SF Etsy on Storenvy.com

Storenvy.com is a great solution when you are looking for a place to host your own shop and this weekend they have a campaign to reach 20,000 shops!  Storenvy is a local start-up offering free online store fronts and many of our members are already selling there.  If you'd like to know more about the service, please visit their facebook page or Storenvy.com and tell them SF Etsy sent you!
Rollcall!

Willo O'Brien of Willotoons on Etsy and Storenvy

Willotoons on Storenvy

Niki Baker of foreignspell on Etsy and Storenvy

foreignspell on Storenvy

Farrah of MzCreation on Etsy and Storenvy

MzCreation on Storenvy

Connor of San Francisco Terrain on Etsy and Storenvy

San Francisco Terrain on Storenvy

Kathryn Hedges of Splendid Colors on Etsy and Storenvy

Splendid Colors on Storenvy

Claire Smith of Embergrass on Etsy and Storenvy

Embergrass on Storenvy

Lisa Spinella of Tickle and Smash on Etsy and Storenvy

Tickle and Smash on Storenvy

Cyndi of BellaJacksonStudios on Etsy and Storenvy

Bella Jackson Studios on Storenvy

Maggie Hurley of maggiehurley on Etsy and Storenvy

Maggie Hurley on Storenvy

Each store is different thanks to the customizable features on Storenvy.com.  Sellers have the option to have the domain name include "storenvy" for free, but can upgrade to a full domain name.

And~our biggest request as a team was for an Etsy listing importer; there's an early option here!

I know we have more members on Storenvy too, feel free to share your shop links and experiences in the comments below~

~Even

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

The Art of Selling Online - Hosted by Storenvy

Last Thursday Adam Hendle and the awesome folks at Storenvy hosted a workshop to give online sellers, like us, more information and advice about.. well.. selling online!

It was an open event (with a $5 donation to the San Francisco Homeless Children's Network, who are based in the same building as Storenvy) and quite a few members of our SF Etsy team decided to check it out.


Since the Storenvy offices are the the Mission and no trip to the Mission is complete without eating Mexican food, a few SF Etsy members also met up beforehand for a sneaky burrito, before the workshop started at 7pm.


11 of our team members showed up for the presentation and it was great to meet a few more team members and put faces to Etsy shops and Twitter accounts! They were:
Eko from Eko Wright, Even Howard from nadene, Lisa from Tickle and Smash, Katy from Katy Atchison, Kathryn Hedges from Splendid Colors, Rochelle Foles from Haute Melange, Conor from San Francisco Terrain, Veronika from Recherche, Brandi and Briana from Urban Bazaar and me, Claire from Embergrass. Told you there were quite a few of us!

So what did we learn?
Well, the presentation was a very comprehensive look at all aspects of selling online and it was crammed full of information so there's no way I'm even going to attempt to cover it all here. I will leave you with some of the highlights, though, and a few quotes from some of our team members, taken from our recent tweetchats.

• Be self-aware, find a niche, be passionate about it.
• Recognize that not everyone is your target customer and find those people who are.
• Set realistic, achievable and measurable goals.
• Tell your story and carry your brand through in everything you do.
• Make sure your product descriptions include all the information the customer needs - they can't see or touch your product over the internet

"Pack good keywords into the first section-easy to do this if you start with the story + it shows the handmade nature better" - Jen (Acts of Craftiness)

• Take great photos of your products.

"Good light! One of the most important aspects of taking photos" - Claire Smith (Embergrass)

• Include more information on how your product is made, behind-the-scenes photos and lifestyle or 'lookbook' photos on your blog.
• Try to show scale in your photos, definitely make sure your photos aren't misleading.

"I made the mistake of using size ambiguous props.. people thought my handbags were change purses" - Lisa Spinella (Tickle and Smash)

• Always provide outstanding customer service and be a real person.
• Interact on social media like twitter, facebook and pinterest.

"I try to pretend my customer is standing there in front of me..what would I say, do to remedy the situation. BE Real" - Sarah Mones Friedman (birdbags)

• Admit to mistakes and apologize then try to fix them
• Packaging is the first impression your customer gets of you - make it good and consistent with your branding

"there is always a tough balance between presentation, perception and being eco-friendly" - Kathleen McMahon 

• Customer service doesn't end when you ship your product - follow up to see if they have feedback.

A lot of great resources were also thrown up during the workshop, you can find them over on the Storenvy blog on their recap of the event. If you wished you'd been there, don't worry, Adam will be doing the presentation again sometime, keep an eye on the Storenvy blog to find out when.

Upcoming Event

If you have a burning desire (or just a desperate need) to find out more about how to use Google Analytics, your wish has just been answered.

Google Analytics Workshop
September 18th
6pm - 8pm
Hosted by Storenvy, in conjunction with the SF Etsy Team

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