Sep 18, 2019
Etsy is a great marketplace for selling handmade goods. But you need to how to make money on Etsy to win.
One of the major advantages of selling on Etsy is it is a platform with millions of dedicated shoppers and great search, so you don’t have to work as hard to get eyeballs on your products.
Also, did you know that we offer an Etsy pop-up here at MiloTree? Yes, we do! Install the Etsy pop-up on your site and it links over to your Etsy store with a big "Shop Now!" button.
Go to MiloTree today to get your own customized pop-up for your site and start driving traffic to your Etsy shop today. Your first 30 days are completely free.
My guest, Nancy Badillo, has a blog and a YouTube channel, and teaches people how to run online businesses especially Etsy shops.
Nancy built her own Etsy shop from scratch, with no professional experience. Her shop, Forever Happy Prints, started earning big returns only months after starting.
What Do You Need for Success On Etsy?
If you’ve been listening to this podcast for any length of time, you’ve heard me say that the riches are in the niches.
Having a clearly defined niche guarantees more success and growth.
In addition to having a tightly defined niche, you need to do market research to learn who your competition is and who your audience is. Once you have that information, you will know if there is a felt need for your products on Etsy.
When doing your research, don’t bother looking at shops that have been open for many years.
Your market research should focus on shops that have been open for two years or less. If you have a product similar to theirs, you will know if it is going to do well in the market right now.
How To Stand Out on Etsy
If you are in a very competitive niche, with a lot of other shops, it’s going to be hard to be found organically.
You need to understand the Etsy Listing Score. So, when you upload a new product, you are assigned a neutral score.
Your product gets placed on the first page of search results, and based on how the audience interacts with it over its first month, you can rank really well.
If your listing doesn’t get lots of clicks, likes, and sales, your listing will lose rank and Etsy will push it down in the search engine.
You need to have great photos, use correct keywords, and target your correct audience to get a good listing.
If your listing is pushed down or you’re in a saturated market, you can “pay to play” on Etsy using Etsy promoted listings.
Creating Other Sales Outlets
Nancy has seen many creators become burned out when they try to expand to too many different platforms at once.
The best thing to do as an Etsy seller is to check your Etsy analytics. You can see where traffic to your store is coming from.
Whichever platform is driving the most traffic, focus the majority of your efforts on that one.
Nancy believes that a blog with Shopify installed is a better platform to sell your products on than Etsy.
You have more leverage because you can drive people to your own site, collect their email addresses, and grow your email list to have new people to market your products to.
Your Etsy shop can be closed down, but your blog is your own. You can build an audience there that will never be taken from you.
Optimizing Your Keywords on Etsy
Understanding SEO is going to get more eyes on your products, track your right audience, and increase your conversions.
You want your keywords to be very specific so that you are targeting the right audience.
Using longtail keywords will help people who are searching for your products find you.
Using longtail keywords means that your overall search volume and views will be lower, but the quality of your viewers will be higher.
If you do not know who your target audience is, start your Etsy shop, put up your products with your specific keywords, hook your Etsy to Google analytics and after a month, study all the data.
Etsy will only show you a certain amount of data, whereas, on Google Analytics, you can see everything.
Once you identify who your ideal audience is, you will be able to be even more specific with your keywords.
The next step is to optimize your shop for your target audience.
Your main keyword needs to be in your title, in your meta description, and you can add additional keywords into your listing description.
How Many Products Do You Need in Your Etsy Shop?
Nancy believes 50 products is a good number to have in your shop.
If you have chosen a niche where it’s hard to have 50 products, you can duplicate product listings, but change the title, the tags, and the keywords.
You can change your product slightly, such as the color of a background or a different font.
It’s important to spend the majority of your time actually creating products for your shop. Nancy recommends spending about 60% of your time creating and 40% on marketing.
Tools For Etsy
If you know you are in a saturated market, Etsy promoted listings is a good resource for you.
Facebook Carousel ads are a favorite because you can add up to ten products in one ad. If you don’t have a large budget, you can add ten different items for the price of one ad.
Google Analytics is so important. If you don’t understand the ins and outs of your business, you’re not going to be able to grow it like you want to.
Advice for Etsy Sellers
There is no instant gratification in owning an Etsy shop. You have to work one day at a time and be patient.
Make a list of things to do for the current month, prioritize the most important items, and set aside time to complete these items.
Every time you mark something off the list, reward yourself and give yourself the credit you deserve for doing the work!
Treat your Etsy shop as a real business. Fill out the bio section, add a banner to your storefront, and read the Etsy seller’s handbook for a great resource on best practices.
What Type of Online Entrepreneur is MiloTree Right For?
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TIMESTAMP
- Intro
- 9:45 Components For Success On Etsy
- 12:45 Hot Niches Right Now
- 16:23 How To Stand Out
- 20:50 Creating Other Sales Outlets
- 25:00 Optimizing Your Keywords
- 30:45 Too Many Products?
- 33:42 Tools For Etsy
- 39:16 Nancy’s Advice
Read the podcast transcript for “How to Be Successful on Etsy”
TOP 4 TAKEAWAYS
- Decide on a tightly defined niche for the products you want to sell.
- Use high-quality photos, well-researched keywords, and a highly-targeted audience to rank higher in Etsy search.
- Set up a shopping section on your blog; remember, you own your blog. You do not own your Etsy store.
- Optimize your entire shop for your target audience.