Jill b. - How To Start An Etsy Online Business: The Creative Entrepreneurs Guide

How To Start An Etsy Online Business

The Creative Entrepreneurs Guide

By Jill b.

Copyright 2016

All Rights Reserved

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Introduction

I ll admit that Im not particularly artistic but Ive been crafty for as long as I can remember. I used to make intricate cross-stitch and crochet pieces with no possibility of selling or making money on my crafts (I was a child of the 80s). These days however, we have so many opportunities to make our wares available to a worldwide audience. How amazing is that?

I am an entrepreneur. I have been selling on eBay and the now defunct Yahoo Auctions since 1998. I later branched out to selling on Amazon as well. Even though I discovered Etsy in 2006, I didnt start selling on the platform until 2012 when I started selling our reinvented chicken saddle (refer to the author bio at the end of the book if youre interested in learning more). I am a creative entrepreneur.

Unfortunately, many creatives dont like to think of business and money and might even feel like theyre selling out. If youre reading this book, Im going to assume that you are a creative entrepreneur as well. Otherwise, you need to work on shifting your mindset. You can be both an artist or creative as well as a business person. Think of your sales as, Wow, someone loved my work enough to buy it from me! How cool is that?

Setting Business Goals

T oday, instead of having the only option of opening a storefront or in-person venue to sell your creations, you can set up your digital storefront with relative ease and low start-up costs. That is a wonderful advantage when youre starting out. Although there are new selling platforms like Handmade by Amazon coming up, at the time of writing, Etsy is still by far the best and largest platform for crafters and artists to sell their wares online.

Before you get too excited however, remember that this also means that the entry point is low for everyone else as well. Yes, some stores Etsy shops can make tens of thousands of dollars a month on Etsy but these are established businesses who got in at an earlier stage. As more and more people flood into the market and with new Etsy rules allowing wholesaling and pre-manufactured items, it has become harder to gain a foothold.

Dont despair. That doesnt mean that you cant still start a business. You just need to be realistic about business volume and sales, especially when youre new. More importantly, you need to figure out what you want from your business.

Do you just want to just sell some of the items youve made or are planning to make?

Do you just want to make a little extra pocket money?

Do you want to generate a side income to help pay the bills?

Or, do you want something more, like having a business that will replace a job?

Where do you see your business and brand a year from now? What about 5 years from now?

There are no right or wrong answers and your aspirations can change over time as you and your situation change. However, having goals in your mind will help you to formulate the steps you need to take in order to achieve those goals.

Brand YOU

I n this noisy market , I believe one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd is to distinguish your brand or your business from others. Whether youre making the items or selling vintage items or craft supplies, what make you, you ? Remember that people shop on Etsy because they generally want to find something different. Otherwise, they would have shopped at Amazon, eBay or your local big box store.

What makes your brand stand out? Do they promote something? Is it how you see the world? Are your works a reflection of your childhood or your experiences or just the things you like? Whether its bringing ethnic native craft supplies from around the world or 1950s kitsch to your customer or whether its the nature that inspires your artwork, selling something that is meaningful to you will help to give your business a sense of purpose while helping it stand out from the crowd.

Note though, that this book assumes that youre selling quality items with good workmanship. negative review can have longstanding effects on your brand and business so make sure that you test your products in real-world situations. If you make crocheted scarves, wear one to make sure it will withstand the rigors of weather and wear. Make kids toys? Have some relevantly-aged kids test them out for you in actual play situations. We tested our product on our chickens for about a year before as launched it to market.

Your Product Line

O nce youve narrowed down your niche, figure out your target audience. Who is going to buy your products? Are they generally young, single women? Moms-on-the-go? Business women? Most of Etsys audience are women but that doesnt mean you cant sell masculine products. It just means that you probably want to target your products to a female audience. Think gifts wives, mothers or girlfriends may buy for the men in their lives instead of targeting men themselves.

You can then plan to offer product lines that either have a common look or feel, or form recognizable or complementary sets. For example, you may choose to just focus on selling a knitted hats. You may later wish to branch out and offer matching scarves and gloves.

Avoid selling a jumble of items like vintage toy cars and jewelry for example. Ill be honest and admit that I made this mistake when I started selling on Etsy. Because my background was selling on eBay, I was used to just throwing up whatever items Id found to flip for a profit. With a reputation of being an online flea market of sorts, selling in this way on eBay worked fine for me. However, this doesnt translate to an Etsy audience. It wasnt until much later when I started learning about branding, that this is a big mistake. An odd selection of items will confuse your customer and mess your branding up.