25 Marketing tips to get your products moving!

I posted this in the forums and it got a lot of hits. Keep in mind, that these are what worked for ME, they may not work for you. Tailor fit what works for you. This was made assuming one has something that a customer wants to buy, of course.

1.Start a blog…stop debating it…just start one

2.I’m not the biggest fan of Project wonderful…but that is your call. DennisAnderson did say you have to really reseatch it before you do it...and he has done very well with it. So i am going to do my research for a bit, then give it another go.

3.Team up and collaborate with someone else…who cares if they say “No!” when you ask…at least you asked. I have had plenty of “no’s” but I also had some pretty good people say “yes”

4.Revamp your shop. If you are selling and products are not moving…take this time to redue your pictures, get a new banner, get some policies

5.Post cards. Let me explain: I just had someone design a post card template for me that had 6 product pictures on it and it matched my banner. I paid 34.99 for 500 via overnight prints. This has really gotten both of my shops going. I don’t send these to people…b/c that would be spam. I send these boutiques and I send them to people who ask for them to include in a goody bag at a craft fair

6.Beware of giving to many products for free. I did this once for my pendant shop and gave away 100 free pendants…I didn’t get one single sale from that. Sometime these work…just don’t do them for everyone or you’ll be draining your products and money

7.Beware of people asking you to send them your products to be featured on a blog…I have done this as well…until I was approached by a very very very popular website that wanted to do a feature on my products…and guess what? All they wanted was picture for me to email them. I had 20 sales and 3 wholesale order from that...and I scored a consignment deal.

8.Try not to leave your business card in a bathroom. #1 it’s disgusting…and #2 you are not going to get business from having your card on the back end of a toilet

9. Do wear your wearable products. Seriously…you are your biggest marketing investment. I have worn things I have made and I always get little comments. Make t-shirt with your shop on it.

10.Sometime you have to invest to get a good return. I recently just spent a decent chunk of change to get some professional pictures of my pictures for my other shop. Once those come in my shop will look great…more appealing. Appeal is after all what brings people in to buy.

11.Saturday mornings are big days. At least they have always been for both of my shops. On Saturdays you can find me in the forums and renewing items…I usually have lots of sales on Saturdays

12.I heard some on etsy say they add a little paper in their packages they send out and tell customers that if they post a link of their shop on their blog they can get a free pendant! That’s great b/c it drives traffic to your store!

13.Twitter. I fought this one nail and tooth the whole way…then I broke down and did it. Let me tell you it was worked wonders! On the days I twitter I get sales. Lots of people use twitter to let ppl know about sales and new products. Check me out: http://twitter.com/lchristian try not to spam people with it, but really interact with them.

14.Do stay in the forums and get to know your community on the etsy forums. They will guide you and help you and give you ideas…use everything to your own judgment though

15.Try and get a consignment deal from yours locally. I have 5 consignments from my pendant shop. They are all out of state. They have turned out good, but I would rather them be local. Make sure you are prepared: set up an interview date, have your mock products and show them with and without packaging…post card (comes in handy!) and business card. Make a sales pitch and close the deal!

16.http://stumbleupon.com I do enjoy this….it can get expensive fast! They do however let you set your own price. I love this and feel it is 100 billion times more effective than project wonderful. You can also see how many people have seen your shop and who liked it and who didn’t

17.Maximize on holidays or by doing a “line” …like a spring line…it keeps your shop fresh b/c it allows you to come up with new products.

18.Facebook. You can use your personal if you don’t want to make one exclusive to your shop.

19.The most subtle way to market is at the end of your emails have your footer be your shop name, website and slogan. I always click on it when someone emails me with that on the bottom

20.Run a promo. This can be whatever you choose. Maybe you to a black Friday or black Monday online on in your shop the day after Turkey Day. Maybe you do a month of free shipping. Maybe you do a buy one get one free….maybe it’s a percentage coupon. But make sure you change it up. You don’t have to have one running every month.

21.Make sure you are marketing to your target market…if you don’t know your target market…you may want to slow your roll and figure that out asap….you cannot be all things to all people.

22.Put a window decal of your shop on your car

23.Elevator pitches are good. I had to practice those like mad in my marketing classes in college

24.Make sure you fuel positive word of mouth about your company

25.Plan an open house. Give yourself a few months to make this really work. Get some good invites..do a save the date if you need to. Wherever you are doing it be your home or some place else….make sure the area is “set up” in all respects to the décor down to the food and displays. Have ready available items to show. Make 2 catalogs via overnightprints to have out for people to look at. Have your business cards and maybe run a raffle or do a goody bag of samples…I know etsy sellers would contribute to the goodybag to help promote business. Make sure you advertise like there is no tomorrow about your open house…you will learn that that you can develop some serious word of mouth that way!

Featured Seller: Daisycake Soaps

I have what can only be describes as a soap obesseion. I love everything about it, the packaging, the smell, the feel...perfection! I was so excited when i discovered the etsy shop Daisycakes Soap. I was even more blown away when i seen that she had over 9,000 sales from etsy alone, all while managing to be her kids mom. How does this amazing women do it? Well, read on to find out.

Q.How long have you been an Etsy seller?

A. I started Daisycakes Soap in 1999, so this year is my tenth anniversary. I have been a seller on Etsy almost since the beginning, since Sept 2005.

Q. How many children do you have?

A. I have 3 children ages 7, 11 &13, and my husband easily works 50+ hours a week, but we are lucky because he is a professor so he can write at home much of the time.

Q. Why did you decide to open a shop and sell on etsy?

A. My first real successes with Daisycakes were in Baton Rouge and New Orleans at monthly arts markets. I loved doing those markets, and it didn’t take long for me to realize I wanted to make & sell soap full-time. We moved after my third child was born, so I lost access to my markets, and my schedule changed a lot. I began to research what online venues were available. I was just in the right place at the right time with Etsy, and feel lucky to have been a part of the site since its beta phase. It was a perfect fit


Q. How much time do you put into your shop each week?
A. I work probably 50 hours a week, but that includes work on all aspects of the business. Etsy is just one venue for selling. It’s a great one, but I also invest time in: wholesale and custom orders, two other online retail shops, local/regional craft shows and running my fundraising site: Daisycakes fundraiser

Q. What inspires you?

A. Freshness. Comfort. Nature. I love it when mine is the first handmade soap someone has ever tried and they are hooked from the get go. Soaps are just hunks of goodness and I am inspired to create little moments for people where they can lose themselves in the experience of using them, even if only momentarily.

Q. Can you run me through what a typical day for you would be managing a family and your business?

A. Ok, but it is atypical. I’ll start describing it at10 pm, because that’s when my work day starts, and my energy is at the highest/ I’ll typically work from 10 pm to 3 am, sleep for 4 hours, wake up my youngest at and get her ready for school, drive her and come back. My husband takes the boys to school, and I work again from about 8am to 12:30 or 1pm, when I go back to bed and sleep until my daughter comes home at 3pm. When she comes home we have some down time together, cook, and depending on everyone’s extracurriculars, eat dinner together.After dinner it’s showers for kids, playing wii or blokus or some other game with them, outside hockey, reading, snacks—in no particular order, until they all eventually settle down to sleep around 10, and then the whole thing starts again.

Q. How do you balance your family and your business and is it working and if it’s not working can you tell us why?

A It works great for our family—we created this schedule intentionally. It works with my night-owl nature and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We are lucky, lucky, lucky that my husband can work at home so much, and we have the kind of relationship where we try not to keep score with each other.

Q. On those days when you are feeling completely frazzled and are seconds away from a major meltdown what do you do to keep yourself sane?

A. If I need to cry, I just do. Honestly, though, I want to grow, so getting tons of orders doesn’t frazzle me. I know how lucky I am to be doing what I do, and to have a new workshop and office to do it in. My kids can frazzle me, but the way we parent is by tag-teaming, if one of us has had enough, the other one steps in.

Q. In your opinion, what is the hardest part of running your business and being and WAHM (work at home mom)?

A. I don’t find it hard at all, but I can tell you the part I dislike the most: condescension. After this long one would think I’d be over it, but I still get a spine tingle when a new aquantance says “oh you have a business? how cute!!”

Q. What are your top three etsy shops that you can’t go a day without stalking?

A. There are so many great shops and shop owners I’ve met on Etsy. Three of my absolute favorites are: Black Star, Art Glass Fusion, and Kungfu Cowgirl

Q. Anything special you would like to add?

A. Celebrate the small milestones, but don’t be afraid to think big. Don’t get bogged down with the cost of that ad or that show or that material….decide what you want your business to become in the big picture and then make the choices you have to make now to get there. There will be income gaps, huge visa bills, downtimes with technology, and gigantic investments of time with little immediate results. Count on it, so you don’t lose sight of the big picture when they happen.