How to Make An Etsy Store Work

Setting up an Etsy store can still be a smart move to make money from your arts and crafts.

It can be the ideal channel for testing designs, bringing ideal customers to your own online store, growing your social media profiles, email newsletter and building a loyal following.

As with everything that matters, it takes time and consistent effort to build up, including the inevitable learning curve period.

To help ease you along the path, this story is about 15 strategies for making Etsy give you an income and five potholes to watch out for.

Image shows a background of a botanical illustration of a passion fruit flower and vine with the text reading Skills Sharing 15 Strategies for Artists to Make Money on Etsy as Avoid Common Pitfalls Art Trails Tasmania

15 Ways to Make Money on Etsy 

Here are 15 strategies for artists to make Etsy work for them and generate income:

1. High-Quality Etsy Product Photography

Invest time in capturing professional-quality images of your artwork. Good photography can significantly increase the appeal of your products and attract potential buyers.

This one is a game changer and while it may take a while to develop the layout and photography skills, it is a must. 

And once you learn this skill, you’ll be happily surprised by just how useful and transferrable it is.

2. Optimised Etsy Product Titles and Descriptions

Use descriptive and keyword-rich titles and descriptions to improve the visibility of your listings in Etsy’s search results.

Every word in your listing is used by the Etsy search facility, so do your research, understand what words and terms your ideal buyers are thinking and using to find your work.

And don’t expect potential buyers to be able to guess what you would like them to search for, you need to know what they are doing.

3. Search Engine Optimatisation (SEO) and Etsy

Research relevant keywords and incorporate them into your product titles, descriptions, and tags to improve your shop’s visibility on Etsy.

This is different but the same as point 2. SEO is external, it is about Google and co. being able to find you. So when a potential customer does a search in Google, your Etsy product will show up in Google’s results.

How to Find Keywords for your Etsy Products

Don’t know what key words to use? Do some searches yourself and see what Google offers you in the Related Searches section further down the page. 

For example, if you type in dog art work in the Google search bar you’ll get a heap of interesting results, including, Dog Art – Etsy Australia. Further down, in the Related Searches section there’ll be a bundle of results, which are basically telling you key words. In my experiment Google showed: dog wall art Australia, dog prints wall art, dog art Australia, pet portraits, dog prints Australia, dog art ideas.

Each of these six suggestions are key word terms.

It can take years to absolutely nail SEO for any online project, whether it is your Etsy store and products or your website.  And to be frank, very few of us will achieve 10 out of 10 for our SEO. BUT, the best thing is, even with a modest attempt you can get good results from your SEO over time.

It is worth plugging away at your key words and testing out ideas and exploring what is happening with others.

Put another way, all your efforts at setting up an Etsy store and creating products will be a complete waste if you ignore the power of key words and SEO.

4. Create a Niche on Etsy

Specialise in a particular style, medium, or theme to differentiate yourself from competitors and attract a specific audience interested in your unique offerings.

While often this is much easier to write than to do, the key is in trusting your own inner creative voice and allowing your own style to come through.

It is all well and good to learn from others but copying another’s work is soul destroying, for all involved.

If you’re not sure how to create that difference allow yourself the time and space to experiment, to explore concepts, materials and mediums to see what flows from that. Often, the results can be quite surprising (and in a good way).  

By creating your own niche over time on Etsy you will stand out more, attracting your own customers.

5. Consistent Branding on Etsy and Across All Your Online Profiles and Offline Marketing Tools

Develop a cohesive brand identity across your shop, including your logo, packaging, and product presentation.

Consistency helps build trust and recognition among customers, it lets them know where they are with you.

I have to confess to not being a fan of the over use of the word “brand”. Colgate toothpaste is a brand, so too is Coles supermarket, all belonging to mega corporations who want to appeal on a human level.

Whereas for artists and artisans, makers and creators, we don’t need to become mega corporations. But we do need to look after our treasured supporters, our customers who enable us to keep doing what we love.

And that involves having consistency in the images we use to promote what we’re doing. 

For example, if you look at the Art Trails Tasmania home page you’ll see the fairy wrens on a fence in front of a waratah in the background.

This image is used as part of our top navigation bar and also on our Facebook and Instagram pages so our online audience know where they are.

It is used in a variety of places for this very purpose, to help our supporters to easily recognise where they are.

The Art Trails Tasmania logo is also used across multiple marketing tools, including out printed marketing tools, eg. business card, flyers and cards. 

Planning Out Your Images for Your Etsy Store

So when you are planning out your marketing tools (for example Facebook, Instagram, newsletter etc) and collateral (aka your thank you notes to go in with orders, packaging stickers, flyers etc) you need to keep it all working together.

Etsy require nine different images in various sizes for an Etsy store. 

Facebook and Instagram both have different image size requirements too.  

Your email newsletter will require a set of standard images about your business too, although you have more say about these.

This means that you need to have consistency across all of this of your images that you use in your branding.

6. Offering Customisation on Etsy

Provide options for Etsy custom orders to cater to individual preferences and offer a personalised shopping experience for your customers.

Now this will work for some product lines and not for others. It can be offered as a premium service that is optional. 

If you do offer this extra service it is really important that you have the ability to do the personalisations in a way that works for you, is cost effective and is profitable. It is no use offering a service that eats away your profit.

You can test out this service by strategically running limited edition products or promotions.

7. Promote Your Etsy Store on Social Media

Utilise platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to showcase your products, share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your creative process, and engage with your audience.

Always provide links back to your Etsy store and individual products.

Instagram now lets you have up to four links and it is really important to make use of them. 

As well as linking to your Etsy store itself, you can feature special products, link at a newsletter signup page, your own website store and your blog. 

Develop a plan for your posts so you know what you’re doing – it is so much easier having clarity and a content planner than scrambling around trying to figure out what to post next, finding the graphics and knowing what you want to say.

Those wonderful product images will come into play with your socials and lure the perfect buyers to your store.

8. Participate in Etsy Teams

Join Etsy Teams related to your niche or interests to connect with other sellers, share tips, and collaborate on promotional efforts.

It is really important to spend the time and effort to build up your presence in the Etsy community itself. While this can easily take six to 12 months of consistent action, it is what the top sellers have all done.

There are no silo success stories with Etsy, it is a community and if you want to succeed, you need to be proactive, supportive, enabling and consistent. The only way to do this well is to be your own authentic self.

Collaborating on promotional efforts is a very powerful way to grow, because of you are all leveraging off each other, supporting each other with creating a bigger pool of potential buyers.

Plus, Etsy sellers shop with other Etsy sellers.

9. Run Promotions and Sales on Etsy

Offer discounts, promotions, or special deals to attract customers and encourage repeat purchases.

Create yourself a calendar for this and be organised ahead of time with your promotional tools – your graphics, social media content, blog stories, and newsletters.

If you’re planning on having a very successful Christmas selling period, plan out your promotions, get your Christmas themed goodies designed, made, photographed and listed by 1st September. You want the buyers who like to be organised as well as those who leave it until the second week in December to put their thinking caps on. But wouldn’t it be wonderful to get your Christmas sales income starting in September and be sold out by 10th December?

10. Utilise Etsy Ads Wisely

Consider investing in Etsy Ads to increase your shop’s visibility on the platform. Monitor and adjust your ad campaigns based on their performance to maximise their effectiveness.

Set a Budget and Stick to It

Set yourself a budget for learning how this works and don’t go over budget. It is really easy to lose too much money with digital advertising when you are learning the ropes. Start small, learn step by step so you can flourish.

When you are part of the Etsy community you can ask for help about how to make the Etsy ads work and develop a decent strategy to test out for yourself.

11. Provide Excellent Customer Service on Etsy

Respond promptly to inquiries, address customer concerns, and provide a positive buying experience to encourage repeat business and positive reviews.

This is really important. But so too is not being manipulated by the nasty customers, you know, the ones who treat sellers dismally so they get a refund all the while keeping the perfectly good product (aka stealing).

Excellent customer service does include boundaries.

Many sellers photograph individual pieces before sending them out and provide the customer with the photo to demonstrate the quality of the piece. This is reassuring to all of the good customers and off putting to the scammers.

Plus, you need to have your store terms clearly written out. Again, go to your Etsy seller community for the finer details on how to craft excellent store policies.

You want your customers to rave about you and you want the troublesome customers to not shop with you.

 

12. Expand Product Range on Etsy Strategically

Continuously innovate and expand your product offerings to appeal to a wider audience and keep your shop fresh and exciting.

There is always an optimal level of product types and the amount that you carry. And that will depend on what you’re capable of making and storing. Very few of us have access to a warehouse for example.

Making Good Use of Limited Editions

But you can expand the product range by having limited editions where you have a certain number of a design for either a limited time or until sold out.

This limited editions let you test out the waters; how easy or difficult was the making process, how did customers respond, did it bring you new customers, did existing customers buy it, how was it for storing, what about shipping, how smooth or costly was that?

When a new design works all round you may decide to add it to the regular offerings. Maybe something has slowed down and should be taken out of the regular offerings?

Many find having seasonal releases to be useful too, think Christmas, Mother’s Day etc.

The magic lies in making it work for both you and your customers.

13. Attend Craft Shows or Markets

Participate in local craft shows, markets, or craft and art fairs to showcase your products in person and attract new customers.

Your online customers can become your market customers and vice versa. Just be sure to tell them!

In your emails to your customers be sure to include details of where else they can find you, whether that’s your own store online or a stall at a market or fair.

Connecting with QR Codes

Have a sign at your market with a QR code to an online page with all your details, so they can sign up to your newsletter, follow you on the socials, shop with you on your own website store and your Etsy store.

You may also find having a flyer or card on recycled paper with all the information as not all of your customers will want to use a QR code.

14. Offer Tutorials or Workshops on Etsy

Share your expertise by offering online tutorials, workshops, or downloadable resources related to your craft. This can help establish you as an authority in your niche and attract potential customers to your Etsy shop.

The other key benefit for doing this is to increase your income with digital products. Constantly making physical products that are made once and sold once can become a rod for your back.

Whereas digital products are made once and sold many times. There’s wealth in this product strategy.

15. Collect and Utilise Etsy Customer Feedback

Regularly solicit feedback from your customers and use it to improve your products, customer service, and overall shopping experience.

Feedback from customers is where the gold nuggets are. They will tell you what they want to buy and what can be improved.

Of course, some potential customers say they will buy something and never do (there has to be a reason for doing this but none have ever made sense to me), they didn’t even have any real intensions of buying it.

But if you are told multiple times about an idea, go chase it down, do your research and figure out how to make it authentically your own.

Making Your Etsy Store Flourish

By implementing these strategies, you can optimise your Etsy shop to increase visibility, attract customers, and ultimately generate more sales and revenue with phyiscal and digital products.

My Etsy Action List

It is one thing to read an article like this when you are figuring out what you want to achieve and how you want to go about it, but it is another thing to take action on it.

I’m a fan of Action Lists. When I was planning out this site I wrote up pages and pages of notes and realised I needed to pull of the steps needed into action lists. 

So what would be three or more points that you would note down for yourself?

5 Etsy Potholes to Avoid

Here are five common issues you might encounter with the Etsy platform, along with strategies to work around them:

1. High Competition on Etsy

With millions of sellers on Etsy, competition can be fierce, making it challenging for new artists to stand out. 

To work around this, focus on creating unique, quality products that cater to a specific niche or audience. 

Emphasise your (brand) creative story, craftsmanship, and value proposition to differentiate yourself from competitors.

2. Etsy Fee Structure

Etsy charges various fees, including listing fees, transaction fees, and payment processing fees, which can eat into artists’ profits. 

To mitigate this, carefully calculate your pricing to cover all expenses and ensure a reasonable profit margin. Consider offering bundled products or upselling complementary items to increase the average order value and offset fees.

Also, bring your Etsy audience to your own newsletter, social media platforms and/or online store so you can build a lasting relationship outside of just Etsy.

3. Etsy Search Algorithm Changes

Etsy’s search algorithm frequently evolves, affecting how listings are ranked in search results. To adapt, stay informed about updates to Etsy’s search algorithm and adjust your SEO strategies accordingly.  Being active in the Etsy seller community certainly helps here.

Continuously optimise your product titles, descriptions, and tags with relevant keywords to improve your visibility and ranking on the platform.

4. Limited Control Over Etsy Platform Changes

As a third-party platform, Etsy may implement changes to its policies, features, or algorithms without consulting individual sellers. 

To minimise the impact of platform changes, diversify your sales channels by selling on multiple platforms or establishing your own independent website and grow your own email newsletter. Building a loyal customer base outside of Etsy can provide a safety net in case of unforeseen changes or disruptions.

This is true for all the platforms, from Facebook, Instagram, Patreon, Spoonflower, Print on Demand platforms like Redbubble etc.

5. Etsy Customer Service Challenges

Etsy’s customer service may not always meet sellers’ expectations, particularly in addressing issues such as disputes, refunds, or account suspensions. 

To navigate customer service challenges, maintain clear communication with buyers, promptly address any concerns or complaints, and strive to resolve disputes amicably. Consider providing exceptional customer service as a way to differentiate your shop and build trust with buyers, regardless of any platform-related issues.

Be very clear in your store policies about issues so your customers know this too.

Overcoming the Etsy Pitfalls

By being proactive, adaptable, and resourceful, sellers can overcome common challenges associated with the Etsy platform and effectively leverage its opportunities to grow their businesses.

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