Tell Your Story!

Today we are hosting SF Etsy team members for the first of our own Holiday Boot Camp events. For those of you who can't make it in person, here's a bit of what we are working on today, please join in using these resources and communicating over twitter with the tag #sfetsy.

Great Photos

Photographer Astra Brinkmann is taking headshots and giving advice for putting your best look forward in product photography.  She is available for private consulting and creative portrait photography is her forte!

Kathryn of SplendidColors, Claire of Embergrass, Imelda of SunsetShutterbug, and Jillian of JoulesJewels get ready for their turn with Astra!

Etsy About Pages

How do you talk about yourself and your creative life?  Here are some of the writing prompts and resources we are using to tell our story best on the Etsy About pages.

• When did you first start working with your present medium? How did that come about?
• Do you have professional training, a creative cohort, or other community links that relate to your work?
• Are your family and friends involved in your Etsy shop in any way?
• How does your Etsy shop and what you sell reflect your hopes for the future?
• What areas of the world inform your work?
• What do people who know you best say about you?
• Can you describe the process of creating your works, especially where you work and how it feels?
• Have you worked in other mediums in the past?
• What eras of time are inspiring to you? How is this reflected in your shop?
• How would you like your customer to feel when using/wearing your works?

I've been a fan of Twyla Tharp's book The Creative Habit and this blogger has reproduced a great checklist of reflective questions from her section on telling your own creative story.

Listings: Descriptions and Tags

Once you tell your own story, it becomes easier to insert snippets of that into the description of your individual items.  Don't forget to link back to your own About page within each listing!  You can bulk edit listings and tags using third party apps, like Betsi or EtsyonSale.

• Try brainstorming words that describe your shop (not individual products). Try to do one word for every letter of the alphabet.  Pick a few great words from this list and then add a descriptor (adjective) to create tags for your individual product.
• The Holiday Merchandising Report is up from Etsy.  See if their tags and themes fit any of your work, use the exact terms if so.
• Use the new Market Research Tool to check out price points that are selling and notice the tags under each price point.  See if those tags are relevant to your work, especially if your price point is higher than average, notice what tags signal a higher price.
• Remember you can use two word descriptions as tags, but make sure the two words are relevant to each other.  Think "pumpkin orange" over "green orange purple" to keep it cool with Etsy.
• Tag your own full name and/or shop name if you think that your customer might be searching for you this way.  If you hope for referrals from friends and family, make sure that those people can find you by name.  
• Use the search bar to start typing in your tags and see what Etsy auto-fills for you in the drop down menu.  These are the most popular versions of your tags, use them if they apply to your work and keep in mind this changes over time.
• Check out what's being promoted in the treasury tags and Browse areas of the site.  If the terms fit your work, go ahead and add them as tags.  For example, in Jewelry, we are seeing "Personalized Jewelry", "Dangle Earrings", "Organizers: Trees", etc.  
• Ask other sellers for advice on your work, it's always interesting to hear how others describe your work and learn from a first impression.

Business Catch Up

Now is the time to make sure your business is all set up and you are ready to sell online and in person!  Get your Business License, Seller's Permit, and Temporary location permit all up to date.  We also have credit card swiper devices from Square on hand so you don't miss any sales.

See you at Duboce Cafe this afternoon!  

~Even

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Katy or Steph about joining SFEtsy!

Savvy Entrepreneur: Writing An About Page

Over the holidays many new people are going to be visiting your Etsy shop looking for gifts for friends and family. They’re busy and overloaded with items so you want to put your best foot forward and make a connection with whoever you can. Besides having great photos and product descriptions, your about page needs to shine. Remember they might be shopping for someone else, but they’re also taking note of what they like for themselves.

The most clicked on page on any website, even your Etsy site, is the about or profile page. Buyers want to know who they’re buying from and how you’re different. Your about statement isn’t your biography or resume, it’s just a few paragraphs that let your customers know what inspires you to do what you do and gives them a way to relate to you.

Do A Little Research

Before you dive into writing or revamping your own read as many about pages as you can stand. Make note of sentences, phrases and words that really speak to you. Why? Notice what points you connect with and what parts make you gloss over. Use this knowledge to make your own profile fun and engaging.

The key points you may want to include are, who you are, what you do, where you come from (this may be literal or the path that led you to your current business), your inspirations, and what you do that’s different. You don’t need to hit on every single point and you may throw one or two more topics in there if you’re relevant, but those are a great place to start.

Sitting Down To Write

Start with a point of reflection that customers can relate to, a personal story that is a sort of turning point or aha moment in your life. Once you’ve brought them in tell them what it is you’re really offering and how it will make a difference in their life. Remember you may sell handbags, but what you’re really offering is convenience and functionality.

Then move into telling us why you do what you do and what specific talents you have that make your product different. Bonus points if you can fit in some version of this phrase, “Because __________ is important to me, you get a ____________ that ______________.”

If you’re really struggling with what to say ask friends and family to describe what you do as though they were introducing you to a potential client. They’ll most likely have a perspective that’s useful to you.

Most of all remember you can always go back and change it when you think of a better way to say it, but you need to get it down on paper before you can do any editing.

What are some of your favorite about or profile pages?

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I encourage comments directly to this post, but also feel free to email me directly with questions, reactions, struggles, etc. genevieve [at] lightboxsf [dot] com

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!