A lot of the people that follow me on Twitter have shops on www.Etsy.com. I get the question every day asking how they can stand out. It’s a good question. Let me give you an example of the problem, at the time of this writing there are 688,786 items that come up on Etsy for the word jewelry, 104,303 items for the word bracelet and 150,203 items for the word pendant. While not nearly as bad as the 1,803,050 items that come up on eBay for the word jewelry, we’re still talking about big numbers.
So how do you stand out?
Step one: You have to do something that stands out. Quite honestly there are very few artist in the jewelry section that create work that looks any different from the work of hundreds of other store owners. Not to pick on jewelry shop owners the same situation exists in most categories on Etsy or for that matter eBay or any of the other sales venue. No question about it, it’s really hard to create anything that would be stand out when you have this much competition.
Step two: Specialize in whatever your passion is. I think most creatives are ADD to some extent and it’s hard to focus on just one thing. This is the reason why you’ll go in some shops and you’ll see jewelry along with paintings and dolls all by the same artist. Consumers want consistency. Even if you go to Wal-Mart the store is divided into sections. You won’t find beer on the same isle as tires, they know it’s bad to mix drinking and driving (sorry couldn’t resist). So let’s go back to the Etsy bracelet number of 104,303, if you narrow that search to lampwork bracelet the number drops to 8,830. Now which buyer do you think is more likely to buy, the person searching for jewelry or the person that is searching for lampwork bracelet. What kind of confidence do you think the buyer gets when they go to a shop only selling lampwork jewelry as apposed to one selling lampwork jewelry, soap and stationary in the same shop?
Step 3: Promote, you can’t just hang a shingle at Etsy and expect to make tons of sales. If you’re going to sell then you need to promote from outside of Etsy or have someone else do it for you. I’d be lying to you if I told you promotion was easy but the first place I’d tell you to start is by promoting yourself. The reason most people are looking for something handmade is because they want to feel a personal connection to a real human. This is why Twitter, blogs Facebook and YouTube are so important, they help you create an online personality. Quite honestly it’s easier to go to Wal-Mart than to purchase from your shop. If your shop is devoid of a personal connection then why should they go to the extra trouble?
Never forget – People buy the artist as much as they buy the art. More today than ever people are starving to own something that has a human touch. Be human, let your store and you online presence reflect that. You can’t hide behind a computer any more and hope to be a successful crafter.