So this blog is a little bit more of a reflection blog - a how NOT-to blog, if you will. In the three years since I've opened my Etsy shop, I more than doubled sales in year two, and now in year three I am on pace to double revenues again. Maybe.
The reason I say maybe is because I realized recently that I have been doing a lot more for Etsy.com than I realized - and although I am truly grateful for this platform, I feel frustrated because the way Etsy does business has changed in a way that benefits my competitors more than it benefits me.
Let me explain, and hopefully I can help you avoid the mistakes that I made. When people search for things that I sell, or link to one of my products on Etsy.com, they now will see "suggestions" of similar items - which may or may not be items from my own shop. Which means that if I drive potential clients to my Etsy shop, they may instead choose to purchase from my competitors. Not cool.
I realized recently that posting pictures on Pinterest of my items sold through Etsy.com was the leading cause of this. If people clicked through on my link, they would go to my Etsy.com shop, but now they would also now be exposed to suggestions from similar competitors rather than the item that I created.
The funny thing is, when I started selling on Etsy, I sold the only thing I had ever made - photo collages on wooden letters for players on my volleyball team. Then came the day that someone asked for collages on numbers. I went to the craft stores, and at this time, they did not sell numbers. So I had to find a way to make my numbers myself. That is how I know I was the first person to make a jersey number collage - no one else had done it or could do it without making the numbers, too!
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| 15 Inch Jersey Number Collage by Match Point Gifts |
Fast forward to now - you can get generic numbers in almost every craft store and there are several people who now make number collages. I am not offended by this - I see that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I also believe that there are certain benefits that my collages and numbers possess that other people can't touch - partly because I understand things about athletics that only come from firsthand knowledge as an athlete and a coach.
What does bother me is generating leads for other shops. And I would love to help anyone else who might experience this by offering two important pieces of advice:
1. Create a web STORE, not just a website.
My webstore is www.matchpointgifts.com. It was a lot more difficult to set up than setting up my shop on Etsy, but I believe that doing this early will help you avoid the frustrations I have experienced.2. Link every shop update and photo that you pin on Pinterest of your creations to your WEBSTORE, not Etsy.com.
Then it will drive your interested Pinners and followers to your unique works of art and not advertise for others!I wish I would have known this before pictures of my collages generated 24k pins or more. *sigh* Those pins were attributed to Etsy or to a general collage genre, but not to my shop, Match Point Gifts.
But that's ok. Business is all about learning and because I'm also a teacher, I live to inform others to do better than myself!
I hope you can learn from my mistakes! In the meantime, I will be trying to build my web store beyond Etsy, and I'll keep you posted with what I learn!
Don't forget, if you need any custom wood numbers, letters, or cutouts, you can find them in either of my online stores:
www.matchpointgifts.com
www.giantnumbershoppe.com
Thanks for reading! Tell me about your experience with any of the above - I'd love to hear your advice as well!
Crystal
