If you are an Etsy shop owner or you’re thinking about starting an Etsy business, this is the episode for you! I’m sharing the reality around how long it’s taken me to grow, numbers, Etsy ad investment, money and what I’ve learned so you can reach success faster on Etsy.

In This Episode Keita Discusses:

·       How long it took me to reach success on Etsy.

·       What really has worked and when - including talking about real numbers, money and ad spend.

·       When optimizing your Etsy shop is worth the effort.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Marmalead is an amazing tool for getting into the nitty gritty when optimizing your Etsy Shop titles and descriptions. You can find them at marmalead.com.

Also, Etsy has their own podcast which has some great tips for optimizing your site. You can find the Etsy Success Podcast by clicking here.

Hello, and welcome to the painty mama podcast. We're taught that artists are poor. Throw kids in the mix and it seems impossible to thrive. while balancing motherhood, creative projects, and building a business along with everything else is hard. I believe the universe gave you your unique talents and children so you could live a full inspiring, creative, beautiful life together. Join me for conversations about creativity, motherhood business, and finding calm in the chaos. I'm Keita Thomas, and this is the painty mama podcast.

00:40

Hello, lovely and welcome to another episode of the painting mama Podcast. I am so happy that you're here. In today's episode, we're talking about some tips and things that I'd love to share with you for opening an Etsy shop. Now usually I mention what I'm going to say next at the end of the episode, but I decided today I'm going to take a risk. And I'm just gonna ask outright, if you wouldn't mind, it would be so very helpful. If you could leave a written five-star review if you're enjoying the episodes of the podcast so far, it just really, really helps me to spread the message of everything that we talk about on the painty mama podcast, and I just really think that this is important to get out into the world so that more mums can find us. And that really, really helps. And it also just encourages me to make more episodes, and it gives me a little boost too. Anyway, if you wouldn't mind that would be absolutely lovely. And on with all things Etsy...

01:48

I've had quite the journey with Etsy. And it now brings in about 50% of my revenue for my products. And I mean that fluctuates. And although it gets a bad rap sometimes as it's changed from a seller's point of view, over the past few years, I've heard that sellers have found it increasingly difficult to get seen on there compared to when it very first started. I still think it's worth it though. And just like any platform, it's a case of accepting the truth of what is! We're not in control of it, it is what it is, and just adapting to the changes and how it is now rather than limiting yourself by thinking. "It's too hard now I should have gone on it years ago. So there's no point in even trying now". Because, yeah, it takes effort. And it's slow growing, it's a slow growing kind of thing. So again, as usual, as you'd hear me say quite often, there's no quick wins here. I don't think that there are, you know, quick wins and shortcuts to things that we generally want to do super well at - these things take time. And I definitely suggest having your own home website, not as a total alternative, but kind of as like a complimentary sister shop.

03:10

So yeah, a little bit about my journey with Etsy how I started was; I used to own a metaphysical shop. So we sold books and did readings, and we held workshops for meditations and classes and things like that. So we sold all the metaphysical witchy-woo things and I had started selling crystal jewelry in there, it was just under the name the "Charmed Willow", and they sold really well in person. So I thought when when we made the decision to close the metaphysical shop, I thought, well, I'll create an Etsy shop because I still had all this stock and I loved making them. So I opened up an Etsy shop. And it was absolute crickets. You could see the tumbleweeds just blowing over everything. Nothing happened. And looking back my pictures, descriptions and titles were subpar at best I would say!

04:13

It's kind of embarrassing when I like (not kind of embarrassing. It IS embarrassing) when I look back over it. But you've got to start somewhere. And even though it's embarrassing it also shows me how much I've learned and how far I've come, and you only start to learn those things by actually doing it and then improving on what you're doing. So that was in 2016. So I put them up there and they did diddly squat for over a year. And then when I started drawing and painting again, I added a couple of paintings and I didn't really, I didn't really pay any attention to it until one day in March. I'm trying to remember the year 2018, I sold a painting and it was for $150, that's what I sold it for. And then it cost me $60 to ship it. And I'd only added $25, I think on for shipping. And after that, I started to pay a little bit more attention to it. And I sold two pet portraits in the summer, like the summer after that. And I also sold one more print in the late September. So it was kind of just before Christmas, and then nothing else for the rest of the year. So it's been slow. Etsy started super slow for me. And I'm okay with that because I've just learned so much. And I also want to share this experience in the story with you. Because I think we often hear all these like out-the-gate successes. And that has definitely not been my experience. I've been on a very slow trending upward curve for like, years now. It's 2021. Now, so that's taken quite a long time. And so anyway, after that, after I sold that print in the late September, I put quite a lot more research into it. After that, I guess I just kind of realized that a few things that sold and like, "Oh, I can do a little bit more than I'm already doing here", (which was literally nothing before that). So yeah, after those sales. And I added the prints that I'd put on my Squarespace website. But I didn't make another single sale until October 2019. A whole year later. That's right. A whole year, it was slow. Then I started getting a couple of sales per month after that.

06:50

And at Christmas time I started running ads. Now I didn't do tons of money on these ads. But like, I want to give you some figures here just so you also have an idea of like the reality. It was like, I did ramp it up over Christmas. So it was like $45 per month over the Christmas period and it kind of grew from there. And my budget for ads is it's kind of about the same as that now. And I kind of tailor it because I know when it goes slow, so I have to keep my eye on it and make sure that the ad spend that I have on Etsy is worth what's actually happening, traffic and sales wise. So if I fluctuate the spend, depending on like the seasonal trends that I've noticed, March, for example, historically, has been super slow for me both on my website and on my Etsy shop. So during the early spring, I usually cut back, and then I build it back up into early summer. And then again, from October to December, I usually will add a little bit more money into the ad spend, but how do you have to keep my eye on it just to make sure that I'm not going crazy. And then, you know, spending more than I will make back. And it's definitely one of those things, I kind of thought it was a set and forget when I first started but the fact that I pay attention is definitely the way to go. It's not going to grow without attention. I don't think that having an Etsy shop is you know that buzzword like "passive income", there's nothing like sure your products can sit there, but there's nothing passive, that's going to work, you still have to put some energy into it. At least that's what I've learned. And that's definitely been my experience.

08:46

I also only have that information about where to pull back and where to push a little bit more with ads - I have that information because I can follow my trending years over it was a complete flatline and then a little blip. And I've got those trending years now. So it has provided me with some valuable information. And now it's at the point where $1 a day is working to bring in about 50% of the sales. I think it's important to talk about the journey and the numbers like this, so that your expectations are realistic and you have real life examples. I'm not going to tell you that et CIE is a get rich, quick and easy scheme as it's really not that. Anyone I know, and anyone that you know, I can bet who has found any success on Etsy has gone through a similar process of trial and error, and they've had to put the work in too. That said I'd like to share some things to think about so that you can speed up the process and not have it take you like four years before it starts working for you! Because yeah, it's taking me a while. There's no need for it to take that long, doesn't need to take you that long. And I really tried to think about a lot of the things that I wish I would have.  not "known" necessarily, but like the way I wish I would have approached it or if I'd have thought about these things, right, when I very first started would have saved me some time, so I wanted to share it and save you some time.

10:23

So my first little tip is, everybody says on any blog post ever about Etsy is: photos with good lighting, titles and descriptions matter, not going to go into that too much. Because you can literally go on Google or use Marmalead is a really great tool for that. I don't want to go into that. Because I feel like if you are listening to this episode, and you have an Etsy shop, or you know anything about Etsy, it's like the number one thing everyone talks about, and I don't want to bore you. So Google that one, but it is important. The second thing is, I find this, this was a little bit more tricky for me to kind of wrap my head around. And now it seems super obvious to me, but I didn't get it really at the time. But it's about having a cohesive aesthetic. So having your pictures and your colors and the way you present your images all to have a similar, you know, color palette, or branding or feel about them, like do you use warm tones, cool tones? Do you have a specific branding color, what's the aesthetic, what's the feel of the shop and allow that to go through everything from your banner, to your product pictures to your logo picture if you have that up there, and just making it more cohesive, this took me a really long time to understand. And once I got it, I was like, "oh, okay", and it really did make a huge difference. So I definitely advise, looking into different ways that you can brand your Etsy shop to reflect the visual feeling of the products that you make.

12:05

The third thing, (this literally took me ages, this took me so long to figure out) envelopes, packaging sizes, the weight of things, it took me so long to figure out the best way to kind of produce the right size, and a size that people want, as well as a size that is going to work in a common standard size frame if you're selling artwork, and just the general weight of things. And so I actually ended up buying my own little, it's like a USB plug in thing that I can plug into my computer. And it's just a little weighing scale, like a USB weighing scale. And that really helped me as well. And I would look up (I'm in Canada, so I use Canada Post). So I would look up on Canada Post like which weights are the top weights and I'm always make sure that I keep the weight of items on the lower side because that helps to save on shipping. Which brings me to my next point, point number four, which is rolling your shipping costs in. I was really apprehensive about rolling my shipping prices in when Etsy first suggested it because I thought it was really going to put people off because then it drives the price of the actual item up. And if you've got people looking through and they're you know, sorting by price or whatever or they're scanning for a deal, they're not going to click on your listing, if you know it's way more expensive, because you've got the shipping costs rolled in. However, I definitely noticed a correlation when I finally did roll it in. And I keep my shipping costs low. I don't do the tracked shipping unless it's an original, I do a standard shipping, which definitely keeps the costing down. And the speed - I've never really had that much problem with speed, apart from over the period of COVID, because a lot of the Postal Service has been kind of spotty. Some of it has been a bit haphazard, but overall, it's worked out pretty well doing it that way and because I'm selling mostly reproductions then you know, if it did get lost in the post, then I could like rush-send an order but overall, it just works out much cheaper for myself and for the customer. And to do it that way. And also envelope sizes and finding the right envelopes was really difficult. I use like the thicker card flat mailers and I find that that really works and I have a backing card and a cello-sleeve that goes over the top to protect the image from any damp or water damage. So I never had any complaints, it seems to work really well and I was really glad I figured that out. But I also think I was kind of sabotaging myself because as long as I didn't figure it out, I kind of gave myself a little bit of an excuse not to succeed, which is a story for another day, we'll talk about limiting beliefs at some point on the podcast, I'm sure. Yeah, so also with the rolling shipping costs in a Yeah, I definitely did notice that once I did that, I definitely ranked higher by doing that. So if you haven't done that, and you have an existing shop, I'd really encourage you to think about it because it has made a big difference, at least to me.

15:40

So my tip number five is build your email list from your Etsy customers. Now, there are rules on Etsy. So you can't just go messaging everyone being like, join my email list and like, sucking everyone, like *slurp* "come over to me!" because that's the really frowns on that. And you've kind of got to do it in an ethical way. But, but yeah, I think I found a way to work around that in an ethical way. Because at the end of the day, these people are buying your products, you've handmade them. And this is how I do it anyway. So I don't message them, you know, a bunch of messages on Etsy, other than the standard message that I like to, I actually like to type out myself for each person, because I just think it's really nice to write their name and just say, like, "thanks so much for supporting me" when I have shipped their order. But in with the package, I also have created these postcards, or you could do it on a business card, I did that for a while, which also, you know, like, they don't cost very much to make and they don't weigh very much. So adding that into your package is a really nice way to say an additional "thank you for placing your order" and then just adding your contact information on there. And if that customer really loves what you've made, then they might contact you on Instagram, or tag on Instagram, and you can share the pictures that they've put up in your stories. And then they might join your email list or go to your website. So I would suggest like trying to direct kind of over to your website over to other channels that are outside of Etsy. It is quite difficult to do that. Because not everybody honestly takes the direction that you put on the card. But I still think it's really worth doing. And it's nice just to add an extra little thing a little surprise in with the order as well that says thank you. And that lets them know that you are a real person. That there's a person behind your shop. And you aren't Etsy, you are you.

17:54

And my sixth tip would be; be available to answer messages and give realistic shipping times. So when you get that little cha ching sound on Etsy, which is so satisfying. If you have an Etsy shop, you'll know what I mean, if you don't yet just look forward to it because it's such a great sound. And my daughter is like " Mummy! It went cha-ching and then I'm like "Whoo!!", and we look it up and we'll say an out loud "thank you" to the person's name, who's just placed an order and I just love doing that process. It keeps me in a space of gratitude. And it just feels really good doing that. But yeah, so when you get an order come in, and then it tells you how many days you have left. And that's however long you've set on your shop that you have left to ship that order. And if it goes over it turns red. Do not let to turn red is my biggest advice in my weirdest voice. Because I've definitely noticed on the occasional time, this is like when I was first starting, if I let that turn red, my traffic would drop. So always and I have also noticed (and I don't know if this is a thing). It's just something that I've noticed and I mentioned it in an episode that I did with Monica from Salt and paper a few episodes ago, that on Etsy if I fulfill the orders really quickly and turn around the orders and get them out to the post office quicker. I usually end up seeing a bit of an uptick in traffic flow to my shop as well - like the organic traffic sorry, not the ad spend traffic but the organic traffic. I don't know if that's the thing. I don't know if it's just a coincidence. I don't think it is but I've not read it anywhere. But that's just my experience anyway, so give yourself a couple of extra days if you need it to fulfill those orders just so you never get into the red zone and try and fulfill your orders as quickly as is realistic. I can honestly print my orders from home pretty quickly. But I always give myself an extra bit of time because I also have a life and I've got kids and I don't want it to go into that red zone and much rather delight my customers not disappoint them. So in doing that, you get the opportunity to actually delight them and give them something a little bit extra, which is an earlier package than they were planning on. Also gives you a little bit of leeway in case the Postal Service (as I've mentioned in COVID times) has been a little bit slower than usual. And that's my top tips for starting an Etsy shop.

I hope you feel both inspired to start an Etsy shop. And if you don't have one yet that a couple of things I've talked about, in this episode help you to grow your existing shop if you're still in those early days, like I was, and you don't want it to take you four years to grow it! I hope this speeds up your process.

I really do believe that there's more than enough room for artists to flourish in general. And there's room on Etsy for you too. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, or leave a written review. It really does help and encourages me to create these episodes for you and it helps us to reach other painty mamas. So you can find me on Instagram @artbykeita. Feel free to DM me your Etsy shop address. I'd love to check it out when you get it going. And yeah, I'd just love to cheer you on with it wherever, whatever stage you're at. So again, that's @artbykeita. You can also find links to other podcast episodes and my online shop at www.keitathomas.com Thanks again for being here and hope you found this episode helpful. Wishing you a sparkly happy week!