I opened my Etsy shop in 2009 as a way to make some extra money. Now that I’m able to devout more time to creating, I’d like make this a more serious business. Mister Penguin believes that my shop is a pipe dream, but I really would like to make it profitable.
After looking over my sales for this year, I felt depressed and a bit discouraged. It’s embarrassing how badly my shop is doing, but I’m keeping it real folks.
Here’s the harsh reality:
- I only had 5 sales all year. I sold 3 vintage items and 2 handmade items.
- My shop only averages 80 views a month.
- I only have 10 Facebook fans and 8 Twitter followers.
- This blog only averages 190 views a month and only 5 comments a month (some of which are mine).
So I started to ask myself some hard questions. Why aren’t my products selling? Are my prices too high? Or too low? Are my products not up to par? Do I have too much product diversity?
I don’t know the answers to some of these questions, but I do know that I need to improve my marketing skills. I need more people to see my products in order for more people to buy them. I also need to make or buy a light box to improve my photos. I’ve been putting it off, but not anymore.
I also decided that I would really like to sell more art work and less vintage and sewing items. Some items have been sitting in “my shop” since I opened it in 2009. I’m going to let those listing expire and then remove them from my shop. Maybe I’ll try ebay for those!
Can you think of anything else I can do to reach customers, get more followers/fans or more readers? I need all the help I can get!
