As the year winds down, I’ve been thinking a lot about how my own business will be changing this year. With a new baby due in February, my future plans need to be tweaked greatly in order to incorporate a new life into not just my family – but my business as well.
Here are 22 New Year’s Resolutions every Etsy seller could benefit from:
1- Keep a Calendar
I don’t know about you but this past year I was utterly disorganized in many ways. One thing that sticks out in my mind is the fact that I didn’t have a proper calendar to keep track of important dates, deadlines and committments I had made – and that meant being late several times on important assignments. While I always got things done in the nick of time, it left me with a bad taste in my mouth because I knew that even though the work did get done, I probably annoyed some important people along the way (like my customers) and that’s not good for my business.
This year, keep a simple calendar such as on Google or use a pretty little handmade agenda found on Etsy (of course!) to mark down everything you need to make this year productive and hassle-free. Your customers, peers and other important people will thank you and you’ll be grateful for how good it feels to not have to keep everything in your head or scattered in various places.
2- Build a Mailing List
This is something many Etsy sellers either don’t understand how to start or don’t understand the value of. Either way, it’s a huge mistake. A major way to drive new sales, traffic and interest to your Etsy shop is by growing a mailing list following of customers, potential customers, peers and fans who want to hear about your work, promotions and any other special tips you may have to offer.
It’s easy to get started and a site many peers and colleagues I know use (as well as myself) is Mail Chimp, which offers a forever free account for up to one thousand (1000) subscribers! Once signed up, be sure to add an opt-in box to your blog as well as put the word out on your social sites and in your Etsy shop announcement. Other ways to get people on your list (the right way – no spamming allowed) is to ask new customer passively via a thank you convo, put out a sign up sheet at a craft fair and leave sign up information with every item you sell wholesale to retail stores.
3- Market More
I look back at the end of 2010 and realize that I didn’t carve out enough time for marketing, especially via social media. When things get crazy (holiday sales, intense client workload and plans for the future) you end up spending more time working and less time marketing which seems okay at the time but once you’re workload dies down, you’ll wish you had consistently marketed, even if it was only 10 minutes a day, in order to have garnered more steady work over time.
4- Overcommit Less
Tara Gentile, editor of Scoutie Girl, has a lot to say about this resolution:
“To avoid overcommitting myself in 2011:
I’m concentrating on understanding the value of my time. I need to know what activities are most profitable OR grow my tribe more quickly. Now that I understand those things, I’ll be concentrating my time on those activities, not chasing work that doesn’t benefit me.
I can also give my work constraints that benefit the customer. I can deliver a more consistent, valuable product for less cost if I understand the nature of the tasks involved.
Really, in 2010, I served a whole bunch of customers well but not awesomely. By understanding how I overcommitted and preventing that same problem in 2011, my plan is to serve a TON of customers awesomely. And serve my entire tribe (whether they buy or not) with relevant, perspective-changing ideas.”
5- Keep to a Budget for Fees
Etsy fees can really rack up when you’re busy creating lots of new items, relisting some hidden gems and selling a lot of products too. Trouble is, when you get to a point where the fees are outweighing the sales (which to be honest is at definitely something you should expect in the initial few months of your Etsy business), it may be time to place a budget on your monthly Etsy bill.
While the total amount will be different depending on the type of seller you are and the amount of products you produce, it’s important to pick a number you’re comfortable with that factors into your big picture plan.
6- Retake Crappy Photos
There are endless amounts of sellers (both on and off Etsy) who know their photos are just not up to par yet they sit around every day not doing a darn thing about it. Instead of parading around on Twitter tooting out links or putting out calls to retail stores to get a wholesale account, stop what you’re doing right now if your photos stink and get cracking on taking some better ones.
It’s absolutely essential to your online future with Etsy that your photos sparkle and scream your brand every time someone new happens upon them. This may even mean going out and purchasing a better quality digital camera or grabbing a lightbox on eBay to beautify your small item photography, whatever it takes, get out there and make it happen because having great photos can make or break your business success on Etsy.
7- Add More Price Points
I love going into Etsy shops and seeing a variety of price points carried by sellers. Recently I was browsing in an accessories shop and noticed that the price points went from wallets (lowest) to clutches (low) to runched handbags (medium) to messenger bags (high) to long strapped diaper bags (highest). When I looked at the seller’s sold items, I was blown away by the fact she had close to 1000 sales in just over a year. Besides offering a hearty amount of variety in styles and colors, she successfully staggered price points in the same category of product (accessories, more specifically bags) which means she gets people going in for something small and coming back for much more in the near future.
To do price points successfully, don’t go off and make something higher or lower priced to what you currently offer if it doesn’t work with your current collection – instead sit down and brainstorm things that complement your current products and give you the chance to use similar materials. Be sure to also check out this great tiered pricing post by the Etsy blog, the Storque.
8- Carve Out a Better Work Space
I’m not sure about you but I’m absolutely sick of my work space (aka the couch, the dining table, the desk that’s filled with random papers and notebooks and well, mostly the couch). In 2011 I’m going to fix my situation by setting aside a proper place to call my own, a hub if you will, for me, myself and I to frequent for creating things, writing, marketing and more.
Set up your own hub with whatever free space you can muster (hey, have you seen what Jordan Ferney did for her son in a closet?… surely we creatives can come up with an immaculate workspace even if it’s tiny, inspired by this post) and stop scattering your business all around your residence.
9- Take a Day Off
If you’re one of the many burnt out Etsy sellers floating around, I bet this is already high up on your New Year’s resolution list. You may have spent a majority of 2010 working days, evenings, early mornings, weekends and more to get your business off the ground. Whether you have a day job or are doing this full time, realize that getting too much done without ever taking a break can lead to a failed business.
Many sellers realize that if they don’t spend part of their year taking time away to refresh their creativity and recharge their batteries, they won’t do as well as they could. Make a point to take every weekend off or if you work a day job, keep a couple evenings a week to yourself for something non Etsy related.
10- Cut Out the Crap
Did you do something this year that just didn’t work out the way you thought it would? Perhaps you attended a craft show that sucked up a lot of time and earned you little reward. Or maybe you spent your entire week on Twitter and never once saw a new visitor to your blog from the effort. Whatever it is that you would categorize of ‘crap you shouldn’t have done’, either research the issue (maybe you did things wrong like picked the wrong time of year for the craft show or became really selfish on Twitter) and see if you can learn from your mistake to make things better next time – or make it a point to skip the crap altogether in 2011.
11- Add Income Streams
If you’re only selling on Etsy, you’re leaving money on the table. If you’re not sure how to manage adding more to your schedule, start with one additional income stream idea and work your way up from there. Simple ideas would be to try and land your work in a retail store, do something local like a craft show or jewelry party or host ads on your blog (if it’s popular enough). You could also try to see if you can get a freelance writing gig on a craft blog or magazine’s site.
12- Learn More, Do More
Make sure you set aside time each week (hey, even your work lunch break would make a great time) to learn something new and implement the idea into your business. With blogs like The Storque, Ittybiz, Meylah, The Launch Coach, Tara Gentile and Craft MBA, you have an endless source of places to find helpful ideas for improving your Etsy shop and business, so get cracking already.
13- Organize Paperwork
This is a no brainer – join Outright right now – and get your paperwork on track in a flash. It took me all of 10 minutes to set myself on Outright using Paypal and my own bank account statements and as tax season approaches, I’m super excited that things have practically been done for me and all I have to do is get submitting!
14- Keep Better Track of Inventory
You can do this easily with a simple spreadsheet or go all out with fancy software but make a point this year to keep materials and inventory better organized and accounted for. It will save you tons of money and while the time you need to do this does add up – it means you’ll know exactly what you can make, never let customers down and always be on top of the cost of goods sold.
15- Set Regular Hours
Nope, I’m not saying you need to work nine to five (umm, that’s what we’re all trying to avoid with a creative online business, right?) but I am saying that setting regular hours such as ‘two hours per day’ or 3pm to 8pm Monday and Friday, will help you work smarter and give you a sense of order with your Etsy shop and endeavours.
16- Outline Better Policies
As January approaches, you may start getting some returns in your shop (Christmas gift recipients are never happy, are they?) but with a solid policy in place (for both regular and holiday seasons) you’ll feel better knowing that you did everything you could to avoid losses and are setting your shop up for little returns in the near future.
17- Beautify Your Copy
Just because you don’t have a way with words doesn’t mean you should just throw up some random bits of information in your product listings and hope they sell. Sit down and quietly channel the feelings and story behind your product, then set out to write a sweet paragraph about your product in each listing you add to Etsy.
Trust me – it will make a world of difference and give potential customers great insight into who you are and what you do (which of course, will help you sell more, more, more). Just don’t forget the important details too!
18- Make Necessary Investments
Think long and hard about what you need to buy this year for your business – besides materials of course – and go ahead and do it. You may have been putting these types of purchases off but if it means bettering your business (and sales too) then it’s wise to make these investments as soon as you can afford to.
These important yet larger purchases could be anything from a new digital camera (something with amazing focus), a laptop (so you can finally work at Starbucks) or even more simple – a shipping scale or higher quality work tools (oh, the joy!).
19- Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
If you didn’t take any big chances this year, 2011 is the time to do it. Go out there and get a wholesale account or host your very first craft party, whatever it is that will make your success grow, now is the time to do it.
20- Aim for More Press
The easiest thing you can do in the New Year is subscribe to several sites helping people get more press. One of those sites is mine so it comes highly recommended – it’s called Create Hype, and all you need to do is sign up and I’ll send you a weekly email with a website you can submit your work to for consideration of blog or magazine press!
Other great sites include Sarah Shaw’s Instantly Famous Products for getting your products in movies and on TV shows, Heather Allard’s The Mogul Mom for mom entrepreneur press and work tips and of course, Help a Reporter Out (also known as HARO) for big time press inquiries sent thrice daily to your inbox.
21 – Improve your SEO
Over the past year I’ve written several tips for search engine optimization on Meylah, for sellers on and off Etsy. Whether you need beginner tips, want to pick great keywords or have the SEO blues, get out there and implement some of these SEO tips now to build your business up on Google.
22 – Outsource Weaknesses
Heather from The Mogul Mom took on a lot in 2010 from revamping her site’s mission to a weekly email for mom entrepreneurs to building a PR collective. I asked her what her New Year’s resolution was:
“My 2011 resolution is to outsource my weaknesses so I can focus on my strengths. For me, that means hiring a bookkeeper to manage my money and a virtual assistant to handle my email inbox. Then, I’ll have the time and energy to focus on my strong suits – content creation, sales and marketing, and networking.”
Photo Credits: imagination and barefoot hippie prints by stephanie corfee