Thursday’s post on skill, price, and Etsy as business incubator generated a lot of good discussion, and I wanted to elaborate on a few more points.
First, my key point is this, if Etsy isn’t meeting your needs, you’re under no obligation to stay. However, if Etsy is meeting your needs, that’s ok too. Stay as long as you like. But what I want to impress is that Etsy is not going to fit everyone’s needs, and then it’s ok to leave. Etsy has built itself into a powerful force in the crafts community (and rightly so) but with that comes the impression that now a crafter must sell on Etsy to reach success. Or that you must sell on Etsy forever. Neither of which is true. Etsy is just one option among the many ways (online and off) to build a craft business.
But since I brought up the idea that Etsy could be a business incubator, I thought I’d elaborate on how to use it as one. In my original post, I suggested that Etsy would function as a business incubator while you were developing your making skills. And while this is certainly true, there are many other opportunities to use Etsy to launch a successful business:
- Product development. The route to the best products isn’t to hide them away until you think you’ve got it perfect. Instead, great products develop from a constant cycle of prototype, ship, prototype, and ship again. Etsy, with its low barriers to entry, makes it possible to do this. Not only that, but Etsy’s feedback system allows you to get suggestions for product improvement directly from people using your products. (And you can always reach out to customers for more specific feedback.)
- Market research. There are actually many ways you can use Etsy to conduct market research. The first is simply to see if there’s even a market for your products. Now, if you employ a “build it and they will come” strategy (meaning you mostly list products and wait for customers to find you) then it’s difficult to know if the problem is your products or your lack of marketing. But if you’ve been marketing consistently and your products still aren’t selling, then the problem might be that there isn’t a market for your products.
The second way to use Etsy as market research is to look at the buying preferences of your customers to get a better feel for your target audience. (I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I can’t. Laura mentioned it, and I thought it was such a fantastic idea that I just had to share.) By going through the purchase history of your customers, you can see what other products they are buying and how often. This can give you invaluable information about your target audience. - Pricing strategy. Pricing can be difficult, especially when trying to find the sweet spot between maximum profit and maximum number of sales. But Etsy can serve as the perfect testing ground for various price points. You can experiment with raising prices one day, lowering another, or with other pricing strategies like bundling and versioning. The ease of which you can make changes on Etsy makes it an ideal testing ground for finding the right prices for your products.
- Branding. While I still believe that with only an Etsy shop, you don’t have full control of your brand (no matter what, you’re stuck with the orange Etsy logo at the top) that doesn’t mean you can’t use Etsy to start to develop a brand identity. Everything from your photo style to your font, logo, and packaging contribute to your brand identity, and you can use your time on Etsy to refine all of these.
- Build a loyal customer base. For many people, Etsy is the first place where they truly build a collection of loyal fans. Etsy’s favorite system allows customers to keep track of you and your products, but if you’re using Etsy with the goal of someday moving off of Etsy, you’ll want to be able to take that fan base with you. Make sure you’re providing links to other places for fans to connect with you (like your blog, Facebook, and twitter). But the most effective way to try to bring Etsy fans with you is to get them to join your email list, so you can connect with them no matter where you move on the web. Include a link to sign-up for your list in your welcome message, and ask those who buy from you to sign-up for your list. (You should never automatically add them.) If you’re using Etsy as an opportunity to build a mobile fan base, then you won’t have to worry about losing traction when the time comes to move off Etsy.
I think one of the reasons so many people’s craft businesses get stuck is that they view Etsy as the ultimate solution. But instead, if you view Etsy as a place to launch your business, a place to test product ideas and learn about your target market, then there’s nothing holding you back from building the creative empire you’ve been dreaming about.
Couldn’t agree more with your post. Etsy gave us our start, allowed us to work out the kinks cheaply and build an international clientele that would have taken considerably longer to build on our own.
Also we continue to use it as a source for keeping up with our competition and for sampling what new concepts may work in continuing our brand.
on point, megan! this is a great resource for explaining how to USE etsy and not just accept it as the status quo.
Exactly!
And that last point, about taking them with you, is super important!
I do it by sending a Thank You email within a day of each purchase. It tells the customer when the item with ship and gives a little information about what they can expect from my newsletter. 96% of customers click through and sign up!
These are great ideas. I have not ventured onto etsy yet because I can’t really see how it would fit into my business practices, but now I see lots of potential for test-driving new designs and price points, and getting feedback a lot faster.
I have a lot of gallery accounts who would not be pleased if I was selling my items online, and I don’t want to be counterproductive to their goals either. But if I used etsy just a testing ground for prototypes, I don’t think that would pose any conflict.
Mea – You can also use Etsy as a place for seconds and discontinued items, neither of which should pose a conflict with your galleries either.
I completely agree with everything you said. And I echo Tara’s comments.
Both Tara’s!
Great point. I have been using Etsy as a starting point and am planning to branch out into other markets, such as selling in stores.
Thanks for the advice on how to better use Etsy for all that it offers!
Terrific post! Perspective is everything… and looking at etsy as the end all and be all is limiting. Changing my way of looking at it – and seeing it as an incubator and launch pad just shifted everything for me.
Thanks so much!!!
Excellent perspective! This post should be mandatory reading for anyone who opens an Etsy shop (or any other such online venue).
When I joined Etsy back in 2007 (and launched my first standalone website), I was a bit naive on the strategy front despite all of the marketing “how to” research that I did. I operated under that horrible “build it and they will come” philosophy, and as a result, I think I entirely missed the boat on the whole incubator/launch opportunity.
But, I’ve both learned and grown quite a bit in the Best Strategy/Practices department since then. I think that if I’d read a post like this when I began, my matriculation through the School of Hard Knocks might have been totally unnecessary. 😉
Awesome post.
[Ok, back to lurking for me–for realz, now. ;-]
First let me say that your jewelry is gorgeous Tamra!
Second, I made the same “build it and they will come” mistake and only in the last few months began researching marketing strategies and other successful business tips. I think every new etsy seller should have to read this blog before they start selling!
Megan, I think you’re really on to something here. I have been lamenting and criticizing Etsy for not being a better selling option and supporter of more-established artists, without paying attention to what they do really well (which is, exactly as you say, support the newly-beginning artists). I definitely believe that saying ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ – and maybe it’s appropriate for Etsy to continue as it is, instead of being everything to everyone. I might have to start thinking differently about Etsy. (By the way, have you pointed the Etsy folks to these posts? It might be valuable for them to read your arguments and the mountain of comments.)
I find it absolutely fascinating that so many of your posts are about topics I am currently debating. Is there a crafter meme floating around? Actually, what I think is happening is that there are many crafters who have been using etsy and other online shops that are subdomains for several years now and we are realizing that this is not the best way to make a living at what we do. Especially those that are deciding that this is what we want to do for a living/for the foreseeable long-term future. I first tried to start my own website from scratch a few years ago and soon found that it is very hard to generate enough traffic and decided to move to etsy. Now, since I have built up email lists, press contacts, etc… by being successful on etsy and elsewhere, I can now confidently move away from etsy and know that I will be able to get traffic to a new website (thanks Tara Gentile for being so knowledgeable and helpful and making my websites for me). Etsy has been great for incubating my little business so I could see how to grow it. Now, it will be just one small part of my indie designer online presence.
PS How do I get a fancy dancy picture next to my posts? I have a feeling I will just keep posting comments on your blog, Meghan 🙂
Another great use of Etsy is that it provides a way to practice business basics like professional communication, small-scale marketing, handling payments, invoicing, shipping, and the like. It is also a non-threatening way to confront issues of growth, such as how or even if to consider policies for going wholesale. As different requests come in, you can think carefully about how to respond and where to set limits.
Great post! You’ve articulated what I’ve been pondering recently. Etsy feels ‘safe’ and I’m comfortable with it, however, growth doesn’t happen in a comfort zone. I’ve been looking at Supermarket, Big Cartel and Shopify. I’m sure there are others, too. Have you done comparisons? Any recommendations? I’d love to know……keep up the great work – it’s tremendously helpful!
I just read your 6/26 post which helped answer the last part of my question….thanks!
I’ve learned a lot from my customers on Etsy. I love the idea of looking through your customers favorites and recent purchases for marketing ideas. I’ve gotten great ideas from the convos they send me after they make a purchase. I love it when people tell me the story of who they are buying my jewelry for and why. When I start hearing the same story over and over again that’s when I know I have something. So now I’m working on a plan for making gift packages and marketing them as such, complete with little cards for specific situations.
WOW! Can we say the topic of the week here in my town? I am struggling with my Etsy shop. No sales as of yet. 🙁
I think that it may not necessarily be the marketplace for me but, it is a way to get my work out there. I found that when I tried to sell my art on my website, that the traffic was very slow. Etsy was a way for me to make the jump, start learning about things like photography, key words etc.
Personally, I have had more success doing home sales. I have started branching out into galleries and more brick and mortar locations. All are in the testing stage at this point.
So ultimately, I think it can’t hurt to use Etsy as a place for advertisement and just another venue but, for me Hustling the Old School way works best.
Thanks soooo much Megan. You hit the nail on the head multiple times.
Etsy is an amazing way to launch and get immediate feed back. The customers are thoughtful, creative minded and have given me great ideas that that I never would have thought of on my own.
I’m still pretty small but like to use the model of large brands that enjoy numerous distribution channels to reach different customers. For example, Starbucks is brilliant. You can buy a brewed cup in one of their free-standing stores, a bag of grounds or Via instant at the supermarket, visit a cafe within a Barnes and Nobel book store (and while there pick up one of their CDs or promotional mugs or gift cards. Why they even have their own Coffehouse wi-fi community!) I’m sure there are other channels I missed but to think it all started with a little bean…
I guess Etsy is like one of starbuck’s distribution/sales arms. It’s up to us to select the other effective methods and work out that fine balance. A lot easier said then done!
Thanks again Megan and others – craftmba is terrific.
Barbara Polinsky
Great intuitive thinking and brilliant suggestions.
Thanks for this great article. I just started my website, etsy store, facebook and blog (that was a mouthful!) and your information is extremely helpful!
Hi Megan! I am a new but avid follower of your blog… I think it’s really great to be able to have business advice specifically targeted towards crafters – Thank you!
I recently went back to one of the articles you contributed to, a while back on etsy, and decided to post it on our team’s fan page and recommended that fans check out your site. Hope they find it as useful as I do!!
you can see it at http://www.facebook.com/EtsyFrenchHandmade
Awesome issues here. I am very glad to see your post.
Thank you so much and I am looking forward to contact you.
Will you please drop me a mail?
Good blog post. I absolutely appreciate this site.
Keep it up!