6 Months Flies By – Things I’ve Learned – Trial and Error: Listings

Creating a listing on Etsy isn’t as *wham bam* as I thought it was. I thought, “how hard could it be?” Title, description, tags, pictures…. I got this.  Right?  But, dude, I’ll be honest, sometimes it takes 30-45 minutes for me to put one together!  To those not familiar with Etsy, a “listing” is simply a product for sale. Within that listing is a myriad of things you need to input to see what you see here.

I’ll use the “Think Happy Be Happy Sign” as an example.

Title

Titles are normally the easiest part of the listing for me. Mostly because it’s the name of whatever I’m selling. So, the “Think Happy Be Happy” sign is titled “Think Happy Be Happy Sign”. Freaking original, eh?  I used to put “Carved, Handmade, Hand Painted, etc. etc. before the main description, but I read a ton of articles on how titles capture the attention of your buyers. Ergo, now, the adjectives follow the main description of the item.

If people are interested in a “Think Happy Be Happy Sign”, then they may also read on to see that it’s “Carved, Hand Painted” and made out of “Reclaimed Wood”.

Description

Next comes the description.  Whoo, boy, if I’m not feeling creative, then I can’t come up with anything that would grab the customer’s attention.  I like to add stories to my descriptions.  I can’t quantifiably say that it helps sell anything, but I think most people, buying handmade, get intrigued by the stories behind the pieces.  That’s kinda what makes it extra cool.

For instance, on the “Think Happy Be Happy” sign, the story of my husband throwing the plywood on the pile….yep, that really happened.  I like a good story.  It’s important to me that they remain real, though.  And, it’s not something just made up.

Sometimes I get silly.  Like, with the Star.  By the by, that’s had the most views without having to renew it.  Silly gets attention.

Tags

I hate tagging things.  It seems simple.  But, coming up with 14 descriptions is horrifying most nights.  I start running out around 5.  ”Housewares, red, happy, think happy (see, I’m already repeating), be happy, primitive (I don’t know where that one came from?!), reclaimed wood, carve, sign….”  Uhhhh…. “plaque” (ya, that’s another word for sign!)… (What’s another word for happy???) “Content”.   And, on and on it goes.

I used to be really specific in my tags.  I’ve found, though, that tagging works best in the general.  People don’t normally search for “red think happy be happy wooden sign”.  But they will search for “happy sign”  or “wood sign” or “sign with phrase”.  So, it’s important, I’ve learned, to be descriptive, while still staying general.

Pictures

Pictures are “muy importante”!  (That’s all the Spanish I remember from the two years of education I had in it.  Oh, and biblioteca, iglesia, and a handful of other random words.)

People can’t see my items online like they can in the real world.  I think my photos are an embarrassment, and I’m surprised I sell anything.  But, I’m incredibly hard on myself, too.  ;)  I’ve purchased a new camera, and will be updating my shop with some new photos….just as soon as I learn how to use it!

I’ve taken a buyer’s look at my photos.  This was about a month or two into selling on Etsy. I was horrified.  I would search for my items….they’d be there….and I wouldn’t even notice them in the search!!  If I couldn’t find them, knowing what they look like, what was the odds anyone else would notice them?

So, I revamped them.  They’re getting steadily better, but are definitely a work in progress.  I take great pictures of landscape and my dogs, but….I can’t put those pictures up for a “think happy be happy” sign!  My dogs are not for sale.

We’re allotted 5 photos on Etsy, and using every slot is to my advantage.  Especially selling art, like I do.  I get to take pictures from just about every angle.  Have a couple on a white background, and a couple with signs propped up on a shelf.

When to post?

I used to post everything I had, whenever I had it.  Regardless of the time of day.  But, I wasn’t getting a whole lot of views.  So, I did some research.  Read a bunch of articles on Etsy.  I found out about Google Analytics.

I set up the Google Analytics function to track when people were most on my Etsy shop.  I also tracked when people were buying my items – morning, afternoon, evening, late evening.  Based on those two factors, I now only post new listing during those specific hours where my shop had the most visitors.

There are always exceptions, so if one of my personalized and customized items sells at a time of day that is uncommon, I’ll re-post it again right then and there.  There will always be people looking around and stumbling onto stuff.  So, I figure, it doesn’t hurt anything to set something out there at another time of day, and just see what happens.

I tend to post at least one thing a day, too.  Or, if I don’t have something ready-made, I renew an older item to keep my shop fresh.  Normally, on the weekends, I’m re-listing what I already have.  Weekdays, new things.

I don’t really have a justifiable reason for that, other than, most of my sales occur during the “work week”.  Except, for some reason, I tend to have a good handful of sales on Sunday nights around 10pm CST.  (shrug)

Conclusion

It seems to be working.  I’ve driven myself nuts with some of this stuff…  Taking a full weekend to change every, single, picture.  That was a TASK!!  Since then, I’ve decided to change them again.   Now, I’m getting a new camera, so guess what’s on the horizon….

Yep.  Another round of pictures.

Same thing with my tags.  I’ve taken another whole weekend changing them around.

Sometimes, I think it was easier when I was working in that corporate environment.  But, in the end, all these things come together to create the entirety of what people see about my item.  So, I figure, they’re important.

It’s important to tag, so people will find it.  To list, so I’m visible.  And, to list at the times of day people look for my stuff.  Cause, I’ll get the most traffic.

Talking about traffic, Networks….that’s up next.

6 Months Flies By – Things I’ve Learned, Introduction

February marks my 6th month anniversary of opening Rustic Carvings on Etsy. There was about a month of preparation on my part before I opened my shop. I was naive when I started, and have learned quite a bit in this short amount of time.

I’m going to take a moment to look back, right quick…. (That’s Texan talk.)

I remember when I thought I could just post things on Etsy, and they would sell. Automatically. Like, I’d wake up the next day, and everything would be gone from the previous day. See, naive. I remember being discouraged when, later in the week, all the items still remained available and I didn’t have one. single. sale. As it turns out, this takes A LOT of work.

A couple friends ordered, and that helped boost my confidence greatly. Although, I appreciated their support, I really wanted people I didn’t know to buy things. You can’t sustain a business with just your friend’s purchases. Well, I suppose you can, if your friends are all super rich. Mine, however, are not. They all have these things called “jobs”. 

When I began, my selling style was somewhat of, “post and cross your fingers someone will buy it”. In some respects, I guess, it’s still very much like this. Selling artwork isn’t like selling ordinary, everyday, products. Nobody “needs” art to go about their daily lives like they need soap, makeup, or a myriad of other things.

Now, that I have some time under my belt, and have listened to the wise discussions of my fellow teammates on Etsy, I’ve come a long way. Some of it is trial and error, sure. Some of it is just plain research.

So, my goal, over the coming days, or weeks, is a series of posts regarding what I’ve learned. What’s worked. What hasn’t.

To those that think I quit my job and have been sitting at home eating bon-bons all day, you’ll see how much goes into this.  No eating of the bon-bons. Although, I do work a lot, in my pajamas.

A job at Starbucks or Pier 1 is looking mighty fine to me right now. If not only because I used to get things called “vacations”….

What will I talk about? Oh, stuff like, how I get people to visit my shop. Social Networking. Teams. Trial and Error. What I’m still afraid of in the garage.

I just had my first sale on ArtFire today, and let me tell you, it’s no less exciting than the first one I had on Etsy. I ran into the living room, and jumped up and down for joy. My husband congratulating me, and hugging me. I think he gets a special sort of joy in seeing my excitement.

I’ll say it’s important to have a great support system if you try to do something like start your own business. I couldn’t do it without the loving support of my family or my friends.

It’s also important to love what you do for a living. It’s an amazing experience to wake up in the morning and WANT to work. The ideas churning in my head… There’s nothing quite like it.

Stay tuned.