"You sell your stuff where? What's that, what is Etsy?"

Earlier today I posted a new thread reading this:

Sales are slow. 14.6 million are collecting unemployment and 54,000 applied for unemployment last week. I forget how many millions of peoples benefits are due to run out at the end of September. If major retailers are closing - well, etsy is a lot smaller than Gottschalks and Mervyns and Etsy does not have the traffic those retailers had. How can we help Etsy increase traffic and increase our sales???

Here is some of the input that it received:

*One thing that I do which isnt much, is I write my website on all packages and envelopes that I send out
*I put links to my sites in my signature in my email addresses.
*A friend includes a custom envelope with her Etsy business card(s) in her packages and then you add your card to it and send it on.

Questions to ask yourself:

Do my photos need work? (yes they always need work).
Have I listed something new recently?
Am I reaching my target market?

Blog, Blog, Blog

You can reduce your secondary shipping or have it at 0 if that is feasible for your shop. That helps some buyers buy more than 1 item from you.

www.craftgawker.com

I found that I've had the most success with sales and promotion at live events. I recently put this site together to give people a forum for planning local events to promote their shops, Etsy, other local artists, and to increase holiday sales. Please check it out and forward the info. to anyone who might be interested.
www.GreenSaturday.org

Keep a supply of business cards on hand at all times and hand them to everyone you meet.

I offer a discount at craft fairs if they will take a minute and learn about etsy. lol I have a lot of listeners that have never heard of etsy before.
**I have a sign I printed up taped to my table that says Do you want to know how you can get 20% off your next purchase? Then when they ask I hand them my business card and tell them about my etsy shop. If they buy something later in the week or next month or next year they can get a discount by typing in what it says to type in on the card. I have had a few sales from that here.
It also helps to get the work out about etsy.

Online Party!! You can do an online party too.
Have a hostess that gets free merchandise from you for every x amount of dollars that their friends spend with you in a set day/time. The shoppers put the hostess's name in the message to seller.

**Low Prices

I tend to talk about Etsy to people whenever I can work it into a conversation. I tweet, and have myspace accounts and facebook fan pages for my shop. It helps to spread the word for myself, as well as for Etsy as a whole. I try to shop for all of my gifts on Etsy, that when I give someone a present, I can give them the card of the store where I got the item and let them know that their gift was handmade. It tends to peak people's interests to see that handmade doesn't necessarily mean home made. I can only do so much, though, and hope that others are also promoting Etsy as a whole, as well as their individual shops.

*pass out cards at craft fairs
*Had etsy site put on checks where my address would go.. there is nothing to say you can't put what you want there..
*One of the best FREE things you can do to drive business to your Etsy shop is work on your search engine optimization (SEO). The first 150 characters of your shop announcement should be packed with keywords you want people to find you with - what items & styles you sell. Same with the listings. It really makes a difference! Do a forum search on SEO for better tips

*Photos, photos, lighting, photos - improve


I took some advice and changed my avi and the "sections" names in my shop. I also am starting to use webshots to upload some of my work, and a link to my shop.

My other little shop: New4u on Etsy

This is my other shop: http://www.new4u.etsy.com

You will find antiques and vintage items for your home. Many times the things that I fill up make it challenging for me to list on Etsy. Especially depression glass, since I have to research the pattern - sometimes I have luck and sometimes I dont. You will also find some jewelry, but I am fading the jewelry out and listing it in my other shop
DarlingDiva2009.

My Blogging Resolution!!

I hereby pledge to update my blog at least once a week -- if not more! Okay, I made the public pledge - I am now committed. Phwew, I feel better now!

So this should do it for the week! lol, I know. Ok, the truth is, is that I need to go visit some other blogs and study layouts and such.