“What’s your best marketing advice?”
Hey guys! And welcome to yet another weekly episode of the Simplify Your Sales podcast.
This week is super special because I’ve asked some of my Mastermind Your Marketing students– to share THEIR best advice on how to build a successful Etsy shop.
And if you’re unfamiliar with what the heck Mastermind Your Marketing is, it’s my 12 month signature marketing program that walks you through the step-by-step process for creating a profitable marketing SYSTEM for your shop. It’s literally the program I WISH I HAD when I started selling on Etsy.
Anyways, so that’s what MYM is. So I asked students from the program to share their VERY best advice on how to build up a ridiculously profitable Etsy business.
And boy did they deliver.
Because while I love, love, LOVE sharing all the ups and downs and takeaways from MY story (and I know if you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while now, you’ve DEFINITELY heard it)…
…sometimes it’s refreshing and more easily relatable to hear advice from OTHER Etsy sellers who are CRUSHING their personal revenue goals on the platform. You know, hear from sellers who have different backgrounds and experiences and products than I have had.
I want you to use the advice and tips on this episode to inspire you, to keep on going, to know that these are just your normal, ordinary– albeit FANTASTIC– people who have put their head down and got to work.
Alright, so just to give you a bit of background, I posed the following question to some of my Mastermind Your Marketing students:
What’s your #1 tip for someone trying to build a successful Etsy shop from scratch?
…and let’s hear what they had to say!
Student: Vicki
Etsy Shop: The Banner Guys + Gal
Product: Custom banners + yard signs
“PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE, IT TAKES TIME TO GET EVERYTHING IN PLACE AND GAIN MOMENTUM WITH ALL PARTS OF MARKETING AND SEO FOR YOUR SHOP. I HAVE TINKERED ON MY OWN FOR 10 YEARS BUT HAVING A STEP BY STEP PLAN TO FOLLOW GAVE ME DIRECTION AND RESULTS!”
Vicki says one of the BEST things she did for her business was something we explore really in-depth inside Mastermind Your Marketing she created an email marketing system with a landing page with automated follow up emails. She now has a way to start marketing DIRECTLY to her customers with NO algorithm to worry about.
I love that so much– especially because email marketing is one of those things that Etsy sellers tend to freeze up about because it seems like such a huge tech hurdle to start–I know I did.
I was terrified about setting things up to actually GET email subscribers, but then what the heck was I supposed to do with them once they were on my email list?! We seriously outline it so easy for you in MYM [Mastermind Your Marketing] with the EXACT emails and templates you need to send and even have a tech expert inside the course community there to help you out.
(I am stuck in basically 1999 tech– tech not even in this CENTURY– and even I can handle it, so I PROMISE it’s not beyond you!)
Do NOT wait to start your email list. It is a GAME CHANGER for sure!
Student: Christina
Etsy Shop: The Spoiled Sprout
Product: Hand painted piggy banks
“BE OPEN TO CHANGES BECAUSE THE ONLY THING CONSISTENT IN BUSINESS IS THAT EVERYTHING CHANGES…ALL OF THE TIME. ALSO, KEEP LEARNING. THERE IS NO LIMIT TO THE POTENTIAL OUT THERE.”
Christina said the BIGGEST turning point for her shop in reference to marketing has been learning how to increase her conversion rate step-by-step inside the Mastermind Your Marketing course– going from a 1.3% conversion rate to a 6% consistently, and 12% during the holidays which is MIND BOGGLING. And as a MYM student and single momma with two girls, she’s on course to hit $100K in sales for 2020 which is nothing short of incredible.
Seriously– a single mom is making this work. Consider that the kick in the pants motivation you need to get going–you have NO excuses now!
Student: Erin
Etsy Shop: Purpleaf Designs
Product: Cross stitch patterns + kits
Erin is one of our incredible student mentors inside the MYM program and SUCH a valuable asset to our students.
“UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS SO SO MUCH MORE TO RUNNING A SHOP THAN JUST CREATING ITEMS AND GETTING THEM LISTED. THAT’S LIKE, ALL MY BIZ WAS BEFORE MYM, AND NOW IT’S ONLY MAYBE 15/20% OF MY TIME SPENT ON MY BIZ. DON’T LET FEAR WIN. BE FLEXIBLE. TRY NEW THINGS. FAIL A LOT, AND KEEP GOING.”
And I just want to concur with her advice something that I think is SO important and may even have to be a bit of a mindset shift for some of you– owning a successful biz is NEVER just about creating.
If you’re JUST creating— no marketing— you have a very expensive HOBBY; if you want consistent sales and income you can depend on, you have to be willing to learn how to market.
Even if you eventually hire this out, the knowledge of learning how to do it successfully for YOUR business is invaluable– and essential non-negotiable to know as a business owner.
Marketing is the crux of your business– good products can’t carry you entirely.
Student: Carolyn
Etsy Shop: Paper Paint Pixels
Product: Nursery art
Her best advice is to change your mindset entirely–which, we all know how strongly I feel about mindset, so…:
“THINK ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMER, YOU ARE CREATING A PRODUCT/ SERVICE FOR SOMEONE ELSE, AS AN ARTIST IT’S A MASSIVE HEAD SHIFT AWAY FROM SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE CREATED BEING ABOUT YOU”
Understanding that has allowed her to realize that marketing is something you– as a shop owner– can be 100% in control of and you don’t have to “guess” if an item will sell or not– when you go into creating with your customers in mind, selling becomes VERY easy.
Inside Mastermind Your Marketing we always talk about making it an easy “yes” for your customers and thinking about them and their experiences as such a critical part of your revenue.
Your customers should be the central theme for just about everything you do in your Etsy shop– from the products you create to the copy you write to the sales you run. EVERYTHING should be done with the customer in mind and how they will respond to things.
Student: Beth
Etsy Shop: Wicked Naturals
Product: Organic plant-based skincare + soap
“PICK SOMETHING TO WORK ON AND DO IT PRETTY WELL…DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT…BEFORE MOVING TO THE NEXT THING. IF YOU DO A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT, ALL YOU HAVE ARE A BUNCH OF OARS IN THE [CRAP] GOING UP A CREEK. DISCOURAGEMENT WILL SET IN QUICKLY TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING AT ONCE. THIS TAKES TIME AND CERTAINLY DOESN’T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT.”
And I just want to echo Beth’s sentiment– YES, yes, yes! You can’t do #allthethings #allatonce. Any brand you see doing that did NOT start there. You focus on ONE thing at a time– just like we show you in MYM– master it, and THEN add on.
She also added that you can’t just wing this stuff and that following solid, proven advice vs. random google articles makes a BIG difference in your success. Without a doubt, I credit SO much of my success early on and even and especially now from investing in my business education and learning from people who already had the track record for success that I wanted to have.
Student: Meghan
Etsy Shop: Story Frame Printables
Product: Printable nursery decor
“COMMIT TO IT FOR THE LONG HAUL. IT’S NOT OVERNIGHT SUCCESS SO CREATE A SHOP THAT YOU LOVE WORKING ON, AND ENJOY THE WHOLE PROCESS. I LOVE HAVING A STRATEGY IN PLACE SO I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO WORK ON, AND WHEN TO DO IT. BEFORE I KNEW EVERYTHING I COULD BE DOING, BUT DIDN’T KNOW WHERE OR HOW TO START, SO NOTHING HAPPENED.
← okay, and I just want to interject here that I hear this ALL THE TIME. You have researched SO many things and have SO many ideas now, but the idea of figuring out where to start on any of them is enough to make your head spin. So you never start. You just keep to that “research” phase where nothing is actually accomplished. And the “research” phase does NOT produce results. Okay, end rant.
Back to Meghan’s words of wisdom, she says:
“SO NOW, MY SHOP HAS AN END GOAL! AND I CAN WORK ON CREATING BETTER QUALITY CONTENT AND NOT JUST STRESSING ABOUT MARKETING.”
Student: Michelle
Etsy Shop: Remnent Beauty UK
Product: Skincare products
“COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS A LOT TO UNDERSTAND WHY THEY LOVE YOUR PRODUCTS AND WHAT THEY WANT MORE OF. EVERY PRODUCT A CUSTOMER HAS EVER SUGGESTED HAS BECOME A BEST SELLER FOR ME.”
And I SECOND THAT 100%. I added mix + match bundles purely on the recurring suggestions from buyers and the minute I did, my sales EXPLODED in a big, big way.
She also shared that there is SO much to do in a business, and utilizing as much automation as possible– including driving traffic through Pinterest as we teach in MYM– has been KEY in getting her shop up and going and still having time to focus on the other aspects– like creating her standalone website and trademarking her name.
Student: Megan
Etsy Shop: Confetti Empire Crafts
Product: Handmade party decor
“KNOW YOUR MARKET, KNOW YOUR COMPETITION, AND INVEST IN MASTERMIND YOUR MARKETING. DO NOT GO INTO IT BLINDLY. IF YOU PUT IN THE TIME AND THE WORK THEN YOU WILL MOST DEFINITELY SEE THE REWARD.
Megan actually hasn’t completed the entire course yet since her sales picked up so quickly after starting MYM that she is having a hard time keeping up.
One of the best strategies she implemented in MYM– and this is one that A LOT of students mention being a GAME CHANGER– is the idea of upselling/cross promoting your products. Do EVERYTHING you can in your shop to optimize it for larger orders. It is MUCH easier to reach your revenue goals through larger orders than by MORE orders– logistically, and sanity wise.
In Megan’s experience, she says:
“PREVIOUSLY I WOULD SAY 80%-85% OF MY CUSTOMERS PURCHASED ONLY ONE ITEM FROM MY SHOP. SINCE IMPLEMENTING THE MYM COURSE THE NUMBERS HAVE FLIPPED AND NOW 80%-85% OF MY SALES ARE FOR MULTIPLE ITEMS! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!”
Same traffic, same customers, MORE REVENUE. Love this. This is one of my favorite tactics inside MYM that we really zero in on– optimizing your shop for the best possible revenue-generating setup so you can hit the ground running.
Student: Irina
Etsy Shop: Knitz and Purlz
Product: Dyed yarns
“DO NOT BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT. SOMETHING WILL FALL FLAT, SOME THINGS WILL TAKE OFF. FOR ME THE BIGGEST IMPACT WAS COLLABORATIONS. ONCE I STEPPED OUTSIDE OF MY COMFORT ZONE AND STARTED TO COLLABORATE PEOPLE STARTED TALKING ABOUT MY SHOP ON SOCIAL MEDIA.”
Stepping outside of your comfort zone is absolutely KEY to growth and success. If you’re feeling “comfortable” in your business, you’re not reaching far enough. We stress the importance of collaborations– even very “introverted” approaches to collaborations if you just broke out in hives hearing that– in the last portion of MYM and once you get started with them, it quickly becomes addictive because you get results SO
Student: Amanda
Etsy Shop: Power and Peace Design
Product: Bible Art
Alright, and finally, Amanda over at Power and Peace design who sells Bible Art had some really down-to-earth advice that I loved and I feel like sums up a lot of the stuff already shared today, which means if more than one person is saying it, it MUST be important (so listen up!):
“MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION (YES, THE EMAIL LIST (SEE, IT’S MENTIONED AGAIN!)!) IS EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT AND TIME CONSUMING AS THE MAKING PART OF YOUR BUSINESS. ACCEPT THAT AND PLAN ACCORDINGLY! MASTERMIND YOUR MARKETING HAS SHOWN ME JUST HOW KEY IT IS TO DRIVE MY OWN TRAFFIC. THAT GAVE ME A WHOLE NEW MINDSET WHERE I AM TAKING CHARGE OF MY BUSINESS AND NOT HOPING FOR ETSY TO MAGICALLY GIVE MY CUSTOMERS AND EXPOSURE.”
Yes– understand that Etsy does NOT owe you ANYTHING. It is just a place to set up your shop. YOU are 100% responsible for your success or failure– which I understand is equal parts liberating and terrifying when you think about it, right?!
But your chance of success soars EXPONENTIALLY when you start holding YOURSELF– and not pinning the blame on Etsy– but holding YOURSELF accountable for your success and the traffic and sales you do (or do not) drive to your shop.
And this alllllll begins with creating a marketing system for your Etsy shop– a system that you are using to optimize, attract, and convert casual browsers into PAYING CUSTOMERS and then going on to Scale those efforts.
This is EXACTLY what we teach inside Mastermind Your Marketing and makes ALL the difference– because once you understand that marketing is an entire ecosystem that works TOGETHER– sales and marketing become EASY. Not in the sense that there’s no more work involved, but in the sense that you’ll finally understand the work that you are doing– and you’ll begin to enjoy it because it gets you RESULTS.
We had SO many submissions for this podcast episode and while we tried to feature a variety of niches and sales history, there are obviously many more out there that I WISH I could have featured! Another podcast episode for another time perhaps 🙂