I've been asked at times about tips on how to get more exposure on Etsy so I thought I'd share some tips that have helped me.
The first part is going to be about presentation. How you present yourself to your customers is so vital that I feel should be mentioned first. So here are a few pointers.
1. Layout
Your Etsy store is like any other store where people will come in and look around. So keep your shop neat, clean and interesting. You want your customers to keep walking from one corner to the other and you want to keep them in there for a while. Use the "Featured Listings" tool and update it regularly. If possible, create categories of your products and use them. Try to have more than 10 listings in the shop. In my opinion it's best not too have to many products either. For example I get "tired" of browsing through shops with more than 100 items.
2. Marketing tools
The first thing I did when I opened my shop is try to have my logo everywhere. I wanted people to learn it and associate bags with it. So make a logo and use it! Tell people you're more than just a person making stuff, you're *this* person making stuff. You want them to buy a product from you, not just a product. People like making connections to the stuff they buy and here they very well should since they are buying from you.
Spend time on making a nice banner. It should state your brand, logo or name clearly and it's shouldn't be too busy. You don't have to be artsy to make a cool banner. After changing many banners now I just have my logo on it. It's to the point. Same goes for your avatar. Have something professional. Having your own picture I think it's great too, people feel that they are face to face with the artist.
3. Photos
And in case you haven't read this already somewhere, PHOTOS ARE EVERYTHING. Your customers can't see your products up close, you have to make sure you present them the best possible way. Have bright photos, on a light background. Take photos by a window to have daylight. Just clean up a corner and set up shop. I take my photos on top of an ironing board on a box covered with white paper. You don't have to go all out on buying equipment. But do go all out on buying a camera if you're planning to be serious about this. A good camera can do miracles and it's also a lot of fun to play around with. But do me a favour and learn how to use all the cool features. If you don't then don't waste your money. I'm using a CANON EOS 40D with a 50mm f/1.8 lens.
You might have to use some sort of software to enhance your photos, nothing wrong with that. I use iphoto on a mac but I know there are image enhancing tools on windows too. Mess with the exposure and saturation a bit.
Here's a screenshot of my messing with the levels of a photo of a patchwork bag. As you can see, I'm increasing the exposure quite a bit. Bright photos are everything.
Note that for some reason when uploading photos on Etsy they aren't as brightly colored as they were on your screen a minute ago. So make your photos a tad more saturated. Be careful with this though! You don't want to display a color that isn't true. If you have to keep editing the photo until it comes out perfect. Don't be lazy about this stuff, it's important! Also, take a look at the listing from different computer screens if you can. A lot of monitors have different settings and yours might be a little off. I know mine was for a good couple of months.
Have different angles of your products. Seriously I get annoyed when I see something I really like but then the photos are all close ups or just from one angle. E.g. you're selling a bracelet. Take a nice photo of the bracelet on a surface to capture the eye. Then take an additional close up or two to show details. Then take the photo of you wearing it! I don't know why people skip this. If you were in a shop you'd try it on and see how it looks. Well, your customer can't do that so do it for them. Do that with everything wearable; shoes, earrings, dresses, bags etc... If it doesn't fit you ask a friend. You'd be surprised at their willingness to model for you. It really makes the difference between making a sale or not. I know I don't buy earrings unless they are modeled some way or another. Use a dummy, who cares! Just model the friggin' thing. Oh, and in case you're wondering, YES it is better to have one picture with the item modeled than a picture of the wrapping (e.g. box that jewelry comes in). Let the customer be pleasantly surprised by your beautiful wrapping not by how the item actually looks worn.
An example of good product display by paintedmetal. She took a lot of angles of the product including one modeling the ring.
4. Information
Make sure you have all the information needed for your customers available to them. Don't write too much on your shop announcement. Definitely write up a profile about yourself and how you got there. Definitely write up shop policies. You want to gain your customers trust.
Make the descriptions of your products nice and informative. Ask someone to proofread them if they are long. Do write up information about the materials, custom options, about how to use them and also give suggestions too if possible. Be polite! I sometimes see listings saying things like "DO NOT COPY" or "Custom orders are NON REFUNDABLE!" and it seems like you're yelling at someone and no one wants to be yelled at. Yes, do include copyright and custom order information on your shop policies but don't shout them. I understand you might be frustrated by a previous sale but it's not the next guy's fault. I will write another part about customer support which I feel is the Holy Grail of this business.
Include in your product listings only things relevant to the listing, don't write your shop policies there. It's best to link to your shop policies from your listings. Everything has to be in the right place.
That's all for today. I hope it was informative. Just send me an email if you have any questions! Next part is going to be on...... Marketing!!!
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