Whatcha looking for... ?

Her name might be Jami King, but this woman is an Etsy Queen.

 

A self proclaimed “marketing nerd”, Jami knows the ins and outs of running an Etsy shop. After one failed attempt at running her first shop back in the early 2000’s, Jami was determined to try again and crack the code. Now, with nearly 3 years of running her boho style macrame art on her Etsy shop JourneyFibres under her belt, Jami is sharing all the tips and tricks she’s learned along the way online at Handmade Journey.

 

If you’ve ever wanted to open your own Etsy store or maybe your current shop isn’t doing as well as you would like it to, Jami’s got the answers to your questions. From what you should consider before you even open a shop, her thoughts on additional shipping and handling fees, and debunking some “Etsy Myths”, Jami covers all the bases in the video below.

The links below may be affiliate links where appropriate. This means that your purchase through these links may result in a few cents in payment to me, to support creating further resources like this one! That being said, I will never suggest supplies that I do not personally use and fully recommend.

 

Etsy is definitely popular. With the surge of customers wanting to #supportlocal or #supportsmallbusiness, it has quickly become one of (if not the) most popular places to buy from artists and makers. But maybe you’ve never heard of it or not exactly sure what it really is, so let me save you the google search…

 

What is Etsy?

 

Etsy is a global online marketplace of vintage, handmade and crafted items.

 

Why sell on Etsy?

 

• You have nothing to lose, other than a little time and a tiny amount of money. ($0.20 per listing to be exact) Bonus Tip: Know someone with an Etsy shop? They can send you a link for 40 free listings when you sign up!

 

• Etsy makes it easy to sell worldwide. Because of their ready made audience and huge customer base (over 47 million visitors every month!) you have the opportunity to sell your items outside of your city/country.

 

• User friendly. Etsy has multiple guides and helpful tips on setting up listings.

 

• Great “jumping off point”. Starting an online shop can be scary. But using Etsy as a starting point might be a good way to test out your products! And once you have set up, you can focus your time and energy on other goals, such as growing your social media presence or your email list.

 

“Price where you are profitable…if you’re not profitable, it’s an expensive hobby.” – Jami King

 

Pillars of a Great Etsy Shop:

 

1. Get found.
2. Get Clicks.
3. Get Sales.

 

But it’s a little more complicated than that…In the video Jami goes into detail on how to achieve the above, so be sure to give it a watch! 

 

Let’s try to break it down a little more.

 

GET FOUND:

 

Now, Jami explains it a bit better than I can, but ultimately it comes down to having a good SEO strategy.

 

What is SEO?

Without going into too much detail, it stands for search engine optimization. (Aka, how easily you can be found when using keywords in a search engine.)

You can find out more about SEO here.

Bonus Tip: There are a number of tools you can use to make sure your Etsy SEO strategy is (or is not) working. Check out Marmalead and Erank to see your rankings.

 

GET CLICKS:

 

This is going back to SEO but you need to use keywords that are relevant to your item…otherwise your listing might not be found. Then you want your first photo to capture your potential customer’s attention. You also have to ensure that the photo best represents your item. Having multiple photos to show each side, having another item in the photo to help with scale and making sure that the photo is as close to a true representation of your item is very important.

 

GET SALES:

 

People will buy from someone they trust. Because of the online aspect of Etsy customers cannot feel/touch/see your items in person so you need to provide them with good information. Make sure to include as much description possible so the customer is confident in their purchase.

 

 

Top 5 Things to do Before Starting Your Etsy Shop:

 

• Figure out your niche. Etsy shops are kind of like specialty boutiques. Figure out what you want to sell and focus on just a few areas. You can always adjust later.

 

• Practice taking quality photos of your listed items! Take as good of a photo as possible with what you’ve got. Check out this blog post if you need help with flat lay images, and this one for photo styling and editing tips!

 

• Decide on your pricing. Research might be needed to see how much other similar sellers price their work. That being said, you need to be profitable. So don’t be afraid to price higher than others – know your worth and the worth of your items.

 

• Figure out your shipping costs, which will require you to do some research. Find out where you can (and cannot) ship to and what you will be using to ship your items in. *Some postal services offer special promotions for small businesses, so be sure to ask!*

 

• Just do it. You don’t need all your ducks in a row to get started, because then you might never get started. You have time to improve along the way!

 

I really hope you enjoyed this interview! Make sure you’re subscribed to The Happy Ever Crafter TV to catch the rest in the series! And one last HUGE thank you to Jami!

Interested in more of these interviews? You can also join the Facebook group, where these Q&A’s are hosted LIVE, and submit your own questions for future guests.