I am on a quest to improve my sales in my etsy shops. I've had my jewelry shop for 8 years now and haven't broken 400 sales! I've had my other shop 5 years and recently broke 200 sales! I've not really paid them any attention but now's the time. I certainly have the time...
One of the things I am doing on this quest is reading this book
Isn't it too cute! I love it, super easy to get along with, great resource, if you're trying to be a crafty superstar I suggest you check it out. It is readable, informative, helpful... what else can I say? What do I like so much? There are interviews with different superstars which provide a glimpse into their business and advice on different topics. There is nothing I appreciate more than hearing from someone who is where I want to be. It also has very useful appendices including a price calculator and
sample inventory form.
One of my favorite things in the book is this
"10
Ways to Kick-Start Your Sales" List.
I think I will share the list with you and take the time to apply it to myself. I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions on my responses.
1) Give an item to a popular craft blog or Web site for a
giveaway.
Haven't done this yet. I did something similar, I admire jewelry
artist Lorelei Eurto so
I contacted her and told her so. I offered to gift her some of my polymer clay
beads, she took a look at my work, pointed out some stuff, I sent them, and she
has since sent me a link to a necklace (I talked about it in a previous post)
she used a couple of them in!
2) Put your store URL in your e-mail signature.
It seems silly I haven't done this, it's easy enough. But do you
want that there even on emails that aren't related? Guess I can always not
include it and it would be nice if it was just automatically there.
3) Offer coupons to repeat customers.
Repeat customers...why don't I have repeat customers? I do have
a few that purchase my polymer clay beads but not jewelry. Considering my
feedback is always awesome, why don't they come back? I tried to offer a coupon
to customers hoping to make them repeat customers but not a one responded. I have also tried like a referral program with no
luck. I created two coupon codes- one for the referred (15% off) and one for
the referrer (20% off).
4) Give a gift certificate to the fan who creates the best
You-Tube video about your products.
I don't know about this one. I keep hearing "you gotta get
on You-Tube. Post a tutorial on You-Tube". Haven't gotten the nerve or an
idea for a unique tutorial yet. This leads me to #5
5) Create a tag or pool on Flickr for customers to use to post
pictures of themselves with your goods.
I would love to have a place for people that have purchased my
beads to post pics of what they created with them. I've only been able to get
pics from a couple customers. I have a Flickr, don't really use it. I was
thinking of creating a board on pinterest for customers to pin pictures of
jewelry they created with my beads but I haven't been able to pull that off
yet. What do I do? Go back and harass every customer that's bought my beads?
I'd have to offer an incentive. Post a picture of an item you created with my
beads and get 15% off your next purchase...
6) Put links to your store in all your social networking
profiles.
With 3 shops I think I need to link back
to this blog or facebook? I'm making a half-assed attempt at this...important
though isn't it?
7) Offer free shipping for a limited time with a minimum
purchase.
I've never done this. Why not? It's one of my favorite things
about fusionbeads.com
8) Include cool swag with every shipment (buttons,
stickers,etc).
How can I afford that? When someone buys at least 3
sets of beads I'll add a freebie pair to say thanks. I have
wrapped my jewelry in boxes that were keepers- matching origami box, altered
matchbox, fabri-gami box- but that gets expensive. Maybe stickers with my web
address on them so they have something to remember me by?
9) Create a coupon code exclusively for your friends on
Facebook, Twitter, or Flickr.
I've tried, nothing came of it.
10) Post about new items in your blog once a week (if it's
regular, people will come to anticipate your latest offerings!).
Just started blogging!
So there it is. I've got some work to do...Thoughts?
