TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 15 Etsy Local & Selling Offline

Welcome to our Etsy Newbie Bootcamp! If you want to take part in Bootcamp and get one-on-one mentoring, or answers to any of your questions, please drop us a line at TorontoEtsyST@gmail.com.  

If you want to open an Etsy shop, just follow this link!



 
Then, be sure to check out:

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 1 How to Open an Etsy Shop
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 2 Branding & Shop Banners
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 3 Shop Profiles Bios and Photos
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 4 Make Listings Tempting
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 5 About Pages
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 6 Shop Policies
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 7 Communication
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 8 Shipping and Packaging
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 9 Social Media
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 10 The Dark Art of Pricing
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 11 Shop Stats
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 12 Holiday Prep in Bite-Sized Pieces
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 13 Getting Press
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 14 Sales and Coupon Codes

Put yourself & your events on the map with Etsy Local and
get Toronto Skyline License Plate Art from Route401
for the Toronto lover in your life

This Etsy Newbie Bootcamp Class is something for new and experienced Etsy sellers alike - because it's just been introduced!  Etsy Local is a new tool to let Etsy sellers promote their craft fairs, markets, pop-up shops, open houses and special time-limited events where people can buy their wares - just in time for the holiday craft show season. It connects local buyers and sellers and gives Etsy fans a chance to interact directly with their local artists, artisans and vintage purveyors. When you visit Etsy Local the first thing you see is a call for buyers to shop Etsy offline, and find out where and when their local sellers will be holding events. Users can set their location (it defaults to wherever your location is set ....which, by the way, it really should be as an Etsy seller!) and it allows user to select a time range: 'This Year', 'This Month' or 'This Week'. Below that is a 'Create an Event' button to allow event organizers or Etsy sellers to add a new craft show or market (if it isn't already listed). Etsy sellers need only to 'Join' any already listed event.

Below this is a list of shows, with titles, places, dates and links to participating shops (but only if members report themselves!) and pins on a map. As you can see, buyers can easily move through the map choosing sales in their neighbourhoods. You can click on the blue title of any show to learn more, see hours, read a description, read a blurb from every participating Etsy seller, find the show website and even automatically add the event to their Google calendar.

Adding an event: Nuts and Bolts

Everyone loves maps. Get a Central America Map Bracelet
from DandyTigerDesigns

Visit http://www.etsy.com/local and press the blue 'Create Event' button. Follow the prompts to: enter the name of your event; add a description (what type of event? what will be available? is there a theme? food? other pertinent details); and venue.

The venue is powered by FourSquare. Start typing the name of the place and options will appear. If your venue is in the database, just select it; otherwise,  learn how to add your venue to foursquare.

Follow the prompts to enter start and end dates, hours and event webpage (if there is one).

If you are selling at the event be sure to tick the I will be selling at this event checkbox! If not, you can still add the event (but untick the box). You can also leave a note to buyers about what you will be selling at the event or any other important information.

When you’ve completed the form, click Submit to add your event to the Etsy Local calendar.

Your event will be given a unique webpage URL, like this page for the Toronto Etsy Street Team 1st Annual Christmas Marketplace,  which you can share on all your social media.

Joining an event: Nuts and Bolts

If you wish to add your shop to those listed for an event which has already been entered, all you have to do is find the event and click the Join Event button. You can search events in time and space, using the map to find a pin on the event's location, and/or by selecting the appropriate time range. You can also go directly to the URL which may be linked from your fellow sellers' shops or the event organizers' Etsy profiles.

The details of the event will already have been entered, but you can still leave a note to buyers about what you will be selling at the event or any other important information.

Events you're attending are displayed on your shop’s homepage within the Shop Info box. This option can be turned on and off from your shop's Info & Appearance page. Anyone who follows the links to your upcoming markets will see all of your events and be able to visit the Etsy Local for each one.

Translating Those In-Person Events into Future On-line Sales

Pamper your customers like you would your feline overload favorite cat with this
Reclaimed Wine Crate Pet Bed from DomaineDeDoggie

Check out this Etsy Blog article about how to turn all your events of this busy holiday craft show season and throughout the year into follow-up sales in your shop! Like selling on-line, selling in person involves catching the buyer's eye and expressing yourself and your brand. Advice includes setting up a fabulous booth; you can find inspiration by searching for 'craft show' on sites like flickr or pinterest. Be sure to make a mock-up of your space ahead of time. If you don't have an appropriate table, mark out your area on the floor with masking tape and set up your display to make sure the viewer can see everything you'll have on offer. Use social media - both to promote your own shows, but to engage buyers and encourage them to tag their own photos of your display (with your shop name clearly displayed of course!) Business cards are great, but the digital equivalent can travel further. Note that using while 'Vacation Mode' can simplify any inventory concerns, it can also lower sales, so you'll want to avoid it unless it's really necessary. Get feedback - comments from buyers and visitors can be seen as free market research, worth noting. Consider things which will get buyers (or those almost-buyers) into your Etsy shop including promotional material (like business cards or postcards) and possible special coupon codes (see Class 14 Sales and Coupon Codes). Use what you learn from sales and comments to feature your most popular items, and use their descriptions to optimize your tags, titles, and listing descriptions. Last but not least: take the opportunity to meet and learn from your fellow sellers!

Sometimes shows can be very successful, and sometimes even well-attended shows do not lead to sales that day but you may still capture the imagination of future buyers and make that connection which keeps them coming back to your Etsy shop!



Remember: If you already have a shop, or you open one today, please let us know how to find it! We will be featuring some of our favorite newbie items right here. 

 The Toronto Etsy Street Team loves Newbie shops! You can find some of our favorite listings from talented Newbie sellers, including those featured in this class in our new TEST ♥ Newbies section. Be sure to stop by often to see what's new in this evolving, curated treasury of amazing Newbie finds!

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 14 Sales and Coupon Codes

Welcome to our Etsy Newbie Bootcamp! If you want to take part in Bootcamp and get one-on-one mentoring, or answers to any of your questions, please drop us a line at TorontoEtsyST@gmail.com.  

If you want to open an Etsy shop, just follow this link!



 
Then, be sure to check out:

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 1 How to Open an Etsy Shop
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 2 Branding & Shop Banners
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 3 Shop Profiles Bios and Photos
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 4 Make Listings Tempting
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 5 About Pages
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 6 Shop Policies
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 7 Communication
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 8 Shipping and Packaging
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 9 Social Media
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 10 The Dark Art of Pricing
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 11 Shop Stats
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 12 Holiday Prep in Bite-Sized Pieces
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 13 Getting Press

Dress up your shop for the holidays with a sale! Dress up yourself with the

OLEAJE -ocean- strings necklace by micheleguevara

So far, we've covered opening your shop, making it look its best, making it easy to find, easy to interact with and practical skills like pricing your items appropriately, how to get them to customers, how to monitor who visits your shop, preparing for the holidays and getting press. Today, we want to tell you about Etsy's built-in tools to let you host a sale in your shop: coupons.

As we mentioned in Class 12 Holiday Prep in Bite-Sized Pieces, the end of October, November and December are Etsy sellers' busiest months, so it can be especially useful to focus your promotional efforts on the pre-holiday rush. If you are planning to have a sale, this is a good time of year. Remember, it makes sense to time any planned sales and promotions to go with events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day and to tag listings accordingly.  Also, don't forget to review Class 10 The Dark Art of Pricing  and make sure you are charging enough before you consider offering discounts! If you've built your profits into your prices, you will have the wiggle room within your prices to be able to offer your buyers some enticements to buy that listing.



Using Coupon Codes: nuts & bolts  

So, once you've decided to have a sale, you'll want to know about Etsy's three types of coupon codes: 

1. Percent Discount: A flat percentage off each listing in a shopper's entire order (not applied to shipping costs or tax rates). 
2. Free Shipping: Removes shipping costs on the shopper's order; this can be limited to orders shipped within your country.
3. Fixed Amount Discount: Subtracts a set amount, such as $5, from an order. (Note this obviously works in whatever currency you employ in your shop and requires you to set a minimum, for instance "Spend $50 or more and save $10").

To allow your buyers access to any of these three sorts of coupons, you create a 5-20 character alphanumeric code and select how you would like your coupon to work; then, you share the code with buyers.

In your open shop, navigate to Your Shop (top right corner of any page on Etsy, once you've logged in).  At the bottom of the pull-down menu you'll see Coupon Codes; alternatively, you can find Coupon Codes under Promote on the sidebar.

Even if you delete a coupon, you cannot reuse its unique alphanumeric code.

Like AndyPrints' illustration of the Wattled Crane,
each of your Coupon Codes must be unique!

Choose a 5 to 20 character alphanumeric code. Remember, each code you use must be unique and you cannot reuse a name - though you can reuse the exact same coupon. So, if you have say, a specific type of sale in mind, which you might want to hold more than once, you can give your coupon a generic name (for instance FREESHIPPING). If you have a special promotion in mind be specific (for instance, include the year within the code, like HOLIDAYSALE13). Once you've set up your alphanumeric code, you cannot change its name or percentage of a rebate, so be careful to set it up as you indented. (Though, if you make a typo, you can always delete the coupon and start from scratch).

Choose which of the three types of coupon you wish to create: percentage discount (which applies to the value of any and all listings themselves, not shipping or taxes), free shipping or a specific rebate (which requires you to enter a minimum order value, which, of course, must be larger than your discount so you don't pay people to shop in your Etsy store).  Note: there can be small variations in a fixed rebate because of the way Etsy calculates rebates and the multiple currencies available to buyers and sellers.

Set the status of the coupon to Active or Inactive. 'Active' means the coupon code is live immediate; 'Inactive' means you are setting up a code which you wish to use in the future, when you set it 'Active'. Click on Add Coupon Code and you're set!

If the buyer purchases more than one item from your shop, the coupon code, which they enter at checkout, will be applied to the value of listings in whole order. When a buyer selects their payment method, they will see a link to 'Apply shop coupon code'. At this point they can enter your alphanumeric code and see their total revised.

By navigating to Your Shop > Coupon Codes you can change a coupon's status at any time: you can activate, deactivate or delete codes as you wish. 

You can track how any give code is used.

Any code can be used until you either deactivate it or we reach its expiration date. 

You can also set up a 'Thank You Coupon' which will be automatically emailed to any customer (who opts in) to encourage repeat business. Simply tick the 'Thank You Coupon' box on the form.

Etsy fees will be charged on the value of the purchase after any coupon code is applied.

Now: share your codes! You can promote a Coupon Code in your Shop Announcement, Public Profile, and item descriptions as well as on any of your social media or promotional materials like business cards or post cards.

Using Coupon Codes: things to consider

Consider how these codes might work. You have a listing valued, according to Class 10 The Dark Art of Pricing at  

2 x (Materials + Labour + Expenses + Profit)

If you set up a percentage discount, for instance 10% off, each and every listing (excluding shipping and any taxes you collect) will be purchased at:

0.9 x 2 x (Materials + Labour + Expenses + Profit) = 1.8 x
(Materials + Labour + Expenses + Profit)

or more generally for a n% discount, your listings will cost 

(1 - (n/100)) x 2 x (Materials + Labour + Expenses + Profit) = (2 - (n/50))  x
(Materials + Labour + Expenses + Profit)

so, you can offer anything up to 50% off and still be receiving a fair wholesale price, covering your materials, labour, expenses and profit. If you increase your discount beyond 50% you'll start to cut into your profit and you'll want to make sure you at least cover your materials, labour and expenses. These are generally easy to set-up and for customers to understand.

If, alternatively, you wish to set up a flat value discount, of say, $m (for purchases > $M), your customers' total sum of listings purchased will cost

2 x Sum(Materials + Labour + Expenses + Profit) - $m

So, you'll want to make sure that $m is no more than 2 x Profit (to sell items at retail price, without the padding of profit) for any sufficiently valuable listing. If you are willing to sell to buyers at your wholesale rate, you can offer a bigger rebate, but be sure to cover your materials, labour and expenses. These types of coupons do encourage buyers to purchase at least your minimum $M worth of goods. They have the advantage of costing the sellers no more money for very large orders than they do for the minimal size order.

Setting up free shipping is pretty straightforward for buyer and seller to understand. It is likely easiest to do if your shipping rates are fairly uniform. If you have listings which are very expensive to shipping, you'll want to make sure that the cost of shipping is no more than 2 x Profit (to sell items at retail price, without the padding of profit). If you are willing to sell to buyers at your wholesale rate, it is possible to offer free shipping which costs more (but that would be an unusually large price relative to the value of any listing).

Promoting Your Coupon Codes

Attract possible buyers to your shop with your sales and coupons -
win them over with your one of a kind listings like
this encaustic painting by Sari Zon

You can let buyers know about your coupon codes in different ways to have different types of sales. These include (but are not limited to):

• Thank You codes can be automatically emailed to any customer (who opts in to receive email messages from Etsy). You can also send these codes within any shipping notice or follow-up email you send directly to your customers. You can also include this with your packaging: for instance, on a hand-written note or any included promotional material like a business card or post card. This is a sale to encourage repeat business. 
  
  Tip: It's less time, effort and hence cost to sellers to retain buyers than to find brand new ones so it's worth your effort to do what you can to keep them coming back!

Targeted campaigns can help you measure the engagement of fans and potential customers. For instance, a specific coupon code can be something you share only with fans of your shop's Facebook fanpage. A second code can be used on your blog. A third code can be used on twitter - and so forth. You might consider handing out coupon codes to visitors at your table at a craft show... if they are undecided in person, you're giving them an opportunity to come back and buy that item later (or even find more items they like in your shop).

A widely shared, but time limited coupon code can be tied to an event, like Cyber Monday or Boxing Day. This can be a good way to gain new customers, move stock and take advantage of more general promotions going on. Sometimes teams of sellers organize a sale together and all involved can use their own networks to alert people to the sale in general. You can promote just about anywhere: in tags, in your shop announcement, in your listing descriptions, on your social media, promotional material and even in person.

Host an event or contest! Reward the winner with a special Coupon Code. You can for instance ask your blog or other social media readers to choose their favorite item from your shop and then use a random number generator to select a participant to reward.

If you receive some press, you can include a special discount Coupon Code - for instance an exclusive offer to readers of a blog which features you.

Tip: Coupon codes might be working even if no one ever applies the codes to their purchases! The reason that coupons have been so popular with vendors for decades is that their mere existence can encourage buyers to select one brand of item over another. So a buyer might be encouraged to shop in your shop just because they understand that you offer coupons.... but still neglect to bother to apply the code.

So, do you offer Coupon Codes in your shop? Do they get much use? To you have Thank You Coupons for buyers? What has your experience been? Do you have any questions or suggestions? Leave us a comment below or drop us a line TorontoEtsyST@gmail.com!


Remember: If you already have a shop, or you open one today, please let us know how to find it! We will be featuring some of our favorite newbie items right here. 

 The Toronto Etsy Street Team loves Newbie shops! You can find some of our favorite listings from talented Newbie sellers, including those featured in this class in our new TEST ♥ Newbies section. Be sure to stop by often to see what's new in this evolving, curated treasury of amazing Newbie finds!

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 13 Getting Press

Welcome to our Etsy Newbie Bootcamp! If you want to take part in Bootcamp and get one-on-one mentoring, or answers to any of your questions, please drop us a line at TorontoEtsyST@gmail.com.  

If you want to open an Etsy shop, just follow this link!



 
Then, be sure to check out:

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 1 How to Open an Etsy Shop
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 2 Branding & Shop Banners
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 3 Shop Profiles Bios and Photos
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 4 Make Listings Tempting
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 5 About Pages
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 6 Shop Policies
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 7 Communication
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 8 Shipping and Packaging
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 9 Social Media
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 10 The Dark Art of Pricing
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 11 Shop Stats
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 12 Holiday Prep in Bite-Sized Pieces

So far, we've covered opening your shop, making it look its best, making it easy to find, easy to interact with and practical skills like pricing your items appropriately, how to get products to customers, how to monitor who visits your shop and how to get ready for the holiday rush. Today, we're going to cover something which might also be particularly important this time of year: getting press.

In particular, when you're just starting out you want people to be able to find you. You're probably wearing many hats: creator/fabricator/curator; photographer; shipping; sales and being your own press agent and social media rep (see Class 9 Social Media for our tips on promoting your shop through your own social media). It's important to use your own network, but it can be very useful to reach out to someone else's network too. 

The good news is that you've probably already signed up for this Bootcamp, and so, you may find that we select one of your items to feature here or in our TEST ♥ Newbies section. How else can you get a little press for you and your shop? Well, let's start with a big one for Etsy sellers: blogs.

Pitching to Bloggers or Editors

Don't feel ready for pitching your shop? Good design and good advice:
Fake It Till You Make It Typographic Print by JessWestDesigns

So, like the internet in general, the trick is being found. The first time someone other than you writes about your Etsy shop, it might very well be someone you know, and they might not have a large following or the clout to drive a lot of traffic. But you shouldn't underestimate the utility of any post. Each one can incrementally increase your SEO (search engine optimization), each one might introduce a buyer to your wares, and each one might introduce your Etsy shop  to a blogger with a larger audience or an audience of 'your people', the ones who understand, appreciate and love what you do. Also, write-ups on small blogs lead to write-ups on big blogs (and the converse is also true so one write-up and spiral out to all sorts of press)- and magazine editors read blogs too! So, here are some helpful tips:

• Be open and friendly. You don't have to say yes to every request. Your time is important. You want to nurture your brand. It is possible you might have a reason to refuse a request (especially if free merchandise is requested for a give-away), but it's always good practise to make a connection and be polite. Give-aways or rebates can be effective, but it is important to make decisions that work for you and your business. Barring any specific concerns, any blog press can help your Etsy shop so why not! You may know specific blogs you want to target, but if bloggers approach you, it's like getting something for (basically) nothing. Yes, please.
• Make great photos. Check out Class 4 Make Listings Tempting for our advice for making your listings look their best. Listings which tempt buyers, may also tempt bloggers (or even print magazines). Watermarks and logos can turn bloggers off. See  Class 12 Holiday Prep in Bite-Sized Pieces for advice about using some seasonal flare and props in photos - this can strike the right note for what bloggers might be seeking too. See the Etsy blog article How to Make Your Photos Publicity-Ready for more tips.
• Do your homework. Identify your five favorite blogs and look for publications which are a good fit for your brand. If you're going to pitch to your favorite blog (or magazine), make sure you've read the blog, you know its scope, and you are familiar with what has been recently posted (so you don't suggest something inappropriate or redundant). Read the blog's About page and any guidelines for submissions. Let your message show that you care; you've read the blog and you're following their guidelines.

• 

  Like a snail mail letter, a personalized pitch will feel special
  and be more likely to get noticed - like this Vintage German
  postage stamp glass tile pendant from dandytigerdesings

  Be interesting, polite, personal, brief, and helpful. Your email subject line should be original and specific to catch someone's attention. Don't pitch the world all at once - make a personalized pitch to a specific blogger. You're trying to suggest something mutually beneficial - great content for them, press for you. Tell a story! Don't be demanding or have large expectations, but do make it easy for them: include all pertinent links and embed (rather than attach) a few low-res photos, with the offer of high res upon request. Keep your pitch to one or two (carefully proof-read) paragraphs. People are busy. Particularly for any daily publication or TV show, content might be in flux until deadline and stories can be ditched at the last minute; don't take it personally.
• Think ahead. Bloggers may be working a full season in advance.
• Be available and answer any questions promptly. Bloggers and editors might be a) working with tight deadlines and b) have hundreds of other pitches to choose from. If you're unavailable, they will move on. Volunteering your cell phone number might be a wise move. 
• Be persistent. You can follow up an unanswered pitch after say 10 days, or return later with further pitches about new products or ideas. If you are featured, thank them!
• Find more tips and example pitches on the Etsy blog articles How to Win the Hearts of Bloggers, Seller How-To: Get Noticed by the Blogosphere, How to Pitch to Bloggers, Holiday Boot Camp: Get Some Blog Love and Top 5 Tips for Getting Press.

Sometimes people find you. You won't always be the source of any profile of your shop. So, do be sure to make things easy for people: good photos, clear and accurate text, fill in your profile and About Page. Also, sometimes press can come to you indirectly, as a by-product of something else you do.

Other things which can get you press:

Stand out from the crowd, like this Vintage Bright Pink
60s Mr Mort Dress from KikuyeJeanVintage

• Join a Team. Yes, we might be biased, but we know that joining a team like the Toronto Etsy Street Team will introduce you to a large collection of fellow Etsy sellers (all of whom may have their own blogs, social media and networks) and give you an opportunity to get profiled by that team and blogs like this one.
• Participate in an art, craft or vintage show. Shows are a great way to meet buyers (some of whom also have blogs), network with fellow sellers and get some press. Any fee to participate is something you could consider an advertising cost.
• Competitions. Many fields of art and craft have competitions. It's good experience to put your work out there. You might win a prize, gain fans and get some press.
• Share your skills. If you teach a class or a workshop, you'll meet a group of people interested in your skill set and you might also get some press.
• Getting press! That's right, getting press will generate more press. If someone writes an article about you share it through all your social media channels and with your network. That way, fans of the publication and your fans both might pass it on.

Remember: If you already have a shop, or you open one today, please let us know how to find it! We will be featuring some of our favorite newbie items right here. 

 The Toronto Etsy Street Team loves Newbie shops! You can find some of our favorite listings from talented Newbie sellers, including those featured in this class in our new TEST ♥ Newbies section. Be sure to stop by often to see what's new in this evolving, curated treasury of amazing Newbie finds!

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 12 Holiday Prep in Bite-sized Pieces

Welcome to our Etsy Newbie Bootcamp! If you want to take part in Bootcamp and get one-on-one mentoring, or answers to any of your questions, please drop us a line at TorontoEtsyST@gmail.com.  

If you want to open an Etsy shop, just follow this link!



 
Then, be sure to check out:

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 1 How to Open an Etsy Shop
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 2 Branding & Shop Banners
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 3 Shop Profiles Bios and Photos
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 4 Make Listings Tempting
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 5 About Pages
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 6 Shop Policies
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 7 Communication
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 8 Shipping and Packaging
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 9 Social Media
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 10 The Dark Art of Pricing
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 11 Shop Stats

Looking for something just right for Hallowe'en?
Check out "An Edgar Allan Poe Tale" by IAM67

So far, we've covered opening your shop, making it look its best, making it easy to find, easy to interact with and practical skills like pricing your items appropriately, how to get products to customers and how to monitor who visits your shop. Today, though our thoughts might be with Hallowe'en, costumes, candy and spooky celebrations for the end of October, as  Etsy shop owners we need to be thinking about being prepared for the holiday rush. If this is your first winter* as an Etsy seller, you won't really know what to expect but by breaking the preparations into manageable pieces, you can be ready for anything (*with apologies to readers in the southern hemisphere, who may find it extra strange to see since most Etsy buyers are still in North America, the build up to the holidays not only come early, but with the opposite seasonal connotations).

We planned our Etsy Newbie Bootcamp in what we hope are bite-sized weekly pieces, so that all our Newbies can tackle -or at least investigate- one thing per week. But, we do have people joining all the time, and trying to play catch up. Also, we've been visiting your shops regularly. We've seen a lot of our Newbies improving by leaps and bounds and making more and more of those tweaks which can make a shop look its best and make for the best buyer experience. Nonetheless, we find that most shops haven't had the time to tackle all the topics we've covered, so let's start off with a check-list of things you can do to increase sales and better handle those sales as the holidays approach. We want you to read through this list and check off anything you've already done. Already you should see that you've done a lot of work, and are well on your way! Then, every time you have an hour to spare, try to check off one more item. Preserve your sanity, and do one thing at a time!

Putting The Best Face on Your Etsy Shop Holiday Prep Check-List

Open that Etsy shop! Here's the good news: if you're reading this, chances are good that you have already done the most important thing. You've opened a shop and listed something. If not, never fear! We'll walk you through it in Class 1 How to Open an Etsy Shop

Set up your Shop Banner and consider giving it a Holiday Make-over! Most of our Newbies have indeed set the tone for their shop with a great banner which identifies them, their shop and what they have on offer. As the holidays approach, you may want to create a special banner to set a festive spirit, include information about any special sales or services (like gift wrapping or cards included with gifts) or tips about getting expedited shipping or meeting shipping deadlines. See Class 2 Branding & Shop Banners for details on how to make and upload a shop banner and find tips and useful links for your shipping strategy in Class 8 Shipping and Packaging

Let buyers know who you are! If you haven't done so, now is the time to complete your Shop Bio and Profile and to make a fabulous multimedia About page. With the update in Etsy Policies, your About page is more important than ever. Remember: Transparency is the name of the game. Let the world know what it is you do and how! You've got something special on offer; letting buyers know is one of the most important things you can do to make your listings enticing. See Class 3 Shop Profiles Bios and Photos and Class 5 About Pages for all the information you need to get your Shop Bio and Profile and About page up and running.

Let buyers know what to expect with clear, thorough and fair Shop Policies. Chances are good that the next two months will be your busiest all year. Make things easy for yourself and your potential buyers by letting them know upfront what to expect, especially in terms of shipping, exchanges and return policies, as well as rules about payment. People are busy this time of year. If you make them search for answers, rather than clearly spelling things out, they may just visit one of your competitors instead. Though, on the flip side, because buyers may be rushed, expect to get increased questions regardless of whether you made information available. See Class 6 Shop Policies and Class 7 Communication for tips and details. Then, visit your shop as if you were the buyer (or ask a friend to do so for you) and take a critical look. Is anything unclear? Could a policy be improved to enhance your buyers' experience? Would anything make you hesitate? Remember: Make it easy for your buyers!

Make listings look their best! Does every single listing use: all 5 photos; all 13 tags; have clear, accurate titles starting with the most pertinent words; have a clear accurate description beginning with the vital information; include dimensions; include reasonable pricing and shipping options; put tags and keywords to their best use? Does your shop have a coherent look? Are there listings you can improve? Take the time to polish these! See Class 4 Make Listings Tempting for tips on making listings look and work their best. See Class 10 The Dark Art of Pricing for tips on pricing and Class 8 Shipping and Packaging 

Have a shipping strategy ready to go! Make sure you have plenty of supplies for packaging and things like business cards for branding to include with packages. Consider ways you can appeal to customers by making their life easier. Do you offer Expedited Shipping? Gift-wrapping? Cards? Is a shipping address different than the buyer's address? You might inquire if it is a gift, be sure to avoid including receipts and make sure your buyers have reasonable expectations of feasible delivery times. See Class 8 Shipping and Packaging 

Introduce and feature any Holiday items! Christmas is the single biggest driver of sales, so if you would like to offer anything related to Christmas (or which buyers might particularly like to buy for Christmas) put those things where everyone can see them: in your Featured Listings).  Check out Etsy's advice for launching a new product line. You can hardly do this too early: magazines looking for holiday content might be working as much as 6 months in advance! Though, don't worry - it's still early enough to catch most buyers. Etsy sellers are all over the world, and have all sorts of different traditions of course - but don't assume that the holiday rush is limited to though who celebrate Christmas or have items directly related (like cards, gift wrap, ornaments and more). Any item might make a great gift, and you should take a look at your shop pretending to be a Christmas shopper. You'll need to be prepared for buyers who want items delivered pronto (and perhaps even those with unrealistic ideas, who think that like Santa, Etsy sellers can deliver packages anywhere, overnight, as if by magic reindeer-pulled sleds, dashing through spacetime at relativistic speeds). There are also other holidays and events towards the end of the year which can drive sales. These include Hanukkah (November 27 through December 5), US Thanksgiving (November 28th), Black Friday (November 29th, when Americans 'officially' start their holiday shopping and the inspiration for many sales), Cyber Monday (December 2, the online equivalent),  Kwanzaa (December 26 to January 1), Boxing Day (December 26th, which is HUGE here in Canada and other Commonwealth countries, and often extends throughout January), and New Year's Eve (December 31). Don't forget that while most people who celebrate Christmas want to give gifts on or before December 25th, some traditions don't celebrate until January 6 or 7. There are also several other religious and cultural celebrations and holidays during this time, so you may need to plan ahead how you'll balance your time, or consider how this may delay shipping to and from certain places.  Remember: In most of the world, mail delivery will be greatly affected in November and December. Be sure you're aware, and make your customers aware of Shipping Deadlines. Review Class 8 Shipping and Packaging and  Class 7 Communication 

  Let buyers know about any special holiday enticements you may offer! These include things like Holiday Sales, Discounts, Expedited Shipping, and any extras like gift wrapping, cards or freebies.

It's still a good time for featuring spooky, autumn and Hallowe'en
flavoured listings, like the Telegraph Pole art print by TheKittenAndTheCrow
but by November, we move onto the build up to the holidays

The longer you run your shop, you'll see there are certain rhythms to the year and you'll get used to working a good season in advance. You'll start to take advance of many different holidays, seasons and events, and feature appropriate listings. Even if buyers are looking for masks and costumes for Hallowe'en, fine art like we're featuring today will be extra tempting for people making treasuries or blog posts. So the trick is to have your Christmas items ready to feature November 1, but feature your Hallowe'en items until then (and similarly for other holidays).

Tip: Things can get hectic this time of year, so a good calendar and check list is really useful.

Tip: You'll want to keep careful track of inventory! If you are making a lot of sales you can run out of items you sell or shipping supplies unless you're monitoring them carefully. You never want to get caught out, not being able to deliver something your customer requires as soon as humanly possible.

Next, here's a checklist of specific tweaks you can make to optimize your shop for holiday shoppers. Each item is something you can do in a small amount of time. Plus, you can pick and choose items which appeal and might work well for you. The trick is not to get overwhelmed and to do things in small steps.

Tweaking Your Etsy Shop to Tempt Holiday Shoppers Check-List

Use Shop Sections and Tags in your  Etsy which match the way holiday shoppers think. You can sort your listings by gift categories (think 

• Decor and Entertaining
• Gadgets and Games
• Useful and Utilitarian
• Personalization
• Keepsakes
• Novelty and Stocking Stuffers
• Favours and Thank Yous

according to the Etsy blog article Holiday Merchandising Guide: Winter Trends and Tips. You can also create new Shop Sections by price range as holiday shoppers often have a budget in mind. Remember: this does not mean you should under-price! Sometimes a gift might not seem 'good enough' unless it costs a certain minimum. Also having a variety of price points is always a good idea!

  Use your tags to suggest a gift recipient. People buy gifts for: Men, Women, Kids, Babies, Teens, Friends, Coworkers, Parents, Grandparents and more. If you think your listing would make a great hostess gift, point it out!

Highlight other big trends, like winter decor/fashion or weddings. Etsy predicts these will be important holiday trends:

• Personalization
• Glitz and Shimmer
• Pictures, Photos and Portraits
• Greeting Cards and 2014 Calendars
• Gadget Cases and Accessories
• Seasonal and Holiday Home Decor
• Hostess and Entertaining Solutions
• Wine & Spirits Carriers and Accessories
• Holiday Fashion and Accessories
• Winter Fashion Accessories
• Cocktail and Statement Jewelry
• Stocking Stuffers, Gag Gifts and Novelties
• Bath, Beauty and Edible Gift Sets
• Woodland Animals
• DIY Kits

If you have items in your shop which match these trends, consider making them Featured Listings, tagging them appropriately and making an extra effort to promote them during this holiday lead-up time.

Time any planned sales and promotions to go with events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day

  Consider shooting some extra holiday-themed listing photos, with festive props. Want people to consider your item as a stocking-suffer? Show it in a Christmas stocking.  Evergreen foliage, wrapped gift boxes and wintry scenes can also rapidly get the idea across.

  Offer personalization and custom orders. If a buyer is on the fence about your item the idea that it can become a personalized gift might convince them!

  Place groups of items together to make gift set listings. 

Get that cozy for winter feeling with Waysofwoodfolk's Icelandic Wool Sweater

So, do you feel ready for the holidays? Nervous, excited, working on a plan? Have any questions, ideas or tips to share? Let us know what you think! Comment below or drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you.

Remember: If you already have a shop, or you open one today, please let us know how to find it! We will be featuring some of our favorite newbie items right here. 

 The Toronto Etsy Street Team loves Newbie shops! You can find some of our favorite listings from talented Newbie sellers, including those featured in this class in our new TEST ♥ Newbies section. Be sure to stop by often to see what's new in this evolving, curated treasury of amazing Newbie finds!

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 11 Shop Stats

Welcome to our Etsy Newbie Bootcamp! If you want to take part in Bootcamp and get one-on-one mentoring, or answers to any of your questions, please drop us a line at TorontoEtsyST@gmail.com.  

If you want to open an Etsy shop, just follow this link!



 
Then, be sure to check out:

TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 1 How to Open an Etsy Shop
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 2 Branding & Shop Banners
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 3 Shop Profiles Bios and Photos
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 4 Make Listings Tempting
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 5 About Pages
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 6 Shop Policies
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 7 Communication
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 8 Shipping and Packaging
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 9 Social Media
TEST Etsy Newbie Bootcamp: Class 10 The Dark Art of Pricing

So far, we've covered opening your shop, making it look its best, making it easy to find, easy to interact with and practical skills like pricing your items appropriately and how to get them to customers. Today, we're covering the ways to measure your success in getting people in the virtual door of your online shop, and knowing how they found you. Shop Stats are a built-in tool provided by Etsy to let you measure traffic to your shop and whence it came.

Using Shop Stats: Nuts and Bolts

You can find your Shop Stats by navigating to Your Shop and using the pull-down menu to select Shop Stats. You can also see a summary of some of the most vital stats on your Dashboard (which is also found on the pull-down menu from Your Shop).

What you'll see is data, both numbers and plotted on (time series) graphs for views, favorites, orders, and revenue. Choose the tab which interests you to learn more. Select the date range with the pull-down menu.

•  View is all about visitors to your shop and listings in a given time period
•  Favorites is your collection of ♥'s - the numbers of people adding your shop or listings to their favorites lists
• Orders is the number of orders received - the number of individual customers not the number of listings. Multiple listings purchased by a single customer are lumped together.
• Revenue is the net revenue you've made from your sales (taxes and shipping are not included - this is one reason you may not wish to 'hide' shipping costs in your prices, but to list actual item and shipping costs separately - see Class 8 Shipping and Packaging)

You can track those ♥'s using stats
and wear your heart on your back with the
Black Bamboo Jersey Drop Waist Dress with
heart cut-out back by MaybeByCatalfo

See the little green triangles along the bottom? Those are events. If you move your cursor along any graph, when you pass a green triangle, events tracked on that day will be revealed. These include new or renewed listings posted,  and things you've shared on social media directly from Etsy. That way, you can see directly how these sorts of things correlate with changes (and spikes!) in views, favorites, orders, and revenue.

Below this you'll see three sorts of lists of traffic sources: Etsy's full list of traffic sources, a break down of sources from within Etsy (hover over the question mark for explanations) and keywords used to find your shop from within Etsy. 

Using Shop Stats to Better Promote Your Shop

• You can use the top traffic source data of course to measure what promotions are already working. Is your blog on the list? Great job! Is someone else's blog on the list? Write them a nice thank you email, and you can even ask these bloggers if you can add their contact information to your PR list, so you can gather an effective and engaged list of people to contact next time you launch something new! (See this Etsy blog post for more tips). If you see a lot of Direct Traffic, that means people know your actual URL and promotional material like business cards are working. If you don't see Direct Traffic, you might want to increase your efforts off-line. You want to see Google in your top traffic sources - if it isn't there, you need to work on SEO (see Class 4, Class 9 and stay tuned for future classes on Search Engine Optimization). 
   
• Your traffic sources within Etsy let you gauge how your Activity feed, Teams, Treasuries, Browse and things like Search are working for you (or maybe what can be improved). You can keep people moving within your shop by using links to other listings within listings - consider directing buyers to similar items! You can experiment to find out how participating in Teams and Treasuries can increase traffic. Class 4 should help you maximize your chances of being found in Search, as well as increase your chances of being featured in Treasuries and Favorites.   
• Your keywords can be revealing. Do the keywords you think make sense show up in the list? If your list matches what is actually happening then you've got a good handle on what is bringing people in. If you see keywords that had not occurred to you, you should consider changing tags and titles (see Class 4), to include these words! After all, those are keyworks which already work and this can improve your SEO. Are you using tags which do not appear in your keywords list? You might want to rethink these and replace them with the way buyers actually find you. Sometimes sellers use categories and tags which are really idiosyncratic. Choosing funny words or descriptions can be a fun way of setting the tone for your brand, but you want to choose your tags based on what is accurate and effective. Save the funny and idiosyncratic for the end of listings. Note that keywords, like tags, can be word phrases and that these are more effective, since they are more specific and buyers who use these to find something specific, rather than a general idea, are more likely to buy.

Remember to stay focused and centred,
and don't get too caught up. Fun yoga gear like this
Yoga Sheep: Cobra Pose - Mens T-shirt - Sand
by DesignedToLife might be just the thing.

Tip: Don't get too caught up! Watching for sales and ♥'s can be addictive, but it's better to stay focused on and centred on doing what you want to do and acheiving longer-term goals. Especially when you're just starting a business, every sale feels very important and it can be tempting to read too much into whether or not something sells, or a promotion appears to work. But, the thing about the statistics of small numbers is that they are not always representative. Your Shop Stats will become more meaningful over time. It will likely take months before you can really get a good sense of what works for you and your business. You want keep a eye on things, but remember that the larger the sample size the more meaningful.


Tip: On the other hand, if you are really interested in seeing everything that Etsy can track for you and offering your two cents' worth about what statistics would be most useful, you can join the Shop Stats Beta Team  which will allow you to participate in testing new features will may be rolled out to all Etsy sellers.

Google Analytics

Seeing maps of plotted visitor location can be irristable to map lovers,
like the License Plate Map of Canada by Route401

A third party app which is very popular and can be used for your shop (and other websites or blogs) is Google Analytics. Etsy has a tutorial for how to set up the web analytics for your shop, if you don't have an existing account, and a tutorial for adding analytics for your Etsy shop to an existing account. There is a lot of overlap in the sort of information you can glean from Google Analytics and Shop Stats (though you may see some differences because their sampling methods differ) about how people are finding your shop. Unsurprisingly, Shop Stats has more thorough information about how people move within Etsy and what they do. Google Analytics on the other hand, provides more flexibility in how data are plotted and more information on demographics. By adding Google analytics to your shop you can learn, for instance:

• what proportion of your visitors are new or returning visitors (which tells you about customer loyalty and whether you are successfully driving new traffic to your shop)
• how much time is spent and how many pages within your shop are visited on average (which gives you a hint as to whether you need to do more to engage casual visitors and link within listings to encourage them to explore your shop further)
• where geographically are your visitors located (which can help you plan your shipping policies and tells you something about how your promotion efforts are working)
• your visitors' browsers' default languages (which is most useful if you are posting listings in multiple languages)
• what sort of platform and browser they use (you may want to have a look at your shop in different browsers and follow advice to optimize your shop for mobile buyers)
• you can even set up custom variables to track or set goals and track your success at meeting various metrics
• specific data about how social media directs traffic to your site (see Class 9 on Social Media)

and more. Also, you can use a single dashboard to organize any tracking you might want to do for any of your sites - for instance, you can use Google Analytics for your shop and for your blog.

You can find the Google Analytics Help Center here.

So, are you using  Shop Stats (or GA) to track your progress with your new shop? Have you found something particularly revealing? Is it something you've integrated into the time you spend on your shop? Have any tips or questions? Let us know below!

Remember: If you already have a shop, or you open one today, please let us know how to find it! We will be featuring some of our favorite newbie items right here. 

 The Toronto Etsy Street Team loves Newbie shops! You can find some of our favorite listings from talented Newbie sellers, including those featured in this class in our new TEST ♥ Newbies section. Be sure to stop by often to see what's new in this evolving, curated treasury of amazing Newbie finds!