You and Your Products

You and Your products

• What makes you or your products unique?
• Does your name and brand fit the image you want to project?
• Who is your target market?
• Does your marketing and branding attract your target audience?

Your Marketing Toolbox

Business Cards

Be sure to include:

• Your Name
• The Name of your Shop
• Contact Information
• Website
• Email
• An image or word about what you sell if it is not clear.

Promo Cards

Uses the same information as the business card but can have more details about the shop and/or a coupon or incentive to visit.

Keep it Simple!

Tags, Labels, and Stamps

Tags, Labels and Stamps tend to be small and can fill up quickly. Be smart with your information.

Be sure to include:

• Product name
• Type (scent/color/content)
• Shop name and/or website
• Graphics that fit your brand

Some customers save the labels so they can buy the products again so make it easy to find you.

Packaging

Some Etsy sellers include small, inexpensive goodies in their packaging along with business or promo cards. Samples are always popular. Look at your brand and decide on the items that will help you illustrate that feeling.

• Woodworker – Inspirational messages on small wood scraps
• Illustrator – Sticker sheet with main character
• Candy Shop – Small candy sample
• Make Up Shop – Sample colors
• Soap Maker – Soap slivers or scent cards

Photos

Setup

You have 3 basic options (or combinations):

• Professional, purchased Light Box
• DIY Light Box
• No Light Box

Professional Light box

1

• Everything you need in one kit
• Can usually collapse for storage
• “Professional Quality” right out of the box

• Can be Expensive for a good kit
• May not fit your look
• Not easy to customize

DIY Light Box

1

• Can get the size and shape you need
• Affordable
• Easily customizable

• Not always the sturdiest
• Not always easily collapsible

No Light Box

• Versatile
• Allows you to think “Out of the Box”
• Good for larger items and models
• Can be cost effective if not free

• Subject to weather and location problems
• Not in control of main light sources

What to Remember:

• Use appropriate props sparingly
• Use complimentary backgrounds
• Show the product in use whenever possible
• Use live models is applicable
• Use Natural Light
• Keep it Simple!
• Have Fun!

Camera

It is not necessary to purchase an expensive camera to take good photos of your work. Find out what your camera does well and use it.

• Read the manual! (Most can be found online)
• Take LOTS of pictures
• Try a variety of different angles, backgrounds, and lighting
• Take LOTS of pictures
• Don’t be afraid to try something unusual or new
• Don’t forget to take LOTS of pictures!

Inspiration

• Keep a folder of print or electronic images you like that fit your brand.
• Keep Notes about what caught your eye.

Product Descriptions

Your Product Descriptions tell potential customers everything they need to know about your product.

Second only to Photographs, Product Descriptions are the next best tool in your arsenal to sell your products to potential customers.

Telling a Story

One of your biggest strengths as a small craft business owner is your ability to tell a personal, relatable story about you and your crafts that will allow customers to engage in your business on a more intimate level. Customers will follow and support a business to which they can relate.

Description “Format”

Start with the story that will draw them in. End with the information they need to make an informed purchase.

We want our customers to be happy with their purchase. We need to make sure all the information they need is in the description.

Press Kits

What’s in it?

• A Brief Description of the event, item, or shop.
• A Longer Description of the event, item, or shop giving details about history, motivation, personal appeal, about you, about what you do.
• Statistics, services, benefits (if applicable).
• Product samples, freebies, coupons, thank you gifts relating to your shop if applicable.
• Your business card and any other promotional material.

Who gets it?

• Newspapers (Style or Small Business Sections)
• Magazines
• Radio Stations
• Fellow Bloggers
• Reviewers
• Potential Brick and Mortar Shops

Don’t forget to follow up with a Thank You card or email!

Do your research

• Call, write, or search website ahead of time to get the rules and requirements for a press kit.
• Get permission or be sure they are open to receiving unsolicited material.
• Get their specific requirements
• Let them know when it’s coming

Some papers or magazines have word counts or formatting specification. Some will simply discard anything not fitting their requirements.

Other Ways to Promote your Crafts:

1

Advertising

• Web
• Print
• Radio/Podcast
• Vloggers
• Word of Mouth
• Reviewers

Building Your Own Blog

• Review Blog
• How To
• Latest Trends
• Slice of Life

1

1

Build a Community

• Etsy Teams
• Forums
• Craft Sites
• Mailing Lists

Social Media

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Instagram
• Tumblr
• Blogrolls / Trackbacks

1

You do not have to do everything yourself!

Resources

• Professionals: Photographers, Graphic Artists, Social Media Professionals, Small Business Advisors, Tax Advisors, etc.
• Students in the above Professional Fields
• SKILLED Friends and Family
• Friends and Family

In any and all cases: Try to offer Fair Compensation

Pricing

How do you price an item?

(Expenses + Materials + Labor + Profit) ÷ Items Sold = Wholesale x 2 = Retail

Expenses: Anything you spend to run your shop

Materials: Anything you use to craft your products.

Labor: the wage you pay to anyone working for you (including yourself!)

Profit: what it would cost to maintain, expand, or improve on your shop. Want to upgrade a machine? Thinking of starting a new line of knee warmers? Want to pay off your start up loan? Thinking about starting your own brick and mortar shop? This is where you account for it.

Wholesale: what you charge for large orders of the same product. Setting a wholesale price AFTER profit and labor are accounted for ensures that you still get paid to make your crafts.

Retail: what you charge for your products after accounting for all your expenses, materials, labor, and profit.

Setting up a Shop

Running an Etsy shop is a fun and exciting process that we hope you'll love. This guide will walk you through setting up your shop and listing your first items.

1

Step 1: Register

If you haven't already, register for an Etsy account. Then, click Open a Shop at the bottom of the site.

Step 2: Sign Up to Sell

Review the Sell page and clickOpen Up an Etsy Shopat the top of the page when you're ready.

1

Step 3: Language and Currency

You'll be asked if you want to choose your language preference and currency in which you list items. ClickingNo, I want to choosewill show more language and currency options.
Step 4: Start Setting Up Your Shop

Complete each of the steps in order, and you'll be ready to open. You can go back and edit your shop at any time, before or after opening it.

Step 5: Choose Your Shop Name

Your shop name will be held for you while you open.

If it says your name is already in use, keep in mind the name may not appear in Search.Searching on Etsy isn't an effective way to see if a name is free.

Shop names can contain up to 20 letters and numbers. They cannot have spaces or punctuation.

Step 6: List Items

List your first items — you’re almost ready for your big shop debut! (See Page 7 for detailed instructions.)

Step 7: Get Paid

Select the payment methods you want to offer in your shop.

Direct Checkout: The main way to get paid on Etsy! Offer your buyers theability to pay with their credit/debit cards,Etsy Gift Cards, and select international payment methods.

You can also receive funds from buyers using these additional payment methods:

PayPal: Enter the email address associated with your PayPal account.

CheckorMoney Order: If you use a payment method that needs to be mailed to you, like check or money order, enter your mailing address here. This address will only be shared with a buyer who purchases from you and chooses this method.

Other: This means you have another way of accepting payment. Be sure to include information and instructions about your payment method in your listingsandShop Policies. Buyers usually don't submit payment in expectation of you collecting payment from them after they check out.

Step 8: Billing

Almost done! You'll need to enter your billing information before you can open up your shop.

Depending on what country you are in, you may need to enter acredit card to open your shop.The card should be a Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, or Carte Bleue (France). Both credit and debit cards with these card company logos will work.

Etsy asks sellers in certain countries to keep a credit card on file as a means of identity verification. Your card information is secure with Etsy, and you are welcome to pay your bill via PayPal if you’d prefer.

Members in some countries outside the US can open a shop with aPayPal account. If you can do this, you'll see anAuthorize PayPal Accountbutton.

Step 9: Open your Shop

When you finish all the sections and enter in your billing information, clickOpen Your Shopon the right side of the last section. You'll still be able to edit your shop after it's open.

Congratulations! Your shop is now open!

The web address to get to your shop will be:

yourshopname

or

yourshopname.etsy.com

Step 10: Fill out your About page

After you’ve opened your shop, you’ll be able to fill out your About page, which contains essential information about your shop members, your story, and, if it applies, your outside manufacturing help.

To access yourAbout page, clickYour Shop Shop Settings,and find theAboutlink on the left side of the screen:

Fill out your About page by selectingShop Members, Story,orManufacturerstabs.

Listing an Item

To begin, sign in to your Etsy account and go toYour ShopItems >Add New Item.

If you're still setting up your shop, go toYour Shop > List Itemsand follow these same instructions.

Step 1: About This Item

First, tell us about the item you are selling. Use the dropdown menu to describe who made it, what kind of item it is, and when it was made.

Step 2: Categorize Your Item

The first dropdown menu is the top-level category.This will determine where your item appears in various places on the site, includingBrowse,Categories, and Search.

If your item is Vintage or Supplies, you'll only be able to choose those two categories.

You'll then be prompted to describe the item further by choosing sub-categories. These sub-categories are found within and determined by the main category you previously selected.

Step 3: Select Item Type

Mark the button forPhysical itemOR Digital File. If you’re listing a digital item, don’t forget to upload the file.

Add Files(Digital Items Only)

You can upload up to five digital files. The maximum size for each file is 20MB. Etsy currently supports most common digital file types.

If youadd a note for buyers, the note will apply to all digital listings purchased from your shop. After a purchase, a buyer can see it on theirDownloadspage.

Uploaded files will appear in a list with their names, file sizes, and upload dates. The file names you see will be the same ones your buyers see, so be sure to name your files appropriately before uploading them.File names are limited to 70 characters.
If you change your mind and want to remove a file, click theXnext to its listing time/date.

Step 4: Select Variations

If you’re listing an item that has different options, you can use Listing Variations. You can include information like size, color, material, dimensions, and flavor, as well as other options depending on the item you’re listing.

This tool is optional.

Step 5: Add Images
Try to use all five image spaces in each listing to help your potential buyers get a better feel for your item.

Click the blue "ADD PHOTOS" icon. You will be prompted to browse your computer for an image file.

• Use your most compelling photo of the item for the first photo, which will be the main thumbnail that shoppers will see in searches.
• You can change the order of your uploaded images by clicking and dragging the thumbnails.
• Click the magnifying glass icon to preview a larger version of the image or click 'X' to remove the image.

After uploading your images, you can readjust your first thumbnail when previewing your listing.

Step 6: Item Info

Give your item a descriptive title. What would buyers search for to find your item? Add the most searchable words at the front of your title. Titles have a 140 character limit.

For theDescription, make sure to include the size, materials used, how it was made, and any unique features.

TheShop Sectionfeature allows you to add the listing directly into a specific, customized section of your shop.

You can also add attributes to your listings: one recipient, one occasion, and two styles.

You do not need to select a recipient or occasion. If none of the styles work for your item, you can add your own custom styles.

The attributes are optional and intended to help shoppers find Etsy items that suit their needs and desires.

Step 7: Tag Your Listing

Titles and tags help shoppers find your item when they search on Etsy.Use all 13 tags available to you, and be descriptive

Some things to consider when tagging your listing: your item's shape and size, what it's used for, how it was made, color, style, materials, content, and motifs. Think like a shopper: What words would you use to search for this item?

Then, list the materials used to create this item, separated by commas.

Step 8: Selling Info

Next, you will add the price, quantity, and shipping information.

Price:Enter the price of your item (not including shipping).

Quantity:If you have multiples of the same item, you can increase the quantity in stock. As the items sell, the quantity in stock will go down. The listing fee is $0.20 USD, regardless of how many quantities you list. When the item sells, you will be charged a $0.20 USD auto-renewal fee for any remaining quantities. This will also bring the item back to the front of your shop.

Tax:If you have tax settings configured, you can choose whether to collect taxes when this item sells.

Shipping Info:First, enter the processing time for your item.

The processing time is the length of time between when your item is ordered when it will be shipped.

Then, enter the country that you are shipping from.

Once you do that, you'll be given the option to add the countries you'd like to ship to. This can be exclusively in your country or everywhere around the world!

Add as many countries to ship to as you'd like, with separate shipping costs for each country. If you'd rather ship worldwide at one rate, use theEverywhere Elseoption.

Enter the cost to ship the item alone ("primary shipping cost") and the add-on amount to ship it with another item ("secondary shipping cost" – this is usually less than the primary shipping cost).

If you have a saved Shipping Profile you wish to use, select it from thedropdown menu.

At the bottom of the page you will see aPreview Listingbutton. Click this to be taken to a page where you can view your item as it will appear when it is live on the site.

Step 9: Adjust Your Photo and Publish Your Listing

Once you've reviewed your listing, you can adjust the thumbnail provided to highlight the most important part of your listing image. Beside the blue notification box, clickAdjust Phototo get started. After clicking theAdjust Photobutton, use the blue circularsliderto zoom in and out of your listing image.

Drag your image in the preview box to crop your thumbnail.

Once you're happy with the adjustments, clickCrop.