Let's talk about Etsy

So in March I will be celebrating two years of my etsy shop.  I am not a big shop and don't plan to be since I have a full time job and a family.  I was showing my students channelone news the other day and it featured an etsy seller who makes wire jewelry.  They were saying how she couldn't find a job and now she makes enough on etsy to pay for college.   I think that is amazing!  I think etsy is great because its your store.  You get to set your hours, what you want to sell, and what your store policies are.  I think there are a ton of shops that make it that big, but I also see people from my etsy community fail.  I think it takes a lot more effort that just being discovered.  As a shop owner you can pay for ads on etsy/google.  I have tried that and not much success.  I mostly advertise for myself on social media.  I think for an online store to be successful you need to have a presence on social media.  I love that people can tag me when they use my product on Instagram.  People will do a lot of advertising for you!  I know there are also etsy feature accounts on IG that make you pay to advertise.  I have never gone that route but wanted to mention it as an option.  I think one of the most important things in having a social media presence is to make sure every platform has the same name, logo, or photo.  And on IG and Twitter hashtags are super important.  If you are not using them you should.  Simple on of just what your product is.  Then make a hashtag for your business in case people search for you. Its great for networking too with people that sell complimenting products or just sell like you.  The other part of promoting your self on social media is a lot of time commenting and liking others because then they do the same.  I also find that giveaways draw attention as well and get your product out there. Usually have the people share your giveaway photo which is a product you sell so then everyone who enters is advertising for you for however long you giveaway lasts! You can have them tag people but I think the reposting is less annoying.  Some people hate when people tag them in giveaways. I could have a whole other blog post about doing giveaways haha!  What I am trying to say is that most shops don't get automatic success.  It is an empire that you have to work to build!