [I do this if i have more than one treasury in mind]. You are done.!! All you have to do now is wait for the treasury to open a spot. For more details on how to make or snag a treasury please read here....

About the author: I am Amanda, owner extraordinaire of Sygnet Creations. I have been selling on etsy for almost 2 years now and I loving it! I am a full time mom and military spouse. I tend to know a little about everything and I am always a friendly ear and convo away. Ask me anything.

What are banner ads good for?

2009-05-12T00:16:00.001-05:00

(by Judit from vadjutka)

Let me start with a personal confession: back in my technology journalist past, I was clearly against banner ads. "No one clicks on them, and they are rather a nuisance than something useful for the internet users" I thought. Now, as I manage my own online business, I changed my mind. They definitely do have a place under the Sun, but they are not going to bring traffic and sales directly. So what are they good for?

The success of a banner ad is measured by the so called Click Through Rate (CTR): through the years it has declined significantly from around 5% (in the 90s) to less than 1% (nowadays). This CTR number is the ratio of the number of users who clicked on an ad on a web page and the number of times the ad was delivered (impressions). According to a longitudinal analysis of 5000 websites across Europe, done by tech group Adtech, the performance (CTR) of ads are low: they vary between 0,35 and 0,24%. Not much, hm? Experts say, that it can be much higher (1-2%) if the ad runs on a targeted site: for example in the case of a banner of a film on a movie site. Also, the performance of the banner depends on number of other factors, like the design of the ad, the size of banner, the place of the banner on the site.

The table below shows the click-through trends of the last four years

(by Adtech)

This means, that we should not expect sales directly from a banner campaign. I think that banners are good for showing your face to the public, to show that you and your shop exist. It is good for image and branding purposes, as part of a mid-term strategy; or at least this is what my experiance of using banners says. (I had banner campaigns on several sites like Glibea's Blog, Indie Shopping Blog, Scoutie Girl and Paper'n'Stitch.) Spending your money on banners systematically may result in sales, but first of all: visitors of the hosting site will learn your and your shop's name slowly.

OK, so if you decided to run a banner campaign what factors you should consider when choosing the host for your banner?

- type and thematics of the site

If you have a jewellery shop - like I do - it is more likely you will be noticed on site about fashion, lifestyle etc., though you may consider running a banner on a paper art site...after all its readers are likely to be interested in jewellery as well.

- traffic of the site

The more popular site you use, the more chance you have for being noticed. BUT: usually these sites have more banners than others, so the "banner noise" is bigger.

- cost of the banner and additional services

Some of the sites - with themes about handmade, fashion, design etc - offer blogpost mention or some kind of mention embedded in the content.

Time Management and Etsy

2009-05-02T15:36:00.003-05:00

Etsy and Your Full Time Job
Keeping up with your Etsy Shop when working full time can be overwhelming, however a little planning can go a long way. Start with a list of the hours a day that you can dedicate to Etsy related activities and be realistic about it. Once this is done, you can assign time slots per day to the different tasks to be performed. Now you can focus and stick to your plan for a while to see how it works. Pretty soon you will see your accomplishments and feel good about it. Remember, you can always adjust it!
Author: Patricia from www.karmacrochet.etsy.com

Etsy and You Part Time Job
If you are like me and have a part time career unrelated to Etsy (I’m a scientist) but you are also a seller for the rest of your part time, we probably face the same two major challenges every week: Managing Time and Keeping Focus. Since we have just part of the week to dedicate our keyword is organization! This presentation was first meant for Holiday time management I find it a very useful guideline for every day organization. My personal favorite time saving tip is to prepare the coming week listings all at once. How? Create a listing but don’t click Finish, copy and save the URL as text somewhere (you can even send it to yourself by email in case you want to use it far from your computer). Later, when you want to list your new item, just paste the URL in the navigation bar, click enter and tatata!: your listing is still there, all you need to do is click Finish and you have your fresh new listing. (discovered by www.Littleputbooks.etsy.com )
Author: Fru from www.Fruccidesign.etsy.com

Etsy and full-time student life
Running a successful Etsy shop while attending the University full-time can seem somewhat daunting. For many students / Etsy sellers, it is a way of supplementing income and gaining real-life experience in business. The key is learning how to prioritize projects while never loosing focus on the larger educational goals. Being honest with both yourself and customers will only benefit in the long-run, by making sure never to take on too much or agree to overly ambitious custom orders during exam times.
Many students have dual work / study spaces, keeping both organized will save time and headaches. Same goes for your computer, it is super-helpful to keep all Etsy-related files, photos and more separate from coursework. This also makes it easier when you need to focus on your studies with no distractions!
Author: Monica from www.UrbanBead.Etsy.com

Time Flies When You’re a Stay-at-Home Parent
Being a stay-at-home parent is a 24/7 task. As the mother of two small children, I admit it is a challenge. The first question I encounter when I tell someone about my home based business is “How do you have the time to do that?”
• Take some time in the morning to decide what you want to accomplish for the day.
Make a list of things you want to accomplish and separate these items in order of urgency and importance. Be realistic about how much time you have.
• Utilize nap time to the fullest extent.
When nap-time comes, immediately tackle your high-priority items. Don’t have nap time? (I rarely do) Have activity time where your children can create along side of you. This will allow you to work, even in short bursts.
• If you have a partner, encourage them to be on board with your business plan.
When your partner/spouse is supportive of your business, you can utilize some time at night and on the weekends without having it interfere with family time.
• Utilize the resources available to you.
USPS Carrier pickup the best example of this. Then you only go to the post office if you have an international package. All other packages are picked up from your front door. http://www.usps.com/pickup/welcome.htm
Author: Jessica from www.buggalove.etsy.com

Time Management Tips for the Full Time Etsian
Managing a full time Etsy shop is quite a task. Here are some creative ideas I use to keep up with the 40+ hours I work on my shop and manage my home and family.

Allow only so much time for “surfing” per day. Research and online chitchat are real time eaters.
Create an Order Summary Spreadsheet: I fill this out for every single order. It tells me at a glance where I am on order fulfillment, packaging and shipping.
My fields include: Date, Item, Buyer, Address, Paid (yes/no), Shipping Label Printed (yes/no), Item finished (yes/no), Item Shipped (date)
Batch printing of Shipping Labels (via Paypal) – a great time saver.
Create a Shipping Center - Make sure to always have plenty of shipping supplies on hand – running to the store or waiting for a shipment causes unwanted delays.
Make sure to let your seller know in a convo or email your ship date. This helps keep procrastination at bay. A high level of customer service will bring buyers back for more.

Author: Steph from www.SStargell.etsy.com

7 Timesaving Firefox Add ons Every Esty Seller Should Use.
You will need to download the current Firefox web browser to use these.

Sxipper This will save you from having to type in your password each time you want to log in to Etsy or anywhere else.
Morning Coffee Opens the web pages you use daily (email, Etsy, your blog, etc.) with one click.
Plain Text Links This allows you to right click on any plain text link to open the URL.
ReminderFox allows you to set simple reminders for anything you need to remember. It’s simpler than an online calendar and easy to use.
QuickNotes is like a little post it pad for your desktop. It saves automatically too.
PasteEmailPlus lets you save text that you use often and paste it anywhere. If you have text files saved (think email to buyers thanking them or letting them know their order has shipped, etc.) this will streamline the process to one right click.
GreaseMonkey allows you to run Etsy Hack scripts, designed especially for Etsy sellers.
For full instructions & more about EstyHacks go here

Author: Andrea from www.kitsandcaboodles.etsy.com

Our Top 10 Tips for Time Management

Organize your work space and daily routine.
Be realistic with your time.
Focus on your goals.
Don’t procrastinate.
Take one step at the time.
Create “me” time when family and friends know not to interrupt you.
Create batches of time for certain tasks. For example take all your photos for the week in one session.
Use all the resources you can to save time.
Make lists to stay on top of your daily tasks.
Relax! Don’t work yourself too hard. A stressed out seller makes more mistakes.

Etsy Sellers Tip #6 - Featured Items

2009-04-30T02:29:00.001-05:00

Below is a tutorial on how to activate and edit the featured items in your store, if you already know how to use this feature then skip to the end of this post where you will find a couple of tips on how to use your featured items more effectively.

How to activate and edit your Featured Items

The featured items in your Etsy store allow you to show off 3 listings of your choice right at the top of your page. Unlike your other listings that are ordered by the date they were listed, these 3 are hand picked by you and seen first by visitors to your store, like a shop window.

To choose your featured items, first log on to Etsy and then click on Your Etsy at the top of the page.

Each of your active listings will be displayed here, you can select a featured item by clicking the star next to it so that it turns green. Choose at least 3 items to feature. When you have made your selection you can rank your featured items by clicking rank featured.

On the next page you can move the listings up an down as you wish. The first 3 items are the ones that will appear on your shop page, if one of them sells then it will disappear from your featured items and the 4th featured item will move up to replace it.

Tips on using your featured items more effectively

Choose more than 3 featured items. This will help you avoid a blank space when one of them sells.

Choose listings that show a variety of prices in your store. For the best effect on your sales choose the most expensive listing, the cheapest listing and one from in the middle. Most customers like to buy a middling price item - not too cheep, not too expensive - and seeing the whole price range easily like this will help them choose quickly. When I started doing this is had an immediate effect on my sales.

Use your featured items to make your Etsy Mini look like a treasury. Did you know that if you have an Etsy mini, the items in it are always from your featured items first, and then from your recently listed ones? This way you can make all your Etsy minis look beautiful no matter if they are on your blog, website, myspace, facebook or anywhere else! Choose a colour theme or show off all the items from a certain section. Change them up often to keep your viewers watching!

Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.
Do you have other tips on using your Featured Items?
I love to learn more!

--

About the Author: Anna has been running her store The House of Mouse for just over a year, for more information please check out her blog.

Etsy Sellers Tip #5 - Promotions

2009-04-17T03:42:00.002-05:00

Photo by MajoReyStore

For most creative people the prospect of promoting our work is just plain scary. We hate shouting "Look at what I made!" because it feels boastful and takes us way outside our comfort zone. But the truth is that if you don't shout about what you do then no one will.

I know from experience that you can get past the shyness and awkwardness that comes when you start marketing your product. There are literally hundreds of ways to tell the world about your creations and you can start with the ones that you feel most comfortable with and work up to the ones that scare you.

I certainly don't recommend that you try to do all of these things for your store at once. Some of them are time consuming, especially to set up. Allot yourself a certain amount of time per day/week to spend on promotions and don't allow yourself to spend all day on your computer. Get yourself set up with Google Analytics so that you can see what promotions are working for you and which aren't. then you can spend your promotions time much more efficiently by cutting out the sites that don't bring you views.

Your choices for promotions will depend on many different factors; time, money, confidence, target audience etc. I have tried to include a little run down on the pros and cons of each one so you can pick an choose what works best for you. I have also included links to posts on how to get the most out of each promotional tool where I have found them.

Twitter - Social Networking Site
How to use Twitter as a marketing tool
Pros
- Free to use
- Fast and easy to set up
- Very popular right now
- Simple and easy to use
- Share links and chat
- Build a fan base quickly
Cons
- Limited message size
- Only use links, no space for images
- Saturated by other sellers
- Addictive

MySpace - Social Networking Site
How to use MySpace as a marketing tool
Pros
- Free
- MySpace groups enables you to find your target audience faster
- Share images, videos and other embedded HTML
- Post bulletins, blog, photo albums and chat
- Possible to get a large number of sales and hits from MySpace
- Your page is totally customizable making branding much easier
Cons
- Time consuming to set up
- Posting comments regularly is also time consuming
- Need to learn some basic HTML to get the most out of it

Facebook - Social Networking Site
How to use Facebook as a marketing tool
Pros
- Free
- Relatively easy to set up
- Facebook groups enables you to find your target audience faster
- Facebook applications make it possible to share images
- Chat and comment
- Improvements being made to the site all the time
Cons
- Site is less geared towards promotion than MySpace
- Takes a while to figure out
- Addictive

Flickr - Image Sharing Site
How to use Flickr as a promotional tool
Pros
- Free
- Quick and easy to set up
- Flickr groups makes it easy to find your target audience
- Share comments
- Easy to network
- uploading new photos is quick and easy
- Friendly artist community
Cons
- Not allowed to overtly promote your store on this site. You can leave links in your profile but you will get removed from the site if you advertise in your photo descriptions.
- Addictive

DeviantArt - Artist Community and Gallery
Pros
- Basic package is free
- Easy to set up
- Have your own gallery and sub galleries
- Share comments and network with other artists
- Get critiques and advice from other artists
- Features include a blog/journal newsletters and forums
- Can post links to your store in photo descriptions
- Friendly artist community
- Sell prints of your work through this site
Cons
- To get all the features you have to subscribe
- Print shop takes large commission on any sold prints
- Has some mature content (there is an option which allows you to block mature content)
- Addictive

The Ning Network - Collection of Social Networking Sites

Pros
- Free
- Easy to find your target audience
- Share photos and comments
- Endless ways to take part in your community
- Reasonably easy to set up
- Make contacts and network
- build your own Ning network if you want (LOTS of work to do this)
Cons
- Photo sharing is slow to upload
- Some Ning networks are better than others - takes time to find the good ones
- Addictive and easy to waste time here

Word of Mouth
The easiest way to gain a reputation is my word of mouth. To make sure that they are the right words work on making your customer service and packaging the best it can be. Make sure that your buyers will want to tell their friends about your product!
Pros
- Free
- Easy
- Probably the best advertising there is
Cons
- To get it right you must have great customer service skills and beautiful packaging helps too!

Blogging - Online Dairy
Blogging tips for beginners (Blogger)
There are several different pieces of software for blogging but the best one for beginners is Blogger. it is easy to use and does not require that you understand HTML coding to get a good looking page.
Pros
- Share your experiences and new listings
- Helps your buyers get to know you
- Comment on other blogs to make connections
- Share photos, video, stories, anything you like
- Add advertisements and even make money from blogging
- If you love to write this blogging is a lot of fun
Cons
- Time consuming
- Requires continued input to be successful
- If you don't like writing this isn't for you
- Customizing your blog takes time
- To get the most out of it you need to learn some basic HTML

Blog features - Getting Featured
Being featured by another blogger is one of the best ways to get sales, especially if their blog is a popular one. However getting that feature can be hard work. It requires time and effort to write to other bloggers and tell them about your work, most of the time you won't get a reply but occasionally you will get that feature. Personally I think the time spent on this is worth it. Sometimes bloggers want free samples for the feature, it is up to you to decide if that is worth it.

Business Cards
It is so simple and yet many Etsy sellers forget this wonderful marketing tool. You can get some great deals on business cards from vistaprint and you can Google for some great coupon codes for massive discount. Keep them with you all the time and hand them out to anyone who is interested in what you do.

Forums - On Etsy and Off
Pros
- Free
- Make friends and network
- Share your knowledge and advice
- Gain a reputation
- Find forums for your target audience
- Connect with people of similar interests
Cons
- Easy to waste time in forums
- Forums can get nasty, learn to walk away when the claws come out

Paid advertising
(not a lot of pros and cons here because I don't have a lot of experience with this medium yet)
Pros
- Target your advertising to the right people
- Gain large numbers of buyers
- Prices to suit everyone
- Millions of places to advertise
Cons
- Cost (be smart and find slots that fit your budget)
- May get more sales that you can deal with

Craft Fairs
Pros
- Meet people face to face
- Network with your local community
- Make a large number of sales in 1 or 2 days
- Have a fun day out
Cons
- Organization to get set up
- Confidence to do your first one
- Fees to rent your stall (these vary wildly so do your research first)

Wholesale - Pitching your product face to face
If you have enough stock then you are ready to sell wholesale. The best way to get interest here is to walk into your local stores and present yourself (I know, seriously scary stuff)
Pros
- Make BIG sales
- Gain a reputation locally
- Make contacts with local store owners
Cons
- Takes lots of confidence
- Need a lot of stock
- Set up contracts and legal agreements

General tips for marketing
- Have great photos. Most of marketing is a visual experience, make sure your images are the best they can be. Take the time to learn how to get them looking great.
- Choose a marketing style that you are comfortable with. You don't have to be like that pushy sales guy at the car dealership, you can be more subtle and advertise your work with great photos, humor and genuine interest in other people.
- Don't let marketing take over your life. Allot a certain amount of time per day/week to promotions and stick to it.
- Build friendships with those you meet on social networking sites, it is not about the quantity of friends you have but the quality of those relationships that is important.
- Always keep your communications professional. Don't become whiny, rude or argumentative - this will quickly damage all the work you have put into it.
- Once you have built a reputation and people know about you, you don't need to spend so much time on marketing because Word of Mouth will do a lot of the work for you.

Other places to advertise
(no pros and cons here because I have not tried them properly yet)
Project Wonderful
Squidoo

More advice on promotions

Pimp your shop Etsy Blog Article
HUGE list of places to sell, advertise, network, and more Etsy forums
Ultimate Craft Guide - tutorials, advice, suppliers.... Etsy forums

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About the Author: Anna has been running her store The House of Mouse for just over a year, for more information please check out her blog.

So you want A Shop Critique!

2009-04-16T05:08:00.002-05:00

Everyone wants an individual shop critique, but there are a few basic things that will apply to almost every shop. Here is my list of the main things to consider.

1) Banner and Avatar - do they relate to your products in some way? Is the text clear and easy to read? Your avatar can be used very effectively as part of your ‘brand’, so select it wisely. I’ve kept the same avatar as long as I’ve been online.. people recognize me by my avatar. Others like to change theirs on a regular basis. There is no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way to do it. You just have to do what works best for you. I personally like to see an avatar that reflects in some way the product(s) that you sell, but that is my personal opinion.

2) Shop Title - This appears directly below your banner and is updated in the ‘appearance’(insert link here) section of Your Etsy. The shop title is also known as your ‘tag line’. Use it effectively but keep it short.

3) Shop announcement - Please don’t tell me your life history here.. I don’t want to know. I do like to see a short (few lines ) about your shop and any current ‘specials’ you may have. Also, be absolutely sure that any links that are on your shop announcement are not broken. And be aware that if you do have an active link here that I just may follow it and get distracted elsewhere. Don’t tell me about every team that you belong to here... unless you don’t want me to look at your product.

4) Featured Items - A great place to show off your different styles of work. Use items from your earlier pages (people can already see what’s on your first page). A variety of items and prices is always nice. Remember, that when people ‘heart’ your shop, these three items are their reminder! Keep them fresh.

5) Profile - Tell me about yourself. How did you get started in your art form, what inspires you, etc.

6) Shop Policies - This is one of the most overlooked sections by Etsians and is by far (in my opinion) the most important. Having good shop policies in place can help to avoid situations down the road. It is strongly recommended that every shop have policies in place for payment , shipping and returns/exchanges.

7) Location - Another very useful piece of information. Etsy is an international site, so please list your town (or the nearest larger town) , your state, and your country. I’ve been to Paris but not to France, I love Melbourne but I’ve never been to Australia. Sydney is a beautiful stop in Nova Scotia (Canada) . By putting your complete information in your location it makes it much easier for others to use the ‘geolocator’ to find you! And you are looking to be found are you not?

8) Shop Sections - Shop sections are a great way to organize your shop. Use them to your advantage! You have complete freedom to choose how you want your sections to be set up so have some fun!

9) Photos - everyone wants a critique of their photos. Make sure that the photo is clear and crisp, and use as many photos as you can of the item. Inside, outside, upside down, you get the idea. Unless you are selling a rug, please don’t put your item on the floor. Natural light is best, and avoid a cluttered background. If you are unsure of a particular photo, have someone look at it and tell you what caught their eye in it. If its not the item for sale, its not a good photo.

10) Tags - One of the most misused and abused features (in my opinion) on Etsy. When selecting tags, try to pick words that you would use to describe the item to someone who cannot see it. IE paint a visual picture. Don’t forget to include the colour! Please make sure that the tags are relevant though. Everything can be a gift, so ‘gift’ is not a relevant tag. ‘Stocking Stuffer’ is a tag that gets used during the holidays. As soon as someone can define accurately exactly what a ‘stocking stuffer’ is then it will be able to be used. But until then let’s just leave it off.

11) Materials - This is one of the most overlooked sections in a listing. Be as detailed as you can in your materials listing. There are 13 tags available for materials so don’t be afraid! Also, people can search by material so keep that in mind..

12) Feedback - Some sellers are concerned because they don’t have any feedback. Personally I enjoy buying from an ‘undiscovered’ shop. However, if you are concerned about not having any feedback, I strongly suggest that you make a small purchase from a fellow Etsian. Besides the feedback, you will also get to experience the thrill of making a purchase (and the steps involved).

Other places for information:

There are some absolutely wonderful reference sites right on Etsy. All are accessible from the ‘help’ tab at the top of any Etsy page.

Etsy Help Guides

Frequently Asked Questions (about selling):

Etsy Do’s and Don’ts - learn what you can and cannot do

Terms of Use (TOU) - the basic rules for using Etsy

And of course, there is the Storque, Etsy’s mega blog. I think that just about every topic on Etsy is covered at least once in the Storque!

Please note that the opinions expressed here are the opinions of the writer and are NOT necessarily the opinions of Etsy.

About the author: Valerie has been a member of team SASsy since the beginning, you can check out her shop here and her blog is full of useful tips

Drawing conclusions from Shop Statistics

2009-04-03T06:06:00.004-05:00

I have been collecting data on my store The House of Mouse for a few months now and decided to share some of the stats for March with you. The resources I use include; Google Analytics for information on visits to my site, page views and percentage of new visits. The heartomatic for my daily Etsy hearts, front page and gift guide features and the Craftopolis site to quickly see which treasuries I am in. Here is my data (click the images to see larger):

Site Visits:

Page views:

Percentage of New Visits:
New Store Hearts and New Item Hearts:

Red for Store, Green for total number of new Item hearts.

Number of Tresuries I was featured in per day
(includes Treasury west)

Daily Listings and Sales

More relevant information:
Dates I was featured on the Front Page of Etsy:
2nd, 6th, 8th, 11th and 25th of March

Dates I blogged on:
3rd, 15th (3 posts), 18th, 23rd and 29th March

Blog features I am aware of:
4th: Nerdaproved, 7th: Fanboy, 30th Whipup, 31st: Wren,

Other information: on days that I list a new item I do a lot of promotions for this item on the web. This is automatically increase the number of views/hearts etc.

Conclusions I have drawn from this data

1) A feature on the Front Page dramatically increases the number of Store and Listing Hearts received. It also increases visits, page views and the percentage of new visits to my store. However it does not always result in immediate sales.
2) An individual Blog post does not increase traffic to my store, however frequent blogging does help. Blogging does not currently directly affect sales.
3) Listing new items increases store hearts, treasury features and sales.
4) Relisting increases item hearts and sometimes the number of treasuries I am in. (I have also noticed if I relist 2 or 3 items a few hours before the treasuries open this also improves my chances of being featured in them)
5) The more treasuries I am in the better my chances of getting on the Front Page.
6) Blog features increase stats only when it is a well known blog, if you get on a really popular one it can make your views and sales go through the roof! (April 1st I had 11 sales, I think this is from the Whipup and/or Wren blog features)
7) Listing or re-listing once a day is a good habit to remain in the view of buyers and treasury curators.

About the Author: Anna has been running her store The House of Mouse for just over a year, for more information please check out her blog.

Blogger How-To: Open Links in a New Window

2009-03-31T13:16:00.015-05:00

This is my favorite html tip when it comes to blogging (and web design). It's easy and important, in my opinion, but you will find varying opinions on this topic in the web world. I think one of the worst things you can do on a website is send your visitors away through a link and make it hard for them to get back. The easy solution is to set your links to open in a new window and you can do this with a simple addition to the html code.

First, I will show you an example. The link to my shop below does not have the additional html code:

Visit my Etsy Shop!

When you clicked the link, it took you away from this blog post and to my shop. Now if you started browsing around my shop, maybe through Etsy and onto other pages, you would have to go back back back to return to the blog and chances are, you forgot you were there maybe even before reading the entire post.

Now, this link has the html coding to open in a new window added:

Visit my Etsy Shop!

When clicked, it opened the link to my shop in a second window allowing you to browse around my shop but also easily come back to the blog post. I find this especially useful with an artist feature or giveaway - the reader can click links to view the artist's work, pick their favorite items etc, but still have the blog post open to continue reading the interview or enter a giveaway.

Ok, here comes the how-to:

To set your links to open in a new window you will need to manually enter the html code after the links in your post. If using the "compose" tab to create your post, you will need to switch to the "edit html" tab.

The html code that you need to insert is target="new" and you will add it in at the end of the link after the " and before the >, see the screenshots below for reference.

Before:

After:

There are other ways to do the same thing through template changes and different html code, but for me, this works! If you have any tips related to this or blogging in general, we'd love to hear them and please feel free to leave any other blog questions you have in the comments below and we'll do our best to answer them!

About the author: I am Nicole, the gal behind lillyella. I just celebrated my one year anniversary of selling on Etsy and am hopelessly addicted to my shop and my blog. I'm always open for helping and answering questions, so please feel free to contact me at any time!

UPDATED- Hearts, Views and Treasuries

2009-03-22T02:58:00.003-05:00

Since my last post there have been updates to the search features available below:

Craftcult.com has now added a feature tab where you can find if you have been featured on the front page of etsy or in the gift guides! You can also search by member name, and date appeared.....check out "The Vault"

Craftopolis.com has also updated their site to include a gift guide search.

Happy Searching =)
Amanda
Sygnet Creations