Etsy is a remarkable tool for marketing and selling your creative works. Several here at FitSmallBusiness have been selling on Etsy for years. But one of the tribe, Jason Rueger of Rueger Pottery, really made Etsy sing for his handmade pottery business. Etsy provides a complete platform for selling items, plenty of order management tools, and draws a huge buying audience seeking unique works. But making your products stand out is the most important aspect of success on Etsy, and this requires constant effort. So before jumping into how to sell on Etsy, it’s important to make sure selling on Etsy is right for you.
With new concepts, strategies and terminology to learn, starting your first virtual business can feel like an initial journey into a far-off country. To prepare for your first few months selling on Etsy, it can pay to plan ahead and get a sense of how things work before you hit the ground running. If you’re new to selling online or you wish of starting your own Etsy shop someday, let these steps be your guide.
- Gather Essentials
Accumulating the key building blocks for your new venture ahead of time makes the process of opening your shop relaxed, and quick. Download the Quick Start Checklist to begin preparing the whole thing you’ll need, including photos, item prices, and your bank’s routing number.
- Choose a Name
New sellers often blunder at the very first step of the shop opening process: selecting a name. While it can be severe when the shop name that you’ve set your mind on is not available, don’t let it stop you from creating your shop. If you’re already up for the shop, try adding the word “shop” or “boutique”, your location or even your initials to the end of your preferred name. And remember, this isn’t your only shot at picking the perfect name. You can change your name as often as you like before you open your shop by going to Your Shop > Shop Name.
- Set Specific and Attainable Goals
If you have big plans for your shop, you’re not alone. Last year, Christina Lembo started her Etsy shop, Franny & Franky Designs, in Saint Petersburg, Florida with hopes of someday growing it into a wholesale business. To avoid burnout, Christina decided it was time to embrace a different strategy for getting her shop, which sells wedding decor and art prints, off the ground. Rather than creating task lists based on her long-term goal, Christina identified small milestones that would lead her there in a manageable, sane way. She made it her starter benchmark to make her first sale within three months. With a clear emphasis on reaching this smaller objective, her task list became much more manageable.
- Have high-quality professional photos to post
The Etsy sellers mentioned the importance of excellent photography in making sales on Etsy. Your photos are your products here in a sense because this is the primary place that customers will use to decide if they’d like to buy or not. They can’t hold or see first-hand how inordinate your product is, so the photos will have to do the convincing. Don’t forget to use a compelling photograph for your avatar as well!
