Present Stack Ring by MichellesCharmWorld 7.00Ahhh....the mountains of items appearing on e-commerce sites such as Etsy and the like are making it harder and harder to get noticed! Right? Every sale is like a big present! I subscribe to the old method of promote, promote, promote. I have 1100 sales I think and i've been on Etsy a bit over a year now. I hang out in the forums to help people, promote my blog and read other blogs. I don't go there to make sales. I like making friends and chatting with people.
I figure it's my job to bring people to me, Etsy gives me a place to park and that's it. It's like when I rent a building for my B&M store. The landlord is not responsible for bringing my customers in, I just have to respect the place I am renting and not get rowdy or out-of-hand (darrrn). I promote my shop and my shop only. Greedy? Yes, I think so, but i'm working to bring them in, so I better reap the results! haha! They will find other shops once they've stepped in my doors.
Etsy Button by BauerDesigns 1.00I always wear a piece of my jewelry, even if it's just a pair of earrings. I carry business cards with me and i'm on the hunt for an Etsy badge to have on my purse too. If people like something enough they will ask. It's happened so often, i've sold jewelry from around my neck to the gas station attendant! A ring on my finger to a lady at the mall shopping for a birthday present! I always keep a Crown Royal bag in my purse full of sample pieces and little organza bags. It's a mini gift shop in my purse! (could be because I carry around a bag the size of a small country since it doubles as a diaper bag too!).
I put up signs and business cards whenever I pass a bulletin board. (yup I have a small pack oftacs in my purse too! It's like a magic bag). I know my niche market and put up information where they are most located. I throw home parties inviting NEW people to my home about twice a year, from those parties I offer incentives for people to book a party with me in their home. At parties, I have a raffle and on the entry forms I have a little box to check if they would like to be on my mailing list. I ALWAYS offer incentives to buy more (buy 2 get 1 free kind of deals). The back of my business cards have coupons for return visits. I offer little secret codes around places for people to get extra goodies. (check out Coupon Corner over there<-----). All of my packaging at parties has my branding information on it. Even if it's just a stamp or a sticker.
Online it's a whole other ballpark. To get a piece of the random, accidentally stumbled on Etsy customer, I have to have: a dynamic product. No ifs ands or buts about it. It has to catch someones eye and make them do a double take. Make them wonder if in fact that was just a Scrabble tile they saw. We have one little window of opportunity to get that click and are you getting it? 
I like to think of the search pages as windows. Forget your longer than ever Ebay like title:Scrabble initial tile custom personalized brown square letter abcdefghijklmonpqrstuvwxyz alphabet adjustable ring one size fits all funky cool lolita rockabilly geeky girl funky ring. Those are just total turn offs and make a person dizzy! You don't even have to get too creative. I usually just say Initial Me Scrabble Ring or Girly Bow Scrabble Ring. Simple, Sweet! Why?
Because alot of people are not looking at your title. They are WINDOW shopping. They look at the windows (your photo) as they scroll down and they want something to STAND OUT at them. Even if it's not what they had in mind, if it jumps out and makes them think, you've got them. As you stroll a downtown area on vacation, do you look at the names of the stores or what's in the window? Get their click!
Now, get unburied from the back of those category pages and set a budget that your sales can handle. I set a budget of about 3.00 a day in relisting and renewing. I build the price of renewals into the price of my item. So my advertising budget comes from there. I do it at 3 different points in the day to spread the love all around. I try and keep interesting and unique pieces and also ones that are about to expire in all my promos. put them on signs, use them in my blog, promote them on twitter, that sort of thing! I could go on and on with more tips, because I like to chatter on, but i'm sure i've only told you all what you already knew! It's just a memory jogger! If you would like any other tips let me know!
Try a no-holds barred critique. Sometimes you need to hear the fluff about how cool your shop is when you are feeling down, but when it's time to bring in the sales....well then it's time to get real and take the critiques. Sometimes they hurt and sting, but they also could help. It's so easy to come up with excuses when someone offers a critique, but remember if you asked for it, just take it in stride and maybe change it up! I still have to work on my photos, I get told that alllll the time, and yet here I am blogging instead! If I worked on them, I'm sure I could sell more. I should look into a class at the college or the studio down the road! Food for thought on an early saturday morning...
