Etsy as a Full-Time Job: Not Impossible

I have been selling for Etsy for 5 yrs now as a hobby. A few months ago I lost my job and Etsy became my sole source of income. I had a hard time finding a job that paid more than daycare cost so I hired myself. My job description goes like this:

Ideal candidate must be computer literate, a photographer, creative writer, somewhat talented, a marketing genius, extremely organized, makes lunches, dinners, and good coffee and stays up late into the night researching, advertising, and brainstorming.

In just a few months with some minor changes to my Etsy page my sales have increased dramatically, enough to eat, buy gas, and pay the bills. I thought I would share the things that have contributed to my success of late.

1. I treat this as a job now. I give myself about 6-8 hrs a day to work on Etsy related things. Usually between the three hours my son is napping and the time after he goes to bed I have the time without sacrificing family time.

2. Set up a photo studio. When I compared my shop to shops with more sales I noticed that they all have clean plain white backgrounds. My solution to this dilemma was to buy a $1.50 white sheet at a thrift store and thumb tack it to the brightest wall in my house. I photograph everything against it now then photoshop it to get the white as bright as possible without changing the color of the item for sale.

3. Join teams and participate in their discussions. Now that I don’t have contact with (annoying) coworkers it’s nice to have dialogue with like minded people. I joined a single parent team and a tattooed vintage sellers team because they were the most relevant to my situation. Pick about 2-3 teams you feel strongly about, it can be overwhelming otherwise.

4. Refine your store. Currently I have figured out who my target market is so I’m in the process of eliminating items that don’t fit in with their interests and tastes. Instead of just listing everything I am thinking of myself as a museum curator with a focus. I’m no longer renewing items that don’t quite fit in with where my shop is headed.

5. Don’t limit yourself too much. If you only sell jewelry maybe you could make a line of wedding jewelry to put in the wedding category or if you’re an artist paint on something vintage you can put in the vintage category. It’s like cross-promotion and anything that brings your store more traffic is a great thing. Of course be honest, list in the right categories. Of course, use all 14 tags available to describe your item.

6. Take your Etsy page off of Etsy. Create a fan page for your store on Facebook, Twitter, blog. Free media is at your fingertips and marketing is part of this gig.

7. Before I list an item or if I have an idea for a new item I do some market research. Look at the prices, the number of views, the number of hearts. Can you sell this item for the same price or less and still profit? How many are already for sale? I make hats because I love to and I accept that they rarely sell because there are thousands of hats for sale. How will your item be different or exceptional?

8. Repeat sales. If a customer has a great experience they will come back for more. Do all you can to exceed your customers expectations. Ship A.S.A.P. in the prettiest packaging you can afford even if that just means tying a ribbon around the item. Sometimes for large orders I include a free “gift” like a hat I haven’t been able to sell or some cool earrings I bought for next to nothing. It helps the buyer have a pleasant lasting memory. Happy buyers equal positive feedback which is priceless.

Please ask if you have any questions and check out my Etsy store and some of my favorites for some eye-candy.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/shannondzikas?ref=si_shop