New Year Sales For Your Etsy Shop 2014

I am having a sale just for you, my wonderful readers! For the rest of the month of January I am taking 50% off all of my eBook at http://MarketMyShop.etsy.com just enter code: NEWYEARSHALFOFF at checkout and you'll get any of my eBooks at half price! As of February 1st the eBooks will no longer be available through the Market My Shop Etsy Shop but will be available in the new Craft Kraken Supplies Etsy Shop.

I would like to invite you to share any sales that you may be having with all of us here. Just comment with your shop name, a link and a coupon code.

Summertime Sales Or Lack There Of

Hey gang. Not sure how much time I will have for regular postings but I will do my best to post as often as possible. As some of you may know I have been going through some personal issues as well as business issues. My partner moved away. It was not planned, at least on my end. So, I had to change the name of my brick and mortar shop. That meant paying for a lot of things all over again. Shop signs, new sales and use permit, new bank account, inspections and the like. That coupled with all the things that moved from my personal space has put me in a financial bind.

Sales were quite slow in June as expected but the first part of July has yet to show any improvement. Etsy is very slow for me as well. I normally receive 500 to 750 views a day. That number has dropped to 150ish for the last few weeks. Etsy has been working on some new shop views and my shop has been one of those test pages. I am not sure if that has anything to do with it or if everyone is just on vacation.

Anyhow, I would really like to hear how sales are for you for June and the beginning of July. Leave me a comment or email me at MarketMyShop@gmail.com

Etsy Coupon Code Changes

Etsy finally got their coupon system changed to make things much better than before! Now you can list cash off coupons in addition to the free shipping and percent discount. Another new GREAT feature is the ability to automatically send a customer a coupon when they buy an item from you. It is called a Thank You Coupon.

The other wonderful addition to the changes is making a minimum purchase amount to be able to use the coupon code. This helps you to use the cash amount coupon without having to worry if your customer will use a $10 off coupon on a $10 item.

Have a great weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or comments by leaving them here or sending me an email to MarketMyShop@gmail.com

Etsy Shop Repeat Business

The last post was about defining your perfect customer. Hopefully you have done some brainstorming and figured out who your customer is. One thing not to forget is that your true ideal customer is one who has already bought something. Be sure to reward them! (Check out my article on How To Run A Sale On Etsy)

For each of my orders I generally put a small handwritten note with a repeat customer sale code that gives 10% off. Repeat business is great! I also try and get the customer to sign up for either my Newsletter(more on that soon), Facebook Page or Twitter account. That way I can give them more chances to save money buying from me.

What have you done to encourage repeat customers? How did it work? I would really like to know what has and has not worked for you. Please leave your story in the comments section.

How To Run A Sale On Etsy

From time to time I like to run a sale in my Etsy shop: http://MarketMyShop.etsy.com Etsy makes it very simple to run a sale. I just put up a 25% off coupon for my shop to show you how easy it is! Just enter code "BLOGREADERDISCOUNT" at checkout! Running a sale is a great way to get a small boost in sales overall. Here is how you create a coupon code on Etsy:

Step 1: Just mouse over your shop name in the top right hand corner of your page and select Coupon Codes.

Step 2: Click on the button that says Create Coupon.

Step 3: Create a unique coupon code. Choose either % discount or Free Shipping. Make sure the Active button is clicked and then hit Add Coupon.

Step 4: Share your coupon code on Facebook, Twitter, Email and any other ways you can think of. Some people even run an advertising campaign with their sales.

Do you run sales in your shop? If so, I would love to hear your experiences. Leave a comment or send me an email to MarketMyShop@gmail.com

Etsy Back To School Sales

It seems school starts earlier and earlier each year. I remember when I was a kid it started in September. Now it seems that most schools start in Mid-August. Now is the time to start your Back To School Sales! Remember that it isn't just elementary and high school about to start back up, it is also college.

I generally offer a percentage discount though an Etsy coupon code. Some people offer free shipping on their orders. The choice is up to you but be sure to take advantage of it. Put "Back To School" in your tags and titles on items that are specifically for school.

Oh, and don't forget the teachers! They are going back to school as well! So, if you have items that would look great on a classroom wall or a teacher's desk, there is another opportunity for you. I hope your Back To School Sales are the best they have ever been. Don't forget Halloween is just around the corner so you may want to dust off a few of your items...

Leave a comment or send me an email to MarketMyShop@gmail.com I would love to hear what you have to say.

As always, my blog is 100% free. People ask me all the time why I do this. When I started Etsy there just wasn't all that much info out there to help me figure it all our. Etsy tends to make their instructions difficult to follow. I wanted to be able to help others by making things easier to understand.

People also ask how I make enough money doing this. The honest answer is I don't. I do sell a Facebook Advertising Guide in my Market My Shop Etsy Shop. I also do a little consulting on a one one one basis. If you are getting something out of this blog and you'd like to 'buy me a drink' or say 'thank you' you can send a gift through PayPal using my email: MarketMyShop@gmail.com

How Are Your July Sales?

I ended up having a great June in my Tangled Metal Etsy Shop. I averaged one sale per day. Then July hit. My average so far for the month is one sale every two days. July is traditionally a slow month on Etsy. Part of the reason is that so many families vacation in July. So, you must come up with cleaver ideas and tactics to make some sales.

Christmas in July is a great way to make a few extra sales during the month. I do not usually do a sale in my shop in July but next year I do plan to. There is a lot of marketing going into Christmas in July and that means that with a few well placed tags and titles you can let someone else pay for the advertising, namely Etsy.

July is also a good month to get into gear for Back to School. Having a back to school sale is always a great idea. Here again, you are able to, with some well placed tags and titles, allow someone else to put out the advertising dollars for you. The best form of advertising is the free stuff!

I am always looking for new ideas to help increase sales in traditionally slow times. I would love to hear what you have done to increase your sales. I run a brick and mortar in addition to wholesaling and having an Etsy shop. I am very fortunate that when one area is slow is sales another area usually picks up the slack. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email to MarketMyShop@gmail.com

Benefits of Free Shipping

Free shipping in your Etsy or ArtFire shop? That is crazy! Wait a minute, this could actually work...

I know it sounds like a no win situation but in reality it is a Win/Win situation! You add shipping to all of your items and offer free shipping. You also do not charge if it is purchased with something else. This is for domestic shipping of course. You still charge shipping on International orders but you take the Domestic charge out first. Here is an example:

Fabulous Item
Retail cost: $15
Actual Domestic Shipping with Materials: $3
International Shipping with Materials: $7
Listing Price: $18 w/ Free Shipping
International Shipping $4

Now if your customer buys a second item, they will also be paying full shipping in the cost of the item. You win. The customer wins. Everybody is happy. It may take you a while to change over your shop, but you will see an increase in sales.

That is it for today. Tomorrow I will be talking about special packaging that will double your chances of repeat customers. Also, if you don't follow this blog now is a great time to do so! Next week I will start a week long series on Advertising with Facebook! Until then, let me know if you have any questions! marketmyshop@gmail.com