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Christmas sales planning

This week has been busy with a focus on updating my Etsy shop. I am steadily working towards a 100 listings, currently at 75!

tweed handmade bag

I have updated the sections and launched a new autumn range.

November and December are key selling dates. I have set myself a target – to be able to take £500 profit, up until now I have always reinvested. To achieve this I have set myself some steps:

  • Etsy shop – Updated listings with clear photographs, and SEO maximised tags, ideally a 100 + items
  • Folksy Shop – newly opened I need to keep adding the stock I have (this is the UK equivalent to Etsy for the UK). This increases potential number of customers.
  • Promotion – to bite the bullet and prepare a press release, research potential blogs, and e-mail them. I believe my target customer is 35-45, interested in the environment, recycling, fresh air.

I have several questions I need to clarify in my own mind. I have about £200 I could take out of the business or reinvest… Has anyone bought SEO advice specific for their Etsy shop? Is it worth it? I consistently sell knitting needle cases, but fail to get my bags noticed on such a large website. My shop views are approximately the same as compared to the previous year, although sales are up 25%.

Should I instead invest in support re the presentation of this blog, make it more professional in layout and design? Blog views in September were 13,000 as opposed to 2,000 a year ago. Or take the money out as a good start towards my goal?!

Does anyone else sell on Etsy and Folksy? I am struggling to get my head round Folksy in terms of no tags. How do people find my products when searching Folksy, is it through the description or does only the title count for key words?

Anyone any suggestions re press release and who to send it to?

Grey tweed bag - Vicky myers creations

Crikey – thats a lot of  input I have just asked for… any suggestions gratefully received:)

I am off to catch up with Handmade Harbour folk:) Have a good week,

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Helen @ Witty Hoots

Thursday 9th of October 2014

Thank you for joining in with the Frugal Family Linky - I just love how you have upcycled that skirt into 3 bags - so much so that you were our featured post on this weeks linky! Hope that you will pop by with more frugal posts soon!

Helenx

Jan @ Handcrafted by Picto

Monday 6th of October 2014

I love these fabrics you have chosen. The red trim and button really sets it off. I don't have any gems of advice for you I'm afraid, I think it may just be a case of plugging away. I've had a few sales on Wow Thankyou, most of them have found me via google search and a couple through my blog. Most of my sales on Folksy have come via the forums, face book and my blog. I also notice a drop in views etc when I'm not actively networking. There are lots of sites and blogs full of free advice on SEO so I'd rather go that route rather than paying out. It's always difficult trying to stand out from the crowd but it sounds like you are on the right path :) Jan x

Sasha

Monday 6th of October 2014

I've had both Etsy and Folksy shops. I found it very difficult to figure out how many people were viewing my Folksy shop - even using Google analytics - and I when I could figure it out I definitely didn't get as many views as on Etsy. With regards to your bags, I don't think I'd buy SEO advice - just keep tweaking those headings and tags. Make sure you use Etsy's suggested drop down search terms (i.e. when creating listing have Etsy open in another window, plug in some search terms and see what is suggested) when I use the suggested search terms I find I have a very good view rate and those are the keywords that keep popping up. Good luck!

Amylouise5

Wednesday 8th of October 2014

Thanks Sasha, I'll have a go with the two screens and drop down suggestions:) Although I have kept a list from Etsy stats of keywords which work, it's probably a good idea to know which tags I have been using at the time to work out the ones that are not:)

Lucy Blossom

Monday 6th of October 2014

I think your blog already looks very professional, and agree with the others you shouldn't pay someone if you can avoid it. I love your bags, its just tricky to get the right people to see the right stuff.

Julie

Sunday 5th of October 2014

That bag is a beauty, I lave the red trim. I haven't tried Etsy or Folksy so have no gems of advice, sorry. There is lots of seo advice out there, I usually find it on pinterest but some of it can seem a bit overwhelming can't it? Sounds like you are all over it to me.

Amylouise5

Monday 6th of October 2014

Thanks - I will have a look on Pinterest:)

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