Posts tagged as:

selling

Etsy Tips – My Two New Etsy Guides

by CraftyCoach - Norm Lanier on November 19, 2008

I just finished two new guides full of Etsy tips. I actually kind of hate the word tips in this situation because tips make it sound like the Etsy information is minimal – and it’s anything but that. Everybody

is looking for extra ways to make money these days and I know many of you have turned to Etsy to sell your crafts. Unfortunately just hanging up a shingle on Etsy I like to make you many sales. I know this is true because every day how to improve shop sales. That why I wrote Etsy 501 – From Beginner to Successful Seller. Etsy 501 will help you if you’re just getting started on Etsy or have been selling for awhile with techniques that will improve your Etsy shop.

Some of the techniques I cover in the guide are:

- Set up your shop the right way

- Promote your shop for free

- Take pictures that get results

- Write descriptions that help put customers in a buying mood

- Choose the right price for profit

- The trick to jump-start your feedback

- Business card techniques every shop owner should use

- Put a free video of your crafts on the web even without a video camera

In writing this book I’ve drawn form my years of selling crafts and gathered the best Etsy techniques. Feedback from readers has been very positive.

I LOVE this book! It is just jam-packed with useful and relevant information, and you step the reader through the process with clarity. I was so impressed that you provided the relevant links to help the reader go further with the ideas you give – and you didn’t do what so many `marketers’ do – ask for more money to see the `rest’ of the information. I learned a tremendous amount from reading the book, and am certain the ideas in it will give my shop on Etsy a much better chance of success! Thanks so much for writing it!
Trish Thompson
TreasureMore

Etsy tips

The second guide Etsy Gems – 55 Fabulous Techniques to Increase Etsy Sales provides you with 55 action steps you can use to get your Etsy

shop the attention it deserves. Here are just a few of them:

#1 How to create a video of your artwork and put it on YouTube even if you don’t own a video camera and don’t have video editing software. Best of all it won’t cost you one cent.

#8 Post a survey to find out what your customers want before you even create it.

#11 Learn how something from the craft store that costs less than $1 can dramatically improve your photos.

#23 How one simple tag on your listings can increase exposure of your work to a much larger group of shoppers.

#28 This easy technique can show you ahead of time if shoppers are buying a new product you’re thinking of adding to your shop before you make one.

#33 How to get complete strangers to ask where they can buy your crafts.

#38 The pricing technique that can earn you more while having to sell less.

#40 Almost every major retailer does this to increase sales. If you’re not doing this you could be missing a big opportunity.

#47 This technique can increase sale of your art as gifts to others.

#50 Your best customers are sitting right under your nose and you are probably missing out on additional sales.

#55 The one mistake you may be making that will hurt your sales more than anything else.

Both guides are delivered to you fast by email in PDF eBook format so you can quickly put these techniques to work for you. Etsy 501 is $9.00 and Etsy Gems is $5.55 but If you order the Etsy 501 guide now you’ll get the Etsy Gems free.

How many extra sales in your shop would you have to make to pay for the books? You can find them both in my Etsy shop at CraftyCoach.

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Why We Sell Crafts

by CraftyCoach - Norm Lanier on November 5, 2008

I want you to stop for a moment and ponder why you sell your crafts.

I’m sure many of the answers have some common threads, to make money, to make room for more creations, to share with others. But what I would suggest is that the real reason most crafters sell their wares is because it simply feels good. When someone pulls money out of their pocket and exchanges it for something you’ve made it’s like getting a gold star from your kindergarten teacher. I think most of us start by selling to family and friends but there is always that little voice that says “They just bought from you because they felt obligated”. So you take the next step and start selling online or at shows. When you sell your craft to strangers that’s the ultimate approval that your work was worth what you were asking.

So here’s the dark side of that rush, you start to make bad decisions to get that next selling fix. Do you go to craft shows with the hope of just breaking even? Do you know how much the materials in your product cost? Are you pricing all your products with almost no profit just because you want to sell? I have people on a regular basis ask me to review their Etsy store and sometimes I find items for $5 or less. My thought when I see an item like this is what could this crafter make for the same amount of time and material cost that would generate a larger profit. If you’re going to make art to sell shouldn’t you make items people will buy? Is that a silly question? Think about it, how many zillion ideas are bouncing around in your head of projects you’d like to make? How about taking all those ideas you want to make and asking which would return the biggest profit for your time. Lets face it everybody only has so much time, why not maximize your profit for your time.

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