After working with hundreds of makers over the last few years, I regularly see people making the same mistakes in their Etsy shops over and over again.

In this episode, I share the top 5 mistakes I see people making with their online shops. I’m focussing on Etsy today, but honestly, these issues crop up no matter what online venue you are using – so even if you’re selling somewhere other than Etsy, you will benefit from this episode.

Today I share some really vital things which you can quickly and easily change right now to make your online shop more professional and encourage customers to purchase from you. Other issues I touch on might take some time to get it right, but it’s important to start on these now so you can add to your skills

I hope you don’t recognise these mistakes in your shop – but if you do, at least you now know what you need to work on to make it better!

Your shop will never be perfect: but you can always improve and be the best you can be.

Are you making any of these 5 mistakes with your Etsy shop?

 

Download/Listen to this Episode

You can also subscribe to the podcast and listen to this episode on iTunes + Stitcher

 

Quotes and highlights from this Episode:

* “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at somebody’s store and they would have maybe 5-10 items. I can tell you immediately that this will be a turn off for people. They won’t take your seriously if you don’t have a well-stocked shop.”

* If you have high priced or artist pieces, you might be able to get away with less products.

* With Etsy, you should have 25+ products which will give you more than one page of products.

* You want your shop to look full and that you’re serious about business.

* But you also don’t want to have too much choice.

* 100 products is said to be the magic number on Etsy but don’t panic if that’s out of the realm of possibility for you.

* Grow your items slowly but surely until you have a good selection but don’t go the other way and have too many products.

* “I ended up having too many with 400+ items and I had a lot of older ones which I made the decision to narrow my brand and took a bunch of them down. My business has grown more since then than ever before.”

* Don’t be afraid to get rid of things that aren’t working.

* Don’t use flash photography as it looks awful and makes harsh shadows nor does it to any products any favours.

* A bit of styling is OK but don’t clutter the image.

* Dial back your styling until your product is the star of the photo.

* If your item blends into the photo, it’s too cluttered.

* Taking photos freehand will definitely give you blurry photos sometimes.

* On the camera screen it might look fine but if you blow them up on your computer screen and they aren’t sharp, redo them.

* “I’ve made all these mistakes which is why I can talk about them. But I’ve learnt a lot since then and I’ve come a long way.”

* It will take trial and error – you can do it, it just takes time.

* Filtered or ambient light is best.

* Before you work on your marketing, spend time on your photos and getting them right.

* It’s important that people can see who you are especially with resellers and big companies infiltrating the market.

* Show behind the scenes photos to show social proof that you brand is genuinely handmade.