Last weekend, our team member Imelda of Sunset Shutterbug hosted a Crafty Computer Meet-up at her house. She gratiously wrote a little entry about the event.
"Jumping on the bandwagon of meet-ups, Saturday afternoon a couple fellow SF Etsians and I got together for a crafty computer session at my apartment to work on our shops and get to know each other. Michelle of The Elegant Sparrow, Eko of Eko Jewlery Design, Talia of Mycrob and Korie of Seaglass Reinvented and I fired up our computers (or iPad) and talked shop. We discussed all sorts of things and we walked away with extra tips and advice to help improve shops. Here are some tips that came up during our meet-up.
Re-listing - Korie's shop has been open on Etsy for barely a month and she made 6 sales during that short time! She credits re-listing 3 times a day to keep her shop relevant.
Facebook - Several of us are on Facebook and we use it to help market our shops, new items and other things that may interest our fans.
House Parties - Michelle recently sold her jewelry at 2 parties, one in LA and another in Washington. To her surprise, she sold a number of items at each event! Great way to connect with new customers and expand your clientele. This would be a great idea during the holidays!
Twitter - Can't afford to re-list every day? Use it to promote your items without spending 20 cents. And use those hashtags for Etsy teams your apart of. They can retweet you and help promote you to their followers.
Lightbox - Make one or buy one. I just made mine this weekend and I only spent 99 cents on the poster board.
Tagging - Use Etsy Teams in your tags! If someone finds out about SF Etsy and searches for the team in Etsy, your item will show up in a search if you put the team name in your tags.
Instag.ram, Flickr & Pinterest - Great ways to give your work exposure!
LinkedIn - Great way to professionally network with other sellers, especially if you hold a day time job in addition to running your business.
Etsy Teams and Etsy Forums - Meet and talk with other members! Post in your Etsy Teams and in the Etsy forums. Buyers also read the forums and the more active you are, the more people see your shop. Your customers may be your peers or a buyer who likes to read the forums. You never know where your next customer will come from.
Local Businesses - If you know someone who owns a business, talk to them about setting up a table and sell for a few hours. Especially if they get a fair amount of foot traffic. This would be even better if they're holding a launch party for a new line or product.
Fundraisers & Auctions - If you know of an organization or school that frequently holds auctions or fundraisers, you can donate your item as a way to help get exposure for your shop and also help raise some money for a good cause.
We all had a really fun time and the 3 hours just flew by! I hope we all get to meet each other again and stay connected. It's always fun getting to know other local sellers and geek out on our shops. Here's to more SF Etsy meet-ups!"
Thank you to our team member Imelda of Sunset Shutterbug for a great write up.
If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Katy or Steph about joining SFEtsy!
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