Etsy workshop

How to Etsy

Laura Plenzik

lauraplenzik@gmail.com @lauraplenzik

Designer’s dilemma: I make this product!

How do I sell it?

Answer: - Our products must always meet the needs of the market, otherwise selling it will be very complicated.

CREATE ITEMS FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS, NOT FOR YOU

What is Etsy?

- Created in June 2005 in Brooklyn NY - 30 million users - 2 billion $ a year in sales - CEO Chad Dickerson - Handmade, vintage or craft supplies.

How much does it cost? $0.20 per listing (4 months duration) + 3.5% Etsy fee + 2.9% PayPal fee + $0.30 per transaction or 3% Direct Checkout fee + $0.25 per transaction

TOP ETSY CATEGORIES Top Sellers: Jewelry (6 million items) Craf Supplies and tools (5 million) Art & Collectibles (3 million) Home and Living ( 3 million) Mid Range: -More popularClothing (2 million) Accessories (2 million) Paper & Party Supplies -Less popularWeddings (1 million) Bags and Purses (1 million) Bath and Beauty (1 million) Least Popular Sellers: Toys and games Books and film Electronics and Accessories Pet Supplies Shoes

MOST POPULAR CATEGORIES Jewelry: Necklaces Earrings Bracelets Rings Craft Supplies: Jewelry and beading Sewing and needlecraft Patterns and tutorials Art: Prints Paintings Photography Collectibles Drawings and Illustrations Home and Living: Home Decor Kitchen and dining

POPULAR CATEGORIES - Stay on top of trends - High competition - Beautiful product photos - Cohesive memorable brand - Update keywords and tags frequently (3-6 months) - You may need to use promoted listings or Renewals to keep you high on search results

MID RANGE CATEGORIES - Combine a popular category with a mid range one - Maximize your exposure - Similar results can be achieved by combining two mid range categories

LESS POPULAR CATEGORIES - You need to dominate your category - Unique and different brand - Stand up from the competition - Beautiful photos that can compete with top sellers - List lots of items 50 - 100 - Combine with a popular category at the beginning to boost traffic - Use the 80-20 rule - Example: pet supplies and pet prints

Etsy Profile - Location - Brand Name - General Info - Avatar and Banner - Policies - Shipping Profiles - Handling Times - Accepted Payments - About Page

Listing - 5 Photos - Searchable Title - Description - 13 tags - 20 charachters each - Price - Variations - Quantity Available - Handling time - Shipping time - Shipping costs

Questions

PRICING AND FINANCES Materials + Labor + Expenses + Profit = Wholesale x 2 = Retail - Research competitors - Separate personal from business: pay yourself!

- Save 30% for taxes - Use an accounting app or spreadsheet - Track all your expenses - Be ready for tax season - Pricing Variations - Download csv files

PayPal -Verify with your credit card - Keep personal and business separate - Update your shipping addresses - Money can be transfered to your bank (1-3 days)

Direct Checkout -Varies by country.

- Links to your bank account.

- Holds your funds and makes deposits every monday.

- Credit card processing fees are automatically deducted.

- Customers can use their preferred credit cards.

- You can integrate your PayPal too.

The Sale - Customer Service - Convos - Timely Shipping - Packaging and branding - Re-list article or not - Confirm delivery - Pay your monthly fees on time

Shipping - Postal scale - Worldwide shipping - Calculated shipping - Shipping Profiles - Handling Fees - Packing Supplies - Packing Slips - Policies - Insurance - Shipping Services - Free Shipping?

EXERCISE

YOUR SHOP MUST HAVE DIRECTION AND IDENTITY Choose a theme: create a line of products that go together

Optimizing your shop - Define your niche - Research similar brands - Excelent photos - Constantly improve your SEO - Do trend research - Create a spreadsheet file of all your products and inventory

- Relist the same item - Eliminate listings that don’t perform well - Plan for seasonal products ahead of time - Be organized - List a minimum of 40 items - List new items regularly - Gather your customers into a mailing list or facebook group

PHOTOGRAPHY - Light: take photos near a window on a sunny day - Placement: add accessories to make your item pop - Rule of Third: your item should take 1/3 of the photo, try not to center it - Shadow: minimize your shadows, they make your item look harsh - Product Spotlight: basic simple background - Product Mockups: time saver, best for art prints - Always go for clear and crisp.

- Use editorial style to complement.

SEO BASICS - Search Engine Optimization is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” search results on search engines.

- It’s not instant, it can actually take 30 days for it to be working.

- Renewing Lisitings makes it faster - The first 55 charachters of your title are the most important - Etsy Search results will only show a particular shop once on each page

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SEO DOS

- Choose a focus keyword, a high traffic tag that perfectly describes your item.

- Repeat your focus keyword in your title, tags and description.

- Email marketing, guest posts, features, back links help your SEO - Keep it simple: use the same words your buyers would use.

- Use a tool to reasearch tags and titles that have high engagement and decent foot traffic. (Google Adwords, Marmalead, Etsy Search) - Include keywords in your storefront - Constantly tweak

SEO DON’TS

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- Copy other shop’s tags - Rely solely on the Etsy search box - Use technical terms or industry jargon - Pick tags out of a hat - Use terms that are too specific - Set it and forget it - Reuse tags for all your lisitings, you’ll be competing with yourself!

TAGGING STRATEGY - Distribute tags:

1) Very Specific

2) High Traffic

3) Seasonal - Use conversational words - Think as the buyer - Select focus keywords for each listing - Repeat tag in description and title - Track tag performance in stats - Review every 3 - 4 months - Create a database - Use combinable keywords - Batch edit with tools like vela or Etsy On Sale - Research on marmalead - Find tags with high engagement

TRAFFIC TRACKING ADVERTISING - Etsy promoted listings: Low bids - All items High Bids - Best selling items Works better for lower priced listings - Google ads: built into etsy - Facebook and instagram ads - Auto renew - Etsy Updates

- Etsy stats - Google analytics - Sources - Keywords - Regular follow ups - Find what works for you!

CONVERSION RATE - Divide order quantity by views - 2% average conversion rate - Customers browse before they buy - Buyers have to see an item 5-7 times before they buy - Remember, customers can’t see, touch or taste the product online - Grab your customers at the research stage - Re-market to them on your social media channels - Use Etsy Updates

PASSIVE INCOME AND DIGITAL DOWNLOADS - Low supply cost - Even if sales rise, supply cost won’t Options: Sell digital downloads on Etsy Sell digital Downloads on a blog Sell online courses Become an affiliate Sell on Creative Market or Shutterstock Sell memberships for digital downloads Basics: Zip file that includes the artwork and a “how to” file Endless supply Customization Printables

- Social media content planning or marketing day - Inventory and re-stocking day - Photography day: new listings batch and IG - Learning / research day: Classes, workshops...

- Product development day - Graphic Design day: branding or social media assets - Etsy SEO day - Blog writing - Create new campaigns - Finance review day

GETTING ORGANIZED: daily tasks

Canva.com Gimp.com Inkscape.com CreativeMarket.com LiveSurface.com ClippingMagic.com Printful.com ScalablePress.com Marmalead.com EtsyOnSale.com GetVela.com Waveapps.com Asana.com Todoist.com Google Drive

Later.com Tailwindapp.com Hootsuite.com Postcron.com IFTTT.com MailChimp.com

etsy.com/seller-handbook Etsy Success Channel on YouTube https://www.pinterest.com/lauraplenzik/etsy/ Blog.fuzzyandbirch.com

RESOURCES

Support System - Teams - Etsy app - Etsy forums - Facebook Groups - Family & Friends - @EtsyHelp Twitter Social Media - Snapchat - Instagram - Pinterest - Tumblr - Twitter - Facebook - Blogs - Mailing Lists

Recomendations - Ship on time - Be reliable - Have amazing photos - Cohesive concept - Excelent quality - Be on top of your finances Keys - Planning - Organization - Patience