Three ways to sell more on Etsy
Got your attention? Good!
Here are three simple ways to help improve your Etsy shopper conversions (that’s turning people who are browsing into buyers)
1.) Rock your socks off product images
Chances are the way someone makes it to your Etsy store is by clicking on a picture of one of your masterpieces. Generally speaking, the better the product is displayed, the more people are going to click on it. So take the time to put up images that really show the viewer who can’t feel or touch your goodies how wonderful your work really is. You deserve it!
I know, you don’t have a million dollars to hire a professional photographer to photograph all your lovelies. You don’t need one! I’m posting a special “how to” take better photos for etsy next week so stay tuned!
2) I love me, You love me: Your Banner
This is likely the next thing someone shopping your store will notice. They arrived there by clicking on a product and now they can learn more about you. What does your banner say about you? Did you cobble it together in photo-something (you’re not sure what)?
Your banner builds credibility. A great banner says “I’m a real business. I care about my work & my clients”. A not so great banner says “I need some extra cash so I put some stuff up here on Etsy”. What image do you want to project? You want it to show everyone how much love and effort goes into your products–so love on your business and get a great banner!
There are tons of designers out there willing to design okay-decent banners for a few bucks. Decide what your budget is and do two things : 1) Find a designer you LOVE and 2) spend the most you can. I don’t mean break your bank–I mean get the highest quality product you can afford.
After all, this is YOU to the people shopping in your store! You want to show your personality but with a polished edge. Attractive & trustworthy.
One more thing about your banner: if you sell things in a bricks & mortar, you should be using the SAME LOGO for both. Your Etsy shop is an extension of your physical brand. You want it to be identifiable! When people who know you in person get to your store, you want them to go “Yes! This is her shoppe!!” not “Hmm….did I type it right?”
3) Have a Sale
What? I want you to have a sale? But you worked so hard on all those things! Let me ask you this: do you want to sell one (maybe none!) or would you rather sell more? I’m betting you’d like to sell more. Its important that when you price your goods, you make sure you have enough “wiggle room” to offer sales from time to time without putting yourself in a bind. The best way to increase sales is a 30% discount. Anything lower, and it’s not enough to sway a decision. Another GREAT way to increase sales is to do buy 2 get one free. MOST people will buy two even when they were only planning to buy one because they will get one free. And if you’re paying attention, it’s the same discount–30%. Only it’s off 3 items instead of one. So now you’ve sold three vs. one. Isn’t that great?!
So there you go-three simple ways to sell more on Etsy.
One last tip: if you don’t have a LOGO GET ONE! This is for consistency. You want people to always know they found the right store and the best way to do that consistently is to have a logo. Then you need to use it on your business cards, labels, shipping, boxes, emails, banner, etc. And someday, you will probably get tired of your logo. KEEP IT! Sure, you can update the colors but don’t radically change it. You want people to continue to recognize it.
Okay, I think that’s enough logo talk for now. Your Etsy shoppe is an extension of your physical ’shoppe’. Make ‘em match!
Filed under Answers for Common Questions, SparkingFreedom | Comment (0)Make more money with less effort
We all want to make more money and spend less time making it.
The problem is, we’ve got so many great ideas floating around.
You’ve all been there-and some of your are there right now.
The place where the ideas are FLOWING. How do you choose which ideas to implement and follow? Do you just grab blindly and try any idea that sounds great?
What if you had a way to choose the RIGHT idea EVERY TIME?
Would you do it?
Of course you would!
Did you know you may already have the way to do that? I’ll bet you didn’t. If you’ve spent enough time dreaming, creating, and getting to essence of your business, it’s quite possible you have the framework in place to make the right decisions for your business right now.
What is this magic potion, you ask? Simply this: take your idea and pass it through a ‘filter’. For ideas that pertain to what you offer, ask this of the idea: does it enhance, add to, perpetuate or otherwise work in accordance to what your business concept is? For example, if the essence of your business is to offer “country fresh inspiration” and your newest idea is to offer a monthly country trend review night, I’d say go for it. It’s got all three of your essence elements. It’s FRESH, it’s got country and it’s sure to inspire.
If your newest idea is to add an area for children complete with tv & video games, you’d need to pass it through several filters. First filter: does it serve my customer? In other words, what percentage of my target market shops with their young children that would take advantage of it? If it’s less than 20% of your biggest spenders, I’d say skip it and focus your resources somewhere else.
Hanging in there? Here’s the second filter if the idea passed the first one: Can it incorporate your essence, add to it or work cohesively with it? If it doesn’t, pass on the idea. Heck, maybe you can add it to your blog as an idea for someone else.
You’ve made it this far–here’s the final test if it passes the other two: It’s going to cost money. Is it going to cost more money than it will bring in? Playing with the childrens area, if you’re going to keep it fresh, that’s probably new decor, maybe new video games. Quite simply, Will it make you more money? And will it make you more money than it costs you? How much? If it’s a pretty small number, is it worth the effort?
The short cut to making better business decisions:
WILL IT MAKE ME MORE MONEY than it will cost me?
Run all your decisions through this filter and see if it doesn’t improve your bottom line. Asking everything you want to do with your money if it will make more money than it will cost, will absolutely keep you focused on maximizing your financial resources.
Filed under SparkingFreedom | Comment (0)Outsourcing & Independent Contractors
I know, the thought of “Independent Contractors” sounds big & scary and somehow, very official. Don’t worry! It’s so much easier than it looks.For every business, what you outsource will vary. Some will need to hire out big jobs, some small jobs–after all, there is so much to do but so few hours and only one of you. Hiring them as an Independent Contractor means you don’t pay their income taxes or social security benefits. That means they’ll have to take care of that on their own taxes. This is NOT a way to get around hiring employees see this article on what it means to be an employee. We’re trying to avoid doing anything that could later be audited and determined as illegal. This is the good part–all you need are two simple forms. (Crazy right, tax forms and simple–can that even go in a sentence together???) You definitely want to take care of these since they will help you keep everything “on the level” if you will.
Before you start paying them you want to take care of the first form. Just click the link, print & get it completed. You can find the form here: W-9: Request for Taxpayer Identification Form. It is recommended that you do this for anyone you *might* be currently paying under the table-and before you pay them any more.
While we’re focusing on working on making everything good with the IRS, it’s important to note you should probably have a contract with your Independent Contractor to deal with the job including deadlines. We’re working on a section that will deal with contracts for an upcoming feature.
I know you’re an awesome bookkeeper and you’ve been noting how much you’ve been paying them all year long. Here’s the important thing: At the end of the year, if the total amount paid to one individual is more than $600 than you need to fill out a 1099 Miscellaneous Income Form for each individual and provide them with their own copy at the end of the year. (You need their Tax ID, which is why the W-9 form should be collected in advance of payment.) All of the instructions are included within the form and there’s always additional help available directly from the IRS.gov website.
Why is it important to document this pay with the IRS? So that you can legally deduct the income you pay independent contractors, (What is an independent Contractor you ask? Find out HERE ) rather than paying income tax on money you didn’t actually earn! Those dollars are best used somewhere else.
So that’s it-two simple forms (W-9 & 1099 Misc) is all you need to free yourself from stress about the IRS and someone else’s taxes. I know, everyone always makes it sound so difficult but now you know the truth so go and help yourself by getting some help.
*Special thanks to Carol Drake, CPA; and Nate Reynolds for their contributions to this topic.
**Extra Special Thanks to Anne Ruthmann for providing the resources & inspiration for this post!
Just a reminder, please don’t trust this more than your CPA–they’re up on the newest tax codes so they are the first place to check. 