Selling on Etsy

I don't profess to be an expert on selling on Etsy, but I have sold some things and I get questions often from people wanting to set up shops who are intimidated about it. My advice - Just DO it!

Etsy is pretty easy, but it isn't a get-rich-quick-scheme and you do have to work it. My biggest piece of advice is NETWORK! Think of Etsy as your very own little shop in a VERY big mall. Think Thousands of shops. How are you going to get people to find your shop? You can wait for the few stragglers that happen to stumble on your shop - and you will make a few little sales, but if you want to make any money and share your product, you need to get the word out about your shop.

There are many ways you can do this. The easiest I have found is Facebook. I have almost 800 Friends on Facebook. Do I know them all personally? Not in your wildest dreams, but I Do consider them all as friends. I participate in a give and take relationship with them. I read their posts, I comment on some of them, I offer encouraging words when needed. But I also post any new items from my Etsy shop onto my Facebook page. I don't think of it as aggressive selling, I think of it more as offering my beaded pretty things to friends who may want to purchase them for themselves or as gifts. I keep it all very low key and friendly and warm. Other ways to get the word out are through Twitter, Stumbledupon, or Kaboodle, although I admit I haven't used them as much as Facebook.

Another key to Etsy is to have a blog. I use Google Blogspot because it is very easy to set up and maintain. I am not a computer whiz by any stretch of the imagination and I don't have a lot of expensive high tech computer gear either. Blogspot is simple and I find that most bloggers use it. I have made some fabulous friends from all over the world (and especially my Beloved England) through my blog. I post many of my beaded items on my blog, but I also use it for social posts, helpful articles and a monthly Give-Away that brings more readers to my blog and also rewards them. And it's fun to send out a new give-away brooch each month. It's like sending a gift to a special friend.

Joining an Etsy Team is another way of getting the word out. I belong to the Etsy Bead Weavers Team. They give great advice, create forum threads (which I admit I haven't figured out all the way yet) and link buyers and sellers together. If you type "Etsy Bead Weavers Team" into the search engine, you'll get a showing of all the shops that belong. It's a great support group and there are MANY Etsy teams out there to offer help.

So get creating and selling. It isn't hard and can be pretty enjoyable and profitable too. If you have questions about starting up your own shop, drop me a line. I'm always happy to help.

I'll post more on Etsy here at a later date - Just figured out how to take good indoor pictures of my brooches. Maybe I'll tell you how to do that next!