Many home crafters and others that focus on handmade items turn to Etsy as their primary source of distribution and income. What they don’t expect is the entitled attitude of an Etsy customer. Beyond anything you would normally experience on any other platform including your own website. More about that later.

Etsy has put so much power in the hands of the customer that many Etsy sellers simply give up and close their shops. Recently Etsy made it worse with their feedback system to be a “Star Seller” on their platform. If a customer does not leave the seller a 5 star review, the little Star Seller badge will not be displayed on the seller’s store. (Be sure to read: How to be successful on etsy 2021)

That’s right. Even if you have 4 stars, on-time shipping and message response rates, you’re not a Star seller. Below are the parameters. Two you can control. What you can’t is the opinion of an Etsy buyer.

• Message Response Rate (Target 95%)
• 5-Star Rating (Target 95%)
• On-Time Shipping and Tracking (Target 95%)

As a marketer, I have many Etsy sellers as my clients. Believe me when I say that many Etsy customers are entitled, I know first hand. Demanding. Unfair. I’ve read the messages. I’ve read the reviews. 99% of these? Invalid. Yet there is nothing, NOTHING, an Etsy seller can do about it.

In my experience over the past several years, an Etsy seller truly cares about providing the best to their customers. Yet Etsy has taken control away from these sellers time and time again.

The most important thing EVERY Etsy seller should know is that you will never be able to contact the customer or see their email addresses. Etsy has made it so that you are completely reliant on their platform and not able to build the most important resource your business needs to succeed – a customer email list.

What can you do about it? Launch your own ecommerce store. I recommend this immediately to all my Etsy clients and it’s something that should be done sooner rather than later. You want to be able to contact the customers you’ve worked so hard to reach.

My favorite platform is Big Commerce and there is an app that will connect to your Etsy shop. Why is this important? Because your customer information, order shipment, inventory management will all be handled through Big Commerce. HUGE.

From me to you? DO IT NOW. Take back control of your business for your future growth and success. You can get info on Big Commerce here: Big Commerce Platform

The post Why Etsy Customers are the WORST. appeared first on Sanger Marketing.

I know how hard it can be to grow any business including an Etsy business. These platforms make it sound so easy. Sure go ahead. Create a product listing and watch the sales roll in. Well if you’re here, you know that doesn’t work. So what do you need to do? Below are a few tips to help you be more successful on Etsy in 2021.

• Search engines including Etsy and Google change their algorithm all the time. One day, your product is showing number one in the search results. Next day? You are not found. That is why it’s so important to connect with your customers. They need to know who you ARE. Think about. You are walking down the road and a guy jumps in front of you and says I have this product I want to sell to you, give me your credit card. You’re going to do what? Run away as fast and as far as you can. But if you’ve been showing up in your business. REALLY showing up and visible on social media, email and more, your customers will feel comfortable buying from you. Their first purchase may be something small but as you provide them with a high quality product that exceeds their expectations, they’ll be back. And they’ll recommend you to their family and friends.
• Which brings me to the next point. Work on building your email list NOW. Don’t wait a moment longer. Why? You don’t own anything on Etsy, Ebay, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and the list continues. At any given moment, they can shut you down and you lose access to everything including your customers. How do you sell to them now? Onto the next point.
• Have your own website or at least a one page hosted page on your email provider where you customers can join your newsletter, give away – whatever it is you decide to do. This allows you to collect their name and email address. I prefer Aweber. Perfect for beginners with their one step landing pages to build your list. No need to have a website if you’re not quite ready for that. However, I recommend you create one as soon as you can. Read this to find out what happened to my client when Etsy shut her business down: ETSY PUT MY SHOP ON VACATION MODE AND IT KILLED MY BUSINESS!
• Write good product titles and descriptions. I’ve been a copywriter and SEO pro for more years than I care to talk about today but there is one thing that’s remained the same. Taking the time to write GOOD, detailed product titles and descriptions will put you leap and bounds ahead of your competition. How do you do this? You write to real people. Imagine your perfect customer. Who are they? How old are they? Does your perfect customer have a family? Do the work or are they retired? All of those things are very different and honing in on the product title with search terms that your customer is looking for can make or break a business. Really take time to think about this person – your perfect customer. Get a visual in your head of what he/she looks like then write for THEM. Remember you are not only writing for the search results, you’re writing for a human. That human is the one that will open their wallet and take out their credit card.
• Tell YOUR story. People connect with you, the person as I mentioned above. Tell folks your why. Why did you start your business and get into the nitty gritty. It’s easy to say I want to quit my job but that’s not your real why. This is what I mean: “Hi. I’m Denise and I’m glad you’re visiting my ABC Etsy shop. I live a quiet life in rural Florida with my rescue horses and dogs. My girls are all grown up but less than 2 hours away. It wasn’t always this way. Raising kids in between a high pressure job in Miami almost put me in the hospital. I was trying to do it. Be the best mom. The super employee. The attentive wife. The volunteer at all my kids events. It was too much. I found myself feeling worse and worse. If you’re like me, family comes first. I knew I had to make a change but I wasn’t sure what that change would be. One day when a friend was visiting, she saw my beach gadgets and said where did you get that? I love it. I told her I made it. She said why aren’t you selling these? They’re amazing. And that’s how ABC Etsy shop was born. I started slow while still working at my job. Yes I made a lot of mistakes but I wouldn’t trade the freedom I have now. If my kids were sick, I didn’t work. If I want to go on vacation, I let my customers know and would take a week or two off. It really means a lot to me that you’re here and I hope you enjoy looking around. If you have any questions or want to talk about a special order, please message me and let’s get creative.“ Big difference from I want to quit my job isn’t it?

Simply starting with the few tips above will have an immediate effect on your business plus help you securely scale in the future for yourself on your terms. Keep checking back as I add more tips to build your Etsy business. Why? Because I was you once upon a time. Story may not be the same but the end goal probably is.

Don’t give up!

Denise

p.s. Need help with storytelling? I absolutely recommend you take the time for this course: Irresistible Storytelling We all have our strengths and weaknesses. If crafting a message for your store puts you into a cold sweat, you owe it to yourself to take this short but very effective course. Get your message and story crafted and watch the difference it makes in your sales.

The post How to be successful on Etsy 2021 appeared first on Sanger Marketing.

How do you determine if being self-employed is for you?  Let me ask you one question.  How badly do you want it? You see that one answer will determine if you will be successful not only in owning and operating a business but in everything you set out to do in your life.  This question can be applied to quitting smoking, losing weight, meditating, building relationships, giving back to your community and much more.

If you answer the question I just asked you I am ready to be self-employed BUT, you’re not ready so don’t waste your time.  Anytime you use the word I want to BUT, you are making an excuses.  Excuses will keep you right where you are.

Now if you answered the question I am ready and WILL DO what I need to do, let’s get you started.  First things first if you are currently employed you will need to MAKE the time to get what needs to be done in a day.  Prioritize by the money.  What?  You’re starting a business because you’re passionate about A, B, C?  Guess what?  If you aren’t making money, you may as well close your doors right now.  Bottom line is you have to make money to be successful and STAY in business.  That business will allow you to be passionate about whatever it is you are passionate about. For me, my passions are giving back to my community particularly for kids and animals.

The best tip I can give anyone that wants to be successful is focus on what you KNOW you have to get done that day. If you have to bring on clients to make sure the bills are paid, then that is what you focus on.  Prioritize by what brings in the money to keep the doors open.  Sometimes for even the best of us we have a tough time staying on task. Here  is the tip that I use to this day.  Set a timer for 20 minutes and work on that particular task for 20 minutes – nothing else.  When the timer goes off, get up walk around for 5 or 10 minutes then repeat until the task is complete. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in 20 minutes.

What are you waiting for? Set your timer and get moving.  You CAN do this!

To your success,

Denise

The post Do You Have What It Takes To Be Successfully Self Employed? appeared first on Sanger Marketing.