tinahdee

Today seems like a good day to talk about advertising for Etsy sellers – what works?

It’s in the thirties here in West Central Florida. Interesting weather! I have a lot of jewelry making to do today because I’m finishing up my Valentine’s Day rush orders. I also have a lot of housework and kid stuff to catch up on. I think I’ll write a blog post. Do you blame me? Who would want to go out into the garage/workshop in this kind of weather? I’m going to wait until it’s at least 45 degrees.

I still owe you part two of my photography tips blog post, but in the meantime, advertising is on my mind. I’ve tried a lot of different things in the 19 months since I starting marketing jewelry on Etsy. Experience has shown me that there are three big things you can do to get your shop in front of shoppers.

1. Editorial coverage (get people to write about you and link to you from their websites).
2. Google shopping results (get your content syndicated in what used to be called Google Base).
3. Renew, list new items and relist sold items on Etsy.

This trinity of tactics is what works for me. Of course, for these things to work, you’ve got to have a marketable product (unique, attractive, and in demand), and FANTASTIC photos. There’s no point in being seen if what they’re seeing doesn’t draw them in. And your tags, item titles, and descriptions have to be accurate and crafted in such a way as to make them relevant in search results.

Notice that I didn’t include traditional advertising in this list. Not that advertising never works – it’s more that finding the magic sweet spot of the right place, the right placement, the right time, and the right place takes a lot of time, tweaking, and money – or sometimes you might just get lucky. The best ad placement I ever had was an unexpected spot on the front page of Brownstoner that I got for free as a result of helping out eSellerAds with some testing they were doing. And even that ad didn’t bring me more than one verifiable sale – but it was great exposure during the time it was running. It brought me a lot of high quality traffic. The only problem is that once the ad is gone, the traffic is gone.

That’s why it is important to get websites to write about you and link to your site. That kind of advertising is worth a lot more than paid advertising, because not only is the owner of the website vouching for your product, the content and the link to your shop stays on the Internet indefinitely, so your presence expands as time goes on. Plus, search engines will rank your shop higher in search results the more other sites link to you and vouch for your product. Your shop becomes more credible, and then every time someone searches for the type of thing you have in your shop, you are more likely to come up in their search results.

And what about renewing on Etsy? Well, you pay $.20 to list a product in your shop. That twenty cents gets you the privilege of having your item listed in your shop for four months. But when you renew your product before the expiration date and pay another twenty cents, it also does something else very special: it bumps your listing up to the top of the search results when sorted either by recency or relevancy. And in that way, it is a very effective way of promoting your shop. Etsy has done a great job of getting people there – and once they’re there, you want to be able to draw them to your shop, because not only are people browsing, they’re shopping. You want to get your piece of the money they’re going to spend. So when they decide to search for that particular item they have in mind, or drill down to the category, you want your items to come up first (and then those fantastic photos will cause them to click – IF your photos are indeed fantastic).

A few months ago, I stopped all my paid advertising (with one important exception), and transferred that budget into renewing. I have seen my sales increase to a consistent daily amount since I did. That is truly advertising that works.

I stopped almost all my paid advertising, but still participate in “gallerias” on popular style blogs. These are seasonal listings in which blog owners charge a small amount for you to be placed in a juried collection of items that are hallmarks of the season. Usually these placements include editorial content and links – the kind of vouching for that makes advertising truly worth it because, remember, those links (from popular, highly ranked blogs and websites) stay around indefinitely.

So there you have it – some ideas and opinions from a highly opinionated Etsy seller on what has worked for me. Now I’m off to do some much-need laundry.

silver braveheart ring for men $130

In the time that I’ve been selling on Etsy, I’m not ashamed to say that my product photos have improved tremendously. Could this be part of my selling success? I think so. I see a lot of items on Etsy that are not presented in a way that shows their true beauty. A clear, properly lit, beautifully staged set of photos makes your item come alive to the customer. I have some definite opinions about what it takes to make a great photo, and I’m going to share them with you. I’m sure not everyone will agree, and there are many people who successfully use techniques other than the ones I do. But if you like my photos and want to emulate this style, here’s how you do it.

Note: My jewelry business was launched with hardly any cash outlay, so another benefit to my favorite method of getting the product shoot is that it is very inexpensive.

Natural Light

The most important element to taking a great jewelry photo is lighting. I am a proponent of natural light, the kind that comes from the sky. For one thing, it’s free. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on bulbs, light stands, light boxes (even homemade ones take cash), diffusers, or any other kind of equipment. All you need is the outdoors, or my favorite, the ubiquitous window sill. No exposure to the elements required!

When I first began taking photos of my jewelry, I did what most people do. I placed the jewelry in an attractive setting like an embroidered tablecloth or a beautifully printed piece of paper, turned the lights on, zoomed in, and clicked. Unfortunately, this method produced washed out photos with a lot of glare.

Washed out, with glare

It didn’t take me too long to figure out that this style of photography wasn’t going to cut it. As beautiful as my renaissance crown might have been, looking at this picture you’d really have to use your imagination to realize it. Not only is it washed out with a harsh glare – it’s out of focus and the background is way too “busy.” (More on that in another post.)

Next, I moved on to outdoor photography. This worked OK for some things, but I was having the hardest time getting a good shot of say, shiny silver items. This was because I was setting my item in direct sunlight – not a good plan for bringing out the texture and details of your piece. The key to good lighting is to have some light and some shadows – but neither of these should be harsh or hard. Harsh light washes out or causes glare, and hard shadows obscure parts of your photo or cause a distracting extra shape in your composition. The solution to this is to use bright, but diffused light.

Bright light from the sun is perfect, but it needs to be diffused. This is what makes a cloudy day ideal for taking photos of your jewelry in natural light. The harsh glare of direct sun gets eliminated, and so does the hard shadow. Everything is softer and more subtle, which focuses the attention on your jewelry instead of other distracting elements. So when there’s a cloudy day in the forecast (for some people this is every day!), take advantage of it to get some great shots.

What if you need to take picture and it’s a sunny day? There are many ways to use the bright light of the sun while avoiding the harshness of its rays. One way is to take pictures in the shade. Make sure your shade is consistent and not dappled like the effect you get under a tree. Dappled light will just make your photo dappled. Find some good shade and then experiment with pictures. Sometimes bringing the item right to the edge of the shade will provide a good balance of light and shadow, while shooting your piece in shade that is too deep can result in a flat, dull picture.

Another sunny day solution is to use the window sills in your home. If you’re lucky, you have sills on more than one side of your home, which allows you to use different ones depending on the light levels and the time of day. Window sill photography is my favorite method for getting the lighting just right. For example, I have a sill in my bedroom that is perfect for getting dramatic shots when the sun is just coming up.

Dramatic morning light

The picture above was taken with no flash, just the diffused, interesting light from the early morning sun.

Other sills in my home give me good results in the afternoon and evening. If you have a large window that allows a lot of light in, you can even move your shots further away from the window and experiment with light balance that way. Whatever you do, don’t use your flash! Find out how to turn it off and then keep it off. If your photo comes out too dark, you just need to move closer to your natural source of light.

Next, I’ll share some of my tips for getting a good background.

I offer free worldwide shipping in my Etsy shop. I used to be afraid to ship anywhere but the US. Boy, have I come a long way. Just today I heard from my customer in South Korea, who got her shipment from me eight days after I sent it. Last week, one of my customers in Australia received his order after only four days. That’s astounding, considering it takes at least that long sometimes for a letter to make it from one side of the US to the other.

I hear from handmade artisans all the time who say they only ship within their country. I live in the USA, so this blog post is coming from my perspective as an American jewelry maker. I have no problem with shipping my jewelry all around the world. When I first started on Etsy, I was apprehensive about shipping outside the US. No one makes it really clear exactly how to ship a package to another country, and I didn’t want to risk losing my product simply because I didn’t know what the rules were.

So I’m here to tell you that shipping from the US to other countries is easy and economical. The first ounce, via First Class International (package rate), is only $1.44. I’m lucky because the vast majority of my orders are under an ounce. Here’s how to ship a parcel via First Class International:

1. Pack your item as usual but include a slip of paper with your return address in case something happens to the envelope or box. I’ve never had anything untoward happen, but just in case, it may help your item make its way back to you.

2. Tape the outside of your package very securely. I ship in an envelope and tape the entire outer surface to make it more durable and at least somewhat waterproof. If you’re going to do this, make sure you address the envelope, including your return address, before you cover it with tape. If you use a box, tape all the corners and seams very securely.

3. When you address your parcel, make sure you copy the address exactly as it is listed on your Etsy receipt, and make sure you write the country name under the address. Write USA under your return address as well.

4. Fill out customs form 2976, for orders that are valued under $400 USD. For orders over that amount, use form 2976-A. There are two parts to the form. One part goes on the outside of the package, and the other part stays at the post office on file. You can fill out a customs form online and print it at home (http://webapps.usps.com/customsforms/) or pick one up at the post office. If you fill it out at home, you can tape the customs form onto your package so it is not obscuring the address. Make sure the form is flat and smooth so the bar code gets scanned correctly.

5. If you have a scale at home you can weigh your package and put your own postage on. First Class International (package rate) starts at $1.44 for the first ounce. Or you can take it to the PO and have them weigh it for you. To find out exactly what your postage will cost, you can visit the USPS postage calculator.

6. Some countries may have restrictions on shipping your type of item. Many countries bar the shipping of precious metals like gold and precious gems like diamonds. My jewelry is not considered “fine” jewelry (although I think it’s just fine), and so has never had a problem making it through customs. When you fill out your customs form, be honest about what your item is, but also be wise. Instead of writing “fine artisan jewelry” on my customs forms, I write “handmade fashion accessory”. Both may be true, but the second is probably a lot less likely to invite closer inspection. To check various restrictions, take a look at the USPS’s Index of Countries and Localities.

7. Make sure the postal worker scans your customs form and prints you out a receipt. This gives you at least some proof of mailing, since First Class International mail doesn’t carry delivery confirmation. Additionally, you can pass the customs form number, which should be printed on your receipt, to your customer, and they may be able to use the number in their country to check on the package if it gets held up in customs. You can also look up the customs form number at the USPS website and it will show that the package was accepted at the post office on a certain time and date.

8. If you’re going to ship internationally, make sure you have noted in your shop policies what your customer can expect. First Class International carries no delivery guarantees and makes no promises about a delivery time frame. Your customer should be prepared to wait several weeks for their delivery, even though most of the time it will be sooner than that. Make sure your customer knows that if they need their item by a certain date, they’ll need to upgrade their shipping, and that most of the time that carries a very greatly increased cost.

Stay in touch with your customer – email them when you ship, and ask them to let you know when the package arrives. Reassure them if they’re getting nervous – my South Korea client had emailed me just yesterday wondering where her package was. I sent her the customs form number and let her know that she needn’t worry yet.

Of course, if you ship internationally long enough, you’re bound to have an “incident,” just as you will if you only ship within the US. Plan for that, and count it as part of the cost of doing business. I hate to think of all the sales that I would have missed out on if I felt it was too risky to ship my silver jewelry all over the world. The benefits have far outweighed the risks. And they will for you too. So give it a shot!

Copper Hinged Hoops $32

For those of you who are also jewelry-makers or who want to be jewelry-makers, I am posting this Egyptian Coil tutorial I wrote. Download it an enjoy. I would love to see some pictures of your creations, so come back and post them here or email me and I can write a feature about you. Hurry! I want to see!

Download the tutorial here.

I’ve been meaning to put together some tutorials for the longest time. I finally buckled down and created an Egyptian coil tutorial with lots of step by step photos.  It’s only $7. If you’re interested, Paypal the money to me at mail@gasperson.com and I’ll shoot the 22-page PDF right over to you. Or check out the listing on Etsy.

How to make an Egyptian coil, by tinahdee