Despite all the crafters who have found great success selling from their Etsy shops, at the end of the day Etsy is a crowded marketplace. Yes, they do have rules about who can sell and what, but, there are still thousands of artists, which means that you and your Etsy store can easily get lost in this multitude.
The great news is that this does have to happen to you. There are many things you can do, and simply enough, to ensure maximum exposure and great sales from your Etsy store. The first thing we are going to discuss is how to stand out and be unique on Etsy.
Does being unique mean you have to do make and sell something that no one else is selling? Not at all.
You do not have too reinvent the wheel, as they say.
In fact one of the best strategies is to strike a balance between selling a craft that is already popular and changing it just enough to make it unique to your business.
A few ways to make your product appealing and unique.
- Work in a niche.
- Explore micro-niches, which are a niches within a niche.
- Work with different colours.
- Modify, create new designs.
- Choose different and exclusive material.
- Create functionality.
A niche is explained simply as finding or creating something special.
The niche is either the craft itself i.e. something that no one or few people are doing, or it is a variation of a craft i.e. you change or put modifications of your own that make the craft different. For example, iPad covers are not a niche, but hand embroidered iPad covers could very well be a niche since not many are available.
The advantage of working in a niche are obvious. You stand out from the rest as one-of-a-kind. There is a selective demand and there are very few providers. The result is very little competition. So even the small demand means large sales for your because no one else is catering to it. You can make things even better by turning ‘little’ competition to NO competition.
In the next post we are going to talk more about how to go about finding niche crafts to sell on Etsy and how you can really expand your income by doing just that.
Take better pictures.
Product photography is a very good opportunity to shine and stand out. Pay special attention to this. Take bright, sharp and colourful pictures. Wherever you can, include interesting backdrops. Here is a post on how to take great product photos that explains things in more detail.
Invest more time in copyrighting.
Write better descriptions for your crafts. The more you engage the person with the written matter the more likely they are to buy from you. This is something that a lot of people skimp while selling on Etsy. Yes, pictures speak volumes about the craft but writing down all the great features and characteristics about it will have a great impact.
Many people are big on reading details about what they are buying. Since this is the only way people can learn about what they are buying, they expect to be given all pertinent information.
Read more in our posts: How And Why To Copyright Well, How To Write A Great Copy That Sell
For a complete guide to making money with crafts online, download the Art & Craft Income Handbook. All you need to know is right here.
