Etsy Advice

I'm still here. My vacation will start on Monday. Yoohoo! I want to share with you some questions a fellow bead artist asked me before opening her Etsy shop. I thought you might find it helpful.

About how much time per week are you devoting to Etsy?
About an hour a day. Sometimes more, if I'm being social or researching things in the forums. It only takes a few minutes to upload your listings. (Photographing & fixing photos is a different story!) I spend a few minutes each day in the forums, adding my listings to the promotion threads and checking in with the street teams. It's better to list a few items throughout the day than all at once.

Does it help your sales to belong to the different groups?
Yes, a lot of my sales have come from the street teams and from their promotions.

Does blogging help your sales? (not necessarily Etsy, but . . . )
Blogging helps any online sales. Relevant blogging to your target market is the key. Commenting on blogs is just as important as posting on your own.

Do loose beads sell better than jewelry or is it pretty equal?
I list mostly beads, but I have been surprised by the amount of jewelry that has sold including some of my more expensive bracelets.

Who did your banner & avatar? (I did notice that a few Etsy sellers offer)
I do all my own graphic design work. There are some great designers on etsy who will do it for you for a song.

What size do you make your photos?
On www.etsywiki.com it has a section on photo tips. I do mine at either 860 or 430 pixels wide.

And does the appearance of your shop affect your sales? (your opinion)
Yes, I would study some of the top shops and see what makes them stand out. You really have to make your store artsy to attract customers. There is a big difference in ebay and etsy photos. Again, just looking around will give you a good idea.

A list of top sellers on Etsy: http://etsymilk.blogspot.com/2007/06/big-sellers.html

And when you mentioned aggressive marketing, what did you mean? Can you give me some details?
I spend about a 1/3 of my day marketing online and off. I participate in message board groups, flickr, myspace, other social networking sites, blogging, creative challenges, my email list, and yahoo groups.

I’m getting a sense that the Etsy members really make the bigger part of the sales. In other words, they seem to support each others’ businesses.
Etsy really is a community, but there are a lot of buyers who don't sell. It's a fun place to shop. Look around at the Treasuries, time machine and shopping by color. It's just fun!

Hope that helps. Look around, ask questions, do some research and then jump in. Competition is tough and you need to have a plan if you are going to stand out.