Make friends with your camera

Good photos lead to Etsy sales.

Take a look at the front page of Etsy.com.  You’ll see a constantly changing grid of wonderful products. The items are lovely, and it’s quite an honor for an Etsy shop owner to be featured in a treasury collection, especially if that treasury makes it to Etsy’s front page!

Your camera is the key to Etsy sales.

Pay attention to the front page photos.  The one thing all these items have in common is good photography.  Tiny products show up crisp and clear.  Bright and sparkly.  Objects are set on creative backgrounds of weathered wood, pebbles, slate, tile.  The photos have interesting close-ups.  They utilize odd angles to catch your eye and inspire a closer look.

Good photography is an absolute MUST for Etsy success. And unless you have a professional photographer in the family, you’ll be taking your own photos with your handy digital camera.

Fortunately, Etsy offers plenty of help.  One recent resource is a great little video tutorial called “Product Photography for Beginners.”

Watch it, inspire yourself, use canva.com for photo editing if you don’t already have a graphics program, upload your new photos to your Etsy shop then get feedback from friends. As the Etsy blog says, “Make sure to go slowly while reworking your photos; try re-doing just a few per week. Take a lot of photos of an item as you learn. This helps you to figure out what works and what doesn’t…”

Great photos make a huge difference! It’s worth all the effort you take to learn the skill.

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Illustration courtesy and ©Amanda Laurel Atkins at amandaatkins on Etsy  www.etsy.com/listing/60844716/adapting-to-you-vintage-inspired-camera

Thank you!

Making a sale at your Etsy shop is all about connection!  As soon as you are done celebrating, here’s the next steps:

Remember to say “Thanks!” Thank you Note Cards by Sarah on Etsy.

1. Communicate!  Write back to your customer with an immediate convo.  Thank them!  Share your joy! If payment has come though your Paypal account, let them know you will be shipping right away.

2. Pack your item!  Make a pretty package (see our blog article “People DO judge a book by its cover”).  Make a secure package!

3. Ship as soon as possible. Mark the order as “shipped” in your Sold Orders page.  And send a note to your customer that the item is on it’s way.  If you have a tracking number you can add it here and your customer will be thus officially notified by Etsy and will be able to track delivery.

4. Leave your own feedback once everything is complete, and did we mention that you can thank your customer.  Again.  You can also encourage positive feedback for your shop by politely asking for it.  Etsy suggests a note such as…. “I want you to be completely satisfied! Please let me know if there are any issues or questions with your order. If you’re pleased with your purchase, please feel free to leave me feedback.” And include a link to the Feedback page.

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Illustration courtesy and © Sarah at ClipAndPin on Etsy:  www.etsy.com/shop/ClipAndPin

 

Get out there and paint stuff!

DeerCreekFallsTWO MONTHS IN:  Off to the wilderness again.  My Etsy shop has a few products now, 24 as I leave town for a month in the wilderness.  And not even that many, really, since there are duplicates – big prints and small prints of the same original.

So how many items should I have?  Hmmm – there’s a popular Etsy myth – that you need 120 items listed to get consistent sales. Many longtime sellers will affirm!  “I will tell you that in my experience 120 is true! As soon as I increased my shop listings to around that number, I did much better.”

So I have 100 more to go.  No problem.  I love to paint.  I love the imaginative, innovative, lovely items I see featured each day on Etsy treasuries.  I can already feel how my own work is being influenced by this “Etsy-esque” quality, and I have plans.  I’m ready to go.

But first I have to go.  To the southwest, that is.  3 weeks rafting the Grand Canyon.  3 more weeks exploring the pueblo ruins of Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Butler Wash and wherever else the journey leads.

My paints and brushes and watercolor block are coming along.  Got to create those 120 products before I can add them to my Etsy shop.

Oops – we’re packing the car.  Time to let the Blue Otter Shop on Etsy stew for awhile and go paint stuff!

But wait!  Before you leave town, remember to put your shop onto “vacation mode” or otherwise indicate your delay in shipping in case you get orders before you depart for weeks!  There’s nothing worse for your Etsy reputation than bad reviews from customers who purchased an item then waited…and waited…and waited to hear from you.  Click here for the details from Etsy.

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Illustration “Deer Creek Falls in the Grand Canyon” watercolor © Kim Solga at BlueOtterArt on Etsy www.etsy.com/listing/77889653/deer-creek-waterfall-in-the-grand-canyon